Retro - News
March2017
Video Seeing A R.O.B. The Robot Get Torn Apart Is Rather Hypnotic
Don't worry, he gets put back together again
The Robotic Operating Buddy - or R.O.B. for short - was one of the many ways Nintendo attempted to differentiate its NES system from "traditional" console platforms which had poisoned the market after the 1983 video game crash. This robotic companion could connect to the console and interact with various...
Video Get Green With This Complete History Of Battletoads
Remembering Rash, Zitz & Pimple
Battletoads - along with Rare's back catalogue - may be owned by Microsoft these days, but NES owners will always have a special place in their hearts for Rash, Zitz & Pimple, three radical amphibians with plenty of attitude. Created at a time when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dominated TV, gaming and toy aisles,...
News Pier Solar Studio Is Back With A Brand New Sega Mega Drive Beat 'Em Up, Paprium
Comes on an 80-MEG cart
WaterMelon, best known for its RPG Pier Solar, has just revealed its next project - a side-scrolling fighter for the Sega Mega Drive called Paprium. Development began quite some time ago, when the game was known simply as
News ACA Neo Geo's TATE Mode Hints At A Glorious Future For Vertically-Scrolling Shooters On Switch
Looking sideways
When the Switch was first revealed several (older) members of the Nintendo Life team expressed the opinion that it would be utterly perfect for hosting old-school vertically-scrolling shooters when played in "TATE" mode - basically, when turned on its side so the screen is in portrait ordination rather than landscape. It would seem...
Video Nintendo Minute Shows Off SteamWorld Dig 2 on the Switch
Diggin' Dorothy
SteamWorld Dig 2 was chosen to lead off the Switch Nindie Showcase, broadcast shortly before the system launched. The original SteamWorld Dig was a bit of a breakout hit for Image & Form, of course - though the studio had a long track record before that 3DS eShop release, it has often admitted that the success of that game took...
Video Let's Indulge in the 'Virtual Console' of Neo-Geo Games on Nintendo Switch
Insert credit
The Switch doesn't have a Virtual Console of its own just yet, but that hasn't stopped Hamster from releasing a slew of Neo-Geo arcade titles on the system. In the video above we take a look at all seven currently available titles including some shoot-em-ups, some fighting games, and... well, more fighting games.
Video Let's Have a Closer Look at the Player's Guide for Zelda: A Link to the Past
Retro is the new open world
Amidst all the hype surrounding The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild it's important to take stock and remember the good old days before everything was measured in teraflops and gigaslaps. That's just what our man Dan Thompson has been up to and has decided to make the bold move of muscling in on my turf in the form of...
News Hamster Corporation Confirms Next Batch Of ACA Neo Geo Classics
Could these for heading to the Nintendo Switch?
Japanese company Hamster Corporation has confirmed the next batch of titles in its "ACA Neo Geo" range. The new games are Alpha Mission II, Fatal Fury, Metal Slug, Neo Turf Masters, Samurai Shodown, Sengoku and World Heroes. At t
Book Review The Unofficial NES/Famicom: A Visual Compendium
Could this be the perfect coffee table book?
We've seen an explosion in books celebrating retro video game history lately. One of the most prolific publishers is UK-based Bitmap Books, which is responsible for many of our favourites - including the excellent Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection. Their catchily titled 'Visual Compendium' series has...
Video Leafing Through The NES / Famicom Visual Compendium
The ultimate coffee table companion?
Bitmap Books' series of visual compendiums already has a strong following amount retro gamers but its latest iteration has been perhaps the most notable yet, for two key reasons. Firstly, it utterly smashed its Kickstarter goal of £25,000 and eventually raised a whopping £190,000, and secondly, it very nearly...
Hardware Review My Arcade NES Classic Mini Controller
Looks aren't everything
Given how hard it is to actually find a NES Classic Mini right now, it should come as no great shock to also learn that spare controllers for the console are also in very short supply. While Nintendo seems incapable of meeting demand for this clone system and its accessories, third party peripheral makers are having a field...
News You Can Now Use Your Switch Joy-Cons On Your NES Classic Mini
8Bitdo Retro Receiver adds Joy-Con and Switch Pro Controller support
The 8Bitdo Retro Receiver for the NES Classic Mini is an essential purchase as it allows you to game on your console without being tethered by annoying short wires. The device has just become that little bit more desirable thanks to a
Random Would You Trade Your Brand New Nintendo Switch For A Fully-Boxed SNES?
Breath of the Wild or Link to the Past?
After months of waiting the Nintendo Switch is finally here, and many hardcore fans attended midnight launches to make sure they got their consoles as quick as possible. Our friends over at iRetrogamer.com attended one such event and popped that most difficult of questions: would you be willing to trade your...
News The Nintendo 64 Is 20 Years Old Today In Europe And Australia
That's right, you're old
Here's another anniversary to make you feel older - the much-loved Nintendo 64 is celebrating its 20th birthday today in Europe and Australia. Released in June 1996 in Japan and September 1996 in North America, eager Euro gamers would have to exercise patience once again as the N64 launched on 1st March, 1997 in Europe...
February2017
Random Of Course Seinfeld's George Costanza Was A Virtual Boy Fan
It makes perfect sense!
Poor old George Costanza. This neurotic, self-loathing character from the popular comedy sitcom Seinfeld never did have much luck in life. It turns out in addition to being unfortunate in love (and virtually everything else) George also made equally terrible choices when buying video gaming hardware. While idly relaxing at...
News USPS Recovers Lost Package Containing $10,000 in Rare SNES Cartridges
All is well
Some of you may remember the unfortunate news last week that a SNES archiving project was essentially destroyed when the US Postal Service lost a package containing $10,000 in rare SNES cartridges. The package had been sent from a private collector in Germany and vanished shortly after it made it to US soil. Heartbroken over the loss,...
News TheMexicanRunner Is One Game Away From Finishing Every NES Title On Twitch
714 games, three years, one epic journey
Way back in May 2014, TheMexicanRunner began his NESMania project with the ultimate objective of completing every single officially licensed western NES game live on Twitch. That's a whopping 714 games in total, in case you were wondering. After three epic years, he's now one game away from achieving that...
Random Here's What Happens When A Toyota Takes On Street Fighter Baddie M. Bison
(Or Vega, if you'd prefer)
Wacky advertising crossovers are all the rage in Japan - we've already seen Mario hopping into a Mercedes, for example - and now it's the turn of Capcom's Street Fighter, which features heavily in this commercial for the Toyota C-HR. The clip uses graphics from the 1991 arcade smash hit Street Fighter II, with Ryu hopping...
Retro This Is Why We Should Probably Be Glad Nintendo Stuck With Carts For The N64
Think optical media is indestructible? Think again
Compact discs might not be considered new technology these days, but when they were first released they were marketed as practically indestructible. Compared to the two other audio storage mediums of the time - cassette tape and vinyl - that certainly seemed to be a easy claim to make. CDs later...
It outsold the Wii U…
The NES Classic Edition is a console that hasn't exactly been known for its availability. At launch and through the holiday season, it was notoriously difficult for eager fans to get their hands on the $60 microconsole; stock shortages were quite prevalent. All the same, Nintendo has been doing its best to keep up with demand...
Video Eurogamer Explores Nintendo's Historical Link With Gambling And The Yakuza
Leaving luck to heaven
As we all know, Nintendo didn't start out in the video game arena - which is pretty obvious when you consider the company is now over 100 years old - but instead began its life creating Hanafuda playing cards. In its latest "Here's a Thing" episode, Eurogamer explores this rather shady part of Nintendo's history. Hanafuda...
News New SNES Fighter Unholy Night Takes To Kickstarter To Fund Cartridge Production
Created by former SNK staffers, no less
Last year we reported on the development of Unholy Night: The Darkness Hunter, a one-on-one SNES fighter developed by a team of ex-SNK staffers. The title has now progressed to the point where additional funding is required to create physical cartridges, and as a result a Kickstarter campaign has been laun
Video Hackers Bring Nintendo 64 To The NES Classic Edition
And Sega 32X, too
When the NES Classic Edition was initially announced as shipping with a preset list of thirty popular games, many scoffed. The selection of titles certainly reads like a who's who of memorable NES classics, but of course, there was always the question of why there wasn't some way to build upon that collection with some sort of...
News Ambitious SNES Preservation Project Ends After $10,000 Of Rare Carts Get Lost In The Mail
Oops
A noble attempt to accurately preserve every single SNES game has come to an end after a package containing between $7,500 and $10,000 of rare cartridges was lost by the United States Postal Service. The package was en route to renowned archivist Byuu, best known for creating the superb SNES emulator higan. It contained 100 of the rarest PAL...
News Don't Worry, Nintendo Says It Hasn't Stopped NES Mini Production
The tiny dream is still alive
Yesterday we reported that a Scandinavian retailer had prompted concerns around production of the NES Mini Classic, albeit with a cautionary note that Nintendo had recently said restocks were in the works. The NES Mini was a hot ticket item before Christmas and it seems that the demand simply took Nintendo by surprise;...
News Scandinavian Retailer Prompts Concerns Around NES Mini Production
Contradicts Nintendo statement of "working to increase production"
When the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition (Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe) was announced it generated plenty of excitement online, and then rapidly sold out in the pre-order phase. It's been possible to get a unit at its proper price...
Exclusive Getting Under The Hood Of Polymega, The Clone Console To Rule Them All
"For the people who are speculating $300, it won't be nearly that much"
The announcement of RetroBlox (now known as Polymega) came as something of a surprise a few weeks ago, but in many ways this proposed system is a logical evolution in the growing "clone" hardware market. Built around modularity, RetroBlox aims to offer the benefits of...
Video Here's Proof That Every Kid's Birthday Should Feature McDonald's And Contra III
Back in time
If you're a '90s kid then you've no doubt had the experience of attending a birthday party at your local McDonald's. With its bright colours, hard-wearing furniture and no-hassle fast food, it was the venue of choice for long-suffering '90s parents who just wanted a bit of peace and quiet while their offspring digested a few burgers...
News Hackers Use Emulator to Make Game Boy, Mega Drive and SNES Games Playable on NES Mini
So it's come to this...
The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition (Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe) proved to be a festive hit for Nintendo, with demand for the retro system surprising the big N. Though the tiny little console is emulating a fixed list of 30 games, it's doing so in a typically charming and...
News GBA Title Fullmetal Alchemist: Stray Rondo Gets Translated Into English
Won't cost you an arm and a leg
Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist is the spectacular (and often tragic) tale of the Elric brothers Edward and Alphonse, who attempt to seek redemption in a fictional world where alchemy is very much a reality. The popularity of the series has ensured that it has been given the full works in terms of merchandise...
News The Developers Of Alwa's Awakening Are Putting The Entire Soundtrack On A NES Cartridge
Because why not
Back in 2015 we reported on the development of a NES-style platform adventure by the name of Alwa's Awakening, a faux-retro homage to the likes of Battle of Olympus and Solstice. The game is now available on Steam, and to mark this occasion the developers have announced a special collector's edition which comes with the complete...
Video The Visteon Dockable Entertainment System Is The Biggest Game Boy Advance Ever
It's as rare as hen's teeth, too
We've seen many revisions of the Game Boy hardware over the years, but the Visteon Dockable Entertainment System has to rank as one of the most obscure. Produced in 2006 under licence from Nintendo, this portable DVD player was designed to make those long car trips a little more enjoyable, but had the added bonus of...
Video Digital Foundry Puts the NES Mini Up Against Retro Rivals
Compared to Analogue NT, the original NES and the Virtual Console
The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition (Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe) was a hit in the last Holiday season, even if stock issues meant that not everyone that wanted a system could pick one up. For those that do have a NES Mini, though,...
News Super Famicom Title 3x3 Eyes: Jūma Hōkan Gets Translated To English
All eyes on you
Classic manga and anime fans should gather and rejoice as news arrived of a complete English translation for the second game in Banpresto's 3x3 Eyes Super Famicom series. 3x3 Eyes: Jūma Hōkan was released in 1995, a late generation title for the Super Famicom. In this game you take control of Yakumo who has just arrived in Hong...
Music Secret Of Mana Composer Hiroki Kikuta Releases Prog Rock And Jazz Fusion Albums
Nice
Composer Hiroki Kikuta is responsible for some of the best gaming soundtracks ever, with Seiken Densetsu II (Secret of Mana), Seiken Densetsu III and Koudelka under his belt. He's currently creating music for the Kickstarter title Indivisible by Lab Zero Games, but he has found the time to produce not one but two new albums, collaborating with...
Video Let's Take A Look At Contra Force, The Black Sheep Of The Contra Family
The world's most hated Contra game?
Contra (or Probotector / Gryzor if you're in Europe) is one of those series which perhaps isn't as popular today as it deserves to be. During the 8 and 16-bit eras it was one of the best run-and-gun action franchises around, with amazing instalments on the NES, Mega Drive, SNES and Game Boy. While there have been...
News Modular Console Polymega Could Be The Ultimate Old-School Gaming Platform
Support for carts, CDs and much more besides
Playing retro games on clone hardware isn't anything new, but California-based RetroBlox (now known as Polymega) - founded by industry veterans Bryan Bernal and Eric Christensen - is aiming to blow systems like the Retron 5 and
News Tatsumi Kimishima Apologises for NES Mini Shortages, Cites Delays Procuring Parts
"We are working to increase production"
In Nintendo's financial reports for the first three quarters of the 2016/2017 year it mentioned the sales success of the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition / Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System, which is of course a Famicom Mini in Japan. It didn't highlight the stock issues,...
News After Eight Years, The Fan-Made Mega Man 2.5D Is Finally Here
Eight years in the making
Mega Man 2.5D is a fan-made project which began life way back in 2009. We've covered the progress of this interesting release a couple of times in the past, and now we can happily report that the game is finally finished. Created by a team of passionate Mega Man fans, the title boasts a unique co-op mode and a camera wh
January2017
News Three Old-School Nintendo Racing Classics Get Translated Into English
Rev Up Your 8 and 16-Bit Engines
Long before Mario and crew jumped into karts back in 1992, they were already quite adept in the racing genre in Japan - Formula 1 to be precise. The popularity of this motorized sport in the Land of the Rising Sun meant that dozens of F1 games were released for both Famicom, Famicom Disk System and Super Famicom with...
News New Hack Offers A Full Game Library On Your NES Classic Edition
Legally questionable, of course
A while back we reported on news that a hack had been released which allowed NES Classic Mini owners the ability to edit and add to the 30 games which come pre-loaded on the console out of the box. A new hack has now emerged which goes one better; you can now put the full NES library onto the machine. The process...
News Double Dragon IV Packs an 8-Bit Punch But Isn't Confirmed for Switch, Yet
Would be great for playing on the go
Double Dragon IV is heading to PlayStation 4 and PC on 30th January in Japan, and seemingly around the same time in the West, and that would normally exclude it from an article here on Nintendo Life. Yet we can't ignore it, because Arc System Works has produced a visual style and gameplay that is basically the...
Video Check Out This Cool Music Bug in Super Mario Bros. 2
A nod to its heritage
I've always enjoyed this time in the life cycle of gaming. You know, when one piece of hardware is retired and another is introduced; this time around we anxiously await to christen The Switch in our homes, while the Wii U gets ready for the viking funeral. But that all aside, it's a great time to look back and reacquaint...
Hardware Review Putting The Retro Freak's Range Of Accessories To The Test
NES! Sega Mark III! Game Gear! Controller adapter!
Retro gamers have really been spoilt for choice when it comes to picking a clone console these days. Not only have we had machines like the Retro-USB AVS which uses FPGA tech to accurately replicate the performance of the NES, but we've also seen all-in-one solutions like the Hyperkin Retron-5 and...
Random Epic Haul Of Boxed NES Items Found In Abandoned RV
Seek and ye shall find
Retro collectors will know full well the thrill of unexpectedly finding a gaming gem at their local charity shop or car boot sale (thrift store and flea market to non-UK folks), but this latest discovery by the one and only Patrick Scott Patterson is on another level entirely. Patterson found many early NES items - including...
Feature The Quest for the Ultimate NES Classic Edition Wireless Controller
8Bitdo NES30 Vs Nyko Miniboss
The NES Classic Edition is a wonderful micro-sized retro-gaming machine; availability issues aside its hard to find much fault with, it apart from the rather short controller cable which comes with the otherwise excellent replica of the original NES controller. At just 30 inches the cable that joins the pad to the...
News Fan-Made Prequel Metroid: Rogue Dawn Released On NES
Set before Metroid Zero Mission
Time and time again fans surprise us with projects born out of their love for Nintendo franchises despite the obvious legal issues. One franchise in particular that seems to generate substantial fervor is Samus Aran's very own backyard, the Metroid series. As years go by without a new mainline entry in this revered...
Video Take To The Streets With This Complete History Of Final Fight
Oh! My car
Before Street Fighter II arrived on the scene, Final Fight was the best option for arcade-going brawl fans. Capcom's seminal coin-op smash took the template laid down by classics like Double Dragon and Renegade and introduced bigger sprites, a more intuitive control scheme and - perhaps most importantly - a moustached wrestling mayor...
News Hyperkin Shows Off RetroN 5 3-in-1 Adapter and Nintendo Switch Accessories at CES
All due in 'Q1'
CES highlighted quite a few interesting products for retro and current-gen gaming fans, and Hyperkin has now issued a press release and assets for the goodies it showcased at the event. Perhaps the key reveal for keen retro followers of the company is its 3-in-1 adapter for the RetroN 5, a rather solid clone console that can play an...
Book Review Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Guide To Shoot-Em-Ups Volume 1
Bullet point
The humble 2D shooter may have fallen out of favour with the mainstream these days, but it's certainly one of the most important genres in the world of video gaming. Were it not for Space Invaders – the shooter that arguably birthed a genre – then our industry may well have evolved in an entirely different fashion. During the '80s...
News Nintendo Apparently Told Square "Never Come Back" After Losing Final Fantasy VII To Sony
"We don't want you"
Final Fantasy is a series which began its life on Nintendo hardware, and its success - and the ultimate success of its publisher, Square (now known as Square Enix) - owes a lot to the incredible popularity of the Famicom in Japan during the '80s and early '90s. Final Fantasy was the franchise which put Square on the map and it...
News The Fan-Made Famicom Pocket Squeezes Nintendo's 8-bit Wonder Into A Game Boy's Frame
Famicom classics on the go
We recently got our hands on the Famicom Classic Mini and it is truly a thing of beauty. However, it's mighty tempting to sacrifice its innards for the greater good after we watched the video above. The modders over at Kei Studio have seemingly achieved the impossible and ripped out the guts of a Famicom Mini and...
Feature Ten Classic Games Which Would Be Great To Play On The NES Mini
If only there was legit way of adding more games
We really loved getting our hands on the NES Mini back in November last year; this diminutively-sized replica of Nintendo's nostalgic first home console really shows off some of the best games in the NES library. However, after a while even the greatest games in the world may feel a little bit stale,...
Video Super Retro Boy Hands-On Reveals Neat Form Factor, Lack Of Rear Shoulder Buttons
A deal breaker?
A few days ago we reported on one of the surprise announcements of CES 2017, the Retro-Bit Super Retro Boy. This cute portable plays Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance software and offers features such as a rechargeable battery and backlit screen. CNET now has a more detailed hands-on video showing the console from all...
News Say Hello To The Super Retro Boy, An All-In-One Game Boy Solution
UPDATE: Scoops CES 2017 award, gets shown off in video
UPDATE: Retro-Bit has published video of the Super Retro Boy in action via its Twitter account, and has reported that it has scooped a gaming award at CES 2017: ORIGINAL STORY: Retro-Bit has lifted the lid on its previously-announced Game Boy clone, the Super Retro Boy.
News Hackers Apparently Add Additional Games to NES Mini
One modder attempts to sell a hacked unit, that won't end well...
The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition / Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System has been around for a little while, is still no doubt loved by its owners and is still tricky to find in stock. Of course, as it's a game console it's also had modders and...
Soapbox You Should Probably Avoid Capcom's Mega Man Mobile Ports
Poor emulation, frame rate issues, dodgy controls - what went wrong?
Capcom may be reluctant to release an entirely new Mega Man game these days but it has no issues with mining its past and recycling existing titles from the series, and recently announced that it would be releasing all six of the classic NES entries on iOS and Android. Those games...
News The Retro-Bit Generations Portable is Expected in July
Can it do better than its predecessor?
Retro-Bit has been highlighting a number of products at CES 2017 that we've been covering throughout the day. The final part to cover is the Retro-Bit Generations Portable, which is expected in July for $69.99. If the name sounds familiar, that's because this is a handheld iteration of the Retro-Bit...
News Retro-Bit Pitches in With Retro8 Wired and Wireless Controllers Supporting the NES Mini
A ten foot cable on the cheaper option
If the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition (Nintendo Classic Mini: Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe) has a big flaw, aside from being out of stock in many places, it's those darn controller cables. Some put forward theories for why the cables are so short, but in reality it's possibly just...
Weirdness The Retro-Bit Mega Table is an Enormous $500 USB Controller
"A unique piece of furniture"
You'll have seen 'Retro-Bit' in quite a few of our headlines today, and we're not done yet. That's because the nostalgia-driven company has had a big blow-out at CES 2017, with some products that are rather tempting and others that are, well, less so. We're not sure where this one stands. The Retro-Bit Mega Table is...
News Super Retro Trio Getting A HD Upgrade This Year, NES Top Loader Clone Also Incoming
HDMI or bust
Retro-Bit is updating its Super Retro Trio console with HDMI output, it has been confirmed. Like the original Super Retro Trio, the new system will play NES, SNES and Mega Drive / Genesis carts and boasts support for original controllers, but with HDMI included the picture quality should be much improved. S-Video output is also...
News Retro-Bit Bringing Capcom-Themed Controllers And Jaleco Multi-Carts To Market This Year
What's old is new again
In addition to the Super Retro Boy - an all-in-one Game Boy clone - Retro-Bit has revealed at CES 2017 that it is bringing a range of retro controllers and multi-carts to market later this year. The controllers - for NES, SNES and Mega Drive / Genesis - all feature Capcom artwork and retail for $19.99. They're expected to...
News Check Out These SNES Inspired Sneakers
Only a handful of pairs being made
Many of you no doubt remember the Nintendo x Vans promotion that took place this summer, wherein Vans produced a line of fashionable shows with various designs on them related to popular Nintendo IP. They were certainly the Nintendo shoeware to own, but now it seems that a small-time custom shoe designer...
News A Trio Of Super Famicom RPG Classics Are Now Playable In English
Glory of Heracles IV! Xak The Art of Visual Stage! Super GokuDen Totsugeki!
When it rains, it pours. The world of fan translation is an active one, but it's rare that we get three notable releases so close to one another - but that's exactly what has happened; thanks to the dedication of Super Famicom translators we can now play Glory of Heracles...
Rumour Mother 3 Will Be Unveiled for the Switch VC at the Switch Reveal Next Week
Due out sometime in Q2
Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day, eh? Many of you no doubt will recall rumours from last February in which Mother 3 was reported to be coming to the Wii U VC sometime in the then coming months. Several sources ended up backing this claim, yet 2016 has come and gone without so much as a whisper from Nintendo on...
December2016
News The Game Boy Was Nearly a Cheap, Short-Term Project
You can thank Satoru Okada for what it turned out to be
The Game Boy was a pivotal moment in Nintendo's history, establishing near-complete dominance over the portable gaming market that still persists to this day somewhat. Part of the appeal of the Game Boy was offering a largely console-esque game experience on the go, and its usually attributed...
Random Sega Almost Released A Parking Attendant Game Starring Donkey Kong
The man behind Zelda and Mario on the CD-i talks
Stephen Radosh might be more famous nowadays for creating the TV show Catchphrase - which remains incredibly popular in the UK - but he also has quite a history in the video game arena, too. Radosh kicked off his career decades ago working for a publisher which produced textbooks before helping to...
News Super Mario Bros. Movie Due to Receive an Ultimate Steelbook Blu-Ray Re-release
"This ain't no game, it's a live action thrill ride"
The Super Mario Bros. movie doesn't need any sort of introduction. Not only does it feature one of the worst post-credits scenes known to cinema, it was also considered the poster-child for why you shouldn't base your film off of a renowned video game franchise. UK retailer Zavvi has updated its...
Ninterview Learning Retro Secrets With A Former Nintendo Game Play Counselor
"We couldn't say 'kill', we had to say 'defeat'"
In the remainder of 2016 we'll re-share some of our favourite feature articles from the year. We're actually cheating with this one, as it was originally published way back on 20th January 2015; with the NES Mini hype of 2016, however, it nevertheless seemed worth sharing once again. In its day the...
News Retro-Bit Generations Portable And Super Retro Boy Handheld Coming To CES 2017
Super Retro Boy plays Game Boy, GBC and GBA carts
Two new retro-themed handhelds will be shown off at CES 2017, according to distributor Innex. The Retro-Bit Generations Portable is a handheld version of the existing Retro-Bit Generations system which launched this year. It's not known if it will come with the exact same 100 pre-installed games,...
Feature The Making Of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
"We at Silicon Knights were creating the VCR to play their movie"
In the remainder of 2016 we'll re-share some of our favourite feature articles from the year. This article (by James Churchill) on the creation of a terrific GameCube title was originally published on Friday 11th March. Back in 2003 the sixth console generation was in full swing,...
Retro Check Out These Early Prototype Pictures of the Nintendo DS
The start of a new era
The Nintendo DS represented a bold new direction for Nintendo, kicking off an extremely lucrative period for the company's handheld line; this "third pillar" to Nintendo's strategy wasn't originally supposed to replace the Game Boy line, but it ended up doing so anyway. The original "Phat" model was rather hideous in...
Hardware Review Famicom Classic Mini
The NES Classic Mini's Eastern relation
With the NES Classic Mini currently proving to be quite hard to find at retail right now, chances are that the thought of sourcing its Japanese sibling may have crossed your mind. Released at the same time and boasting a design which imitates that of the system that started it all – 1983's "Family Computer",...
Video A Reminder That Christmas 1994 Wasn't Just About Donkey Kong Country
"That play the records on it?"
With Christmas almost here, many of you are no doubt wondering exactly what gaming goodies Saint Nick is going to leave under your tree. These days it's all 3DS, Wii U and perhaps PS4 and Xbox One, but back in 1994 there were only two real options: Nintendo and Sega. The guys over at iretrogamer.com have put together...
News Nintendo Shares Original Design Documents from The Legend of Zelda
It all started with some graph paper
The original Legend of Zelda blazed many trails for gaming, arguably setting the standard for what would eventually become the open-world genre. Seeing as how this is the 30th anniversary for the series as a whole, Nintendo has opted for a blast from the past and dug up some of the original design documents from...
News The First NES Advertisement Has Been Successfully Preserved
Chalk up another point for gaming historians
Despite the gaming industry's relatively young age, it's interesting that much of its history is subject ot permanent loss. As standards have changed over the years, many games, advertisements, prototypes, and so on, have been lost due to poor efforts to future proof them. A great example of this can be...
A classic in every way
It's been over twenty years now since the release of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but it's interesting to look back at the state of the Zelda series around the time of its release. In many ways, A Link to the Past was the first true sequel to the original Legend of Zelda, after Zelda II: The Adventure of Link went...
Hardware Review Hyperkin SupaBoy S
It's back, but is it better?
The industry's passion for "new" retro hardware has been growing steadily over the past few years, and the launch of the NES Classic Mini finally signals Nintendo's entry into this niche yet vibrant sector of the market. Given the astonishing success of that venture it is almost inevitable that we'll see a SNES Classic...
News 20 Years Ago This Week, Gaming History Was Made On UK Television
The infamous Super Mario 64 GamesMaster challenge
We've had a lot of anniversaries recently, with Sonic and Metroid standing out as key examples. However, one event - which was in danger of going uncelebrated until we spotted this tweet - is a seminal moment in UK TV history, and it all revolved around a challenge on Super Mario 64. For those of...
News D-Day Comes For The Game Boy Color As It Finally Hosts Wolfenstein 3D
"Mein Leiben!"
Updating the age-old Game Boy with a speedier CPU and a rather substantially generous colour palette proved to be a shrewd move back in 1998, but even with this hardware upgrade, certain games - such as the iconic Wolfenstein 3D - would always seem out-of-reach. Yet that is exactly what Anders Granlund is pulling off as you can see...
Video Let's Learn More About The Super Game Boy
The Gaming Historian has you covered
Typical. You wait years for someone to do a decent, in-depth video guide to the Super Game Boy and two come along at once. A few weeks ago we reported on Pug Hoof Gaming's excellent three-part series on the popular peripheral, and now our old chum Norm "The Gaming Historian" is back with his increasingly...
News New NES game Dreamworld Pogie Finds Kickstarter Success
Let's hope the Oliver Twins don't go dizzy
Are you itching for something 'new' to play on your beloved NES? Then the Dreamworld Pogie Kickstarter might be the one for you. If you are British and of a certain age, you'll no doubt remember the Dizzy series of games by The Oliver Twins. While most of the Dizzy success story was on home computers,...
Video Happy Birthday Pit! - The 30th Anniversary of Kid Icarus
Another NES classic marks three decades
Mark your calendars, because on Monday, 19th December, another classic NES game has an anniversary. In 2016 there have been a long list of games that turned 30, including the likes of The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Quest and
Video Remembering The Soggy Awesomeness Of Mega Man 2's Bubble Man Stage
Water good level this is
Mega Man 2 has to rank as one of the best action platformers in the NES library, if not the entire genre. Regarded by many as the pinnacle of the 8-bit series, it's the only Mega Man release to make it onto the NES Classic Mini, which speaks volumes about its quality. Our friends over at iretrogamer.com cl
A minimalist trip down memory lane
We've seen lots of attractive coffee table art books aimed at retro gaming fans in recent times, which is no bad thing. Joining the ranks is a publication simply titled 8-Bit Art Book - by Ear Books - which pays homage to the visual quality of classic games spanning from 1975 to the early '90s. The author Stephan...
Random Someone Is Localising Final Fantasy IV Using Google Translate
"I want to hit it with my mother chocolate"
Modern gamers are quite fussy about how Japanese games - RPGs in particular - are localised. Back in the 16-bit era, translations were often hack-jobs riddled with errors, but more recently we've seen a rise in quality which is all down to the tireless efforts of localisation teams who seek to maintain the...
News The Soul Calibur Series Has Turned 20, And All We're Getting Is A Pachinko Machine
The soul still burns
Bandai Namco's weapon-based 3D fighter Soul Calibur (or "Soulcalibur", if you prefer) turns 20 today, but the publisher isn't giving us a new outing to celebrate - we're getting a Soul Calibur-themed Pachinko machine instead. Just what the doctor ordered, right? The series began not with a Soul Calibur title, but with Soul...
News There's Another Famicom Chiptune Cart Coming Next Year
8bit Music Power Final to contain 18 tracks
The idea of someone releasing a chiptune album on a Famicom cartridge might seem strange if it hadn't happened once already, but that doesn't make the impending launch of 8bit Music Power Final any less exciting or unique. Riki is the developer and Columbus Circle is the publisher, and the cart will hit...
News Former SNK Staffers Are Bringing A New Fighter To The SNES
Say hello to Unholy Night: The Darkness Hunter
A team of ex-SNK staffers are working on a one-on-one fighter for the SNES called Unholy Night: The Darkness Hunter. Yes, you read that right, the SNES. The project has passed under the radar somewhat, and only came to light thanks to a recent Facebook post regarding the game's playable debut at the...
News NES Classic Mini Demand "Greater Than We Anticipated," Admits Reggie Fils-Aime
"Every day there's more going into the retail channel"
The NES Classic Mini has been almost impossible to find since it launched a short time ago, with some North American retailers only getting two or three units per store. Nintendo has been trying to satisfy demand since then but stock is still
Random Baten Kaitos Speedrun Attempt Leads To Temporary Twitch Account Ban
Getting 100 percent ain't easy
Speedruns of classic games are commonplace on Twitch, with veteran players seeing them as an entertaining challenge as well as a way of popularising their favourite titles years or even decades after their original release. However, not all of these speedrun attempts go according to plan, and that's certainly the case...
News Footage Of Unreleased Akira Game Boy Title Hits The Web
Plus Heavy Weight Hockey on NES and Mall Rats on Mega Drive
Remember back in October when someone found four prototype copies of Akira for the Game Boy? Well that someone - Patrick Scott Patterson - has recently released gameplay video of one of the prototype Akira carts being played on the Super Game Boy. The game looks promising despite its...
Video Get The Most Out Of Your Game Boy With This Exhaustive Guide
The chaps at My Life in Gaming strike again
While the brand name has been put out to pasture these days, the Game Boy line of consoles is legendary with gamers of a certain age. From the bulky monochrome original to the super-sleek Game Boy Micro, this line of portables defined mobile gaming for an entire generation of players, offering amazing...
Random Kanye West's Potential Album Tracklist is All About the Wii
The album's tentative name is TurboGrafx-16
Now, there's a headline we never thought we'd write. Kanye West has always been known for attracting plenty of attention to himself with some pretty off the wall antics, and now a new report seems to indicate that his next album will have a distinctly video game-centric sound, with a tracklist that pulls a...
News Amazon US Likely To Have NES Classic Mini In Stock Again Soon
Christmas might be saved
The saga surrounding NES Classic Mini stock shortages continues as many have resorted to paying over the odds to scalpers on eBay to secure a unit before Christmas. However it appears from a recent tweet by Amazon US that lucky American customers might get another chance to buy one at MSRP: What we have learnt about these...
Rumour GameCube Virtual Console Coming To Nintendo Switch
Early games outlined
The Virtual Console has been one of Nintendo's real success stories of the past decade, giving players a platform on which they can rediscover old classics and play titles they might have missed first time around. While Nintendo hasn't given any solid details on what its plans are for the Virtual Console on the forthcoming...
News Konami Files Fresh Trademark For TurboGrafx In The United States
Could we be getting a TG-16 Classic Mini?
Gamers of a certain age will no doubt have a fondness for the TurboGrafx-16, the console which tried to fight Sega and Nintendo during the '90s and failed. Based on the NEC PC Engine - which launched in Japan in 1987 and challenged the Famicom for dominance in that part of the world - the TG-16 was home to...
News Retro Fighters is Releasing a NES to NES Classic Edition Controller Adapter
Supports two players and various retro options
The NES Mini / Classic Edition is a 'hot' item, as Nintendo admits, and we're running out of time as the big N attempts to meet demand for festive shoppers; it's looking like a long-shot, sadly, but hope remains. In any case, for those still enjoying the system early next year - or who decide to grab...
News Eiji Aonuma and Satoru Takizawa on the Fate of Wind Waker 2
It would've focused on land-based travel
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was a controversial release for its time, though it seems that the passage of time has softened fan perception. The cel-shaded, cartoon style wasn't widely embraced, with many fans feeling betrayed after that promising Spaceworld demo. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess...
Hardware Review Retro-Bit x 8Bitdo RB8-64 Bluetooth Controller
Three pronged thriller?
8Bitdo's replica controllers have gained quite a reputation with retro gamers who are keen to get that authentic feel but also wish to benefit from modern conveniences such as the absence of annoying wires and the ability to recharge the internal battery. We've already seen excellent variants on the NES and SNES controllers,...
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