Retro News (Page 4)
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 for...
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...
Random Former Rare Dev Shares First-Ever Drawing Of Conker
No, he still doesn't have a neck
Former developer at Rare Chris Seavor has been sharing video game history on Twitter. And today's little tidbit is a pretty fun one — Seavor has found the first-ever drawing of Conker the Squirrel. Seavor teased his followers earlier today about "some 'curious' old scribbles" that he found, and as promised, he...
Review Pokémon Stadium 2 - A Sequel Of Gold (& Silver) Standard
Second gen magic
This review originally went live in 2016, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack N64 library. After all the groundbreaking success that Pokémon's first generation had, it would've only been wise for the powers that be to capitalise on the franchise. How was...
Review Pokémon Trading Card Game - A Cracking Adaptation That Still Holds Up
A rare source of fun or just an uncommon?
This review originally went live in 2014, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy / Game Boy Color library. It’s almost surreal nowadays to think that there was ever a time when portable gaming didn’t have Pokémon. When Red and Blue...
Talking Point How Do You Store Your Games Collection?
Shoebox showcase
Call us sentimental, call us paranoid, call us what you will, but around these parts we still love the physical article when it comes to our media, especially video games. While many of us have gone at least part-digital for the sake of saving space and sheer convenience, especially with the portable Switch, even the eShop-only...
Review The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Ages - An Engrossing Tale And True Series Classic
A song for the ages
This review originally went live in 2013, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy / Game Boy Color library. Ever since The Legend of Zelda released on the NES, Nintendo has played the franchise relatively close to its chest. Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto has had...
Review The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons - An Underappreciated Old-School Adventure
Battle seasoned
This review originally went live in 2013, and we're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy / Game Boy Color library. The combat of The Legend of Zelda series has seen several iterations over the decades. The classic top-down gameplay of the original was morphed into a faster,...
News Final Fantasy Developers Reminisce On IV, V, And VI In Anniversary Chat
The Super Famicom trilogy
The second part of the Final Fantasy 35th Anniversary Special Interview has been shared today on the official Final Fantasy YouTube, and this nostalgia-filled interview focuses on the Super Famicom / SNES trilogy that was recently rereleased in the Pixel Remaster series on Switch — Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI. Hosted...
Random Fan Reimagines Resident Evil 4 As A 2D Side-Scroller
2Demake
We have seen Resident Evil 4 reimagined in a variety of ways over the years. Aside from the recent swanky remake, fans of the series have regularly taken the 2005 GameCube game in new and creative directions, but now we have seen it in a new dimension too (thanks, PCGamesN). Yes, one fan by the name of DooMero is working on a complete...
Soapbox Catching Legendary Pokémon The Old-Fashioned Way Was So Much Better
Mewsings
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Kevin remembers a time when getting your hands on a legendary involved going on a real-life journey... The '90s were a fun time, weren’t they? AOL was brand new, The Simpsons was still...
Poll How Many Of You Have Actually Visited 'Minus World' In Super Mario Bros.?
Minus points
In terms of video game legends, it's up there with the best of them. A secret world accessible in Super Mario Bros.! A gateway to an underwater stage you can never leave! A hidden, secret zone that only the most elite Mario Bros. enthusiasts will ever find!... It was the stuff of playground hearsay back in the '80s and '90s, but...
Guide Top 100 Best Nintendo Games Of All Time
Over 40 years of Nintendo games, as ranked by you
The Famicom launched in 1983. Time, huh? That's four whole decades of 8-bit Nintendo games, many of which defined entire genres and birthed enduring characters and series that would go forth and flourish in future console generations. In honour of 40 years of quality from our video game purveyors of...
Anniversary Nintendo Famicom, The NES' Japanese Sibling, Is 40 Years Old
History was made
40 years ago today, video game history changed for the better. That might sound a bit hyperbolic, but there's no denying that Nintendo's first home console — or at least the first one with interchangeable cartridges in a form we still recognise as a 'console' today — made a huge impact. Video games would not be where they would...
Feature 21 Vintage Nintendo Games You Can Now Only Buy For Original Hardware
'80s and '90s Nintendo games on the 'endangered' list
You may have read a recent study by the Video Games History Foundation that suggests an eye-watering 87% of video games are "critically endangered". The organisation, which is devoted to video game preservation and archiving, found that just 13% of games released prior to 2010 were still 'in...
Round Up Every Switch Game Announced At Limited Run's 2023 Showcase
More than 20 announcements!
Limited Run today aired another major showcase announcing all sorts of new, old and returning games. It was a pretty packed-out show in all honesty, so we've put together this round up highlighting not only the major announcements but also the ones we didn't get to spotlight. In the coming months Switch owners can look...
News Disney Remastering Sega Genesis Platformer Gargoyles, Switch Release Confirmed
Update: LRG physical release coming "this fall"
Update [Thu 13th Jul, 2023 04:55 BST]: A Switch release of the Gargoyles Remastered has now been officially confirmed. Additionally, Limited Run Games will be handling the physical release. It's due this fall, and a proper reveal is coming "later this year". Original article [Sat 10th Sep, 2022...
News Shantae's Cancelled Game Boy Advance Project 'Risky Revolution' Is Being Revived
But there's no mention of a Switch release right now
WayForward's Shantae director Matt Bozon has today announced the revival of Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution - a previously cancelled Game Boy Advance project. This game was meant to come out in 2004/05 and covers an "entire missing chapter" of the series. Risky Boots has found a "secret...
News Brand-New Game Boy Color ARPG 'Far After' Is Now Up For Pre-Order
Bitmap Soft back at it again
It's easy to forget that there are still new games being made for Nintendo's classic handhelds today, with developers pushing the platforms to their limits and publishers getting on board with some sweet physical releases. Bitmap Soft is one of these very publishers (you might remember its two Game Boy releases from...
News Sonic Chronicles Sequel Details Revealed By Former BioWare Lead Designer
The Dark Brotherhood ended on an unresolved cliffhanger
BioWare's DS RPG Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood was always intended to be the first entry in a series, however, the sequel never came to light due to a number of reasons, including BioWare being purchased by Electronic Arts. Now, however, Did You Know Gaming has uncovered some...
News Nintendo Has Apparently Retired Its Gulf War Game Boy
It's going back to Redmond
Nintendo was known in its earlier years of video game development for its durable and long-lasting hardware, but one system that trumped all was the legendary Game Boy. In fact, there's one famous Game Boy as you might recall that was damaged in a bombing during the Gulf War and still works! In an update, the Game Boy has...
Guide Best Nintendo 64 Platformers - Every N64 3D Platformer, Ranked By You
Golden years
The launch of Super Mario 64 ushered in what is now commonly referred to as the Golden Age of 3D platformers. In the years before the arrival of online gaming when first-person shooters came to dominate the console landscape for a period, these colourful solo experiences represented the medium's adventures into a new frontier, with...
