Classic NES Series - Reception

Reception

• Bomberman: Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot complained that a Bomberman without multiplayer is "hardly a Bomberman at all."
• Metroid: Seen as redundant, since it was already included as an unlockable extra in the remake Metroid: Zero Mission as well as in Metroid Prime.
• Pac-Man: Previously released on Pac-Man Collection, which included Pac-Mania, Pac-Attack, and Pac-Man Arrangement. It was also released on the Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Edition, although the latter collections featured the arcade version rather than the NES version which was modified to fit a typical television screen.
• Excitebike, Donkey Kong, and Ice Climber have been previously released on the e-Reader at a fraction of the cartridge cost.

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 destroyed the difficulty of the original. Reviewers also complained about the lack of the pie/cement level in Donkey Kong (the pie level was in the arcade version, not the NES version, although reviewers still criticized it). 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 The Legend of Zelda as one of the games worth the cost of the cartridge.