The NES Classic Edition was an instant hit and was almost impossible to track down after many eager fans bought it. In the month of November alone the NES CE sold over 196,000 units worldwide, and eventually reached 1.5 million very recently. A statistic on eBay also said that one was sold every 18 seconds.

There’s no doubt that a lot of nostalgic fans couldn’t wait to pick this up, evident of the console selling out in all stores within an hour. Is the cat-and-mouse game of tracking down the NES CE worth it?

It depends on what kind of person you are. First, we’ll look over the console’s strengths.

It is a simplistic plug-and-play console that takes just seconds to set up and start playing. Solo games throw you in without warning, leaving you to figure out the controls and your character’s purpose.

Multiplayer games are also a good feature. There are cooperative ones such as Super C, a difficult 2D shooter, and Double Dragon II: The Revenge, a “beat ‘em up” (aka brawler) game. There are also competitive games like Tecmo Bowl, a 2D birds eye view football game, and Dr. Mario, which is slightly like Tetris but instead you eliminate viruses.

Though the Classic Edition also has its flaws.

There has been criticism over the very short controller cord. The original NES controller measured 90 inches, though Nintendo wanted to stick with the mini theme. The Classic Edition  controller only measures 30 inches, forcing you to sit closer to the TV. There has also been criticism over emulation glitches, but they’re very minor.

Otherwise, the NES CE is definitely worth getting, especially if you’re into old games. NES games are a good mix of simple, quick, and difficult. It also allows you to try out games you’ve never played before. Two great examples for myself are Punch-out!! and Kirby’s Adventure, and there should be plenty of others if you get one of these for yourself.