Retro Reviews

Watto way to go

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace may have been panned by film critics and audiences alike when it released back in 1999, but not everything borne out of it was as big a disaster as Jar Jar Binks. One of these truly rare exceptions was Star Wars Episode I: Racer, a sci-fi racing game developed by by LucasArts. The game was a...

A Viewtiful debut

Joe is nothing more than an average… well, Joe, as it were. The guy loves old movies and their cheesy melodrama, so when a malevolent hand drags him into a superhero flick, he’s absolutely pumped. This is a chance to do the impossible; to pull off his favorite actions scenes with high-flying kicks, slow-motion thrills, and...

Forever blowing bubbles

Capcom is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2013. Since the company formed in 1983, it has published a host of classic titles from the Resident Evil series, countless Street Fighter games and many timeless iterations of Mega Man. One of its lesser known titles is Super Pang (known as Super Buster Bros. in North America), an...

The dynamic duo go portable

When we at Nintendo Life think of Rare’s masterpieces from the Nintendo 64 era, we think of expansive and adventurous games like Donkey Kong 64, Jet Force Gemini, and of course the beloved Banjo-Kazooie series. Off-the-wall characters, exuberant locales, and an epic sense of scope added to the hook of what made these...

Infested with Bugs

These days, considering most of us have become accustomed to the smooth frame rates and high definition resolutions provided by modern consoles, revisiting the Nintendo 64 can sometimes be a painful experience as you may find that some of your favourite games haven’t aged very well. Fuzzy textures, choppy frame rates and limited...

Tainted bloodline

The odds were stacked against Castlevania Legends almost from the start. When it was released towards the end of the '90s, it had the near-impossible task of following Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - a game which had revitalised Konami's gothic series and won widespread critical acclaim. To add to the heady level of...

A Ride for all ages?

Kirby, everyone’s favourite pink puffball, has hopped on his Warpstar and blasted into the world of “kart” racing in Kirby Air Ride for the Nintendo GameCube. He’s brought with him a few of his brethren, a unique set of controls, and some recognizable scenery, which is packed into this multiplayer-centric package. While...

A beautiful day on the links

Released in 1999 to dovetail with the N64 game of the same name, the Game Boy Color version of Mario Golf is more than just a scaled-back, portable edition. In fact, it stands well enough on its own merits, and it's almost unfortunate that it shares a name with its console counterpart; it really does have an identity all...

A Ghost of the Past

Nintendo doesn’t have much of a history when it comes to publishing mature-rated games. In fact, they had never directly released an M-rated game before they published the critically acclaimed Eternal Darkness for the GameCube in 2002. So when it was announced that Nintendo was working closely with developer n-Space on Geist...

Wahoo!

Starting life on the PlayStation in 1997, at a time when Super Mario 64 had just brought the gaming world triple-jumping headlong into the era of 3D platforming, Namco's Klonoa series has always done things differently. Klonoa's first outing, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile, was a pioneering foray into 2.5D, mixing polygonal backgrounds with...

Snake sneaks onto Game Boy Color in his first portable op

Metal Gear is a series born from limitations. Originally intended as a military shooter game for the MSX2 computer system, creator Hideo Kojima found the hardware unable to handle the large amount of on-screen action required for such an adventure. Instead of loud and overt blasting, the...

Battle seasoned

The central combat mechanics of The Legend of Zelda series has seen several iterations over the decades. The classic top-down gameplay of the original was morphed into a faster, action heavy side-scroller in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, only to be abandoned itself for a return to form in A Link to the Past. While the promise of...

A song for the ages

Ever since The Legend of Zelda released some 25 years ago, Nintendo has played the franchise relatively close to its chest. Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto has had a hand in almost every release to date, and before the new millennium, Nintendo EAD handled development of each and every Zelda title. But when Nintendo wanted an...

Mario Fore-Stars!

For many, there isn't a sport on the planet more tedious than golf. To these people the term "a good walk ruined" is about as accurate a description as anyone's ever come up with for anything, and they'd probably be able to reel off a list of far better uses for a golf club — window removal, football hooliganism, that...

All the fun of the fare?

SEGA has a brilliant track record in arcade driving games. OutRun, Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, Hang On; many older readers probably have fond memories of dropping coins on quick races on games housed within some oversized cabinet complete with steering wheel and pedals... before subsequently emptying their wallet of many more...

A flipping good time?

Our beloved hero Mario has starred in a multitude of sports throughout his long career: golf, tennis, hockey, soccer, basketball, go-karts, etc. It seems there’s hardly anything the famous plumber can’t do — even going so far as winning a gold medal at the Olympics against his long-time rival, Sonic the Hedgehog. Nintendo...

Wish you weren't here

Nintendo is a company that's world renowned for its varied cast of versatile characters and Wario is certainly no exception. Since his first playable appearance in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Wario has starred in a plethora of 2D platforming adventures spanning the Game Boy right through to the DS, each one seeing...

Are those golden eyes wearing rose tinted specs?

Highly revered by countless N64 owners, GoldenEye 007 is often credited with kick-starting the first-person shooter craze on consoles. It not only showed that a good FPS could be crafted for a machine other than a high-spec PC, but arguably also created the multiplayer FPS phenomenon. In fact, if it...

Super Sonic or Super Chronic?

SEGA's attempt to have Sonic the Hedgehog transcend his 2D roots and venture into the realm of 3D didn't go nearly as smoothly as Nintendo's own Super Mario 64, despite Sonic Adventure being generally well received upon its release on the Dreamcast in 1999. It didn't take long for the cloud to lift from the judgement of...