Retro - Timeline
Thursday18th Aug 2022
Random This Prototype Transforms Your Switch Into A Home Arcade Cabinet
Nintendo Switch XL
One of the most appealing features of the Switch when it was first released back in 2017 was its ability to be played in both handheld and docked mode. But what if there was another way to play? This is a question that seems to have plagued the incredibly talented designers over at Passocade, and what they came up with is surely...
Wednesday17th Aug 2022
Random Masahiro Sakurai Updated His Awesome Gaming Setup, Here's A Look
What's up with the Switch dock?
When he's not making huge games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, video game director Masahiro Sakurai is actually playing them. Yes, as you've likely already seen before, he's got an extensive collection of consoles and games (new and old). In a new post on social media, it seems Sakurai has updated his gaming space...
Tuesday9th Aug 2022
Feature Mega Man, Crash Bandicoot, And Gex - The '90s Inspirations Behind 'Frogun'
We'll tell you what we want, what we really really want
Why is that '90s and 2000s fashion coming back as a new trend is so utterly distressing to those of us that were there, but '90s and '00s video game aesthetics resurfacing is a good thing? We don't have answers for you, but we do have Frogun, a charmingly goofy action-platformer game that...
News Super Punch-Out!! Hidden Two-Player Mode Discovered 28 Years Later
No hacks or mods required
There's been a historic discovery made within the 1994 Super Nintendo release Super Punch-Out!! today. A Twitter account known as 'Unlisted Cheats' has uncovered a hidden two player mode in the game. To access this option, on the game's start screen you'll have to hold the 'Y' and 'R' buttons on the second player's...
Monday8th Aug 2022
News Sega's Latest Mini-Console Is Cute, But Reviewers Are Complaining Of Bad Lag
Bad news for shmups
Sega's latest mini-console, the Astro City Mini V, has just been released, bringing 22 vertical shmups to people who may not have had access to many of these Japan-only, arcade-only titles before... but, let's be realistic, this teeny-tiny little cabinet is for the kind of hardcore arcade nerds that can afford to drop $180 on...
Friday5th Aug 2022
News GAME's 'Home Arcade' Range Lets You Build The Arcade Of Your Dreams
Pac-Man, Galaga, Space Invaders and more!
UK retailer GAME has kicked off a new 'The Home from Home Arcade' campaign in partnership with Arcade1Up, a manufacturer of officially licensed arcade cabinets. If you've ever wanted to create the arcade of your dreams in your spare room, or even just pick up a full-size cabinet to plonk in your lounge,...
Thursday4th Aug 2022
News SNK Announces Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol.2, Coming Soon
"More info" is on the way
SNK has announced Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol.2 is "coming soon". No platforms have been revealed just yet, but the Switch is in with a good chance after the first volume was released on the platform last year. There's no word on the lineup of games this volume will include at the moment, but we're likely to see...
Monday1st Aug 2022
News There's Now A New Classic Console To Keep Your LEGO NES Company
Update: LEGO Atari now available
Update: The LEGO Atari is now available to purchase, available directly from LEGO's website. Here are the links you need: <products id="19770"> Original Article (Tue 19th Jul, 2022 17:30 BST): LEGO are on a roll with its video game tie-ins at the moment! We've got the Mighty Bowser roaring us down in...
Sunday31st Jul 2022
News Sega Genesis Mini 2 Stock Expected To Be In Short Supply Locally
Global semiconductor shortages are to blame
If you're hoping to secure a Sega Genesis Mini 2 when it arrives in North America this October, you might want to act fast. This system, loaded with over 50 classic games including Sega CD titles, is expected to be in short supply. Ars Technica reached out to Sega's main office and received confirmation...
News Nintendo DS Firmware 'Prototype' Reveals System's Unique Boot Up Sound Effect
It even works on "real hardware"
Nintendo preservation website Forest of Illusion has managed to acquire another rare piece of gaming history. It's been able to archive a Japan prototype of the Nintendo DS X4 firmware - recovered from an X4 prototype unit. According to the source, "just about every aspect of this version is different from the final...
Saturday30th Jul 2022
Feature SEGA's Astonishing GameCube Rebound Following Defeat In The Console Wars
How SEGA turned its fortunes around and made friends with Nintendo
For gamers old enough to remember the turn of the century, the console landscape looked very different from how it does today. Everyone was excited for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo was getting the GameCube ready to succeed the Nintendo 64. Microsoft's Xbox was also in development...
Friday29th Jul 2022
News Analogue Pocket's Major Beta Update Is Live, Here's What's New
Memories! OpenFPGA! SpaceWar!
Analogue's major beta update to its handheld console, the Analogue Pocket, is finally live for users to download, and introduces much anticipated additions to the experience including Memories, Libraries, and openFPGA, Analogue's developer program. Detailed in an announcement post from Analogue itself, the biggest...
News Say Hello To Time Extension, The Newest Member Of Our Network
If you like classic gaming, you'll love this...
As you'll no doubt be aware, Nintendo Life is just one of three sites we operate here at Hookshot Media. We also operate Push Square and Pure Xbox, but it's been quite some time since we launched an entirely new site – but that changed this week. Say hello to Time Extension, the newest member of the...
Thursday28th Jul 2022
Random N64 Cart Album Composer Returns With A Funky GBA Follow-Up
Transport yourself back in time
Remute is back with another unique album release, but this time on a different console. The musician released an album on an N64 cartridge earlier this year, and he's followed this release up with a fantastic-sounding GBA cartridge. Yep, your tiny little Game Boy Micro (or whatever model of GBA, but we're going extra...
Random This Fan's Enormous Nintendo Collection Makes All Others Look Tiny
Years in the making
We at Nintendo Life love a good collection, but YouTuber Nintendo Downunder has truly blown us away. In a video uploaded yesterday, the mega fan shows off his collection of Nintendo consoles, games and accessories which is enough to keep even the biggest fan's jaw firmly on the floor for a long time. The video is the creator's...
News You Can Now Play Steam Games Using Your Retro Switch Controllers
Retro is the way forward
Steam received a brand new update yesterday that might interest some of you who own one (or multiple) of the Switch's retro controllers. VGC reports that Valve's digital platform now supports the NES, SNES, N64, and Mega Drive / Genesis controllers. So you can play classics like Glover, multiple Mega Drive games, Chrono...
Wednesday27th Jul 2022
News There's A Brand New Game Boy Platformer Coming Out This Summer
Pre-orders for Lost Terminal are now available
PixelHeart, the publisher behind Guns of Mercy and Liberated, has announced that its next game is to be compatible with Game Boy systems. Yes, you read that correctly, a brand new game is coming to the Game Boy in 2022. Developed by Maxime Schutz, Lost Terminal is an underworld-set platformer and it...
Saturday23rd Jul 2022
Guide Every Nintendo Switch Online NES Game Ranked
All the NES games, ranked by you
Updated with Downtown Nekketsu March: Super-Awesome Field Day! and Joy Mech Fight following the September 2023 update. Remember, this list evolves as users rate the games within, so head to the game profiles and rate them out of 10 if you'd like to see the rankings below change. Enjoy! The collection of NES games...
Friday22nd Jul 2022
News This Game Boy-Inspired Handheld Is A Budget Answer To Modern-Day Retro Gaming
Cheap and cheerful chip tunes
If you're a fan of all of these new retro handhelds but don't quite have the budget for them, then we might just have the thing for you today. RGhandhelds today revealed the Retro Pixel Pocket, a little Game Boy-esque machine with four buttons and a clear casing that is just what it says it is — pocket-sized! The...
Thursday21st Jul 2022
News Forgotten Gem 'Avenging Spirit' Is Making Its Way To Nintendo Switch
Game BOOy Horror
Right, get this — you're out on a nice date with your girlfriend until, annoyingly, you get horribly murdered by a crime syndicate. Now you're a ghost, and you have to team up with your girlfriend's dad to rescue her from said syndicate, but wait! There's more! The syndicate are one step ahead of you, because they're researching...
Tuesday19th Jul 2022
Random See How The World's Biggest Working Nintendo DS Was Created
Supersize Mii
We've all heard of the phrase 'go big or go home,' right? Well YouTuber and all-round tech wizard, Bigrig Creates, seems to have fully embodied its message with his latest video in which he assembles the world's biggest Nintendo DS. Sharing the video on his YouTube channel, BigRig assembles the system's iconic dual screens by...
Monday18th Jul 2022
Soapbox Correcting A Horrifying 15-Year Mistake By Finally Playing Elite Beat Agents
They don’t make rhythm games as bizarre as they used to
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've got on their minds. Today, Lowell makes amends for a poor life choice and finally gets down with that funky, funky beat... Rewind with me all the way back to...
Random Have You Seen This Cute, Unreleased Precursor To The Top Loader NES?
What could have been...
The North American version of the top-loading NES-101 All the way back in 1988, Nintendo would show to the media a brand new piece of hardware that would eventually become the Super Famicom, or the Super NES in the West. It was an exciting time for the gaming community as Nintendo entered the 16-bit era, though it seems...
Friday15th Jul 2022
Review Pokémon Puzzle League - A Thrilling Puzzler And A Heavy Nostalgia Hit
Panel de Pokémon
This review originally went live in 2008, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival on Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. For those who have dabbled with Puzzle League, this is obvious information, but please bear with us. Tetris Attack, the SNES game, was a westernized version of...
Thursday14th Jul 2022
News Namco Shmup Dragon Saber Is This Week's Arcade Archives Game
Dragon flight
If you love a good vertical shoot 'em up - Hamster's Arcade Archives collection has you got covered this week. The latest release for this library on the Switch is the 1990 Namco title, Dragon Saber. It's a sequel to Dragon Spirit, released in arcades back in 1987. In this game, the Huey and Siria, who have been transformed into...
Wednesday13th Jul 2022
News SEGA Genesis Mini 2 Confirmed For North American Release This October
Blasting to the West with SEGA CD games
Sega has announced that it's bringing the Genesis Mini 2 mini console to North America on 27th October. The mini console — which follows the original Mega Drive Mini and includes more Genesis titles and SEGA CD games to boot — was previously confirmed only for Japan, but we'll be enjoying the 50+ games it...
Random Voice Of Zelda In CD-i Games Would Love To Return To The Role
She's currently working on a homage to the CD-i series
The Legend of Zelda CD-i games might not have had much going for them, but one thing that was arguably impressive was the voice acting. Bonnie Jean Wilbur was the original Princess Zelda in the series - providing the voice for the character in the 1993 Philips CD-i releases Link: The Faces of...
Tuesday12th Jul 2022
Poll What's The Best Mario Kart Game?
Rate them Rainbow Roads
Some of us here at Nintendo Life Towers are convinced that your favourite Mario Kart game is simply the one you played first with three other players in the same room — or just one other player if you were there at the very beginning with Super Mario Kart on Super NES. We tend to think this because while we can all agree...
Friday8th Jul 2022
Random We Need To Play This Gorgeous Fan-Made Super Mario RPG Remake Now
A thing of beauty
Back in the '90s, whoever thought that Nintendo would team up with JRPG giants Square Enix (then known as Square or Squaresoft) to create a Mario RPG starring the Italian plumber, Princess Peach, and Bowser? Not us! But they did, and we're forever grateful for the existence of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Despite...
Thursday7th Jul 2022
Random This Fan-Made Mini TV With A Built-In Super NES Is Totally Adorable
Bite-sized classic gaming with a TV to match
One of our favourite console peripherals is the Joytech GameCube screen, a little attachable screen for the little box-shaped console that turned it into a portable console of sorts. Lots of mods for other consoles have been inspired by this little add-on, but today, we have something extra dinky that...