Retro Reviews
Review Glory Hunters (Game Boy) - A Glorious 8-Bit Throwback With Some Rough Edges
Achievement Unlocked: Wait, wrong console
We originally published this review in June 2024 with a note that we'd flag if the game ever came to Switch. Well, it did! Published by Ogre Pixel, Glory Hunters lands on Switch today with various extras, including artwork and sketches, a markable world map, and a live performance soundtrack. For this...
Review Luigi's Mansion (GameCube) - A Spooky Little Romp That Still Sucks You In
It's-a me! Mari— wait, what?
This review was originally published in October 2010. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack GameCube library on Switch 2. Enjoy! Nintendo has always had a dark side. Though it's built up a name for itself as a family-friendly company, every so...
Review Klonoa: Empire Of Dreams (GBA) - One Of The System's Best Still Plays Like A Dream
Wahoo!
This review was originally published in May 2014. We're updating and republishing it in honour of the game's arrival on Switch as part of the Nintendo Classics GBA lineup. Starting life on the PlayStation in 1997, at a time when Super Mario 64 had just brought the gaming world triple-jumping headlong into the era of 3D platforming, Namco's...
Chibi-or-not-Chibi
This review was originally published in November 2009. We're updating and republishing it in honour of the game's arrival on Switch 2 as part of the Nintendo Classics GameCube lineup. Meet the Sandersons, your atypical, dysfunctional American family. Mr. Sanderson is an out-of-work engineer-cum-manchild who liv
Review The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube) - A Timeless Treasure
Cel-da? Is...is that you?
In honour of the game's arrival on Switch 2 as part of the Nintendo Classics GameCube lineup, here's our new retro review of one of Link's most memorable adventures... If I were to put together a list of my favourite pre-Switch-era Zelda games, those that came before the
Review SoulCalibur II (GameCube) - One Of The Best Fighters Ever, Playable Oh-So-Soon On Switch 2
If you're eager to die, then that's fine by me!
With Nintendo Switch 2 bringing a selection of GameCube classics to Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscribers very soon, we looked into our back catalogue of retro reviews and found we didn't have one for one of the best fighting games ever created...until now. Enjoy! Soulcalibur II, of all...
Review Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA) - The Series' Second Western Release Still Hits Hard
Worth fighting for
This review was originally published in March 2015. We're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of the game in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy Advance library. While Fire Emblem is a franchise with a long history in Japan, its track record in the West is far more condensed; in fact, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones...
Review Donkey Kong (GB) - One Of The Game Boy's Very Best
It's on with the King of the Kongs
This review was originally published in June 2011. We're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of the game in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy library. In 1994, Nintendo had a great idea; why not make a true sequel to the original Donkey Kong arcade game? The result is Donkey Kong for the Game Boy,...
Review Wario Land 4 (GBA) - A Boisterous But Impeccably Designed Platformer
Quality over quantity
This review was originally published in May 2014. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack GBA library. Although Wario's core platforming series has been overshadowed for years by the surrealist microgames of WarioWare, his excellent platformers have the sort...
Review Sutte Hakkun (SNES) - An Addictive Curio You Should Definitely Check Out
One of the most unique video game experiences ever crafted
This review was originally published in April 2009. We're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of the game in the Nintendo Switch Online SNES library. Every so often a game comes along that makes you take your thumb off the fire button and don your thinking cap. But who wants...
Review Banjo-Tooie (Nintendo 64) - An Enormous Adventure With Charm Up The Kazoo
Can you bear second helpings?
This review was originally published in October 2009. We're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of the game in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack N64 library. <related ids="106839"> Banjo-Kazooie was a game that revolutionised platforming on the N64: Rare's off-the-wall-humour, creative...
Review F-Zero: GP Legend (GBA) - A Great Handheld Entry That Nails The Series' Spirit
Dare you to blink
This review was originally published in January 2015. We're updating and republishing it to mark the arrival of GP Legend (and Climax, which was never released in the West) in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack GBA library. The F-Zero series has often dished out a steep challenge, and in GP Legend the uninitiated will be...
Review Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (GBA) - Robust Roguelike Rescuing
Pokécrawler: Red
This review was originally published in February 2016. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack GBA library. It's also worth noting that a 2020 Switch remake of Red/Blue Rescue Team exists: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX. As well as the regular series...
Review Perfect Dark (Nintendo 64) - Perhaps Not Perfect, But Still A Remarkable Achievement
Suck it, Bond
This review was originally published in March 2010. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack N64 library. From its debut in 1997, developer Rare and the terrifying digital avatar of Pierce Brosnan ruled over the console shooter space with the Nintendo 64 tie-in of a...
Review Kudzu (Switch) A Delightful, Leafy Ode To Link's Awakening And The Game Boy
It'll grow on you
Kudzu came to this reviewer during a significant birthday celebration. The day was filled with echoes of our past. There was the music on the radio – uncanny remixes of early-to-mid-90s techno songs that used to hype up pre-teen candyfloss-fuelled visits to funfairs. And there was Kudzu and its unsubtle similarity to all-time...
Review F-Zero Maximum Velocity (GBA) - The First Portable F-Zero Still Holds Up
Back to the future
This review originally went live in 2014, and we're updating and republishing it to celebrate the game's arrival in Switch's Game Boy Advance library via Nintendo Switch Online. Ah, F-Zero. The futuristic racing series that’s so fast that even Nintendo lost track of it for years. Since it released the Japanese exclusive...
Review Mario Tennis (GBC) - Camelot's Ace Little Tennis RPG Is Hard To Fault
Courts of appeal
This review originally went live in 2014, and we're updating and republishing it to celebrate the game's arrival in Switch's Game Boy (Color) library via Nintendo Switch Online. For whatever its name is worth, Mario Tennis doesn’t feature a lot of the red guy — at least at first. That may come as an initial disappointment to...
Review Blast Corps - An Absurd, Exhilarating, Explosive Gem From Rare's N64 Days
Time to get moving
This review originally went live in 2013, and we're updating and republishing it to celebrate the game's arrival in Switch's N64 library via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Long before the massive mainstream appeal of video games that exists today, successful developers were surprisingly free from the shackles of big...
Review Golden Sun: The Lost Age - More Of The Same, Which Is No Bad Thing
The return of the prodigal sun
This review originally went live in 2014, and we're updating and republishing it to celebrate the game's arrival in Switch's Game Boy Advance library via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Back in 2001 (2002 in Europe) some players were left feeling short-changed when Golden Sun reached its abrupt ending...
Review Golden Sun - A Radiant RPG, Once It Gets Going
Magic hands make light work
This review originally went live in 2014, and we're updating and republishing it to celebrate the game's arrival in Switch's Game Boy Advance library via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Golden Sun expands on proven genre archetypes to deliver an experience that both pays tribute to and refines the classic...
Review Harvest Moon 64 - Rose-Tinted Specs Recommended For This Beloved Farm Sim
Aged like a fine bottle of milk
To paraphrase a bunch of anti-Nazi singing nuns: How do you solve a problem like reviewing a game that's almost 25 years old? The nuns never came up with an answer, but we have to, because this is a review, not a convent, and it's the issue at the heart of this review, after all. Harvest Moon 64 came out in 1999 —...
Review 1080° Snowboarding - Effortlessly Cool Shredding That Demands Perfection
Shreddin’ the gnar
This review originally went live in 2016, and we're updating and republishing it to celebrate the game's arrival in Switch's N64 library via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998, 1080° Snowboarding was Nintendo's attempt to bring the snowboarding experience to its home...
Review Jet Force Gemini - Another Rare N64 Gem, Flawed But Fun
Start wins
This review originally went live in 2013, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in Switch's N64 library via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. The Nintendo 64 and Rare go together like Banjo and Kazooie. The developer was behind several of the stellar titles found on the system, many of which were...
Review Devil World - A North American Debut For Nintendo's Curious Pac-Man 'Clone'
Heaven a good time
This review was originally published in November 2014. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online NES library — and its official debut in North America nearly 40 years after its Japanese launch on Famicom. As far as obscure releases within the NES library go, Devil World is...
Review Castlevania Legends - A 'Vania So Poor It Got Booted From Canon
Tainted bloodline
This review was originally published in October 2012. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy library. The odds were stacked against Castlevania Legends almost from the start. When it was released towards the end of the '90s, it had the near-impossible task of following
Review The Mysterious Murasame Castle - The Legend Of Zelda's Action-Focused Sibling
The mystery is why this took so long to be released outside Japan
This review was originally published in June 2014. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online NES library. Although not originally released outside Japan, chances are that longtime Nintendo fans in the West have noticed nostalgic...
Review Kirby & The Amazing Mirror - Messy With Metroid Influences, Better With Buddies
Oh, Kirby, you blowhard...
This review, penned by Philip J Reed — our much-missed friend and Nintendo Life contributor — was originally published in January 2012. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack GBA library. We have to hand this much to
Review Excitebike 64 - An Underrated Racer That Deserves To Ride With Its N64 Stablemates
Hold onto your handlebars
This review originally went live in 2016, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival on Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. Of the sports games in the N64 era, Excitebike 64 feels left out of conversation more often than siblings such as Wave Race 64 and 1080° Snowboarding...
Mini Review Xtreme Sports - A Switch Return For Some Gnarly But Limited GBC Minigames
California dreaming
2D sports titles have had their place since Konami’s Track & Field rattled arcade screws loose with its fiercely competitive button rapping. WayForward’s Xtreme Sports draws influence from California Games, a summery seaside boardwalk of hip events and addictive tap-a-thons. You have two characters to choose from, dude or...
Review Pokémon Stadium 2 - A Sequel Of Gold (& Silver) Standard
Second gen magic
This review originally went live in 2016, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack N64 library. After all the groundbreaking success that Pokémon's first generation had, it would've only been wise for the powers that be to capitalise on the franchise. How was...
