Retro Features
Feature The Confusing World of Mega Man Spin-Offs - Part 2
Lots and lots of Mega Man
We've already brought you our first part of a feature looking at the confusing world of Mega Man spin-offs, and now we're diving into some lesser known adventures from the Blue Bomber's universe. If you've played all of these then we can say one thing with confidence — you're a big fan of the franchise. Without further...
Feature The Confusing World of Mega Man Spin-Offs - Part 1
Stay with us
We've already talked about the ten numbered console games in the Classic Mega Man series, but as you are no doubt aware that barely scratches the surface when it comes to Capcom's classic franchise. We could spend several weeks spotlighting all of the titles released across all platforms — and, believe us, we'd love to — but we...
Feature Mega Man Retrospective - Part Two
Back to the future
Yesterday we brought you part one of our Mega Man retrospective, where we looked at the first five main entries in the iconic series. It's all in honour of the Blue Bomber's 25th Anniversary, with this segment spanning the NES to Wii eras of Nintendo systems, with some non-Nintendo systems making a brief appearance. Mega Man 6...
Feature Mega Man Retrospective - Part One
25 years young
Twenty-five years ago today, the world was introduced to a super fighting robot — the Blue Bomber himself — Mega Man. Known as Rock Man in his native Japan, Mega Man earned global fame and popularity, introducing gamers to a unique and challenging franchise that, unsurprisingly, became a piece of classic gaming history. Looking...
Feature Reinventing Nintendo's Legacy Franchises on Wii U
It's comeback time
Despite often being criticized for a perceived lack of new franchises, Nintendo’s back catalogue offers a wealth of unique games which have each carved out their own place in the company’s legacy. From Mario to Link to lesser known characters such as Ness and the Ice Climbers, it is clear that Nintendo has a diverse range of...
Feature Hands-On With 16-bit RPG Pier Solar
We check out the Mega Drive epic which could be making its way to Wii U soon
WaterMelon's 16-bit RPG Pier Solar is proof that old gaming hardware can enjoy a fresh existence years or even decades after its original production lifespan. What began as a homebrew project in 2004 has turned into a indie gaming success story; Pier Solar has had multiple...
We speak to one half of the Miller brothers about its creation
Few video games have the ability to polarise opinion quite as sharply as Myst. When it hit shop shelves back in 1993 many critics scoffed at the sedate gameplay and predicted that few people would want to sit through a game that was little more than an ‘interactive picture-postcard’...
Interview The Trouble With The TurboGrafx-16
We speak to former TTI Vice President and General Manager
The NEC PC Engine turned 25 this week, and to celebrate the life of this remarkable system we've already taken a comprehensive look at its history. If that didn't satisfy your hunger for NEC-related knowledge, then allow us to offer up this interview with Ken Wirt, who served as Vice...
Feature Nintendo Hardware Launch Commercials Throughout History
A trip down memory lane
With the first UK showing of the Wii U TV commercial causing quite a stir online, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at Nintendo's history of launch commercials, right back to the days of the 8-bit NES — possibly an era when many of the readers of this site weren't even born. Sit back and soak up the ambiance...
Feature The New Dimensions of Pokémon
Snap and Dream Radar change the perspective
Trading cards and anime episodes aside, the Pokémon series is known for a long-lasting line of handheld RPGs. You've almost certainly played one or two of them — and we suspect that quite a few of you are already getting into Pokémon Black & White 2 — most likely followed by an obsessed state of...
Ninterview Howard "Gamemaster" Phillips
We speak to one of Nintendo of America's first employees
Howard Phillips joined Nintendo in the early '80s with the intention of helping transport a few new-fangled arcade cabinets, but he ended up becoming the spokesperson for one of the fastest-growing entertainment companies in the US. He recently began a Kickstarter campaign for his first...
Feature Diamonds in the Rough - Dementium: The Ward
Worth a scare
Whenever we look back at a console’s lifespan, the first thing we nearly always do is remember the good stuff. We remember the Marios, the Zeldas, the hordes of Pokémon, and maybe even the odd Kirby game depending on your level of pink puff-ball persuasion. But we’re often so caught up in remembering what’s great that we very...
Feature Want to Know The Real Reason Star Fox Was Renamed in Europe?
Unravelling the mystery behind Star Fox, Starwing and Lylat Wars
It's funny what you take for granted. When we posted a photo of the N64 game Lylat Wars on our Nintendo Life Instagram account, we never thought for a second it would result in confused replies from our followers: "I've never seen this....what kinda badassness is in that cartridge?"...
Feature The Rik Mayall Nintendo Adverts You Totally Forgot About
What happened when a legend of British comedy and Nintendo collided
Nintendo Life readers over the age of 25 and based in the United Kingdom will no doubt be familar with the comedic talents of Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall. One of the pioneers of 'alternative' British comedy in the '80s, he starred in a whole host of popular TV shows, including The...
You can call me Stu
Welcome to a new regular feature on Nintendo Life: the "Ninterview". Once a month we'll be taking the time to talk to someone who has a special affinity to Nintendo, and our first subject is Stu Brett - who also goes by the moniker Super Famicom Guy. Stu, a 33 year old designer from Scotland, is such a huge fan of Super Famicom...
Feature 20 Years of Mario Kart
How the time, and kart, flies
Today is yet another Nintendo anniversary, in this case the 20th anniversary of Super Mario Kart's release in Japan. That's 20 years of powering around tracks and making other mascot's driving lives miserable, while infuriating their masters in multiplayer. It's a series with enduring appeal that has evolved into one...
Feature In Defence of Super Mario Sunshine
Do or don't look back into the sun
Ten years ago today, on 26th August 2002, GameCube title Super Mario Sunshine was released in North America to an abundance of critical acclaim, with relatively muted murmuring that it was an unworthy follow-up to Super Mario 64. Gradually over the past decade opinions have grown more divided and gamers have become...
Feature Classic Gaming Typos, Errors and Translations
Conglaturations for reading this
Earlier this week there was a great deal of chortling at a minor grammatical error in New Super Mario Bros. 2, with the initial Coin Rush notification being the offending screen; many of us actually missed it in our eagerness to play the mode itself. There's also a bit of a grammatical slip-up in the North American...
Feature Let's Celebrate Kirby's Spin-Offs
Kirby's had a busy 20 years
Earlier this month, at his apocryphal 20th birthday celebration, we're sure Kirby was able to blow out his candles with trademark gale-force and reflect on what has been, even for a Nintendo character, an astoundingly diverse career. While keeping his day job of walking from left to right and inhaling enemies, Nintendo's...
Feature Olympics Fever on Nintendo Systems
Button mashing for gold
If you’ve been living in a cave and isolated from the world for the past couple of weeks, then you may not have been bombarded with coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games. It’s now well under way, and thousands of athletes are running, cycling, swimming and more in the name of winning a shiny gold medal. None of the...
Feature GameCube - GBA Connectivity and Wii U
Blazing a trail
Nintendo has been known to dip into its past when looking for the future. The 3DS is a good example: while the handheld may be the first glasses-free 3D video game system, it's hardly the company's first foray into the third dimension. The forgotten Famicom 3D System brought pop-out graphics to Nintendo's original home console in...
Feature Batman's Nintendo Adventures
Holy topical feature, Batman!
Today sees the launch of The Dark Knight Rises in UK and North American theatres, amongst others, and it's become a cultural phenomenon, dominating the thoughts of Batman geeks and film lovers alike. We figured that you'll see the word 'Batman' wherever you go, so we might as well wrap it up in our favourite...
Feature A Visual Guide to Nintendo's Handheld Revamps - Part Two
Time for double vision
Earlier this week we brought you the first part of our visual guide to Nintendo's Handheld Revamps, starting with Game Boy and going all the way up to Game Boy Advance SP. In terms of handheld console models, and despite the number of years covered, that only covered about half of the story; now we'll pick up with the first...
Feature A Visual Guide to Nintendo's Handheld Revamps - Part One
Because one is never enough
The recent announcement of 3DS XL less than 18 months after the original 3DS hit shelves drew a lot of discussion, so we thought we'd dive through the archives to present you with a visual history of the evolution of Nintendo handheld consoles, starting with the good old Game Boy. We're not going to go into all of the...
Feature Nostalgia vs. Eternal Darkness
Jon celebrates the 10th anniversary of this cult horror classic by losing his mind, in more ways than one
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is one of those games whose cult status has snowballed since it hit in 2002, and with good reason. As a fairly innovative horror game from Silicon Knights and Nintendo, it kept players on their toes for its...
Hot stuff
Dust off your swimming trunks and stock up on sun cream because summer is upon us. While this may not be completely true if you live in a certain southern hemisphere (or a country like Great Britain, where meteorological conditions defy all logic and expectations), here are some games that will bring you that warm, fuzzy feeling of the hot...
Feature Retro Console Launches - NES
Sharing the power
In recent weeks we’ve written about console launches such as Wii, 3DS and GameCube. This is all because we’re currently gearing up for the Wii U launch later this year, and E3 promises to build hype and excitement to astronomical levels. In the coming months most of us will learn all about Wii U online with various websites...
Interview Super Fighter Team - Developing for SNES in 2012
Brandon Cobb explains why retro gaming matters
When we published a news article about a new SNES title on the way in 2013, Nightmare Busters, it attracted a great deal of interest. While many of us spend the majority of our game-time on current-day consoles, there still seems to be an appetite for retro titles and platforms. Few companies represent...
Feature The Life and Times of SEGA's Game Gear
Black beauty
Ask any gamer of a certain age which handheld they grew up with and the overwhelming response will be "Game Boy". Long before the Pokémon explosion of the late 90s, Nintendo's portable dominated the competition — not even closest competitor SEGA could upset the balance with the release of its Game Gear in the early part of...
Feature Obscure Series That Should Return on Wii U
Baby come back
Whenever a new system is announced, cyberspace is filled with wish lists of games that ought to be released faster than you can say Miyamoto. Very little is known so far about games coming to Wii U, so speculation is rife even though some classic series have already been heavily hinted at (Pikmin 3) or should be an announcement away...
Hardware Review Hyperkin SupaBoy Portable SNES
The biggest retro hardware release in more ways than one
The lapse of hardware patents on retro platforms has resulted in an explosion of clone machines, most of which are produced cheaply in the Far East. These systems emulate the performance of consoles such as the NES, Super Nintendo and Genesis/Mega Drive, all of which are no longer covered by...
Feature Nintendo's Biggest Blunders
Even Mario gets it wrong sometimes
They say true love triumphs over any hardships. If that is the case, then we must really love Nintendo, for it's provided us with plenty of chances to test our devotion throughout the years. Here is a selection of moments where it all went topsy-turvy, even if our commitment never wavered: You Can't Play That:...
Feature The Desire for Physical Media
Digital isn’t always enough
Yesterday we reported that there’s a new SNES title on the way in 2013. That title is Nightmare Busters from developer Super Fighter Team, a run and gun action game with a planned pre-order run of 600 copies. The concept of developing for a console that's now four generations out of date is unconventional but not...
Feature Nintendo Characters Looking for Love
Will you be their player two?
Like so many others, we at Nintendo Life get swept up in the romance that is in the air during St. Valentine's Day. We love the smell of the flowers, the taste of the chocolate and the irresistible allure of digging through the online dating profiles of strangers, hoping to find something amusing. Surprisingly, we got...
Feature The Wonder of Ugly Add-Ons
Only their creators love them
For those who hadn’t noticed, we recently posted our 3DS Circle Pad Pro review, which unsurprisingly prompted a broad range of opinions and comments. While the reaction to the add-on has undoubtedly been diverse, most agree on one thing: it’s ugly. Or, to quote our review, it "makes the console look like it's...
Feature 3DS and the Trend of Colourful Handhelds
Who needs rainbows?
It’s been on the market for less than a year, yet the 3DS is already available in five distinct colours, with multiple limited edition console designs also in stores or on the way. The reaction to new colour announcements is always interesting: while some bemoan yet another ‘new’ 3DS hitting the market, many seem to accept...
Feature Staff Memories of Nintendo at Christmas
Merry Christmas, one and all
Christmas has arrived, the festive period of giving and generosity, and also a time when loved ones shower each other with thoughtful gifts. For many gamers it's a holiday full of nostalgia and memories of shiny new consoles, games and fun with the family. We couldn't let this holiday pass without sharing some of our...
Feature Further Adventures in Scanlines: The SLG SCART
Reading between the lines
Not so long ago we reported on an awesome piece of tech which imbued your HD TV with the power to display authentic retro-style scanlines. The SLG3000 has since gone on to become a highly sought-after piece of kit in vintage gaming circles, so much so that Arcade Forge - the company behind the unit - have come up with a...
Feature Celebrating 10 Years of Animal Crossing
Population: glowing
Here's a fun game next time you're at a boring social occasion: try explaining the point of Animal Crossing to an elderly family member. Nintendo's genre-defying life series first appeared in Japan in April 2001 as Dobutsu no Mori ("Animal Forest") on Nintendo 64, but it was the enhanced Animal Forest+ for GameCube —...
Feature Memorable Zelda Moments
The wonderful world of Hyrule, and beyond
The Legend of Zelda is one of the best loved Nintendo franchises, over 25 years old and still finding new ways to thrill gamers. The significant number of Zelda releases means it boasts an incredible history and reputation, with each new entry’s adventure contributing its part to the lore of the series...
Feature Remembering the GameCube
A decade of cubed gaming
Every company in every industry will have a few years in its history that don't quite stack up to the rest. With the mammoth success it had enjoyed with the SNES, Nintendo must have had quite the shock when Sony's PlayStation proved to be a huge overnight success in the mid-Nineties and poached many publishers, developers...
Feature Ten Years of Golden Sun
Bask in its warm glory
2001 must have been a particularly good year for gaming: we just celebrated Pikmin's tenth anniversary, and now it's time to look back on the birth of RPG franchise Golden Sun. The original Golden Sun launched in North America on 11th November 2001, with sequel Golden Sun: The Lost Age following in early 2003. Created by RPG...
Feature Pikmin's 10th Anniversary
A modern classic
The GameCube era is still a questionable time for Nintendo fans. While the console undoubtedly had its standout titles, there always seems to be a lingering question over how high — or, more to the point, how low — it would rank when gauged against Nintendo's other consoles. But wherever you fall in the debate, it's impossible...
Feature Classic Sequels - Tricks or Treats?
Better than monkey nuts
The night is finally here: Halloween is upon us. At the time of writing the world isn’t being taken over by zombies, werewolves or ghosts. Instead, the main horrors are the legions of children in cheap masks ringing the doorbell and demanding treats. Many can look forward to bags full of toffee apples, loose sweets and a...
Feature Fun and Frights on Nintendo - Part 2
Moments of gaming horror
Halloween is almost upon us, with many gamers making plans for a night of terrifying gaming. Whether these are modern titles or retro, old-school goodness, there are plenty of scary games to enjoy. In the first part of our Fun and Frights feature, we gave a brief outline of how horror games have developed through the...
Feature Fun and Frights on Nintendo - Part 1
How horror has evolved
At this time of year, it’s no doubt common practice for many gamers to find their favourite scary game, turn off the lights and get into the Halloween mood. There’s something about frightful gaming experiences that's unique in the entertainment industry. Unlike horror movies or tense, nerve-wracking books, video game fear...
Round Table Let's Talk About Castlevania
25 years of memories
This week has been Castlevania features week. We’ve picked our top ten games from the series, reviewed an awful novelisation of Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest, and provided some tips for wannabe Dracula hunters. One thing that has become clear amongst the team is that this series is packed full of memories and nostalgia, as...
Feature A Guide to Hunting Dracula
The old-school way
So far this week we’ve listed our top 10 Castlevania games, while also launching the Nintendo Life Book Club with the horrific Simon’s Quest novel. A common theme across the series is the quest to defeat Dracula, mostly by trekking through his unfeasibly huge castle. Should the unlikely ever occur and the world looks to you to...
Feature Nintendo Life Book Club - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
For all you bookworms
Here at Nintendo Life we do our best to keep you entertained with a diverse range of news, reviews, features, podcasts and music shows. We've been missing one thing, though: a Nintendo Life Book Club. There's a lot of game-based literature out there, so we thought that the bookworms out there would like to chill out with a...
Feature Castlevania - The Terrifying Ten
Our favourite Dracula quests
As the dreaded night of Halloween continues to loom ever closer, we are now turning our attention to the Castlevania franchise, which recently celebrated its 25th Anniversary. All of this week there'll be features looking at the series, as we join the hunt to take Dracula down once and for all. In previous features we've...
