NES Quest Review

It’s not often that a documentary like this comes along. Ok, video game documentaries are pretty common but this is a bit more than meets the eye. At first when discovering the trailer by sifting through any NES related videos I could find on Youtube, I thought this trailer was some kind of elaborate April Fools joke because there’s no was such an epic movie premise like this could truly exist. It’s simple. One man. 667 NES games. 30 days. No internet purchases. Go!
Reflecting upon the two plus years I’ve feverishly spent getting most of my NES collection, just under 500 games currently, the concept was genius. The better part was the hook of can he make it in such a short time? “The clock’s always ticking and ultimately it’s the big boss at the end of this game.” The quest itself is a wild ride to watch and while every game is not shown and often prices are not given, it’s still fun to see Jay’s bartering skills grow with his collection. The top 20 games is a big focus of this half of the film, obtaining those milestone titles necessary. It’s also great to see that the game stores and collectors often worked to help Jay by lowering prices, giving him games, or even trading items they searched a lifetime for. This was great to see the heart of our retro community and how people come together in times of challenge to lift those in need to where they need to be. Since I don’t want to spoil anything, I’ll just say the actual quest itself is quite the ride, twists and turns, emotion, passion, and it’s a lot of fun to witness.
The other portion of the NES Quest focuses around gamers and the community explaining what exactly makes the NES so special. There’s a lot of great commentary on the matter by some top individuals and while I’m sure the special features flesh these out even more it leaves me wanting to hear more. Still, what’s here is great commentary on our community and the magic behind the NES and it’s understandable that some stuff had to be cut for run time as this is a movie after all. The nice 1 hour 32 minutes runtime is tightly packed, little to no filler, and it’s a joyful balance of the quest and these members of the community and their passion behind the games.
Overall, this is very enjoyable film. While a vast knowledge of the NES library helps to add some extra punch to that enjoyment, I’d argue without said knowledge the film does enough to teach you about its subject matter and get you invested either way. It’s well shot and produced, the cast is great and are very likable/ relatable, and the overall quality is high. Not only is it a fun and interesting documentary for hardcores like myself but also a great jumping off point to learn about the retro gaming community and the NES in general. It’s very unique and while you think you’ve seen it before with shows like Game Chasers, the different amount of knowledge these guys bring to the table is astounding.
I’m giving it an 8.5/10. Cheers to you Jay for making your goals and dreams come true as well as you Rob and the rest of you who made this film as it’s an excellent achievement and something I’m going to be returning to constantly as I climb the ladder to achieving my complete NES set.