Retro News
July2016
News Someone Has Finally Cracked The Sega Saturn's DRM, Can Load Games Via USB
A solid state future for Sega's underdog
Sega's 32-bit Saturn console wasn't the success story the company had hoped for, and its failure against the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64 is considered by critics to be one of the many reasons the Japanese company walked away from producing domestic hardware. However, the machine is home to some of the...
AKA: Xandra, the legendary klutz gummy hero
You might have stumbled upon Namco's love letter to Norse mythology, the Valkyrie series, in the past. Of the few games released, there is one rather noteworthy entry for the arcade named Walküre no Densetsu, a one or two player overhead shmup/platformer hybrid with a lot of impressive scaling effects...
News Someone Has Actually Made A Game Which Works On The SNES PlayStation
Yes, you read that correctly
There are some news one never expects to write and this is one such case. A new Super Nintendo and SNES Playstation CD video game has been released! Super Boss Gaiden is the product of German duo Chrono Moogle and Dieter Lazer. If you like 16-bit retro platformers with tight controls, humorous dialogue and challenging...
Video The Story of Cel Damage 2, The Car Racing / Combat Title That Got Blown Off Track
It hit the wrong gear
Some GameCube owners may remember Cel Damage, a car racing / combat game that was also on Xbox and, eventually, PS2. Developed by Pseudo Interactive and published by EA, it had a mixed critical reception due to its rather unique blend of car racing and battling, though its visual style was certainly eye-catching. There was a...
Video Take a Look at Nintendo's First Ever Console - The Color TV Game 6
Made with Mitsubushi, surprisingly
Though Nintendo may trace its contemporary roots in video game industry success to the 35 year old Donkey Kong arcade, which provided a key breakthrough for the company, it is by no means the big N's oldest gaming product. There were other arcade games, of course, but there was also a little-known gaming system...
Anniversary Donkey Kong is Now 35 Years Old
When Mr. Video rescued Pauline
We suspect that Shigeru Miyamoto and some veteran colleagues in Nintendo will be raising a glass this weekend in honour of Donkey Kong, as the arcade arrived in Japan on 9th July 1981 - 35 years ago. It was its impact in North America when it landed at the end of that month, however, which proved particularly vital to...
Hardware Review EXEQ GameBox Game Boy Advance SP Clone
AGS-101 screen quality on a budget - what's the catch?
Love them or loathe them, clone consoles are very much here to stay. As existing hardware becomes harder to find or fails due to everyday use, the demand for replacement systems grows ever stronger, fuelled largely by the almost insatiable demands of a new generation of retro gaming enthusiasts...
News Japan-Exclusive Satellaview Zelda Game Gets Translated And Dubbed Into English
Yes, we said dubbed
The Satellaview truly stands as one of the most unique and visionary peripherals Nintendo has ever developed. Downloading games from outer space (well, Low Earth Orbit if you want to be technical about it) truly sounded like science fiction back in 1995. In the five years this Japan-only add-on operated along with the Super...
Review Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (New 3DS / SNES)
Move over, Maximo
These days, it's in vogue to bemoan Mega Man's absence from the gaming scene. Mega Man, however, is not the only franchise Capcom has forgotten; one of its more egregious crimes is leaving the mighty Knight Arthur himself by the wayside. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is a classic SNES title and one of the hardest games on the platform...
Review Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (Wii U eShop / DS)
New region, new Pokémon, similar circling action
During the Pokémon Ranger games you spend a lot of time wandering around catching Pokémon. Captures are different from the main series, however, as Poké Balls are ditched in favour of Capture Stylers, requiring you to use the touch screen to draw circles around the Pokémon with your stylus. The...
Random Miyamoto "Flattered" By Super Mario Tribute In Mickey Mouse Cartoon
"We finally got a cameo together"
Back in 2013, Disney published a new Mickey Mouse cartoon entitled Tokyo Go, which shows the famous rodent running into some bother when he accidentally boards the wrong Japanese bullet train. The animated short is typically slick and amusing, but stands out for its use of iconic sound effects. Not only does it...
News Super Famicom RPG Classic Wizardry Gaiden IV Now Playable In English
Our demon's heart is throbbing
The original Wizardry turned many heads upon its original release in 1981 on the Apple II. It was a winning combination of Dungeons & Dragons-style gameplay with graphics unlike anything seen before. The series went to find success both in the west and Japan, where it was licensed to ASCii Soft. It gained such a...
News NES Visual Compendium Kickstarter Hit With Intellectual Property Dispute
Legally blind
We recently reported on the Kickstarter campaign for Bitmap Books' NES/Famicom: A Visual Compendium. Part of the publisher's long-running Visual Compendium series - which has previously featured the Commodore, Amiga and ZX Spectrum - the book is intended as a celebration of Nintendo's iconic 8-bit console, a machine which changed the...
June2016
Video Welcome To The Hellish Glitch That Allows Speedrunners To Beat Super Mario Land 2 In Minutes
Stepping into the Mario Matrix
Speedrunners are obsessed with finishing games in the fastest time possible, but they don't always play fair - any glitches in a game which allow the player to complete it in a faster time are considered by many to be perfectly legit, although they are usually classified differently to "normal" speed runs. Even so,...
Video See How Easy It Is To Turn Your Favourite NES Games Into 3D With 3DNES
You might need a bit of patience
We recently brought you news of a project called 3DNES, which had the ambitious goal of allowing you to convert your favourite NES games into 3D. Since then the project has moved on a bit and our chums over at Eurogamer have spent a bit of time playing around with it to see how easy it is to use in practice. It...
Hardware Classics Pokémon Mini
Nintendo's smallest console, in both size and stature
It's somewhat ironic that one of Nintendo's most obscure consoles is so strongly aligned with one of its most instantly recognisable brands, but understanding why the Pokémon Mini wasn't quite as successful as it probably should have been is relatively easy; it was marketed poorly, the games...
1992 interview gets translated into English for the first time
Mario Kart is one of Nintendo's most recognisable series but back in the early '90s the idea of the famous mascot hopping into a car was quite unique, and was even seen as something of a risk for the developer. With the benefit of hindsight we can clearly see Super Mario Kart as a moment...
Metroidless Bounty Huntress
Banpresto always boasted a healthy lineup of anime and manga licensed video games. If you had a favourite series, there would be a good chance if there was a video game counterpart made for your video game console of choice, it was probably released by Banpresto. Of course, getting a western release was easier said than...
News Take a Look at The Terror of Tech Town, the Power Glove Game Lost to the Ages
"No-one has 3D moves like you and your Power Glove"
Ah, the Power Glove, a cool idea betrayed by flawed technology and some questionable marketing - it's an iconic part of NES history. It was a flop, as demonstrated by its grand total of two games released specifically for the accessory; Mattel saw its dreams of glove wearing NES gamers taking over...
Review Mega Man 7 (New 3DS / SNES)
The worst Mega Man is still good
Mega Man 7 is a game that came at the wrong time. By the time of its original 1995 release fans were a bit beleaguered by continued rapid-fire releases, and interest had shifted from the portly robot that could to his slimmer, cooler younger brother - Mega Man X. If you've played one Mega Man game, you'll be...
Anniversary Sonic the Hedgehog is Now 25 Years Old
Happy Birthday old chum
Sonic the Hedgehog is 25 years old, with the original game coming out on SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive in North America on 23rd June 1991, kicking off one of gaming's most iconic early rivalries. The 'Bit Wars' between SEGA and Nintendo, Sonic and Mario, were integral to many childhoods of gamers that are now typically over 30...
News Hyperkin Seeking Developers To Help Bring The Smartboy To Retail
"WE built the Smartboy. YOU can make it great"
Hyperkin's Smartboy began life as a joke but has been quietly bubbling under in the company's R&D labs for the past year. The company has now opened preorders for the peripheral, which attaches to Android phones and allows users to run Game Boy cartridges with the benefit of proper physical...
Will you still love me when I'm 64?
To mark the 20th birthday of Nintendo's 64-bit wonder we're republishing this feature on the console, which originally went live on the site in December 2014. The Nintendo 64 is a console which divides opinions, even today. For some, it was an unforgivable fall from grace after the dizzying heights of the SNES;...
Anniversary Super Mario 64 is Now 20 Years Old
A vital part of gaming history
2016 is a year with plenty of notable anniversaries, and now one of the most influential games in the industry's history is 20 years old. Super Mario 64 - hat-tip to this NeoGAF thread for the reminder - arrived in Japan on 23rd June 1996, and thanks to time zones that landmark has now been reached in Nintendo's...
Video Things Go Bump In The Night During This Series Recap Of Ghosts 'n Goblins
The complete history of one of Capcom's finest
When you think of classic coin-guzzling '80s arcade titles then Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins will surely spring to mind. Tokuro Fujiwara's classic 1985 side-scroller was insanely hard and incredibly popular, and was ported to pretty much every home format going - including the NES. Ghouls 'n Ghosts...
Ninterview Avid Retro Game Collector Justin "Jutman" Hickman
"I would say close to 60 percent of my total collection is Nintendo"
In the latest of our long-running Ninterview series we speak to a UK-based video game collector with the kind of haul you can't help be insanely jealous of. Lifelong Zelda fan Justin Hickman - known on Twitter as "Jutman / thec0llect0r82" - was kind enough to sit down with us for a...
E3 2016 Hyperkin's "April Fools" Game Boy Phone Attachment Is Alive And Well
Now only confirmed for Android phones, though
Remember the Smart Boy? It began life as a 2015 April Fools' Day joke by hardware maker Hyperkin, but the company later admitted it was making the thing for real. We've heard little since then, but the Smart Boy is still very much alive and well - it has even been spotted on the show floor at E3. The...
News Super Audio Cart Brings Classic Samples To Modern Musicians
Music to our ears
If you're a fan of retro game music - either as a listener or a creator - then you'll be interested to learn that Impact Soundworks has teamed up with OverClocked ReMix to release Super Audio Cart, a library packed with classic samples dating all the way back to the '70s. Used in conjunction with the Kontakt music making package,...
Review Kaite Tsukutte Asoberu Dezaemon (SNES)
Super shmup construction kit
How would you like to make your own video game? The incredible Super Mario Maker was not the first time a company gave players the tools to produce their own interactive entertainment. In fact, such titles predate the online infrastructure which modern examples of the genre rely on for growth, idea exchange and level...
News Super Famicom Anime Classic Hyper Iria Now Playable In English
Another female bounty hunter
Dynamic Designs strikes again! This time with the help of Matt's Messy Room and right in the middle of E3 2016 chaos, its Banpresto's 1995 title Hyper Iria that is now fully translated to English. This Japan-only action platformer is licensed from Ashi Productions, using characters and settings from the six episode OVA...
Video Find Out How amiibo Support Was Added To Super Mario 64
It's-a me, amiibo!
We recently learned that Rare wanted to do amiibo-style toys during the N64 era, which frankly would have been amazing. YouTuber James (aka yoshielectron) has now craftily found a way of retroactively adding amiibo support to Super Mario 64, which might be the next best thing. You may remember him from when he created a
Review Mario Hoops 3 on 3 (Wii U eShop / DS)
Going for a slam dunk
From his first venture into Karting through to competing in the Olympics, Mario has been spending plenty of time taking part in activities other than Princess saving. In 2007 (European release) Mario and his mates tried their hands at shooting a few hoops on Nintendo DS in Mario Slam Basketball (aka Mario Hoops 3-on-3 in the...
Video Here's What It Felt Like To Get Hold Of Super Mario 64 Early, 20 Years Ago
Scorching
The N64 turns 20 this year, as does Super Mario 64 - one of the most notable launch titles in the history of video games. Those of us who were lucky enough to own this console at the time of release were rewarded with one of the most riveting gaming experiences of all time, but iretrogamer.com boss Tyler Esposito was even more privliedged...
Hardware Classics Game Boy Pocket
A refreshed icon
It would be fair to say that the Game Boy's longevity surprised everyone, including Nintendo. Originally released in 1989, it was still going strong by the middle of the following decade and experienced a notable boost thanks to the timely introduction of the first Pokémon titles, Red & Blue. The momentum provided by these...
News Japanese GBA Exclusive Magical Vacation Now Playable In English
Summer holiday
Brownie Brown might sound like a delicious cookie, but for fans of Secret of Mana it translates into something even more delicious. The company - currently operating under the name 1-UP Studio - was setup by Nintendo from hand-picked ex-Square employees, namely folks that had worked on both Game Boy and SNES Mana titles. The first...
News Super Mario Movie Director Talks Hopper Headaches And Wanting DeVito But Getting Hoskins
"We really thought we’d end up walking"
While the Super Mario Bros. movie has gone down as something of a cult classic with Nintendo fans, its production was troubled, reviews were uniformly terrible and it bombed at the box office. Director Rocky Morton had to deal with a shifting script, difficult actors and a studio which kept interfering, and...
Random Hacker Mods Power Glove For Drone Control
We knew it would come in handy someday
The Power Glove is one of the most iconic peripherals in the history of gaming, despite the fact that it was a bit of a dud in both commercial and gameplay terms. Were it not for its starring role in The Wizard, the device may well have been forgotten entirely, but in more recent times other individuals are...
Review Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (New 3DS / SNES)
Awesome ape action
Well, here we are again – ape platforming shenanigans from Rare in a game bearing the lengthy packaging title of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble. Thanks to previous Virtual Console releases, all six of Rare's 2D Donkey Kong titles are available on New Nintendo 3DS; with the changing Kong lineup helping to keep...
Random Old Burger King Game Boy Color Toys Are Being Turned Into Working Consoles
Going full circle
Back in 2000, those kindly souls at Burger King decided to partner up with Nintendo to bundle tiny little reproductions of the (then) dominate Game Boy Color handheld with its meals. Fast forward 16 years, and some crazy fool is actually turning these pint-sized facsimiles into real, working machines. Redditor ChaseLambeth wanted...
Video Unseen64 Discusses the Perfect Dark Sequels That Never Were
Hello darkness, my old friend
Back in the glory days of Rare, the studio released the cult classic GoldenEye 007, and while it's perhaps a bit dated by modern standards, the game was wildly fun. Though the studio wished to produce a sequel to the shooter, it lost the rights in a bidding war, resulting in Rare choosing to create its own game as a...
Ninterview Preserving Gaming History With Arcade Collector ShouTime
"Without preservation, titles would be lost today"
If you're one of the many wise people who picked up the excellent Sega 3D Classics Collection on 3DS recently then you may spot the mysterious name "ShouTime" in the credits section. ShouTime assisted developer M2 with its port of Power Drift, and is one of the world's foremost collectors of arcade...
Video Here's Why Getting Your Retro Games Graded Could Be A Complete Waste Of Money
Or not, if you like to see them magically rise in value!
While many collect retro games purely to play them, there's a growing number of people who see vintage titles as an investment rather than entertainment. It's hardly surprising given that certain games are worth much more today than they were at the time of launch, and merely taking them out...
Video Five Super Mario 64 Secrets You May Have Missed - Part One
From cute penguins to rude owls
As you've likely noticed Nintendo games tend to have fun and silly secrets. That's part of their charm, of course, and it keeps us busy with games long after they were originally released, one example being Super Mario 64. Well, for your amusement our video man Alex has been looking into some of the secrets in this...
News Chrono Trigger Director Would Love To Create A New "High End" Version Of The Game
"Or a movie production, or something of the sort"
Chrono Trigger is rightly considered to be one of the finest JRPGs ever made. Released on the Super Famicom / SNES back in 1995, the title was critically lauded upon release and has since been re-released on the Nintendo DS to equally effusive acclaim. Despite the game's enviable status in the...
News Bitmap's Next Visual Compendium Turns Its Attention To The Nintendo Entertainment System
And the Famicom, of course
UK publisher Bitmap Books has carved out quite a niche for itself in recent years. Focused on quality coffee table tomes related to video gaming, the company has produced a wide range of retro classics, with the most recent examples being the lavish Artcade and positively lush Super Famicom: Th
News This Freshly Translated Interview Sheds New Light on the Development of Super Mario Land 2
Bring back the Magic Carrot!
The Super Mario Land games on the GameBoy were always something of black sheep among the rest if the Super Mario canon. The games experimented with different themes and felt very weird for lack of a better word, but nonetheless were solid games within their own right. While the first game was a decidedly simple affair,...
May2016
Video Weep with Us Over these Top Five Gaming Series that Ain't What They Used to Be
No prizes for guessing number one
Every series has its high points and its low points, but for some franchises we seem to be stuck at the bottom of a rut with no clear way out. It's sad that some of our favourite series have taken such a nosedive, but that's just what happens sometimes. In an effort to try and inform, entertain, and relieve some...
Video Go Bananas With The Full History Of The Monkey Ball Series
A franchise forever linked with the Nintendo GameCube
Super Monkey Ball was arguably one of the GameCube's most appealing early releases, offering a gripping concept, appealing lead character and hours of challenge. While the Monkey Ball series has since moved onto other platforms, it will forever be associated with Nintendo's boxy home console -...
Random Super Smash Bros. Melee Input Lag Remains a Hot Topic Among Fans
Input lag using Dolphin netcode, that is...
Few Nintendo franchises command as much loyalty and community engagement as Super Smash Bros.. From high-profile competitive events down to the hacking and modding scene, it's a series that has a large and devoted following. In the opinion of some Super Smash Bros. Melee is the pinnacle of the series,...
Review Rendering Ranger: R2 (SNES)
Shoot or Die
Are you familiar with the name Manfred Trenz? How about a company called Rainbow Arts? Perhaps the name Turrican will be more relatable? It all depends on how far back you started playing video games, especially in Europe. All three names warranted attention for Commodore 64 and Amiga owners, since they were synonymous with arcade...
Review Contra III: The Alien Wars (New 3DS / SNES)
Portable blockbuster
The year is 2636 and some aliens have popped over to earth for a visit. At first it seems they are putting on a fancy light show but then buildings start exploding and the alien wars begin! Contra III: The Alien Wars is a run and gun classic full of action as you "attack aggressively" in an attempt to defeat those pesky...
News You Can Now Play Super Famicom Exclusive Donald Duck & The Magical Hat In English
(Duck) tales of love, magic and part-time employment
Much like that one Amazing Spider-Man game that never made it to the West, Disney's very own Donald Duck found his way exclusively onto the Japanese Super Famicom with Donald Duck no Mahō no Bōshi - or simply put in plain ol' English, Donald Duck & The Magical Hat. Released in August...
Review Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (SNES)
Never Cling Alone
There are some video games that show up late in a console generation that push boundaries and defy preconceptions on what was considered possible. Resident Evil 4 immediately springs to mind, not only pushing the series to a point Capcom that hasn't been able to match since but also serving as a template to every other game in...
Art Meet The Famicube, The NES Successor That Only Exists In A Parallel Universe
NES 1.5
Given that Sony and Microsoft are chewing up the column inches with rumours of "updated" versions of their current consoles, it seems fitting that we should take a look at an amazing project by Swedish artist and programmer Arne Niklas Jansson for what he dubs "the NES 1.5" - a console which would have bridged the gap between the NES and...
Review Super Punch-Out!! (New 3DS / SNES)
Thinking with your fists
Thanks to the standard Virtual Console suspension and restore point functions any SNES re-release on New Nintendo 3DS can be played in whatever sized chunks are allowed by your free time and battery life. There are, however, some that work particularly well as a handheld title, such as this game - a game so exciting it needs...
Video Learn How The Game Boy Made Clever Use of Memory Mapping
Find a comfortable seat
A couple of months ago we shared a video by JackTech, which explored in some detail how the Game Boy CPU works. It was part one in a 'hardware autopsy' series that aims to unpick and explain how the iconic portable device operates, providing some insight into how humble technology was used in clever ways. The second part has...
Bodacious!
If amiibo and other collectibles of its type have taught us anything, it's that you're never too old to buy toys. Action figure company NECA knows this only too well, as it's bringing new toys to San Diego Comic Con (21st-24th July) that go straight for a gamer's sense of nostalgia. The action figures you see above will come in two...
News Obscure Mario Bros. Famicom Disk System Game Gets Translated Into English
It's Kaettekita Mario Bros!
The Famicom Disk System (FDS for short) and its diskettes might have not set Japan ablaze as Nintendo had hoped they would but the system still managed to get a decent library of games, and was also responsible for the debut of both the Metroid and Zelda franchises. One unique title was Kaettekita Mario Bros.
News There's A New Famicom Game Being Released In Japan
Yes, it's still getting games
Japanese artist and programmer RIKI - the same chap who did the brilliant 8bit Music Power "cartridge album" - is bringing his homebrew indie hit Kira Kira Star Night to the Famicom as a physical release. Released in 2013 and shown off to great acclaim at BitSummit back in 2014, the side-scrolling platformer boasts...
News Turns Out The History Of The Virtual Boy Is More Interesting Than The Console Itself
"I don't recall anybody literally throwing up in the office, we were lucky"
While the dismal commercial performance of the Wii U has made headlines recently, it's a long way from being Nintendo's most famous failure - that unwelcome accolade falls to the Virtual Boy, which sold around 770,000 units globally back in the '90s. The console is blamed...
Ninterview Ahmed Bin Fahad Discusses Building the World's Biggest Nintendo Collection
"Don’t think purchasing games is a waste"
In 2014 Ahmed Bin Fahad made headlines when he received the Guinness World Record honour for the biggest Nintendo collection. Consisting of over 8000 pieces, it's an impressive range that shows his love for all things Nintendo, with the estimated cost coming in at around 1.5 million dirhams - the United...
Video A Look at Pico Cassette, The Retro-Inspired Cartridge for iOS and Android
Cartridges are all the rage once again
If you thought the Coleco Chameleon or the recent NX rumours were the last chance for cartridge-based gaming, then this might pick your spirits up. A Japanese group known as the "Pico Cassette Project" has started a
News M2 Thinks Sega's Alien Syndrome Would Make A Great 3D Classic
"We did a little test on it to see how it would turn out and it was great"
The amazing Sega 3D Classics Collection is available now in North American and Japan, with a European release coming later this year. Sega has posted an interview with Yosuke Okunari, Kagasei Shimomura and Naoki Horii regarding the compendium, and it has been revealed
Random We Take the Plunge with these Super Mario Swimming Shorts
Hard-wear review
Mario's been plastered over near enough everything in his time, and now the moustachioed mushroom menace can add swimming shorts to that ever-growing list. We decided it was worth slipping a pair on ourselves and taking to a marginally anticlimactic English waterfront to see how they fare. You can catch all the Baywatch-style...
Video Here's A Bunch Of Retro Japanese Game Commercials, Just Because
Star Fox! Sonic! Yoshi! Castlevania! Metroid! Street Fighter! Fire Emblem!
TV commercials are an artform. Advertisers are limited by time and are competing with a wide range of other products for your attention, so these bite-sized productions have to deliver their message as tightly and effectively as possible. Few commercials are as successful -...
Gallery Cover To Cover With Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection
Art attack
Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection launches this month, but we've been lucky enough to have the chance to thumb through an advance copy ahead of its official release. Published by Bitmap Books and created by fanatical Super Famicom fan Stu Brett, this 276 page tome highlights some of the best cover artwork of the 16-bit years.
News Capcom Could Be Planning to Bring Back Old IP
Goof Troop, anyone?
Especially in more recent times, Capcom has received a lot of flak for being too reliant upon rereleases and safe sequels, famously stating that it wouldn't produce sequels to games that don't sell at least two million. Fans of the company are right to be upset with this narrowed focus, as Capcom has been around for decades and...
Video Take A Look Inside Sega Of America's Testing Facility, Circa 1995
Tested to destruction
Back in 1996, Sega of America was at something of a crossroads. The company had successfully bloodied the nose of Nintendo with its Genesis console, but a series of botched hardware launches - including the Sega CD and 32X - had eroded consumer confidence in the brand, and a new competitor had arrived on the scene in the form...
Random This Japanese Super Mario 64 Guide Book Is Simply Adorable
Hope and clay
No one does guide books quite like the Japanese. Years before such tomes became fashionable as pre-order bonuses here in the west, gamers in Japan were enjoying intricately detailed publications which covered elements such as level designs, walkthroughs and secrets. However, some of these guides went the extra mile and contained...
News A Surprisingly Hardcore Snow White NES Game Magically Surfaces
...and they played Happily Ever After
It's OK if you don't recall the movie "Happily Ever After", Filmation's sequel to Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", because it was a terrible flop. We guess people didn't really care for the life of Snow White after the perfect ending of the original tale. There was of course a video game being...
Mitch Vogel on the experience of gaming in a simpler time
As a millennial, I was born long after the great heyday of arcades, but it was something that always fascinated me. It was bizarre to think that there was a time before home consoles were so prevalent when the typical video game fan would grab a fistful of quarters and pop down to the arcade...
Review Midnight 2 (Wii U eShop)
Another round with a square
It's not easy to mix chill with challenge, and yet the Midnight series somehow manages to do a quite decent job of it. Petite Games has brought the twilight golf-like back for another go, providing another round of stages with next to no changes in the formula. Midnight 2 should feel right at home to those who played its...
Review Mario Party DS (Wii U eShop / DS)
Partying alone
For gamers seeking fun with friends Mario Party has long been a good series to visit. Although multiplayer is preferable for the games, there are occasions where you may play alone whether just for practice or because everyone's avoiding you after you mistook that drinking fountain for a bidet. For Mario Party DS (on Wii U at least)...
Hell is the impossibility of reason… but it's very pretty
The Super Nintendo (even in Japan) was marketed as a family friendly system, something easily proven by taking a glance at its excellent game library. Despite that, you can find yourself a few horror gems targeted at a more mature audience that naturally never made it out of Japan. KSS...
News Space-Themed Accessories Now Available In Miitomo Drop
Space, man
Nintendo has updated its Miitomo smartphone app with a new range of items, dubbed "Futuristic Fashion" in North America and "Galactic Garments" in Europe. The new items include space helmets, hoodies, Saturn pin badges, Galactic sneakers, UFO shirts and "Alien Abduction" tights. These will be available until the May 22nd, so if anything...
Exclusive Unboxing The Super Famicom Box Art Collection Collector's Edition
A work of art
We've been keenly following the progress of the Super Famicom Box Art Collection book for some time now, from its initial (aborted) crowdfunding campaign to the news that it would be published by Bitmap Books. After what feels like forever, the book is
Video Re-Live your School Years with these Five Nintendo Lies We All Believed
My dad worked for Nintendo
Thanks to the internet the storm of misinformation that swirled throughout friendship groups and magazines are largely a thing of the past, with a few exceptions. There was something strangely appealing about all the whispers you'd hear on the breeze about how you could unlock various unbelievable content in various games,...
News It's Now Possible To Play Virtual Boy Games On Your Android Phone
With a little help from Google Cardboard
The Virtual Boy wasn't a success, that much is beyond debate. It sold poorly and effectively led to Gunpei Yokoi's departure from Nintendo - a sad event when you consider how much he had done to make the company such a force in the field of toys and video games. Despite its commercial failure the system still...
Review Choujikuu Yousai Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie (SNES)
Now that Star Fox Zero has made transforming space fighters cool again (as if they could be anything but cool, we hear you cry) we take a break from the relentless war raging in the Lylat system and go back to the classic shmup formula on a console that is not all that well known for the genre. Produced by Winky Soft – a studio responsible for a...
Video Meet The Akira Video Game That Never Saw Release
Footage of cancelled project surfaces online
If you're a fan of anime, then chances are you'll have already appreciated the masterpiece that is Akira. Arguably the first anime movie to find mainstream success in the west, Katsuhiro Otomo's 1988 classic triggered a surge of interest in the medium and offered many western viewers their first taste of...
News The Donkey Kong High Score Has Been Topped Again
How high can you get?
Donkey Kong has long since been a popular game for aspiring world record holders to challenge in hopes of being the "King of Kong". Mario and Donkey Kong's inaugural debut may seem to be a simple enough game, but competitors have been battling for years over the crown, continuously pushing the limits of what was thought to be...
Video Check Out a Surprisingly Simple Nintendo 64 Anti-Aliasing Hack
You just need a GameShark cart and your wits
The Nintendo 64 enthusiast scene is one of the most interesting (to us, anyway) in retro circles, as fans find ways to improve the classic system. The focus, often, is on visual quality - mods and tricks that can help the early 3D graphics shine. Back in October last year we shared a video by My Life in...
News The Legend of Zelda and Sonic the Hedgehog Are Inducted Into the World Video Game Hall of Fame
Pokémon Red & Green miss out this time
In 2015 Super Mario Bros. and Tetris were among the first games to be inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. A "committee of journalists, scholars and video game industry members" takes on the annual task of choosing games "recognized for their iconic status, longevity, geographical reach and...
Video Take A Look At Some Awesome Limited Edition Mega Man Merchandise in Japan
Lots of Rockman goodness
In conjunction with the release of Rockman Classics Collection (Mega Man Legacy Collection in the West), Capcom started to release some items related to the game. I thought it'd be neat to collect some of these relatively rare items and share them with you. One of them is the "Rockman Classics Collection Fanbook", which...
News retroUSB's HDMI NES, the AVS, is Heading for a Summer Release
Priced at $185 and touting support for all current and future carts
There's still a sizeable group of gamers that derive great pleasure from playing retro games on their original systems. Getting the best out of these old titles, though, is always a challenge. Systems driven by emulation and impressive HDMI mods are available to give the NES a...
News A 15 Year Old Patent Shows A Nintendo Phone That Never Was
Game Boy titles were seemingly considered
With Nintendo and DeNA actively working on multiple phone apps, and with the big N having a financial interest in the likes of Pokémon Go, the concept of the company's games on mobile devices is no longer fanciful. The company has also filed multiple patents over the years for emulators and actual...
News Turns Out The Guy Behind Final Fantasy Loves Fire Emblem Too
Check out this vintage interview with Hironobu Sakaguchi
Fire Emblem may have taken its sweet time finding fame in the west, but it's been a popular franchise in its native Japan since the days of the Famicom. In fact, it's such an influential series that Hironobu Sakaguchi - the creator of Final Fantasy - claims that he had to resist playing it...
Video Fans Recreate Super Smash Bros. Melee's Opening
Retuning the nostalgia chords
It's often touted that the opening video to Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube is one of the greatest video game intros that Nintendo has produced. It was a video that set the scene for the excitement to come, all the while showcasing the all-star cast that Nintendo had to offer. It's even often used as a...
Video This Unpronounceable NES Title Was Pretty Tough For Kids Back In 1990
"Swing, jump, jump and swing"
If you're a long-time follower of the site then you'll already be aware of the work of Tyler Esposito, the brains behind the excellent iRetroGamer.com YouTube channel. A seasoned gamer with a love of both Nintendo and Sega, Esposito is in the unique position of having many of his childhood gaming habits recorded for...
April2016
News The Boss Fight Bundle Offers Fantastic Gaming Books at a Bargain Price
Kickstarter campaign funded for new series, including Super Mario Bros. 3
We're fans of the Boss Fight Books series here at Nintendo Life, as it often takes alternative and interesting approaches to assessing and studying iconic video games. Some Nintendo classics have been covered so far across the various volumes, including Super Mario Bros. 2,...
Review Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition (3DS eShop / GBC)
First generation Pokéfun. IN COLOR!
Twenty years since the franchise began and after numerous games, TV episodes, movies, trading cards and plush toys, Nintendo has given Pokémon fans a chance to travel back to where it all began with Virtual Console releases of the first Game Boy titles. 3DS owners can purchase the original Red or Blue versions,...
News Square Enix Is Resurrecting A Classic Super Famicom RPG On Mobile Phones
Romancing Saga 2 playable in English for the first time ever
It was only last year that we reported on a fan translation of the first Romancing Saga game, a Super Famicom RPG which has gone down in history as one of the unique offerings in the genre. Now, we've had the unexpected news that Square Enix is localising the Japan-only sequel itself - and...
News Sega Wanted To Work With Capcom And Bandai Namco On Virtual Console Releases
Negotiations didn't happen, sadly
The recent western release of Sega 3D Classics Collection is a reminder not only of how amazing some retro titles are, but also of the incredible talent of Japanese studio M2, which worked alongside Sega's Yosuke Okunari to port and enhance some of its most famous arcade and domestic games on the 3DS. M2 has also...
Review Maestro! Jump in Music (DS)
I am the music man
We originally saw Maestro! Jump In Music on DSiWare where it went by the name Maestro! Green Groove. However, you might not be aware of the fact that this digital offering was actually a republished version of the original European physical retail release, which can be hard to come by these days. Despite some notable flaws and the...
Random Fan Mod Brings Super Mario World to the Sega Mega Drive Classics Hub
Who would've thought?
Last week, Sega announced a cool new concept that it would be premiering on Steam: Sega Mega Drive Classic Hub. This free update to any of the available Mega Drive games lets players have a virtual bedroom that mirrors what your typical Sega fan's room would've looked like back in the 90's. All of your games sit on a shelf...
Video Feast Your Eyes on these Five Cancelled Super Mario Games
Obligatory CD-i appearance included
Mario's been around for donkey's years and has starred in so many games it's almost worrying. It's no surprise then that there were a few games surrounding the portly plumber that never made it to retail shelves, and thanks to the internet we can now display them for you for your amusement. Check out the video...
News Animal Crossing On Smartphones Aims To Deliver "A New Style Of Play"
Will connect with other games in the series, too
Following the success of Miitomo Nintendo has announced its next two mobile releases, and they're big names from the company's library of IP: Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing. Regarding the latter, it has been confirmed that the smartphone app will offer connectivity with Animal Crossing games on...
Exclusive Martin Hollis Talks GoldenEye 64 Development In This New Interview
Taken from the forthcoming N64 Anthology
Geeks-Line's N64 Anthology has 17 days remaining on its Kickstarter campaign and has raised 45,000 Euros of its 50,000 Euro target so far. If you needed convincing that this is a project worth backing, then cast your eyes on the exclusive interview excerpt we've been granted below. It's a chat with the one...
News The Retro Receiver Allows You to Use Modern Bluetooth Controllers With the NES
Now you're playing with current-gen power
Quite often nowadays talk of playing retro games drifts to emulators - and arguments over them - and services like the Virtual Console. Plenty still dust off their original (and surprisingly functional) systems, however, and there's a sub-industry of gadgets to help these retro gamers get the most out of...
News 10 Years On, Hideki Kamiya Still Doesn't Think He Could Better Okami
Not even "a pixel of confidence" that he could "surpass the original"
The gorgeous Okami is 10 years old, which is an almost unbelievable fact in itself - it seems like only yesterday that we were stalking its stunning ink-rendered world as Amaterasu, marvelling at the motion controls and tight, appealing gameplay. Despite getting a sequel on the...
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