Remixing old games is the perfect way to play NES and arcade classics
From Super Mario Bros. to Space Invaders, remixed old games can bring new life to classic games we once loved
When a games system enters its twilight years, you see accusations of filler and recycling. And that’s the case with Nintendo World Championships NES Edition for the Switch, which slices up 13 classic NES games into over 150 bite-sized challenges. In terms of reviews, the game has received what’s best described as a mixed response. Although remixing old games as a concept is fine with anyone but the most irritating purist, there have been questions about this particular title’s lack of content and the inability to play the included NES games in full.
Nintendo accountants might yell “MONEY!” when it comes to the last of those issues, and helpfully point to one of several paid avenues where you can rebuy Super Mario Bros. for the 47th time. But the general principle behind this kind of release excites me. It’s nothing new – in every sense. Beyond NES games themselves being old, remix culture has been part of gaming since its earliest days. Yet by creating new ways to frame an old game, you can bring freshness and excitement to dusty old gameplay you’d otherwise be reluctant to trudge through one more time.
Infinite lives
I first got a taste for remixing old games in the 1980s. Every month, games magazines would provide substantial tips sections. You’d reset your machine, type in some POKEs, and cheat your way to victory. For the most part, you’d bludgeon your way to the end of a game. But now and again, something would rock up that was properly transformative.
I distinctly remember a Jet Set Willy II cheat where you could pause the game, cunningly move the protagonist, and continue. This removed the frustration from what was a very annoying game, and let you explore its surreal weirdness at leisure. Another notorious platformer, Rick Dangerous, was even worse, giving you no warning of its many traps. But with infinite lives, a creaky old game languishing on a shelf became a frenetic time-attack classic.
Of those directions, speed rather than noodly tranquility was what the industry settled on. Concentrated shots of gameplay that wisely don’t dwell on dated experiences that are fundamentally limited. Hence WarioWare and NES Remix reheating nuggets of Nintendo in a manner that in isolation would have been rubbish, yet in quick succession were a blast.
Space Invader
Arguably, though, a service with a lack of Nintendo does the best remixing of old games. Antstream is an oddball – a monthly fee for access to a bunch of retro games. These are streamed rather than squirting ROMs to your device, meaning you use oodles of bandwidth to play a game whose original binary was smaller than a JPEG. But that lets Antstream expand games in meaningful ways. The most obvious: global high scores. The best: challenges.
These again take classic (and, frankly, not-so-classic) old games and upend them. Spelunker and Space Invaders gain new tension as single-life challenges. Bubble Bobble asks how long you can survive with a parched dino unable to blow bubbles. Metal Slug skips to the end, giving you boss battles back-to-back until your thumbs beg for mercy.
It’s stupidly addictive. Moreover, it deals with all those problems with old games. Too much exposure to old titles can smash rose-tinted glasses. Most people don’t really want to wade through entire decades-old games, but are keen to revisit the best bits. So slam the lack of authenticity. Call it the TikTokification of classic games. But rather than nursemaid a rubbish team in Speedball 2 for hours, I’m much happier meeting the challenge of belting as many players as possible with an electro-ball before the timer runs out.
Craig Grannell
Contributor 
