Nintendo looks back to move forward with ‘NES Remix’ and ‘Dr. Luigi’

By Ryan Fleming Published December 18, 2013

Nintendo today announced a slew of new games, including a new twist on some of its old properties. Those include a new version of Dr. Mario starring Luigi – unsurprisingly titled Dr. Luigi – while anther is a collection of NES games reworked with new challenges, titled NES Remix. A new Chibi Robot for the 3DS was also unveiled, along with the Wii U exclusive mash-up of The Legend of Zelda and Dynasty Warriors: Hyrule Warriors.

One of Nintendo’s greatest strengths is, and always has been its vast library of games and properties. For what will soon be 30 years, the “House Mario Built” filled its vaults with classics going back as far as the 8-bit days, many of which still hold up in their original form. NES Remix takes sections of a dozen of those NES classics, and offers new challenges using the same game mechanics, graphics, even music, then lets you play them on the Wii U.

Recommended Videos

Yes, you read that right: NES Remix mashes together sections of many different games. You will not get the entire games – only select parts of them with some additions. Among the games remixed are: Excitebike, The Legend of Zelda, Ice Climbers, and many others that will ring bells in the deep corners of your memory.

The better you do in each challenge, the more stars you earn, which in turn unlocks more games with new sections to play. Some of those challenges include difficult things you could do before like getting a Hole-in-One in Nintendo’s aptly named 1984 classic Golf, while others are completely new and ask you to do things like reach the pole in Super Mario Bros. without any color to help you.

NES Remix is available now for the Wii U through the Nintendo eStore.

Continuing the “Year of Luigi,” Nintendo also showed off the new take on the old Dr. Mario puzzle game, which now stars Luigi. The game features a new game mode called “Operation L,” as well as the classic Tetris-like game. You’ll also be able to challenge friends online.

Dr. Luigi will be available for the Wii U through the eStore on January 15.

Nintendo also announced a new Chibi Robot for the 3DS, Chibi Robot: Photo Finder, which utilizes the 3DS’ camera. It will be available on January 9 through the eStore.

Former Gaming/Movies Editor

Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

Topics

Gaming

The best PlayStation launch games, ranked

best ps1 games sony ps1

The most important time in a console's life is its launch. This is when a new piece of hardware needs to prove that it is worth investing in, which always comes down to games. Launch titles are rarely the best games on the system, although some of Nintendo's launch games buck that trend, but at least need to show off what the system can do. PlayStation always had a secondary selling point with its consoles, such as doubling as a CD player or DVD player, so it is interesting to speculate how successful those early consoles would've been judged solely on their games. We now have launch titles from the PS1 all the way up to the PS5 (and soon to be PS6) to look back on with fresh eyes to see just how good those first games were.

Air Combat - PlayStation 1

Gaming

The Switch 2 is the perfect example of why console launches don’t feel special anymore

The Switch 2 being unboxed.

I will never forget the unbearable excitement I felt on that early morning on my 7th birthday. It was 1998, and Pokémon was the biggest thing in the world, especially for an elementary school kid like me. Except that I didn't have a single card or game to my name. In fact, I didn't even have a Game Boy. That, plus Pokémon, was the only thing I asked for that birthday, and I knew I would get it.

I can still remember lying awake half the night, unable to sleep while my imagination ran wild with unrealistic machinations of what the game would be like. I woke up just as early to the sounds of my parents and sister setting up decorations downstairs and bided my time before I could go down. It was a school day, but they could sense my excitement well in advance and agreed to let me open one thing before school.

Gaming

If the leaks are true, ROG Xbox Ally’s price could be anything but an ally

The ROG Xbox Ally UI.

There's still a lot we don't know about the ROG Xbox Ally, but a potential price has leaked that shatters any hope of it being affordable. First seen by 3djuegos on the ASUS Store, the ROG Xbox Ally was listed at 599 Euro (roughly $700 USD) while the ROG Xbox Ally X was listed for $899 Euro (roughly $1,050 USD). The listing appears to have been created by accident, but those price points raise eyebrows.

ASUS prices its own handheld PCs around that same price, with the 2023 ROG Ally landing at $500 and $650, depending on the version. While that's a reasonable price point compared to other handhelds on the market (like the $1,000 MSI Claw 8 AI+), it's still significantly more than a base-level Steam Deck.