 | ||
The Classic NES Series, known in Japan as Famicom Mini Series (ファミコンミニ, Famikon Mini) and in Australia and Europe as NES Classics, are a series of Game Boy Advance games that were originally released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (the Family Computer and the Disk System in Japan) emulated on the Game Boy Advance.
A special edition Game Boy Advance SP, which has a similar color pattern to a NES controller (along with a Famicom counterpart in Japan), was released to go along with these games. In Japan, the color of the cartridges often matches the color of their original Famicom carts. In North America, all games in this series were released in a light gray cart made to resemble the default color of NES carts.
All of these games were released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Famicom in Japan.
The Jaleco releases in the series were found to use the PocketNES emulator. The author has stated he supports the decision and stated it as one of the reasons he used made the emulator Public Domain.
Reception
The series of reissues has received mixed reception. Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot complained that a Bomberman without multiplayer is "hardly a Bomberman at all." Metroid's inclusion in the series was considered redundant by Bob Colayco of GameSpot, since it was already included as an unlockable extra in the remake Metroid: Zero Mission (which was already a remake) as well as in Metroid Prime.
Some reviewers were annoyed that the Classic NES Series versions featured differences from the original. For example, Craig Harris complained that Xevious had an automatic firing setting, which changed the difficulty of the original. Reviewers also complained about the lack of the pie/cement level in Donkey Kong. In Super Mario Bros., the screen ratio aspect was altered, causing odd graphical appearances.
The prices of the Classic NES Series and previous rereleases were also criticized. Many reviewers noted that $20 was a high price for one game. Both GameSpot and IGN noted that Nintendo had given away The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for free in the Collector's Edition bonus disc, although they conceded that the Classic NES Series version was portable. However, reviewers consistently hailed Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and Dr. Mario as some of the games worth the cost of the cartridge.