Retro News, Retro Features - Page 29 of 48

The Mushroom Kingdom was very different back then

We've only just recovered from the bombshell that Super Mario Bros. nearly had a shoot 'em up stage, but prepare for more shocks as original design documents show the path the plumber nearly took. Part of the History of Mario booklet contained in the Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition, the documents reveal Mario's moveset was originally..

You tell us why you loved that 8-bit magic machine

To help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the NES's North American debut, we asked you to send in your favourite memories with that machine, and you delivered. We apologise to those whose letters we unfortunately were unable to find a place for, but whether you made it into the article or not, it's much appreciated. Though some outside of the..

The Legend of Addams

When anyone drops a mention of licensed games, it's generally appropriate to tune out. With very, very few exceptions, almost every single game based on a movie, TV series, comic or what-have-you is mediocre at best, and frequently completely terrible. There are exceptions – everybody knows about classics like DuckTales and GoldenEye 007. One series of titles that is not..

Morticia's marooned in a maniac mansion

Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Manchester-based Ocean Software became synonymous with movie licensed games and established themselves as the go-to developer for Hollywood. They delivered their software on the home computers that were flourishing at the time and handled a huge list of movie licenses, with standout titles including Robocop, Batman:..

Learn our shocking pasts

To continue our celebration of 25 years of NES, the staff's gathered around the campfire to share their favourite memories of that little dream machine. Not everyone could make it to the party, unfortunately, but we're sure that those who couldn't had good reason to stay home. Join us now as we lay bare our souls to you and open up in a way that the staff of Nintendo Life..

Before fireballs came bullets

You might know enough about Super Mario Bros. to win our 25th anniversary competition, but did you know a shooting stage was planned for the game? A Famitsu interview with Shigeru Miyamoto reveals that using Mario's original controls, pressing Up would jump, with B to dash and A to fire bullets, before the team settled on fireballs. The game would have turned out very..

Cutesy client makes Twitter a game

We can all agree that Super Mario Bros. has made a big influence on gaming, but social networking? Not so much. Until today that is, with a new Mario-inspired Twitter application now on the iPhone. The bunny-hopping Super Twario client launched on the App Store today, turning the social messaging site into a platform game, letting users bang their heads against..

How two indie developers are keeping the system kicking after all these years

It’s nigh impossible to overstate the importance of the Nintendo Entertainment System in video game history: its popularity pretty much single-handedly revived the home game console market in the US, which had crashed a few years before the NES’s October 18th, 1985...

We're throwing a hootenanny, and you're invited

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System's North American debut, and we're celebrating in style. This week, you can look forward to a menagerie of features that hearken back to the olden days of 8-bit glory. Twenty-five years ago today, every New Yorker sensed something magic...

The horror continues

Leon Kennedy's having a tough first day at work. As with every new job, there are new people to meet and new challenges to face – namely, zombies and killing said zombies. Capcom's Resident Evil 2 follows two concurrent storylines: that of Leon, a police officer, and Claire Redfield, who's in town to investigate the disappearance of her brother Chris of Resident Evil fame..

Possibly the best in the series

In many ways, the GameCube remake of Resident Evil marks a return to where it all began. The original PlayStation release popularised the budding horror survival genre, and the events that took place at the mansion were, for a time, at the centre of the series' universe. The moment that gamers boot up the GameCube...

Nintendo gives a round-up of classic moments

Some of these Super Mario Bros. glitches will be familiar to experienced gamers, but some might reveal hitherto unknown secrets about the little plumber's big adventure. Witness a tiny Mario using the Fire Flower, Koopa Troopas walking in mid-air and plenty of other little oddities that may shed new light on a title we all know inside and out.

Notable Christian software seller unleashes its brand of spiritual justice to retro net users

Wisdom Tree is a company that holds a special place in the history of the NES. Born from Color Dreams - one of the first firms to successfully bypass Nintendo's notorious NES lock-out chip - the company made a name for itself by releasing mostly terrible...

Recently revealed report hints at Scrooge-like attitude

As we all know, the Nintendo Famicom (the Japanese version of the NES, in case you were wondering) was pretty damn successful back in the day. In fact, it would be no exaggeration to state that the machine practically created the modern console market - certainly in Japan, at least. Nintendo made a considerable amount of cash off the back of..

It's-a me! Mari- wait, what? Luigi?

Nintendo has always had a dark side. Though it's built up a name for itself as a family-friendly game company, every so often, when it can be contained no longer, its dark side manifests itself in the form of a Super Metroid or a Majora's Mask. But while we expect a touch of gloom and misery in our Zeldas and...

Perfect for those of us that just can't get enough of 8bit

We love 8bit, you love 8bit, we recommend you check this out when you've got some time to kill. Those who decide to take a dip into the world of N8* should come back and let us know what you find. Neverdaunt:8Bit is a free to play Sandbox MMO set in a 8 bit stylized 3D world made out of blocks. Entirely shaped by its players the game world..

You got Franken in my Castlevania

There is some common confusion surrounding the tale of Frankenstein, namely the fact that Frankenstein is not really a monster, but rather the mad scientist who creates the bolted-neck creature. Developer MotiveTime avoids this common misstep in their game by simply combining the scientist and monster into the same character. The end result is a pajama-laden doctor..

Go right back to the start

Nintendo's Famicom is a piece of gaming history. The company's first cartridge-based gaming system, it set the revitalised the industry and set the standard for what was to follow. Satoru Iwata sat down with two of Nintendo's behind-the-scenes heroes for his latest "Iwata Asks" feature: R&D advisor Masayuki Uemura and former manager of the Corporate..

Over 750 games in total

Mario, Zelda, Pokémon: these are all good themes for charity marathons, and have raised countless thousands of dollars for a range of charities. Playing every game in a particular series back-to-back is a big accomplishment, but how would you feel about playing every game available for a single console? If that console's the NES and you're Pat the NE