Nintendo plans third run of NES Classics

Zelda II, Metroid, Kid Icarus and, er, Super Mario Bros. 2 on the way. Famicom Mini, eh? At least it wears its obsolescence on its sleeve.

Image credit: Eurogamer

News by Tom Bramwell Former Editor-in-Chief

Updated on 7 Jul 2004

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Nintendo is planning to release a third batch of Famicom Mini titles in Japan on August 10th, according to reports on Game Watch and elsewhere this week. Priced around 2,000 yen (less than €20) the new range takes in a number of Famicom Disc System titles, and includes the likes of Metroid, Castlevania and Kid Icarus.

The Famicom Mini series, which Nintendo originally dreamt up as a way of celebrating the Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System's 20th anniversary, continues to prove highly popular in Japan, where the latest batch of releases brings the total number of titles available to 30.

Nintendo is only now attempting to kick the series into life in the West, with the first ten titles (including Bomberman, Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros.) already available in the States and due out in Europe this Friday under the "Classic NES Series" banner, priced £14.99 apiece (with a matching NES-themed Game Boy Advance SP unit launching at the same time).

Interestingly, this latest batch of Famicom Mini titles begins by retreading the same ground as Nintendo's own series of GBA Mario remakes - Vol.21 is none other than Super Mario Bros. 2, which launched as Super Mario Advance alongside the handheld back in 2001, in Japan as well as the West. The justification presumably being that Famicom Mini is a collector's series, and collectors want originals, not revamps. Whether these titles will ever make it out in the US and Europe, however, probably depends on the success of the first batch.

The full list of titles, with thanks to Game Watch and The Magic Box, follows: