Retro News
June2015
Movie Review Behind Nintendo Quest's Game Collecting, There's A Surprisingly Human Story
For the love of the find
Kickstarter-funded movie Nintendo Quest isn't exactly a documentary about NES games. They're definitely in the film; don't worry about that. You'll see so many shelves and boxes and displays chock full of gray cartridges that they'll dance behind your eyelids whenever you close them. But those who expect huge reels of play...
Weirdness Someone Captured E3 2015 Using A Game Boy Camera
And then downloaded the images using a cool new device
Remember Jeremy Parish? He's the guy behind Game Boy World and the boss at US Gamer. He's also the kind of guy who thinks nothing of taking ageing retro tech to the world's biggest gaming event and snapping photos of famous video game celebrities. Parish snapped the likes of Nintendo's Bill...
Weirdness Man Finishes Super Mario World In 23 Minutes Whilst Blindfolded
...and 14 seconds
How quickly can you finish Super Mario World? 23 minutes 14 seconds? That sounds like a pretty fast time to us, but imagine doing that totally blindfolded. That's exactly what PangaeaPanga has done - and the amazing thing is that he was only practicing the run very recently - he started his training on June 16th. He dies during...
News Fans Are Creating A Brand-New Quest For The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
It's called Third Quest
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a game that speaks, well, volumes. The revolutionary 3D entry to the Zelda series has led to the game holding its own to this day, encouraging replay value for copious amounts of reasons. Aside from receiving a beautiful 3DS remake in 2011, it has fired-up the competition in the world...
News Sonic The Hedgehog is Now 24 Years Old
Unless you want to be pedantic and count Rad Mobile
If you're a Sonic fan in North America or Europe then today has a little significance - it was 24 years ago, on 23rd June (not July as we originally wrote), that the original Sonic the Hedgehog on SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive was released. Sonic had previously appeared as a decoration in the arcade...
Gallery Marvel At This Woodgrain Styled N64
Taking retro to its logical conclusion
We've seen some lovely console mods over the years here at Nintendo Life, but this one from our Texas-based reader Marshall Clark was too good not to share. While the classic N64 design had some nice curves and came in a range of colours during its lifespan, Marshall has given it a woodgrain makeover which...
Video Try Not To Jump At This New Trailer For Capcom's Luigi's Mansion Arcade Game
Sure to suck up some coins
Earlier this year we reported on the news that Capcom and Sega were working on an arcade semi-sequel to Luigi's Mansion, which features first-person, ghost-busting gameplay. The game's official site has now gone live, along with a trailer which gives you a taste of what the final product has to offer. The final name is...
Review Big Brain Academy (Wii U eShop / DS)
So keep on playing those mind games
The advent of the Nintendo DS into the handheld arena back in 2004 ushered in a fresh experience for many gamers, made possible by the system's many new features and abilities. This brand of entertainment was often referred to as "Touch! Generations" by Nintendo, and ran throughout the Nintendo DS and Wii era...
Weirdness Drink Back Your Childhood With This “Bartendo" Line From Ink Whiskey
Drunk on nostalgia
Think back to 2013 and you may or may not remember the release of the Ink Whiskey Entertainment Flask, which was an alcoholic take on classic NES games of the past, with titles such as, “Legend of Drink" and “Drunk Hunt." It might not have been one of the classiest ideas, but it had a strong Kickstarter campaign and was...
Video Share The Joy of Receiving a Launch Day Super NES
A young gamer's dream
We're still some time away from our next new hardware release from Nintendo, but it's always an occasion to savour. Before attention falls to sales, the library of games, online services and all of those shenanigans, there's that glorious first day when all is new, shiny and full of potential. It's arguably even more exciting...
Video Latest Teens React Episode Proves Age Has Done Little To Dull Contra's Insane Difficulty Level
Co-op for experts
We're keen followers of the excellent React YouTube channel, especially the retro videos which show gamers young and old struggling to come to terms with some of the most famous titles in the business. This time up, it's Konami's hard-as-nails run-and-gun shooter Contra (or Probotector if you're in Europe). Contra is considered to...
Video Did You Know Gaming? Takes to the Skies With Star Fox
A nice warm-up for E3
There are some titles that we know - courtesy of release-windows, common sense or Nintendo confirmation - will be shown at E3; one of these is Star Fox for Wii U. Hopefully we'll learn of a release window, a final name and get a good look at what's come of Shigeru Miyamoto's desire to produce a cinematic, innovative GamePad...
Review Mega Man Battle Network 4 Red Sun & Blue Moon (Wii U eShop / Game Boy Advance)
Nothin' but net
In every long running game series, there's always "that" one game which greatly splits the fanbase. Usually due to a major overhaul of an aspect that flies in the face of series tradition, these black sheep games typically are wrongfully seen as a bad or disappointing release simply because they did something different. Mega Man...
Review Rival Turf! (Wii U eShop / Super Nintendo)
Pulls too many punches
Double Dragon may have kicked off the beat 'em up craze, but Capcom's Final Fight was the game that came out of nowhere and quickly became the measuring stick for the genre. So when Capcom had to cut the beloved cooperative play mode from the Super NES home version of the game, Japanese developer Jaleco decided that it would...
News Super Mario Bros. Inducted Into the World Video Game Hall of Fame
Along with Tetris and four other games
Not too long ago we told you about the World Video Game Hall of Fame, an initiative launched by the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. A committee of games writers, academics and industry veterans was formed to deliberate over what games would be admitted into the list, with an initial...
Review Flying Warriors (Wii U eShop / NES)
"I won’t stop at this"
Culture Brain USA's NES title, Flying Warriors, draws its inspiration from the previous North American release in the Hiryū no Ken series which debuted in 1988, Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll. Starring a Shorinji Kempo warrior named Rick Stalker, the story basically mirrors the tale of the original NES entry, with the...
Feature Game Boy Collector Tracks Down Original Owner Using The Power Of Social Media
A very modern mystery
The internet is a wonderful tool which allows us to do all kinds of things – shopping, keeping in touch with loved ones and (of course) reading amazing websites like Nintendo Life. It's also rather handy when you pick up a second-hand piece of vintage gaming technology and want to know who owned it a few decades ago – and...
Review Little Ninja Brothers (Wii U eShop / NES)
Big trouble in little China
With origin characters Jacky and Lee a distant memory, Culture Brain's successor to Kung-Fu Heroes follows the adventure of two new upbeat ninjas named Jack and Ryu as they attempt to put a stop to the evil Blu Boltar and the Yoma Clan who have invaded Chinaland. Little Ninja Brothers – known as Super Chinese 2 in...
Matters Of Import Fire Emblem (Sort Of) Exists On The Sony PlayStation
A look at Shouzou Kaga's forgotten classic
For various reasons we now live in an era where developers breaking away from their parent companies to make similar-but-different pseudo-sequels to dormant, dead, or defiled game series is now a relatively commonplace occurrence, with Koji Igarashi's Castlevania successor Bloodstained being the latest to...
Book Review 33 1/3 - Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack
Going deep into the classics
The themes of Super Mario Bros. are such a prominent part of our culture that they're easily celebrated, but perhaps not so easy to truly appreciate. The tracks - especially the original Overworld/Ground Theme - pop up in so many places and are so readily playable in our heads that we can treat them as simpler and less...
Review Super E.D.F. Earth Defense Force (Wii U eShop / Super Nintendo)
All buck and no bang!
Its certainly no secret that the 16-bit era of gaming was a great time to be a shoot em' up fan. Not only were there a large number of titles released, there were also some of the best the genre ever had to offer on display. While the Sega Mega Drive and NEC PC Engine were the definitive hot spots to get your shooter fix, the...
Review Mega Man Zero 4 (Wii U eShop / Game Boy Advance)
The battle for Neo Arcadia
After three enjoyable Mega Man Zero entries, Capcom just had to sneak in one more. Released extremely late into the Game Boy Advance's life - after the Nintendo DS had already been released, in fact - Mega Man Zero 4 is the final game in the series and mostly follows along with the previous three titles. Once again...
Pre-show broadcasts also promised
Following the past weekend's Nintendo World Championship's qualifiers, Nintendo of America has used its quirky Nintendo Direct Micro and subsequent details to flesh out the final event that's taking place in LA on 14th June. For starters, the big event will be at 3pm Pacific time on 14th June, which is 6pm Eastern...
Rumour Nintendo NX Could Use Google's Android Operating System
Bridging the gap between home and portable?
Nintendo's next console could use Google's Android OS, according to Japanese publication Nikkei. An editorial by Nikkei on Nintendo NX contains alleged "insider" knowledge which suggests that the Wii U's lack of third party support has impacted the approach Nintendo is taking to its next system. According...
May2015
Video Retro Music is Hard-Wired Into Your Brain Because of Science, Not Just Because It's Awesome
Jumping to the beat
When playing retro games it's common to admire the music, with a sense among some that chiptunes of the 8- and 16-bit era are a cut above modern soundtracks. There are still spectacular soundtracks in modern gaming, particularly those performed by live bands and orchestras, yet for some retro music can't be topped. There are...
News New SNES Title Gets Funded for a Wii U eShop Release
Will also have a NES version
It may be a particularly niche area, but there are still developers producing new games for retro systems, including the NES and SNES. Sold with charming cartridges, often with all of the boxes and manuals that retro gamers know so well, they remain a key - albeit small - part of gaming culture. We can add Sydney Hunter...
News Final Fantasy Wasn't Named For The Reason You Think
Creator Hironobu Sakaguchi sets the record straight
Final Fantasy is arguably the most important release in the entire history of Square Enix - or Squaresoft, if you'd prefer - and one of the biggest names in the video game business. For many years it was said that the game was so named because it represented the last throw of the dice for the...
Review Metal Marines (Wii U eShop / Super Nintendo)
Modern(ish) warfare
Strategy is a somewhat niche genre among gamers. While there have been excellent strategy games released on consoles - turn-based RPGs like Fire Emblem to the RTS-style Swords and Soldiers series come to mind - the gameplay has always lent itself more to the PC, where players can be more methodical and control units with relative...
Weirdness Indie Hit Progress Gets Ported to the Humble Game Boy
Now that's progress
Indie developer Ludosity is well known for developing fun games for tablets and smartphones, but now it seems to be taking its first steps to porting one of its games to Nintendo hardware - just not the Nintendo system which you might have assumed! Speaking to our chums at AppSpy at this year's Nordic Game show, the developer...
Weirdness The Game Boy XXL Makes The New Nintendo 3DS XL Look Puny
Supersize GB
Sometimes it feels like electronics manufacturers these days are all totally obsessed with the miniaturisation of their products. We recently got the iPhone 6 Plus and the New Nintendo 3DS XL... erm, actually, it's probably best to stop there. Let's be honest, the original Game Boy was always a reassuring brick in stature; not exactly...
News Cabbage Is The Dream Nintendo Game That Never Was
Shigesato Itoi, Shigeru Miyamoto and Tsunekazu Ishi all involved
We recently ran a feature on Star Fox 2, one of Nintendo's most famous cancelled projects. This SNES-based sequel had all the ingredients to be a sure-fire classic, but never made it to market. However, there's another game in the company's past which had the potential to be even more...
News Super Metroid Was Planned As An Extra In Metroid Prime Before Nintendo Had It Removed
A third-party emulator ended the dream
It may seem like distant history now, but there was a relatively recent time when the Virtual Console was merely an idea rattling around in Nintendo HQ. Super Metroid is one classic that's now been available to buy on two separate occasions, but there was a time when it was almost a bonus feature in a more...
Feature Go Fast - An Ode To The Glorious Chaos Of F-Zero
Gonçalo Lopes explains why he will be hoping for a new F-Zero at E3 2015
Colours. Music. The Captain. Speed. Very, very fast speed. Those are the things that race to my mind when anyone mentions "F-Zero". I am also quite certain my eyes widen and sparkle a bit. Is it just a series of games? Not to me. Off to the starting grid… Knight League:...
Ninterview Patrick Scott Patterson is Geared Up For the Nintendo World Championships Qualifiers
"For me personally this is as awesome of a scenario as could be"
Patrick Scott Patterson (also known by some as OriginalPSP) is familiar to plenty of gamers, especially those that follow his reports on retro gaming and world records; he also has a strong record of media appearances talking about the medium as a whole. His public gaming history goes...
Another Japan-only release gets localised
When you say Westone, you think Wonder Boy. The recently-defunct Japanese studio created a series of amazing action-RPG titles for Sega which have since become legendary slices of retro gaming, but outside of that particular franchise the company's work is somewhat less well known - at least in the West...
Weirdness You Can Buy About 300 Copies of Jurassic Park on SNES for $1500
Fridge and Bacardi not included
It's no secret that we find some corners of eBay rather baffling - whether it's scalpers flogging pre-orders or just downright goofy goods, it's a Wild West of commerce. This example is certainly the latter, as it celebrates the upcoming Jurassic World movie in the most bizarre way possible. As you can see below, you...
Video Get The Best Picture From Your NES With This Comprehensive Guide
Retro refinement
Whether you're hoping to dig into some more obscure titles, or want to fully relive the days of flickering tv screens and boxy controllers, there's still plenty to be said for hooking up the original NES and getting a properly authentic experience. Unfortunately, Nintendo's first home console isn't the easiest to work with if you're...
News A Totally Complete Version Of Star Fox 2 Really Does Exist
And we're not talking about fan-made patched prototype ROMs, either
Later today, we'll be running an exclusive interview with Q-Games boss Dylan Cuthbert, a key figure in the history of the Star Fox series - he worked on the SNES original, its cancelled sequel, Star Fox Command and the 3DS port of Star Fox 64. In our interview, Cuthbert reveals...
Review New Super Mario Bros. (Wii U eShop / DS)
LittleBigKingdom
When New Super Mario Bros. released for the Nintendo DS back in 2006, it had been roughly 15 years since the portly plumber starred in a proper 2D platformer. Not only that, but side-scrollers in general had been largely ignored since 1996, when the Nintendo 64 hit the market and assured us that 3D gaming was the way of the future...
News The First Hardcore Gaming 101 Digest Aims To Chart The Impact Of Two Of Capcom's Greats
Strider and Bionic Commando go under the microscope
Hardcore Gaming 101 isn't just a great resource for retro gamers - it has also published some excellent physical books on our beloved hobby, including one which takes a look at Sega's arcade lineage and a comprehensive history of Konami's Castlevania. The site's next project is
Review Mega Man Battle Network 3 Blue & White (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Gotta bust 'em all
The Mega Man Battle Network series was a brilliant idea from Capcom to offer a refreshing and unique departure from the classic action platformer, while still delivering a colourful and engaging gameplay experience. Though it wasn't the first time the Mega Man series flirted with becoming an RPG, it was by far the most...
News Unofficial Metroid Prequel Uses The Original NES Hardware To Impressive Effect
Metroid: Rogue Dawn is coming later this year
Will we see a new Metroid game at this year's E3? Fans will certainly hope so, but in the meantime we can all get excited about a fan-made prequel which uses the original NES hardware for that extra degree of authenticity. Metroid: Rogue Dawn takes the original title and hacks it apart, building an...
Plays Sega, Nintendo and NEC games
We reviewed the RetroN 5 a while back and found it to be an excellent way of playing your original retro game cartridges in glorious HD. However, Hyperkin's wonder-console has a challenger in the shape of Cyber Gadget's Retro Freak - a clone system which out-does the RetroN 5 by offering support for PC Engine...
News Hudson's SNES JRPG Super Shell Monsters Story Finally Gets Translated Into English
And it only took 20 years!
Back in 1994, Hudson released Daikaijuu Monogatari on the Super Famicom - a JRPG which looked a lot like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. The game never saw a Western localisation, and has remained out of reach for anyone who doesn't have a firm grasp of Japanese - until now. Translation group Dynamic Designs has just...
Video The Game Theorists Tackle That Vital Star Fox Question - What's With the Metal Legs?
Busts some old myths
Assuming that Nintendo President Satoru Iwata doesn't appear in this year's E3 Digital Event and ask us to "please understand", we should have a new Star Fox game for Wii U this year. We may know very little about it, but we won't deny that it's pretty near the top of our hype list for the upcoming LA event. There'll be plenty...
Review Paper Mario (Wii U eShop / N64)
Historical document
Can we take a moment to appreciate just how gloriously wacky it is that a game like Paper Mario exists in the first place? This is an idea that followed in the footsteps of Super Mario RPG, the Square/Nintendo collaboration which in itself marked a big departure in genre for the Mario universe. Nintendo would continue down this...
Weirdness Fred Savage Seems Very Much In Favour Of The Nintendo World Championships 2015
"California!"
Nintendo is bringing its World Championships event back from the dead for this year's E3, and this relic from the past has attracted the attention of another part of Nintendo's history - the actor-turned-director Fred Savage. Savage was arguably the world's biggest child star when he appeared in The Wizard, a 1989 Hollywood movie...
News You Need These Exclusive Sega-Themed Artworks On Your Wall
Golden Axe! Streets of Rage! Shinobi! More!
What happens when digital art studio Cook & Becker enlists talented artists - working in the fields of Sci-Fi, gaming and comics - to create original art for their favourite Sega titles? Awesome happens, that's what. Kilian Eng, Gerald Parel, Julien Renoult, Roman van der Haven and Emmanuel Malin...
Video Let's Remind Ourselves How Totally Radical The 1990 Nintendo World Championships Really Were
"Woo! Yeah! You ready? Woo!"
Following the glorious resurrection of The Nintendo World Championships, we thought it would be a good time to reminisce over the events of 25 years ago, when the original competition took place at Universal Studios, Hollywood. The video below is a handy summary of this epic period, showing the hopeful contestants and...
Hardware Review REVO K101 Plus
Hands-on with the ultimate hardware GBA clone
Love them or loathe them, hardware clones of vintage gaming platforms are here to stay. Technical wizards operating on the fringe of the gaming hardware arena are constantly dreaming up new products which ape the performance and feel of classic consoles, and in the past few years we've seen imitations of...
News UK Retailer GAME Steps Up Retro Offerings in Marketplace Listings
Plenty of Nintendo choices
Earlier this year the biggest specialist game retailer in the UK, GAME, launched its online marketplace that allows independent sellers to distribute their own ranges of t-shirts, merchandise and even retro games. At launch in March the selection of retro titles was almost non-existent, yet now it's been expanded to...
Review Mega Man & Bass (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Here comes the bass
A brief bit of history on Mega Man & Bass. A few years after Mega Man 8 notoriously became a Playstation and Sega Saturn game, Keiji Inafune - the series' creator - felt that he still owed one more game to children that had not yet upgraded to next gen hardware and still owned only the Super Famicom. Technically a spin-off...
Matters Of Import Take A Guided Tour Of Super Potato, The Ultimate Retro Gaming Paradise
Japan-based Brit David Coyles explains the appeal of this legendary shop
"I don't know where to start! I'm so excited" blurted out in an enclave of retro gaming memorabilia, and a phrase which saved me from my own funk in a number of ways. Japanese store Super Potato has a certain uplifting effect on most of the people who visit – be it one of...
Weirdness This Game Boy Macro Is Crafted From The Remains Of A Nintendo DS Lite
An unofficial masterpiece
The Game Boy Micro is arguably the sleekest handheld Nintendo has ever released. With a removable face plate, neon blue start and select buttons, a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery lasting for up to eight hours and plenty of options in terms of backlighting, the system ended the original Game Boy line on a high...
Video Teenagers React To Duck Hunt And The Iconic NES Zapper
“I feel the power within me”
Not everyone was around to experience the iconic NES Zapper when it was originally released in 1984, so that’s why the latest Teens React video is showcasing Nintendo’s accurate light gun and the all-time NES classic, Duck Hunt. Watch as teens come to the consensus the electronic light gun accessory is actually...
News The Ocarina of Time Speedrun World Record Has Been Beaten Yet Again
Crikey
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is not only an all-time classic game, but the source of one of the most keenly fought speedrun world records. Speedrunning experts continue to set new standards, each seemingly defying the odds more than before. Well, the record has been beaten again, once again utilising quirky skips that can be accessed...
Feature What NEC And Hudson Did Next: The Disasterous Story Of The PC-FX
The history of one of the 32-bit era's biggest flops
Complacency can be deadly. You only have to look at the changeover between the 16-bit and 32/64-bit generations for confirmation of this fact; amazingly, during this period of transition all of the established hardware manufacturers - Nintendo included - were caught with their trousers down while...
News Modder Creates A Bluetooth-Ready Game Boy, Because Why The Heck Not
Fantastic retro-fitting fun
If you're familiar with the world of Game Boy modding and music, then the name Joe Heaton should be known to you. This UK-based tech genius has been featured on the site in the past - both as an interview subject and to offer sagely advise to prospective modders - and he's back with his latest amazing creation. Heato
Video Step Inside Classic Home Video Games Author Brett Weiss' Room of Doom
The ultimate man-cave?
Author Brett Weiss has written several highly respected books on the history of the video game industry, and unsurprisingly has managed to amass a pretty awesome collection of consoles and systems over the past few decades. iretrogamer.com - a new YouTube venture from occasional Nintendo contributor Tyler Esposito - was lucky...
Review River City Ransom (Wii U eShop / NES)
Holding your funds for ransom
Originally released in Japan for Nintendo Famicom, classic beat 'em up 'Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari' was then heavily localised for its eventual release in the US; background artwork was amended to look more 'western' (for example, rooftop tiling designs and mailboxes were changed) plus all location names were updated...
Weirdness Mayweather vs Pacquiao Gets the Punch-Out!! Treatment, Again
It's pretty accurate
This past weekend the "Fight of the Century" - Mayweather vs Pacquiao - took place in Las Vegas, though for plenty that splashed out on pay-per-view to watch it there was some disappointment. Lacking in fireworks and with a predictable outcome, it couldn't live up to the - admittedly over-the-top - hype. We already shared one...
News You Can Own Sid Meier's SNES Development System, If You Have A Spare $9.5K
"The 'Holy Grail' of video game collecting"
Legendary game design Sid Meier is responsible for some of the most iconic titles in the history of the interactive entertainment industry. He helped found Microprose in the 1980s and has since produced the likes of Civilization, Sid Meier's Pirates!, Silent Service and F-15 Strike Eagle. It's now possible...
April2015
News Nintendo Classics in the Running for Inaugural World Video Game Hall of Fame Honour
Just don't let Angry Birds win
While any award or honour can be taken completely seriously or dismissed as a trinket, it's nevertheless pleasing when Nintendo's in the running. The latest gong up for grabs is from The Strong National Museum of Play in the US, which is opening its World Video Game Hall of Fame with the first entrant this year. As...
Weirdness You Can Now Browse Zelda: Link To The Past's Map Using Your Web Browser
Turn-by-turn Navi-gation not included
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past features one of the most vibrant game worlds ever created for any video game, and now you can gaze longingly at it using your humble HTML5 web browser. The peeps at Jadsdsengine have created a living, breathing replication of the game's overworld which can be viewed via...
Weirdness ESPN's Michelle Beadle Gets Punch-Out!! Training
Let's keep it clean! Now come out boxing!
Unless you've been living under a rock, you are probably aware that Floyd Mayweather will be fighting Manny Pacquiao this Saturday in Las Vegas. The excitement in the air is palpable as the unbeaten 38 year old American Mayweather gets training like Rocky to take on The Filipino Slugger, in a bout expected...
Video The Nintendo 64 Kid Is Taking Unboxing To The Next Level For Taco Bell
"Nintendo Sixty-Foooooooooour!"
Remember Brandon Kuzma, AKA The Nintendo 64 kid? He got rather excited about his shiny new Nintendo 64 console back in 1998, and when YouTube arrived a few years later, became something of a celebrity. He's now harnessing that power by starring in a commercial for Taco Bell's Steak DoubleDilla. His sister Rachel is...
Too many energy drinks for you, Link
When developing a sizeable adventure for hardware as humble as the Game Boy, coding trickery and compromises are inevitable. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX on the Game Boy Color - and the non-DX original - naturally falls into that category; it's a lovely game, and also has some rather entertaining...
News Say Hello To Star Fox's NES-Based Forerunner, NesGlider
The prototype which started a profitable friendship
Star Fox is one of the most technically impressive games on the SNES, and was a collaboration between Nintendo and UK-based Argonaut Software. We've covered the making of the game in the past, but Unseen64 has an excelle
Ninterview Jeremy Parish On Cataloguing The History Of The Game Boy, One Game At A Time
"I've made peace with the fact that I'll die before completing this"
The original monochrome Game Boy is the elder statesman of Nintendo's handheld family, having arrived on the market back in 1989. The console became a commercial and cultural phenomenon, effortlessly casting aside its more technically-competent rivals and establishing a brand which...
News Clean Up Your Act With This Game Boy Laundry Basket
Begone, foul undergarments
Playing on your Game Boy all day long is so much fun, but if you're anything like us you'll find that it tends to eat up time you'd usually spend cleaning your house and tidying away all the smelly clothing you casually drop on the floor. If only someone could somehow combine these two elements to make the process of...
News Unseen64 Digs Up Some Screens of Brimstone, a Cancelled SNES JRPG From Taito
A lost classic
Over the course of its life, the SNES hosted several legendary RPGs, such as Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, and Earthbound. These are just a few examples of how the RPG genre really came into its own in this generation, stepping out of the rather awkward and simplistic experiences that were available on the NES and creating games...
Review Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Sweet dreams
Klonoa's never really gotten the recognition he deserves, has he? The floppy-eared hero's original adventure, released for PlayStation in 1997 and given a superb Wii remake in 2008, was an extraordinary 2.5D platformer that forced players to take a different perspective on the action. Following this, Klonoa got multiple releases on...
Review Yoshi's Island DS (Wii U eShop / DS)
Swap-a-bye baby
The challenge of having to follow up such a hot act as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is staying true to the original while simultaneously feeling fresh and exciting. The original Yoshi's Island was a pioneer in its design; that design can be straight-up copied again, sure, but the sense of surprise that the first possessed...
News Fan Ports Hideo Kojima's Cyberpunk Classic, Snatcher, to the Virtual Boy
In honour of a fellow Virtual Boy fan that passed away
The Virtual Boy is a true oddity in Nintendo's history - though the company has acknowledged the curious system recently, it was largely ignored for years due to its status as the company's biggest ever flop. Never even released in Europe, it was undeniably a commercial disaster for the famous...
Review Yoshi Touch & Go (Wii U eShop / DS)
Fleeting fun
Between the DS, 3DS and Wii U, Nintendo has delivered many touch screen gaming experiences throughout the years. While some are genuinely creative and/or mechanically deep, others have ended up feeling like little more than an experiment or a tech demo rather than a full-fledged game; Yoshi Touch & Go falls into that latter...
News Nintendo Submits Trademark for NES Controller
We weren't aware it was still required
The legal world of trademarks and rights can be slightly baffling at the best of times, so a Nintendo of America trademark for the NES controller, essentially, is certainly one to raise eyebrows. The application is most certainly for the design of the iconic controller, with the image above being included...
Hardware Classics Sega Dreamcast
The last throw of the dice for Nintendo's old rival
Sega's Dreamcast holds a special place in the history of home video game entertainment. It was an innovative beast, being the first home console to offer online connectivity out of the box and setting the modern trend for sourcing internal components from PC manufacturers. It also proved to be...
Video Traveller's Tales Animator Proposes To Girlfriend Via His Own Mario-Style Platformer
Leap of faith
Proposing marriage is one of the most signficant gestures of affection one can give to another human being, but the event itself can be quite intimidating - will your other half say yes? Will you make a fool of yourself? Will they turn their noses up at the cheap ring you've bought? It's serious business. However, we like the approach...
News A Book About The Iconic Bitmap Brothers Is Being Kickstarted
The full history of the creators of Gods, The Chaos Engine and Speedball
If you're a UK gamer with a keen sense of history then the name The Bitmap Brothers will be instantly recognisable. Most active during the 16-bit era, "The Bitmaps" are considered by many to be gaming's first "rock star" developers, and produced such classics as Gods, The Chaos...
News Bandai Almost Made A Laptop With A Built-In SNES
Say hello to the Bandai HET
Bandai may be joined at the hip with Namco these days, but once upon a time the company stalked the edges of the video game industry, desperate to find a route into the potentially profitable hardware arena. It released consoles such as the Pippin (in conjunction with Apple) and created the WonderSwan handheld, but...
Music Say Hello To The World's First LSDj Music Album On A Game Boy Cartridge
Includes Nordloef, Tommy Creep, Pixel Hero Zero and Solarbear
The Game Boy may be as old as the hills, but it's alive and well in the world of chiptune music. In recent years an active musical community has grown up around Nintendo's iconic handheld, intent on creating awesome tunes and even playing them to live audiences. If you needed any more of...
Hardware Settle It With This Customised Super Smash Bros. Nintendo 64 Console
Complete with four pads
Super Smash Bros. may be the big thing on Wii U and 3DS right now, but veteran players will lovingly recall when they played the first entry on the N64 all those years ago. If you're hankering to revisit the past - or you're a newcomer who wants to see how it all started - then you might want to point your browser towards
News Streets Of Rage 2, Gunstar Heroes And Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Are Your Next Sega 3D Classics
More 16-bit goodness on your 3DS
Sega has confirmed that Streets of Rage 2, Gunstar Heroes and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 are making their way to the 3DS eShop. This trio of Sega Mega Drive / Genesis titles will be joining the steadily-growing ranks of Sega's retro remasters, which already includes the likes of Space Harrier, Out Ru
"My belief is that Nintendo is looking for a blue ocean"
Nintendo caused quite a stir when it announced its partnership with Japanese mobile firm DeNA and that it was working on its next hardware platform, dubbed "Nintendo NX". This double-whammy of news was greeted with a positive reaction, not only from the
Video Learn More About the SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive and Its Battle With the SNES
Did You Know Gaming does its thing
The 'console wars' of the '90s are the stuff of legend for some, and an important part of personal gaming history for those of us 'of an age'. Unless you were rather flush there were decent odds back then of being in one camp or the other - the SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive or the Super Nintendo / SNES. Friendships...
Review Donkey Kong 64 (Wii U eShop / N64)
He's finally back, but does he still kick some tail?
At the mere mention of Nintendo's first 64-bit console, many of us find it difficult not to get swept up by a wave of nostalgia. We drift through countless memories of flickering TV screens and eye-popping graphics, washing up on the shores of 3D gaming's first bold steps onto a Nintendo platform...
Review Mega Man Zero 3 (Wii U eShop / GBA)
(Mostly) Zero changes
After releasing the previous two Mega Man Zero titles and having them almost universally liked, it would've been crazy to end the series there; so, naturally, Capcom produced Mega Man Zero 3 for the Game Boy Advance. Just as before, the game follows the events of the previous instalments pretty directly. Picking up two months...
Feature The Best Alternate Reality Super Nintendo Classics We Never Got To Play
Super Elite! Super Dune! Super Strider! If only!
In this one-off feature, Nintendo Life contributor and retro fanatic Gonçalo Lopes thinks out loud about the greatest SNES games that never were. I have always been a bit of a dreamer. From as far as I can recall, I was always dreaming within the world of tomorrow. And speaking of dreams, how about...
News Unreleased SNES Music Game From The Creator Of Electroplankton Comes Back To Life
Making noise with the SNES Mouse
Back in the 16-bit era Interactive media artist Toshio Iwai designed a SNES music composition tool that was to be released along with the SNES mouse in a bundle package, just like Mario Paint. There was even a US trademark filled for the game's western release under the name Sound Factory. Sadly, it never got...
Review WarioWare Touched! (Wii U eShop / DS)
A Touch of Magic
Nintendo's initial Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS Wii U Virtual Console titles certainly are an eclectic mix - with WarioWare Touched! perhaps being the most unexpected inclusion of the bunch. Having been initially released on the Nintendo DS in February 2005, WarioWare Touched! is one of the DS's earliest titles, coming from an era of...
Review Super Mario 64 (Wii U eShop / N64)
Platforming perfection
There are two types of gamer – those who have played Super Mario 64 and those who should. Regularly placing towards the high end of 'best game ever' lists, Super Mario 64 has become a standard name-drop in many a classic gaming debate. Since launching in 1996, there have been a number of successors and contenders for the...
If you really want to...
Fan art comes in all sorts of forms, including extravagant structures composed of 14,000 painted toothpicks. That's not a sentence we get to write every day. The start screen of Super Mario Bros. on the NES is iconic, to put it mildly, and a keen fan has taken the unusual approach of reconstructing it with toothpicks. The...
Video Donkey Kong 64 Tumbles Onto Wii U Virtual Console
Don't even think about that rap
The avalance of Wii U Virtual Console games continues with a game that is new to the Virtual Console service, having never previously received a re-release. Rare's Donkey Kong 64 has achieved infamy thanks to THAT intro song, but is the gameplay worth talking about? As someone who missed out on the game the first...
Review Mario Kart DS (Wii U eShop / DS)
Flawed perfection
The 2005 hit, Mario Kart DS, marked a new era for Nintendo and its long-running racing series. This particular iteration was released during a transitional phase for the company, with Nintendo beginning to rethink the conventions of gaming. Mario Kart on the DS mirrored this fresh approach, incorporating a portable online...
Retrospective Sega's Streets of Rage Series
In pursuit of pugilistic perfection
Nostalgia sells and publishers know it. You just have to look at all the reboots, Definitive and Remastered Editions out there for proof. But there are, however, some titles that cannot be modernised no matter how much companies try. Sega beat-em-up Streets of Rage is perhaps one of the best examples of such...
Video Mario Kart DS Skids Onto Wii U Virtual Console
We dig into DS settings for Wii U and classic racing
Nintendo DS games are finally getting their full chance to shine on the Wii U Virtual Console. The first of two games to be released at launch in Europe is Mario Kart DS, an excellent entry in the long-running racing series. All of your favourite Super Mario characters take to the roads once more...
Video Super Mario 64 Leaps Onto Wii U Virtual Console
We show off the Wii U features for this classic
Nintendo brought us all a treat during the most recent Nintendo Direct, when it announced the long-awaited arrival of Nintendo 64 games to Wii U Virtual Console. Available now on your Wii U, one of the first available games is the legendary Super Mario 64. We took the time to play and capture some...
Weirdness The Moon in Majora's Mask Probably Has a Black Hole Inside, Because Science
Physics is actually fun
We rather enjoy videos and articles that essentially serve as 'stealth education' here at Nintendo Life. Take a much-loved game or topic and apply scientific logic to it, and you have the ingredients for a video that's both entertaining and fascinating. That criteria certainly applies to this video focused on why the moon in...
News Super Fighter Team Is Putting Its Retro Catalogue Back Into Production
Reprints for classic SNES and Genesis titles, plus two new games
Super Fighter Team has confirmed that it is putting several of its classic titles back into production for a limited period of time. Legend of Wukong and Star Odyssey - two Sega Genesis / Mega Drive RPGs released in 2008 and 2011 respectively - are both getting reprints, as is fellow...
News Game Boy Advance Given Up The Ghost? The Revo K101 Could Answer Your Prayers
Now with added colour options from Rose Colored Gaming
Hardware clones are pretty common these days thanks to the relentless march of technology, and recently we've seen a host of 8 and 16-bit systems replicated by products like the RetroN 5, Supaboy and Super Retro Trio. The Game Boy Advance is
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