Nintendo is banking on the retro game boom for the holiday season with the announcement of a miniature NES plug-and-play system.
The company announced the release of the NES Classic Edition in a press release issued earlier today. The system marks the first time that Nintendo has ever released a plug-and-play device featuring built-in games. The system is set to feature 30 classic NES games, including all three Super Mario Bros. games, both Legend of Zelda games, Kirby’s Adventure and Metroid. It will also feature several games from third-parties, which are normally not included on plug-and-play devices, including SquareEnix’s Final Fantasy and Konami’s Super C.
The system, which reembles a miniaturized version of the original North American release Nintendo Entertainment System, features an HDMI cable, a power adapter and a replica controller. The controller, which will also work on the Wii and Wii U, will also be available to purchase separately from the system. The system will include an in-game save feature on applicable games, but will not accept original NES cartridges.
Other devices, featuring games from Atari, Sega, SNK and Namco, have been released over the past decade, but the NES system differs from those by being developed in-house by Nintendo instead of being licensed out to a third-party manufacturer such as At-Games.
The NES Classic Edition will be released in the United States on November 11 and will retail for $59.99.
The system will also launch on the same day in the United Kingdom, where it will be released under the name Nintendo Classic Mini and will feature the same lineup of games. According to Nintendo UK, the British release will include a USB cable, but not the AC Adapter packaged with the system in the United States and will needed to be purchased separately. No retail price has been announced for the British version of the system and no other markets have been announced as of press time.
Check out the list of games that the system will include below (all release dates are below are the North American dates):
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Balloon Fight (1985, Nintendo)
Bubble Bobble (1988, Taito)
Castlevania (1987, Konami)
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (1988, Konami)
Donkey Kong (1986, Nintendo)
Donkey Kong Jr. (1986, Nintendo)
Double Dragon II: The Revenge (1990, Acclaim)
Dr. Mario (1990, Nintendo)
Excitebike (1985, Nintendo)
Final Fantasy (1987, Square)
Galaga (1988, Bandai/Namco)
Ghosts ‘n Goblins (1986, Capcom)
Gradius (1986, Konami)
Ice Climber (1985, Nintendo)
Kid Icarus (1987, Nintendo)
Kirby’s Adventure (1993, Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda (1987, Nintendo)
Mario Bros. (1986, Nintendo)
Mega Man 2 (1989, Konami)
Metroid (1987, Nintendo)
Ninja Gaiden (1989, Konami)
Pac-Man (1993, Bandai/Namco) (it’s unlikely that this is the 1989 Tengen release)
Punch Out!! featuring Mr. Dream (1990, Nintendo) (this is not the original 1987 release Mike Tyson’s Punch Out!!)
StarTropics (1990, Nintendo)
Super C (1990, Konami)
Super Mario Bros. (1985, Nintendo)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988, Nintendo)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990, Nintendo)
Tecmo Bowl (1989, Tecmo)
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1988, Nintendo)
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