Retro News
November2015
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...
Art If Nintendo Did Resurrect The Game Boy, We'd Want It To Look Like This
Past and present
The Game Boy line may be effectively retired in Nintendo's eyes, but the name itself still carries a lot of weight with gamers all over the world - including German designer Florian Renner, who has put together a cool concept which resurrects the classic brand for the modern era. The Game Boy 1up is of course nothing more than a fe
Review The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (DSiWare)
"Cor blimey, gu'vnor"
The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde takes us right back to a London morning in 1886. A body is discovered – a wealthy man who was highly regarded by everyone. Why was he murdered? How? What is going to happen next? Your job is to step into the shoes of an inspector, looking for clues and talking to important...
Hardware Review Gamepad Digital GPD XD
That design reminds us of something
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but when you're creating mass-market electronic devices, slavishly cloning the work of others usually lands you in costly lawsuit - just ask Samsung and Apple. However, there are a multitude of hardware makers working out of China which are small enough to operate...
Video Learn a Little More About Chrono Trigger
Courtesy of Did You Know Gaming?
When any conversation turns to the 16-bit era and classic RPGs, Chrono Trigger naturally gets mentioned. It's a stone-cold classic, undoubtedly, and turned 20 years old this year. As a fondly regarded SNES title - which also had a DS release - it's now been given the treatment by Did You Know Gaming?, the YouTube...
Random Check Out This Saxophone Cover of the Link's Awakening Overworld Theme
Looks like this guy found the Ninth Instrument of the Sirens
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening was certainly one of the weirder entries in the Legend of Zelda franchise. What started as an off the books side project by a few developers on the team quickly turned out to be one of the most memorable entries in the series, with the mysterious...
News Unseen64 Reveals Information on Game Zero, a Sandbox GameCube Game from Former Rare Staff
Looks kind of like a Minecraft precursor
Unseen64 is always digging up interesting facts and trivia about games that never got released and they've recently followed through yet again with another cool project that unfortunately didn't get to see the light of day. The project was to be developed by Zoonami, a studio composed of ex-Rare staff, but...
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:...
Woodn't you like one of these?
There aren't enough consoles made out of wood, in our opinion. Sure, the Atari VCS had pretend wood on its front and the guys over at Analogue Interactive have spoiled us rotten with their range of wooden Neo Geo systems, but there's still room in the market for more of this kind of thing - and thankfully the...
Video This Guy Has Found What Could Be The Rarest Nintendo Game Ever
Say hello the little-known 1981 coin-op, Sky Skipper
Donkey Kong might be one of the world's most famous arcade games, but it wasn't Nintendo's only stab at making a smash-hit arcade - the company had produced many other coin-ops around the same time, few of which could match the mighty Kong's commercial success. As a result, many of these early...
News There Was Once an Open World South Park Game Planned for GameCube
Dude!
South Park has had its share of dodgy games, including that rubbish one with snowballs as weapons on Nintendo 64 - c'mon, you know it sucked, admit it - though some reckon The Stick of Truth is a decent effort; not that Nintendo gamers had a chance to play that one. It seems, though, that a particularly ambitious project bit the dust in a past...
News M2 Has The Source Files For Aquario, The Lost Arcade Title From Wonder Boy Studio Westone
"Only the sound data is missing"
Wonder Boy studio Westone is sadly no more, but that doesn't mean that the company's legacy is doomed to be forgotten. In a recent interview with video game journalist John Szczepaniak for his book The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers Volume 2, Westone founder Ryuichi Nishizawa revealed that the source code...
Review Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Farm Fatale
If you're familiar with the original Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, released on the Wii U Virtual console earlier in 2015, then you know just about all there is to expect out of its follow-up, Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town. In fact, you should probably skim the review of the first title if you want a rundown of the...
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...
News Britsoft: An Oral History Charts The Birth Of The British Games Industry
Packed with exclusive interviews
While the exploits of Japanese and North American games makers are well documented, the considerable contribution that the United Kingdom has made to the global gaming scene is perhaps less well known. Thankfully that appears to be changing; last year's From Bedrooms to Billions documentary took an extensive look at...
Review Stinger (Wii U eShop / NES)
Cute, creative and cruel
Most shmups ask you to shoot your way through hordes of enemy ships while dodging gunfire. Stinger asks you to do this while juggling. The cute, goofy exterior of the game hides just how challenging it can be, as while it may be hard to take smiling shoes, flying phones and whirling donuts seriously, they're all highly...
Video Here's The Moment The SNES PlayStation Gets Turned On For The First Time
"Thanks to the haters, too"
Last week we reported on the news that the legendary SNES PlayStation has been turned on and played, proving once and for all that the system is the real deal and not an elaborate fake, as some people had claimed. Dan Diebold - son of Terry, who unwittingly purchased the system when the company he worked at went bust -...
Feature Why We're Still Playing... Pokémon Gold / Silver / Crystal
The revolution of a revolution...
This is a series of features that focuses on games that we keep playing again and again, either over an unhealthy number of hours or those that keep getting return visits long after they first graced our systems. In this entry Arjun talks about his favourite Pokémon games. The beginning: There's no doubt that the...
Review Wild Gunman (Wii U eShop / NES)
You mean you have to use your hands?
Just like Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley, Wild Gunman was one of the first games released to take full advantage of the NES Zapper, and can now be played on the Wii U by using the Wii Remote's pointer instead. Based on Nintendo's light gun arcade machine, you might even remember seeing it in the Cafe 80's in Back to...
News SNES PlayStation Prototype Gets Turned On, Opened Up
It's really real, you guys
Earlier this year, a prototype SNES PlayStation was discovered in the wild and caused quite a stir among fans and collectors alike. The system - which was supposed to be start of a beautiful friendship between Nintendo and Sony but the former left the latter at the altar - never saw release and what images existed were...
News 1993 Kirby's Adventure Interview Reveals Cut Content, Alternative Names And Why Kirby Is Pink
"Normally a character like Kirby would have been yellow"
Kirby is now a firmly-established member in Nintendo's vast catalogue of intellectual properties, but back in 1993 he was very much a newcomer looking to prove himself - as this fascinating interview from the period attests. Freshly translated by Shumplations.com, the feature originally...
Feature A Pokémon Retrospective: Generation 3 - 2002 To 2006
A period of evolution
As we build up to the 20th anniversary of Pokémon in February 2016, and look hotly ahead towards brand new things including the new Zygarde forms, we're continuing our monthly journey through each generation of Pokémon, this month we cover the generation that many ignored, the one that came after the Pokémon "fad" ended, but...
Review Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II (Wii U eShop / NES)
Time for Mike to make his return
For banana fans and island hoppers alike, the original StarTropics stands to this day as an under-appreciated classic of the NES library. It's the kind of imperfect gem that sadly went a little under the radar at the time of its release, but has endured as a cult favourite thanks in large part to its distinctive...
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...
Review Konami Krazy Racers (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Super Konami Kart
Konami Krazy Racers (AKA Konami Wai Wai Racing Advance in Japan) is a largely forgotten Mario Kart clone that was also one of the original launch games for GBA. If you can imagine Mario Kart Super Circuit with Konami-themed characters and courses, you'll be on the right track with what to expect from this decent little kart racer...
Review Hogan's Alley (Wii U eShop / NES)
Not exactly a bullseye
One of the earliest NES games released, Hogan's Alley is also possibly the most well-known Zapper game after the classic Duck Hunt. But does it hold up as well as its lightgun game partner? The premise of Hogan's Alley is fairly simple. You are (seemingly) some sort of police officer or soldier doing shooting practice, with...
News The Starforce Pi Is An Arcade You Can Fit In Your Rucksack
Coming to Kickstarter this month
A new Kickstarter project is looking to resurrect classic arcade gaming in a more portable form via the power of the Raspberry Pi chipset. Starforce Pi is a tabletop gaming machine which offers a full-sized Sanwa-supplied microswitched joystick and buttons, powerful stereo sound, authentic video playback and support...
Video Teens Discover That Finding A Weapon In GoldenEye 007 Is Harder Than You Think
"Bro, where's my gun at?"
GoldenEye 007 has been in the news lately thanks to comments from designer Martin Hollis regarding changes proposed by Shigeru Miyamoto, so this latest Teens React video is quite timely. You know the drill by now - the guys at the React YouTube channel take an old game, locate some willing teens and make them play it,...
News Bertil Hörberg Releases Playable Game Boy ROM of Gunman Clive
You feelin' lucky, punk?
We're big fans of both Gunman Clive games, which are among the finest releases on the 3DS eShop and are also available as a collection on Wii U. Developer Bertil Hörberg has certainly demonstrated his design flair and ability to create tight platformers with some retro feel. Hörberg has taken his degree of homage to retro...
Feature Why We're Still Playing... Super Metroid
Mitch Vogel on why it’s just as good 20+ years later
This is a series of features that'll focus on games that we keep playing again and again, either over an unhealthy number of hours or those that keep getting return visits long after they first graced our systems. I believe that the true test of a game's value is found in how well it stands...
October2015
News CyberGadget's Ridiculously Well-Equipped Retro Freak Console Begins Shipping Tomorrow
All-in-one wonder machine finally coming to market
We covered the news of the Retro Freak quite a while ago, and since then we've been waiting expectantly for more information about this potentially amazing system. With support for 11 different consoles - Famicom, SNES/Super Famicom, Mega Drive/Genesis, PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16, Game Boy, Game Boy...
Weirdness This 1983 Short Movie Combines Horror With Donkey Kong
Can you find the Treasure of the Haunted House?
Long-time readers of the site will be familiar with the work of Tyler Esposito - not only have we covered his excellent videos in the past, he's also contributed to Nintendo Life with an amusing look at one of the most bizarre NES games ever made. He also runs the excellent YouTube channel iretrogamer...
News Masayuki Uemura on How the NES Controller Came About
Thank God it didn't have a joystick
When you really get down to it, the NES controller is the granddaddy of all modern game controllers. Granted, they didn't have thumbsticks, triggers, or tilt controls back in the 80's, but it doesn't take a terribly observant eye to note the design principles that are still evident in today's controllers. This is...
News Street Fighter II: The Definitive Soundtrack Releases by the End of This Year
The first in a series of soundtrack remasters
A strong argument could be made that Street Fighter II was the game that led to the meteoric rise of the fighting genre. The simple controls, yet incredibly deep gameplay gave gamers a taste of competitive gaming like they'd never seen. Couple this with the excellent art style and the classic soundtrack...
News Don Bluth And Gary Goldman Want Your Help To Make A Dragon's Lair Movie
Not an interactive one this time
Dragon's Lair will forever have a place in video game folklore for offering an experience which - at the time of release - was simply mind-blowing. Back in 1983 gamers were used to crude and blocky visuals with beeps and chirps for sound, but Dragon's Lair offered movie-quality animation and audio. The catch was...
Random Someone Loved Super Mario Bros. Special Enough to Recreate it in Super Mario Maker
From when licensed Mario platformers were a thing
It's interesting that we often talk of Nintendo being cautious in licensing its IP - a trait it's currently moving away from - when considering some of the quirks in its history. For example, between Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels on NES there was Super Mario Bros. Special...
Video Watch This Amazing Nintendo 64 HDMI Mod Banish Smeary Visuals Forever
I can see clearly now
We've covered RetroActive's promising N64 HDMI project in the past, but the guys over at My Life in Gaming now have exclusive footage of the mod in action, and it's amazing. As anyone who has owned an N64 will know, the video output is the wrong side of average. Because the machine lacks RGB output as standard there's no easy...
News Nintendo Wanted A GoldenEye Sequel On N64 But Rare Turned It Down
And Nintendo gracefully accepted the decision
1997's GoldenEye 007 was a massive commercial and critical success for Nintendo, selling 8 million copies worldwide and generating an enormous amount of revenue. Unsurprisingly, Nintendo wanted a sequel and even asked developer Rare to make one - but the UK company, which was at the time a second-party...
Weirdness Miyamoto Wanted A Murder-Free GoldenEye Where You Made Friends With Enemies At The End
"Close-up killing - he found it a bit too horrible"
In your average James Bond flick the suave British secret agent dispatches countless goons and bad guys without batting an eyelid, but if Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto had had his way, the best Bond video game of all time wouldn't have contained a single death. Speaking at the ongoing GameCity event...
News Lost NES Title Wonderland Dizzy Made Available For Free
My head is spinning
Famous games dev siblings The Oliver Twins have just released a NES title which was assumed lost many years ago. Wonderland Dizzy - an entry in the beloved platforming series the brothers originally created for the likes of the ZX Spectrum and C64 - was produced during the early '90s but never saw the light of day on Nintendo's...
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...
An evocative and surprising look at Nintendo's uncharted history
It's common knowledge that Nintendo has been around for over a hundred years, and that the company started out producing playing cards many decades before finding fame as a purveyor of interactive entertainment. However, the years in between are often overlooked by even the staunchest...
Video Speedrunner Sets New World Record for Super Mario Bros.
Clocking in milliseconds quicker than the previous record
The competitive speedrunning scene makes you look at games you thought you were familiar with in a whole different light. It can be remarkable to see the kinds of exploits and techniques that certain people have discovered and employed in order to shave just a few more milliseconds off of...
Review The Ignition Factor (Wii U eShop / SNES)
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...
Review Dig Dug II (Wii U eShop / NES)
Dig in
The original Dig Dug was fairly popular, so naturally a sequel had to follow eventually. Dig Dug II ended up being not nearly as widespread as its predecessor, only seeing release in arcades and on the NES, so you'd be forgiven for not even knowing it existed! Dig Dug II takes a massive departure from the first game. True to its title that...
News Nintendo Marks Back To The Future's 30th By Releasing Wild Gunman On The Virtual Console
"You mean you have to use your hands? That's like a baby's toy"
The NES isn't the only thing that hits the big Three-O this year - the legendary Hollywood movie series Back to the Future also began 30 years ago, and in a neat bit of anniversary fusion, Nintendo is acknowledging the fact by releasing Wild Gunman on the Wii U Virtual Console. As any...
News The NES is Now 30 Years Old
The game changer
The NES is 30 years old today, at least based on its widely agreed - albeit historically debatable - North American release date. Not to be mistaken with the Famicom release - which is way back in 1983 - it was nevertheless the Nintendo Entertainment System rebranding and a certain Super Mario Bros. that catapulted Nintendo further...
News NES Designer Explains the History of the Console's Release in North America
The one that started it all
The game industry was a very different place back in the early 80's, teetering just on the edge of extinction. Market saturation and poor quality games were major contributing factors to this, leading many to believe that video games were just another passing fad that would vanish as quickly as they appeared. It got to...
Review Pocky & Rocky with Becky (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Plain & Repetitive with Boredom
There's real promise behind Pocky & Rocky with Becky, far more than the unimaginative title might suggest. Bite-size levels quickly give way to intriguing boss battles, and speedy pacing helps hold your interest throughout the campaign. However, these positive aspects quickly fade in the face of bland enemies,...
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 These Limited Edition Analogue Nt Consoles Will Make Your Bank Account Weep
Gold LE and Famicom LE limited to 50 units each
We've been keeping a keen eye on the Analogue Nt since it was first announced as we're massive fans of the Analogue Interactive CMVS systems released in the past. By the sound of things this highly-refined NES system has been a real hit with fans, as the first production run is totally sold out...
Feature A Pokémon Retrospective: Generation 2 - 1999 To 2002
Talking 'bout a generation
As we build up to the 20th anniversary of Pokémon in February 2016, and look hotly ahead towards brand new things including the new Zygarde forms, we're continuing our journey through each generation of Pokémon; this month we cover the much beloved second generation. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and...
Review Medabots: Metabee & Rokusho (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Meh-abots
Medabots has always been a bit of an odd case. Clearly created to hitch a ride on the Pokémon hype train, it's a series about people who - instead of capturing and fighting with creatures - collect machine parts to build and fight with robots. Unlike Digimon, which was also similar in setup, Medabots never really seemed to catch on...
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...
Review Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (Wii U eShop / DS)
A toy story
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis is the Nintendo DS sequel to the original GBA classic and a new recruit to the ever-growing Wii U Virtual Console library. Rather than being more of the same platforming puzzle action, Nintendo chose to focus this entire game around what is but a small percentage of the previous game - the...
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 Sega Will Be Bringing a Game Gear 3DS Theme West Soon
Gear up
Arguably one of the greatest things to be brought to the 3DS in an update was the concept of themes. This addition allowed gamers to personalize their 3DS home menu as they saw fit, with a diverse range of themes based off of popular games and characters available for a cheap price, or even free in some cases. Sega has contributed...
News Super Mario Advance 4's e-Reader Levels Get Resurrected Thanks To Super Mario Maker
e-Reader attachment not required
When Nintendo launched Super Mario Bros. 3 on the Game Boy Advance under the rather misleading title Super Mario Advance 4, it included 30 secret stages - all falling under the banner "World-e" - which could only be unlocked by using the optional e-Reader accessory and a set of special cards. Given that both of...
Random UK MC Jme Produces Pokémon Season One Theme Song Remix
Complete with full animation!
UK MC Jme has made a remix of the Season One (Indigo League) theme song of Pokémon, entitled 'The Very Best'. For those unaware, Jme is a popular music artist (specialising in Grime) from the UK who has been creating music since 2003, and has become well-known worldwide due to his unique style, impressive lyrics, and...
Video Gain Some Insight Into How Retro Game Music and Sounds Were Made
Musical memories
It can often be emphasized how important music is to any gaming experience. In the current day that can often mean professional live band performances and orchestras, though on retro systems this was focused on far more primitive sound chips and coding. There are gamers of all ages that get particular enjoyment from retro style game...
Hardware Review BitBoy Lets You Back Up Your Game Boy Camera Snaps With Ease
Digital photography, 1998 style
In 1998 Nintendo launched the Game Boy Camera, a tiny (at the time) digital camera that sat in the Game Boy's cartridge slot and took simple monochrome photos that could be edited and printed via the link cable and an optional Game Boy Printer, using a roll of thermal printing paper similar to a till receipt. In the...
News Lost Game Boy Color Banjo-Kazooie Game Unearthed In Design Documents
An early look at the game which would become Grunty's Revenge
When Rare was purchased by Microsoft many assumed that there would be no more titles from the famed UK developer on Nintendo formats, but such fears proved unfounded - Rare continued to release titles on both the Game Boy Advance and its successor, the Nintendo DS, although in recent...
News A Prototype Cartridge For an Unreleased N64 Shmup Recently Sold for $3,000
Buyer shares first footage of the game since Space World 1999
It seems that game collectors will go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that their collection is virtually peerless. Be it traveling across the world or spending an enormous sum of money for an obscure piece, it's somewhat inspiring to see someone who's so absolutely dedicated to the...
Video Learn How to Clear The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in Under Two Minutes
The Japanese version, anyway
Speedruns of retro games can be pretty entertaining, especially as we see the end result of many hours of experimentation and work. Quite how some of these workarounds are discovered is beyond us. In recent months we've shared a few videos from the A+Start channel, as it demonstrates and explains classic speedrun tricks...
Review Car Battler Joe (Wii U eShop / GBA)
One cup of Speed Racer lore. One cup of Mad Max universe...
Car Battler Joe tells the cliched story of how Joe Todoroki went out of the comfort of his bedroom to drive through the wasteland of Galacia in pursuit of his estranged father. Rumour has it that he joined a band of misfits in order to destroy the same sport that made him the most famous...
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 Shiny Founder Dave Perry Wasn't Keen On The N64 From The Start
"He was declaring quite loudly that he was never going to support N64"
The Nintendo 64 is one of the most beloved consoles of the '90s, and played host to some truly amazing games, such as Goldeneye 007, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64 and Star Fox 64. However, compared to the incredible commercial succe
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...
News Updated Sega Mega Drive Arcade Ultimate Handheld Features Save State Support
Fixes the big issue with the original system
AtGames' Sega Mega Drive Arcade Ultimate Handheld was the dream machine for hardcore Sega fanboys. Not only did it allow you to play 16-bit classics on the move, it featured SD card support so you could load up even more games - although the rather shady nature of ROM distribution did cause some to frown...
Random Conduct Interviews in Retro Style With a Famicom Voice Recorder
Hopefully isn't 8-bit sound
A number of the UK-based Nintendo Life crew spent four days at EGX in Birmingham recently, an expo with all of the noise, fun and shenanigans you'd expect. Your humble writer wasn't to be found out in the wilds of the main hall, however, but conducting interviews with plenty of Indie developers; the burden of...
Video Learn The Full Story Behind the Power Glove Courtesy of the Gaming Historian
It deserved a better fate
"The Power Glove. It's so bad." It's a line of dialogue familiar to many retro Nintendo fans, delivered in a non-ironic way in The Wizard, a movie that isn't exactly critically acclaimed but is fondly regarded by some. The peripheral itself was hugely fascinating at the time yet, ultimately, failed to achieve significant...
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...
Spoilers... obviously
Speedrunning remains as one of the most fun yet niche areas of gaming, with highly skilled enthusiasts achieving amazing things in classic titles, mostly of the retro variety. They can be great to watch, though it's also pleasing to be shown how it works on occasion, too. The hugely popular A+Start channel has been running a...
News HyperPlay RPG Is A Glorious Throwback To The Pre-Internet Days Of Homemade Fanzines
We go hands-on with issue zero
If you're old enough to remember the days before the internet took over everything then you may recall the vibrant and active video game fanzine community. Before the web arrived the only way for non-professional writers to get their words in front of others was by making black-and-white photocopied magazines and...
Review StarTropics (Wii U eShop / NES)
Sun, sea, sand, and aliens
Winter is slowly creeping up on us, so it's as good a time as ever to explore warmer climates and take your mind off of the bad weather. For some NES-filtered beams of sunshine, why not step into the shoes of young Mike Jones, an American kid who's headed for an alphabetic island on the tropical adventure of a lifetime?...
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...
Review Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Wii U eShop / GBA)
Prophesizing the amiiboom
Mario vs. Donkey Kong is interesting in that it's the only game in the Mario vs DK franchise (to date) that actually allows the player to control Mario; indeed this was originally planned to be a sequel to 1994's Donkey Kong on Game Boy, so arguably those two have more in common than the other games in the series. Mario vs...
News Sega Almost Licensed The Technology That Went Into The Virtual Boy
"I think we were right in turning it down"
Former Sega of America boss Tom Kalinske was in charge of the company during its glory years, and it was under his leadership that it was able to challenge the might of Nintendo during the early '90s. Full of interesting stories and anecdotes, Kalinske's story has been told in Blake J. Harris' excellent...
Review Tecmo Bowl (Wii U eShop / NES)
Move over Madden 16, Tecmo Bowl is back and stealing the NFL spotlight
1989 wasn't just an amazing year because that's when this writer was born. It's an also amazing year because that's when Tecmo Bowl received its home console release on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Boasting an impressive roster from the 1988 NFL season, players could now...
News Decade-Old Japanese Shigeru Miyamoto Interview Shows How Super Mario Bros. Helped Save the NES
Miyamoto-san also shared his love of Bluegrass music
In the past month a lot of focus has been on the 30th Anniversary for Super Mario, a major landmark joined by the release of Super Mario Maker on Wii U. There have been plenty of interviews and events, but it can be interesting to look back at previous anniversaries to see what was different or,...
Book Review The Unofficial Game & Watch Collector's Guide
LCD legacy
Game & Watch was Nintendo's first foray into the world of portable electronic gaming. These small, pocket-sized devices used LCD screens to create crude but surprisingly playable games, perfect for passing the time on the way to and from work (in fact, creator Gunpei Yokoi even stated that he was inspired to create the range after...
Weirdness Japanese Company Wants To Bring NES Games To Smartphones Via A Tiny Cartridge
Small device plugs into into your headphone socket
Modern gaming is becoming increasingly focused on digital distribution, with publishers making use of online stores such as the Wii U and 3DS eShops to deliver games directly to consumers without having to produce physical media. With rumours that Nintendo's next console could abandon physical...
News Donkey Kong Country Almost Had A Zelda-Like Key System
"Is this too Zelda(ish)?"
Retro fans will be pleased to know that Rare's Gregg Mayles has continued uploading behind-the-scenes info relating to Donkey Kong Country. After revealing that Shigeru Miyamoto was the one behind DK's tie, Mayles has offered up some more concept material, including a hand-written document which shows that at one point, the...
Feature The Short But Sweet Games Journalism Career Of Renegade Kid's Jools Watsham
"It honestly didn't feel like work"
Arguably one of the most recognisable faces on the Nintendo indie scene, Jools Watsham is the founder of Renegade Kid, a Texas-based studio which has a long and proud history of producing high-quality content for Nintendo systems. Titles like Xeodrifter, Mutant Mudds, Moon and
Feature The Wild And Wacky World Of WarioWare
Minigame madness
Being an arch-rival to the iconic red-and-blue plumber and hunting for treasure on the side all have their perks, but what better way to get rich quick than to develop video games? Ever since he dropped the yellow overalls and snagged the stylish biker gear, Wario's name was cemented as the immature, garlic-chomping greedy pig who...
Review Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (Wii U eShop / DS)
Emerging from the shadows
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is a Nintendo DS remake of the first Fire Emblem game (originally released in 1990 for Famicom in Japan) that's now available to download in Virtual Console form for Wii U. The series staple of strategic turn-based gameplay along with the perma-death possibility for characters would form the...
Mario Memories How The Super Mario Bros. 2 Instruction Manual Influenced Me Artistically
Returning to Subcon after 25 years
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 reviewer and guide extraordinaire Dave Letcavage. I'm not sure of my exact age at the time,...
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...
Weirdness Mario Infiltrates Sonic's First Adventure In Somari The Adventurer
Hack the planet
Mario and Sonic may be on friendlier terms these days, but once upon a time they were bitter enemies, and the notion of them sharing a game was as unlikely as a Smiths reunion. Still, you can now rewind time and imagine just what it could have been like had Mario decided to hop, skip and jump out of the Mushroom Kingdom and...
Mario Memories The Incredible Impact of Super Mario 64
"I remember my mouth literally hanging open"
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 super vegan rocker reviewer Jonathan Bee. I remember very clearly going to...
Review Mario Golf (Wii U eShop / N64)
Serious Golf for Serious Plumbers
You could argue that the best part of many of the Mario sports titles is that they bring goofy, lighthearted aspects to those pastimes. Games like Super Mario Strikers and Mario Hoops: 3 on 3 all make dramatic changes to the sports they're portraying, capturing the attention of players who might not be interested in...
Video Watch Miyamoto And Tezuka Pick Apart The Iconic Opening Level Of Super Mario Bros.
World 1-1 walkthrough by the guys who made it happen
As you may well have seen, Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka recently visited the UK and were kind enough to spend some time not only with us, but also with our friends over at Eurogamer. While we decided to have a good old-fashioned music session with the two legends, Eurogamer spent its time...
Retro Float Back In Time With This Gallery Of Nostalgic NES Packaging
Cardboard cool
Old-school game packaging was pretty incredible. Sure, some 8-bit releases have terrible box art and were clearly designed in the space of a single evening, but there's a charm to their rough and ready nature - they hark back to a more primitive, innocent age. Engadget's Sean Buckley knows this all too well, and has kindly posted a...
News Quest Forge: By Order Of Kings Mixes Zelda And Secret Of Mana, But You'll Need A NES To Play It
A brand new old RPG
Homebrew developer Ludocity has just released a new RPG, but there's a catch - you'll have to take a trip up to the loft and dust off your old NES in order to play it. Quest Forge: By Order Of Kings is a top-down role-player which, according to the developer, combines elements of The Legend of Zelda and Secret of Mana. The game...
Mario Memories The Summer of Super Mario
"Super Mario 64 is the game that defined my love of the series"
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 dashing reviewer Steve Bowling. Back in June of 1996, there...
Mario Memories Mastering Super Mario World Across the Years
"We never got tired of Super Mario World, we only got better"
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 reviewer, contributor and all-round swell guy Ron DelVillano...
Mario Memories Super Mario Bros. 3, Still Bringing Families Together
You can't talk about childhood favourites without mentioning SMB3
In this series 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 lovely reviewer Evan Chambers. We never had an NES when I was...
News Rare's Gregg Mayles Reveals It Was Miyamoto Who Suggested Donkey Kong Should Sport Neckwear
Rare staffer reveals the pre-history of Donkey Kong Country
Gregg Mayles is one of Rare's longest-serving employees and can list some of the firm's most famous titles on his impressive CV. He's currently hard at work on the studio's next offering, Sea of Thieves, but has taken the time to post some interesting info relating to the SNES classic...
Review VS. Excitebike (Wii U eShop / NES)
Enjoyable interlude
It's undoubtedly a good thing when Nintendo starts releasing older titles on the eShop that are otherwise fairly difficult to find or play. But does VS. Excitebike, originally only released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan in 1988, offer enough extra content compared to the original to justify a purchase? As the core of the...
Video Fan Recreates Stunning Build Of Ocarina Of Time’s Zora’s Domain In Unreal Engine 4
Water that makes your mouth water
Over the past few months, fans of Nintendo have done amazing jobs of creating HD builds of beloved Nintendo IP in stunning atmospheres within Unity 3D and Unreal Engine 4. We're often treated to seeing re-textured models of the likes of Mario and Link, prancing around in realistic HD environments that aren't so...
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