SNES - News
January2016
News Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles In Time Gets CD Quality Audio Hack
Cowabunga doesn't even begin to cover it
Prolific hacker DarkShock strikes again, increasing his already impressive list of similar enhancement hacks in the past, this time adding MSU-1 high quality PCM audio support for Konami's stellar SNES title Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time. In place of the already quite impressive SPC music,...
Hardware Classics Nintendo Super Scope
In your sights
Despite their ingenious nature and futuristic feel, light guns have been part of the video game landscape since the industry began - in fact, crude examples of the tech can be found as far back as the 1930s. In the 8-bit era both Nintendo and Sega produced their own pistol-like light guns in the form of the NES Zapper and Master...
News Eiji Aonuma's First Game Recieves A Fresh English Language Patch
It's time to revisit Another Treasure Island
Back in late 1996, with the Nintendo 64 fresh on Japanese store shelves and Super Mario 64 thrilling gamers, Nintendo pushed out a unique title on the aging Super Famicom called Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima, which translates as Marvelous: Another Treasure Island. Notable for being the design debut...
December2015
Weirdness Gamer Keeps Super Famicom On For 20 Years To Preserve Umihara Kawase Save Data
That's over 180,000 hours
Back in the days when cartridges used batteries to store save data, your precious save files would only remain in existence as long as the battery itself had juice - when the power ran out, the data was lost forever. Collectors of retro games will know this fact all too well; many RPGs from the '80s and '90s are now...
Feature What If The SNES PlayStation Had Actually Happened?
We idly speculate on what could have been
From now until the start of the new year we're going to be republishing some of what we feel are our best features of 2015. Hopefully this will offer the chance for newer readers to catch up on content they might have missed and allow long-time fans to reacquaint themselves with features they enjoyed the...
News Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection Pre-Orders Go Live Next Month
Starting 2016 with a bang
Back in October, we delivered the happy news that Stuart "Super Famicom Guy" Brett's Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection had found a publisher and would be coming to store shelves in the near future. Bitmap Books has now revealed that pre-orders will open on January 2nd, giving you something to look forward to early in...
Video Fans List Their Favourite Star Wars Games, Nintendo Titles Feature Heavily
Memories from the premiere
Those of you who have been living under a rock for the past month might be shocked to learn that a new Star Wars movie has just hit cinemas. Our friends over at iretrogamer.com attended a special showing at the Alamo Drafthouse in Houston, and decided to ask some fans which Star Wars video games they held closest to their...
News Back In 1990, Miyamoto's Desire Was To Make Video Games Parents Wanted Their Kids To Play
"Ah, good! My child is old enough to play video games now!"
Video games are often unfairly blamed for society's ills, with critics claiming they make players violent or antisocial. While some might assume such claims are a recent thing, a newly-translated interview with the team behind Super Mario World reveals that such unwarranted criticism has...
Hardware Review 8bitdo SNES30 And SFC30 Bluetooth Controllers
Clones 25 years in the making
Chinese firm 8bitdo is on a roll when it comes to making Bluetooth controllers which look and feel like classic Nintendo pads. We've already had the NES30 and the FC30 Pro - the former taking inspiration from the classic 8-bit console and the latter sporting design cues lifted from the Japanese edition of the NES, the...
Music Metal Gear Solid And Etrian Odyssey Composers Launch Snooze-Worthy Secret Of Mana Album
Lullabies to paralyze, in a good way
Update: We'd just like to clarify that AYAKI was a piano performer on Etrian Odyssey and PersonaQ, and not the composer, as we originally indicated. Original story: The soundtrack to SNES RPG Secret of Mana is regarded as one of the finest of the 16-bit era, with Hiroki Kikuta's soothing compositions matching...
News Console Modder Zoki64 Is Back With Another Super Mario-Themed SNES
To mark 25 years of Super Mario World
This year marks 3 decades of Super Mario goodness, and famed console modder Zoki64 decided to celebrate that fact with a gorgeous custom SNES system. This year is also the 25th birthday of Super Mario W
November2015
Video This Is What An All-3D Version Of Chrono Trigger Could Look Like
Fan-made in Unreal Engine 4
Chrono Trigger is one of the most beloved RPGs of all time, but aside from DS and smartphone re-releases, Square Enix has been curiously reluctant to leverage the popularity of the game. The prospect of a totally remastered edition of the time-travelling fantasy epic will have most fans drooling with anticipation, and...
Review Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures
Waka-waka, or just plain wak?
If you were to download recent Virtual Console release Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures to your Wii U with no prior knowledge of what to expect, you'd be forgiven for anticipating a spot of maze-based pill-munching entertainment. In reality, this 'sequel' to arcade classic Pac-Man is a bizarre take on the point-and-click...
News The Super Famicom is 25 Years Old
16-bit beauty
The 21st of November, 1990, was a day of commotion in parts of Japan; namely those that were around electronics shops. This was the day Nintendo launched the Super Famicom, a 16-bit system that has since found its place within gaming history and atop many's lists of greatest consoles. Only two games launched with the Super Famicom,...
Retro Classic NES, SNES And N64 Controllers Get Stripped Down For Inspection
The evolution of play
Nintendo's story could be seen as the story of the games industry as a whole, certainly from an interface perspective. The company's NES console introduced domestic players to the D-Pad (first used on the 1982 Game & Watch Donkey Kong) and more than one action button, while the SNES a
Video Remembering Bubsy The Bobcat, The 16-bit Mascot Nobody Asked For
"What could possibly go wrong?"
Remember Aero the Acrobat? Awesome Possum? How about Wonderdog? The 16-bit era was flooded with such me-too mascots from a wide range of publishers, largely spurred on by the incredible success of Sonic and Mario. As is the case when a single idea takes over the market, there simply wasn't enough of an audience to...
News SNES Title Super Star Wars Coming to PS4 and Vita
Blasphemy!
Well, it's happened. The PS4 and Vita may have a cooler Virtual Console release than Wii U and 3DS this week - well, sort of. Super Star Wars, the extremely tricky but fun SNES action platformer is coming to the PS4 and Vita in this week's North American PSN update, though it'll have some neat extras. From the PlayStation Blog:...
News Cybernator Creator Talks Destructible Environments, Cut Ideas And Missing Stages
Nonlinear stage progression was mooted at one point
Cybernator - or Assault Suits Valken as it is known in Japan - is one of the finest action titles on the SNES, boasting awesome visuals, inventive levels and one of the most authentic representations of military mecha yet seen in gaming. What's even more amazing is that the game was designed almost...
YO-KAI is the reasoning
We've had another corker of a week in terms of Nintendo happenings; so much so that we couldn't blame anyone for not being able to keep up with everything. As we usually do, we've compiled all you need to know in one handy little video for your entertainment. This week we look at the incredible SNES Playstation prototype...
News No, SNES Super FX Title Vortex Was Never A Transformers Game
Despite the rumours of the past few decades
1994's Vortex might not have been a smash-hit, but it was arguably one of the most technically impressive uses of Argonaut's Super FX chip - the hardware which made games like Star Fox and Stunt Race FX possible. Featuring a transforming craft known as the Battle Morphing System which could shift between...
October2015
News A Different Mother 2 Cartridge Has Recently Surfaced Online
What could it be?
Mother 2 – known in the West as Earthbound – was arguably one of the most unique RPGs to emerge from the fourth generation of game consoles. Eschewing the well-trodden swords and sorcery theme of games such as Final Fantasy, Earthbound was about the adventures of a group of children in the modern age. Additionally, it featured...
A reality show about the lives of hot and steamy firefighters
This is the scripted story of six strangers that are picked to become firefighters, work together and have their lives played by a total stranger with a controller. Find out what happens when they stop being polite... and realize their lives aren't real. There was a time in gaming...
News This Custom SNES Console Is The Perfect Way To Mark Three Decades Of Super Mario
Sadly one of a kind
We've featured the superb custom console mods of Zoki64 in the past, but this latest one seems especially timely when you consider that Super Mario reaches 30 this year. Boasting artwork from Super Mario All-Stars and coming in a fetching yellow colour (for once that has nothing to do with the plastic changing over time), this...
News Celebrate Super Mario World's 25th With These Stylish Prints
Available in poster or postcard form
Super Mario World launched alongside the Super Famicom on November 21st 1990, which makes this year the game's 25th birthday. Arguably one of the greatest video games ever made, this iconic platformer certainly deserves a bit of birthday celebration, and with that in mind Arkotype's Dan Clarke has created some...
News The Team Behind Earthworm Jim Would Like to Make a Sequel
"I think everyone would be up for it sometime"
Arguably one of the most memorable titles to grace the Sega Genesis in the 16-bit era was Earthworm Jim. Starring a worm in control of a super suit that fell from the sky, the crazy intergalactic adventure became famous for its bizarre sense of humour and fluid animation techniques. The classic received...
News Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection Is Back, And Better Than Ever
Book returns with publisher backing, Steve Jarratt editing
This time last year we reported on a book which look certain to adorn the coffee tables of Nintendo fans the world over. Stuart Brett's Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection was a glorious celebration of the lush Japanese artwork found on 16-bit Nintendo game covers of the period, and a...
September2015
News Super Nintendo Classic Chrono Trigger Gets Digital Audio Support
Orchestral Time Traveler
In an alternate universe not entirely dissimilar to our own the Super Nintendo got a CD add-on made by Sony, much like the Mega Drive's Mega CD. This would bring full motion video and Redbook audio to the SNES games you know and love. In fact, some games would have been completely different in that universe. Secret of Mana...
Video Genesis Power Team Volume 2 Has A Distinctly Nintendo Feel To It
Lots of lovely imports, too
Long-time followers of this site will know the name Tyler Esposito - not only have we covered the excellent video content he has created in the past, he's actually contributed to Nintendo Life as well. Esposito's latest project is iretrogamer, a YouTube channel which he hopes can become a resource for all kinds of retro...
News Super Famicom Exclusive The Amazing Spider-Man: Lethal Foes Gets Translated
Our 16-bit Spider Sense is tingling!
The Super Nintendo was home to several Spidey games, some better than others. Some of the best offerings came from LJN (yes, that LJN…), with Maximum Carnage and Separation Anxiety among the most notable. There was one however that never made it out of Japan, and as luck would have it, it's a rather good one...
Mario Memories Getting Creative With Mario Paint
"And then... We clicked on the coffee mug icon..."
In this series of articles celebrating the upcoming 30th Anniversary of Super Mario, various members of the Nintendo Life extended family will share their memories and thoughts on the iconic franchise. This time we have our wannabe hipster reviewer Jose Acosta. When I think of Mario Paint the...
Review Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf
Who knew that Genghis Khan was so cool, calculating, and complex?
Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf was originally developed by Koei and released for the PC-8801, PC9801, and the MSX in 1992. The following year, Genghis Khan II saw releases for MS-DOS, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, PC Engine CD, NES, and SNES. Five more years later, and the game would...
August2015
Video Say Hello To The SNES Game Which Ships Inside A Game Boy Cartridge
Invading a 16-bit home console near you
One of the really cool things about the Super Game Boy adapter - besides the fact that it allowed you to play your portable titles on SNES - was that it added embellishments to certain titles, like two-player modes, additional colours and even attractive borders around the screen. However, there's one title...
July2015
News Fire Emblem Meets Front Mission In Galaxy Robo, A Freshly Fan-Translated SNES RPG
Robot rock
Not a week seems to pass without another Super Famicom RPG getting translated by devoted fans, and this particular week it's the turn of Copya Systems' Galaxy Robo, a turn-based strategy title that was published in Japan by Imagineer in 1994. Playing like a cross between Fire Emblem and Square's Front Mission, Galaxy Robo has been...
News Secret Of Evermore's Epic Soundtrack Gets The Remaster Treatment
Sean Schafianski works his magic on Jeremy Soule's original tracks
Secret of Evermore is one of Square's forgotten classics - a SNES title created entirely in North America that tried to ape stable mate Secret of Mana, but didn't quite match it. Despite being less acclaimed than some of Square's other 16-bit titles, Evermore still has plenty of fans...
Ninterview Meet The Man Who Makes Hip-Hop Music From Classic Nintendo Hardware
"The controller we have created is like wearing my childhood round my neck"
We recently came across a UK based hip-hop producer and DJ by the name of Imperial, who makes quite a striking impression with a strange musical instrument strapped around his neck, which has parts that might seem very familiar to our readers. This musical instrument is...
Video Brace Yourself for these Top Five Most Exciting Intro Cutscenes in Gaming
Five alive
Intro cutscenes are generally the first real bit of a game you get to experience beyond the menu, so it's pretty important that they hook you as quickly as possible. We at Nintendo Life have coupled together five of what we feel are the most exciting examples, whether it be because of atmosphere, dialogue, or just downright awesomeness...
Video Take A Drip Down Memory Lane With Game Freak's Second Game, Jerry Boy
Or Smart Ball, if you had the misfortune of playing the American version
Game Freak may be most famous for the Pokémon series, but the company's history goes back a little further than that. Back when the firm was still learning the ropes, it released the platform title Jerry Boy on the Super Famicom. A cute and cuddly romp through a colourful...
News Sony's Shuhei Yoshida Plays It Cool With The SNES PlayStation
"Actually, I played some games [on it] as well"
Shuhei Yoshida, rather like his contemporaries at Nintendo, is refreshingly light-hearted and open in interviews - the President of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios has popped up in these pages in the past speaking positively about Nintendo and sharing amusing tales of getting banned on...
News Square's Romancing SaGa Finally Gets Translated Into A Language We Can Easily Understand
Another Super Famicom classic liberated from the mists of time
1992 Super Famicom RPG Romancing SaGa has finally been translated into English. Designed by SaGa series creator Akitoshi Kawazu, this epic title never received a western release. The game is unique in that it abandons the linear structure seen in so many other JRPGs of the period and...
News The Man Who Found The SNES PlayStation Thinks It Will Probably Be Sold
"Sure my dad would think about selling it because he's pretty broke"
Yesterday we reported on the stunning news that a SNES PlayStation has been located in the wild. The existence of this almost-mythical machine was never in doubt - Sony released promotional images back in the early '90s - but it was believed that all of the prototypes were either...
News Prototype SNES PlayStation Found In The Wild, Unicorn And Big Foot Expected Next
Update: Video of console now live
Before Sony entered the home console arena it worked with Nintendo on a CD-ROM drive for the SNES. The aim was to eventually release a combined console - called the PlayStation - which would play SNES carts and SNES CD-ROM games. Of course, this never came to pass - at the 1991 CES Sony officially announced the...
June2015
News Rare Co-Founder Tim Stamper Is Tweeting Some Crazy Stuff About Project Dream On The SNES
A gaming legend finally speaks
Rare co-founders the Stamper brothers have always been famously reclusive when it comes to interviews - they've given very few over the past couple of decades and since selling Rare to Microsoft have drifted from the public eye altogether. However, Tim Stamper appears to be moving back towards the games industry. Last...
Pulls too many punches
Double Dragon may have kicked off the beat 'em up craze, but Capcom's Final Fight was the game that came out of nowhere and quickly became the measuring stick for the genre. So when Capcom had to cut the beloved cooperative play mode from the Super NES home version of the game, Japanese developer Jaleco decided that it would...
Review Super E.D.F. Earth Defense Force
All buck and no bang!
Its certainly no secret that the 16-bit era of gaming was a great time to be a shoot em' up fan. Not only were there a large number of titles released, there were also some of the best the genre ever had to offer on display. While the Sega Mega Drive and NEC PC Engine were the definitive hot spots to get your shooter fix, the...
May2015
Another Japan-only release gets localised
When you say Westone, you think Wonder Boy. The recently-defunct Japanese studio created a series of amazing action-RPG titles for Sega which have since become legendary slices of retro gaming, but outside of that particular franchise the company's work is somewhat less well known - at least in the West...
News A Totally Complete Version Of Star Fox 2 Really Does Exist
And we're not talking about fan-made patched prototype ROMs, either
Later today, we'll be running an exclusive interview with Q-Games boss Dylan Cuthbert, a key figure in the history of the Star Fox series - he worked on the SNES original, its cancelled sequel, Star Fox Command and the 3DS port of Star Fox 64. In our interview, Cuthbert reveals...
News Hudson's SNES JRPG Super Shell Monsters Story Finally Gets Translated Into English
And it only took 20 years!
Back in 1994, Hudson released Daikaijuu Monogatari on the Super Famicom - a JRPG which looked a lot like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. The game never saw a Western localisation, and has remained out of reach for anyone who doesn't have a firm grasp of Japanese - until now. Translation group Dynamic Designs has just...
News You Can Own Sid Meier's SNES Development System, If You Have A Spare $9.5K
"The 'Holy Grail' of video game collecting"
Legendary game design Sid Meier is responsible for some of the most iconic titles in the history of the interactive entertainment industry. He helped found Microprose in the 1980s and has since produced the likes of Civilization, Sid Meier's Pirates!, Silent Service and F-15 Strike Eagle. It's now possible...
April2015
Weirdness You Can Now Browse Zelda: Link To The Past's Map Using Your Web Browser
Turn-by-turn Navi-gation not included
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past features one of the most vibrant game worlds ever created for any video game, and now you can gaze longingly at it using your humble HTML5 web browser. The peeps at Jadsdsengine have created a living, breathing replication of the game's overworld which can be viewed via...
News Say Hello To Star Fox's NES-Based Forerunner, NesGlider
The prototype which started a profitable friendship
Star Fox is one of the most technically impressive games on the SNES, and was a collaboration between Nintendo and UK-based Argonaut Software. We've covered the making of the game in the past, but Unseen64 has an excelle
News Natsume Suggests That Nintendo's Moving Away From SNES on Wii U Virtual Console
Explains how games are selected for the Virtual Console
Natsume is a publisher and developer that pops up relatively regularly on the current day Virtual Console, certainly more so than some other names that were common on the Wii but have appeared less on the Wii U and 3DS. As such it's a company with some useful insight into how the platform...
News Bandai Almost Made A Laptop With A Built-In SNES
Say hello to the Bandai HET
Bandai may be joined at the hip with Namco these days, but once upon a time the company stalked the edges of the video game industry, desperate to find a route into the potentially profitable hardware arena. It released consoles such as the Pippin (in conjunction with Apple) and created the WonderSwan handheld, but...
Feature The Best Alternate Reality Super Nintendo Classics We Never Got To Play
Super Elite! Super Dune! Super Strider! If only!
In this one-off feature, Nintendo Life contributor and retro fanatic Gonçalo Lopes thinks out loud about the greatest SNES games that never were. I have always been a bit of a dreamer. From as far as I can recall, I was always dreaming within the world of tomorrow. And speaking of dreams, how about...
News Unreleased SNES Music Game From The Creator Of Electroplankton Comes Back To Life
Making noise with the SNES Mouse
Back in the 16-bit era Interactive media artist Toshio Iwai designed a SNES music composition tool that was to be released along with the SNES mouse in a bundle package, just like Mario Paint. There was even a US trademark filled for the game's western release under the name Sound Factory. Sadly, it never got...
News Super Fighter Team Is Putting Its Retro Catalogue Back Into Production
Reprints for classic SNES and Genesis titles, plus two new games
Super Fighter Team has confirmed that it is putting several of its classic titles back into production for a limited period of time. Legend of Wukong and Star Odyssey - two Sega Genesis / Mega Drive RPGs released in 2008 and 2011 respectively - are both getting reprints, as is fellow...
News Activision Almost Rebooted The Atari 2600 Classic River Raid On The SNES
Canned heat-seeker
You might assume that the allure of retro gaming is a modern thing, but even back in the days of 16-bit machines players were keen to sample titles from the past. To fill that demand publishers released reboots of classic titles; Activision's update of Pitfall is perhaps the most famous of the period, but we very nearly got a new...
March2015
Video What If Super Metroid Was A 3D Classic?
The Last Metroid...Is in 3D!
In our latest series of 3D videos, we've successfully converted a true classic to 3D. You wanted Super Metroid, you got Super Metroid. This phenomenal action exploration game is just calling out for a 3DS remake. Infact, Tom even suggested as much very recently. As always, you'll need to watch this video through the...
News Go The Whole Hog With This Amazing SNES New Nintendo 3DS Skin
You've already got the buttons, why not take it to the next level?
When Nintendo announced the New Nintendo 3DS, the use of SNES-colour face buttons triggered a flood of nostalgia in 30-something players all over the globe. However, for some, just having coloured buttons isn't enough - they require the full SNES treatment. This SNES Edition Decal...
News Chrono Trigger Turns 20, but is Ultimately Timeless
History has never quite repeated itself
What do you get when you combine the creator of Final Fantasy, the creator of Dragon Quest, and the creator of Dragon Ball? You get arguably one of the best RPGs of all time, and a game that maintains a strong legacy 20 years after its 11 March 1995 release. Chrono Trigger is the brainchild o
News Retro-Bit Is Releasing A Super Mario Edition Of Its RetroDuo Console
Dubbed "Mascot Edition", for obvious legal reasons
The Retro-Bit RetroDuo clone console may have been surpassed by Hyperkin's Retron 5 and the Super Retro Trio, but it's still a neat little system which allows you to play your old Nintendo games without having to have multiple consoles conne
News Interplay Is Remastering Cult SNES Brawler ClayFighter
And its sequels, apparently
Veteran publisher Interplay has announced plans to remaster the amusing 16-bit title ClayFighter - and its sequels - for a new audience. The original ClayFighter was released on the SNES in 1993 - arguably the height of Street Fighter II's popularity - and gave the one-on-one brawler a humorous slant. It was later ported...
February2015
News Look On In Despair At The Hardest Super Mario World Level Ever Made
Three years in the making, and breaking
The ROM hack scene can be an endlessly entertaining place. Offering up creative, fan-made content, one can never really know what to expect from the community. More often than not, fans will create more challenging levels after completing a game in a quest for additional prestige and for a true test of skills...
January2015
Weirdness Meet The Man Who Plays Super Mario World With His Nose
A novel use for the humble recorder
Whenever we tried to play the recorder at school using our nose our teachers told us off. That early lesson in life didn't seem to get through to Japanese NicoNico user Wakou who can not only play music by blowing into a recorder through his nose, but also control Mario in Super Mario World. The secret to doing...
Dragon its heels behind the competition
The age of the 16-bit RPG is well-remembered, and many iconic titles from the time are still cherished by fans to this day. From Final Fantasy III to Chrono Trigger, the genre showed genuine growth through some shining examples of emotive storytelling mixed with addictive gameplay. Not one to miss out on all...
December2014
Feature Dreaming of a Nintendo Christmas - Damien McFerran
Damien McFerran talks festive play and mentions Sega a few times (sorry)
In the second part of our festive series, Damien McFerran talks about the gaming Christmas memories of his youth and why consoles like the SNES and Mega Drive have such a special place in his heart. As you may have gathered from the large volume of Sega-related content that...
November2014
Ninterview Tom Bramwell On Nintendo and 15 Years at Eurogamer
Eurogamer.net's departing Editor-in-Chief
It came as a surprise to many, not least the Nintendo Life team, when earlier this year Tom Bramwell announced that he would be leaving Eurogamer.net at the end of November, after 15 years with the company. If you are a reader of Eurogamer (we know 1 in 5 of you are) then Bramwell needs no introduction, for...
News Sami Cetin Breaks The NTSC Super Mario Kart World Record On Mario Circuit 1
He's a Time Trial master
Super Mario Kart SNES has just had another barrier broken on the Time Trial Mode. You may recall us reporting that UK-based Mario Kart expert Sami Cetin was the first person to break the sub-58 second barrier on the PAL Version of Mario Circuit 1 on Christmas Day, 2013. After this amazing Christmas present it was almost...
Review Natsume Championship Wrestling
Tapped out
Let's be honest here: wrestling is essentially one big television drama, and that's no way an attempt to belittle the incredible athleticism of the men and women involved. It's Eastenders with a mullet and tight pants, complete with plot twists and a cast of larger than life characters to root for. These heels and faces are the reason we...
Anniversary 20 Years Ago Today, Rare Resurrected The Donkey Kong Brand
Donkey Kong Country is now two decades old
Donkey Kong is Nintendo's first major star, having made his début in the arcade game that effectively turned the company into the global monster it is today. However, when Mario decided to become Super on the NES and take his place as Nintendo's number one mascot, DK was bumped down the pecking order and...
Weirdness Fan Turns Pokémon Blue into a SNES Game
Making a classic…more of a classic?
It can be said that most Pokémaniacs share the dream of one day being able to play a full Pokémon adventure on a big screen, and one dedicated fan has achieved this by managing to fit a Pokémon Blue Game Boy cartridge into an empty SNES cartridge through some soldering work. The Nintendo 64’s Pokémon...
October2014
Review Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
The ape escape
Rare managed to do something incredible with Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong-Quest; it took the well refined gameplay and style of the first Donkey Kong Country game and made it even better. This second entry in the series features gameplay almost identical to its predecessor’s, but this time everything’s been streamlined...
Feud of dreams
Nobunaga’s Ambition, long one of publisher Koei’s flagship series, deserves its rightful place in the history of strategy titles. This SNES iteration, like many of its brethren, has an engaging setup that rewards careful planning and execution once the learning curve is cleared. Actually, “curve” might be too gentle a term...
Video Check Out this Adorable Tribute to the Mother Series
That's 'Earthbound' to us
Regardless of who wrote them, fans are the ones who can really tell the story of a game better than anyone, and that statement is no truer than in this video which pays homage to the Mother series, which sadly still only exists as a single game outside of Japan. All of the peculiarity, all of the charm, and all of the...
News This Castlevania Super NES May Be The Spookiest Console Yet
We want one
The eagle-eyed among you have no doubt noticed that we like some modded retro consoles here at Nintendo Life; giving a new design and style to a lovely old system can be a fine thing indeed. This latest effort is also perfect for the upcoming Halloween festivities. It's the work of Vadu Amka, who we've featured before with some stylish...
September2014
Developer Interview How Two Graduates From Nottingham Are Bringing Robin Hood To Life On The SNES
"We'd absolutely love to be able to do a cartridge release"
Indie development has never been more popular than it is now, with each of the major console makers bending over backwards to accommodate bedroom coders in the hope of finding the next Minecraft. However, while most small-scale devs favour the likes of iOS, Android, Steam and the digital...
True Bit
The Wild West is a fantastic setting for a video game. Rugged gunslingers, drunken shootouts, limited presence of the law and a surplus of criminals lend to a volatile and rowdy backdrop for a tense, controller-gripping time. In the case of Wild Guns it takes the Steampunk route, injecting hostile machinery and advanced weaponry into the...
Weirdness Here Is A Super Famicom On Top Of Mount Fuji
Reaching new heights since the '90s
The Super Nintendo goes down in history as one of the greatest video game systems of all-time, for a variety reasons – be it the at the time revolutionary controller design, the cutting edge graphics and audio, or the stunning library of games. So how do you make one of the most legendary Nintendo consoles to...
A less than fitting farewell
In 1996, the Mega Man X series parted ways with Nintendo hardware. Mega Man X3 is how it ends. Not with a bang, but a whimper. The first Mega Man X game got things off to such a solid start that it was almost inevitable that a letdown would come sooner rather than later. After all, with so little room for improvement,...
News Trust Us, You Need This Super Famicom Box Art Collection Book In Your Life
Update: Kickstarter now cancelled
Update: The Kickstarter has now been cancelled for the reasons explained by Stuart here: Hey folks. Firstly, I’d like to say a huge heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported this Kickstarter project. I’ve had a whirlwind of a weekend with my inbox literally breaking with messages of support from fans...
August2014
News EarthBound Celebrates 20 Very Strange Years of Existence
Proving that fighting piles of puke only gets better with age
It's almost hard to believe that EarthBound (Mother 2) is 20 years old with the way it continues to pop up nowadays. The 27th of August marks the RPG's 1994 release in Japan, however, and paved the way for its strange journey through other parts of the world. Brought to North America in...
Video Vancouver Elementary School Breathes New Life into Super Mario RPG Soundtrack
If we don't beware, who will?
Many of you who grew up with an SNES controller clutched between your fingers will have fond memories of the bizarre experimentation that was Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Little did people at the time know that it would be the first in a huge number of RPGs following the antics of the world's most...
News Cult Classic Plok Transcends from Video Game to eBook
Beyond the pixel'd realm
Those who are well-versed in their SNES heritage should be aware of a sadly overlooked game from 1993 or 1994, depending where you were at the time. The name of the game in question is Plok - a platforming game where the titular character can remove and launch his limbs wherever he pleases in a style that's thankfully more...
Art Controller Evolution Photo Series Hammers Home The Nintendo Factor
A visual record of how Nintendo has pushed the industry forward
Nintendo has been responsible for some major innovations when it comes to controllers — the NES D-pad, the N64 analogue stick, the Wii Remote — and Spanish artist Javier Laspiur has put together a photographic whistle-stop tour of the evolution of the game pad which shows just how...
Review Pop'n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures
Jump'n TwinBee
Although the TwinBee series is mostly remembered as a shoot 'em up franchise, it might come as a surprise that there were actually a few games which took on different genres. Rainbow Bell Adventures — which is coincidentally also the last game released outside Japan — tries its hand at platforming, bringing its own unique little...
July2014
News Collectorvision Announces Justice Beaver for Wii U eShop and Super Nintendo
Not to be confused with trouble-making pop sensation, Justin Bieber
Retro-inspired video games have to be authentic, and the team over at Collectorvision knows this. Since 2008, Collectorvision has been developing, publishing and manufacturing a quality line of new but retro-inspired home-brew releases for classic video game systems of yesteryear...
Feature Where Are The Super Nintendo 3D Classics?
Release these games, the 3DS prints money
The 3DS is a wonderful handheld console and over its short lifespan we've seen 3D remasters of the excellent Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64. The eShop library has delivered the goods with 3D Classics releases of NES games Excitebike,
News Capcom's Mega Man 7 Is Dashing To The Wii U eShop
More Mega Man action
Capcom have been on a roll supporting the Wii U eShop lately, with Mega Man 5, Mega Man 6 and Mega Man Battle Network hitting the store in Europe this week. European ratings agency
WinBee
It's not particularly well known outside Japan, but for a while TwinBee was one of Konami's main shoot 'em up series. A lot more cutesy than Gradius and the like, its colourful graphics and characters were its biggest appeal. A while back the original TwinBee was remade as a 3D Classic, but now here we have Pop'n Twinbee, one of the few...
Video Learn How to Pull Off the Newly Discovered Cloud Glitch in Super Mario World
Lakitu won't be happy about this
As if we needed more evidence of the complexities that run beneath many of our favorite games, a code digger by the name of Masterjun3 has unearthed a glitch in Super Mario World that provides the player a Lakitu cloud in the game's item box. The stunt is executable in the Yoshi's Island 2 stage with just a Yoshi, a...
News Buck Rogers SNES Prototype Materializes
From the 20th and 9/10 Century
Licensing can be a fickle playground for developers. The rights that were secured for a brand may suddenly change or be revoked entirely, calling for a change in plans at any time. More evidence of this fact has arrived in an alleged ROM of a prototype Buck Rogers SNES game made by French developer Loriciel in 1993...
News You May Need This Super Famicom or SNES Game Boy Advance System in Your Life
Deep breath...
Well constructed mods of retro systems are among our favourite things here at Nintendo Life, and we recently featured GameBoyMods.uk's Shaun Jones, who unsurprisingly specialises in modding the original 'brick' system. We also interviewed Matthew "Wiggy" Wiggins of Rose Colored Gaming last year, a company that specialises in gorgeous...
June2014
News You're Not Seeing Things, There's A New SNES Title On The Way
Unreleased platformer Dorke And Ymp finally coming to market
You would be forgiven for assuming that last year's Nightmare Busters is the final SNES release, seeing as the console itself is well over twenty years old now, but that isn't the case. Piko Interactive has secured the rights to Dorke and Ymp (also known as Dorque and Imp), a title which...
May2014
Weirdness This Cool System Supports Famicom, Super Famicom and PC Engine Games
Has its own screen, too
Retro console mods and units are certainly on our list of cool things here at Nintendo Life, and we often take the opportunity to review clone hardware that allows for extra convenient play of '80s and '90s-era systems. You may have the original units in your collection, but as their chips age and if you don't want multiple...
Akuma Matata
Street Fighter II casts an indelibly long shadow over the rest of Capcom's fighting games from the 1990s. First launched in 1991, SFII in all its Super and Turbo varieties has become synonymous with the Street Fighter franchise, a cultural touchstone the series wasn't truly able to move past until the launch of the successful Street...
Ninterview Sami Cetin On His Journey To Super Mario Kart Success
The UK Super Mario Kart champion shares his experiences
With Mario Kart 8 now around the corner, it's an ideal time to begin looking both forwards and to those predecessors that made the series such an integral part of our gaming lives. Super Mario Kart on Super NES started it all, with its Mode 7 visuals and terrific design winning over millions of...
April2014
News Possibility of SNES Remix and Other Remix Titles Depends on Fan Support
NES Remix director: "Does the marketplace want it or need it?"
In an interview with IGN, NES Remix and NES Remix 2 director Koichi Hayashida explained that the possibility of a SNES Remix, Game Boy Advance Remix, or other Remix brand titles will depend on the market's support and fan outcry. There could even be a Remix title based on third-party...
Video The Latest Nintendo Minute Is Concerned With Wrestling Mayors And The Andore Family Tree
Kit and Krysta take on Capcom's Final Fight
OK, so the Nintendo Minute series of videos rarely run for a single minute, but we'll forgive Kit and Krysta when they provide such fantastic content as this. The latest instalment features Capcom's Final Fight, one of the most iconic side-scrolling brawlers in the history of video games. As you might...
Video Here's a Comparison of Mario Kart's Donut Plains 3 from SNES to Wii U
Generations apart
Comparison videos of retro tracks in Mario Kart 8 are certainly doing the rounds at the moment, and popular YouTube channel GameXplain has created a nifty split-screen video comparing the classic Super Mario Kart track Donut Plains 3 to its reimagining in the upcoming Wii U title. Check it out below: [ Nintendo EAD and its...
Weirdness Here's a Nine-Hour Video of Every SNES Start Screen
You know you want to...
Back in January, YouTube user NicksplosionFX made a three-hour video of every NES start screen — well, a lot of them, arguments aside. Now he's back for the Super Nintendo edition, clocking in at just over nine hours. It's in alphabetical order if you want to skip straight to your favourite game, but true fans will surely...
March2014
A timely boost for a classic
With a PAL release a mere nine months after the April 1992 launch of the UK SNES, during a 16-bit era where show-boating superior technology and exceptional console power was at the forefront of Nintendo’s objectives, Super Mario Kart remained humble in exhibiting its technical prowess. European gamers had been...
SNES - Features
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