This mysterious writer has hundreds of articles to their name, yet nobody is quite sure where they come from.
Some say it's one shy staff member who plies their trade only on the condition of anonymity, though it's been suggested that 'NL Staff' is a superhero-style mantle donned in times past when writers called upon The Voice Of The Site...
Review Drop Off (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Brave five rounds of haunting, nightmarish dreams
Drop Off is a paddle and ball game like Atari’s classic, Breakout. There is nothing bad about making a game like Breakout, games like Arkanoid did an excellent job of just that. The innovations in that game made for an addictive game experience. It’s a shame that the same cannot be said of Drop...
Review Metroid (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Where it all started
More than 20 years have past since Metroid first blew away NES owners with its clever mixture of platforming, exploration and character upgrades. It went on to become spawn many sequels over the years, becoming a much-loved franchise for Nintendo fans – but nostalgia aside, is Metroid still high-quality by today’s standards?...
Review Silent Debuggers (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Oh bugger
'Silent Debuggers' has to rank as one of the greatest names ever for a videogame. The first few minutes might convince you that this is a great game too. The funky intro music really sets the scene with style along with some nicely drawn anime style scenes. Welcome to the world of the debuggers, a duo of fearless bounty hunters tasked...
Review Air Zonk (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
A fun shmup
Air Zonk is a horizontally scrolling shoot-em-up with the cuteness factor cranked up to 10 in much the same way as Konami's Parodius. Hudson essentially took the Bonk character and renamed him Zonk for this one which makes the game even stranger. Perhaps they felt it wasn't appropriate for a caveman to be jetting around in the sky...
Review Ecco: The Tides of Time (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)
Flipper the video game
Good old Ecco the Dolphin, after saving his dolphin chums from an invading alien race you would have thought he could have just spent the rest of his life in peace spinning a ball on his nose! These plans were shattered when the queen of the Vortex took it upon herself to travel back in time to start her trouble again. An...
Review Kirby's Dream Course (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
A new spin on crazy golf
Kirby much like our friend Mario has never been afraid to offer his own take on another genre. In this case the world renowned sport of mini golf. Unlike other pitch and putt games like EA’s Zany Golf on the Megadrive Kirby has a few tricks up his sleeve. To destroy enemies in your path you roll into them rather than...
Review Mega Man (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
The Blue Bomber's debut
The Mega Man series will need no introduction to most gamers; this game spawned five sequels on the NES, not to mention numerous games on other systems over the years. Mega Man has come a long way since his début way back in 1987. This originally story spins the yarn that Dr Light created six master robots for industrial...
Review Bloody Wolf (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Rambo on the TG16
Anyone familiar with Ikari Warriors, Mercs or Capcom's Commando will instantly recognise this style of run n' gun action. Yes it's another Rambo clone! That's not such a bad thing - guns, explosions and death is what we all want from our retro games right? The action is viewed from a pseudo overhead / side-on perspective which...
Review Adventures of Lolo (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Run Lolo Run
Before HAL labs created our favourite pink puffball named Kirby there was a blue blob by the name of Lolo. In 1989 when Adventures of Lolo was first released it got modest attention due to the quality of the game but as a brand never really made it big. However Lolo has been known to surface as a bad guy in some of the Kirby games so...
Review World Sports Competition (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Feeling sporty?
There won't be many gamers out there that remember this one most likely. World Sports Competition is a game based on the Olympic Games, but without the official license. As to be expected the games are represented as a series of mini-games which you and up to four other friends can take part in. All the usual Olympic events are...
Review ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)
Funky!
The original ToeJam & Earl was a quite a big hit for Sega at the time so it was a no-brainer than a sequel should be released. With the success of Sonic the Hedgehog it must have seemed like a logical step to reinvent ToeJam & Earl to be a 2D side-scrolling platform game as well. The exploration of an almost open-end world and long...
Review J.J. & Jeff (Wii Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Two bungling detectives on a crazy adventure
The PC Engine (Japanese name for TurboGrafx-16) has always been a console to attract weird games. If you've ever played Toilet Kids and Photograph Boy then you will know what I mean. This particular game started out life as Kato Chan & Ken Chan in Japan, aside from the characters being changed to...
Review Mach Rider (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Return of the Mach
The action is fast and furious in this crazy motorbiking game. You have to blast your way through enemy vehicles and barrels on the track in addition to avoiding oil slicks. The pressure is always on to keep going fast to avoid enemies ramming into you from behind! Getting to the end of each course before the timer runs out adds...
Review Streets of Rage 2 (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)
The best one
For many of our readers this game will need no introduction. If you haven't yet played Streets of Rage 2 then you are in for a treat. Simply put this is probably the best scrolling beat-em-up available on any console. Yes it is that good! Sega didn't do just a lazy update of the original - this sequel got the full treatment. So what's...
Review Yoshi (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
An eggciting puzzler?
In the early 90s, presumably following the success of Tetris, Nintendo went through a phase of releasing one falling block puzzler after another. Dr. Mario, Yoshi’s Cookie and Wario’s Woods are key examples of this. Many gamers will no doubt have forgotten this puzzler simply known as Yoshi in North Amer
Review NES Open Tournament Golf (Virtual Console / NES)
Tee off with Mario in this classic sporting simulation from 1992
Mario is no stranger to appearing in sports game crossovers these days; he’s virtually done it all now from baseball to soccer. This sporting career began of course with his appearance in NES Open Tournament Golf, which is something of a sequel to the original NES launch title...
Review Ordyne (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
A colourful shmup
For those who have never come across this gem in Namco's history Ordyne is a cutesy horizontal scrolling shoot-em-up in the vein of Konami's Paradious. It's a lot more obscure than it ought to be as in fact it was quite a novel game at the time. You're cast as Dr. Yuichiro Tomari, a brilliant and eccentric research scientist who...
Review Mighty Bomb Jack (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Jack bombed
The original Bomb Jack arcade game was a big hit when it was released. It featured a screen with 20 bombs which had to be collected in a specific order if the player was to achieve the highest score; players would play religiously in an attempt to find the best route around the baddies and to get the perfect chain. Arcade perfection! So...
Review Vectorman (Virtual Console / Sega Mega Drive)
More than a load of old balls?
OK, so the main character is compromised of green balls, don't let that make you overlook one of the better 'run and gun' games to hit the Megadrive / Genesis. The shallow premise for the game is that humans have ruined the planet Earth and left the subsequent tidy-up job to their robots. You assume the role of the...
Review Star Fox 64 (Virtual Console / Nintendo 64)
Do a barrel roll.
The original Star Fox (or ‘Starwing’ if you're a Euro gamer) introduced a whole generation of Nintendo fans to the wonder of 3D visuals. The game was nothing short of a miracle and thanks to the revolutionary Super FX chip it produced graphics that were comparable to the primitive 3D arcade releases of the era. However, when...
Review Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream (Wii Virtual Console / NES)
Hey, where's Mike Tyson gone?
Although boxing is a fairly obvious display of aggression, it’s surprising that so few video game adaptations of the sport have been worth playing. Punch Out!! Featuring Mr Dream is an exception, and to many it still hasn’t been beaten. Assuming the role of Little Mac, you have to punch your way to ultimate victory...
Review Splatterhouse (Virtual Console / TurboGrafx-16)
Ah Splatter J!
Heavily inspired by the Jason Voorhees character from the Friday the 13th films so popular in the 80's this game is a hockey mask wearing, butcher knife wielding gorefest! For those who aren't familiar with the game it is basically a 2D scrolling fighter. Unlike it's contemporaries like Double Dragon (and it's Megadrive sequels) the...
Review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Virtual Console / NES)
T-U-R-T-L-E POWER!
Turtle mania was sweeping the world when this came out in 1989. That's probably why this game was so popular despite it being an unfair bag of dog's droppings! So popular was the franchise that Nintendo even bundled the NES with this game in Europe replacing the mighty Super Mario Bros cart. It's easy to see why so many...
Review Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Wii Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Grabbed by the ghoulies
Ghouls ‘N Ghosts was an arcade classic, and Sega Mega Drive / Genesis owners were undoubtedly over the moon to be treated to an almost arcade perfect conversion in 1989. When the Super Nintendo came out, it needed some games to compete with its rival; quite soon after its launch Capcom was kind enough to treat Nintendo fans...
