Nintendo Classic Mini: NES review – in pictures

Nintendo Classic Mini: NES review – in pictures

When Nintendo launched the Classic Mini back in November 2016, the dinky retro console sold out quicker than you could say: “It’sa me, Mario!” Cue lots of baddies trying to sell them at hugely inflated prices on Ebay and a lot of disappointed Zelda fans on Christmas morning. But as of next month it’ll be available to buy again, with the same 30 games pre-installed and a much more reasonable £50 price tag. But is it worth shelling out for a load of 30-year-old games, or has nostalgia had its wicked way with them? Let’s find out.

Design: a retro delight

At less than half the size of the original console, the Classic Mini looks like someone left a NES in the wash too long – but in a good way. Time has been kind to its achingly ’80s grey-grey colour scheme and unlike an Xbox One S or PlayStation 4 Pro, the Mini has a certain je ne sais quoi that draws admirers to it like flies to a honeypot, or cosplayers to a Comic-Con convention. You can easily tuck the thing underneath your TV at home or just plonk it on top of your modern-day console of choice.

Controller: tiny console, tiny leads

While the D-pad and A, B, Start and Select buttons that make up the bulk of its controller are adorably quaint, the 2m controller lead is genuinely annoying. Sitting on the floor in front of the TV was fun enough when you were a kid, but age has taught our sweet cheeks the virtues of a well-cushioned sofa. Wondering why this review doesn’t have our full five-star rating? This is the reason. Unless you invest in a pair of super-sized microUSB and HDMI cables there’s no way to play this thing at a healthy distance from your screen.

Setup: easy does it

Setting up the Classic Mini is a total doddle. You connect its supplied HDMI lead to your TV and hook up its microUSB cable with an AC adapter of your own – your phone charger should do the job. Then just turn it on. There’s no lengthy installation process or patches to download. The only extra tweak you may want to make is whether games are outputted to your TV in a Pixel Perfect, 4:3 or ultra-nostalgic CRT filter mode that wipes fake shading lines over your screen. It’s really that simple.

Games: all your old favourites

From Mega Man 2 to Castlevania, the Classic Mini offers an almost overwhelming number of, well, classics to dig into. And that’s before you account for slightly lesser known gems such as Kid Icarus and Ghosts ‘n Goblins. They’re all recreated completely faithfully too, right down to the strip of graphical discolouration along the side of the screen in Super Mario Bros. 3, although there is now a way to save your in-game progress in them all. That’s for the best, because some of them are seriously challenging but it’s an absolute treasure trove of brilliance.

Nintendo Classic Mini: Verdict

Big kids, actual kids and people who’ll claim to know better come flocking in the Nintendo Classic Mini’s direction once they’ve seen Donkey Kong playing on a TV screen. Just like it’s 1986 all over again. It’s this spirit of gleeful enthusiasm that the console captures so well. Even its ridiculously short controller leads can’t fully dent the joy of playing World 1-1 on Super Mario Bros. Those colours. That theme song. If you could do with some of that escapism, then £50 is a small price to pay for it. Stuff says: ★★★★