Retro News (Page 3)
Feature 'The Art Of Nintendo Power' Exhibit - A Guided Tour
"The whole mission is to share the work"
Have you ever seen an original Contra up close? What about an original Mario Kart? For Stephan Reese, organizer and showrunner for the non-profit Interactive Art Collection (and a Senior Producer at video game developer Bungie when he’s not busy doing that), it’s his life’s mission that you might have...
Feature Game Boy Color - A Quarter Century Of Colour Nintendo Handhelds
GBC memories
It's now 25 years since Game Boy Color launched, and for many of us in the West, it was on this system that we first caught and traded Pocket Monsters with pals back in 1998. Backwards compatible with the entire Game Boy library, the Game Boy Color refined the DMG and the smaller Game Boy Pocket with its sharp little colour screen...
Feature Meet The Virtual Boy Fan Making New Tech And Games For Nintendo's Console Curio
"I thought, 'Hey, I can probably do that'"
As the reputed black sheep of the Nintendo console family, one might think 1995’s Virtual Boy to be the last piece of hardware capable of garnering an enthusiast following today. Discontinued after less than a year on the market and never released in Europe, the elusive red-and-black headset is remembered...
Feature Digital Doppelgangers - Home Vs. Handheld Adaptations In The 2000s
To Urbz is human
When I was working on my MFA in Game Design, I referenced Urbz: Sims in the City in a meeting with my thesis advisor, and he asked if I had played the console or the handheld version. I was confident that I’d played the console version growing up. I could recall the memory quite clearly—sitting against a study pillow on my...
Feature How Super Mario World Became An Award-Winning Book Of Verse
“Super Mario World has one of my most difficult experiences wound through its code"
Most of us have some childhood memory of games – be it Pokémon Blue, Tetris, or Super Mario Bros. When we dust off those old consoles, the games often trigger memories of our lives outside the screen too. In his heart-wrenching series of poems, If All the World...
Feature The One Thing Wii Did Much Better Than Switch
Point taken
The Sensor Bar. Flimsy little plastic box with the world's longest, spindliest cable. An irritation to every Wii owner who has ever had to move their console. What was it good for? There's not a lot to the Sensor Bar. A little device that emits some infrared light. If the Wii Remote is pointed at one, it recognises that's where the TV...
Soapbox It's Time For A Zelda 1 Remake, Please
Or a 'temporal localisation', if you like
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, as TOTK anticipation increases to dangerous levels, Gavin explores why it's time for Nintendo to go back to a very specific well... Look, I'm all for...
Feature 8-Bit Wolf - Remembering The NES Game Teaching Kids To Conquer Wall Street
It’s all about bucks, kid
When you think back to being in middle school, staying up all night with your friends playing video games, what games are you playing? Is it Mass Effect? Maybe some iteration of Smash or Mario Kart? The big one when I was that age was Street Fighter II in all its iterations. But there's another game that brings back the...
Feature A Visit To '84 Hashi', Tokyo's Secret Nintendo Staff Bar Now Open To You
Eiji Aonuma? “Drinking buddy.” Shigeru Miyamoto?...
There’s no shortage of fascinating Nintendo-related places to visit in Tokyo. You could explore shops for boxed Famicom games, sit down and eat a Kirby burger, or play Punch-Out!! in its original cabinet at a retro arcade. Yet one attraction was hidden from Nintendo diehards for years. A...
Soapbox 15 Years Ago, The Action Replay Ruined Pokémon For Me
Infinite Master Balls. Maxed out stats. Walking through walls.
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Ethan remembers a time when he flew too close to the sun... This is the power fantasy eight-year-old me dreamed of when I slotted an...
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...
Soapbox 20 Years Later, Why Do We Still Not Have A New Sonic Battle?
Bare Knuckles
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, on the 20th anniversary of Sonic's last fighting game, Paul looks back and wonders why Sonic hasn't in two decades... In the early- to mid-2000s, Nintendo handhelds were home to many...
News 'Felix The Cat' Konami Collection Surfaces On The ESRB
Another blast from the past appears to be returning
The classic cartoon character Felix the Cat is seemingly making a video game comeback, according to a new rating that's popped up on the ESRB. The Felix the Cat game for Switch and multiple other platforms is described as a "collection of action platformers" where players navigate Felix through...
Soapbox 20 Years On, It's About Time These Pokémon Games Got Switch Remasters
Gotta snag em’ all
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, ahead of its 20th anniversary on 21st November, Nathanial looks back on a Pokémon region that's been pretty much ignored for two decades... A common mislabelling seen online...
Poll What's The Best RPG Starring Mario?
Paper, Partners, and everything in between
Mario, the world's favourite platforming plumber, has done everything — kart racing, tennis, golf, partying, and a little bit of turn-based RPG-ing. 1996 saw Mario's RPG debut in the Super NES favourite, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, and since then, he's starred in 14 different RPGs (plus...
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...
Soapbox Lavender Town Isn’t Pokémon’s Scariest Location, It’s Someplace Far More Sinister
Trainers beware, you’re in for a scare
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Ethan chateaus himself in the creepiest place in the Pokémon world... Ah, Lavender Town — the place where the journeys of old Pokémon end and the...
News Coleco's Failed Negotiations With Nintendo Apparently Resulted In The Birth Of The Famicom
"The rest is history"
Time Extension recently got the chance to speak to Coleco exec Bert Reiner about the history of the American toy and console maker. According to his account, there was a time when Nintendo almost ended up buying and marketing the 1982 video game system 'ColecoVision' for Japan but negotiations fell through. The former Coleco...
News Homage's Range Of Tecmo Bowl Apparel Looks Like A Touchdown For Retro Sports Fans
T-shirt collections are dropping over the next month
American retailer of vintage-inspired graphic t-shirts Homage has announced that it has teamed up with Koei Tecmo for a range of Tecmo Bowl apparel, the first item of which is available on the Homage website today. Launching with the Tecmo Bowl American flag logo t-shirt (now available for $32),...
Guide 50 Best Game Boy Color (GBC) Games Of All Time
Your guide to the GBC's best games
In the West, the release of Pokémon Red & Blue was followed just weeks later by the arrival of a new console, and it was on Game Boy Color that many of us caught our very first Pocket Monster We've compiled this list of the very best Game Boy Color games ever, to highlight the gems the console has to offer...
Soapbox Pokémon X & Y - The Series' Greatest Paradoxes
You can’t be groundbreaking without leaving a few cracks
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Andy looks back at a pivotal juncture in the Pocket Monster series which hinted at the path it would take over the following decade...
Anniversary Happy Birthday To Nintendo's Ugliest, Most Indestructible Console
Slated
It's that time of year when video game anniversary enthusiasts can enjoy the birthday of a significant game or console nearly every day of the week. It's the turn of Pokémon X & Y which turns 10 today (look out for a feature on that coming up a little later), but it's also a decade since one of Nintendo's lowest-key console launches...
Random Super Mario Bros. Wonder Gets Fan-Made NES Commercial, And It's Brilliant
Now you're playing with wonder
Super Mario Bros. Wonder definitely isn't coming out on the NES, but this excellent fan-made commercial almost convinced us that it was. YouTuber LUIZ do Comercial has created various "fake commercials" for video games, and his latest creation is a work of 8-bit art. Luiz has taken the over-the-top style of '80s...
Random Unused Mario Sprites Spotted In Classic Behind-The-Scenes Footage Of Nintendo
A time of big ideas (and even bigger phones)
There is a lot of retro goodness to be found in looking back on classic Nintendo coverage, and the above 1980s behind-the-scenes peek at Nintendo's Famicom development has it all. Recently featured in a report by the Yomiuro Telecasting Corporation News Channel, this classic coverage has it all: a look...
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
News 'Hidden Gems: Volume One' Brings Four Classic Commodore 64 Games To Switch Tomorrow
The return of N.O.M.A.D., Gilligan’s Gold, Mutant Monty and Horace Goes Skiing
Publisher Pixel Games has announced that four Commodore 64 classics will be making their way to Switch as Hidden Gems: Volume One lands on the eShop tomorrow (28th September). Developed by Imagine Software Ltd, this collection will see the return of some downhill...
News The Famicom Just Won An Award At The Tokyo Game Awards 2023
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak wins Game of the Year
At this year's annual Tokyo Game Awards, which are held during the Tokyo Game Show, the Family Computer — known as the Famicom or NES (to us) — won the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award (thanks VGC). That's a rather long title for an award that recognises someone or something that...
News Lost Pokémon Browser Game Has Been Archived And Is Fully Playable
Who remembers Pokémon 2000 Adventure, then?
In a big win for preservation, a lost Pokémon browser game has been restored and is now fully playable online, thanks to DidYouKnowGaming. Pokémon 2000 Adventure was developed by Cyberworld International Corporation, which was a client of Warner Bros., and was released to tie in with the movie Pokémon...
News Jurassic Park: Classic Games Collection Adds Two Sega Genesis Titles
Video games, uh, find a way
Limited Run Games has revealed that two more titles are being added to the Jurassic Park: Classic Games Collection — Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition. Previously, the collection included the NES, Game Boy, and SNES versions (where applicable) of Jurassic Park, and Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues...
Talking Point Which Classic Cartoons Deserve The Shredder's Revenge Treatment?
By the power of Grayskull!
We have been back on something of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge kick recently thanks to the release of the excellent Dimension Shellshock DLC. The heroes in a half shell are firmly back in our hearts thanks to developer Tribute Games and, after a recent interview from Xbox Expansion Pass with the...
News This Blockbuster VHS Switch Game Case Will Give You A Lovely Dose Of Nostalgia
"Please remember to rewind!"
A Blockbuster Switch game case wasn't on our 2023 bingo card, but Retro Fighters thought the world needed one anyway. And now that we've seen it, we couldn't agree more. The family-based video game accessory developer teased this brand new Switch game case, which is officially licensed by the video rental store, last...
News Disney's Gargoyles Remastered Brings Sega Genesis Classic To Switch This October
The age of Gargoyles returns
Disney has announced that the remaster of the 16-bit favourite Gargoyles will be launching on Switch on 19th October. Gargoyles Remastered, developed by Empty Clip Studios, was announced last September and we've heard nothing about it until now. But a brand new trailer confirmed that the game is coming very soon —...
Feature Harvest Moon 64’s Relationship With Alcohol, The "Magic Liquid" Of Flowerbud Village
Surviving the censors
Alcohol takes on an almost spiritual quality in Harvest Moon 64 Update: Of course, three months after this article went live, Nintendo expanded its roster of N64 games on Nintendo Switch Online to include this one. Cheers! Nintendo games are usually all-ages affairs, but every once in a while a game breaks the...
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...
News Prototype For Unreleased GameCube Platformer 'Pickles' Has Been Discovered
"The game about monkeys riding unicycles"
A Nintendo collector and YouTuber has discovered a lost prototype for an unreleased game developed by Santa Cruz Games for the GameCube. cake bought a dev GameCube but inside he discovered a disc for a unreleased GameCube game. Testing out the prototype, he discovered it was for Pickles, a...
News Sunsoft's Game Boy Platformer Trip World Launches On Switch eShop Next Week
As a remastered DX release
Following a physical announcement back in April, it's now been discovered Trip World DX for the Switch eShop will be arriving on 31st August. If you missed the initial announcement, this is a remaster of the 8-bit Sunsoft Game Boy title that was original
News Don't Panic, The Making Of Karateka Will Arrive On Switch This Month After All
In North America, at least
Update [Fri 25th Aug 10:00 BST]: Digital Eclipse has now confirmed that The Making of Karateka will arrive on the Switch eShop on August 29th, 2023 in North America. In Europe and Australia, meanwhile, it'll be made available on September 5th, 2023. The company also confirmed that a physical release will be made...
News Edia Crowdfunding Cosmic Fantasy Collection 2 For Nintendo Switch
Here's what's included
After a number of successful crowdfunding campaigns, publisher Edia has now announced a new one - Cosmic Fantasy Collection 2. This latest crowdfunded effort for Switch will be handled via another Makuake campaign. This latest one is seeking three million Yen (about $20k USD). At the time of writing, it's almost reached the...
Guide Best First-Party N64 Games
Nintendo's N64 games, as ranked by you
Nintendo 64 hosts a bunch of absolute, all-time classic games — archetypal entries in classic series which set the template for their respective genres from that point onwards, not to mention 3D gaming in general. Sony might have stolen mindshare in the gaming space in the mid-'90s, but the seminal games...
Guide Best First-Party Wii Games
Nintendo's Wii games, as ranked by you
Nintendo's Wii opened up the door to millions of people who had never tried a video game before, and its software library boasts some of the most varied and approachable gaming experiences of any of Nintendo's consoles, including many stone-cold classics in both the 'casual' and 'hardcore' categories from both...
Guide Best First-Party Wii U Games
Nintendo's Wii U games, as ranked by you
Nintendo's Wii U might not have been the commercial hit many Nintendo fans — and Nintendo itself — hoped for, but it had a winning catalogue of first-party software, as evidenced by the fact that many of its games went on to find new life on Switch in 'Deluxe' and upgraded forms where they got the...
Guide Best First-Party GameCube Games
Nintendo's GameCube games, as ranked by you
The GameCube marked Nintendo's switch to disc-based media form the work of cartridges and some of the company's finest output ever came on a cute little disc that you put into a cute little cube. The GameCube library features classics from Nintendo itself and a bunch of third-party companies, but in this...
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...
Talking Point The Games We Got Rid Of - What Were We Thinking?
Give it away, give it away now
We've all done it. Whether through necessity to fund a new purchase or streamlining our collection during a spring clean, we've all sold, traded, donated, or just given away a game or console at some point and then wished we hadn’t. Sometimes cold hard cash was required, other times we were just in a different...
Review 'The Art Of The Box' Celebrates A Time When Cover Art Could Sell A Game
Judge a book by its cover?
When you're looking to make a video game purchase these days, chances are there are many factors which contribute to your ultimate decision. Pre-release hype and online opinion will almost certainly influence your choice, but the image on the cover on the box is unlikely to carry quite as much weight. We're not saying that...
Video The 'Fake Game Boy' That Costs $10 And Contains 200 Games
The bargain bin
Pre-loaded consoles are a dime a dozen, and it's easy to get caught out by the many "fake" versions of consoles. The Nanica Smitch is one such example — a Switch-looking device with 800 games pre-loaded onto it. Today, we're looking at a pre-loaded console that will set you back just under $10 — Merkury Inventions Arcade Fun...
