Retro - News
June2016
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...
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,...
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...
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
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...
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 This Animated Homage To R-Type Makes Us Sad The Series Is Dead
"No one dies on the first boss!"
R-Type has been one of our firm favourites here at Nintendo Life for decades; we personally can't get enough of the 8-bit PC Engine and Sega Master System ports as well as the 16-bit outings Super R-Type and R-Type III. Given the title's impact on the shooter genre we therefore couldn't resist featuring this stunning...
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...
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...
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
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...
Feature The Making Of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Good dino, nice dino
When it comes to the Nintendo 64 and first-person-shooters, there are two titles that have become synonymous with the genre: GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark. While these classics rightfully deserve their place among the greats, the Turok series has largely fallen into obscurity, which is a crying shame when you consider that...
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,...
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...
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...
News Meet The Vocal Talent Behind Team Star Fox
"I’ve been lucky enough to do concert spots for Paul McCartney"
Star Fox 64 was a big deal in more ways that one - not only did it illustrate Nintendo's burgeoning confidence in the world of 3D visuals, but it also featured a lot of voice acting - something the company had previously steered clear of. What's truly remarkable is that the...
Video Learn Some History About the Iconic Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Arguably among the most influential SNES games
When the gaming debate turns to the most important and influential Super NES games there are a lot of candidates; the Square-developed Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars should certainly be in the conversation. Its narrative approach and gameplay ideas undoubtedly helped to inspire and inform...
Feature Smiles and Tears - A Mother 3 Retrospective
Cancellations, rebirths, fan translations and more
This week marks the 10th Anniversary of Mother 3, Shigesato Itoi's third and final instalment in the Mother series and the follow up to EarthBound that, unfortunately, never saw the light of day outside of its native homeland. Since that day ten years ago we've seen hopes dashed, rumours (some of...
News Box Art - A Gaming Documentary Aims to Delve Deeper Into the Iconic Images That Sell Games
Discover the real story behind the cover
If you liked the Nintendo Quest documentary, you'll no doubt be interested in Director Rob McCallum's next epic gaming tale, Box Art: A Gaming Documentary. If the Kickstarter is funded we will go on a quest to discover the real story behind the world of video game artwork. With over 100 potential interviewees...
Video Yoshi's Story Comes Back to Life in Our Brand New Video Series
A Nintendo Life Lesson
Plenty of games get a bit of a bad reputation for one reason or another, and many of us who feel strongly about those titles aren't happy with how many people view them. Take Yoshi's Story for example: a game this writer played as a child and loved to pieces, so when the opportunity came up to explore the game in greater...
News The Only Problem With This Tabletop Neo Geo Is That There's Just One In Existence
Say hello to the Starforce Neo
Remember the Starforce Pi? It's an incredible tabletop gaming system based on the Raspberry Pi, and despite a failed Kickstarter campaign is carrying on with a release in the near future. In the meantime however, Marcel J. de Haan - the remarkable one-man-band behind this incredible platform - has created a side...
Rumour Nintendo Once Worked On A Game Boy Successor That Promised N64 Power In Your Pocket
Lifting the lid on Project Atlantis
The Game Boy was a stunning success for Nintendo. Released at a time when rival hardware was packing backlit colour screens, the monochrome handheld proved that sometimes having the most powerful tech doesn't always ensure commercial triumph. The Game Boy sold millions and established Nintendo's dominance of the...
Feature ENKKO's Andy Vargas on Breathing New Life into the N64 Controller
Sticking it to the past
Did you know that it's becoming increasingly difficult to find a Nintendo 64 controller that's in good, working order? While the controller may have ushered in a new era of full-analogue control in video games in 1996, it wasn't without its flaws. Its unusual three-pronged design was enough to put off some people from even...
Video The Super Mario Bros. Speedrun World Record Has Been Broken Again
A whole 387 milliseconds faster than the last one
The world of speedrunning is one that is endlessly fascinating. People spend hours at a time practicing movements until they're pixel perfect, all in an effort to shave fragments of a second off of the currently standing best time. Super Mario Bros. is a popular game for speedrunners to challenge,...
Video New Earthbound Secret Discovered in Opening Chapter
20 years later...
Earthbound has been around for over two decades in the US and about a tenth of that time in Europe, but nonetheless it's an old game. Imagine our surprise then when a new as yet undocumented part of the game came to light; pun wholly intended. As you can see from the video below, by having a second controller connected you can...
Random This New Mod Gives GoldenEye A Feeling of Doom
See you in hell, James
GoldenEye 007 is a stone cold classic, even if modern TVs and wobbly N64 controller joysticks do it few favours. Credited by some as a vital release for the FPS genre on consoles, it stands as one of Rare's greatest games. Of course, the fact that licensing issues have left it in the annals of history is a pity, meaning we...
Poll The Utterly Charming Animal Crossing Series Is 15 Today, But Which Is Your Favourite?
Turning a new leaf or heading to the city? Let us know
The Animal Crossing series turns 15 today, and to celebrate this occasion Nintendo has released a special video. The first game in the franchise launched in Japan on the Nintendo 64 15 years ago, and since then we've seen entries on the GameCube, DS, Wii, 3DS and Wii U. The GameCube version was...
News Nintendo 64 Anthology Aims To Be The Ultimate Resource For Fans
An encyclopedia to honour Nintendo's beloved system
The N64 turns 20 this year and is regarded as one of Nintendo's finest machines, not only because it pushed technological boundaries and introduced numerous innovations, but also because it was home to some of the best games in the company's library. Author and fan Mathieu Manent is working with...
Random How to Turn Your Old NES Into an Electric Guitar
Turn it up to 8-bit
We suspect that many reading these pages have a good-old NES in their house, perhaps gathering dust as a treasured heirloom for future generations. Of course, some might still play their 8-bit system on a regular basis, or perhaps find another use for the iconic hardware. YouTuber Scotland Symons, who has shared a handful of...
Weirdness A New Animation is Found in Super Mario Bros. 3
It's only taken 28 years
It's amazing that still to this day, quirks and hidden information in the video games of yesteryear are still being surfaced from players around the world. The latest addition to this is NES classic Super Mario Bros. 3. For those accustomed with this title, you'll know that when our heroic plumber becomes Hammer Mario, he...
Video Check Out Nintendo's Early Connection With The World's Most Famous Sailor
How Popeye spawned Super Mario (kind of)
Popeye is one of the world's longest-running comic characters, and originally started life in 1929 - the same year as the infamous Wall Street Crash. His popularity has remained high even since, with TV shows, live-action movies and - of course - video games all bearing his name. As the world prepares itself...
Random A Bearded Man is an Unlikely Ally in Punch-Out!!
Beard power
Punch-Out!! on NES is one of the most iconic games in the 8-bit system's library, inspiring popular culture into its third decade. Little Mac's rise to the top of the boxing world is simplistic, brutally difficult and still huge fun to this day. Like so many of Nintendo's NES classics it has its secrets, and it seems that a keen gamer...
Random This Game Boy Zero Uses a Raspberry Pi for Lovely Retro Gaming
The Boy ate all the Pi
We've mentioned the Raspberry Pi before, a budget micro-computer that's gone through multiple iterations - its low price (typically $50 or under) means it's a wonderful educational tool or, alternatively, a side-project for enthusiasts. The Game Boy Zero is an example of the latter. As the name suggests this is a Game Boy...
News Nintendo Shuts Down Browser-Based '3D' Legend of Zelda Demo
"We're sad about that, but we get it"
Whenever a particularly neat Nintendo-based fan project arrives the dilemma is obvious - creators naturally want plenty of people to check them out, but attention increases the odds of a Nintendo takedown. Unfortunately that's happened to a rather clever voxel-based Legend of Zelda demo. Over at...
"SGI very nearly did another spin of the hardware to fix the issue"
The N64 was, for the time, a formidable piece of kit. Its chipset was developed in conjunction with Silicon Graphics and provided the console with power that put rivals like the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation in the shade. However, the complex nature of the chips involved resulted...
News Coleco Chameleon Saga Draws To A Close As Creator Finally Pulls The Plug
"In the end, I am the only one that has lost anything"
The Coleco Chameleon has a history so packed with twists and turns we imagine it would make for a pretty good movie. The venture started life as the Retro VGS, a system which would play games on good, old-fashioned carts and emulate the performance of multiple retro systems. When the...
Random Someone Hacked The Original Sonic To Include Sonic Boom's Annoying Chatter
"It's like they're drawn to me!"
Like the vast majority of gaming icons who appeared during the 16-bit era, Sonic the Hedgehog was a silent protagonist. However, his journey into 3D saw him gifted - if that's the right word - with a voice, and in his most recent outings, he rarely shuts up. As if to prove that less is most definately more, hacker...
Video Check Out This Banging Banjo-Kazooie Final Battle Theme Drum Cover
Not a banjo in sight thankfully
Banjo-Kazooie is a beloved N64 platformer from the legendary developers at Rare, aside from being a great game, it had an equally great soundtrack by the ever talented Grant Kirkhope. We recently featured a video of Mat Ombler drummer from the metal band Demoraliser doing a drum cover of the Mario underground theme,...
Video Let's Celebrate The Hot Mess That Was The GameCube's AV Output
Want the perfect setup? Watch this
As any video gaming veteran who lived through the early years of the industry will attest, we've never had it so good when it comes to AV output. Modern consoles support HDMI for a clean HD signal, and there's rarely a lot of effort involved in getting the right equipment - HDMI cables are cheap and plentiful, and...
News A 24-karat gold-plated NES-playing system can be yours for $4,999
If you need something to play Wall Street Kid on
Watches. Roses. Silver medals. Things just rise to a new level of opulent superiority when they're plated in gold. And if you prefer your NES and Famicom games to be played among the top 1 percent of ways, there's a limited edition gold-plated system for you. Analogue, the company that previously...
News Nintendo Is Ending DS Phat Repairs In Japan
Spare parts running out, says NCL
It's the end of an era. Not only have we recently had the news that DSiWare is shutting down and Nintendo is bringing DS cart production to a close, but we've now heard that NCL is stopping Nintendo DS console repairs in its homeland. Repair support for all colours of the very first DS (model number NTR-001, also...
News Here's A 3D Classics Version Of Zelda You Can Play In Your Web Browser
The stuff of legends
The Legend of Zelda turns 30 this year, and Nintendo has its own plans in place to celebrate this momentous milestone. However, some fans have the same idea, such as "Scott" and "Mike", the mysterious guys behind an amazing browser-based replication of the title that started it all on the Famicom / NES. Visiting...
Video Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Has a Surprising Number of Glitches
Still a classic, though
No matter how hard developers and quality assurance staff try, glitches are a normal part of gaming. They're unavoidable, but also potentially entertaining - after all, finding quirky moments and areas in game worlds can be highlights of a gaming experience. It can be fun learning about the range of glitches in classic...
News More Details Emerge on 80's Overdrive
Putting it in gear
A couple weeks ago, we found a new game coming to 3DS called 80's Overdrive. Though screenshots revealed that it was an old-school arcade racer, no more information was revealed or shown. While there's still a lot we don't know about the game, the developers recently lifted the lid on what we can generally expect out of it...
March2016
Weirdness This Has To Be The Most Underhanded Way Of Obtaining The N64's Rarest Fighter
The "old switcheroo"
ClayFighter is one of those series which can hardly be deemed classic, but the popularity of fighting games back in the '90s ensured that it sold pretty well, despite not being that much fun to play. However, by the time the N64 rolled around, the genre was on the wane and following the rather disappointing ClayFighter 63⅓,...
Video More Footage And Details Emerge For The Cancelled Bonk: Brink Of Extinction
Cave story
Bonk is one of video gaming's most unlikely mascots. Originally named PC Kid and seen as the PC Engine's lead character in Japan, he was renamed Bonk when that console was released in North America as the TurboGrafx-16. Bonk would enjoy three mainline adventures on NEC's hardware - all of which were very well recieved - as well as...
News Were It Not For Rare's Tim Stamper, Wave Race Would Have Featured Boats
Water difference that would have made
Back when Rare and Nintendo were partners, it seemed as if the two companies shared an almost unspoken rivalry, competing for recognition as the premier developer of the day - especially during the N64 era. In the latest issue of Retro Gamer magazine, several former Rare staffers have spoken about this glorious...
News World Video Game Hall of Fame 2016 Nominees Announced
Who will win?
Some of you may remember that the World Video Game Hall of Fame began last year, kicking off what will hopefully be a long term project to preserve gaming's greatest contributors. The first class consisted of DOOM, Pong, Pac-man, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and World of Warcraft, all genre defining or innovative in their own right. Now,...
News Unreleased SNES Game Starring Bill Clinton's Cat Could Yet See The Light Of Day
Letting the cat out of the bag
You have to wonder exactly what the guys at Kaneko USA were thinking when they began work on Socks the Cat Rocks The Hill, a 16-bit platformer featuring Bill Clinton's moggie. Boasting a risible plot which involves Socks saving the world from nuclear destruction and featuring bosses based on caricatures of former...
Random Here's Every Level In Super Mario 3 Played Simultaneously
Because why not?
One of the biggest selling points of Super Mario Bros. 3 when it originally launched was its sheer size; compared to other platformers of the period, this was a seriously epic experience with a multitude of stages to discover - many of which required multiple playthroughs to find. YouTuber Viktor Bohush has decided to show off the...
Random Runner Injects Flappy Bird Code into Super Mario World
An interesting work of sacrilege
The ability to practically program code into Super Mario World through the use of glitches opens up all sorts of possibilities, some definitely more bizarre than others. Just look toward speedrunner and tinkerer Sethbling, who managed to turn Mario into a Flappy Bird clone. Sethbling injected the code using...
Review Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun
16-bit barf
If you were to ask kids in the late '80s and early '90s for iconic NES video game characters, alongside the usual gang of Nintendo, Konami and Capcom regulars, you would often hear the name "Alex". No, not our own Alex "Lovely People" Olney - this Alex was none other than the western version of Kunio, the short-tempered high school...
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News The SNES PlayStation Was Going To Have A Super FX Chip Built-In
News Old Japanese Magazine Reveals "New" Details About Nintendo's A...
Feature Jez San On Star Fox, Super FX And Teaching Nintendo How To Fly
Gallery This Gorgeous SNES Pixel Art Book Will Make The Perfect Christmas Gift
Feature Jason Brookes Talks Super Famicom, Import Gaming And Super Play
News Yo-Yo Shuriken Is A Brand New Action Game That's Just Released For The SNES
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