Tag: Anniversaries
Anniversary Celebrate Unova As Pokémon Black & White Turns 15
Is that a grey hair we spot?
Pokémon's fifth generation kicked off 15 years ago today with the release of Pokémon Black & White in Japan. On 18th September 2010, the world first stepped foot into Unova, a brand new Pokémon region based on North America, specifically New York City's metropolitan area, with a mix of landmarks inspired by the...
News Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 Switch Online Icons Revealed
Three waves starting next week
Super Mario's 40th anniversary is now underway and Nintendo's been promoting it with all sorts of announcements and reveals. As part of the ongoing celebrations, next month Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 is returning for Switch. Ahead of this, Nintendo has also announced a new wave of themed Switch Online...
Sans regret
It's hard to believe that Undertale is 10 years old, innit. A game that released just a year after the birth of my eldest son, and two before my youngest arrived on the scene. What is time? It's all going so quickly. I bring my kids up here, not to be one of those tiresome people, but because Toby Fox's masterpiece (and you better...
Feature Jump, Man - A Celebration Of The Greatest Jumps In Gaming
Jump day
Super Mario Bros. is now 40 years old. To celebrate this big anniversary, Omar looks back over four decades of gaming's greatest verb and/or noun... When's the last time you jumped? Maybe when hopping from a kerb over an autumn puddle. Maybe bouncing up and down to House of Pain or that Blackpink song. Maybe you literally 'jump into bed'...
Opinion I'm Celebrating Super Mario Bros.' 40th Anniversary By Finally Finishing It
Clear Bowser history
Please, angry mob, wait! It's true, I had never finished Super Mario Bros. before this week, but that's not to say that I hadn't played it before. If you'll put your pitchforks and burning torches down for a moment, I promise, I can explain. It was 2004 when I first came into contact with Super Mario Bros. I remember that...
News Nintendo Releasing Physical 'Talking Flower' From Mario Wonder Next Spring
"We actually made them"
Nintendo is really mixing it up nowadays with merchandise, and the next surprise product on the way is a talking flower. It's not just any talking flower though, it's the same one based on the character from the 2023 Switch release Super Mario Bros. Wonder. If you were a fan, and admittedly not everyone was, as of next...
Gallery Ubisoft Celebrates Rayman's 30th With Some Rayman Legends Concept Art
"What fun memories do they bring back?"
Earlier this week, Ubisoft began its 30th anniversary celebrations for its famous video game mascot Rayman. Apart from the news he'll be returning at some point in the future (with work on a new project now underway), Ubisoft is planning to reflect on the character's career with behind-the-scenes information,...
News Ubisoft Celebrates Rayman's 30th Anniversary With An "Epic" Event In Brawlhalla
Unlock all sorts of themed goodies
Earlier this week, Ubisoft announced it was kicking off its anniversary celebrations for Rayman. Over the next month, it intends to share all sorts of updates about its iconic video game mascot, and today it announced its free-to-play multiplayer brawler Brawlhalla will also be celebrating the character with a...
News Ubisoft Kicks Off Rayman's 30th Anniversary, Says New Project Is In "Good Hands"
Just don't expect news "too soon"
Ubisoft's famous mascot Rayman is celebrating 30 years, and as part of this, the third-party giant has all sorts of plans. Apart from reflecting on the character's career – including behind-the-scenes information, anecdotes, developer interviews, concept art and "more" over the next month, as you might recall,...
Anniversary The First DS Castlevania Game Turns 20 Today
Sorrow won't Dawn here
A new dawn of Castlevania started 20 years ago, as Dawn of Sorrow first launched on the Nintendo DS in Japan on 25th August 2025. Following on directly from the final Castlevania GBA title, Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow had big shoes to fill; a shift in art direction and the implementation of the touch screen meant that it's...
News Sonic Mania 2 Prototype Artwork Revealed By Christian Whitehead
"The game that never was"
Sonic Mania is one of the best Sonic games ever, and while there were hopes it would get a sequel, a few years ago, it was revealed how Sega was eager to move beyond pixel art and ultimately it didn't go ahead. At the time, Sega worked with Headcannon and Christian Whitehead "to consider concepts for the next generation of...
Anniversary n-Space & Nintendo's M-Rated GameCube Gem Is 20 Years Old
I ain't afraid of no Geist
Everyone, we like to believe, has made a secret list for every single console they've ever owned, of weird and/or experimental stuff they either want to, or wished they had, played. Sometimes you get round to them, sometimes you don't. You know the sort of thing. For me, on GameCube specifically, things like Cubivore come...
News We Might Be Getting An Update About Sakurai's New Kirby Game Soon
He's aware fans haven't even seen gameplay yet
One of the many surprises during the Switch 2 reveal in April was the new game Kirby Air Riders, a sequel to the GameCube outing. It's scheduled to arrive later this year, so what's the latest? Game director Masahiro Sakurai has issued another small update via social media today, mentioning how he...
Anniversary Paper Mario First Unfolded On N64 25 Years Ago
And the book's still open
25 years ago today, 11th August, Mario jumped into a whole new dimension. Today marks the anniversary of the N64 turn-based RPG, Paper Mario — which is a pretty big deal, because that means the entire series is also celebrating its quarter-century anniversary. Feeling old yet? Originally planned to be developed by...
Anniversary No Way Is Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island 30 Years Old Already
Yep, seems like it
In yet another indication that time is indeed marching on and on, it seems that Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island has somehow turned 30 years old. Released in Japan on 5th August 1995, Yoshi's Island marked a significant departure from its predecessor, yet received widespread critical acclaim regardless. It also happened to be...
Feature What We Expect From Nintendo For Super Mario Bros.' 40th Anniversary
Four decades of 1-1
Five years ago, Nintendo made an appropriately big thing of Super Mario Bros.' 35th anniversary, with a bespoke Direct broadcast featuring a bunch of new games and, naturally, merch celebrating the Famicom release of video gaming's most famous platformer on 13th September 1985. Half a decade on and the 40th anniversary is just...
News Toby Fox Wants To Celebrate 10 Years Of Undertale With Your Memories
"Your memories will be recorded here"
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Undertale and the game's creator Toby Fox is wanting to reflect on this time with your memories. In a post on social media, he's revealed how he's seeking "your memories" and wants to "turn back together". He's hoping for a quick turnover – further noting how it would...
Every Virtual Boy game ranked by you
Nintendo is an odd company in many ways; deeply appealing and safe in some respects, but also able to swing for the fences and invest money and resources in the pursuit of pure novelty. Time and again it puts out products that no other platform holder would have dreamed of, and more often than not those...
Opinion Celebrating 20 Years Of Baseball In The Mushroom Kingdom
Mario Superstar, that is what you are
Monday 21st July marks the 20th anniversary of Mario Superstar Baseball, so to celebrate Jonny is taking us out to the ball game... My first gaming memory: waking up in the middle of the night, heading downstairs, and booting up Mario Superstar Baseball's campaign mode on my GameCube. It was completely out of...
Anniversary 10 Years After His Passing, Satoru Iwata's Thoughts Are More Relevant Than Ever
We miss you, Iwata-san
"On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer". 11th July 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of Satoru Iwata's passing; a man who cemented himself as not only an exceptional leader during times of both success and failure, but a figurehead that would steal the...
News Final Fantasy 9's 25th Anniversary Is Here, But There's Nothing On Rumoured Remake
"I... so unhappy..."
Happy 25th anniversary to Final Fantasy IX, the final mainline Final Fantasy game to launch on the original PlayStation and one of the most beloved entries in the entire franchise. Today, Square Enix posted an update on the Final Fantasy IX anniversary website — which opened earlier this year — to celebrat
Opinion An Ode To The Fallen Arm, Xenoblade Chronicles' Best Map
How revenge falls
Among all the Switch 2 excitement, we didn't want this to get lost: Xenoblade Chronicles is now 15 years old! To celebrate, Alana recalls something which turned the game from a great one into a special one. Warning: This article contains spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles, so be wary if you haven't at least made it to the final...
News Witcher 3 Celebrates 10 Years, Announces Mod Support For Consoles
Switch 2 update when?
Although CD Projekt Red is readying up for the release of Cyberpunk 2077 on the Switch 2 next week, it's also currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. As part of this, it's announced it will be bringing cross-platform mod support to multiple platforms. Unfortunately, this does not include the...
Opinion Splatoon Brought Me Back To Online Multiplayer, But Octo Valley Shines Brightest
It's basically good in all possible ways
Back in 2015, which is apparently 10 years go now, the shooter genre was packed full of heavy-hitting, very serious, macho video games about firing bullets into people. This was the year, after all, that brought us Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (one of the best ones) and the incredibly shiny Star Wars...
News Nintendo Music Celebrates 10 Years Of Splatoon, Here's Every Song Included
Switch Online Splatoon icons also available
Splatoon is now a well-established Nintendo IP and this month marks its 10th anniversary. Don't worry, we can't believe it either! To celebrate this very special milestone, Nintendo has added the original Wii U soundtrack to its Nintendo Music mobile application today. This latest album contains 47...
Quiz How Well Do You Remember Super Mario Galaxy 2?
Flex those sequel skills
We hate to be the ones to break it to you, but Super Mario Galaxy 2 is 15 years old today. Fifteen. That also means it's been five years since it was omitted from the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection, but we won't touch on that sore subject right now. A decade and a half of one of Nintendo's finest sequels is worthy of a...
Anniversary Perfect Dark, Another N64 Rare Classic, Turns 25
And Agent Dark is still going
Rare had a heck of a run on the Nintendo 64, and today we're celebrating the anniversary of yet another of the studio's classics — Perfect Dark. Joanna Dark made her debut on Nintendo's 64-bit console on 22nd May 2000 in North America, with a European release following in June. Today, it ranks as the studio's...
Opinion Cult Classic 'Tokimeki Memorial' Hits Switch - But 30 Years On, It’s Still Out Of Reach
Forever with you; never with us
True love lasts forever – and so do some games. Tokimeki Memorial: Forever with You, the legendary dating sim from 1995, is hooking up with Switch next month to celebrate 30 years on the scene. Immaculately presented but bewilderingly complex, TokiMemo is a foundational piece of video game history that defined a...
News Chrono Trigger's Lifetime Sales Have Now Surpassed The Five Million Mark
How about a modern Nintendo version?
The legendary 1995 role-playing game Chrono Trigger is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, and as part of this, Square Enix has provided a sales update. According to an official post on its website, combined sales (across all platforms) since the game's original Super Famicom release have now surpassed...
Anniversary No, There's Absolutely No Way In Hell Animal Crossing: New Horizons Is Five Today
Nook, line and sinker
Remember two, maybe three years ago when COVID-19 hit and Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out? Hah, what a fun and relatively recent time that was! It feels like only yesterd- wait, five years? New Horizons came out five years ago?? Oh my... Yep, on 20th March 2020, Nintendo finally unleashed the latest entry in the Animal...
Feature But The Future Can Change - Chrono Trigger And Learning To Love The World
The Corridors of Time
Note: If you haven't played Chrono Trigger to completion...what are you playing at? If you're sensitive to spoilers, come back when you're done as we discuss end-game details below... “But... the future refused to change.” For the most part, Chrono Trigger is a chirpy, cheery game. It’s lightning in a bottle, a...
News Chrono Trigger To Celebrate 30th Anniversary With "Various Projects"
Expect more "over the next year"
A lot of classic video games are coming up on major milestones and anniversaries, and one of them happens to be Square Enix's legendary 1995 RPG Chrono Trigger. Today actually happens to be the game's 30th anniversary since its initial Super Famicom and SNES release and to mark this special occasion, Square Enix has...
Feature These Past 8 Years Have Been A Privilege
Golden generation
The Switch turned eight this week and Nintendo Life contributor and friend of the site Gonçalo 'Shiryu' Lopes posted this touching tribute to the console and its effect on his life on Patreon. With kind permission, we're publishing an adapted version of his personal Switch story... The Wii U sadly fizzled so I had picked up a...
News Hamster's Arcade Archives Celebrates Eight Years Of Switch eShop Releases
"Thank you for your unwavering support"
Since the arrival of the Switch in 2017, Hamster Corporation has been releasing all sorts of arcade classics on the eShop. Now, in line with the eighth anniversary of Nintendo's hybrid system, Hamster's president and CEO Satoshi Hamada has taken a moment out of his busy schedule to share some fun facts. If...
Anniversary Nintendo Switch Launched On This Day Eight Years Ago
Where does the time go?
It seems an almost impossible notion to consider, but with the Nintendo Switch celebrating its eighth birthday today, it's now merely two years away from being a decade old. A decade. That's simply absurd. It would be oh-so easy to remark on how the console is an ageing relic at this point that's in dire need of an upgrade,...
Anniversary HAL Laboratory Is 45 Years Old Today
Kirb your enthusiasm
Whip up a last-minute cake and bring out the candles because we have a big birthday on our hands, folks. HAL Laboratory, the company behind Kirby, the OG Smash Bros., EarthBound and another boatload of beauties that we'll get to in just a moment, has turned 45 today. Yep, on 21st February 1980, Mitsuhiro Ikeda founded HAL with...
Poll 10 Years On, Which Version Of Zelda: Majora's Mask Is Best?
Masktasker
No three-day countdown will prepare you for this one: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is 10 years old today. Yep, on 13th February 2015, we all opened our 3DSes (some of you might have even landed one of those sexy gold special edition consoles — you lucky gits) and sat down to replay one of the weirdest Zelda entries to date in...
Memory Pak This Resident Evil Comic Made Me Sympathise With A Tyrant
"P-Payback Time, Thorndikkke..."
Welcome to the latest instalment in our nostalgia-inducing column, Memory Pak, where we deep-dive into some of the most memorable moments in gaming – good and bad. Today, to mark the 25th anniversary of Resident Evil 2's N64 launch in Japan, Ollie reflects on a curious short comic book story that, against all...
News Team Ninja Kicks Off Anniversary Celebrations With Ninja Gaiden 4
The Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames is back
As we enter 2025, Koei Tecmo’s Team Ninja (known for its work on series like Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive) has acknowledged its 30th anniversary. In 4Gamer.net’s round up on Japanese developer’s 2025 ambitions, Team Ninja’s Fumihiko Yasuda mentioned how the team hoped to release titles...
Video Let's Celebrate 10 Lovely Years Of Alex YouTube Videos
A decade of Mr Olney
Sure, 2025 might be home to some pretty big gaming anniversaries, but you want to know the biggest of them all? This week marks 10 years since the wonderful Mr Alex Olney published his first video on the Nintendo Life YouTube channel. That's right, it has been a decade of "Heeeeello there lovely peeeople". To mark the occasion,...
News 8 Years Ago Today, We First Got Our Hands On Nintendo Switch
So how about a 'Switch 2' reveal, eh?
On this day in 2017, Nintendo finally lifted the lid on a little console called the Nintendo Switch, revealing the hybrid's technical specs, price and all-important release date to the world. Eight years on, we're desperate to see 'Switch 2' get the same treatment. To be clear, the 2017 presentation wasn't the...
Anniversary Resident Evil 4, One Of The Greatest Games Ever Made, Turns 20
"2005... I'll never forget it"
It seems funny to think back on it now, but during the early days of Resident Evil – when decomposing zombies were the top dog and Raccoon City was everybody's favourite apocalyptic holiday destination – the idea that the franchise would find itself in the rural outskirts of Europe in which you fight a child-like...
Feature Biggest Nintendo Gaming Anniversaries Of 2025
57 games with big birthdays this year
Throughout 2025, many of gaming's most treasured gems will be celebrating a significant birthday and to remind you of some of the biggest (and of just how old you are!), we've compiled this list of nearly 60 gaming dates for your calendars. What do we mean by 'significant' birthdays? Anything that ends in a...
News SNK Announces New ‘King Of Fighters’ Studio
"KOF Studio will proudly carry on the 30-year legacy"
As part of The King of Fighters 30th anniversary, SNK Corporation has established a new King of Fighters studio to keep the "legacy" going and also bring forth a new "revolution”. Here’s the official announcement on SNK's website: Revolutionize the legacy Fatal Fury, Samurai...
Feature That Time I Was Invited To Square HQ To Playtest Final Fantasy VI
I was there 30 years ago…
If you’re reading this on October 11th 2024, then 30 years ago today Final Fantasy 3 (aka VI) was released in North America. A lot of memorable games (Super Metroid, DKC, Earthworm Jim, Ridge Racer, and Doom
News NieR:Automata Surpasses Another Sales Milestone, Plans For 2025 Teased
The 15th anniversary takes place next year
Square Enix and PlatinumGames' excellent action-adventure RPG NieR:Automata has reached another lifetime sales milestone - surpassing the nine million mark in total shipments and digital sales. This title originally launched on the PlayStation 4 in 2017 with the Switch 'The End of YoRHa Edition' following...
Soapbox The Trauma Of Giygas & Growing Up In EarthBound
EarthBound turns "adults into kids, and kids into adults"
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Nile celebrates the innocence of youth, the pain of growing up, and the magic of a cult classic SNES RPG, which celebrates its 30th...
Feature Meet Four Developers Making Brand-New Game Boy Titles In 2024
35 years and stronger than ever
The Game Boy turned 35 years old on 21st April 2024. Today, George speaks with four talented individuals keeping the candle burning for the DMG-001 in the 21st century... The humble Game Boy may be turning 35, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing new to look forward to. Far from it, in fact – the homebrew...
Feature Can We Track Down Every Cart In Our Top 50 Game Boy List In One Week?
Collection Quest GB
The Game Boy turned 35 years old on 21st April 2024. Today, George goes on an epic quest to see if he can acquire the 50 finest GB games — as ranked by you — in physical form with just 100 pounds sterling in his pocket... I’ve been enjoying something of a love affair with the Game Boy recently – or more specifically,...
Feature "It's Fun, So It's Okay!" - Celebrating Takashi Tezuka's Astonishing 40-Year Nintendo Career
A look back at a glittering catalogue
Takashi Tezuka seems like a good laugh, the kind of chap who knows how to have fun. Despite all the Master-Sword-waving and PR-related hijinx from fellow Nintendo luminary Shigeru Miyamoto over the years, you still get the impression he's merciless in the workplace — an exacting, intimidating,...
