Retro News
October2022
Feature From Hypnosis To Farts, What Happened To The Wario We Met 30 Years Ago?
Three decades since his Super Mario Land 2 debut
30 years ago, we clutched our Game Boys in our sweaty palms and gasped in collective awe at the majesty we were faced with when Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins dropped on the scene. Not only did we have an absolute banger in our hands — completely outdoing the first Mario Land in every respect...
Poll What's The Best Mario Party Game?
Which entry deserves the most stars?
Ahh, Mario Party. The destroyer of friendships. The ice-breaker. The game you get out every holiday season, lose at, only to hide it away for another 365 days but hold a grudge for a lifetime. The Mario Party series has been going since 1998 on the Nintendo 64, causing family squabbles and fabled rivalries ever...
News Unreleased Mario Kart XXL Tech Demo For Game Boy Advance Surfaces Online
DNF
Nintendo preservation website Forest of Illusion has acquired the "infamous" Mario Kart XXL tech demo - a pitch by Denaris Entertainment Software for the Game Boy Advance, dating back to April 2004. It's now been made available to download. The German development studio (founded by Turrican creator Manfred Trenz) originally showcased the game...
Random 90s Video Game Voucher Shows Alternate Mario 64 And Sonic 3D Blast Box Art
Finally featuring Bowser!
Earlier on this week we enjoyed getting a look at the original 'Black Box' designs for some classic NES titles, and now we can do the same for the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Mega Drive. The designs in question can be found on an old video game voucher for Sears, offering money off a select number of titles. In the image,...
Review Pilotwings 64 - A Real Gem, Sparkling In The Shadow Of Mario 64
Top flight
This review originally went live in 2013, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in Switch's N64 library via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Releasing alongside Super Mario 64 when the Nintendo 64 launched back in 1996 (1997 if you're European), it was somewhat inevitable that Pilotwings 64 was...
News You'll Be Able To Play Pokémon Mini On The Analogue Pocket Soon
A Pokémon party in your pocket
The Analogue Pocket platform has become a hub for a bunch of wonderful cores that allow us to play classics in the palm of our hands — literally. Now, it looks like a pretty unusual FPGA core is coming to the system: the Pokémon Mini, a tiny little handheld console that launched in 2001. Time Extension spotted the...
News Two Unreleased NES Games Surface On eBay, Could Go For "Thousands"
A Napoleon RTS and a Power Glove game by Rare
Two unreleased NES games have been listed on eBay. The first is a prototype cartridge of a game called Battlefields of Napoleon (including all of the original packaging design), and the second one is a demo of a Nintendo Power Glove game developed by Rare. Napoleon was never released locally, but a...
News Capcom Begins Mega Man's 35th Anniversary Celebrations With Logo Reveal
More Mega
There are a lot of classic video game franchises celebrating milestones this year, and joining them is Capcom's blub bomber, Mega Man. December 17, 2022 will mark the iconic character's 35th anniversary. In the lead-up to this, Capcom has unveiled the official logo along with the first collaborative product - a t-shirt by the clothing...
Random The Original 'Black Box' Art For NES Zelda Resurfaces, And Link Is Happy
A link to the past
Perhaps producing one of the most iconic box art layouts in Nintendo history, the NES Black Box titles have grown to become synonymous with at-home arcade gaming and all that is retro. Released between 1985 and 1987, the series consists of 30 games including certified classics such as Duck Hunt, Excitebike and Donkey Kong Jr.;...
News Mortal Kombat Celebrates 30 Years Of Fatalities, Friendships And Flawless Victories
"Thank you to all of the fans"
The fighting genre is about to enter the next generation with games like Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6. One other series, in particular, that's played a huge part in evolving the scene over the years is the violent and bloody Mortal Kombat. It also led to the formation of the ESRB in the US, which saw age ratings...
Guide Best James Bond Games, Ranked - Switch And Nintendo Systems
Nobody does it better
Remember, the ranking below is not set in stone, but is governed in real-time by each game's User Score on our games database. If you haven't assigned a score to any of the games below, simply log in and tap on the star in each of the banners below to score the game out of ten and exert your influence on the ranking. Enjoy!...
News The N64 Encyclopedia Offers Nintendo Fans An Exhaustive Overview Of The 64-Bit Era
Over 400 games covered
It seems the hardest-working man in games journalism has struck again! Yes, Chris Scullion — features editor over at VGC, formerly of Official Nintendo Magazine UK, and Nintendo Life contributor extraordinaire (most recently giving EA's FIFA series a fitting send-off for us) — is back again with another entry in his...
News Unreleased 'Dune' GBA Game Is Finally Available To Buy, But With A New Name
Spicy
Following on from its Kickstarter campaign last year, Pixel Games UK has released the previously-cancelled Dune GBA game — called Frank Herbert’s Dune: Ornithopter Assault — on Steam under a brand new name. Spotted by @TheSpaceShipper on Twitter (via Time Extension), the newly-titled E
September2022
News Star Fox 2 Made Its Debut On The SNES Classic Console Five Years Ago
You can now play it on the Switch Online service
The Star Fox series has been a staple of Nintendo systems since the Super Nintendo era, but there was one game in the series that went missing during this generation - Star Fox 2. While the game was mostly ready to go by 1995, by then PlayStation had entered the market and the N64 was just around the...
News SNK Celebrates Art Of Fighting 30th Anniversary With A New Illustration
The original game launched in 1992
Last week SNK celebrated Art of Fighting's 30th anniversary. This particular fighter was first released for Neo Geo and arcades in September 1992. It helped pave the way for the genre and eventually got a second game (1994) and third game (1996). SNK shared this special occasion by sharing a new drawing by SNK...
Anniversary Dragon Quest V Is 30 Years Old Today
The best Dragon Quest?
One of the Super Famicom's most-celebrated RPGs turns 30 today in Japan. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride was the series' first game on the 16-bit console, and even today, Dragon Quest V is fondly remembered, despite the game not receiving an official Western release until its 2009 DS port. The Super Famicom (or...
News You Can Now Play NES Games On The Analogue Pocket
SNES functionality also recently made available
Here's something for retro gaming fans to celebrate this morning — thanks to Adam Gastineau, you can now play NES games on your Analogue Pocket. This tiny little handheld device can already play a number of retro handheld games with FPGA accuracy, and now you can add the 8-bit Nintendo console to...
Talking Point Where Are All The Lord Of The Rings RPGs On Console?
Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a RPG
The year was 2002. Peter Jackson was about to release the second instalment in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, EA had bagged the rights to the video game adaptations of the films and Vivendi was just about to release its own console adaptation, not of the New Line Cinema property, but adapted directly from...
Random Unseen Screens Of Cut Super Mario 64 Stage Found In 1996 Nintendo Report
But wait, there's more!
Always ready to unpack a little more of Nintendo's history, a collaboration between preservation site Forest of Illusion, @Render_Archive and @Nintoid has amounted in the upload of a long sought-after Nintendo Company Report from 1996. The edition includes a wealth of nostalgic gaming material from sales reports to upcoming...
News Footage Of Perfect Dark's Cut Feature 'Perfect Head' Emerges Online
Heads rolled
We often laud Rare's incredible library of games on the N64, and while the focus has recently been on its seminal movie tie-in shooter GoldenEye 007 over the past week, we want to turn your attention to Perfect Dark for just a few minutes. Footage of one of the game's cut features from E3 1999 has been shared online. As highlighted by...
News La-Mulana Director To Remake Obscure Konami MSX IP After Winning Contest
The Maze of Galious returns
La-Mulana series director Takumi Naramura has proven his chops at creating games inspired by the MSX computer, and now it looks like he's going to get his hands on one of the most well-known games on the system. The director has won a competition run by Konami to have the chance at remaking the 1987 classic, The Maze of...
News Switch Online Versions Of Pokémon Stadium 1 & 2 Won't Support Transfers
Read the fine print
At the latest Nintendo Direct broadcast, the next batch of games coming to the Switch Online N64 service were revealed. Apart from titles like Mario Party, and the long-rumoured return of GoldenEye 007, Nintendo also confirmed Pokémon Stadium and its sequel Pokémon Stadium 2 would be
News More N64 Games Are Coming To The Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack
Yes, including THAT one
Nintendo has announced that a new batch of Nintendo 64 games will be coming to the Expansion Pack tier of its Nintendo Switch Online subscription service. As detailed in the latest Nintendo Direct for September 2022, the following eight titles — as well as the long-rumoured return of GoldenEye 007
Poll What's The Best Contra Game? Rate Your Collection And Help Us Find Out
Run 'n' Rank!
This week marks the 30th anniversary of Contra III: The Alien Wars (or Super Probotector: Alien Rebels) on the SNES in Europe. That's crazy, right? Despite Konami's rather lacklustre attempt to revitalise the franchise with Contra: Rogue Corps in 2019, we here at Nintendo Life still have a spot in our hearts for the run 'n' gun shooter...
PSA Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 Is Now Available To Pre-Order In The UK
Be quick, supplies will be low!
The Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 has been made available for pre-order in the UK and Europe, exclusively through Amazon. At the time of writing, the price of the console has been set at £104.99, which bizarrely is actually more expensive than North America, where it's currently priced at $99.99 (Update: as mentioned in...
Random Bob-omb Battlefield Gets Added To 'GoldenEye With Mario Characters' Mod
It's-a Bond, James-a Bond
In celebration of GoldenEye 007's 25th anniversary last month, a diehard Mario fan, known on YouTube as StupidMarioBros1Fan, sought to remake the game with Super Mario 64 characters at the helm. The result was fantastic — in a kind of deeply horrifying way — and the team has now dropped an update to the PC fan game...
August2022
Feature 12 Nintendo Games That Deserve An HD-2D Remake
Pretty in pixels
HD-2D has become the new lofty bar for retro-inspired RPGs or remakes of our favourite Super Nintendo RPGs. Square Enix's new trademark visual style started with 2018's Octopath Traveler and has also been used in this year's strategy RPG Triangle Strategy. But, arguably, its true potential has been realised in the stunning remake of...
Random This New PC Platformer Is Designed To Be Played With DK Bongos
And it's free!
Nintendo has long been a pioneer of creative controllers. There was, of course, the Wii remote which revolutionised mainstream motion-based gaming, the N64 controller which finally let you play a game with three hands, and, the crème de la crème, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat's DK Bongos. Many of us still have a pair or two of these...
News The 'Unofficial Strider Sequel' Cannon Dancer Is Finally Coming To Consoles
Step and stride
As we're only weeks away from this year's Tokyo Game Show, we're starting to find out what games developers and publishers will be showing off at the annual convention. And amidst Konami's line-up — which includes multiple Yu-Gi-Oh! games, Super Bomberman R 2, and Coffee Talk Episode 2 — is the surprise return of a forgotten...
News 'Jumping For Joy' Leaps Into Platforming History, With Plenty For Nintendo Fans To Enjoy
Jump up, jump up and get down
If you're looking to explore the history of Nintendo and its games, Chris Scullion, video games journalist extraordinaire and Nintendo Life contributor no less, is a go-to expert in the field. Having worked at Official Nintendo Magazine back in the day, he's already got several tomes' worth of facts and figures for you...
Watch How To Get Good At Collecting Retro Video Games (Without Breaking The Bank)
Time to haggle!
Video gaming has to be one of the more expensive hobbies out there, right? Other than, like, yacht collecting or space travel, of course, but out of the normal hobbies, it's up there. Games themselves tend to cost anywhere from $20 to 80, and that's before you get into things like physical versions and collector's editions and DLC...
News Chibi-Robo Director Doesn't Think Skip Ltd Will Release Another Entry In The Series
"Most of the staff have moved on to other companies"
There's nothing quite like Chibi-Robo. The teeny, tiny little robot came out late in the GameCube's lifespan in the west and never really got the love he deserved. We never forgot about him at least, but it's been a quiet few years since developer Skip Ltd and Chibi-Robo have plugged into...
Random What Do You Mean Super Mario's Donut Blocks Aren't Based On Donuts?
"Jelly-filled are my favourite"
Donut blocks. We all know them, and we all either love them or hate them as they collapse under the weight of our platforming plumber Mario. These platforms have been around since Super Mario Bros. 3, always waiting to lure us in with the safety of a flat surface, before falling and taking us Mario to his demise...
News 20th Super Mario Kart Championships Start Their Engines On Twitch Today
Off to the races
We are rapidly approaching the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Kart's Japanese release on the Super Famicom, but what if we told you that there is another SMK-adjacent anniversary happening today? We are, of course, talking about the Super Mario Kart Championships, which will be racing off the start line today in its 20th year of...
Random Vintage Nintendo Playing Card Opening Ends In Disaster For Collector
“I cannot overstate how excited I was"
We've covered Nintendo's history a lot here at NL, and not just the video game side. At this point, it's pretty well known that before Nintendo jumped into gaming, it was well known for producing handmade hanafuda playing cards. And if you're a hardcore Nintendo collector, you'll likely want to get your hands...
News This Stealth GameCube Mod Allows You To Play With Any Bluetooth Controller
Pre-orders now available
The GameCube might not have had the same widespread appeal as the PlayStation 2 or the original Xbox, but it was still an amazing gaming system. One thing it arguably did better than other systems at the time was wireless controllers - with the Wavebird considered by many as the pioneer of modern wireless gamepads. If you...
Poll So, Wave Race 64 Or Blue Storm - Which Is Best?
Or are you a GB purist?
The arrival of Wave Race 64 on Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack has been the cause of much celebration in the Nintendo Life office. Those water physics have the power to impress some two-and-a-half decades on, and it still handles like a dream. If you've never played the game — or if you're a PAL...
Guide SEGA Genesis Mini 2 Games List - Every Mega Drive And SEGA CD Game, All 61 Titles
Sega's latest mini console is out now
Following the success of its original Mega Drive / Genesis Mini, Sega has officially launched a second iteration of the miniature console, dubbed the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis 2. Our friends over at Time Extension managed to get extensive hands-on time with the new system and have published their thoughts in a...
Review Wave Race 64 - A Thrilling Racer That's Still Deeply Impressive
Splash wave
This review originally went live in 2016, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival on Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Wave Race was not a well-known series prior to its arrival on the Nintendo 64. Actually, it wasn't a series at all, but rather a single release: a top-down racer on...
Random This Prototype Transforms Your Switch Into A Home Arcade Cabinet
Nintendo Switch XL
One of the most appealing features of the Switch when it was first released back in 2017 was its ability to be played in both handheld and docked mode. But what if there was another way to play? This is a question that seems to have plagued the incredibly talented designers over at Passocade, and what they came up with is surely...
Random Masahiro Sakurai Updated His Awesome Gaming Setup, Here's A Look
What's up with the Switch dock?
When he's not making huge games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, video game director Masahiro Sakurai is actually playing them. Yes, as you've likely already seen before, he's got an extensive collection of consoles and games (new and old). In a new post on social media, it seems Sakurai has updated his gaming space...
Feature Mega Man, Crash Bandicoot, And Gex - The '90s Inspirations Behind 'Frogun'
We'll tell you what we want, what we really really want
Why is that '90s and 2000s fashion coming back as a new trend is so utterly distressing to those of us that were there, but '90s and '00s video game aesthetics resurfacing is a good thing? We don't have answers for you, but we do have Frogun, a charmingly goofy action-platformer game that...
News Super Punch-Out!! Hidden Two-Player Mode Discovered 28 Years Later
No hacks or mods required
There's been a historic discovery made within the 1994 Super Nintendo release Super Punch-Out!! today. A Twitter account known as 'Unlisted Cheats' has uncovered a hidden two player mode in the game. To access this option, on the game's start screen you'll have to hold the 'Y' and 'R' buttons on the second player's...
News Sega's Latest Mini-Console Is Cute, But Reviewers Are Complaining Of Bad Lag
Bad news for shmups
Sega's latest mini-console, the Astro City Mini V, has just been released, bringing 22 vertical shmups to people who may not have had access to many of these Japan-only, arcade-only titles before... but, let's be realistic, this teeny-tiny little cabinet is for the kind of hardcore arcade nerds that can afford to drop $180 on...
News GAME's 'Home Arcade' Range Lets You Build The Arcade Of Your Dreams
Pac-Man, Galaga, Space Invaders and more!
UK retailer GAME has kicked off a new 'The Home from Home Arcade' campaign in partnership with Arcade1Up, a manufacturer of officially licensed arcade cabinets. If you've ever wanted to create the arcade of your dreams in your spare room, or even just pick up a full-size cabinet to plonk in your lounge,...
News SNK Announces Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol.2, Coming Soon
"More info" is on the way
SNK has announced Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol.2 is "coming soon". No platforms have been revealed just yet, but the Switch is in with a good chance after the first volume was released on the platform last year. There's no word on the lineup of games this volume will include at the moment, but we're likely to see...
News There's Now A New Classic Console To Keep Your LEGO NES Company
Update: LEGO Atari now available
Update: The LEGO Atari is now available to purchase, available directly from LEGO's website. It may not be Nintendo hardware, but we have to say they've done a beautiful job or replicating Atari's woody classic. Here are the links you need: <products id="19770"> Original Article (Tue 19th Jul, 2022 17:30...
July2022
News Sega Genesis Mini 2 Stock Expected To Be In Short Supply Locally
Global semiconductor shortages are to blame
If you're hoping to secure a Sega Genesis Mini 2 when it arrives in North America this October, you might want to act fast. This system, loaded with over 50 classic games including Sega CD titles, is expected to be in short supply. Ars Technica reached out to Sega's main office and received confirmation...
News Nintendo DS Firmware 'Prototype' Reveals System's Unique Boot Up Sound Effect
It even works on "real hardware"
Nintendo preservation website Forest of Illusion has managed to acquire another rare piece of gaming history. It's been able to archive a Japan prototype of the Nintendo DS X4 firmware - recovered from an X4 prototype unit. According to the source, "just about every aspect of this version is different from the final...
Feature SEGA's Astonishing GameCube Rebound Following Defeat In The Console Wars
How SEGA turned its fortunes around and made friends with Nintendo
For gamers old enough to remember the turn of the century, the console landscape looked very different from how it does today. Everyone was excited for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo was getting the GameCube ready to succeed the Nintendo 64. Microsoft's Xbox was also in development...
News Analogue Pocket's Major Beta Update Is Live, Here's What's New
Memories! OpenFPGA! SpaceWar!
Analogue's major beta update to its handheld console, the Analogue Pocket, is finally live for users to download, and introduces much anticipated additions to the experience including Memories, Libraries, and openFPGA, Analogue's developer program. Detailed in an announcement post from Analogue itself, the biggest...
News Say Hello To Time Extension, The Newest Member Of Our Network
If you like classic gaming, you'll love this...
As you'll no doubt be aware, Nintendo Life is just one of three sites we operate here at Hookshot Media. We also operate Push Square and Pure Xbox, but it's been quite some time since we launched an entirely new site – but that changed this week. Say hello to Time Extension, the newest member of the...
Random N64 Cart Album Composer Returns With A Funky GBA Follow-Up
Transport yourself back in time
Remute is back with another unique album release, but this time on a different console. The musician released an album on an N64 cartridge earlier this year, and he's followed this release up with a fantastic-sounding GBA cartridge. Yep, your tiny little Game Boy Micro (or whatever model of GBA, but we're going extra...
Random This Fan's Enormous Nintendo Collection Makes All Others Look Tiny
Years in the making
We at Nintendo Life love a good collection, but YouTuber Nintendo Downunder has truly blown us away. In a video uploaded yesterday, the mega fan shows off his collection of Nintendo consoles, games and accessories which is enough to keep even the biggest fan's jaw firmly on the floor for a long time. The video is the creator's...
News You Can Now Play Steam Games Using Your Retro Switch Controllers
Retro is the way forward
Steam received a brand new update yesterday that might interest some of you who own one (or multiple) of the Switch's retro controllers. VGC reports that Valve's digital platform now supports the NES, SNES, N64, and Mega Drive / Genesis controllers. So you can play classics like Glover, multiple Mega Drive games, Chrono...
News There's A Brand New Game Boy Platformer Coming Out This Summer
Pre-orders for Lost Terminal are now available
PixelHeart, the publisher behind Guns of Mercy and Liberated, has announced that its next game is to be compatible with Game Boy systems. Yes, you read that correctly, a brand new game is coming to the Game Boy in 2022. Developed by Maxime Schutz, Lost Terminal is an underworld-set platformer and it...
News This Game Boy-Inspired Handheld Is A Budget Answer To Modern-Day Retro Gaming
Cheap and cheerful chip tunes
If you're a fan of all of these new retro handhelds but don't quite have the budget for them, then we might just have the thing for you today. RGhandhelds today revealed the Retro Pixel Pocket, a little Game Boy-esque machine with four buttons and a clear casing that is just what it says it is — pocket-sized! The...
News Forgotten Gem 'Avenging Spirit' Is Making Its Way To Nintendo Switch
Game BOOy Horror
Right, get this — you're out on a nice date with your girlfriend until, annoyingly, you get horribly murdered by a crime syndicate. Now you're a ghost, and you have to team up with your girlfriend's dad to rescue her from said syndicate, but wait! There's more! The syndicate are one step ahead of you, because they're researching...
Random See How The World's Biggest Working Nintendo DS Was Created
Supersize Mii
We've all heard of the phrase 'go big or go home,' right? Well YouTuber and all-round tech wizard, Bigrig Creates, seems to have fully embodied its message with his latest video in which he assembles the world's biggest Nintendo DS. Sharing the video on his YouTube channel, BigRig assembles the system's iconic dual screens by...
Soapbox Correcting A Horrifying 15-Year Mistake By Finally Playing Elite Beat Agents
They don’t make rhythm games as bizarre as they used to
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've got on their minds. Today, Lowell makes amends for a poor life choice and finally gets down with that funky, funky beat... Rewind with me all the way back to...
Random Have You Seen This Cute, Unreleased Precursor To The Top Loader NES?
What could have been...
The North American version of the top-loading NES-101 All the way back in 1988, Nintendo would show to the media a brand new piece of hardware that would eventually become the Super Famicom, or the Super NES in the West. It was an exciting time for the gaming community as Nintendo entered the 16-bit era, though it seems...
Review Pokémon Puzzle League - A Thrilling Puzzler And A Heavy Nostalgia Hit
Panel de Pokémon
This review originally went live in 2008, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival on Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. For those who have dabbled with Puzzle League, this is obvious information, but please bear with us. Tetris Attack, the SNES game, was a westernized version of...
News Namco Shmup Dragon Saber Is This Week's Arcade Archives Game
Dragon flight
If you love a good vertical shoot 'em up - Hamster's Arcade Archives collection has you got covered this week. The latest release for this library on the Switch is the 1990 Namco title, Dragon Saber. It's a sequel to Dragon Spirit, released in arcades back in 1987. In this game, the Huey and Siria, who have been transformed into...
News SEGA Genesis Mini 2 Confirmed For North American Release This October
Blasting to the West with SEGA CD games
Sega has announced that it's bringing the Genesis Mini 2 mini console to North America on 27th October. The mini console — which follows the original Mega Drive Mini and includes more Genesis titles and SEGA CD games to boot — was previously confirmed only for Japan, but we'll be enjoying the 50+ games it...
Random Voice Of Zelda In CD-i Games Would Love To Return To The Role
She's currently working on a homage to the CD-i series
The Legend of Zelda CD-i games might not have had much going for them, but one thing that was arguably impressive was the voice acting. Bonnie Jean Wilbur was the original Princess Zelda in the series - providing the voice for the character in the 1993 Philips CD-i releases Link: The Faces of...
Poll What's The Best Mario Kart Game?
Rate them Rainbow Roads
Some of us here at Nintendo Life Towers are convinced that your favourite Mario Kart game is simply the one you played first with three other players in the same room — or just one other player if you were there at the very beginning with Super Mario Kart on Super NES. We tend to think this because while we can all agree...
Random We Need To Play This Gorgeous Fan-Made Super Mario RPG Remake Now
A thing of beauty
Back in the '90s, whoever thought that Nintendo would team up with JRPG giants Square Enix (then known as Square or Squaresoft) to create a Mario RPG starring the Italian plumber, Princess Peach, and Bowser? Not us! But they did, and we're forever grateful for the existence of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Despite...
Random This Fan-Made Mini TV With A Built-In Super NES Is Totally Adorable
Bite-sized classic gaming with a TV to match
One of our favourite console peripherals is the Joytech GameCube screen, a little attachable screen for the little box-shaped console that turned it into a portable console of sorts. Lots of mods for other consoles have been inspired by this little add-on, but today, we have something extra dinky that...
Review Zero Tolerance Collection (Switch) - A Significant 16-Bit FPS That's Hard To Take These Days
Virtual neutrality
Thanks to ray casting, an early form of graphics processing that allowed the rendering of a 2D map as a pseudo-3D environment, Zero Tolerance, a true First-Person Shooter, arrived on Sega’s Mega Drive in 1994. What makes Zero Tolerance Collection significant — particularly for fans of the original — is its boast of...
News Creator Of Philips CD-i Game 'Hotel Mario' Talks Getting Approval From Nintendo
"They were pleased as far as I knew"
The Philips CD-i is one of the rare consoles that has the distinction of having played host to a few officially licensed Nintendo games. And not just any old Nintendo licenses, either, but Zelda and Mario. The latter of the two only got one game on the system — Hotel Mario, which is often considered one of the...
News Microsoft Renews Trademark For Rare's Classic N64 Game Blast Corps
Viva Piñata, too
Video game trademark renewals are always happening, and while they don't necessarily mean something is on the horizon, they do tend to create some excitement whenever it's a classic game or series we haven't heard about for some time. The latest ones, as highlighted by Game Rant, are tied to iconic British developer Rare - owned...
Random Witness The Star Trek DS9 Intro In Glorious 64-Bit, Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Style
It is not linear
A little while ago we covered the incredible work of @SpinaSanctuary and their Zelda 64-inspired, low-poly Star Trek creations. The last batch focused on the crew of the USS Enterprise from Star Trek: The Next Generation, rendering them in brilliantly blocky 64-bit form with a variety of instruments — Data with his violin, Riker...
Random This Incredible Super NES Manual Archive Will Get You All Nostalgic
All 844 English language manuals
We really miss physical game manuals. There was always a particular kind of joy that came from opening the box of a brand new video game and flicking through the pages of a manual to find out what the game was going to be like. Some of our favourites would get dog-eared, and torn up, but they were always well-loved...
Random Here's A Look At Masahiro Sakurai's Retro Video Game Collection
That's some neat filing
If you're looking for new ways to organise your retro video game collection, you might want to read on. Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Kirby and director of the Smash Bros. series, recently shared an image on social media of his impressive library of retro games. As you can see he's got draws stacked with cartridges like...
Random This Browser-Based Version Of Mario Paint Composer Will Entertain For Hours
Face the music
What's the best part of Mario Paint? No, not the painting! The Composer mode! Who didn't spend hours on Mario Paint making tunes with fire flowers, mushrooms, coins, and boos? Mario Paint Composer has become something of an online hit in the years since the SNES game's release, with many budding musicians picking up their SNES mouse...
June2022
Movie Review GoldenEra - A Celebratory Examination Of GoldenEye 007's Creation And Impact
Worth its weight in gold
"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad." Ah, yes. The classic quote that may or may not have been uttered by Shigeru Miyamoto. With the gaming industry (understandably) experiencing an unusually high number of delays in recent years, the proclamation has been the subject of memes to the point...
Feature Remembering Klonoa's Dreamy GBA Platformers - Empires, Champions, And Puzzles
It's not only a phantasy
The ‘90s and 2000s were a totally different era. I can’t tell you how many times I sat down playing the same demo discs over and over or replaying the same handful of games as a kid. Bandai Namco’s old mascot Klonoa — soon to return in the upcoming Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series — is the first-ever video game...
News Edia Crowdfunding Cosmic Fantasy Collection For Nintendo Switch
Campaign goal has already been met
Edia - the developer behind the recent Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection - has launched a crowdfunding campaign on the website Makuake for a special double-pack Nintendo Switch release. It's asking for 3 million yen (around $22,285 USD) to release Cosmic Fantasy: Adventure Boy Yuu and Cosmic Fantasy 2:...
Memory Pak After 20 Years, Eternal Darkness Really Deserves A Second Life
Being stuck on one system is pure insanity
Picture the setting. You’re walking around a grand mansion, testing out keys on locked doors, investigating every nook and cranny, and simply trying your best to figure out where you need to go and what you need to do. The rooms are well-lit and the furniture neatly positioned together. By all accounts,...
Review Pokémon Snap - Photo Fun That's Over Too Soon
Candid Camera + Pocket Monster
This review originally went live in 2016, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival on Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. There are moments during Pokémon Snap where — upon finding a hidden path — the game ditches the first-person perspective to show your...
News Boss Fight Announces New Documentary Book Focused On GoldenEye 007
Based on "exclusive interviews with the developers"
Boss Fight Books are known as the publisher of multiple in-depth deep-dives of beloved video games, from Metal Gear Solid to The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, each one written by mega-fan authors, writers, and developers, often with interviews from the people who made the games. And Boss Fight...
News The Sega Genesis Is Getting A New 6-Button Controller, And It Will Work With Switch
Say hello to the 'Big6'
Back when the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis was first released, it came with a 3-button pad which – in 1988 – felt like the future. It wasn't square and boxy like the NES and Master System controllers but had a rounded, ergonomic shape which was more comfortable to hold, and it had one extra action button. Bliss! However, by...
News Never-Before-Seen Famicom Port Of Taito Arcade Game 'The Fairyland Story' Discovered
A fairytale of game preservation
Forest of Illusion, Hard4Games, and Gaming Alexandria have uncovered a pretty huge find in the world of retro arcade ports. Once upon a time, Taito's 1985 arcade predecessor to Bubble Bobble — The Fairyland Story — was due to get a Famicom port back in 1986. This version of the game was only ever spotted in
Feature Need More Turtles After Shredder's Revenge? You Should Check Out These Underrated TMNT Gems
Heroes in a handheld
Hopefully you’re all enjoying the absolutely tremendous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, the latest addition to the TMNT video gaming canon from Dotemu and Tribute games. We know we are. It’s another blistering action game in the tradition of Konami’s NES and SNES beat-’em-ups. And that’s great — we...
Random F1 Star Lewis Hamilton Couldn't Find Mario Kart, So He Bought Super Monaco GP II Instead
"I went to get Mario Kart but they didn’t have it"
Seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he's digging back into the past to let off steam during what is proving to be a demanding season. Hamilton was infamously beaten to the title last season by Max Verstappen in controversial circumstances, but rule changes this year have...
Hands On WaterField 'CitySlicker' Analogue Pocket Case
Your dream case?
If you're lucky enough to own an Analogue Pocket then you might be somewhat intimidated by the sheer range of storage options available right now. Analogue has its own hard-shell plastic case, but WaterField Designs now has three different choices on offer: the Pack, the
News You Can Now Hang Nintendo's Biggest-Selling Console On Your Wall
Don't feel bad, there are 154 million other ones out there
While old-school Nintendo gamers might feel the NES, SNES or Game Boy marked the zenith of the company's commercial powers, it's actually the Nintendo DS which holds the position of the Kyoto firm's most successful hardware release. The entire DS family has sold a staggering 154 million...
News Game Freak Had Plans For 65,535 Versions Of The Original Pokémon Game
But Shigeru Miyamoto didn't think it was the best idea
Pokémon has always had two different versions, but before the original games were released on Game Boy in 1996, Game Freak had plans for something else. In new translations of old Japanese interviews (via the YouTube channel Did You Know Gaming), it's revealed how Game Freak wanted 65,535...
News Unreleased Quake Prototype For Game Boy Advance Discovered
From the programmer of DOOM SNES
A bit like DOOM, id Software's first-person shooter Quake has been ported officially (and unofficially) to just about every platform under the sun that's capable of running 3D natively. Did you know though there was also a version in development for Nintendo's 32-bit handheld the Game Boy Advance? In 2002, Randy...
News Hang Iconic Gaming Moments On Your Wall With These Officially-Licenced 'Pixel Frames'
"Snapshots that perfectly convey your love for retro gaming"
There are some moments in gaming that are so memorable that they deserve to be celebrated in some meaningful way, and that's exactly what Pixel Frames is offering. The company produces officially-licenced shadow boxes that are "snapshots that perfectly convey your love for retro gaming"...
Random These All-In-One SNES And Famicom Consoles Are True Works Of Art
We'll take two!
We've seen our fair share of custom designs for retro consoles over the years, but we reckon this one takes the cake. Swedish audio-visual artist Love Hultén has created all-in-one devices for the Famicom system and the SNES, combining the genuine consoles with a 9" Sony Trinitron PVM-9042QM display monitor. The result is not only...
News "50 Years Of Text Games" Celebrates Interactive Fiction, Fully Funded On Kickstarter
For Zork dorks
If Zork means more to you than Fortnite ever will, if you know exactly which items to take with you in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in order to escape your about-to-be-bulldozed house, or if you have ever typed the words "SOUTH" and "HELP" into a white-on-black text box, then you may be interested in this book by writer and game...
News Glover Gets The Limited Run Games Treatment With A Surprise N64 Rerelease
And it's still not on Switch
You might remember earlier this year that N64 platformer Glover got a rerelease on Steam — but not on Switch oddly enough. And while that Switch port still hasn't been announced, retro game collectors can at least get a little bit excited for what's coming up for the white glove-starring game. Limited Run Games...
News Party On, Dudes! Two Bill & Ted Games Are Getting A Physical Bundle On Switch
Yes way!
No, this isn’t a bogus announcement. Two retro Bill & Ted games are getting a physical bundle on the Nintendo Switch courtesy of Limited Run Games. Aptly titled Bill & Ted's Excellent Retro Collection, the package contains two LJN titles – the 1991 NES game Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure, and Bill & Ted's...
News Rendering Ranger: R2 Is Officially Making Its Way To Switch And SNES
1995 SHMUP was previously one of the rarest games in existence
Update - Tue 7th Jun, 2022 13:00 BST: Rendering Ranger: R2 has been announced for western release by Limited Run Games, officially ending its absurd scarcity since its initial Japan SNES launch in 1995. No release date has been set at the time of writing, however a physical edition of...
Round Up Every Physical Game From Limited Run's Summer Showcase Coming To Switch
There are even some 3DS, N64 and SNES releases
Limited Run Games earlier today aired its LRG3 Summer Showcase. As usual, there were a lot of Switch announcements. There were also some other Nintendo-related announcements for platforms like the 3DS, Nintendo 64 and Super Nintendo. We've included a full video recap of the show (above) if you would...
News 30 Years On, The Fan-Made 'Final Fight Ultimate' Is Set To Reignite The 16-bit Console War
Punching up
Final Fight is one of the definitive games of the side-scrolling beat 'em up genre, no doubt about it. Released in arcades in 1989, the game was ported to the SNES the following year, with multiple things missing such as Level 4, an entire character, and no two-player mode. Despite being something of a flawed conversion, the fact that...
Random The Powkiddy X51 Emulation Console Tries To Rope In Switch Fans
It looks like a Switch, but...
Powkiddy, a company known for producing retro gaming consoles, has introduced its latest effort: the Powkiddy X51. It looks pretty familiar, right? Yes, in designing the X51, Powkiddy has unashamedly tried to emulate (chortle!) the look and feel of a Nintendo Switch, right down to the neon red and blue casing. As...
"Don't expect this to come out any time soon"
Remember the absolutely stunning showcase of Super Mario 64 with ray tracing? Well, the same individual is now working on a new project that could evolve N64 emulation. Modder turned software developer Dario has just revealed 'RT64' (the path tracer behind the sm64rt project) is being transformed into a...
News Sega Has Considered Dreamcast & Saturn Mini But Is Worried About Extreme Costs
You can thank the pandemic
One of the highlights of the week was the announcement of the Mega Drive Mini 2 - Sega's next miniature console, loaded with 50 games from the Mega Drive and Mega CD libraries. It's launching this October in Japan and will include games like Sonic CD, Slipstream and Virtua Racing. As exciting as this news is, it hasn't s
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