A new ROM hack called Pokémon Mario Red and Luigi Green has recently been announced, merging two of Nintendo’s most enduring franchises into a single project. This inventive spin on the original Pokémon adventures replaces familiar pocket monsters with beloved Mushroom Kingdom characters, which is a really interesting project.
Credit: DogPond4 Twitter
Mario has been synonymous with Nintendo since the 1980s, headlining titles from the earliest NES releases to more modern platforms, while Pokémon, first published in 1996 for the Game Boy, quickly became a worldwide sensation. Both remain central pillars of Nintendo’s heritage, with each franchise having introduced millions to gaming in their formative years. By fusing these icons, the ROM hack pays homage to the playful exploration found in classic Pokémon while embracing the whimsical spirit of the Mario series.
Hey everyone!
It's time for me to officially announce the ROM hack I'm working on: Pokémon Mario Red & Luigi Green! All 151 Pokémon will be replaced with Mario characters, along with plenty of surprises! pic.twitter.com/VK6QDK1cFU
From a technical perspective, ROM hacking is an intricate process that involves altering a game’s original data to introduce new visuals, storylines, or gameplay mechanics. While the practice has its roots in the broader retro gaming community. It is going to be very interesting to see how DogPond4 approaches the balance of the characters, will he simply lift the stats from the Pokemon and assign them to the Mario characters, and which ones will align with the different Pokemon types? I already like the approach that has been shared regarding how the evolutions and shinies will work in the hack.
Credit: DogPond4 / Twitter
Interestingly, the original Pokémon Red and Green for the Game Boy ranked among the best-selling RPGs of all time, with over 30 million copies sold worldwide. The ongoing popularity of Pokémon, combined with the universal appeal of Mario, underscores the significance of this hybrid hack for classic games collectors and Nintendo devotees alike. You can follow the project, by following DogPond4 on X.
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Time Magazine has released a Special “Mario” Edition of its famous magazine to celebrate 40 years of Nintendos legendary mascot.
Credit: Time Magazine
The decision to mark the plumber’s 40th anniversary by placing him on a special edition cover highlights Mario’s unrivalled influence on the world of gaming. Technically, Mario is 44 years old, his first appearance being as “Jumpman” for the arcade game Donkey Kong, but most people mark the start of the Mario era based on his first appearance in Mario Bros in 1985 on the NES.
For those who grew up with Mario, this cover signifies more than a pop-culture nod; it’s a celebration of an enduring legacy that helped shape side-scrolling platformers and established a high bar for game design and playability. Mario’s journey from 8-bit sprite on the original NES to the fully realised hero in today’s titles exemplifies the evolving technical landscape. From cartridge-based consoles that paved the way for speedy arcade ports to modern 3D worlds running on advanced hardware, Mario’s presence throughout gaming history has remained consistent, adaptable, and beloved.
Beyond pure nostalgia, this Time Magazine feature underlines Mario’s international reach and commercial success. Few gaming characters have made the leap from classic games on platforms such as the Game Boy, SNES, and even the occasional PC port, to still remain relevant decades later. This milestone acknowledges how retro gaming continues to inspire current titles, captivating both new players and those who fondly remember the 8-bit era and the early years of gaming.
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Nintendo has officially unveiled a range of discounts for Mario Day, celebrated annually on 10 March. This beloved tradition pays tribute to gaming’s most recognisable plumber, who first appeared in the 1981 arcade classic Donkey Kong, albeit under a different name—Jumpman. For 2025, the promotions spotlight a selection of Mario-centric Nintendo Switch titles, including price reductions on Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. Some retailers are also bundling themed Joy-Con controllers, making it a convenient time for fans and collectors to grab these signature games.
Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD– $39.99 (normally $59.99) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe– $39.99 (normally $59.99) Mario vs. Donkey Kong– $29.99 (normally $49.99) Princess Peach: Showtime!– $39.99 (normally $59.99) Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury– $39.99 (normally $59.99) Super Mario Odyssey– $39.99 (normally $59.99) Super Mario RPG– $39.99 (normally $59.99)
Credit: Nintendo
Beyond the discounts, Nintendo has organised a series of events to mark the occasion such as a Mario Kart Tournament, GameStop and BestBuy demo events and even a Jet Blue A320 (below) – amongst a host of other activities and offers.
Credit: Jetblue/Nintendo
Since Mario’s earliest days, enthusiasts have praised the series’ accessible gameplay, charming worlds, and memorable soundtracks. In fact, the character’s creation by legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto helped shape the foundation of platform gaming. It’s a testament to the series’ legacy that Mario remains a cultural icon more than four decades after his debut.
Keep your classic games safe with RetroShell, designed to protect your retro collection. For the latest updates on retro gaming, subscribe to our free Substack, delivered to your inbox every Monday! Interestingly, Mario was named after Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo of America’s early warehouses.
Donkey Kong, Nintendo’s legendary 1981 arcade classic, has made its way to the ZX Spectrum in a great conversion by developer Artonapilos. This faithful recreation brings the barrel-dodging, hammer-swinging action of the original to the beloved 8-bit home computer, offering a nostalgic blast from the past for enthusiasts of classic games.
Credit: Indie Retro News
For those unfamiliar, Donkey Kong marks a pivotal moment in gaming history. Launched in arcades over 40 years ago, it introduced players to Mario—originally dubbed Jumpman—as he battled the titular ape to rescue a damsel in distress. The game’s simple mechanics, challenging platforming, and quirky charm turned it into an instant hit, laying the groundwork for Nintendo’s dominance in the industry. It also spawned a legacy that includes the Super Mario Bros. franchise, cementing its place among the most influential titles ever made.
The ZX Spectrum, a cornerstone of 1980s computing in Britain, is the perfect platform for this revival. With its distinctive rubber keys and vibrant library of games, it remains a fan favourite among retro gamers. Artonapilos has tapped into this affection, delivering what many are calling an “amazing clone” of the arcade original. The developer’s attention to detail shines through, with enhancements like AY sound support for Spectrums equipped with an AY chip—or external devices like the Melodik—adding richer audio. Players can even toggle background music, which plays alongside sound effects, a rare treat for an 8-bit title.
This isn’t just a straight port, either. Artonapilos has polished the experience with fixes to Mario’s animations, adjusted barrel behaviours to match the arcade version, and sped up lifts in later levels for a tougher challenge. The game now runs smoothly on a wider range of systems, including the Timex TC 2068 and TS 2068, and supports various joysticks, making it more accessible than ever. A free version, complete with these upgrades, is available now, ensuring everyone can enjoy this retro gem.
Interestingly, Donkey Kong has seen other recent conversions, like JOTD’s effort for the Commodore Amiga, proving its enduring appeal. Yet, this ZX Spectrum release stands out for pushing the hardware’s limits while staying true to the 1980s arcade spirit. It’s a testament to the passion keeping classic games alive.
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Nintendo has reported a 46% decline in operating profit over the past nine months, with both hardware and software sales falling below expectations. The company’s latest earnings report highlights the financial impact of a maturing Switch market and weaker software sales compared to previous years.
From April to December 2023, Nintendo’s operating profit fell to ¥410.5 billion ($2.8 billion USD) from ¥560 billion in the same period last year. Net sales also saw a 7.6% decrease, reflecting slowing demand for the Switch console. This is despite strong performances from key titles like Super Mario Bros. Wonder, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Pikmin 4.
Japanese Adverts Hit Different
A major factor behind this decline is the natural slowdown of the Nintendo Switch after nearly seven years on the market. While it remains a strong seller, demand is clearly tapering off, with Switch hardware sales down 7.8% year-over-year. The company has also revised its full-year Switch sales forecast from 15 million units to 13.5 million, further signaling the console’s late-stage lifecycle.
On the software side, game sales dropped 4%, despite Super Mario Bros. Wonder surpassing 11.96 million copies sold in under three months. While this is impressive, Nintendo’s 2023 lineup didn’t match the explosive performance of 2022’s Pokémon Scarlet & Violet or Splatoon 3.
With speculation mounting about the release date for the Switch 2, and the company maintaining a strong software pipeline and a vast player base, suggesting it will remain a dominant force in gaming.
When the Nintendo Game Boy launched in 1989, it wasn’t met with the universal acclaim you might expect. Critics weren’t kind. The hardware was deemed underpowered, the screen had no backlight, and its graphics were simplistic, even for the time. And yet, the Game Boy didn’t just survive; it thrived. It became one of the most iconic gaming devices in history, selling over 118 million units worldwide and kickstarting franchises that are still beloved today.
What made the Game Boy a success wasn’t technological superiority but a deliberate strategy. By focusing on affordability, portability, and battery efficiency, Nintendo created a console that could reach the masses. And behind the Game Boy’s success lay brilliant engineering decisions that made the most of its limited capabilities. This is the story of how compromises became the cornerstone of its triumph.
Designing for the Masses
From the start, Nintendo’s goal was clear: make the Game Boy affordable and accessible. The system needed to be portable, lightweight, and easy to use. At just under 15 cm in height, 3 cm thick, and weighing 220 grams, the Game Boy was designed to be carried anywhere. Its size and weight were revolutionary compared to its bulkier competitors.
The design borrowed heavily from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Its button layout was simple and familiar: a directional pad, two action buttons, and start/select buttons. By keeping the controls straightforward, Nintendo ensured that the Game Boy was intuitive for both seasoned players and newcomers.
Credit iFixIt
The Battery Dilemma
One of the most significant challenges for portable devices in the late 80s was battery technology. Alkaline batteries were large, expensive, and non-rechargeable. Nintendo’s engineers knew that battery life would make or break the Game Boy.
While its main competitor, the Sega Game Gear, required six AA batteries for just three hours of gameplay, the Game Boy used only four and could run for up to 30 hours. This wasn’t just a technical achievement—it was a consumer-friendly decision. For every hour of playtime, the Game Boy cost about 16 cents in batteries, compared to the Game Gear’s $2.30. This difference made the Game Boy far more appealing to budget-conscious families.
A Screen That Almost Killed the Project
The Game Boy’s monochrome screen is iconic today, but it was a controversial choice at the time. Unlike the Game Gear’s colour LCD, the Game Boy’s display was limited to four shades of green and had no backlight, making it nearly unusable in low light. But these limitations were intentional. Colour screens consumed far more power, and Nintendo prioritized battery efficiency over visual fidelity.
However, even this low-power screen presented challenges. Early prototypes used liquid crystals that twisted 90 degrees, but the resulting contrast was poor. Pixels blurred into each other, creating an unreadable mess. When Nintendo President Hiroshi Yamauchi tested a prototype, he cancelled the project outright.
The breakthrough came with SHARP’s Supertwisted Nematic (STN) LCD screens, which used crystals twisted between 180 and 270 degrees. These screens offered a sharper transition between on and off states, dramatically improving contrast and clarity. The “green” hue of the Game Boy screen was a byproduct of the polarizing filters used in these displays.
Ingeniously, the Game Boy created its four shades of green not by using different voltage levels but by pulsing pixels on and off at varying speeds. Faster pulses created darker shades, while slower pulses produced lighter tones. This technique, known as pulse-width modulation, remains in use today in LED brightness control.
The Magic of Limited Memory
The Game Boy’s 8-bit CPU had access to just 64 kilobytes of memory—less than the size of a single frame of a modern HD video. To create games like Super Mario Land, developers had to stretch this tiny resource to its absolute limits.
The system divided its memory between the console and the game cartridge. Clever engineering allowed the Game Boy to use tiles—small 8×8 pixel graphics blocks—to construct larger images. Instead of addressing each of the screen’s 23,040 pixels individually, games were built using a combination of static backgrounds and movable sprites. This method conserved memory while enabling smooth scrolling and animations.
For example, in Super Mario Land 2, the background was assembled from a grid of tiles, while characters like Mario were made from multiple 8×8 sprites. By moving the viewing window across the background, the illusion of movement was created. Programmers even used mid-frame pauses to adjust the viewing window dynamically, enabling effects like the curved roads in racing games or the cinematic intros in titles like The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.
Audio Simplicity, Iconic Results
The Game Boy’s audio system was just as minimalistic as its graphics. It featured a single speaker and four sound channels: two for square wave tones, one for white noise (used for percussion), and one for custom waveforms stored in the cartridge. Despite these constraints, composers created some of the most memorable music in gaming history.
The intro to Pokémon games, with its catchy melody and simple beats, exemplifies this. By layering square waves, adding a custom waveform, and using white noise for percussion, developers created tracks that remain etched in gamers’ minds.
Security and Tradition
Every licensed Game Boy cartridge included a hard-coded set of data that the console checked during boot-up. This was a security feature to prevent unlicensed games, but it also gave rise to an unexpected ritual: blowing on cartridges.
If the console couldn’t verify the data due to dust or a faulty connection, it wouldn’t start. Players around the world discovered that a quick blow on the cartridge pins often resolved the issue. This shared experience became a hallmark of Game Boy ownership, transcending borders and languages.
Credit HackaDay
Memory Banking: The Pokémon Revolution
One of the most remarkable feats of Game Boy engineering was memory banking. While the console could only read 32 KB of data at a time, games like Pokémon Red/Blue required far more storage—up to 373 KB. Developers solved this by dividing the data into “banks” and dynamically switching between them.
When a player opened the Pokédex, for instance, the system accessed the memory bank containing Pokémon descriptions. Entering a PokéMart loaded a different bank with item prices. This seamless switching allowed Pokémon to offer a sprawling world on a system with extremely limited hardware.
Affordability Meets Accessibility
At launch, the Game Boy cost $89—significantly less than its competitors. Combined with its long battery life and robust library of games, it became the go-to console for millions of players. For many, it was their first gaming experience, introducing them to franchises like Tetris, Pokémon, and Super Mario.
Nintendo’s focus on accessibility defined the company’s philosophy. While competitors chased cutting-edge hardware, Nintendo prioritized fun and usability. This ethos continued with later devices like the Wii, which brought motion controls to mainstream audiences, and the Switch, a hybrid console that lets players game on the go or at home.
A Legacy of Innovation
The Game Boy wasn’t just a product; it was a cultural phenomenon. Its simple design and clever engineering inspired generations of gamers and developers. Decades later, the device remains a symbol of ingenuity—a reminder that limitations can spark creativity.
Today, gaming consoles are complex, internet-connected devices that gather data and require constant updates. The Game Boy, with its physical cartridges and link cables, feels like a relic from a simpler time. Yet, its impact is undeniable. It shaped the gaming industry and created memories that endure to this day.
So, next time you hear the cheerful beeps of a Game Boy startup or hum the theme to Pokémon Red, remember the genius behind that green-tinted screen. It’s more than nostalgia—it’s a celebration of one of gaming’s greatest achievements.
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