If you're already planning your holiday shopping, this might be the hit gift this season for every video game fan in your life.
Nintendo announced today that they're releasing the NES Classic Edition on Nov. 11 for $59.99. It's a miniaturized version of the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo's game console that took the world by storm in the late 1980's.
The bad news? It doesn't play the original Nintendo game cartridges that you might have lying around your house. (PSA: If you want a console that does that, they do exist.)
The good news? There are 30 classic games packed onto this system, and they're games you'll actually want to play.
We're talking The Legend of Zelda. We're talking Mega Man 2. Super Mario Bros. The original Final Fantasy. Tecmo Bowl. All the games you grew up playing and have wonderful memories of, all packed into a device that can fit in the palm of your hand.
The system just plugs into your TV via an included HDMI cable. And if you don't have time to play through all of Metroid right now? You can save your progress at any time with built-in save states.
Nintendo isn't unique in having this idea for a classic console packed with games. Similar devices have been on shelves for old systems like the Atari, Intellivision, ColecoVision and the Sega Genesis. But where Nintendo is going above and beyond is in the game selection. Other "flashback" systems have a large number of games, but they're rarely all the ones you want. Nintendo's own library is legendary (with hits like Punch-Out, Kirby's Adventure and of course the Super Mario Bros. games), but going out and getting the rights to include huge names like Castlevania is phenomenal.
The system comes with one classically styled controller (it looks like the original NES controller, but it won't work on your old NES), but you can buy an additional one for $9.99. As an added bonus, you can plug this new NES controller into your Wii Remote and use it to play any NES Virtual Console games you may have purchased on your Wii or Wii U.
So what's the full list of included games? I'm glad you asked.
- Balloon Fight
- Bubble Bobble
- Castlevania
- Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
- Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong Jr.
- Double Dragon II: The Revenge
- Dr. Mario
- Excitebike
- Final Fantasy
- Galaga
- Ghosts'N Goblins
- Gradius
- Ice Climber
- Kid Icarus
- Kirby's Adventure
- Mario Bros.
- Mega Man 2
- Metroid
- Ninja Gaiden
- Pac-Man
- Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream
- StarTropics
- SUPER C
- Super Mario Bros.
- Super Mario Bros. 2
- Super Mario Bros. 3
- Tecmo Bowl
- The Legend of Zelda
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
