Retro - Timeline
Thursday25th Jun 2020
News The RK2020 Is Another Chinese Handheld Which Aims To Play Absolutely Everything
NES! SNES! GBA! Dreamcast!
While it's certainly true that Nintendo rules the roost as far as dedicated handheld games consoles are concerned, the past few years have given us a host of pocket-sized consoles that rely mainly on emulation to grab your hard-earned cash. Over a decade ago we had the Gamepark GP32, then there was the GP2X, Wiz, Pandora...
Monday22nd Jun 2020
News Supercade Returns With A Visual History Of Console Gaming's "Golden Age"
From the NES to the Xbox
Fans of video game art books may well be aware of the name Supercade; written by Van Burnham (Wired, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Official US PlayStation Magazine, Retro Gamer), the first volume charted the period between 1971-1984, when arcade gaming drove video games into popular culture. Packed with written history,...
Sunday21st Jun 2020
Poll Box Art Brawl #48 - Wild Guns
Wild world
Welcome to Box Art Brawl, our weekly dust-up to find out which of three regional box art variants is the best. Last week it was Shadowrun's turn to battle itself. Japanese Shadowrun obliterated the competition with over 70% of your approval, leaving second-place North America and third-place Europe to mop up the remainder. This week...
Sunday14th Jun 2020
News The Super Game Boy Is Now 26 Years Old
Only for Super Nintendo
If you're as old as some of us here are at Nintendo Life, you might have fond memories of the Super Game Boy. It was an adapter cartridge for the Super Nintendo that allowed you to play Game Boy and dual-mode Game Boy Color cartridges on the big screen - aka your television. Some games, like the Pokémon titles, even had...
Poll Box Art Brawl #47 - Shadowrun
What we do in the shadows
Welcome back to the Box Art Brawl, our weekly poll to find out which regional box art variant of an old video game is best. Last week we looked at the three main cover variants for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The North American Genesis version won out in the end, with Japan not too far behind and Europe trailing in third place...
Tuesday9th Jun 2020
News WayForward Says It's Open To A Remake Of The Original Shantae Game
Yes, please!
The half-genie hero Shantae recently celebrated her 18th Birthday with the release of Shantae and the Seven Sirens on the Nintendo Switch eShop. That obviously means her original outing on the Game Boy Color is now also 18 years old. So, when are we getting a remake or remaster of sorts? Siliconera asking a similar question during a...
Monday8th Jun 2020
News M2's Pac-Man Championship Edition Demake Was Originally Intended For The 3DS
"We’ve been working on this for around nearly five years"
Bandai Namco is about the release Namcot Collection in Japan, which is available either as a complete physical release or as downloadable content, with players given the option to pick and choose which titles they want to buy at 300 yen apiece. As a bonus for downloading all 10 games...
Sunday7th Jun 2020
Poll Box Art Brawl #46 - Sonic The Hedgehog 3
2's company
Welcome to Week 46 of Box Art Brawl, the poll to find out your favourite box art from a selection of three regional variants. Last week we looked at SNES shmup Phalanx. Surprisingly, the infamous North American cover picked up over 50% of the vote for an easy victory. Japan came in second and Europe trailed in a distant third pl
Wednesday3rd Jun 2020
Poll Rate Your Favourite Nintendo Switch Online SNES Games
Help us rank the 29 SNES games on Nintendo's online sub service
They might have taken a while to arrive, but the library of 29 SNES games available as part of Nintendo's Switch Online subscription service adds considerable value to Switch's online offering for many retro gaming fans. Throw in authentic-feeling wireless controllers that mimic the...
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
News Sega's Game Gear Micro Was Originally Going To Be Even More Stingy
So be thankful, we guess?
If you've already been checking out our home page this morning, you'll have seen that Sega has revealed a series of Game Gear Micro consoles. Four (very tiny) systems are set to be available in total, each coming with four games. At ¥4,980 a pop - roughly $50 / €50 - a mini console with just four games on it sounds...
News Sega Celebrates Its 60th Anniversary With A Micro Version Of The Game Gear
Four colours with four games each
Sega has just announced the Game Gear Micro. As the name suggests, this is a micro version of its original 1990 handheld. This smaller system will launch in Japan on 6th October for ¥4,980 - which is expected to equate to about $50 / €50 locally. It will be available in black, blue, yellow and red, and each...
Tuesday2nd Jun 2020
News Lost NES Game Based On A Tom Cruise Movie Has Just Been Recovered From 21 Floppy Discs
Every floppy counts
When developer Chris Oberth passed away in 2012 at the tragically young age of 59, he left behind a considerable legacy, with titles such as Phasor Zap, Anteater, Ardy the Aardvark and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom listed amongst his credits. He also left behind a massive selection of floppy discs, hard drives and CD-Rs,...
News Legal Crackdown On Mario 64 PC Port Not Enough To Stop Modders From Improving It
And download links are still circulating online
Despite Nintendo's crackdown last month on the Super Mario 64 PC port, it's reportedly not been enough to stop the project from being improved upon. According to VGC, the modding community is still continuing to enhance the visual elements of the not-so-original release - even though many of the...
Monday1st Jun 2020
News All-In-One Retro System Polymega Will Also Support "Current-Gen" Cloud Gaming Services
"Play it all through one incredible user experience"
Polymega – the all-in-one, modular retro gaming platform which will allow you to play your original NES, SNES, Mega Drive, PC Engine, PlayStation and Saturn games on a single system – has added cloud gaming support to its arsenal ahead of its official launch this year. The creators of the...
Sunday31st May 2020
Poll Box Art Brawl #45 - Phalanx
Dueling banjo
And we're back with another edition of Box Art Brawl, your weekly opportunity to peruse covers of video games past and pick your favourite. Last week we checked out Super C, although Super C didn't actually win the vote. Nope, it was the European Probotectors who took the title with a small but significant (and surprising) margin over...
Thursday28th May 2020
News Blimey, Donkey Kong Country 2 Looks Lovely In HD
The SNES classic gets a new lick of paint
Thankfully, fans of the Donkey Kong Country series have been treated rather well over the past few years, with Donkey Kong Country Returns and its sequel Tropical Freeze launching across all of Nintendo's latest systems. We can't sing the praises of Tropical Freeze enough - se
Rumour Buster No, Rare Didn't Almost Make Games For The PlayStation During The N64 Era
"Our belief was that we could make better games if we focused on one platform"
Back in the '90s, Rare was a real powerhouse developer for Nintendo platforms. As one of the earliest western studios to support the NES, it produced a string of titles and would later throw its weight behind the Game Boy and SNES – culminating in the groundbreaking...
Tuesday26th May 2020
News Fan Transforms Broken NES Into A Fully Functioning Switch Dock
Always remember to recycle!
It's never nice to see a games console finally bite the dust, never to play another game or take centre stage underneath the TV again, but some talented folk save the day by repurposing the poor little things for future use. Take the talented Joe Heaton, for example, who we've previously featured on the site for...
News Check Out This New And Improved Portable Nintendo 64
Headphone jack and built-in Expansion Pak included
A couple of months ago, we shared a video from YouTube user smackedsam that showed off a fully working, portable Nintendo 64 console design. We thought it was a pretty cool creation at the time, but this new take has taken things up a notch. Dubbed the 'Slipstream 2' by its creator, the console has...
Sunday24th May 2020
Poll Box Art Brawl #44 - Super C / Probotector II
Return of the evil forces
Welcome all to Box Art Brawl, the weekly series where we scrutinise regional box art variants from around the globe and vote on the best. Last week we examined the European, North American and Japanese covers of Super Turrican. At the time of writing, the easy winner is Japan with 66% of the vote. However, both Europe and...
Friday22nd May 2020
Quiz How Well Do You Know Classic '80s Arcade Games?
Have you got Pac-Man fever?
Pac-Man has now reached the ripe old age of 40 - yes, 40! - so we thought it was the perfect time to test your '80s arcade knowledge with a little quiz in honour of the pellet-muncher's birthday. There's nothing too obscure here. Even if you didn't frequent the arcades back in the day (or if you're too young to know what...
Random Recoil In Horror At The Tale Of The Troublesome QA Tester And The Soiled Rare T-Shirt
"Oh my god! There's s*** on my shirt! I can't believe it!"
Perfect Dark turned 20 recently, as you'll know if you read our exhaustive history of the game's creation. Our good friends over at Eurogamer have done a similar piece, speaking to the people who made this amazing game happen. One of those people is Steve Malpass, who also sha
"We could have dynamic responsive scores that react to the gameplay environments"
Former Rare composer David Wise is responsible for some of the best soundtracks ever heard in a video game, and for the longest time, he was the company's main resource when it came to creating music for its NES, SNES, Game Boy and N64 output. He's been speaking to US...
Tuesday19th May 2020
Video Castlevania's 16-Bit Entries Explored In Splash Wave's Latest Retrospective
Fangs for the memories
Konami certainly made an impression with the Castlevania games on NES, so it was a given that the beloved vampire-hunting series would make the leap to the 16-bit consoles that followed. If you'd like to learn a bit more about the series' 16-bit entries, we'd highly recommend checking out the new retrospective history video...
Monday18th May 2020
Reminder Rate Your Favourite Nintendo Switch Online NES Games
Help us rank the 53 NES games on Nintendo's online sub service
Just a quick reminder that there's still time to rate your favourite NES games from those available for Nintendo Switch Online. Only a few hours after this article went live last week, Nintendo announced new additions to the NES and SNES catalogue including Rygar for NES. Naturally,...
Random Classic Nintendo Games Sound Even Cooler When Played Live On Violin
Including sound effects!
Often, that wonderful feeling of nostalgia you get when loading up a game from your childhood comes from hearing the soundtrack or sound effects that used to blare out of your TV screen. From the iconic Super Mario Bros. theme to the Legend of Zelda's 'da da da daaaaa', there's bound to be a few sounds that instantly bring...
Sunday17th May 2020
News Perfect Dark's Joanna Dark Was Based On Winona Ryder
"She had this great pixie haircut"
It’s been said in the past that Perfect Dark protagonist Joanna Dark was modelled on historical figure Joan of Arc, but we've been speaking to the guys behind the game and they've put us right on that score – and have revealed exactly who inspired the design of the famous secret agent. “I think that’s the...
Poll Box Art Brawl #43 - Super Turrican
Turrican't decide
It's time for another round of Box Art Brawl, your weekly opportunity to get uppity and opinionated over regional cover art that once adorned the packaging of video games around the globe. Last week the European cover of Pikmin 2 emerged victorious after scrapping with its brethren from Japan and the United States. Yes, the EU...
Saturday16th May 2020
News Perfect Dark Was Supposed To Have Push Button Cheats, But They Accidentally Got Deleted
"I’m very sorry"
If you're old enough to remember the N64 classic GoldenEye 007, you might also recall that the game featured a bunch of push button cheat codes which could be entered to change the game and unlock all of the weapons. You might also be one of the many people who were upset that its spiritual sequel, Perfect Dark, lacked this...
