Latest Articles - Page 2 of 48

There are plenty to choose from

There's a feeling you get with a cartridge that you just can't find with a boring compact disc. They may be a thing of the past but there are many people out there who still appreciate their charm. One person who clearly has a love for NES cartridges in particular is Etsy artist Jess Firsoff, who is making and...

Shiryu's latest 4 EP series is racing to your ears this month

We're massive fans of Shiryu's music here at Nintendo Life, and his latest project has us very excited indeed, as it focuses on one of Nintendo's most beloved franchises. F-Zero Go Fast is a 4 EP series which covers the entire history of the F-Zero lineage, from the SNES days right up to...

Possibly more than it deserves?

Twenty years ago, Mario and Luigi starred in a pretty dismal Hollywood movie which almost ruined the career of Harold Ramis and still annoys star Bob Hoskins even today. However, there are still plenty of people who grew up loving the film — in the same way you come to love a tatty old teddy from your childhood, we...

"On the Breath of the Wind" releasing later this year

It's amazing to think that The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is ten years old — here at Nintendo Life Towers we still vividly recall seeing those lush cel-shaded visuals for the first time and being totally enraptured by the gameplay. To mark the occasion, a fan album is being produced which...

Music to our ears

Koopa Soundworks has released its digital album World 1-2 today featuring some of the best retro-style chiptune music you'll ever have the pleasure of hearing. The album is a collaboration that includes some of the biggest names from major gaming franchises and is being distributed via GameChops. One of the most recognisable names...

The RetroN5 has a challenger

It would seem that 2013 is going to be a big year for new gaming hardware — not only will we see the PlayStation 4 and Next Xbox, but we've got two new retro systems to look forward to as well. Hyperkin's RetroN 5 will be joined by the Retro-Bit Super Retro Trio, which plays SNES, Genesis / Mega Drive, NES and (with...

An interesting twist on the beat 'em up genre

Given the popularity of arcade titles like Final Fight and Double Dragon, the beat 'em up genre was a big draw in arcades during the late eighties and early nineties. Hoping to cash in on some of this success, SNK created its own unique take on the genre with Sengoku for its Neo Geo system. While the...

The sweet beats

When we think back to iconic Rare shooters that helped to redefine the genre on the Nintendo 64, minds often drift to GoldenEye 007. That has a strong case as a trailblazer, but if you're looking for the best Rare title in that genre from the 64-bit beast, plenty of loyal fans will very enthusiastically and loudly point you towards...

Colour choice "due to an order from the company's president"

The original Famicom — which would be branded as the NES in the West — remains an iconic example of Japanese hardware design. That's not to say it was perfect, with one notable feature being that the controllers were hardwired into the system — it's easy to see why that idea was...

Nintendo is naturally mentioned

When it comes to iconic game sounds, the passage of time hasn't stopped some of Nintendo's earliest efforts — particularly those made famous in games such Super Mario Bros. — being immediately familiar to the general public. In fact we use the coin collecting sound in the two second intro to videos on our...

Slippery controls are on thin ice

Ice Climber, despite the self-explanatory title, is more complex than a cursory glance would suggest. Popo the parka-toting lad (and identical twin Nana in the multiplayer mode) must scale thirty-two vertically scrolling mountains to rescue a large number of delicious eggplants, using only wits and indestructible...

Resurrects Hudsonsoft's obscure Sharp X1 title

Remember Super Mario Bros. Crossover? It was a fan-made title which allowed Nintendo lovers to play the classic Super Mario Bros. with characters from other games, including Metroid, Castlevania and Mega Man. Th

A festival of vintage gaming

If you're based in the UK and have a soft spot for the games of yesteryear then you might want to look into buying a ticket for Revival. The event — which is the successor to the popular Retro Fusion show — takes place on the weekend of May 18th / 19th at Wolverhampton Racecourse in the Midlands, and over a thousand...

Blu-Ray and digital launch expected this year, too

Those of you with exceptionally good powers of recollection will no doubt remember that we reported on the production of 100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience last year. A love letter to the coin-op scene in Japan, the film has been completed thanks to two IndieGoGo campaigns which raised a...

The power's on the wrist

These days we take gaming portability for granted. We may kill time playing a bit of Angry Birds on our smartphones while waiting for the next bus to arrive or waiting for our dental appointment. Back in the early ’90s you could carry around a Game Boy or Atari Lynx, but neither was particularly pocket friendly. The...

1,349,000 points is the new high score

The classic arcade title Donkey Kong Junior has a new world champion after the previous record was beaten by 20,900 points Mike Kasper of Beaverton, Oregon is the man who achieved such a feat. During a live TV broadcast Kasper managed to score 1,349,000 points on an original arcade cabinet, topping the...

The Blue Bomber vs The Red Menace

In 1991 the world got a fourth entry in what had quickly shaped up to be one of the NES's most popular series. This game was Mega Man 4, and expectations were high. After all, the first game laid down a solid — if static — template that resonated very well with gamers, the second game refined the formula...

A devious tactic

When playing Super Smash Bros. Melee there are various tactics you can use to come out on top. You could pick the speedy Fox McCloud and run rings around the other players, blast people from afar as Samus, maybe pick a powerhouse character and take it to your opponent from close range. Or you could just pick Luigi and win by doing...

Minus the secrets and controller-hurling difficulty

This video games lark is quite young as an entertainment medium; it's decades behind film and television, while books have hundreds of years behind them. Yet in a short time we've seen extraordinary transformations in technology and also game design. It's easy to forget when playing modern games,...