Last year, Nintendo released NES Remix, a compilation of some remastered and rejiggered NES games that against all odds was pretty damn good. Earlier this year, they followed it up with NES Remix 2, that was even better. But maybe you haven’t played them yet. Maybe, for instance, you want to, but don’t want to support Nintendo’s account system and digital policy, which in spite of a few changes brought about recently, is still asinine and ass backwards.

Well, now you can play it anyway, because Nintendo is bringing both games to retail as part of a compilation. Entitled NES Remix 1+2, the games will be launching in North America this November, with no release date announced or even planned for European territories currently.

NES Remix is just the latest successful Nintendo eShop game that has gotten a physical release- other products include New Super Luigi U and Wii Sports Resort.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.

Series director of the NES Remix games, Koichi Hayashida, recently spoke to IGN about the NES Remix 2, and why it is going to be exclusive to the Wii U. The reason, he said, that the game isn’t going to be out for the 3DS as well is because he’s already worked on Super Mario 3D World and is familiar with the Wii U platform, and also because he and his tim wanted more “machine power” for the game.

“But, if you step into the shadows a bit more, in order to accomplish what we wanted with NES Remix, and get the effect we wanted out of it and the value that we wanted it to have, we needed some more machine power,” Hayashida said.

“I think the Wii U offered that up for us pretty easily, and it just would have been more difficult to do it for the 3DS,” he said. “I think that’s really the answer. It’s just that the Wii U had the machine power we were looking for in order for us to build the software we envisioned from the get go.”

NES Remix 2 releases for the Wii U in just two days, on April 25. Stay tuned for more updates.

At their Nintendo Direct presentation today, Nintendo announced several new digital games that would be coming to the Wii U- headlining this effort was the rather unexpected NES Remix 2, the sequel to last December’s NES Remix, a rather pleasant surprise that, as its title suggested, provided a new mix on classic NES games. This new game will focus on later games from the NES era, including Super Mario Bros. 3, Zelda 2, Metroid, and Kid Icarus.

Nintendo also discussed several indie games coming to the Wii U eShop at length, including games like 1001 Spikes, and Ubisoft’s beautiful Child of Light.

Finally, more than a year after first announcing it, Nintendo revealed that the Gameboy Advance would finally be coming to the Wii U Virtual Console this Spring, launching with noteworthy titles like F-Zero Maximum Velocity, Metroid Fusion, and Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.

All of these are certainly some great games for people who already own a Wii U to check out, although their ultimate system selling potential remains murky at best.

At first glance, that is what NES Remix looks like- yet another re-release of some classic NES games, broken down and thrown together in one hastily put together package and priced at a seemingly exorbitant $15. At first glance. First impressions can often be wrong, you see, as they are in this case. Because the more you play NES Remix, the more you realize that somehow, incredibly, Nintendo has taken the simplistic 8 bit efforts of the NES era and synthesized them into new, addictive games that will appeal to one and all.

"NES Remix takes a long list of classic Nintendo games- we're talking over fifteen games here- and breaks them down into themed 'minigames,' giving you objectives that take the expected mechanics of the game and turn them on their head, forcing you to rethink how you approach the games. "

NES Remix takes a long list of classic Nintendo games- we’re talking over fifteen games here- and breaks them down into themed ‘minigames,’ giving you objectives that take the expected mechanics of the game and turn them on their head, forcing you to rethink how you approach the games. You might be expected to kill a certain number of enemies within a given time limit, or you might be asked to navigate an existing stage with a new perspective. It’s basically a microcosmic look at these games that set the standard for the gaming industry for the decades to follow, examining all their mechanics and gameplay systems, and forcing players who are familiar with them to unlearn what they know and try again. It’s like meeting an old friend, who is still vaguely the same after all these years, but every time you get too comfortable with him, it turns out he has changed completely.

Of course, the impact of this will be almost entirely lost on you if you don’t have familiarity with these NES games in the first place- in that case, these will just come off as simplistic mini-games that might be admittedly addictive, but are ultimately nothing special (and certainly not worth the $15 asking price). And although even those who don’t have any context for the games on offer can extract significant mileage from the title because of its Angry Birds style star scoring system at the end of every level, on the whole, unless you are at least somewhat familiar with Nintendo’s history, you might be left feeling a bit cold.

If you are familiar with that history, though, NES Remix just works, and it tickles the imagination, constantly delighting, as you keep on playing, trying to figure out how your favorite game of yore has been reimagined and reinvented this time, and trying to master it once you do.

But all of that said, the true meat of the game comes from the titular ‘Remixes.’ These have to be unlocked, but once they are, they completely change the equation, forcing you to actually stop and marvel at the jarring incongruity on display. From having Link navigate Donkey Kong’s arcade level, with the impediment of not being able to jump, to having you play Super Mario Bros.’ World 1-1 during night time, there are no limits, as the developers gleefully break all the rules that the original games set for the player, make new ones, and throw the player into the deep end. The ‘Remixes’ are the star of the show, and especially for the long time Nintendo player, can almost justify the investment entirely by themselves.

"Ultimately, your mileage with NES Remix is entirely dependent on one thing above all- your familiarity with Nintendo's past and your nostalgia for it."

With over fifteen games and a ton of challenges that can take you anywhere from 10-15 hours to complete, NES Remix certainly seems to justify its asking price, especially for the player acquainted with Nintendo’s classic past. But there are some omissions that have been made, which are conspicuous by their absence. For instance, there is a definite missed opportunity for a multiplayer mode, local and online, and the accompanying leaderboards and the like. On the other hand, NES Remix embraces Nintendo’s Miiverse, and the Stamps achievement system, so it does add some concession for the player to return to the games and keep playing.

Ultimately, your mileage with NES Remix is entirely dependent on one thing above all- your familiarity with Nintendo’s past and your nostalgia for it. If you have these in any appreciable quantity, you will absolutely love NES Remix, and find it to be worth more than the $15 asking price. If you do not, then while you will still enjoy the quirky design on offer here, you probably will not find it to be your money’s worth, and would be best advised to wait for an eShop sale.

NES Remix is like a museum that has mucked around with its exhibits to great effect. It’s a wonderful, lunatic, quirky offering that offers Nintendo’s past through a new lens and new perspective, adding some substance to our nostalgia.

This game was reviewed on Wii U.