Opinion: It's Not My GOTY, But This Nintendo Game Was A Standout 2024 Memory

I’ll admit, I’ve never been fond of speedrunning. The thought of shaving milliseconds off a time in a video game while playing the same sequence over and over sounds, in theory, more frustrating than fun. Sure, as a spectator, there is definitely joy in appreciating the wizardry of players pulling off pixel-perfect feats and shattering a runtime record. But I have neither the time nor the mettle to contemplate doing so myself.

Fortunately, this year gave us a game that weaved together 8-bit era charm, bite-sized accessibility, and addictive skill refinement. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition was my gateway to finally “getting” speedrunning, and it’s some of the most fun I’ve had gaming in 2024.

It’s the only game I’ve played this year that resulted in me letting out an involuntary shout of triumph when I bested my competitors in consecutive speedrunning challenges, earning myself a (screenshot of a) gold trophy. It was sweet, sweet consolation for all the IRL trophies I failed to win throughout my life, and so it brought me immense satisfaction.

Just to recap, the game was released in July and features condensed speedrunning challenges extracted from 13 iconic NES titles. Its World Championship Mode allows for placement on a weekly leaderboard while the Survival Mode pits you against other players' ghost times across three challenges to avoid elimination. There’s also an eight-player party mode.

The game received solid but not glowing reviews (Nintendo Life gave it a 7/10). Some critics deem it less ambitious and creative than developer indieszero’s previous retro compilations, the quirky NES Remix series on Wii U and 3DS. I wouldn't necessarily dispute that but I found NWC's focus on pure speedrunning challenges to be meticulously well-executed.

Part of what makes it so difficult to put down is its snappy gamefeel and sound design. Each challenge begins with a whistle countdown and ends with a satisfying pop and synth effect in a way that tugs your dopamine receptors to smash 'Play again' to improve your PB. It’s an even better experience playing with an NES controller for the as-intended button feel.

Though it might not be my Game of the Year (that one goes to Animal Well), it brought out the competitor in me and ultimately made me a better player. While we’ve all played our share of NES games over the years, World Championships’ emphasis on mastery helped me discover the deep control scheme nuances of classic titles in a way I hadn’t before.

Take, for example, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, a game I’d barely touched before this due in part to its infamous difficulty. Working my way through its speedrunning challenges helped me come to grips with the game’s punishing combat. Some of its challenges, like the Master-rank 'Neigh Slayer', initially felt impossible to complete with an S-tier time.

That one in particular involves beating a horse-headed boss with precisely timed aerial sword slices, a move that eventually felt intuitive with practice. When I later fired up the original version of Zelda II on Nintendo Switch Online, I found myself enjoying the game far more than I ever had before because World Championships had essentially shown me the ropes.

Even games I know fairly well, like Super Mario Bros., Excitebike, and Kirby’s Adventure, had new layers revealed with help from the Nintendo Power-inspired 'Classified Information' sheets, which cover the most efficient routes, combat strategies, and movement tricks. I came away with a deeper appreciation of the craftsmanship behind these classics.

For several months, I've tackled its weekly challenges religiously, even managing to top the leaderboard (once). I find the game’s competitive modes perfect for zeroing in on the specific challenges on offer every seven days. Focusing on the handful of challenges each week helped me push the envelope and consistently improve my personal best timings.

Watching the weekly replays of the top players has been equally fascinating (Nintendo has since put up a website showing off each week’s top performances). Seeing their precision and efficiency in action is humbling and sometimes surprising: there was a small controversy early on when a cheeky player exploited a glitch in Donkey Kong that few people knew existed.

The game’s engagement has understandably waned in the months since its release, with fewer taking part in weekly competitions. While it’s a long shot, I’ve still got my fingers crossed for DLC content. Punch-Out!! is a glaring first-party omission, and the inclusion of landmark third-party NES classics from the Contra, Castlevania, or Mega Man series would draw players back if agreements could be made with Konami or Capcom.

One of the coolest things the developers could add is a new standalone challenge based on the actual 1990 Nintendo World Championships custom cartridge (among the rarest NES collectibles that sell for tens of thousands of dollars), which tracks the cumulative scores of three Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris – played in sequence. Incorporating it feels like a no-brainer. There is also niche demand for it, with various reproductions of the custom cart available, one of which Nintendo has acted against. Give the people what they want, I say.

Many will naturally be pining for an SNES Edition of this title with the same format, just as folks were hoping for an SNES Remix. It’s hard to say whether they’ll be such a follow-up, but one hopes Nintendo and indieszero don’t sit on their hands. Nintendo won’t shy away from further celebrations of its legacy, but we’ll likely have to wait for another big anniversary — or a big gap between heavy hitters on in the Switch (2) release calendar!

As it stands, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition may not have been the flashiest game of 2024, but, for me, it remains a standout with plenty of untapped potential. It’s a loving homage to the glory days of the NES and the 8-bit culture that surrounded it. Most of all, it’s a celebration of the timeless classics that still shape my love for gaming.