Retro News
January2014
Video This Awesome Games Done Quick Super Metroid Race is a Must Watch
Learn how to speed-run a classic
At the weekend we shared the exciting news that the week-long Awesome Games Done Quick Event raised over $1 million, which was an outstanding effort from everyone concerned. We'd also heard that the Super Metroid race — between runners Garrison, Ivan, Krauser and Zoast — was a stand-out event; it had certainly...
News Christian First-Person Shooter Super Noah's Ark 3D Is Sailing Back To The SNES
The reissue that nobody asked for
Remember the days when a game became almost impossible to get once it was no longer being printed? NES, SNES and even N64 titles became lost to us and wound up online for ghastly prices, and we just had to live with the fact that we weren't going to play certain games. Thankfully those days are a thing of the past...
Review Double Dragon (3DS eShop / NES)
Dragon us down
From the moment protagonist Billy Lee’s sweetheart is sucker-punched in the opening sequence, Double Dragon establishes itself as an action-packed, thrilling battle through hordes of enemy combatants in an attempt to reclaim the captured damsel. As soon as gameplay begins, however, this façade is quickly stripped away to reveal an...
Review Life Force (3DS eShop / NES)
A force to be reckoned with
The space shooter is a genre that has somewhat faded into obscurity in recent years, both due to advances in technology rendering their limited scope obsolete and their typically gruelling difficulty proving unpalatable to some gamers. The NES port of Life Force, (or Salamander, as it was originally known on Eastern...
News Awesome Games Done Quick 2014 Raises Over One Million Dollars for Charity
An exceptional effort
Around a week ago we told you about the start of Awesome Games Done Quick 2014, which was seven days of live streaming of speed-runs and assorted challenges, all with the goal of raising plenty of money for the Prevent Cancer charity. The events are now closed, and the current total — post-event donations may add a little...
News World Record Speed Runner Just Can't Stop Playing Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
Playing games to destruction
Everyone has their own reasons for playing games. Some play for entertainment, others for pure escapism, but for Cosmo Wright games are a sport. Not just any sport, but an athletic one: the sport of Speed Running. From the moment the game kicks off, he’s racing against the clock to get from the title screen to the end...
Review Super Mario Bros. 3 (Wii U eShop / NES)
A truly super Mario game
Super Mario Bros. 3’s recent arrival on the Wii U eShop seemed like a conspicuously low-key affair compared to the considerable hype that surrounded its hugely anticipated original release back the early nineties. However, that doesn't mean that the lack of booming fanfare should be interpreted as a cause for concern; over...
Video Learn How To Play Mega Man: The Board Game
Figure out the rules and power-up with this sample playthrough
Let's forget all about consoles for a moment. Mega Man is an icon that defies the medium, up there among the greats and immortalised in song, literature, and even Lego. He's had a shot at just about everything by now, and in December we reported that an officially l
News The Rockman X Sound Box Album Set Includes Four Tracks Cut From Mega Man X
And now you can listen to them for free
Years from now we may refer to "doing a Capcom Anniversary", with a knowing wink and nudge. For example, in a parallel universe Nintendo didn't celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Zelda franchise by releasing Skyward Sword with a special CD and a game plot right at the beginning of the timeline, but sold us...
Video Xbox One vs. Nintendo 64
There's a reason why the classics are referred to as classics
A new comparison video by Jeff Rubin, in which he pits the Xbox One against 1996's Nintendo 64, has proven what many of us have known all along: the Nintendo 64 is hands-down the superior system. The short tongue-in-cheek video (see below) actually makes a pretty compelling case as to...
Weirdness Snoop Lion's Latest Music Video References Pokémon and Retro Games
DoggTales...
Snoop Lion, for those unaware, is the current artistic name of the rapper many will likely know as Snoop Dogg. In recent times he's undergone a fairly major image change, with a shift in his music's themes, that new name and an even more chilled out style. Rather than hitting up the streets with Dr. Dre — or whatever — the most...
News Prolific Video Game Box Art Illustrator Greg Martin Passes Away
Created covers for Sonic, Duck Tales 2, Adventure Island and many more
The name Greg Martin may not mean anything to most gamers, but if you've been playing since the days of the NES then you will definitely have seen — and no doubt appreciated — his work. Martin created the amazing western covers for plenty of Sega and Nintendo games, such as...
News Award Winning Zelda-Themed Short Film, "Escape", To Get Feature Length Follow-Up
"PRINCESS IN ANOTHER CASTLE" to tackle similar themes
Way back in October 2012 we shared an award-winning, emotive and challenging Zelda-themed video called Escape. It portrayed some difficult times for a young girl that was miserable at school, before going home to a breaking family as well as physical and emotional abuse. Her escape was in the...
Review Super Punch-Out!! (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Brain over brawn
Whereas Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream is consistently considered to be one of the best games on the NES, console sequel Super Punch-Out!! seldom appears in the top 10 when recalling the best games on the SNES. Did the puzzle-fight formula not hold up as well for the second time around at home, or was 16-bit competition just that...
December2013
Feature Our Nintendo Moments of 2013 - Part Two
Tom, Dave and Lewis share their favourite 2013 memories
In the slightly delayed second part of this series, three more members of the Nintendo Life team share their favourite moments and memories from 2013. This time around we have features editor Tom Whitehead, US reviewer Dave Letcavage and news hound Lewis Childs. Tom Whitehead: 2013 has...
News UK Champion Sami Cetin Breaks World Record Barrier On First Ever Mario Kart Track
21 years after release, the record is pushed even further
On Christmas Day 2013 — 21 years after UK gamers received Super Mario Kart for the SNES — a great Time Trial World Record barrier was broken. The person who achieved this feat is none other than current UK Champion Sami Cetin, who is currently ranked 2nd overall Worldwide on the PAL...
Feature Our Nintendo Moments of 2013 - Part One
Ron, Morgan and Lee share Nintendo memories
In the first of a festive two-part series, some of your humble Nintendo Life writers share their favourite Nintendo gaming memories of 2013. In this first part we have three of our U.S. reviewers and news hounds, Ron DelVillano, Morgan Sleeper and Lee Meyer. Ron DelVillano: One of the strangest...
News Do You Want This Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-Themed NES? It'll Cost You A Pretty Penny
Heroes on a NES shell, Turtle power!
Sometimes a good console modification can brighten a day. We've seen plenty such as a custom Tron Nintendo 64, a Zelda-inspired SNES and a Luigi-themed 2DS; now more recently, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle coated NES. The console features Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo on a backlit panel, with...
Review Castlevania (Wii U eShop / NES)
Just like Dracula, it keeps coming back to life...
Konami, admittedly following the lead of others such as Nintendo and Capcom, sure likes to remind us it was making awesome games way back in the 1980s. "Hey", it says, "remember how great Castlevania was on the NES?" We sure do, Konami and, oh look, now we can buy it again on the Wii U! It's one of...
Review Orion's Odyssey (DSiWare)
A little Odyssey
Island Officials' Kickstarter-funded puzzler Orion's Odyssey is the spiritual successor to Hands On! Tangrams, a fun but one-note title that had solid gameplay but little variety and was severely lacking in presentation. Island Officials has crafted a more polished experience with a charming presentation and story, but with...
Review Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge (3DS eShop / NES)
Challenge accepted
What do you get when you combine the River City Ransom theme with Track and Field-style gameplay? You get Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge. The game takes the street gang theme and creates some fitting Olympic-style events to go along with it. It sounds like a mouth-watering proposition, but sadly while the unique urban...
Review Double Dragon (Wii U eShop / NES)
Solo komodo
Double Dragon is notable for a whole host of reasons, among them that the NES version bears one of history's most misleading game titles by being a solo adventure with nary a dragon in sight. It also opens with an iconic, if anachronistic, bang — or, more specifically, a pow. A gangster brute socks a woman in the gut and carries her...
Weirdness Show Your Loved One You Care This Christmas With Phantasy Star
Tyler "Christmas Sega Kid" Esposito provides some sound advice
Tyler Esposito — the lucky scamp you saw in that heart-warming compilation of Sega-released Christmas footage — is of course all grown up now, but that doesn't mean he has lost his adoration for the Japanese video game veteran. Esposito dropped us a line to let us know about another...
News Designer Creates a 3D Model of Onett from EarthBound
Prompts dreams of a HD game
When it comes to inspiring video game culture Nintendo is arguably top of the class, and one game — among many — that can inspire impressive levels of fan devotion is Super NES RPG EarthBound. Its release on the Virtual Console this year caused a frenzy of excitement after years of waiting, satisfying waiting retro...
News New eBook Will Analyse Wario Land 4 In Nearly 600 Exhaustive Pages
"A Critical Analysis of Wario Land 4 is unusual in its approach"
We suspect that a number of gamers, including some of us at Nintendo Life, hope to see video games become an increasingly respected medium in comparison to veteran forms such as the book, film and TV. Even compared to the latter two gaming is a young art form, and due to a variety of...
Review The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past (SNES)
A link to perfection
It's no accident that when Nintendo first decided to do a direct 3DS sequel to a Zelda title, it chose The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past as its reference point. A Link Between Worlds is set some years after the events of the 1991 SNES classic, but it uses a very similar map layout and very effectively tickles that...
Review Hooked on Bass Fishing (DSiWare)
Clear and shallow waters
Fishing has never promised to be a thrill-a-minute sport; there is no LeBron James of fishing, as well there shouldn’t be. There are those who take fishing as a very serious and technical endeavour, certainly, but others take a more laid-back approach: just get out there, fiddle with things and see what you can nab! Hooked...
Review The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (Wii U eShop / SNES)
The true karate kid
Konami's classic action title The Legend of the Mystical Ninja is a welcome addition to the Wii U's slowly expanding library of Virtual Console offerings. In an era where lighthearted, fun characters have all but been forgotten in favour of grim shooters, playing as "Kid Ninja" — or Goemon, for fans of his Nintendo 64...
News These Refurbished Nintendo 64 Consoles Go The Extra Mile
And cost some extra coins, too
While many may be gearing up to play the latest games and systems this festive season, some may dig out some retro goodies to amuse over the Holidays. For those busting out a Nintendo 64, it may also be an occasion to bemoan its ageing looks; each year takes that new console shine further and further away. There is a...
News This Video Brings Back Festive Sega Memories of the '90s
When new games dominated letters to Santa
We suspect many know what we mean when referencing "the Nintendo 64 kids", a short video that showed the excitement that a new games console could prompt on Christmas Day. Naturally a games console is for life — or at least a generation — and there are plenty of Holiday seasons when games for our...
Review Donkey Kong 3 (3DS eShop / NES)
Third time's the swarm
Nintendo has a bit of a tradition of mixing things up for game number three. Super Mario Bros. 3 added a world map and the famous Tanooki Suit, Super Mario Land 3 nonchalantly swapped Mario for his arch-rival Wario, and Starfy's third adventure saw him graciously sharing the spotlight with his little sister. It should come as...
Video Meet The New Kings of Kong Documentary Shows Off Chien and Lemay Rivalry
Extended cut of VGX video
Those that endured the VGX broadcast may have enjoyed an early segment that focused on the most recent Kong Off contest; it followed world record holder Dr. Hank Chien and body-building trash-talker Vincent Lemay. It gave a brief insight into both characters and the event itself, showing the passion of the small band of...
News SNES Inspired 'Super World Karts GP' Adds Wii U to Funding Goal
Mode-7 inspired kart racer adds Wii U funding goal to Kickstarter campaign
With Mario Kart 8 on the horizon, you wouldn't be judged for wiping away a lone tear when thinking of some of the many great kart games of yesteryear. But as with any retro-binge, we are sometimes faced with a terrible realisation after a race down memory lane – these...
Feature Why I Love Import Gaming
Import gaming addict Kerry Brunskill explains the appeal of overseas gaming
I’ve been fascinated by Japanese games for as long as I can remember, going right the way back to faux-Japanese Amiga games like Leander and Apidya II. There's something appealing about Japanese game design and art which can't quite be matched by western titles, and...
News Soundtrack for Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Released on iTunes
Kanto allegro
Looking for a soundtrack to emphasize a day spent roaming through tall grasses or being challenged to battle by everyone you make eye contact with? Game Freak has released a new option on iTunes for your listening pleasure. Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen: Super Music Collection hit the iTunes music store today, joining its...
Review Heathcliff: Spot On (DSiWare)
Off the mark
The Heathcliff comic strip is a longtime favourite in many funny pages, having remained curled up on its spot for 40 years. If you want to create a spot-the-difference game, then the widespread character recognition and enormous backlog of source material Heathcliff offers would seem to make a good foundation. It certainly may, but...
Video Learn Some Sega History in Just One Minute
Right up to the Genesis / Mega Drive era
After the VGX shenanigans absorbed far too lengthy a period of our lives this weekend, perhaps a snappier, more to-the-point video is needed. This will work nicely, in that case, as it's a history of Sega's early days in just over a minute. While we've had plenty of opportunity to learn about Nintendo's...
Weirdness Donkey Kong And Other NES Classics Can Now Be Played On Your Wedding Cake
Perfect for a gorilla-suited groom
If you've ever dreamed of smothering the face of your brand new spouse with a giant slice of virtual dirt from the game Dig Dug, now is your chance. An entertainment company out of New Jersey, USA named POSH Entertainment has figured out how to make you lose even more of your hard earned coins by getting married,...
Weirdness Scrub Up With These Nintendo Cartridges
Promotes gamer hygiene
Like professional athletes, Nintendo gamers are commonly known for generating foul odours during long and enduring marathons. It’s part of the whole experience. Whether it involved gaming with friends back in the day with a copy of GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64, or more recently playing through the latest Zelda adventure...
Review Contra III: The Alien Wars (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Lasers and missiles and heliobombs, oh my
Just when you thought the Wii U eShop had reached a maximum capacity of irresistibly cute little creatures with the likes of Pikmin 3, Toki Tori and Kung Fu Rabbit, here comes Contra III: The Alien Wars to mow down the competition with its terrifying alien invasions, flamethrower-wielding protagonists and...
News Rare: Relationship With Nintendo Was Built On Mutual Respect And Benefited Both Parties
Also, explaining Cricket to Shigeru Miyamoto isn't as easy as it sounds
Earlier today we reported on a Red Bull feature regarding the history of UK games studio Rare — the creator of such classics as GoldenEye 007, Banjo Kazooie and Killer Instinct — which revealed that the firm almost released a Game Boy rival
News Cute Konami Shooter Pop'n Twinbee Is Coming To The Virtual Console
The only question now is which one
The Australian Classification Board has revealed that Konami's Pop'n Twinbee is coming to the Virtual Console. The vertically-scrolling shooter is the sequel to the original Twinbee, and takes place in a cartoon-like world where you pilot a ship with arms. However, before you get too excited about the prospect of...
News Meet Project NEMO, The Nintendo Killer That Never Was
The amazing story of Hasbro's video-based games console
The history of the video game industry is filled with runaway successes, such as the NES, SNES, PlayStation and Xbox, but for every best-selling system there are just as many duds. Back in the '80s, many big companies saw how well Nintendo and Sega were doing and wanted to grab a share of the...
Weirdness Super Mario 64 Corruptions Yield Hilarious and/or Terrifying Results
Where is your Luigi now?
Every now and then, it doesn't hurt to remember that the video game worlds and characters we love are really little more than bits of data, pieced and strung together to compose the beauty and fun we see before us. And there's no better way to appreciate that said data is so well organized than witnessing the abominations...
Review Deer Drive Legends (WiiWare)
Legends of the Fail
There’s a new WiiWare game available in North America. Let that sink in for a moment. After nearly nine months of silence, a new title emerges from the depths of Maximum Games's back pocket and lands squarely on the WiiWare service as Deer Drive Legends, the light gun shooter that you probably haven’t been waiting for...
Review Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (3DS eShop / NES)
A fitting farewell to the NES trilogy
The three Ninja Gaiden games on the NES are remembered with great fondness, and for very good reason. They may never have reached the same heights of popularity as the original Super Mario Bros. games, or even the first three Mega Man games, but they stand to this day as a testament to the classic years of 8-bit...
November2013
Review Brawl Brothers (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Sibling rivalry
Jaleco released a trilogy of side-scrolling fighters in Japan under the Rushing Beat banner, and while all three made their way to the west, they did so under different titles: Rival Turf, Brawl Brothers and The Peace Keepers. Inspired in no small part by the success of Capcom's Final Fight, the series never really managed to reach...
Weirdness This is How Teslagrad Would Look on the Game Boy
Kind of awesome, actually
Teslagrad is one of quite a few upcoming Wii U eShop titles that Nintendo's been happy to show off in video sizzle reels. That's not surprising, as the Rain Games project has caught the eye with attractive visuals and clever magnet-based puzzle platforming mechanics. Its attractive visuals certainly play a part in the...
Weirdness Drink Your Troubles Away With This Nintendo Flask
Non alcoholic beverages are an option, of course
Retro gaming and whiskey, does it mix? One inventor on Kickstarter thought so. Matt Cornell describes himself as a passionate gamer and one who is lucky to have been raised alongside the video game industry as it has developed. Now he is repaying it with a throwback to the legends he was raised on...
News Production Fault Pushes Hyperkin RetroN 5 Launch Into Next Year
Retro gaming powerhouse coming "first quarter, 2014"
If you're an avid retro gamer then chances are you've been saving your pennies for the Hyperkin RetroN 5, an all-in-one gaming system capable of running SNES / Super Famicom, Mega Drive / Genesis, NES / Famicom, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridges. The console was due for...
News If You Do Pick Up a PS4 or Xbox One, These Skins Will Make Them More Comforting
NES, we love you
Well, the 'console wars', 'resolution wars' and 'tedious one-upmanship wars' are well underway, with some pinning their flags to a console and declaring all others null and void. Of course, that's not the healthiest or most useful way to go about enjoying video games, but some will do so nevertheless. But still, it's OK to have...
Review Hands On! Tangrams (DSiWare)
All hands on deck?
Hands On! Tangrams, originally a DS retail game, is now a DSiWare title thanks to developer Island Officials; it's a simple, bare bones affair that is fun while it lasts, but has very little replay value and may prove too simple for more experienced gamers. Still, with the low entry price, there are worse puzzle games with which...
News Rare Originally Conceived Dinosaur Planet As A Racing And Adventure Crossover
Until Miyamoto had his say, of course
If you're familiar with Nintendo's history then you'll know that Star Fox Adventures on the GameCube actually began life as Dinosaur Planet on the N64. Created by UK studio Rare — then a first-party Nintendo developer — the game had progressed quite far before Shigeru Miyamoto decided that it would make a...
Soapbox Zelda's Magic Creates A Link Between Generations
Damien McFerran on how Nintendo's new 3DS Zelda has created a vital bond
More than two decades ago, an excitable 12 year-old boy huddled down in front of his Super Nintendo console armed with a copy of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Having witnessed the critical acclaim directed towards this new action RPG the youth expectantly flicked up...
News Mega Drive: Collected Works To Include Input From Creators Of Ecco, Comix Zone And Vectorman
US developers on-board for the definitive history of Sega's 16-bitter
We recently reported on the Kickstarter campaign for Sega Mega Drive / Genesis: Collected Works, and are happy to report that the project has already passed its initial funding goal of £30,000. However, Read-Only Memory founder Darren Wall has gotten in
Review Mega Man X2 (Wii U eShop / SNES)
A mega effort
Capcom has really been on the ball with the Wii U Virtual Console — in just about one year, it has managed to release every single Mega Man game that saw the light of day on the Wii Virtual Console — and more — with Mega Man X2 being the latest release. Much like the original Mega Man series before it, the X series doesn't seem...
Review Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (Wii U eShop / SNES)
As deep as the ocean
Koei released quite an arsenal of strategy titles during the 16-bit era, many of them on the Super Nintendo console. While the original Uncharted Waters laid the foundation, its sequel New Horizons picked up right where it left off and managed to add quite a few new game play ideas to the mix to form one of the most in-depth and...
News Signed EarthBound Cartridge to Be Auctioned Off for Cancer Patient
“For James”
EarthBound is all about strong bonds; not only within the game but also its fan community. There is nothing that may demonstrate this point more fluently in recent days than the story of a special EarthBound cartridge that will soon be auctioned off during the EarthBound Bash marathon. The cartridge began in the hands of James...
Video CNET Pays Homage To The Nintendo Game Boy
The legendary monochrome system gets some welcome recognition
Portable video gaming would be very different were it not for the Nintendo Game Boy. Although it was technologically outdated by the time it launched — rival systems like the Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx offered better displays and superior processing power — it nevertheless became...
News Rating For NES Remix Issued By Australian Classification Board
A multiplatform release by Nintendo - but what is it?
A mysterious rating has appeared on the Australian Classification Board site for a Nintendo title by the name of NES Remix. Listed as a "multiplatform" release — which would suggest both Wii U and 3DS — the game has been awarded a "G" rating, with the level of violence listed as having a...
News Give Your Apple TV That All-Important Nintendo Vibe With These Retro Skins
Love the skin you're in
If you happen to own an Apple TV unit then you may feel that it's a little too plain for your liking, but fear not — Killer Duck Decals has the solution. The company has produced skins for the Apple TV unit which allow it to mimic classic Nintendo systems like the NES, SNES and
Review City Connection (3DS eShop / NES)
Crash and burn
Originally released as an arcade game, City Connection puts you in the shoes of a man who wants to travel all over the world in order to paint its roads white, thus proving that he's travelled across the globe. Sounds like vandalism to us, but that's the '80s for you! Of course, this would be rather difficult to accomplish on foot, so...
Review Wario's Woods (Wii U eShop / NES)
Kinopio's Canopy
Wario's Woods has had quite a storied legacy over the last few decades, standing not only as the last officially licensed game released on Nintendo's legendary NES in North America in 1994, but also one of the very first titles available on the Wii's Virtual Console service. In-between those impressive milestones, it made an...
News Full Screen Mario Web Game Closed Down Following Nintendo's Copyright Complaint
Popular HTML5 remake is no more
In mid-October we told you about Full Screen Mario, a free, open-source HTML5 web version of the original Super Mario Bros., the work of college student Josh Goldberg. The site attracted publicity due to its recreation of the original game, as well as a random map generator and level creator. With publicity came the...
News Nintendo to Release Special 30th Anniversary Album of Famicom Music
And it looks to be a Japan exclusive
Amazon Japan has added a new product listing for Nintendo FAMICOM MUSIC, an upcoming music album to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Nintendo's breakthrough games system, the Famicom — or Nintendo Entertainment System as we know it in the West. Due to release on 4th December, the album is being produced by...
News SNES Generation Album Merges 16-Bit Sounds With Modern Game Music, and is Awesome
The Wind Waker's 'Outset Island' with Link to the Past sounds, oh my...
We do like a bit of top-notch video game music here on Nintendo Life, and a new retro-infused album by Alex Roe has been serenading our ears. The album SNES Generation takes modern games and recreates their music with sounds and samples from equivalent Super NES titles, with...
News Fangamer Announces Earthbound Charity Event
Weekend marathon of the timeless RPG for a good cause
Fangamer has been hinting at something big and Earthbound-related for a while now, which should come as no surprise to those who know the company. They wear their passion for the cherished Mother series on their sleeves, so using this love to raise money seems like the perfect marriage...
News Publisher Read-Only Memory Is Creating The Ultimate Retrospective On Sega's Mega Drive
Or the Genesis, if you're American
We recently investigated Read-Only Memory's excellent Sensible Software 1986–1999, a book which uncovers the history of one of Britain's most iconic games studios. Now, the publisher is back with another Kickstarter campaign, and this time it's Sega's legendary 16-bit console which is the main focus.
Review Baseball (Wii U eShop / NES)
Not quite a grand slam
Originally released alongside the launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System in the 1980s, Nintendo's Baseball is one of several simple, lean titles that, while primitive and slow by today's standards, still show a special Nintendo pedigree. Ideally these games would be released as a compilation; the content in Baseball,...
News Spice Up Your Christmas Tree with These Retro Controller Decorations
Deck the halls with retro game stuff
For many of us, Christmas is the one day of the year where getting a new video game is pretty much guaranteed — provided you've been a good boy or girl that is. So it only makes sense that you should celebrate the day for the gaming goodness which it bestows on you, right? North American online retailer...
Hardware Review Gametech Neo Fami
The Famicom Clone To Rule Them All?
The concept of clone retro hardware isn't anything new — in fact, we've already covered the likes of the Retro Duo V2, RetroN 3 and SupaBoy here on Nintendo Life — but as time goes on these cheap and cheerful systems are becoming more and more desirable. Older machines are either failing as
News Supporters Needed To Rebuild NES Hero Mega Man In Lego
From 8-bit to 8-brick
Mega Man has always been a cherished icon since his very first appearance on the NES in 1987, and now a designer by the name of Alatariel seeks to immortalise the character further with an official Lego set. Classic stages from Mega Man 2 such as Wily's Castle and Metal Man can be seen recreated on the designer's page, and the...
News Mega Man 2.5D Beta Blasts Into View With Co-Op Play
Fan game teams up with Proto Man on PC
So, OK, time continues to pass and we still don't have a new and official Mega Man game to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the franchise. We have soundtracks, USB sticks, plushies and tissue dispensers, but no game. Such is life. Thankfully Mega Man fans often fill the void, and we've seen some fan games...
Video Experts Believed Nintendo Was In Trouble Back In 1990, Too
Some things never change
When you're one of the world's most recognisable brands then it's only natural for people to predict your downfall. That has happened to Nintendo many times in the past, and history is repeating itself as a new console war begins in earnest. Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One launch this Christmas, and these hardware...
Weirdness This Game Boy Color Costume Actually Plays Game Boy Advance Games
Trick or treat yourself to a bit of Pokémon?
A YouTube user who goes by the name of MikeHandidate managed to outdo even the eccentric scientist Victor Frankenstein this Halloween by dressing up as none other than a giant, fully functioning Game Boy Color. While the costume does share some similarities to Frankenstein's monster in that it's a tad...
Review Donkey Kong 3 (Wii U eShop / NES)
Bugging you?
When the original Donkey Kong proved immensely popular, Nintendo decided to ride off its success and create a sequel changing the roles, making Mario the villain and Donkey Kong Jr. the hero. What is surprisingly not well known, however, is that there was a third game after that. While the next logical next might have been to allow you...
News This Beautiful Zelda-Themed N64 Console Must Surely Come from the Sacred Realm Itself
Shinier than a 100-Rupee Piece
You may recall that earlier this week we shared with you a rather nice looking Zelda-themed SNES that was created by Slovenian console artist, Zoki64. Well, he's just added some more pictures to his portfolio, this time showing off a new Zelda-inspired N64 design, and one which looks so good that even the Goddesses of...
Review Goof Troop (Super Nintendo)
Gawrsh!
In the late '80s and early '90s Capcom created a range of games, based on Disney franchises, for the NES and SNES. The likes of Darkwing Duck, Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers and DuckTales all made appearances, the latter of which has even been given the HD treatment for modern systems, including Wii U. One of the more interesting titles was...
Weirdness You Can Fix Your NES 72-Pin Cartridge Connector By Boiling It
You learn something new every day
The NES was really popular, and that means there are lots of consoles out there right now either sitting unused in cupboards or (preferably) still providing entertainment almost three decades after the western release of the system. However, it's a simple fact that the older a device is, the more chance there is of...
News Nintendo Titles Continue To Be Illegally Peddled On Android Google Play Store
Donkey Kong Country HD, anyone?
Smartphones may be a growing market when it comes to gaming, but the companies running these platforms seem to have a real problem controlling what kind of content goes up. Android's Google Play market is probably the worst offender, with Google seemingly content to allow developers to sell whatever apps and games...
October2013
Review Super Castlevania IV (Wii U eShop / SNES)
Fangs for the memories
The Castlevania series is enjoying something of a renaissance at the moment, thanks largely to MercurySteam's commercially successful Lords of Shadow sub-series. However, as many hardcore Castlevania fans will repeatedly tell you until they are blue in the face and you are deeply, deeply bored, the God of War-style gameplay...
Review Wario's Woods (3DS eShop / NES)
It's back like you wooden believe
Originally released in 1994, Wario's Woods holds the prestigious honour of being the last officially licensed game to release for the NES in North America; that's a remarkably long time after the console itself launched in the mid-eighties. Yet while it's impressive that the legendary system received a first-party...
Weirdness Worlds Of Power Is To Rise From The Grave In 2014
Nintendo Life's Philip Reed is taking a trip down memory lane
Young gamers growing up in the early 90s no doubt remember Worlds of Power. It was a series of youth-oriented novelisations of classic NES games...and the books have become legendarily awful. They were inaccurate, inept, and very poorly written. While their ostensible mission was to...
Review Pinball (Wii U eShop / NES)
Ball out?
Back in 1985, when Nintendo launched the NES in North America, there were a slew of games released with to-the-point titles like Baseball, Golf, and the game of the hour, Pinball. At the time, inviting these simple, accessible games into your home was almost life changing, and we have great memories bouncing around our heads of how they...
News Sega's Most Successful Console Is 25 Years Old Today
Happy birthday, Mega Drive
A quarter of the century ago, Sega released its most successful console. The Mega Drive hit Japanese retailers on October 29th, 1988 and would go on to sell an estimated 40 million units globally. Known in North America as the Genesis, the system was the first to genuinely challenge the supremacy of Nintendo's NES, and the...
Review Urban Champion (Wii U eShop / NES)
Won't somebody think of the children?
Urban Champion is back, and is a menace to society. It's a danger to young gamers for two reasons. If you're the type of gamer that thinks brutality and violence has no place in a title played by children, this tale of brawling 8-bit thugs bringing mayhem to the streets is a primitive but potent example of those...
News This Zelda Super NES Design is Rather Pretty
A lick of paint can do a lot
It's common for enthusiasts to take existing hardware and apply their own twists with alternate shells, skins and paint; just recently a surprisingly attractive 'Luigi 2DS' looked good enough to be official. The practice of tweaking consoles is perhaps most common with retro consoles, however, as the old are made new...
Review Clu Clu Land (Wii U eShop / NES)
Clu Clu Bland
Back in the NES days, Nintendo had a lot of experimental, arcade-like games, many of which never quite made it into the big leagues in order to get sequels and the like. Perhaps one of the most often forgotten of these games is Clu Clu Land. Similarly to Kuru Kuru Kururin, you need to know a bit of Japanese in order to understand the...
News Data Says - Choose Squirtle in Pokémon Red & Blue
Logic once again seeks to ruin an Internet debate
It is one of the greatest questions of our common era: who is the best Pokémon to begin with in Red & Blue? Everyone has their own opinion they will likely take to the grave, but science writer Kyle Hill decided to try a data-backed argument in a recent blog article for Scientific American. In...
News Sega Genesis Owners Very Nearly Missed Out On Treasure's Gunstar Heroes
Sega of America almost passed on the legendary run-and-gun title
Localising Japanese games for western release is a costly process, and even today we still see a lot of titles remaining Japan exclusives and therefore tantalisingly out of reach. Back in the '90s it was very much the same deal, with many amazing 16-bit games failing to make the jump...
News SEGA's Retro Remakes Down to Fans for "Next Lineup"
Europe and North America still awaits retro 3D series on the eShop
While now a software developer and publisher with other major interests in entertainment such as Pachinko machines in Japan, for some SEGA will always be the hardware and arcade company that brought joy to their early gaming years. It's a strong legacy, and the company often shows a...
News Readers Of EDGE Consider Ocarina Of Time And Mario 64 To Be The Best Games Of The Last 20 Years
GoldenEye 007 and Super Mario Galaxy also make the top 10
Long-running UK video game magazine EDGE recently turned 20, and to mark the occasion it ran a poll to see what its readers consider to be the 20 greatest games to be released since the publication's birth in 1993. Unsurprisingly for Nintendo fans, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and...
News Proposed Boogerman Reboot Will Feature Earthworm Jim
16-bit icons stick together
We recently reported on a Kickstarter campaign to make a new version of Boogerman, a gross 16-bit platformer which originally appeared on the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis back in the '90s. The creators are seeking $375,000 to fund the project and have raised just over $24,000 so far, with 27 days remaining. They'll no doubt...
News NECA's New RoboCop Figure Is Based On The 1989 NES Game
Dead or alive, this figure is coming home with us
Toy maker NECA has revealed the next entry in its video game-inspired figure line, and it's none other than augmented officer Alex J. Murphy, better known as RoboCop. The figure takes inspiration from Data East's 1989 NES adaptation of the 1987 Paul Verhoeven movie. The concept has recently been...
Video Nintendo Releases a Pokémon Series Showcase For You to Enjoy
The presenter says "Pokémon" roughly one billion times
While Nintendo's marketing for Pokémon X & Y has featured the usual excitable adverts and footage, with the games now released the company has taken a step back to present a Pokémon Series Showcase. For those new to Pokémon or perhaps too young to have been around since the earliest...
Video This Stop Motion Mega Man Video is a Bit Awesome
Over 10,000 photos used
As regular readers will know, we like drawing attention to some of the best and most interesting examples of gaming culture, where fans go to extraordinary lengths to simply produce something fantastic for others to enjoy. One YouTube creator we've featured is FinalCutKing, a channel that gave us the rather brilliant Post-It...
News If Nintendo Did Make A Smartphone, We'd Want It To Look Like This
Feast your eyes on these Famicom and Super Famicom phone mock-ups
There have been calls for Nintendo to enter the mobile phone market for years, with some even going as far as to create 3D renders of what they believe a "Nintenphone" should look like. While the Kyoto company has so far resisted the urge to leap into the handset arena, if it does...
News Overlay Gives an Old NES Controller Some New Zelda Sleekness
Wii U isn't the only one who looks good in black and gold
Have you been hearing this strange, quiet sighing noise ever since you got your limited edition Zelda Wii U bundle? It's probably coming from your old NES controller, wistfully eyeing that totally dope, gold-emblazoned GamePad and wishing it could have been as radically awesome in its day...
Feature A Supersonic History of Sonic Cartoons
I’m waaaaiiiiting...
For anyone growing up in the early nineties, there was one gaming rivalry that dwarfed all others – Nintendo vs SEGA. While the feud gave us classic moments such as “Genesis does what Nintendon’t” and the infamous Genesis ‘blast processing’, this gaming cold war would split playgrounds and even families over who...
News Nintendo Wants To Close Down This Open-Source Web Version Of Super Mario Bros.
"Full Screen Mario" infringes copyrights, claims Nintendo
Full Screen Mario is a recreation of the original Super Mario Bros. which runs in your web browser. It has all of the original levels and even allows you to create your own stages. It's an impressive feat of programming by a single person — college student Josh Goldberg — but Nintendo is...
Retro Features
Forum Topics
15 replies |
What was your first game? ...again
104 replies |
Most Read
Feature 10 Game Boy Deep Cuts That Aren’t On Nintendo Switch Online
Review Kudzu (Switch) A Delightful, Leafy Ode To Link's Awakening And The Game Boy
Feature Why Play Final Fantasy VII Remake When You Could Play FFVII 'Demake'?
Feature Meet Four Developers Making Brand-New Game Boy Titles In 2024
Feature Evolving With Pokémon: How The Games Helped Me Navigate A Confused Chil...
Guide Best Star Wars Video Games, Ranked - Switch And Nintendo Systems
