Author Archives: Owen

39 years ago this week the innovatively named ”Baseball” was launched on the humble Famicom. You can play one of the granddaddy of sports games here.

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Nintendo

Game Rant has some weird ports of retro fighting games. Streetfighter 2 on the Spectrum anyone? Link

There is a new trailer for the Super Mario Bros. film. Link

Some footage of a lost Metroid games for the N64 has surfaced (The Gamer). Link

Ruetir has some interesting (or not) facts about Donkey Kong. Link

There is a new multi-game changer for the Game Boy Colour, which is totally crazy, but sometimes crazy is cool (Hackaday). Link

Tech E Blog has a complete history of Super Mario Kart and why is was made. Link

Destructoid has a list of the 5 best games for the N64, not as obvious a choice as you might have thought. Link

Other

ABC News have a feature on the rise of demand for retro consoles. Link

Destructoid has compiled the best consoles that are the worst to collect for. No mention of the 32x! Link

Make Use Of have an article on which modern console is best for retro gaming (the ones you can hack usually…). Link

Want to know the best 10 Sega Genesis games that were made in the 21st century? No? Well either way CBR have a list. Link

And CBR also has a look at some cancelled Konami games which might have been nice had they actually seen the light. Link

Pong has turned 50! Yahoo/Engadget have an interview on its creation. Link

Spokesman has an article on how to care for some of the retro consoles, nothing ground-breaking but definitely some “good to know” points made. Link

That’s all for this week, a gentle nudge to give your feedback on the newsletter if you have 2 mins you can spare. Please do share the newsletter with friends and retro communities if you enjoy it.

 

27 years ago this week Mega Man X3 was launched for the SNES in Japan. You can play it here.

This newsletter is still a work in progress, but if you can find 2 mins to fill in this survey so I can understand what kind of news is most popular it would be helpful for me to collate the proper selection. You can find the survey here (and thanks very much).

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Nintendo

DualShockers have a list of 10 of the best villains from NES RPG’s. Niche, but provides a good visual for the cover of the newsletter. Link

 

Inverse has a nice article on how Nintendo need to treat their older games with more respect. Link

Forbes looks back at the lessons learned on consumer values from the OG Game Boy. Link

Crunchyroll has announced Hime’s quest for the Game Boy Color and PC, as reported by Gematsu. Link

Destructiod gives their view on the best 5 Pokemon games (60% retro). Link

A modder has created the worlds smallest Game Boy, TecheBlog report. Link

The SnesDev Party team have announced the release of Supercooked! a cooking co-op game that works with the OG 16-bit hardware and emulators. Looks like fun! RealotakuGamer has more. Link

Rare is a publisher of distinguished quality, but there have been a surprising number of games that there cancelled. CBR do what they do best and provides a list of them. Link

 

Reur goes deep on the story of Star Fox 2 – the lost game. Worth a read if you are a fan. Link

Back to Rare, Diddy Kong Racing turns 25 and Exputer takes a look back on why you should not judge a game by its cover. Link

Others

California 18 feature a look at the Sega offices in Japan. Link

Bounding into Comics take a look at some very interesting Sega Genesis/Megadrive ROM hacks. Link

Game Asylum look back at the Atari 7800 catalogue – an underrated console? Link

Hacker Noon looks back at some film-to-game conversions that are worth a look. No ET. Link

Cultured Vultures give their view on the 20 best Sega Genesis games ever. Link

Duealshockers have a piece on what Atari was like before the crash of ‘83. Link

For the Atari 50 celebration, they developed a new Atari Jaguar emulator from the ground up. GameRant reports. Link

And that’s all for this edition – hope that you enjoyed it. If you missed it at the beginning or forgot, and you have a spare 2 mins – it would be very much appreciated if you can share your feedback on the newsletter (link here).

 

 

Welcome to issue #19, the nights get longer so a perfect time to dust off some retro games and get around to playing thatgame you have been waiting to play.

32 years ago today the SNES was launched in Japan and a life was never quite the same again. With that came one of the greatest games ever - Super Mario World – and you can relive this masterpiece here.

 

Nintendo

TecheBlog look back at the nemesis of school children in the 80’s or 90’s (which I never knew existed) – the “Homework First” (below). Link

Did you know gaming have released an insightful video (30 mins) about every Zelda game that was never released. Link

Comicbook Gaming look back at Namco’s Star Wars game for the Famicom which had Darth Vader turn into a scorpion, a shark, a pterodactyl, and a Wampa - not canon. Link

Some good people have made every issue of Nintendo Power magazine available for download. Not all hero’s wear capes. Link

CBR have a deep, well written view on the state of Retro Gaming. Joke, it’s a list of the 10 SNES games that are not as good as you remember. Link

I love a limited edition console, my Pikachu N64 is one of the highlights of my collection. Dual Shockers look at the rarest Nintendo variants. Link

Shigeru Miyamoto Turns 70 and Bolly Inside look back at the career of one of the most influential names in gaming. Link

The Escapist give the “Definitive View” of the Virtual Boy (their words not mine). Link

Sega

Game News 24 have a look at some cult games for the Megadrive/Genesis. Link

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Event Hubs look at Atari’s attempts to compete with Virtual Fighter and Tekken - and created one of the worst fighting games ever - The First For Life. Link

The Gamer take a look at the Atari 50 collection which has just been released and getting some good reviews. Link

Not Hardware report that Streets of Rage is being made into a film with the writer of John Wick on board. Not holding out much hope, but loved the game series. Link

And that’s a wrap! Thanks for reading and if you can share with others I would be extremely grateful!

This week’s newsletter covers the best of Japanese NES games, Rom Hacks and a new “mini” console in the works.

Also, Sonic Spinball turns 29 years old today! You can play this game here.

Nintendo

Another good article from Reutir, shines a light on interesting topics – this time they turn their attention to the history of RockStar and Nintendo. Link

Everyone knows Super Mario Bros. but did you know Game Over was not the end and you could continue with a simple button combination 😲. GeekyRant gives more details. Link

Den of Geek are back with a list that tells us all about the “Best NES games released outside of Japan”, and I am sure some are well worth a go. Link

Starfox is one of the iconic SNES games and pushed the hardware, and some cleaver modder has now pushed it further with the release of the ROM hack Starfox EX – which contains SNES mouse support, 5-player mode and 17 levels with battles against some of Nintendo’s icons. PCGamer delve into more detail. Link

Did you know there was an N64 Zelda game that never got launched, Ruetir give details and the story behind Zelda 64. Link

Game Informer has a nice feature on a visit to Japan’s Mario Themed amusement park. Really want to visit this place. Link

Sega

Game Rant has a feature on the final Sega Saturn game which was based on Anime. Link

The rankers at CBR give their view on the best 15 Sonic games. For me, it was Sonic 2. Link

 

Other

Reutir has an article on Nintendo’s biggest mistake – the Nintendo Playstation which never was. Link

 

Bleeding Cool gives details of the 6 new games created by Digital Eclipse for their Atari 50 collection. Link

Konami has announced the launch of the TurboGrafix-16 mini! Link

Welcome to issue #17! On the 9th November 1996 Sonic 3D Blast was released for the Genesis. 3D is a very optimistic word for this game, but you can play it here.

 

Nintendo

Do you like Casio G-Shock watches? Do you like Super Mario Bros? Then Casio have got you covered. Reported by Crunchyroll. Link

Can you name every Nintendo console in chronological order? I thought I could, but if you need a reminder, ScreenRant have got a list. Link

The year is 2022, you decide you want to build a new NES from scratch – well, you can! Here is a guide from Low Budget reported by Adafruit. Link

A smart chap has managed to stream and record Game Boy games using the OG hardware – using a Pi. Toms Hardware report. Link

Think you know your NES games, well The Express have a quiz to test your knowledge. Link

Kotaku reports that Luigi’s mansion was due to launch on the N64 DD. Link

Inverse has an article on one of the hardest games ever, Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. Link

 

Sega

KitGuru report that the next Sega mini console will be decided by fans. Which would you like to see (a mini Saturn would be cool). Link

SVG report one how a lost ”Risqué” Sega Saturn game was finally found. Link

 

Other

A nice article on Japan’s love affair with gaming, lots of retro goodness covered – thanks to Time Square Chronicles. Link

GameRant list the best consoles of the 80’s. Which would you pick as #1 (comments below). Link

Popular Mechanics have a nice article looking at the 50 years of Atari and question how the pioneer of home gaming failed to capitalise on their early start. Link

Thats all for this week, thanks for reading and if you have any suggestions you can let us know on Instagram, or Twitter– or just drop a note in the comments.

The “obligatory” Halloween edition. Instead of celebrating a birthday, I will share my personal favorite horror genre game – Splatterhouse 2 on the Megadrive (Genesis). You can play this game here.

Nintendo

Dualshockers have a list of the 10 strangest games released on the Super Nintendo. Link

Classic Nintendo controllers are now compatible with IOS and tvOS 16.1 California 18 is reporting (adaptor needed). Link

Destrictoid has a feature on the SNES version of Jurassic Park. Link

If you are a Gamecube user and use the Game Boy Player – there is a hack that The Gamer is reporting on that makes it much better. Link

Go Nintendo look at some spooky Nintendo worlds/levels. Link

No one:

Absolutely no one:

CBR – 10 Mario Enemies That Would Make Good Pets. Link

Just in case you are not done with lists (they get a surprising number of clicks according to my data) Dualshockers look at the 10 strangest 10 N64 games. Link

 

Sega

Game News 24 has an article in memory of Reiko Kodama, the Grand Dame of Sega” who sadly passed away. An impressive life. Link

Sonic has now passed more than 1.51 Billion unit sales and downloads report Shacknews. Link

 

Other

Gamefreaks 365 have a feature article on Ms. Pac-Man, worth a read on the OG female lead character. Link

iTechSpot has a list of 5 games (mostly retro) based on scary movies. I can think of many more.. Link

For those of you that collect games, you might interested to know that Analogue is releasing a final batch of their Sega SG and Nintendo NT – they are beautiful machines and play original games. Link

A bit list heavy this week (but it is Halloween) – Screenrant looks at the 10 worst gaming system accessories. Link

PC Mag looks at the worst arcade conversions of all time. Link

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, and wishing you all a spooky Halloween!

 

Welcome to issue #15, this week – 34 years ago this week the Sega Genesis was launched in the USA, so I use this an an opportunity to play one of the best platform games ever – Sonic the Hedgehog – you can play online here.

Nintendo

You know that Donkey Kong was originally about Popeye right? No? Then you might want to check out CBR’s 10 (surprise surprise) incredibly confusing facts about Nintendo. Link

Last week the NES turned 37 years old, probably the most iconic consoles of all time and Out Kick take you on a trip down memory lane to celebrate this birthday. Link

Nintendo has always walked its own path when it comes to hardware and gaming, not always following logical convention and having some massive hits. Gear Rice look at 7 Nintendo products that were different from the rest. Link

The director of Super Smash Bros – Sakurai – has released some information of the original Smash Bros prototype (minus Mario). Worth a look if you are a fan of the series, Reutir report. Link

Sega

Megazone was the magazine for Sega in Australia, but it was also owned by the sole distributor of Sega products. Read more about the shady history courtesy of Super Jump Magazine. Link

Screen Rank look at 10 hardest Genesis/Megadrives they still have not beaten (below). Link

Other

Remember back in the day there used to be a lot of brands trying to break into games, with varying degrees of success. California 18 look back at 10 brands (below) that made the decision to release games (mostly retro). Link

There is a new website that offers 23 emulators to test your rooms playable via a browser. Find it in this link.

The Gamer look at the best of the 8 bit fighting games. Link

 

Thats it for this week, thanks for reading and gives us a like and/or a share if you are enjoying the newsletter (and if you are not, then please let us know what we can do better!).

Welcome to issue number lucky 13, this week 27 years ago Mortal Kombat 3 was launched on the SNES & Megadrive/Genesis – if you want to play it, you can do here. Also, a big thanks on making this the biggest retro gaming newsletter on Substack!

Please do keep sharing this with the retro gaming community, and we are always open to feedback and comments to make this better.

Nintendo

Go Nintendo reports that a fan has made a very cool portable Super Famicom (below) using the SNES classic as the base. Link

The trailer for the new CGI Super Mario Bros film it out, and I think it looks pretty cool. Link

Geek Tyrant share the news that Retrotainment have created a new Garbage Pail Kids video game for the NES (plus the modern consoles). I was (am) a big nerd for GBK so will be checking this out (below). Link

The SNES is a beautifully designed console, no matter the revision, or the region – but they do tend to yellow as they age. Game Mite explain why and what you can do about it. Link

Chris Scullion has launched a new gaming encyclopedia (below) honouring the N64. It includes all games for the console, including Japanese and 64DD versions. Nintendo Life tell more. Link

Like Mario loves coins, like Sonic loves rings – CBR loves lists. Here they share with you Mario’s “top 10” creepiest enemies (below). No mention of OG boo :(. Link

 

Sega

For the Win give their opinion on the best Sega CD (Mega CD) games ever! Link

Sega has and did have some excellent franchises, but some of them have not been touched for years. CBR look at 10 which have been all but forgotten. Link

Other

Mooooooooorrrtaaaaal Kooooombaaaaat turns 30 and Spark Chronicles tells the story of the game dubbed “too violent for our children”. Link

Can you name the 7 video game characters that have appeared in each of the last 4 decades? I got 5. Gamerant have the full list. Link

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading – I appreciate you all.

 

5 years ago this week Starfox 2 was finally released for the SNES mini. You can play this very delayed sequel here.

Nintendo

 

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Nintendo have always been the custodian of their platform, putting in place a number of measures to make it more kid friendly. This went as far as Nintendo asking the developers of X-Men in Arcades Revenge to censor some of the locations. Ruetir report. Link

Death, tax and CBR’s lists are three things you can be sure of. This latest list is 10 underrated SNES games everyone should play (apparently). Link

For those of you that want to be able to send Tweets from your NES (yes, you read that right) – No Bad Memories have got the connected NES for you. Link

Or maybe perhaps you can get your NES and install a new OS to give you some new functionality? NESOS 1.0 features 2 apps and a word processor! Arstechnica go into more detail. Link

 

Sega (slow Sega news week)

For the win look at the best Sega Saturn games ever. Link

Other

Limited Run Games are launching a book division and re-publishing some books that have released in the past. Game News 24 look at some of their works. Link

Kotaku have a nice piece on how Sony won the console war. Link

The Blockbuster World Video Game championships are back! I went the the original one in the UK in the 90’s (at a theme park in the UK). NME explain more (below). Link

Gamepur look at the 5 failed consoles that lasted longer than the Google Stadia… Bit harsh on the Sega Saturn. Link

SNK Celebrated 30 years of the “Art of Fighting” with some new art (below). Nintendo Life report and I will just share the picture to save you a click unless you are really interested. Link

 

 

That’s all folks, thanks for reading!