Geeky Daddy Test Drives Nintendo NES Classic

This post is over a week behind thanks to Lil’ G-Man’s daycare unleashing Strep Throat, Pink Eye and other illnesses upon us.  That place is like a biological weapons factory. But we are getting back to health.

We got our NES Classic Edition from Amazon and couldn’t wait to relive happy memories from our childhood. For a review of a product this important, I brought in support in the form of classic Nintendo enthusiasts: Uncle Josh! Uncle Josh has forgotten more about Nintendo classics like Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros than I can pretend to know.

And now, the unveiling of the NES Classic Mini…

What surprised us most initially was the compact size of the NES Classic.  Very tiny and lightweight, aas Lil G-Man models below!

The NES Classic comes with the power cord, an HDMI cord, 1 controller and a cool vintage poster. The included controller comes with an extremely short cord, so to avoid serious vision damage gy sitting inches from the screen, we recommend purchased the controller extension cord.  You will also want a second controller to enjoy all the 2 player games such as super Contra (which in the video I mistakenly said was not included on the system. It is listed simply as “Super C”).

We purchased the TASYSZ (off brand) controller since it comes with a 12 ft controller cord, as opposed to Nintendo’s 6 ft cord.  It also cost $12.99 on Amazon as opposed to Nintendo’s steeper price of $39.95.  That’s 2/3 the cost of the unit for just the controller!

In the video below, we initially fire up the NES Classic and go for our first test drive.

After a couple hours of play (and reminiscing of our youth), we determined that some games were more fun than others. Super Mario, Dr. Mario and Excitebike were awesome.  Some games you remember as being cool but then revisiting them, you wonder why you ever thought that.  Kinda like going back as an adult and watching your favorite cartoon, listening to the horrible dialogue and wondering if you were a moron as a kid for finding it entertaining.

My overall opinion is the system is well worth the $59.95 price tag, but probably not the crazy inflated price some scalpers are trying to receive for it.  There is a certain nostalgic feeling playing the games on the Classic NES system as opposed to a mod on a PC or PS4.

There is something to be said for this system having such demand for it while the Sega Genesis Classic Game Console is still going for MSRP with no scalping demand.  Shows which system gamers would rather play.