Nintendo Campus Challenge was a video game competition sponsored by Nintendo and held at nearly 60 college campuses and other events throughout the United States, including a Canadian Tour. There were two Campus Challenge events, one in 1991 and another in 1992.
Like Nintendo World Championships, the official event gave each player 6 minutes and 21 seconds to play in the contest, but there are three different minigames. The first minigame of the competition is Super Mario Bros. 3, where players must collect 25 coins. The next minigame is a version of Pin*Bot, where players must get 100,000 points. The final minigame is Dr. Mario, which lasts until the time expires. Once time expires, a player's score is totaled using the following formula:
- Super Mario Bros. 3 score times 10
- + PinBot score
- + Dr. Mario score times 100
The following advertisement was printed in Game Players Strategy Guide to Nintendo Games Vol. 4, issue #5:
"Ok, you should really be studying for that calculus test next week. And there's a paper due in English Lit. But who cares? The Nintendo Camps Challenge is coming! Nintendo of America is following up its hugely successful Nintendo World Champions with its first Nintendo Campus Challenge. During the next year, competitions will be held at 50 universities and popular spring break gatherings throughout the U.S. One lucky student will become the 'college valedictorian of videogames.' Contestants will play a special combination of three Nintendo games - Dr. Mario, Rad Racer, and Super Mario Bros. 3. There are categories for both men and women, and all finalists receive round-trip airfare to the January 1992 championship. Prizes include new cars and cash scholarships. Meanwhile, don't let those grades slide too badly."
Rad Racer was not used in the final version of the competition cartridge, as it had previously appeared on the Nintendo World Championships cartridge and that both games used a different mapper chip from what the 1991 Nintendo Campus Challenge uses.
