Team Fremont.com-Messiah's Generation NEX Review

Messiah's Generation NEX

It’s hard to believe that the original Nintendo Entertainment System came out over twenty years ago. Sort of makes you feel old, doesn’t it? Yet here we are, older and possibly wiser. Despite how far gaming has come, there’s something about that NES that makes us want to go back, dust off our cartridges, and play. The problem is that it’s not always that easy. We’re all familiar with the ritual that goes along with playing our old NES games: blowing on the cartridge, as if that does any good. We blow on the cartridges, perform voodoo ceremonies with the reset button on the console, and even pull a Fonzie by trying to tap it in just the right place. I’m glad to say, those days are over thanks to Messiah and the Generation NEX.

The folks at Messiah have built a sturdy, sleek, and functional machine with the Generation NEX. It’s small, standing only an inch and half high, and looks like a miniature NES. Because of the dual slots, it’s able to play NES and Famicom games. We tested over fifty NES games on the NEX and, much to our surprise, each of them loaded up immediately. Of course, we don’t have every NES game ever made. Fortunately, Messiah has posted a compatibility list for you to check out here. (NOTE: While their list states that The Adventures of Dino Riki does not work, our copy played just fine. Castlevania III, however, gave us the green screen, as noted by Messiah.)

For $59.99, the Generation NEX comes with the game console, one wired controller, a sweet manual that includes a buyer’s guide, and one set of yellow, red, and white stereo cables.

The Generation NEX comes in a hard, plastic case, covered by a soft plastic bag. The console itself is on top, with the box containing the manual, controller, and cables resting underneath.

As you can see, the NEX is quite a bit smaller than the original NES model, though as illustrated in the second picture, the shot glass still towers above them all.

Above you can see how the NEX compares to a standard NES cartridge.

Messiah chose to redesign the controller, making it a chunky hybrid of the NES and SNES controller. The Start and Select buttons have been moved above the A and B buttons, replaced by a Turbo and Slow button. The “Slow” button simply activates and deactivates the “Pause” option in quick succession. You may also have noticed the Shoulder buttons. These simply duplicate the function of the A and B buttons, for those of you looking to use your trigger fingers with certain games. The “M” Messiah logo in the center of the controller actually lights up! Awesome!

We mentions the manual earlier, but it’s definitely worth taking a look at. Shaped like a NES cartridge, and coming in its own NES-style sleeve, the manual lists each and every NES game, as well as its standard value. The manual also lists every Famicom game ever made. Handy, indeed.

Above you can see how the console looks with an NES game inserted. Messiah wisely ditched the flip-top, “toaster”-style loading of the original NES for a simple insertion method. (Famicom games go in the slot on the top.) The games actually fit in quite snug, and are sometimes difficult to remove. But we’ll take that over faulty pins any day.

All in all, Messiah’s Generation NEX is quite an impressive product, and comes highly recommended, especially since some resellers are charging more than $60 for a dusty old NES that may or may not work every time. The great news is that all the old NES peripherals like the controllers, the Zapper, the Game Genie, and even the Power Glove all work with the NEX. Hell, even the Famicom Disk System works with the NEX! And Messiah has gone one step further by making a set of wireless controllers for the NEX.

For a mere sixty bucks, it’s hard not to give the Generation NEX our full recommendation. If you’re tired of having to perform all the crazy rituals every time you want to plug in your old NES, this console is a no-brainer. If you have more questions, be sure to check out their FAQ.

Article By: John