Retro Features
Feature Best Nintendo 64 Games
The top 50 N64 games ever, as ranked by you
We asked Nintendo Life readers to rate their favourite N64 games, and it's now time to reveal the results! The Nintendo 64 is a console which tends to divide gamers. Launching back in 1996 (or 1997 in PAL regions) as the gaming industry's bread-and-butter switched from sprites to polygons, the console...
Feature The Making Of Star Fox Command
"Miyamoto wanted us to try out new ideas and see what happened"
Star Fox Command is 14 years old this year, a remarkable fact when you consider that, in the time that has elapsed since its release, we’ve only seen one all-new Star Fox entry – and even that was technically a remake of the N64 title, Star Fox 64 (and don't even mention Star Fox...
Feature The Story Of Virtual Tank, A Lost Virtual Boy Successor To Atari's Battlezone
"We were really surprised at the speed that the platform died"
We've pleased to present a chapter from Bitmap Books' excellent The Games That Weren't, which looks at an unreleased Virtual Boy title that aimed to emulate the success of Atari's Battlezone – but sadly never saw the light of day. Nintendo helped rejuvenate the games industry after...
Feature How Nintendo's Game & Watch Took "Withered Technology" And Turned It Into A Million-Seller
We take a look at the LCD range that sparked a portable revolution
Nintendo is celebrating Mario's 35th birthday with a wide range of products, one of which is a brand-new Game & Watch handheld based on the iconic LCD range from the '80s. We thought you might like to revisit this legacy feature – originally published back in 2010 – to get...
Feature 1995's Nintendo Was Arrogant And Ahead Of Its Time All At Once
"Nintendo does not have any rivals"
25 years ago, Nintendo was at something of a crossroads. 1995 saw the company in a dominant position in its homeland, where the Super Famicom was still the most popular video game console with over 90 per cent of the domestic market. However, the launch of the 32-bit Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn at the...
Hardware Review Believe The Hype, Polymega Is The Ultimate All-In-One Retro Machine
Now updated with Element Module impressions...
This review was originally published on August 11th 2020 and has been updated to factor in our impressions of the EM03 Element Module. Originally announced back in 2017 as the RetroBlox, Polymega has endured a fairly tumultuous journey to market. While the system's objective has always been the same...
Hardware Review Terraonion MODE - The Ultimate Upgrade For Your Saturn And Dreamcast?
Ditch the discs
Following hot on the heels of the GC Loader, Terraonion's MODE – which stands for Multi Optical Disc Emulator, in case you were wondering – looks set to shake things up for Sega collectors as it allows you to supplant the optical drive on either your Saturn or Dreamcast and replace it with solid-state storage, such as Micro SD...
Feature How Nintendo, Pokémon And Japanese Culture Shaped Global Tastes Through Pure Invention
Author and translator Matt Alt discusses his recent book
The Back to the Future movies might be best known for their seat-of-your-pants time-hopping sense of adventure, whip-smart structure and American nostalgia, but they also serve as a socio-economic lens on the time in which they were made. Marty McFly, for example, might not return to exactly...
Feature Drugged Coffee, Pirated Games And Empty Bank Accounts - The Story Of GameFan Magazine
"It remains one of the most defining parts of my life"
If you were a North American gamer who was active during the early '90s, then chances are, you've heard of GameFan magazine. The anarchic alternative to the likes of GamePro and EGM, it began life as a catalogue for a mail-order video game store before evolving into a monthly publication which...
Soapbox Mario And Zelda Were Great, But GoldenEye Really Switched Me On To Nintendo
It caught my 'Eye
These days, I'm very much living the Nintendo life, but rewind thirty years and I was a SEGA Mega Drive kid. I enjoyed Super Mario Bros. 3, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Duck Hunt and of course the seminal Rareware classic, Battletoads & Double Dragon on my brother's NES, but given the choice between Mario or Sonic back then,...
Feature Rare Turns 35 This Week - We Pick 10 Highlights From The Nintendo Years
Rare talent
Three-and-a-half decades ago this week, British developer Rare was formed. Formerly known as Ultimate Play the Game, the company was created with the express purpose of creating titles for the Nintendo Entertainment System and from the mid-1980s until the early '00s the Twycross-based team would deliver some of the finest video games on...
Feature The 9 Strangest Choices For Licensed Karting Games
The racing tie-ins nobody really asked for
The Switch can’t avoid licensed kart racing games. It’s already seen its fair share of gems (Team Sonic Racing, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled) and stinkers (Hello Kitty Kruisers, Garfield Kart Furiou
Feature Every Virtual Boy Game Ranked
Virtual virtues
Nintendo is an odd company in many ways; deeply conservative 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 frivolities turn out to be...
As ranked by you lovely people
The Nintendo GameCube launched in Japan in September 2001 and a couple of months later in North America. Unlucky Europeans wouldn't get their hands on it until the following year, but the wait was worth it for one of the best-looking video game consoles of all time. The NGC (sorry, GCN) is a beautiful, compact piece of...
Soapbox It's Time For WWE No Mercy To Make A Comeback On Nintendo Switch
The champ deserves a comeback run
In case you haven’t been keeping tabs on the WWE video game scene, it’s currently in a state of complete anarchy. Ever since THQ went bust and 2K Games took over the licence in 2013, the games have been gathering a steady flow of criticism, which has been rapidly gaining in pace as each instalment is released...
Feature Best Nintendo DS Games
As voted for by you
This ranked reader-voted list of the 50 best Nintendo DS games is governed by Nintendo Life User Ratings and can change depending on those scores. Feel free to rate your favourites and, perhaps, rejig the ranking below. Enjoy! One of the joys of Nintendo's Switch is how it marries the company's home console heritage with its...
Black and white brilliance
Friday 21st April 1989 – the day that the Game Boy launched in Japan. Over thirty years ago the video gaming landscape would be forever changed as Nintendo opened up the new frontier of portable gaming to the masses. The company’s Game & Watch line let you take limited gaming experiences on-the-go, but the Game Boy...
Feature 8 Games That Could Really Benefit From A Modern Remake On Switch
How about revisiting and repairing some flawed gems?
Ever since the rumour that several 3D Super Mario remasters may be coming to Switch, we've been champing at the bit to experience those classics again on Switch. Say what you like about Switch ports but if they're treated with the care and respect they deserve, we're all for bringing...
Feature Every Nintendo Switch Online SNES Game Ranked
All the SNES games, ranked by you
Update: Now includes Super Mario All-Stars, in addition to Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Mario's Super Picross and The Peace Keepers — the latter trio are coming to Nintendo Switch Online
Feature Every Nintendo Switch Online NES Game Ranked
All the NES games, ranked by you
Update: Now includes S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team which comes to the service on 23rd September 2020. Remember, this list evolves as users rate the games within, so head to the game's profile and rate it out of 10 if you'd like to see a particular game climb the rankings below. Carry on! The collection...
Hardware Review Should You Ditch Your GameCube Discs For The GC Loader?
We go hands-on with the system's ODE option
Back when cartridges were the main means of distributing video games on home consoles, the prospect of optical media was a technological revolution of sorts; these shiny discs promised greater storage at a cheaper cost (not that the consumer always saw the latter benefit), and carts were considered to be...
Feature The Unsung Genius Who Tempted Nintendo's President To Pick Up A Joypad
"He could see the Promised Land, but wasn't allowed to enter it"
The world of video games, like any other, is full of seemingly inconsequential moments which cause ripples that become shockwaves that can determine not just the course of a single company, but the entire industry. With Nintendo, there are numerous moments like this; Gunpei Yokoi's...
Feature Creating The Ultimate Game Boy
"I don't like anything less than perfect and I am always striving for that"
Nintendo's Game Boy family of consoles has, in total, sold around 200 million units during its lifespan, which stretched from the release of the original monochrome system in 1989 all the way up to 2005's Game Boy Micro, the final console to showcase the name. While...
Guide How To Fit An IPS Screen To Your Game Boy Advance SP
Take your GBA to the next level of brightness
The Game Boy line of consoles may be old news to Nintendo, but that doesn't mean it isn't still evolving. Fan-made modifications are appearing all of the time which help augment and improve the tech which makes these handhelds tick, and one of the latest upgrades is a new IPS screen for the Game Boy...
Hardware Classics Sega Game Gear - The System Which Spawned The Game Gear Micro
Getting into Gear
With the announcement of the Game Gear Micro, we thought you might like to revisit our Hardware Classics feature – originally published in 2016 – on the real deal. Enjoy! It's easy to see the thinking behind the Game Gear, the machine Sega positioned as a Game Boy-beater in the early '90s. The firm's
Feature How RoboCop's Epic Game Boy Theme Tune Lives On, 30 Years Later
"If you'd have told me it would still be around in 30 years, I wouldn't have believed you"
While video game music has become more and more popular as the years have rolled by, there once was a time when it was seen as an afterthought; the tunes that accompanied the titles we played on our home computers and consoles were often there simply to avoid...
Feature How Nintendo And A Band Of Teenage High Score Obsessives Created The Idea Of The Pro Gamer
Investigating Nintendo's surprising role in the birth of esports
Esports is old. Its origins stretch back to the very first days of video games as a medium. Was competitive gaming born with the invention of Tennis for Two in 1958, the very first video game? Or in 1972 when Rolling Stone hosted the first Space War! competition in a university...
Feature Perfect Dark Turns 20 - The Definitive Story Behind The N64 Hit That Outclassed James Bond
"We had a lot of ideas, and lots of clever people working out how to do them"
How do you follow GoldenEye 007? In the summer of 2000 – that's 20 years ago this month – Rare presented its answer: Perfect Dark, a sci-fi spy shooter centred around an alien conspiracy. It delivered a cool, competent heroine, a single-player campaign bursting with...
Feature The Game That Starred Mickey Mouse, Ghostbusters Or Garfield, Depending On Your Region
Navigating Kemco's Crazy Castle series
Three huge licences. One average game. Every weekend here at Nintendo Life we take a look at regional box art variants for retro video games and run a poll on which one is best. It's a fun, light-hearted exercise; really just an excuse to look at fantastic (and some not-so-fantastic) old-school cover art,...
Feature Nintendo Console Codenames And Product Codes
Do you know your DMGs from your DOLs?
If you happen to have any official Nintendo console or peripheral to hand, turn it over and hidden in the legalese and small print on the underside you'll find a code which typically begins with three letters. Flip over your Switch, for example, and you'll find the code HAC-001, with an extra (-01) if you've got...
Feature Quarter Arcades Is Bringing Coin-Op History Home - And It Wants To Work With Nintendo Next
"A 1/4 scale Donkey Kong would look fantastic!"
Arcades may be dying out, but they're such a significant part of gaming history that interest in them remains high. There are plenty of people out there old enough to remember the thrill of visiting the local amusement centre and popping spare change into their favourite cabinet, which is why we've...
Feature Star Wars Games - Every Star Wars Game On Nintendo Systems Ranked
We sort the padawans from the poodoo
The release of Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker may have 'ended' Star Wars as we've known it for over 40 years, tying a bow on the cinematic tales of the Skywalker clan and the nine-film series which began way back in 1977, but Star Wars is never really gone. Streaming platform Disney+ has all the...
Feature How Nintendo Killed The Best Version Of Tetris
"Heartbroken is a good summary"
Ed Logg knew a thing or two about lines. He’d co-created Asteroids at Atari, a game where players piloted a ship and blasted the eponymous space rocks into smaller and smaller bits. Released in 1979, Asteroids was in black and white, but the animation was slick and fluid thanks to vector graphics, a technique that...
Feature Now Is A Great Time To Support Your Local Retro Computer Museum
Preserve And Protect
In 2020, the majority of our interactions with video games is virtual – games are easily accessible and available online 24/7. However, there are plenty of people who have fond memories of the more physical side of games, whether that be browsing racks in dedicated video game shops, visiting sensory-overload arcades or getting...
Hardware Review Evercade - Can A 100% Physical Media Console Really Work In 2020?
A throwback to the good old days of the Game Boy
A digital future for gaming is all but assured, as much as we fight against it tooth and nail. Just as movies and music have embraced digital distribution, gaming is slowly but surely following suit – which is what makes a product like Blaze's Evercade so interesting. This new handheld system lacks...
Feature NES Creator Masayuki Uemura On Building The Console That Made Nintendo A Household Name
"Back then, we didn’t know if it was going to be popular or not"
There's no denying that the NES – or Famicom as it was known in its native Japan – is one of the most important pieces of video game hardware ever made. Not only did it turn Nintendo from an outsider player to industry leader, it laid down the foundations of an industry which...
Book Review Sega Arcade: Pop-Up History - A Gloriously Decadent Tribute To A Golden Age
Taikan your breath away
To anyone who didn't experience them firsthand, it's hard to accurately convey the mesmerising power of amusement arcades in the '80s and '90s. A furious storm of light, sound and smell (the latter not always pleasant, we should add), your typical arcade was dominated by flashing screens and packed, jostling bodies. This was...
Mario Memories Playing Super Mario Bros. 3 In The Garden
Darren recalls a stolen moment in his back garden with Mario
Today is the 30th anniversary of the US release of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES! That's right, boomers - you're getting old. In honour of the occasion we're republishing this article originally posted as part of the 30th anniversary celebrations for the iconic Mario franchise as a...
Feature 10 Nintendo Games We'd Love To See Finally Come To The West
Nintendo games that never officially left Japan
These days there are very few first-party or Nintendo-published titles that don't get an international release, but back in the day it was common for games to remain in their Japanese homeland for months or even years, if they ever came overseas at all. No, we're not just talking about the countless...
Ninterview How Two GamesMaster Fans Are Paying Tribute To TV's Best Video Game Show
Tune into "Under Consoletation"
These days, you need only turn on your phone or open up a laptop to gain access to video game news, reviews and footage, but back in the pre-internet early '90s, you either had magazines or GamesMaster. For those of you outside the UK, that name might not mean anything, but trust us, it was amazing. GamesMaster was a...
Feature Remember When Atari Turned Down Nintendo And Sega?
How different things could have been
When you think of the key names in the history of video games hardware, a few notable monikers spring to mind. Nintendo is obviously one of them; the Japanese veteran has been a major part of the industry since the '80s, and has maintained a position of importance and influence despite numerous challenges from...
Feature The Most Expensive Retro Games For Nintendo Systems
12 rare games to keep an eye out for
Make no mistake, we've got endless love for chunky plastic cartridges and proper printed manuals (remember those?), but the convenience of digital games is hard to deny and over the last decade or so digital distribution has taken off to the point where often physical versions aren't even an option these days...
Talking Point How Much Is Your Video Game Collection Really Worth To You?
Sentimental value rarely equals hard currency
Chibi-Robo earns his keep. It's happened to everyone at one time or another. Whether due to changing life circumstances or sheer curiosity, most of us will have looked at our video game collection and wondered how much hard cash we could get for it. We've interviewed serious collectors in the past and...
Book Review Japansoft: An Oral History - A True Treasure You Need To Read
Celebrating the unsung heroes with this exceptional book
A few years ago, British journalist and author John Szczepaniak launched a Kickstarter campaign with a grand vision – to document the memories of some of Japan's most influential yet underappreciated games developers. The result was an extensive three-volume series (and accompanying
Feature Hyperkin Explains Why Its Next Console Is Bringing The Game Boy To Your Living Room
Forget those "streetlight-lit car rides home"
Hyperkin has been one of the biggest names in 'new' retro products for quite some time now, thanks to products like the RetroN 5 and Supa Boy. The company is back with a new device – the RetroN Jr. – which plays the ent
Feature No Anime Please, We're Westerners - When Anime Was Taboo In Western Games
A time when anime and western games didn't mix
Japanese animation – or 'anime' as many call it – is huge business these days. While it is naturally most popular in its homeland, we've seen numerous anime properties cross over to the west and find the kind of success that is usually reserved for home-grown cartoons and media franchises. Series...
Feature Why You'll Never Get To Play Your Favourite Retro Game On Switch
Companies really do want your money, but at the right price
A few weeks ago while scrolling through Twitter, a particular video clip caught our eye. It showed Slipstream, a 1995 F1 arcade game from Capcom. Using Sega’s System 32 board, it was produced in very limited quantities for the Latin American market and never saw wide release. As you can...
Feature How Pirate Television Helped Sega Beat Nintendo In The UK
"We were The Rolling Stones to Nintendo's Beatles"
The year is 1992. In a typical British household a typical British family is huddled around the television, still unsure about what has just transpired during the ad break of their typical British soap opera. Nestled among the traditional commercials for washing powder and breakfast cereal is a...
Feature 30 Weird And Wonderful Peripherals From Nintendo's History
Playing with power... and a whole lotta plastic
Nintendo’s history as a manufacturer of playing cards and toys means the company has always been very comfortable with expanding out from with video game console under the TV into the wider world of peripheral accessories and novelties. These extra lumps of plastic and electronics that interface with...
Feature I Think My Game Boy Predicts The Future
“What evil might this forbidden technology unleash?”
The Game Boy turned 30 last month – to the shock of those of us realising we are therefore well over 30. Where did the past go? I think it went into a nook at the end of my bookshelf – at least that’s where I found my old DMG-01, the original Game Boy. Like many reading this, I’m sure,...
Feature The Man Who Lost Tetris
The almost unbelievable story of Robert Maxwell
Media tycoon Robert Maxwell’s influence on the UK and international games’ software industry is the stuff of legend. As Dan Ackmerman’s writes in The Tetris Effect, Maxwell’s part in the international battle for the rights to Tetris resulted in legal battles between his son, Kevin Maxwell,...
Feature Your Beloved Games Console Is Slowly But Surely Dying
Parts failure. Power issues. Creepy-crawlies. Your system is under attack
"Everything put together falls apart" is the kind of sage-like adage that you often hear elderly relatives offering up over the dining table in-between moaning about Brexit and discussing the weather, and is a phrase most people under the age of 30 will surely dismiss out of...
Feature GoldenEye Dev David Doak On Shaking (And Stirring) The FPS Genre On Console
"All we could see were the bad things"
You couldn’t escape it. It was here, rife and potent. It ploughed a path through conventional gaming conversations from the casuals to the parents of gamers that had to put up with the noise, the screaming and the not going to bed because if you didn’t kill John with thirty-seven remote mines stuck to the...
Feature Uncovering The Story Behind Nintendo's Most Bizarre Tie-In
‘90s Mario mania, posthumous endorsements and White Knuckle Scorin'...
Uncanny, no? It’s Saturday morning and we’re relaxing on the sofa with a coffee, idly scrolling through Twitter while MTV Classics plays in the background. The 1992 video for Roy Orbison’s posthumously released track 'I Drove All Night' plays. Now, we’re partial to...
Feature Jason Brookes Talks Super Famicom, Import Gaming And Super Play
"The feeling of being part of a club was endemic in Super Play"
Earlier this week, former Super Play, EDGE and Famitsu staffer Jason Brookes passed away after a long battle with cancer at the age of 52. We're running a proper tribute to the great man soon, but in the meantime, here's an exclusive interview conducted with Jason back in 2017, but...
Feature Jez San On Star Fox, Super FX And Teaching Nintendo How To Fly
"They’d never trusted a western company in that way before"
Jez San occupies a pretty unique place in the world of video games. He founded his company, Argonaut Software, while he was still a teenage schoolkid, and his free-roaming 3D shooter Starglider would become a critical and commercial smash-hit, paving the way for a relationship with...
Feature The Game-Changing Nintendo VR Headset That Never Was
"We had cool stuff working"
Argonaut Software is a name that long-time Nintendo fans will be intimately familiar with; the UK-based firm worked with Nintendo on its Super FX chip, the cartridge-based hardware that made titles like Star Fox, Stunt Race FX and Yoshi's Island possible. However, Argonaut's interest in tech didn't end there; the company...
Hardware Review How Does The Carby GameCube Component Cable Compare To The Real Deal?
Component or HDMI, that is the question
If you're of a certain age you'll understand the struggles we went through to get the absolute best picture quality out of our consoles back in the day. The GameCube was no different; in fact, we remember paying well over the odds for a modified Component-to-RGB Scart cable in order to get our NTSC GameCube...
Feature Hands-On With Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe, A Challenging New Game Boy Title With A Cute Look
You go, girl
Making a new Game Boy game in the modern era takes a lot of guts, but Tangram Games has done just that with Tobu Tobu Girl Deluxe. Successfully crowdfunded to the tune of €40,972, this is a simplistic yet challenging action title which tasks you with getting to the top of the screen using a wide range of skills while avoiding hazards...
Hardware Review Hyperkin Admiral - Wireless N64 Controller Goodness
Cut the cord
Anyone who's ever crammed around a TV with a Nintendo 64, GoldenEye 007 and a few friends will know the struggles that the short cord on the N64's controller caused. Few companies have tried to remedy this in the past with controller extensions – and controllers that just don't hit the mark – but no one has really succeeded...
Feature The Story Of Blizzard's Diablo Junior, The Game Boy Epic That Never Was
“A Diablo-lite game with a town and lots of dungeons? I'd eat that up”
Modern-day Nintendo fans may be able to enjoy the thrills of Diablo III on the move in 2019, but at the turn of the millennium, options for Nintendo-loving dungeon explorers were far more limited – although the outlook could have been quite different. Following Diablo II's...
Feature The Most Memorable Ghosts In Nintendo Games
Spooks, spectres and ghosts that stuck around
It's close to midnight, and something evil's lurking in the dark... Well, perhaps. Yes, Nintendo Switch has its fair share of true horrors, but there's a fair chance that any ghost you happen across on Nintendo platforms could be a Casper-like friendly phantom. With Halloween almost upon us and Luigi up...
Feature 25 Years Ago, Nintendo Took On The Might Of Street Fighter With Killer Instinct
Ultra combo!
The technological sands may have been shifting dramatically back in 1994, but the ripples from the groundbreaking impact of Capcom’s Street Fighter II were still being felt in the games industry. While the 32-bit era was looming and sophisticated new games machines were introducing players to the immersive thrills of 3D worlds, the...
Feature Luigi And Video Gaming's Other Palette Swap Heroes
Clones that became stars
Luigi’s Mansion 3 releases in just a couple of days and rounds out a trilogy of excellent games featuring gaming's most famous sidekick in the starring role. Over the years Luigi has grown from mere clone to become a beloved Nintendo character and developed something of a cult following along the way. Perhaps his cowardice...
Feature How Switch Brings Back Game Boy Multiplayer Memories
A link (cable) to the past
Quite apart from the huge number of great games coming to the system every week, one result of Switch’s success that we’ve really enjoyed is how it has brought back a focus on local multiplayer gaming not seen since the N64 days. Online is still king, of course, but we’d argue there’s nothing quite like the rush of...
Feature Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rescue-Palooza! Is The Turtles Game You've Always Wanted
"I’ve wanted to see every NES and Game Boy game get a SNES do-over"
From the silver screen to the small screen to the even smaller screen on your Game Boy, the world’s favourite comic book pizza-lovers have featured on displays of all dimensions. But, while the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles originated in pen and ink, many people remember them...
Feature "Nintendo Killed My Son!" - Pulling Apart A Tragic Headline More Than Two Decades On
How a single story rocked the games industry
Video games have often been blamed for many of society's ills, and only this week has the news broken that a Canadian family intends to take Epic Games to court over the addictive nature of Fortnite, which, they claim, has "ruined" the lives of their children. The case cites the classification of 'video...
Feature 10 Of The Worst Nintendo Game Covers Ever
Our picks for the lowest of the low
You may be familiar with our weekend Box Art Brawl series where we pit regional versions of the same game against each other in a gladiatorial poll to find out which has the best cover art. That's all well and good, but there are a great many terrible examples that will never experience the glory of combat in our...
Hardware Review Should You Import The Japanese Mega Drive Mini?
Better pads and the Tower of Power, but is that enough?
The Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Mini is pretty special – as you'll know if you've already consulted our exhaustive review. Packed full of retro goodness and blessed with a lineup that contains some of the system's most desirable titles, it's proof that Sega is finally taking the 'micro-console'...
Feature 10 Strangest Moments In Captain N: The Game Master
Celebrating the cult Saturday morning Nintendo cartoon’s 30th birthday
Super Smash Bros.? Pffft, garbage. The Marvel Cinematic Universe? Complete trash. Project X Zone? Hmmm, we appreciate your thinking but even so, nope. The greatest crossover of all time turned 30 years old this month and none of you selfish sods even noticed. We’re talking,...
Feature Getting Reacquainted With Zelda: Link's Awakening, An Irreverent And Silly Classic
"It was like we were making a parody of Zelda"
We originally published this piece back in February, and have decided to give it another push now, to mark the launch of Link's Awakening on Switch. The Switch is getting its second Zelda game, but it perhaps wasn't one that people were expecting. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening was the...
Feature Uncovering The Unlikely Story Of The World's Worst Controller In The Power Of Glove
"It's so bad"
To a complete outsider, the notion of creating a documentary about a failed video game peripheral from 30 years ago might seem pointless, if not downright silly. But the Power Glove is so much more than a device which simply struggled to find its audience and meekly withdrew into the night; it has become an iconic piece of gaming...
Feature Nintendo Hardware Refreshes Through The Ages
Switch Lite is just the latest in a long line of updates
Mid-cycle hardware refreshes may sometimes feel like a relatively recent development, but console manufacturers have been releasing revised versions of their consoles since video gaming first entered the home. You might associate Nintendo hardware refreshes mostly with handheld consoles thanks...
Hardware Classics Nintendo GameCube
Indigo, Spice and all things nice
To celebrate its 18th birthday, we take a look back at Nintendo’s little box of tricks... In many ways, the GameCube was a console out of time, arguably arriving too late (or perhaps too early) to realise its true potential. We can look back now and appreciate its quirks, admire its design and excellent software...
Hardware Review The Genesis / Mega Drive Mini Finally Does Sega's History Justice
Mega Drive me to the store
Miniaturized consoles are nothing new to Sega as it was releasing them long before Nintendo’s Classic NES and SNES consoles took the spotlight. The plug-and-play systems it produced in collaboration with AtGames usually car
