NINTENDO: BEFORE THE VIDEOGAMES
When most people think of Nintendo, they think of Videogames. The thing they don’t realize though is that Nintendo was the first to ever mass produce playing cards and sell them in Japan. Here is the story of Nintendo before the videogames...
In the beginning (1889), Fusajiro Yamauchi (the great-grandfather of Hiroshi Yamauchi) started making Japanese playing cards in Japan. These cards were called “Hanafuda”, and became pretty popular all over Japan around 1902. In 1933, the name of the company was called Yamauchi Nintendo & Co. In 1947 they began the distribution company called Marufuku Co. Ltd.
It wasn’t till 1950 until Hiroshi Yamauchi became president of Yamauchi Nintendo & Co. One of the first things he did was change the name to Nintendo playing Card Co. Ltd. in 1951. Under his tenure, Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. became the first company to succeed in mass producing plastic playing cards throughout Japan.
Around 1959, Disney Characters started to appear on cards. This boosted the card department substantially.
In 1963, it marked Nintendo’s transition from a card making company to a game making company. First it was just like board games and such, but then in 1970 the Beam Gun was created. It used opto-electronics and was the first game ever to incorporate electronics into the Japanese toy industry. Later in 1973 they developed a laser clay shooting system and in ‘74 they made this projector type thing for amusement arcades. They were also being shipped to the US and to Europe.
It wasn’t until 1975 though, when Nintendo made its first videogame system. In cooperation with Mitsubishi Electric, Nintendo designed a videogame system using “Electronic Video Recording”. Then a year later in ‘76 they started using microprocessors. In 1978 they started selling coin operated videogames that were played on microcomputers and by ‘79 this type of gaming had its own division in Nintendo.
1980 marked the creation of Nintendo of America (NoA) and the initiation of the “Game & Watch” line into the gaming market. By 1983, NoA’s capital reached 10 million. This is when Nintendo really started getting into videogames. In 1981 Donkey Kong was created and was a huge success in the videogame business. It had people from all around going to the arcades and strengthened Nintendo’s interest in the videogame market. In 1983, Nintendo started mass producing and selling the home videogame console “Family Computer”. it had its own CPU(Custom Processing Unit) and a PPU (Picture Processing Unit)
It wasn’t until 1985 though until the US got a version of the Family Computer (Nintendo Entertainment System). This was the first time gamers got to see Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Zelda, and Samus at their home. They also used the popular beam tech for games like Duck Hunt and Clay Shooter. Soon enough, the NES was the highest selling toy in America and the Legend of Zelda became the first ever game to sell over a Million units. Now Nintendo is fully fledged into videogames. In 1988, they stared up Nintendo Power, a magazine for Nintendo game players. A year later, NP became the largest paid subscription mag. in its age group. Soon after that Nintendo began to aggressively market their game products to people. Soon Mario and Luigi became a household name and Nintendo's popularity continued to grow.
In 1991, the Super Nintendo was created and Super Mario World was the game right by its side. Many great games came out for the SNES including the likes of Mario, Zelda, Starfox, and Metroid. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is considered by some to be the greatest game of all time. In 1993, Nintendo created the Super FX chip for use on the game Star Fox that was released in April. The game featured 3d graphics for the first time ever in a videogame. 1994 was Nintendo’s first venture into the handheld market with the Game Boy. it was a huge hit, as gamers could now play games not only at home, but anywhere now.
In 1996, the Nintendo 64 was released. it sold more then 500K in the first day. The first true 3D exploration game was created (Mario 64). Now met with competition by Sony, the Nintendo 64, although with pretty good sales, lost in the console war.
On November 18th, 2001, the Gamecube was released. With one of the Gamecube’s the most notable launch title being Luigi’s Mansion, its fate was sealed from the start. While the system had many games that were geared towards a more hardcore audience the system never appealed to the mainstream audience and therefore became a niche console throughout its lifespan. Throughout a fierce battle with Microsoft’s XBOX for second place in the console war, Nintendo’s endless supply of bad business decisions forced them into the dreaded cellar of the market share.
Starting in 2004, with the release of the Nintendo DS, the strategy for the company and the market share as well began to shift dramatically into a new direction. This marked a new era of interactive games taking precedence over graphics, where gameplay overweighed gore, and gaming became a family affair. The Nintendo DS came with two screens, one touch sensitive, as well as a rapidly growing list of high quality games for the hardcore gamer and family alike. This marked the first step for Nintendo towards a new path in gaming.
Following Nintendo’s success with the DS, they then followed suit in May 2005 with the unveiling of the Wii. Nintendo’s Wii was billed as a fully interactive gaming system that offered users a new way to play games. It also was aimed to capture a new crowd of gamers, with its pick up and play mentality being much easier to catch on to. As with the DS, the days leading up to launch was met with large speculation as to how well the system would perform stacked up to a fully loaded entertainment machine such as the Playstation 3. However, when November 19th came rolling around the corner, everyone soon learned thereafter that Nintendo’s new home console endeavor would not disappoint. Still not readily available on store shelves many months into launch, Nintendo has shown that it still has the winning formula when it comes to game. Now we have to see whether they have the consistency part down yet.
SYSTEM HISTORY
Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom)
Nintendo’s first system was released in 1983 in Japan. It was really one of the first systems that caught the gamer’s eye. With games like Zelda, Mario, Metroid and others, this system paved the way for others to come.
Stats:
CPU
# 6508 (using a custom Motorola 6502 class), 1.79 Mhz
Memory
# Main RAM: 2 KB
# Video RAM: 2 KB
Graphics
# Display: 256x240
# Colors: 52
# Colors on Screen: 16
# Max Sprites: 64
# Max Sprites / Line: 8
# Sprite Size: 8x8 or 8x16
# Picture Scroll Horizontal / Vertical
Versions
Famicom
This was released in 1983 by Nintendo in Japan and a few other countries. It was released in many different versions. There are also many pirated types of this system.
NES
This is the system most US gamers seen. Although released three years after the Famicom in 1986, it was poorly designed. it allowed dust to infiltrate the system and was the cause for many systems that just stopped working after a while.
Pirate Versions
These systems are basically a way to play the games with out paying the price. Here is an example of one:
Famicom Disk
Just as it sounds, this was an extra disk drive added onto the Famicom for games. It sold over 4 million in Japan. It was never released in America due to Piracy.
Accesories
Power Glove
Designed by Mattel, if offered new heights to playing videogames.
Game Mat
A mat with 8 buttons on it. It came with he Athletic World Game Cartridge.
R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy
Plastic Robot about 1 foot high. He is most known for his appearances in the Star Fox Franchise even though this was before Star Fox.
NES Satellite
It allows more players to play on the NES (up to four people can play now)
Super Nintendo
The Super Nintendo was another big hit for Nintendo. All of its big hit games were back, including Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid and Star Fox (new edition). Many of the games that are today heralded as some of the best videogames ever were developed for the Super Nintendo. This marked one of the final years that Nintendo had full support from third party developers.
Stats
CPU
# Type: 65816 16-bit: 2.68 / 3.58 Mhz
# 16-bit Picture Processing Unit
Memory
# RAM: 1 Mbit (128 Kbyte)
# Video RAM: 0.5 Mbit (64 Kbyte)
# Cart Size's: 2 Mbit - 48 Mbit
Display
# Max Resolution: 512 x 448 pixels
# Colors: 32,768 colors Max Colors at Once: 256
# Max Sprite Size: 64 x 64 pixels
# Max Sprites: 128 sprites
Video
# A PAL SNES can output RF, RGB, and S-Video.
Sound
# Sound Chip: 8-bit Sony SPC700 Sound Channels: 8
Features
# Mode 7
# 2 Controller ports
# Some games contain additional Chips to enhance the games. Mario Kart for instance contains a DSP. Other Titles such as Star Fox contain the FX chip to help with processing those 3D graphics.
Versions
Super Famicom
The Super Famicom was released in Japan in 1990. The system is basically the same as the UK version except that it runs at 60Mhz and has territorial lockout. It cost 32,000 yen with the normal bundle package that included 2 controllers and Super Mario World
Super Nintendo
Released once again with SMW and 2 controllers, this system sported a different look then its counterparts. It was more rectangular.
Super Nintendo (Europe)
Released in 1992 in Europe, this is almost the exact same version as the Famicom Released in Europe.
SNES 101
only released in the US and Japan, this system was a much smaller, sleeker and overall better looking version of the system. Yoshi’s Island is boxed in on this pic (pic game from RetroGames)
Accessories
Super Scope
The SNES Light gun
SNES Controller
Standard issue controller
SNES Game Genie
Allowed for players to cheat on videogames. Nobody likes a cheater huh? tongue
Mouse Pad
For use with Mario Paint
SNES Sattellite
The satellite view was only released in Japan and allows the SNES to connect to a special satellite channel called "St GIGA". Games and demos could be downloaded at particular times to a BS-X Special Broadcast Cassette containing 1 megabit of flash ram.
Games included BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2 (Nintendo) and Excite Bike Bum Bum Mario Battle (Nintendo).
Other
SNES DSP Chip
Used to create more realistic 3D graphics seen in Pilot Wings and Super Mario Cart. It took some of the load off the SNES processor by doing some of the data processing.
SNES Super Fx/Fx2
Helped create some of the great 3D graphics that you seen in games like Star Fox and Vortex. The FX chip uses of the extra little pin connectors, which are found inside the cartridge only on FX games.
Nintendo Gameboy
Gameboy
This is quite possible the most popular system ever invented. First released in 1988, it revolutionized gaming for many, and even brought new people into the mix. After the gameboy, there were many other enhancements. Read on:
Gameboy Pocket
A handheld version of the Gameboy. It was light weight and fitted into gamers pockets.
Stats
CPU
# 6502 (8-bit) (Similar to the Z80 processor.)
# .14 MHz Clock Speed: 4.194304 MHz
Memory
# 8K Bytes Video RAM: 8K
Display
# 2.6" Screen
Resolution:
# 160x144
Colors:
# 4 luminences (monochromatic)
Max # of sprites:
# 40
Max # sprites/line: 10 Sprite size:
# 8x8 / 8x16
Sound
# 4 channels with stereo sound .
GameBoy Color
This system was basically the same as the GameBoy but in COLOR! What more could a gamer want??? tongue Anyways, this sold like crazy and every kid, brother and friend had one. You could also still play with you old games which gave no reason for the original GameBoy fans not to switch over.
Stats
ROM sizes:
# Up to 64 Megabits
Display
# 2.3" Thin-Film Transistor
# (TFT) Color Liquid Crystal Display Display
# 160 x 144 Reflective LCD
Total Palette
# 32,768
RAM
# 32k bytes
Video RAM
# 16k bytes
Serial Communications Rate
# Up to 512k bit per second
GameBoy Advance
This is the latest installment of the gameboy series. This system has SNES like graphics, if not better. So far is has been selling like hotcakes, but the arrival of the GBA SP (The GBA enhancement) could once again create a new seller on the market. But for $100 for a new look and a backlight, who knows?
Stats
CPU
# 32-Bit ARM with embedded memory[li]
Display
[li]2.9" TFT reflective screen
# 240x160 resolution
# 2,768 possible colors
# 511 simultaneous colors in character mode; 32,768 simultaneous colors in bitmap mode
Virtual Boy
The Virtual Boy was released in August 15th, 1995 in America and was one of the first systems to simulate a 3D environment. The games themselves were shown by looking into a goggle display, and played with a controller attached to the system. For the most part the system was a complete failure and never sold over 1 million units in any of the countries in which it was released.
Stats
CPU
# 32-bit RISC Processor @ 20 MHz
RAM
# 1 MB DRAM
# 512 KB PSRAM
Display
# 384 x 224 Screen Resolution
Sound
# 16 Bit Stereo Sound
Nintendo 64
This system was deemed a success by Nintendo (because they made profit) but really was considered a failure by everyone else in the console market. Even though the console housed some of the greatest games ever made (Mario, Zelda) its competition in Sony out marketed it and beat Nintendo badly. This is when Nintendo started garnering a reputation for being kiddy. There were really no other types of this system unlike in the other predecessors. This time every country got the same system until towards they end they started making “game specific” 64’s.
Stats
CPU
# Custom 64-bit MIPS R4300i-class RISC (93.75 MHz)
Co-Processor
# RCP (62.5 MHz)
# Built-in Audio/Video Vector Processor (RSP)
# Over half a billion (500,000,000) vector operations/sec
Pixel Drawing Processor (RDP)
# Advanced Texture-Mapping
# Detail Texturing
# Tri-linear Mip Map Interpolation
# Perspective Correction Environment Mapping
# Depth Buffering
# Color Combiner
# Anti-Aliasing and Blending
# Rasterizing
# Z-Buffering
# Automatic LOD Management
# Vertex positioning and transformations
# Depth, color and texture clipping
# Transparency (256 levels max)
# Gouraud Shading
MEMORY
# 4 Megabytes - Upgradeable
SOUND
# Stereo 16-bit
# ADPCM Compression
# 100 PCM channels possible
DISPLAY
# 256 x 224 to 640 x 480
# Flicker Free Interlace Mode
# 21-bit color output
# 32-bit RGBA Pixel Color Frame Buffer
Accessories
N64 DD(Disk Drive System)
Basically another Disk Drive, this time made for the 64. The N64DD bombed horribly, and was never released in America.
Expansion Pack
Bundled with The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask in the United Stats, it contained an extra 4Mb of RAM which allowed games using it to run faster and more smooth.
Nintendo Gamecube
The Nintendo Gamecube was basically rock bottom for Nintendo. Once again they decided to do things their own way and really not try to cater to any third party developers. Even while competing with Microsoft for second place in the console war, Nintendo’s new system seemingly had no room in which to grow in while Microsoft was pretty much taking all the gamers Nintendo had hoped to. The only people that bought the system were its loyal hardcore fans and the younger fan base. While the Gamecube was in large a failure on Nintendo’s part, it still provided many classic games and some killer AAA apps. It was also a big wake up call for the gaming communities biggest company.
Stats
CPU
# 485 MHz IBM "Gekko" PowerPC CPU.
GPU
# 162 MHz "Flipper" Processor
Memory
# 43 Mb Total RAM
Video
# 480i (composite cables)
# 480p (component cables)
Accessories
Gamecube Modem Adapter
This allowed for gamers to connect online on Nintendo’s lackluster gaming network.
Gameboy Player
Allowed for users to play their Gameboy games on a bigger screen using the Nintendo Gamecube.
Nintendo Wavebird
First true First Party Wireless controller allowed users to play their games from anywhere in the home. A very convenient controller to have.
Nintendo DS
The Nintendo DS is a dual screen gaming system with the bottom screen also serving as a touch pad allowing for improved interactivity. The DS also supports voice recognition via a microphone on the device as well as visuals that rival the quality of the N64. This system marked a change in Nintendo’s business strategy.
Stats
CPU
# ARM946E-S Main CPU 67 MHz
# ARM7TDMI Co-CPU 33 MHz
Memory
# 4 Mb Main RAM
# 656 Kb Video RAM
Video
# Dual 3” LCD Screens
# 256X192 Resolution per Screen
# One Touch Screen LCD
Internet
# Built in Wi-Fi connectivity
Accessories
DS Download Play
This allows you to go to certain specified areas and download demos of current and upcoming games from a Nintendo download kiosk. It also allows you to use a single game cart to play with multiple people on different DS systems.
Rumble Pack
When connected into the GBA Game slot on the Nintendo DS it allows players to experience rumble while playing their games.
Opera Internet Browser
This allows for any user in range of a wireless hotspot to connect a freely browse the internet on their Nintendo DS game system.
Stylus Pen
Pen used to write and play games with on the Nintendo DS
Nintendo Wii
The Wii is Nintendo’s most recent foray into the console market. So far it has been met with huge success. Basically it’s a system with roughly 2 to 3 times more power than the Gamecube, almost the same architecture, but with an entirely new way to play games. The controller for the Wii is only a remote control, with the ability to sense motion at any angle due to the sensor bar connected to the Wii that is either placed at the bottom or top of the television. The Wii remote can also be connected to many different peripheral devices, most notably the nunchuck controller, in order to further enhance gameplay capabilities. It also has built in Wireless, like the DS, in order to ensure easy connectivity to any gamers setup.
Stats
CPU
# PowerPC "Broadway" processor 729 MHz
GPU
# ATI "Hollywood" Graphics Processor 243 MHz
Memory
# 24 Mb Internal 1T-SRAM
# 64 Mb External GDDR3 SDRAM
# 3 Mb embedded texture memory
Video
# 480p (component cables)
# 480i (composite cables)
# 16:9 Widescreen Capable
Audio
# Dobly Digital Pro Logic II Capable
# Built-In Speaker on Controller
Storage
# 512 Mb built-in Flash Memory
# Expandable Memory via SD Card Slot
Internet
# Built in Wi-Fi connectivity
Accessories
Wii Remote
Remote used to control the Nintendo Wii
Nunchuck Controller
First attachable accessory included with the Wii and allows gamers movement with an analog stick as well as two shoulder buttons.
Wii Component Cables
Not shipped with the Wii, these cables allow for players with either and ED or HDTV to enjoy their games on the Wii in 480p
Wireless Sensor Bar
Allows users to place a sensor bar for the Wii in previously out of reach places. Also allows for easy transportation.
Wii Charge Station
Lets users charge their controllers with an easy to use rechargeable lithium battery pack
NINTENDO SERIES HISTORY
Mario Series
Introduction
In 1980, Shigeru Miyamoto was developing his first game as a young and budding videogame designer. At first the game was to be made after Popeye (I am sure you all know this guy) but Nintendo lost the rights. When Miyamoto was asked to create a game that he wanted to create, he came up with a game called Donkey Kong staring Jumpman. In this game a huge monkey (Donkey Kong) had captured a woman and it was Jumpman’s job to rescue her. After a while, Jumpman’s name changed to Mario, because of his resemblance to the Italian landlord of Nintendo’s office in New York. In Donkey Kong Jr. Mario officially made his first appearance.
When Miyamoto created Mario, he based him on these principles. At the time hair couldn’t flow freely in the air, so Miyamoto gave him a hat. Mario also has a very big nose and mustache. Why you ask? Because Miyamoto wanted gamers to notice that Mario had a nose. To see Mario’s arms moving, he was given red overalls and a blue shirt. In the first Super Mario game though he had a brown shirt but after that he was officially switched to blue overalls and a red shirt.
Super Mario Bros.
In this game Mario teams up with his brother Luigi’s to fight against Bowser and his evil minions. It is thought of by some as the first true side scrolling game. This game is pretty much the game that started it all. From mushrooms to the princess to Bowser to Koopa it was all there (some left out).
Mario is a fairly easy game to understand and play. The plot is very easy too(and would become the staple of every Mario game to come). Bowser had captured Princess Toadstool and it is now Mario’s job to travel through all the levels of Super Mario Bros. to defeat Bowser and save the princess. There were many obstacles in his way though. Some of the enemies in Mario include the Goombas, the Hammer Bros., Bullet Bills, and Koopas. The way Mario killed these enemies was mostly by jumping on top of them. There were also many upgrades you could get throughout the game that helped Mario on his quest. There was Fire Flowers, which gave Mario the ability to shoot fire. The Mushrooms, which made Mario bigger and stronger. There were also coins, and whenever Mario got 100 of them he got an extra life. There was 8 worlds in Super Mario, with each of them having 4 levels (32 total).
Super Mario Bros. 2
In 1988 when Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in the states it left a lot of gamers scratching their heads. The game had little resemblance to the Mario game that we all known and loved. It also appeared in a different world called Sub-Con. Actually the real sequel to SMB was actually only released in Japan in 1986, where as this game was a modified version of a game in Japan called Doki Doki Panic (cool name huh?) You could also choose from 4 different characters (which never returned in any new installments of the series) Even though the game wasn’t a true sequel, many of the aspects used in SMB2(US) have been continued to be used in new installments of the series.
Super Mario Land
Super Mario Land for the Game Boy was one of its original launch titles. The game was basically the same as the original SMB, but with worse graphics and a new princess to save. This time Mario was trying to save Daisy, not Peach. All the old enemies were still there though, even though this was probably the worst looking Mario game of all of them.
Super Mario Bros 3
SMB3 is considered by some to be the best Mario game made. This game goes back to its roots in which Mario is back trying to save Peach from the clutches of the evil beast Bowser. This was probably the best looking game to come off of the NES. Actually, Nintendo actually held Mario back one year after it was completed to build anticipation for the game.
Along with the old power ups that Mario could acquire in the game, there were also many new ones. There was the leaf, which gave Mario the ability to fly. The Frog Suit, which gave him the ability to swim. There were other suits too but those were the most notable. Mario also had many secrets for gamers to get which also heightened the appeal for the game. Mario was released at the peak of the popularity on the NES and the 2D Platforming genre.
Super Mario World
In 1991, Mario made his first entry onto the 16-bit Super Nintendo with Super Mario World. The game shows a vast improvement in the graphics department, along with some new characters in the game. One of them being Yoshi. When Mario would find Yoshi in SMW he could ride around on Yoshi and Yoshi could eat and spit out enemies. When an enemy hit you, Yoshi would run back and forth until either you got back on him or he fell off a cliff. You could not take Yoshi in to fight the boss though.
While SMW wasn’t as revolutionary as the first game, it still showcased some of the best graphics of its time. This is due to the Super Nintendo’s increased resolution and high color palette.
This game also gave gamers multiple ways to solve the levels and many secrets to find. The game was also much less linear then all of the previous Mario games. Gamers could freely roam each level and like stated above could also find new ways to beat the level. This was one of the primary reasons the SNES sold so great, because it was packed in with the system. All the gamers that bought a Super Nintendo could enjoy Super Mario World for no extra charge. A wonderful move on Nintendo’s part.
Hotel Mario
This game debuted on the Philips CD-I (Possibly the biggest failure ever). Bowser once again captured Princess Peach and hid her in one of seven hotels (hence the name).Mario will have to check behind all the doors for the princess while also battling with familiar enemies from previous Mario installments.
Super Mario All-Stars
This is basically the first three Mario’s jam packed into a Super Nintendo cartridge. Also there was a game called the lost levels. These levels weren’t really lost though. It was actually the never released in America real Super Mario Bros. 2. The graphics and sound is better on all of the games and a save feature is added to each game.
Mario Clash
Virtual Boy. Those two words speak volumes…
Basically it was the first 3D attempt at Mario, but the limitations of the Virtual Boy proved fatal.
Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars
This time Square and Nintendo join forces to create one of the best Mario titles ever made. Even though the game starts off with peach getting stolen, it doesn’t end with him rescuing her. Now since not everyone has played this game I will let it rest at that. Square did an excellent job on the story and its pretty much a basic RPG except for Mario style wink
Paper Mario
This game is essentially the sequel to the SNES version. It features 2D characters in a 3D environment. This game was not co-developed by Square, but it is still good in its own right.
In the beginning of the game, Bowser actually defeats Mario and almost puts him out for good. With the help of the stars, Mario is saved and embarks on an adventure to save the stars and get back Peach. That is all I am going to say again because I don’t want to ruin the game.
In Paper Mario, You can only attack with one character per turn. Some may not like that idea and some might love it. If you are an RPG and a Mario fan, this game is a must buy.
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64, probably considered by most to be one of the best games in the series(if not the best game of all time) was the first game ever to have a fully interactive and expansive 3D environment. Even though the story was basically the same, the gameplay was as fresh as ever. Peach was captured by Bowser, and Mario had to defeat the levels in the paintings to gain stars and open new levels. Every time you got enough stars to advance, you would have to battle Bowser.
The Game abandoned the traditional Directional Pad for the Analog stick, offering more movement and also you can vary the speed at which Mario walks/runs. Compared to other games at its time, Mario’s graphics were the top of the line for a very long time. Nintendo and Miyamoto found the perfect game engine for a 3D adventure game (so perfect it was basically the same found in Zelda)
Mario’s lush 3D environments and awesome gameplay gives it a special place in almost any gamer’s heart who has owned a 64.
Super Mario Sunshine
As a sequel to the Mario franchise and SM64, this game really doesn’t offer anything new except for one oddity. This time Mario has a water pack. The concept of the game is actually a little bit varied then others. Mario goes on vacation but is framed as the man who has been splattering the streets with graffiti. But true to the series, as soon as Mario gets out to do some work, Peach gets captured by a Mario look-a-like. I am not going to spoil anything for anyone, but the story seems to go back to its roots from there. As for the Gameplay, the water pack is pretty much what Mario uses for battling. He uses it to clean the place up, to fight enemies, and to propel himself up to hard to reach locations. There are also upgrades to the Jetpack you can acquire, which is a pretty cool thing. Super Mario Sunshine definitely isn’t that innovative, but sure is a blast to play.
Super Paper Mario
The next episode in the Paper Mario series brings itself to the Wii, and is the first offering on the Wii staring the lovable plumber. In this game you start off going to Bowser’s castle to rescue Princess Peach, who you think he just captured. After getting there you realize that not only does he not have the princess, but that he was actually plotting to come and get her the moment you walked in the door! You soon find out that there is a new evil (Thank you!) that you must take out along with a load of new henchmen to go through as well.
Super Paper Mario isn’t your normal Mario game. In all reality it is a breath of fresh air into a legendary series. You will find yourself laughing at many parts during this game because of the humor purposely added into the game. Sometimes it will be small things related in the game itself. However, other times, they take jabs at everyone from computer junkies(like us tongue ) to even Nintendo themselves!
Another thing about this game is that it is a side scrolling Mario adventure like in the past. However, you also can go into 3D mode and explore the world in a completely different way finding many different things that will help you along your journey to save the Princess.
Zelda Series
Legend of Zelda
In July 1987, the first ever Zelda game was released. This game had very good graphics for the time, but also some other qualities that stunned videogamers across the world. Gamers controlled link in a 3/4's overhead perspective through nine dungeons. The best thing about this game though was its nonlinear, detailed, and expansive world. Before this, gamers had never seen a game like Zelda. Pretty much the plot for Zelda was like this. Ganon tries to get the Triforce. Zelda separates it into 8 pieces across the world. Ganon imprisons Zelda. Then Link comes in to save the day. To this day The Legend of Zelda has sold 6.3 copies worldwide.
The Legend of Zelda: The Adventures of Link
In December of 1988, a little over a year after the first Zelda title made its debut, the next installment came out. It was called The Adventures of Link. In this Zelda title Miyamoto incorporated several RPG elements not seen in the first one. In this game when you got in battles it shifted to a side perspective. He could also now jump in this game. As Link progresses in the game, he also learned new techniques, similar to RPG style games. In this game when Link ran into an enemy the screen switched into an entirely different screen. Also, when Link killed enemies he got experience points that could be used for life, magic, or attack attributes. The Adventures of Link also incorporated a better story, wherein people actually helped you with hints to complete your quest. Here is the plot for Zelda II: The Adventures of Link. On Link's 16th birthday, the crest of Hyrule Kingdom appears on his hand, and he asks Impa about it. When they get there, they see that an evil magician placed a spell on here to make her fall asleep. Now Link must get the 6 magical Gems from around the world to save her. This game was considered the "dark horse" of the series even though it sold around 4.3 million units. The first few thousand units also came in a shiny gold case.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
With the release of the Super Nintendo, along came another Zelda title. Arguably the best title in the series, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was shipped to the US in April of 1992. This game pretty much went back to the first Zelda without all the PRG elements. This was news all gamers were glad to hear about. It was back to the 3/4's perspective view, a heart-based life system, and the huge inventory of items. This game is more of an add-on to the already great first game than a revolutionary title. It had most of the same things, but A LOT of upgrades. The plot for this story was pretty much like this. An evil wizard is trying to bring Ganondorf back. To break the seal he is transporting all the wise men’s daughters into the darkworld, including Zelda. Link is framed for the disappearance of Zelda and the evil wizard gets rid of the king and takes his place. First Link must get the three pendants to get the Master Sword and then he must go through the Dark World and collect all the crystals. After that he has the epic battle with Ganon once again. Even though this title is considered the best by many it sold less than the first two, garnering only 4 million in sales.
Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Link's Awakening Was the Zelda series first incarnation on a handheld console, and was also the first to take the game out of the traditional Hylian setting. Released in August of 1993 on the Game Boy, it took place right after the game's main character, Link, had defeated the evil Ganon. A new age of peace had set over Hyrule and all the people were joyous, except for Link. He couldn't help but feel nervous, that Ganon would somehow return. So for reasons not known by us, he decided to seek the answers to his anxiety at sea. He sails out into the vast ocean, only to be met by a ferocious storm and be shipwrecked. He awakes in the house of a girl named Marin (who he at first mistakes for the princess Zelda.) and a man named Tarin. Tarin returns Link's shield to him and Link begins to search for his sword on the nearby beach. After retrieving the sword an owl descends on our hero and informs him that the only way to leave Kohilant Island (the name of the island in which Marin and Tarin reside) is to awaken the Wind Fish that is currently locked away on an egg on top of a mountain. The only way to complete this task is to play the Ballad of the Wind Fish (taught to you by Marin) on the eight Siren Instruments that are locked away in dungeons across the island. After collecting the eight instruments Link scales the mountain and enters the egg of the Wind Fish where he is first challenged by a maze and then 6 Nightmares. After defeating the six nightmares, Link awakens (hence the game's title) in the wreckage of his ship, and it appears that the whole game was a dream, that is until the Wind Fish flies overhead. In December of 1998, after the release of the GBC, the game was remade in full color for the system, with a all new dungeon in which color played a crucial role. At the end of the dungeon the player had the choice between a red or blue tunic that would increase offense or defense, respectively.
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
After a few titles on the Game Boy, Zelda was reborn on the Nintendo 64. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, released in November of 1998, was finally released after many delays into the middle of the consoles life-span. With the Legend of Zelda, Miyamoto dared to take the series where no gamer ever imagined it could go. This new title was supposed to start out on the 64DD, but the failure of the add-on moved it to the Nintendo 64. Many gamers were skeptical at first, but Miyamoto showed them the power of the 64. Zelda utilized a 3D environment, in which Link could go virtually anywhere. This was a huge leap over what A Link to the Past was for the Super Nintendo. This game still had the same style as the 1st and 3rd Zelda titles, but just in 3D. This game got many perfect scores. In fact, videogames.com gave it its first ever 10/10! There was just so much attention to detail to this game it was amazing. This game was worth every second of the wait. The plot was very similar to LttP, but also had its differences. This time Link had a partner. Navi, a small fairy, accompanied Link wherever he went giving him advice. The plot goes like this. Zelda asks link to find the three elemental stones for her so she can open the Door of Time. When Link gets them Ganondorf steals the Triforce. Seven years later Link awakens as an adult with the master sword in his hand. His quest is to awaken the six sages, and use their help to defeat Ganon and send him back into the dark world for good. This title was by far the best selling one of the series, selling around 7,1 million copies.
Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
After The Breakthrough title Zelda:OoT was released, a new Zelda title was on the way. The Legend of Zelda, made its way 2 years later into the homes of gamers everywhere across the US. This game really didn't do anything new to the series. It was pretty much the same game with updated graphics and some new gameplay elements. The plot was like this. Link was riding Epona one day and was jumped by a little kid. The kid stole his Ocarina and Link chased him. Link was thrown with the kid into another dimension in the land of Termina. There was something very wrong though. The moon was about to crash into the ground and destroy everything in its path. Link must learn the song of time, to help him on his quest, and then go across the land of Termina and collect the special masks to stop the Moon from falling. The mask trading part of this game was a very nice touch along with a few other additions. If you put on one of the magical masks you would transform into that creature. You could be a Goron, a Zora, or a Deku. There was also a secret mask at the end of the game that allowed you to turn into a special Link. Oni Link. The story was very captivating and was the main reason the game sold as well as it did. I couldn't get no numbers on this game but I would estimate that it sold around 4 to 5 million titles. This was one of my personal favorites. wink
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Since the Legend of Zelda was released for the original NES in 1987, the Zelda series has earned a reputation for delivering innovative action-packed gameplay mixed with engrossing storylines and unforgettable characters. The latest two games in this series, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons for Game Boy Color, build on this excellent reputation and add even more mind-bending gameplay elements to the mix. Each game presents a unique adventure for Link to conquer, but to get the most out of either game you'll want to play them both. It doesn't matter which Pak you play first. When you complete one of the games, you will earn a password which you can enter into the second game. When your new adventure begins, your character will have the same name you gave him in the first game. He will also begin the game with more items than in the first quest, and you'll be treated to cool cameos from some of the characters you encountered in the first adventure. At the end of your second adventure, you'll face an additional boss battle which would not occur if you had not already completed the first game.
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages gives gamers more of the classic Zelda action which has made the series so popular, with a heaping helping of new concepts and puzzles. Link must travel around a vast overworld collecting clues and items, and explore challenging dungeons filled with fierce monsters and maddening puzzles. When Link's adventure begins, he uses the power of the Triforce to travel to a new land known as Labrynna. Veran, the Sorceress of Shadows, is planning to alter Labrynna's past so that she may rule over the present. Through trickery and deceit, Veran harnesses the power of Nayru, the Oracle of Ages, and travels 400 years into the past. Immediately, Labrynna's present changes dramatically, reflecting Veran's evil actions. Before the Sorceress of Shadows can complete her dark mission, Link must use the Harp of Ages to travel through time and recover the eight Essences of time. Time travel presents Link with some unique problems and puzzles. Many of the game's challenges require Link to travel from one time period to another in order to reach his goal. If a river is blocking your path in the present, for example, you can travel to the past and move a stone to redirect the flow of the water. If you plant seeds in the past, you'll find full-grown trees and vines when you return to the present. Also, Link meets some powerful friends in Holodrum who can help him in a variety of ways. A winged polar bear named Moosh can help Link attack enemies with a powerful ground-pounding blow, or Link can ride a friendly Dodongo named Dmitri across deep bodies of water. When Link rides in the pouch of a boxing kangaroo named Ricky, he can K.O. his enemies with a few quick jabs.
Link's latest adventure offers great gameplay, an engrossing storyline and beautifully detailed graphics. Whether you're a long-time fan of The Legend of Zelda or a newcomer to the series, you're sure to spend many rewarding hours helping Link restore order to Labrynna.
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Since the Legend of Zelda was released for the original NES in 1987, the Zelda series has earned a reputation for delivering innovative action-packed gameplay mixed with engrossing storylines and unforgettable characters. The latest two games in this series, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages for Game Boy Color, build on this excellent reputation and add even more mind-bending gameplay elements to the mix. Each game presents a unique adventure for Link to conquer, but to get the most out of either game you'll want to play them both. It doesn't matter which Pak you play first. When you complete one of the games, you will earn a password which you can enter into the second game. When your new adventure begins, your character will have the same name you gave him in the first game. He will also begin the game with more items than in the first quest, and you'll be treated to cool cameos from some of the characters you encountered in the first adventure. At the end of your second adventure, you'll face an additional boss battle which would not occur if you had not already completed the first game.
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons takes place in the troubled land of Holodrum. After magically transporting to this new world, Link witness a power-hungry general named Onox summon a mighty storm and kidnap the Oracle of Seasons -- a beautiful dancer named Din. Onox uses Din's power to hurl the forces of nature into chaos, so it's up to Link to once again restore peace to the land. The game doesn't stray too far from classic Zelda challenges and gameplay. Link must travel around a vast overworld collecting clues and items, and explore challenging dungeons filled with fierce monsters and maddening puzzles. Oracle of Seasons presents some new challenges as well. Using the Rod of Seasons, Link has the ability to change the seasons whenever he pleases. The landscape changes depending on the season, which provides the premise for many perplexing puzzles. If a river blocks your path in the summer, for example, you can summon the winter months and freeze the waterway to ensure a safe passage. Also, Link meets some powerful friends in Holodrum who help him in a variety of ways. A winged polar bear named Moosh can help Link attack enemies with a powerful ground-pounding blow, or Link can ride a friendly Dodongo named Dmitri across deep bodies of water. When Link rides in the pouch of a boxing kangaroo named Ricky, he can K.O. his enemies with a few quick jabs.
Link's latest escapade offers gamers great gameplay, an engrossing storyline and detailed graphics. Whether you're a long-time fan of The Legend of Zelda or a newcomer to the series, you're sure to spend many rewarding hours helping Link restore order to Holodrum.
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
As you all know, the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker takes place 100 years after the Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. In That time much has changed. The world is now one huge ocean with little islands scattered around. Nobody really knows what happened, because everything has now passed into legend, and the Hero of Time is only a myth now. On every boy’s birthday, they always have to wear a green tunic. The same kind of green tunic that the Hero of Time used when he defended the world from Ganondorf and his evil dominions. At the beginning of this game its Link’s birthday (coincidence huh?)and now it’s his turn to try on the green tunic. But soon after he puts it on he already finds himself in the adventure of a lifetime. After saving a girl in the woods Link then learns that his sister has been taken captive by a huge bird. When Link goes to save her from the Forbidden Fortress he realizes that there is a man behind all this madness. His name is Ganondorf. Now Link sets off on an adventure of an epic proportion, and not one likely for a Zelda fan to forget soon.
Now the battle system is pretty much the same thing as the old Zelda. There are a few awesome battle tweaks though. Basically there is still the action button, the sword button, and the “C-buttons”. Mostly everything is the same except during combat with enemies. You still will be Z-Targeting when you face off with enemies but there is now a new strategy in fighting your foes. You let them attack first, and then you evade and attack at the same time! Now how would you do that with a combination of the control stick and sword button you ask? Well actually it’s very easy. All you do is move with your enemy for a little bit and when he gambles with an attack a flashing green “A” will appear where your action button is. It will only stay for a split second, and if you hit it Link will pull of a cunning move that has your opponent eating dirt. Even if you don’t use those maneuvers Link still has his standard evasions and some kick ass combos to boot!
There are also a few different gameplay features. Now when you travel the ocean you will be looking for treasure and other various sorts of things. During the course of the game you will be able to fill in spaces on your ocean map using fish that are in the ocean. You will also pick up treasure maps in various dungeons that will give you anything from money to a heart piece. Also you can’t just swim forever and ever like in previous Zelda games. Now you have a stamina meter that will go down as you are swimming. If you swim for too long you will get tired (cramps maybe) and drown.
This game is definitely one of the greatest Zelda games ever made if not the greatest. It is one of the first Zelda games with an engrossing story that continues to pull you in from the beginning credits to the end credits. Many gamers thought that Miyamoto had lost his touch when he decided to go the route of Cel-Shading with the new Zelda but many of those same people are playing countless hours of The Wind Waker as we speak. Miyamoto took on the challenge and he definitely succeeded in making on of the best games ever to be placed in a home console.
Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess is Nintendo’s most recent endeavor into this series. Better yet, it’s on the Wii! Well…sort of. The game was in development for many years, probably twice as long as most other titles, and was originally slated for release on the Nintendo Gamecube. Shortly after the Wii came about, Nintendo decided to release to versions of the game. One for the Wii and one for the Gamecube. This helped allow all gamers get to enjoy Link’s newest adventure. Twilight Princess is also the first “realistic” Zelda since Majora’s Mask. When the Wind Waker was released on the Gamecube it was met with much skepticism. The majority of gamers did not want to play a cartoon version of Link. After the game came out a lot of the dust settled, and while it was a great game, a lot of gamers still wanted more. That is when the Twilight Princess came into play.
Offering a realistic environment in which to enjoy was only one of the things that the new Zelda game did right to captivate gamers. The art direction was brilliant and the scale of the world in comparison to previous titles was unbelievable. The game was many, many times larger than Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, but while they could have felt daunting at times it became very easy to do due to your acquisition of Epona very early in the game and the ability to warp to different areas in the game. All the different areas of the game were perfectly captured as well. Hyrule Castle was amazing and large. The forest areas were well done and not just open spaces. The Overworld was brilliant to say the least. This game was perfect on many levels.
The Wii version of Zelda: The Twilight Princess also sported a new control scheme to keep things interesting as well. In this version of the game, you needed to swing the Wii remote from left to right or jab it forward for link to swing his sword. While using the hookshot or bow and arrow you also needed to aim precisely before hitting the button allowing you shot. This system allowed for a much needed breath of fresh air into the game as every game since OoT was almost the same in regards to gameplay. There are many other things you can do with the new improved controls, but I won’t get into all of them and just recommend that you all play this game…now.
The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess was a lot of things that Nintendo needed, and it symbolized a new direction for them as a company. The dark story and atmosphere to the game, something not common in their games, was a testament to that. The controls also were a breath of fresh air into not only a series, but a company that needed one badly.
Metriod Series
Metriod
On the uninhabited planet SR-388, scientists discovered a species dubbed "Metroid". The Metroids actually destroyed the colonies that flourished there before it reducing it to barely anything. The scientists found many things out about the Metroid. Its airborne, is pretty hard to destroy, and has a hard exterior shell to make it hard to kill. When the space pirates found out about this species they attacked the ship carrying the Metroid and took it back to there base on planet Zebes. After a full out assault failed by the Federation Police Force, other actions were forced to be taken. The Galactic Federation asked Samus, a bounty hunter clouded in mystery, to get the Metroid back for them. With just an arm blaster and a protective suit, Samus infiltrates Planet Zebes and starts killing everything. As Samus went on though he gained many mysterious artifacts which gave him new abilities to do things and use weapons he could do before. After defeating two of the Space Pirates greatest men, Ridley and Kraid, Samus reaches Tourian, which is the base of the space pirates. Samus is confronted by an army of Metroids, but soon learns their secret and kills them on his way to the Mother Brain. After a hard fought battle Samus defeats the mother brain and sets off a self destruct system which blows the whole place up. Also at the end of Metroid you find out that Samus Aran isn't a he. He is a she!!! This surprised many gamers making Samus one of the first female videogame stars.
Metroid was basically a side scroller like Mario, but with a few big differences. Unlike Mario, Metroid was a huge world all packed together in one side scrolling game, where you had to wait to get upgrades to get to new areas, where a new path would always open up. There is also a lot of jumping in Metroid, which is one of the reasons it is so great. The graphics are sub-par but were considered state of the art on the NES, while the music is some of the best ever heard on the NES. Metroid was truly one of if not the greatest game on the NES.
Metriod II
After Samus had destroyed Kraid, Ridley, and the Mother Brain on Zebes along with completely destroying the planet, the Galactic Federation turned to SR-388. After sending both a science team and a military group was lost, Samus Aran was called on yet again, to wipe out the Metroids once and for all. After arriving on SR-388, she notices something very surprising. The Metroids here are not like the ones found on planet Zebes. In fact, the ones on SR-388 are stronger. There are three types of Metroids Samus has to deal with. One, the Alpha Metroid, which is the first one she sees. Another, the Gamma Metroid, which can attack with lightning. Lastly, the Zeta Metroid, which is huge in size. After battling her way through, Samus finds the Queen Metroid. After another hard fought battle, Samus destroys the Queen Metroid and the Metroid threat seems to have diminished. But Samus soon sees a Metroid hatchling and when faced with the decision to kill it, Samus decides to let it live and take it back to the scientists for more research to be done on it.
The Game itself was almost identical to Metroid for the NES. The graphics were a little worse though because the game was made on the Game Boy, but everything else was still very intact. Another great game in a great series.
Super Metriod
Super Metroid is argued by most to be the best Metroid ever made. This one takes off right where the last one leaves off. In fact, if you didn't play the last two she explains it to you in the beginning tongue . Anyways after taking the hatchling Metroid she takes it to the Ceres space station and gives it to the scientists to study yet again. This time the scientists actually found some good use for the Metroid. But soon as she left the space station was under siege by the space pirates, seeking yet again to harness the power of the Metroid for their evil plans. By the time Samus gets there all of the scientist’s bodies were scattered everywhere and when she got to the Metroid she finds her old friend Ridley, who takes the Metroid away. After the self-destruct system is activated, Samus must escape before the whole station blows up. After she barely gets out, she is once again heading to Zebes, to stop this carnage once and for all. Zebes has changed since the last time Samus was there, but there are also a lot of nostalgic parts too. In fact, she enters the fortress by the means in which she escaped last time. Pretty cool huh? That’s not it though, as you also go through Mother Brain’s old chambers and also the very first room of Brinstar. Samus once again has to travel through the different regions of Zebes, new and old. Ridley and Kraid also make reappearances as Samus once again defeats them. There are also many Metroids that Samus has to kill, but you basically kill them in the same way. When Samus goes to fight the Mother Brain she is almost destroyed, until the Metroid she saved in the last Metroid (M2: RoS) comes back to help her. This time when the Mother Brain is defeated though, the whole entire planet is going to blow up. Samus gets out in the nick of time once again (how many times have we seen this? tongue )
What can I say? This game is the climax of side scrolling as we know it. The graphics are beautiful for a SNES game, almost the best ever made. This game still uses the same old strategy though, but it uses it to perfection. IMO this is one of my top 5 favorite games and not many games can get this good. wink
Metroid Fusion
This is the last Metroid in the storyline. It starts out with our heroine exploring SR388 because all others sent were killed by the X Parasites, the food of the now extinct Metroids. She is infected by the parasite and is forced to return to the scientists' lab, where they make a vaccine from the DNA of the last Metroid. The vaccine saves her but also causes interesting changes. Her suit becomes more organic, and to quote her, "As one life ended, another started". A new Samus has been formed. She no longer has any of her old abilities (figures huh?) and also when the X-parasite attached to her it took all of her powers when she was the most powerful in Super Metroid and transformed into a perfect clone. Now she is on a mission to hunt down and kill all of the X-Parasites, while also being chased by her Super Metroid Clone
Once again the game is pretty much the same except for the fact that Samus can't use some of her old abilities. Since her body is part Metroid she can no longer use the Ice Beam but she now has really cool Ice missiles and diffusion missiles. A very nice addition to the game.
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime is the latest installment of the Metroid series. For the people that don't consider Super Metroid the best game of the series, this one is it for them. Now I don't really want to go too far into the game for you but I will give you the beginning. The Galactic Federation sends Samus to check out the Space Pirate activity on Tallon IV. When she gets there she notices an abandoned space station. After seeing a few weird things upon entering, the space station explodes and Samus makes it out again (Is this gal lucky or what?). After Samus lands on the surface of Tallon IV this is where the real fun begins. I am not going to spoil it for any of you guys though because I don't want to ruin the experience for anyone.
As soon as you turn on Metroid Prime you notice one huge difference. The game is in FULL 3D! Retro studios does a wonderful job at this. Also in putting the game into 3D there were also many challenges presented to the developers. Mainly to keep it true to the series. It passes this test with flying colors so you need not worry. The platform jumping is still there and so is everything else. You still have to collect your upgrades (At the beginning Samus is thrown into a wall causing all of her powers to malfunction) like the morph ball and the Charge Beam but there are also many other new upgrades never seen in a Metroid game. The new visors are awesome and the effects to them are even cooler. There are so many effects in this game it will make you wonder how Retro released this game in 2002 and not in 2005. This game is the greatest game in the Metroid series in my opinion and also probably the best game ever made. That is why it is #2 on Gamerankings.com in overall total rankings. Not many games can do something like that wink
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Basically, this game is exactly the same as the one above it, with a little bit different of a story. So instead of wasting my time typing about anything else, I will just give you a little bit on the story of MP2: Echoes. There really isn’t much to say about that either, as Metroid’s story is driven in a completely different way. By scanning items such as dead soldiers’ logs or markings on the wall, the story begins to piece together for you. If you don’t scan anything, chances are you won’t understand anything about the story you hear later on in the game. The only real new aspect to this game is the inclusion of a dark Samus into the mix. Also with the Dark Samus come the Light and Dark worlds as well. This further expanded gameplay options and brought about new puzzles for gamers to figure out. Basically same gameplay mechanics with a little twist in the story.
Metriod Prime: Hunters
In terms of the storyline, Metriod Prime Hunters takes place between Prime 2 & 3 in the series. While being a title on the Nintendo DS, Hunters showed how powerful the little handheld system could be. The game is rendered in 3D and comes from the same viewpoint as the two previous Prime titles before it: through the visor. The game really does look beautiful on the DS as well.
However, one of the biggest hurdles with this game to get over was the control. Surprisingly, despite many doubts, Hunters came through in that area as well. Mimicking a style close to the keyboard/mouse gameplay that PC gamers are accustomed to, the directional pad would work as the keyboard and the touch screen would work as a mouse. The game also allows for lefties to adjust settings to play correctly as well. For being one of the Nintendo’s flagship titles for the DS early in its life, Metriod Prime Hunters was a game that was an innovation in handheld gaming and another step in the right direction for Nintendo.
Star Fox Series
Star Fox (SNES)
Star Fox for the NES is probably one of the first 3D flying shooters to come out, and is considered by some as their favorite games ever. It was one of the first games to use the FX-Chip to create the 3D environments that you played in the game.
The games story is pretty simple. This evil guy named Andross has been banished from Corneria because of doing dangerous experiments close to large populations. Through his years in exile, Andross actually was creating an army of massive proportions to take on the fleet of Corneria. Left crippled Corneria calls for reinforcements in the form of the Star Fox team. The members included Fox McCloud, Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad and Falco Lombardi. Their mission was simple, to defeat Andross for good.
The game itself although decently hard had a relatively easy design. Depending on the skill you beat the level in, you could be sent to one of three levels (sometimes two levels). Most of the times there were secrets you had to unlock to get into the harder planets and some other times you had to shoot down a certain amount of enemies.
The games mechanics were relatively simple with a few special tweaks added in. You had a button to shoot, one to speed up, one to slow down and one to let bombs go. Bombs pretty much destroyed everything in sight. You could also use your left and right trigger buttons to turn sideways and even do barrel rolls.
This game caught the eye’s of quite a few gamers and made gave Fox and his crew a position in Nintendo’s cabinet as another group of mascots.
Star Fox 64
Even though this game is loved by many, it was basically just a rehash. Nintendo adopted the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” routine when making SF64, because the game has a striking resemblance to its SNES predecessor. The game's fifteen mission’s link together in a number of possible paths to your final objective, and that was once again the fight on venom. The controls were also the same.
Even though Nintendo basically rehashed SF for the SNES is that really a bad thing? Of course not, as SF sported some of the best graphics that the N64 had seen along with a pretty awesome multiplayer game allowing up to four people battle it out in their Arwings. There was also a load of speech in this game. From Slippy’s constant bickering to Falco’s cocky attitude, it was all there and it was great. If you are a fan of the Star Fox series (shooters) then this game is a must buy for you.
Star Fox Adventures
Actually Star Fox adventures stared out as a game called Dinosaur Planet. After Nintendo seen the striking resemblance of the main character of the game to their own Fox McCloud, then Nintendo and Rare joined up again to create an epic masterpiece. Basically, Star Fox Adventures is a Star Fox version of Zelda. Once again this is not a bad thing, because Rare does a great job in copying Zelda, including giving it that epic feel wink . I am not going to spoil anything about the story in this one considering the game is relatively new. All I will say is that General Scales has taken control of Dinosaur Planet and it’s your job to stop him.
Basically the gameplay was pure Zelda at its roots. All you guys have played Zelda here so I really don’t think I need to get into the game to much
Star Fox Command
Star Fox Command is the new Star Fox game for the DS. As you could have already guessed, one of the main changes would be the fact that you now control your team with only the touch screen, which also doubles as a map too. One of the things about the game that has changed though is that the levels are now for the most part free roaming now, allowing you to go anywhere you want to in the map as long as you kill the designated enemies in each section and grab the tokens that they drop. The story revolves around what looks like a disbanded team and some sort of love interest thing. However, the story still turns out to be pretty good and is a highly recommended title for the Nintendo DS.
Donkey Kong Series
Donkey Kong
In Donkey Kong first appearance in, "Donkey Kong Arcade", in 1981, he has captured, Pauline, (Princess Toadstool) and Jumpman or should I say Mario comes to the rescue. This game was the created by the former playing card series called Nintendo. This game wasn't only successfully establish the foundation for one of the greatest gaming companies of all time, but it also release two of the characters that made Nintendo where it is today.
On the first level of Donkey Kong Arcade , Mario must maneuver his way up through the levels of steel girders to reach Donkey Kong and Pauline who are waiting for him at the top. Kong in the meantime throws barrels down at the plumber, and at the same time, fireballs moved up toward Mario from the bottom of the screen. And the only thing Mario can do to avoid the fireballs and barrels is do what he does best: jump. Mario does have an very impressive vertical leap (enough to get over the barrels and fireballs), and at certain strategic points he could grab a hanging sledgehammer and strike back, earning bonus points. If Mario managed to cross the platforms and climb the ladders up to his lady love, the reunion would be all too brief. Donkey Kong merely snatched Pauline away again, carrying her up to the next level.
Donkey Kong Jr.
Apparently, Mario isn't the forgiving sort. After having his girlfriend Pauline taken from him again and again in the original Donkey Kong he decided it was payback time in Donkey Kong Junior. This sequel puts you in control of the title character, a little ape with a cute darling white baby jumper. Since Mario took daddy Kong and locked him up in a cage, it was up to Junior to get him back.
On the first level, Junior hopped, climbed and ambled across rows of vines to work his way over and up to where his poppa was held. That nasty Mario tried everything he could to stop Junior, releasing bear-trap-looking Snapjaws. Junior could fight back with the fruit that hung from the vines, dropping it onto the Snapjaws for extra points. The little primate was unfortunately allergic to water, since any contact with the water at the bottom of the screen would cost him a life. Unfortunately, Mario had taken a few lessons from the first game. Even when you reached the top, the dastardly mustachioed man would simply cart Donkey Kong off to another level. Just like Donkey and Pauline.
Donkey Kong 3
Donkey Kong 3 starred the gargantuan simian of the first two games, but in place of Mario, his nemesis was now Stanley the Bugman. You controlled Stanley, a small man in charge of a big greenhouse. Somehow, Donkey Kong had decided to take up residence on two vines inside, and it was up to you to drive him out. The great ape fought back by agitating the nests of bees and other stinging bugs, who swooped down to attack Stanley.
Armed only with a tube of bug spray, Stanley blasted away at the descending bugs, keeping them away from his precious flowers. Five pots lined the bottom of the screen, and if the insects managed to carry off all five, Stanley lost a life. DK also kept things lively by tossing coconuts down at the Bugman.
To beat a level, Stanley had to push Kong up to the top of the screen by shooting him in the nether-regions with the sprayer. Spray him high enough, and DK would knock down a super sprayer, giving Stanley increased power for a limited time.
Donkey Kong Country
The story in this game is not the deepest thing you'll ever see. It's a bunch of monkeys trying to get back their bananas. One must keep in mind; however, it is an action game, not an RPG. Action games don't usually have a very deep story.
Despite the lacking story, however, the characters are well-done and given genuine personalities. Cranky Kong (whom I assume is supposed to be the original Donkey Kong) is the most entertaining, with his comments on the state of video games in the 90's and his constant complaining. This can be incredibly challenging. Even the early levels have you rushing through the thick of bad guys and doing barrel gymnastics across the jungle. It rarely gets challenging to the point of frustration, however, and keeps you going. To top it off, there are bonus areas everywhere. Even if you've beaten the game, you can play all the levels again and look for hidden barrels or pathways. Have a blast.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest
Diddy and his Girlfriend Dixie. Diddy can do cart wheels into enemies and kill them and dixie can hover for short distances by using her hair as a helicopter. The enemies are called kremlings and their leader is Captain K.Rool. There are six worlds and each of these worlds contain 5-12 stages. The map itself is really cool. You start on a pirate ship and slowly climb to the top of a tower where you must fight K.Rool.
Donkey Kong 64
K. Rool is back in business and getting ready to blast Kong Island right off the map. To top it off he's stolen all the golden bananas and scattered them far and near in an effort to thwart any counterattack that the Kong's can muster. It falls upon the shoulders of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Chunky Kong, Lanky Kong and Tiny Kong (along with the help of a host of supporting characters, including Cranky and a top-heavy newcomer who at one point asks if you "want to have two melons.") to capture the bananas and defeat K. Rool. And so begins the fun in this epic-sized adventure. Players start off controlling Donkey Kong. Access to other characters as well more advanced moves become available as the game progresses. Learning new moves is executed the same way it is in Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. Actually a lot of the moves will be familiar to those that have spent time with either game - they look similar and are performed the same way. There are a few notable exceptions beginning with the music abilities. The music abilities blast a shockwave of noise that will destroy nearby enemies. They can also be used on specific pads to open doors, etc. And on the subject of pads and switches - they're all over the place! There are "banana warp" pads (5 points per level), music pads, coconut switches, peanut switches, feather switches, special barrels . . . the list goes on and on! (Heck you can even take on Rhino form and cause some major havoc!) Each of the switches (peanut, etc.) can only be activated by specific characters, adding another level of gameplay and exploration. Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses - and knowing when to switch characters for particular situations is sometimes the key to success. To gain access to these other characters is simply a matter of freeing them (after finding them of course). For example, early in the game Diddy Kong must be freed from his prison by using Donkey's coconut gun. Diddy Kong must be freed to explore other areas since his peanut gun is the only way to activate the necessary switches. Thankfully, the character switching is easy and finding the other characters is fairly straightforward.
There are many hours of exploration available in DK64 due to the massive environments. The downside to such a large gaming world is that getting lost and wandering around wondering what the hell you should be doing is all too common. It doesn't help that there isn't any direction other than "Get the gold bananas." There's no "game funnel", something that would direct your attention to do Step 1 then Step 2. (Like what is found in Mario 64 with the big locked door clearly visible in the foyer of the castle.) When a level is opened, a short cut scene shows a door opening or a boulder crumbling to reveal another area but it doesn't show you where it is or how to get there. You can go pretty much anywhere you want so a map feature would have been welcomed with open arms. Thanks to the included RAM expansion pack, the graphics is DK64 are some of the best ever to grace the N64. Everything is bright and colourful (except the dungeons, of course) and foliage has never looked so good. The camera is along the lines of the Banjo-Kazooie games. It drifts more often though and repositioning is a constant necessity. Once you get used to it, it's not much of a problem but until then expect to misjudge distances and fall. A lot. Music and sound is undeniably stamped "Rare." The music is good and adds to the experience of the game. Sound effects are good, especially Donkey Kong's exclamation of "Banana!" DK64 also supports Dolby Surround. Crank the base!
Control is standard for a Rare game, which is to say that it's excellent - for the most part. Executing moves is easy and response is very good. What gets in the way is the slightly drifting camera angle. Some of the "power-up" abilities - Diddy Kong's jetpack for example - take a few tries to get used to. As mentioned above, many of the moves are executed the same way as in the Banjo-Kazooie games. I see this is a plus because you're not forced to learn a different control scheme.
Overall, Donkey Kong 64 is one of those Rare games that will have you playing for many, many hours. Huge levels (plus/minus), many mini-games and sub-missions, familiar control scheme, good graphics and sound, included RAM expansion pak and Donkey Kong himself make DK64 a highly recommended game for N64 owners.
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
This game is basically an old school platformer with a twist. Instead of playing with a controller, you play with a set of bongos which are included with the game. By hitting the bongos, you will perform different types of moves. The game is very short, only about 3 to 5 hours long, but will provide you with a lot of fun. Even after you beat the game, you can go back and try to get the medals for each level. The more beats that you collect, the higher the score and medal you will get. Medals will also open up new levels to play and really just are fun to try and get. The best part of the game is the combo system, which allows you to do as many crazy things as you want in turn increasing the number of beats that you receive.
Kid Icarus Series
Kid Icarus: Angel Land Story
Kid Icarus is the original title for the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). You take the role of a somewhat angle-type guy and travel throughout the world in search of a way to save the world from the clutches of evil!!! At first pit is captured and thrown into the underworld prison. Pit escapes from the underworld prison thanks to Palutena, Goddess of Light, who magically sent him a bow and arrow so that he could escape form the underworld prison. Now Pit is on a mission to defeat Medusa, who has kidnapped Palutena, and save Angel Land from the clutches of evil. In fact, Pit is actually the Capitan of Palutena’s personal bodyguards. From the names of the characters and also the looks, this game borrows heavily from Greek Mythology. From the way Kid Icarus looks to the names of the people (Medusa) and some of the items too. It seems that that is how the developers got the information for the game. The game also has a kind of Metroid feel to it. Even though you’re not in space and you are not some hot chick in a space outfit the game layout is kind of the same. It is even said that there is a Metroid that makes an appearance in the game!!! These are just minor things but the game is actually pretty good. Some of the parts of the game are side-scrolling, while other parts of the game include vertical scrolling, and some room to room adventure. This makes for a pretty good and original game.
In Kid Icarus every time you defeat an enemy you gain strength and money. In the game you need to get 6 main items and there are 20 of each. These items help you along your quest to save the world from Medusa. There are 4 main areas in the game. The Underworld, in which Pits adventure begins. The Overworld, where Pit does most of his land fighting in the game. The Sky Palace, where he travels across the plains and mountains. And the Skyworld, where Pit does most of his battling in the sky. This is where he flies across the world in order to fight terrible monsters and save the world (cheesy huh?). Then there is the palace in the sky, where Pit fights Medusa in the final battle in side-scrolling style(easy battle, but when you win Palutena turns you into a man so next time she gets kidnapped you can easily rescue her). Pit can only go here though if he has in his possession the three Sacred Treasures. When you fight every boss (except Medusa), all of your items are taken away and you are left to battle them with barely anything (except a bow)! There are also many characters that you have to battle during the game. One, a thief, steals your magical weapons given to you by the gods. There are also Grim Reapers that will chase Pit around during the game. Every time one spots you, it calls out tons of little Grim Reapers to come and kill you. To kill him, you have to jump behind him and shoot him with an arrow when he is not looking. Another one, the Eggplant Wizard, throws cursed eggplants at you. If Pit gets hit, he will have to find some way to cure his poison. Most of these people leave cash behind when killed, and this money can be used at the shops in the game. The currency of cash he gets are heart containers (why couldn’t it be Rupee’s…lol). For a NES game it has a wide variety of things to do which also makes it a great game.
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
This is the only sequel to the Kid Icarus game. It was released in America on November 1991. It was made only for the Game Boy system. Pretty much this game is almost the same as the version for the NES. In this game Palutena was sleeping and in her dreams she had a very bad nightmare. When she called a soothsayer, she asked him of the future. Then he said, “"Angel Land will be attacked, Attacked by an invasion of demons from another world. Terrible demons by the name of O...Or...Orcos!". Then he became silent. Palutena immediately sends for Pit, the leader of her army. Then she has him take a seat and starts to talk to him. She tells him that evil demons named Orcos are coming to attack Angel Land and he is the only one to save them. She tells him to tell nobody else about they’re discussion, and to begin his training. In the beginning she sends Pit on a training mission until he is strong enough to wear and use the Three Sacred Treasures. She starts him off by sending him into the Underworld Tower. She tells Pit that whoever gets the Sacred Treasures will be given magical powers so that they can battle any demon. After he does that, his real mission starts.
Once again, the world is divided into 4 parts: The Underworld Tower, the Over world, the Sky World Tower and the Sky Palace. Once again, Pit has to defeat the guardian of each fortress to advance. In this game there are many different items Pit can acquire. There is everything ranging from Credit Cards to Hammers. You can also still go to the shops to trade in your hearts. There are a lot of the same monsters and a lot of the puzzle layouts are the same (near identical on some points).
Captain N: The Game Master
Captain N: The Game Master was a late 80's, early 90's cartoon series about a video game player who gets magically sucked into his TV screen, and visits various video game worlds. Pit was one of the main characters in the show. According to the pictures I have seen, Kid Icarus looks like a piece of shit in this cartoon. He looks nothing like he should and almost looks like Cupid. He has an oversized head and has rosy pink cheeks. In fact, everybody featured in the show looked nothing like they should have been represented as!! One of my favorite game characters ever, Megaman (MegamanX was the best), was turned into a little boy wearing Spandex!!! In fact almost every cool character from Nintendo and other great game developers (Castlevania) that are on the cartoon have been twisted in some sort of fantasy world where it has nothing to do with the original games themselves!!!! Also, I heard from various sites (sorry for the plagiarizing) that the cartoon has really nothing to do with the game itself. It is basically a completely different cartoon that has nothing to do with the game except for the fact that it has Kid Icarus in it. One example, is somewhere in the cartoon, Kid Icarus has to go look for the Wings of Pegasus. But in reality, the purpose of those wings was to make him fly and he has already been flying for the whole cartoon series. This refutes the arguments that people had when they said that Kid Icarus was wearing the shoes all along. There are similarities in some parts though. Like the fact that the Evil Eggplant Wizard actually makes an appearance in the comic!
Even though the comic never was really that close to the game I didn’t really care for it. I didn’t really have that kind of nostalgia feeling I got with the game. The real reason I didn’t like the cartoon that much is because it looks like it should be on FOX Kids at seven in the mourning right after Looney Tunes. But, heck you got to give it a chance. If there was one thing that owning a Nintendo console taught me is that the graphics of the game aren’t really that important. Look at games like Pikmin for example. If they would have put that game on the 64 but with all the same options but not as good graphics I would still have loads of fun playing it. The graphics are really just a bonus to a great game.
Kirby Series
Kirby’s Dreamland
The first in a long line of games starring the famed pink Marshmallow, Kirby’s Dreamland for the Game Boy offered platforming as it had never been implemented before. This was the bold and daring quest of the star warrior Kirby against the dastardly (and duck-like) King Dedede. A big step forward, Kirby’s Dreamland not only boasted an unusual style, but also ground-breaking graphics for the Game Boy. Soon we eould see this niche title develop into a series that outshines even the Metroid and Halo games.
The gameplay was amazing, allowing the interesting ability to eat your enemies and copy their powers. In addition, Kirby could fly and even spit his enemies out to destroy other ones. Kirby traveled through many levels using his strange powers to get to an ultimate showdown with King Dedede, who was quite easy to beat despite his giant hammer and aggressive attitude. However, this would not be the last time King Dedede tried to mess around with Dreamland’s inhabitants.
Kirby’s Adventure
The amazing popularity of Kirby’s first game inspired Nintendo to release another one on the NES home console, taking the technical possibilities to a whole new level. In this game, Kirby’s goal was to recover the shattered pieces of the magical star rod, which had been stolen by King Dedede (gasp!).
The second installment in the Kirby series offered even more powers than the first, along with dazzling graphics and more complex environments than the first. It also had larger environments, which was a major plus that made it just as respectable as the amazing popular Mario and Sonic games.
Kirby’s Pinball Land
Wishing to stray from the main line of Kirby games, Nintendo designed this experience to be an enjoyable mini-game sort of thing that Kirby fans could enjoy. Since just about everything else had a pinball game at this point, so why not Kirby? The fans wanted it, so Nintendo delivered this short but fun game.
Just as the name implies, this is basically pinball with Kirby. In this 17-screen game, the screen was a pinball machine with Kirby being the ball. This pink fluff was whacked around to gain points and defeat enemies, namely four boss monsters. Very different from past Kirby games, this was something a guy would just play for a few minutes when he got bored for a quick thrill. One may say this is marshmallow abuse, but I don’t hear any of you complaining about Super Monkey Ball, now do I?
Kirby’s Avalanche
Continue on with the mini-game/puzzler approach! The wild success of Kirby’s Pinball Land convinced Nintendo to give us this, thinking that perhaps Kirby’s career should be best-lived in the realm of mini-games. This was also Kirby’s first Super NES game, with amazing visuals (if not a bit familiar in style).
This game was essentially Puyo-Puyo with a dash of Bubble Bobble and a pinch of other puzzler treasure that you might think of right now. And guess who’s the star! That’s right, it’s Kirby! People actually liked the prospect of playing this game so much that it achieved Player’s Choice status. The old stack the items and destroy them at will strategy was great, and with Kirby added, it made it all that much more fun.
Kirby’s Dream Course
This…erm…interesting rendition of a Kirby game was made as yet another mini-game/spin-off, only this time Nintendo wanted to satisfy the hunger for classic Kirby platforming at the same time. Kirby does not have a main goal of slaying evil or recovering the star rod, but rather to change the way we look at golfing forever.
As you may have guessed, the classic power-stealing, block-busting, floating gameplay is back for this game. In addition, Kirby is doing this all throughout a giant golf course. While the premise is strange, the gameplay is fantastic, with environments perhaps not as complex as Kirby’s Adventure, but still rather large and with a wide array of familiar enemies. Playing this game gave gamers a dose of nostalgia and fun along with the urge to make confused faces.
Kirby’s Dream Land 2
At this point gamers were just getting sick of all the Kirby spin-offs, so we took up our pitchforks and torches to threaten Nintendo. They responded with this, a true sequel to Kirby’s Dreamland. Featuring new aspects and sharp Game Buy visuals, this quickly became the most popular (and best IMO) Kirby game to date.
Revolutionary gameplay complemented the greatness of Kirby, featuring the ability to ride animals. You could choose Rick the Hamster, who had excellent speed and traction. Coo the Owl, who (obviously) let you fly indefinitely and dive bomb your opponents (heh). Finally, Kine the fish let you swim quickly and msnuever better. Together, you set out to the seven rainbow isles and defeat King Dedede. And for the true Kirby player, one could collect the seven rainbow pieces. Mixing the best elements of each game, Kirby’s Dreamland 2 got well-deserved recognition.
Kirby’s Block Ball
Kirby continued to break new frontiers as the video game industry lived on, his popularity now at its peak. Having satisfied fans’ hunger for a true Kirby, Nintendo decided to create the next spin-off puzzler in the series, Kirby’s Block Ball. In Nintendo’s never ending quest to have Kirby exploted in just about every way possible, this was a clone of yet another existing game using Kirby. But no one complained because it was 100% fun on the go.
Kirby’s Block Ball is, as one may guess, a Kirbified rendition of Break Out. It has some enemies walking on the blocks, and guess what the ball being used to break the blocks is? That’s right, Kirby! There isn’t much to say here, other than that the levels got harder as you accomplished more, adding more blocks of higher strength and more enemies. Simply a quick thrill for when you’re on a long line, Kirby’s Block Ball will nevertheless always hold a special place in our hearts.
Kirby’s Super Star
Not exactly classic Kirby gameplay but not exactly a spin-off puzzler either, Nintendo wanted to release something that both the casual gamer and the hardcore Kirby player could like. Hence they created this game in 1996, introducing a few new characters, the most notable of which is the dastardly Meta Knight. With this, Kirby gained even MORE popularity, shortly before it died for a while…
The gameplay is classic Kirby all around, with one minor tweak: two players could go at it in 9 different minigames, as this was deemed a party pack by Nintendo. Otherwise a classic Kirby puzzler, it sported vivid animation and new enemies. With Meta Knight, the Kirby series finally had a nemesis that could actually relate to Kirby, both in size and shape. Sporting a sword, the head of the Meta Knights duels Kirby for the first time in this one. This is considered one of the best Kirby games by some, but it’s a shame that the Kirby rush had to die down with the next two releases…
Kirby’s Star Stacker
Nintendo once again took the puzzle route, only this time they were not very original. This basically was the core essence of what other Kirby puzzle games had been, particularly Kirby’s Avalanche. What was so great about it now? Seeing the success of Kirby’s Dreamland, Nintendo decided once again to add multiplayer.
This is a mini-game pack, with generic things you would see in any other. It actually had some that seemed oddly familiar to the previous Kirby Game Boy ventures. This puzzle pack had your basic Tetris clones and whatnot, using characters like Rick, Coo, and Kine, along with stars worked into the gameplay. Not very notable, this was the start of the decline of Kirby’s popularity.
Kirby’s Dreamland 3
Seeing the disappointingly low popularity of Kirby’s Star Stacker, Nintendo made a last ditch attempt to release a classic Kirby game. Why would the sequel to one of the best platformers ever fail, you ask? Well obviously Nintendo didn’t care enough to put it on a system that was actually alive. Hence the Kirby fanbase went practically dead with this one.
This is essentially the same gameplay as Kirby’s Dreamland 2, featuring the sidekicks Coo the Owl, Rick the Hamster, and Kine the Fish once again. A new addition, like in the other new Kirby games, was multiplayer. The difference is that this time is purely cooperative gameplay. This game obviously did not live up to fans’ expectations, since it did not really offer that much new stuff in the gameplay department. This was the lowest point in Kirby’s popularity, with few caring to buy the game even if they were fans because it was, along with Kirby’s Star Stacker, one of the few Kirby games that offered no real innovation.
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Kirby’s popularity was pretty much dead after Kirby’s Dreamland 3, with not a single game being made with him in it, save for Super Smash Bros. in 1999. Amazingly, this game where Kirby played a non-starring role is what made Nintendo fans want a Kirby game (seeing as how he was the strongest character in SSB and all). So Nintendo released this N64 Kirby game, with the return of King Dedede and a new mission for Kirby.
The gameplay, while you would expect it to be 3D, was actually a 2.5-D platformer. A fully polygonal Kirby ran through a track rendered in 3D, but such that he could only go left, right, up, and down. It is akin to what you have seen inn SSBM’s adventure mode. All his power-stealing abilities were there, only now there was an alarmingly high cuteness level added to make the game more appealing to children. Collecting the six pieces of the crystal is mildly fun, and offers 3 four-player mini-games. So while this was a pretty good game, it still was not enough to push Kirby back into the mainstream (mostly because of the cuteness).
Kirby’s Tilt and Tumble
At the end of the Game Boy Color’s life, Nintendo released several of its best games, including the Zelda Oracle series, and this, the most innovative Kirby game to date. Using special sensor technology, Nintendo made this like no game before it, implementing something where the Game Boy itself acted as the plane Kirby was on, and he could be rolled. To show its uniqueness, Nintendo even gave it a special clear pink cartridge.
The story’s premise is familiar, recovering the lost stars that King Dedede had taken. The graphics obviously were updated, and the gameplay was mostly the same. However, as stated before, the new sensor technology made it much more interesting. You actually had to feel the movement of Kirby to do anything, and predict what the game physics would do with each tilt. For example, if you quickly popped the top of the Game Boy up, Kirby would jump. In addition to the single player quest, there were five memorable mini-games that used the tilt technology. A new step in technology that sadly was short-lived, Kirby’s Tilt and Tumble remains one of the best Game Boy Color games to date.
Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
Near the end of 2002, Nintendo inexplicably decided to push Kirby to be their next posterboy, perhaps even reaching the grand scale of Pokemon. They started by creating a comic for him within Nintendo Power, then releasing Kirby: Right Back at Ya on the Fox Box broadcasting program. In December, Nintendo released a game that was essentially Kirby’s Adventure remade for the Game Boy Advance, along with some other content, including the duel with Meta Knight in Kirby’s Super Star. This was to give new Kirby fans a taste of what the series was really about, and hopefully a new Kirby game will be released in the future.
The gameplay is basically the exact same thing as Kirby’s Adventure, and as usual with some mini-games thrown in to add to replay value. The game itself is short by today’s standards, which for some is a good thing given the cuteness rush Nintendo has been on since 1996. It includes some mini-games from past Kirby games, along with brand-new ones, all in beautiful and vibrant GBA graphics. This is the sort of port I’m hoping they’ll make for The Legend of Zelda if they ever do make one. Well, this is the last game in the Kirby franchise so far, but his popularity lives on in the hearts of those who can still remember the lingering ghost of King Dedede at the end of Kirby’s Dreamland 2. The upcoming GameCube game should be fun wink
Yoshi Series
Yoshi’s Island
The Super NES, the best video game console in the history of video games IMO, owed a large part of its success to the launch title super Mario World. Naturally, Nintendo decided a good 4 years later that they wanted a sequel. But this could be just any sequel. It had to have a completely new and innovative idea. The loveable dinosaur called Yoshi that you could ride in that game soon became a famous star, making cameos in such games as The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Super Mario RPG, both 3D Mario games, and the Dairantou Smash Bros. series. Seeing this massive potential, Nintendo gave Yoshi his own game in October of 1995.
The gameplay was essentially what you saw in Super Mario World while riding Yoshi, with a few tweaks. The first noticeable one was the ability to turn your opponents into eggs when you swallowed them. You could throw these eggs using an intuitive targeting system, either to activate switches, hit objects, or vanquish foes. The other major design change was that Yoshi could struggle to stay in the air for a longer time if you held down the jump button. Now finally, a minor change, but one that defined it nonetheless was the fact that you were playing as Yoshi, and you had to take care of baby Mario. To quote EGM, the urge isn’t to collect all the red coins or face all the gigantic boss monsters, but rather to “SHUT THAT $@#%#ING KID UP!!!!!!!” That’s right, if he fell off you had 10 seconds (or more if you had some extra stars) to get him back before Magikoopa’s cronies came by and took him away. At the end of each level, if you were good and collected some flowers, you had a chance of entering a bonus game to get more lives. (And let’s not forget that THIS is where the butt-stomp originated, NOT Mario 64) This is how the gameplay worked out, up until the final showdown with baby Bowser. Speaking of which, I think now is as good a time as any to mention that the premise of the game is that it takes place when Mario and Luigi are born, with Luigi taken away by Magikoopa to baby Bowser’s castle, and Mario falling down to Yoshi’s Island while being carried by a stork. The point is to rescue Luigi. A deeply satisfying platformer, this is something you will not easily forget. Now the game has also spawned a sequel, known as Yoshi’s Island 2 for the Nintendo DS.
Yoshi’s Story
After enjoying the masterpiece and glory that was Yoshi’s Island in addition to seeing Yoshi cameos in Super Mario RPG and Super Mario 64, the fans cried out “We want Yoshi!” Okay, maybe that was just me. Well, the point is that people wanted to see Yoshi in full 3D glory, and his immense popularity convinced Nintendo that it was the profitable and right thing to do. And sadly, this is the last game with Yoshi playing a starring role (not counting the remake of Yoshi’s Island).
That annoying weird-voiced cry, “Yoshi!” or whatever the hell he says, started right here. I recall when I first saw this game, I asked myself “Haven’t I played this before?” And it was a valid question, because Yoshi’s Story draws its gameplay elements from Yoshi’s Story, only making a gorgeous (for its time) 2.5-D experience, with amazing backdrops set to make it appear as if you are in the pages of a story book. The point is to get through all eight chapters and save the adult Yoshis trapped within the storybook from perishing forever (yes, you play as chibi-Yoshis). Eight amazing story chapters reveal Yoshi at his best, with all the egg-throwing, butt-stomping, and swallowing of Yoshi’s Island (plus the addition of shy guys that can change their color). Crafted by mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto himself, this game remains an inspiration for other platformers (only with less of the N64 child-oriented cutsieness). This is the last Yoshi game in the series, although he has made many appearances in such games as Mario Golf, Tennis, Party, and Paint. In addition, he was in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee. An interesting character that will always have fanfics about him and Link having sexual relations written, Yoshi continues to humor (and in some cases annoy) us to this day.
Punch Out Series
Punch-Out!!! (Arcade)
This is the game that started it all for the Punch-out franchise. In the game you controlled a wire frame boxer that was completely green. Because of the camera view, you needed this to see through your guy and to see the opponent.
The controls were very basic for one of the Arcades first boxers, as you moved left and right to dodge punches, and up and down to raise and lower your gloves. The two buttons were used to do left and right punches. This way you can inflict deadly combinations to your opponent.
As you fought, a KO meter filled up at the bottom of the second screen ( the arcade had to separate screens). When filled up, you could unleash lethal combinations on you enemies to defeat them.
Nintendo then went on to release Super-Punchout for the arcade in 1985, giving you five new international boxers. Canada’s Bear Hugger, Hong Kong’s Dragon Chan, Russia’s Vodka Drunkenski, India’s Great Tiger and the USA’s Super Macho Man.
Mike Tyson’s Punch-out!!! (Punch-out!!!) NES
This game is the first of the Punchout games to be released on a Nintendo Platform. In this game you are Little Mac, and with the aid of your trainer Doc(who basically did nothing) you had to fight your way past three different classes and then you get to go battle Tyson(who is next to impossible to beat)
The controls are very basic and almost the same as its arcade counterpart. You dodge by hitting left and right, punch with the two butt..... well you get the picture. The game was basically an updated version of the Arcade brawler.
After a while though, there was some issues with Tyson and Nintendo. So Tyson was taken out of the games and replaced by Mr. Dream and the game was just named Punch-out!!! That is about it for Punch-out on the NES
Super Punch-out!!!
It’s basically the same game with some improvements to give it a more arcade like feel. The rounds are 3 minutes instead of 2. Super Punchout has some very well animated graphics that are pretty damn good for the Super Nintendo. Super punches are from a power meter on the bottom, and when you fill it up it gives you the power to do super punches.
The enemies each have their own special pattern to be beaten, which makes it a lot more fun and challenging. The sound in the game is pretty cool, but it’s really nothing to brag about. That’s about it for this game. After I have explained the basics of the other ones to you there really isn’t much for me to say about this game.
Wario Series
Wario’s History
I didn't know much about this guy so I just read up on him and did this.
Believe it or not, Wario is no evil brother of Mario’s or anything. In fact, he was his friend. They always used to play together, but Wario always got the short end of the stick. One example being when they played Cowboys and Indians.
Now after they broke up Wario was bitter. But not until Mario made it a routine out of saving Peach did he act on this. When Mario was away saving peach, Wario took over his castle. Wario had sealed the castle with the power of six special golden coins and spread them through out the island that this castle was on. But true to form, Mario came back and whooped Wario’s out of the castle tongue . After a while of going back and forth Wario ended up getting a castle, which was really a planet with his name on it.
Then from a warp pipe on his planet, Wario ended up in the middle of Bomberman City. Of course Wario being his greedy self tried to take the place over, but his plans were thwarted by the Bombermen and he was blown off the island.
After that, while flying around in his plane called the Bull-Dog, Wario spots a huge treasure that these little people had stashed. On his way to getting it though, he crashed to the bottom of the cave and had to get his way back up.
Basically after all this, Wario has taken up racing. Yes racing (Mario Kart). That is what he has been doing wink
Warioland 2
Captain Syrup and her comrades - who are even more ill-mannered than Wario himself - have swiped Wario's treasure and left his castle thoroughly trashed. To reclaim his treasure and sock it to Syrup, Wario must journey through as many as 52 baffling levels, gathering coins, trouncing troublemakers and solving mini-puzzles.
Warioland 3
Wario Land 3 is packed with 25 puzzle-filled worlds and tons of amazing transformations. In Wario's biggest adventure to date, he's on a quest to help a mysterious figure by finding five music boxes and lots and lots of Coins.
Warioland 4
Wario looks great on the Game Boy Advance, but he's still the same money-mad rascal who's starred in some of the greatest hand-held platformers of all time. This time around, a tale about a golden pyramid is enough to send the big blowhard scurrying off to the jungle. Sure enough he finds the object of his greedy desire, but before he can collect his loot he'll have to undergo a brain- and body-bending series of challenges. Four guardians stand jealous guard over the four passages of the pyramid. Each passage, in turn, features four levels.
When most people think of Nintendo, they think of Videogames. The thing they don’t realize though is that Nintendo was the first to ever mass produce playing cards and sell them in Japan. Here is the story of Nintendo before the videogames...
In the beginning (1889), Fusajiro Yamauchi (the great-grandfather of Hiroshi Yamauchi) started making Japanese playing cards in Japan. These cards were called “Hanafuda”, and became pretty popular all over Japan around 1902. In 1933, the name of the company was called Yamauchi Nintendo & Co. In 1947 they began the distribution company called Marufuku Co. Ltd.
It wasn’t till 1950 until Hiroshi Yamauchi became president of Yamauchi Nintendo & Co. One of the first things he did was change the name to Nintendo playing Card Co. Ltd. in 1951. Under his tenure, Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. became the first company to succeed in mass producing plastic playing cards throughout Japan.
Around 1959, Disney Characters started to appear on cards. This boosted the card department substantially.
In 1963, it marked Nintendo’s transition from a card making company to a game making company. First it was just like board games and such, but then in 1970 the Beam Gun was created. It used opto-electronics and was the first game ever to incorporate electronics into the Japanese toy industry. Later in 1973 they developed a laser clay shooting system and in ‘74 they made this projector type thing for amusement arcades. They were also being shipped to the US and to Europe.
It wasn’t until 1975 though, when Nintendo made its first videogame system. In cooperation with Mitsubishi Electric, Nintendo designed a videogame system using “Electronic Video Recording”. Then a year later in ‘76 they started using microprocessors. In 1978 they started selling coin operated videogames that were played on microcomputers and by ‘79 this type of gaming had its own division in Nintendo.
1980 marked the creation of Nintendo of America (NoA) and the initiation of the “Game & Watch” line into the gaming market. By 1983, NoA’s capital reached 10 million. This is when Nintendo really started getting into videogames. In 1981 Donkey Kong was created and was a huge success in the videogame business. It had people from all around going to the arcades and strengthened Nintendo’s interest in the videogame market. In 1983, Nintendo started mass producing and selling the home videogame console “Family Computer”. it had its own CPU(Custom Processing Unit) and a PPU (Picture Processing Unit)
It wasn’t until 1985 though until the US got a version of the Family Computer (Nintendo Entertainment System). This was the first time gamers got to see Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Zelda, and Samus at their home. They also used the popular beam tech for games like Duck Hunt and Clay Shooter. Soon enough, the NES was the highest selling toy in America and the Legend of Zelda became the first ever game to sell over a Million units. Now Nintendo is fully fledged into videogames. In 1988, they stared up Nintendo Power, a magazine for Nintendo game players. A year later, NP became the largest paid subscription mag. in its age group. Soon after that Nintendo began to aggressively market their game products to people. Soon Mario and Luigi became a household name and Nintendo's popularity continued to grow.
In 1991, the Super Nintendo was created and Super Mario World was the game right by its side. Many great games came out for the SNES including the likes of Mario, Zelda, Starfox, and Metroid. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is considered by some to be the greatest game of all time. In 1993, Nintendo created the Super FX chip for use on the game Star Fox that was released in April. The game featured 3d graphics for the first time ever in a videogame. 1994 was Nintendo’s first venture into the handheld market with the Game Boy. it was a huge hit, as gamers could now play games not only at home, but anywhere now.
In 1996, the Nintendo 64 was released. it sold more then 500K in the first day. The first true 3D exploration game was created (Mario 64). Now met with competition by Sony, the Nintendo 64, although with pretty good sales, lost in the console war.
On November 18th, 2001, the Gamecube was released. With one of the Gamecube’s the most notable launch title being Luigi’s Mansion, its fate was sealed from the start. While the system had many games that were geared towards a more hardcore audience the system never appealed to the mainstream audience and therefore became a niche console throughout its lifespan. Throughout a fierce battle with Microsoft’s XBOX for second place in the console war, Nintendo’s endless supply of bad business decisions forced them into the dreaded cellar of the market share.
Starting in 2004, with the release of the Nintendo DS, the strategy for the company and the market share as well began to shift dramatically into a new direction. This marked a new era of interactive games taking precedence over graphics, where gameplay overweighed gore, and gaming became a family affair. The Nintendo DS came with two screens, one touch sensitive, as well as a rapidly growing list of high quality games for the hardcore gamer and family alike. This marked the first step for Nintendo towards a new path in gaming.
Following Nintendo’s success with the DS, they then followed suit in May 2005 with the unveiling of the Wii. Nintendo’s Wii was billed as a fully interactive gaming system that offered users a new way to play games. It also was aimed to capture a new crowd of gamers, with its pick up and play mentality being much easier to catch on to. As with the DS, the days leading up to launch was met with large speculation as to how well the system would perform stacked up to a fully loaded entertainment machine such as the Playstation 3. However, when November 19th came rolling around the corner, everyone soon learned thereafter that Nintendo’s new home console endeavor would not disappoint. Still not readily available on store shelves many months into launch, Nintendo has shown that it still has the winning formula when it comes to game. Now we have to see whether they have the consistency part down yet.
SYSTEM HISTORY
Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom)
Nintendo’s first system was released in 1983 in Japan. It was really one of the first systems that caught the gamer’s eye. With games like Zelda, Mario, Metroid and others, this system paved the way for others to come.
Stats:
CPU
# 6508 (using a custom Motorola 6502 class), 1.79 Mhz
Memory
# Main RAM: 2 KB
# Video RAM: 2 KB
Graphics
# Display: 256x240
# Colors: 52
# Colors on Screen: 16
# Max Sprites: 64
# Max Sprites / Line: 8
# Sprite Size: 8x8 or 8x16
# Picture Scroll Horizontal / Vertical
Versions
Famicom
This was released in 1983 by Nintendo in Japan and a few other countries. It was released in many different versions. There are also many pirated types of this system.
NES
This is the system most US gamers seen. Although released three years after the Famicom in 1986, it was poorly designed. it allowed dust to infiltrate the system and was the cause for many systems that just stopped working after a while.
Pirate Versions
These systems are basically a way to play the games with out paying the price. Here is an example of one:
Famicom Disk
Just as it sounds, this was an extra disk drive added onto the Famicom for games. It sold over 4 million in Japan. It was never released in America due to Piracy.
Accesories
Power Glove
Designed by Mattel, if offered new heights to playing videogames.
Game Mat
A mat with 8 buttons on it. It came with he Athletic World Game Cartridge.
R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy
Plastic Robot about 1 foot high. He is most known for his appearances in the Star Fox Franchise even though this was before Star Fox.
NES Satellite
It allows more players to play on the NES (up to four people can play now)
Super Nintendo
The Super Nintendo was another big hit for Nintendo. All of its big hit games were back, including Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Metroid and Star Fox (new edition). Many of the games that are today heralded as some of the best videogames ever were developed for the Super Nintendo. This marked one of the final years that Nintendo had full support from third party developers.
Stats
CPU
# Type: 65816 16-bit: 2.68 / 3.58 Mhz
# 16-bit Picture Processing Unit
Memory
# RAM: 1 Mbit (128 Kbyte)
# Video RAM: 0.5 Mbit (64 Kbyte)
# Cart Size's: 2 Mbit - 48 Mbit
Display
# Max Resolution: 512 x 448 pixels
# Colors: 32,768 colors Max Colors at Once: 256
# Max Sprite Size: 64 x 64 pixels
# Max Sprites: 128 sprites
Video
# A PAL SNES can output RF, RGB, and S-Video.
Sound
# Sound Chip: 8-bit Sony SPC700 Sound Channels: 8
Features
# Mode 7
# 2 Controller ports
# Some games contain additional Chips to enhance the games. Mario Kart for instance contains a DSP. Other Titles such as Star Fox contain the FX chip to help with processing those 3D graphics.
Versions
Super Famicom
The Super Famicom was released in Japan in 1990. The system is basically the same as the UK version except that it runs at 60Mhz and has territorial lockout. It cost 32,000 yen with the normal bundle package that included 2 controllers and Super Mario World
Super Nintendo
Released once again with SMW and 2 controllers, this system sported a different look then its counterparts. It was more rectangular.
Super Nintendo (Europe)
Released in 1992 in Europe, this is almost the exact same version as the Famicom Released in Europe.
SNES 101
only released in the US and Japan, this system was a much smaller, sleeker and overall better looking version of the system. Yoshi’s Island is boxed in on this pic (pic game from RetroGames)
Accessories
Super Scope
The SNES Light gun
SNES Controller
Standard issue controller
SNES Game Genie
Allowed for players to cheat on videogames. Nobody likes a cheater huh? tongue
Mouse Pad
For use with Mario Paint
SNES Sattellite
The satellite view was only released in Japan and allows the SNES to connect to a special satellite channel called "St GIGA". Games and demos could be downloaded at particular times to a BS-X Special Broadcast Cassette containing 1 megabit of flash ram.
Games included BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2 (Nintendo) and Excite Bike Bum Bum Mario Battle (Nintendo).
Other
SNES DSP Chip
Used to create more realistic 3D graphics seen in Pilot Wings and Super Mario Cart. It took some of the load off the SNES processor by doing some of the data processing.
SNES Super Fx/Fx2
Helped create some of the great 3D graphics that you seen in games like Star Fox and Vortex. The FX chip uses of the extra little pin connectors, which are found inside the cartridge only on FX games.
Nintendo Gameboy
Gameboy
This is quite possible the most popular system ever invented. First released in 1988, it revolutionized gaming for many, and even brought new people into the mix. After the gameboy, there were many other enhancements. Read on:
Gameboy Pocket
A handheld version of the Gameboy. It was light weight and fitted into gamers pockets.
Stats
CPU
# 6502 (8-bit) (Similar to the Z80 processor.)
# .14 MHz Clock Speed: 4.194304 MHz
Memory
# 8K Bytes Video RAM: 8K
Display
# 2.6" Screen
Resolution:
# 160x144
Colors:
# 4 luminences (monochromatic)
Max # of sprites:
# 40
Max # sprites/line: 10 Sprite size:
# 8x8 / 8x16
Sound
# 4 channels with stereo sound .
GameBoy Color
This system was basically the same as the GameBoy but in COLOR! What more could a gamer want??? tongue Anyways, this sold like crazy and every kid, brother and friend had one. You could also still play with you old games which gave no reason for the original GameBoy fans not to switch over.
Stats
ROM sizes:
# Up to 64 Megabits
Display
# 2.3" Thin-Film Transistor
# (TFT) Color Liquid Crystal Display Display
# 160 x 144 Reflective LCD
Total Palette
# 32,768
RAM
# 32k bytes
Video RAM
# 16k bytes
Serial Communications Rate
# Up to 512k bit per second
GameBoy Advance
This is the latest installment of the gameboy series. This system has SNES like graphics, if not better. So far is has been selling like hotcakes, but the arrival of the GBA SP (The GBA enhancement) could once again create a new seller on the market. But for $100 for a new look and a backlight, who knows?
Stats
CPU
# 32-Bit ARM with embedded memory[li]
Display
[li]2.9" TFT reflective screen
# 240x160 resolution
# 2,768 possible colors
# 511 simultaneous colors in character mode; 32,768 simultaneous colors in bitmap mode
Virtual Boy
The Virtual Boy was released in August 15th, 1995 in America and was one of the first systems to simulate a 3D environment. The games themselves were shown by looking into a goggle display, and played with a controller attached to the system. For the most part the system was a complete failure and never sold over 1 million units in any of the countries in which it was released.
Stats
CPU
# 32-bit RISC Processor @ 20 MHz
RAM
# 1 MB DRAM
# 512 KB PSRAM
Display
# 384 x 224 Screen Resolution
Sound
# 16 Bit Stereo Sound
Nintendo 64
This system was deemed a success by Nintendo (because they made profit) but really was considered a failure by everyone else in the console market. Even though the console housed some of the greatest games ever made (Mario, Zelda) its competition in Sony out marketed it and beat Nintendo badly. This is when Nintendo started garnering a reputation for being kiddy. There were really no other types of this system unlike in the other predecessors. This time every country got the same system until towards they end they started making “game specific” 64’s.
Stats
CPU
# Custom 64-bit MIPS R4300i-class RISC (93.75 MHz)
Co-Processor
# RCP (62.5 MHz)
# Built-in Audio/Video Vector Processor (RSP)
# Over half a billion (500,000,000) vector operations/sec
Pixel Drawing Processor (RDP)
# Advanced Texture-Mapping
# Detail Texturing
# Tri-linear Mip Map Interpolation
# Perspective Correction Environment Mapping
# Depth Buffering
# Color Combiner
# Anti-Aliasing and Blending
# Rasterizing
# Z-Buffering
# Automatic LOD Management
# Vertex positioning and transformations
# Depth, color and texture clipping
# Transparency (256 levels max)
# Gouraud Shading
MEMORY
# 4 Megabytes - Upgradeable
SOUND
# Stereo 16-bit
# ADPCM Compression
# 100 PCM channels possible
DISPLAY
# 256 x 224 to 640 x 480
# Flicker Free Interlace Mode
# 21-bit color output
# 32-bit RGBA Pixel Color Frame Buffer
Accessories
N64 DD(Disk Drive System)
Basically another Disk Drive, this time made for the 64. The N64DD bombed horribly, and was never released in America.
Expansion Pack
Bundled with The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask in the United Stats, it contained an extra 4Mb of RAM which allowed games using it to run faster and more smooth.
Nintendo Gamecube
The Nintendo Gamecube was basically rock bottom for Nintendo. Once again they decided to do things their own way and really not try to cater to any third party developers. Even while competing with Microsoft for second place in the console war, Nintendo’s new system seemingly had no room in which to grow in while Microsoft was pretty much taking all the gamers Nintendo had hoped to. The only people that bought the system were its loyal hardcore fans and the younger fan base. While the Gamecube was in large a failure on Nintendo’s part, it still provided many classic games and some killer AAA apps. It was also a big wake up call for the gaming communities biggest company.
Stats
CPU
# 485 MHz IBM "Gekko" PowerPC CPU.
GPU
# 162 MHz "Flipper" Processor
Memory
# 43 Mb Total RAM
Video
# 480i (composite cables)
# 480p (component cables)
Accessories
Gamecube Modem Adapter
This allowed for gamers to connect online on Nintendo’s lackluster gaming network.
Gameboy Player
Allowed for users to play their Gameboy games on a bigger screen using the Nintendo Gamecube.
Nintendo Wavebird
First true First Party Wireless controller allowed users to play their games from anywhere in the home. A very convenient controller to have.
Nintendo DS
The Nintendo DS is a dual screen gaming system with the bottom screen also serving as a touch pad allowing for improved interactivity. The DS also supports voice recognition via a microphone on the device as well as visuals that rival the quality of the N64. This system marked a change in Nintendo’s business strategy.
Stats
CPU
# ARM946E-S Main CPU 67 MHz
# ARM7TDMI Co-CPU 33 MHz
Memory
# 4 Mb Main RAM
# 656 Kb Video RAM
Video
# Dual 3” LCD Screens
# 256X192 Resolution per Screen
# One Touch Screen LCD
Internet
# Built in Wi-Fi connectivity
Accessories
DS Download Play
This allows you to go to certain specified areas and download demos of current and upcoming games from a Nintendo download kiosk. It also allows you to use a single game cart to play with multiple people on different DS systems.
Rumble Pack
When connected into the GBA Game slot on the Nintendo DS it allows players to experience rumble while playing their games.
Opera Internet Browser
This allows for any user in range of a wireless hotspot to connect a freely browse the internet on their Nintendo DS game system.
Stylus Pen
Pen used to write and play games with on the Nintendo DS
Nintendo Wii
The Wii is Nintendo’s most recent foray into the console market. So far it has been met with huge success. Basically it’s a system with roughly 2 to 3 times more power than the Gamecube, almost the same architecture, but with an entirely new way to play games. The controller for the Wii is only a remote control, with the ability to sense motion at any angle due to the sensor bar connected to the Wii that is either placed at the bottom or top of the television. The Wii remote can also be connected to many different peripheral devices, most notably the nunchuck controller, in order to further enhance gameplay capabilities. It also has built in Wireless, like the DS, in order to ensure easy connectivity to any gamers setup.
Stats
CPU
# PowerPC "Broadway" processor 729 MHz
GPU
# ATI "Hollywood" Graphics Processor 243 MHz
Memory
# 24 Mb Internal 1T-SRAM
# 64 Mb External GDDR3 SDRAM
# 3 Mb embedded texture memory
Video
# 480p (component cables)
# 480i (composite cables)
# 16:9 Widescreen Capable
Audio
# Dobly Digital Pro Logic II Capable
# Built-In Speaker on Controller
Storage
# 512 Mb built-in Flash Memory
# Expandable Memory via SD Card Slot
Internet
# Built in Wi-Fi connectivity
Accessories
Wii Remote
Remote used to control the Nintendo Wii
Nunchuck Controller
First attachable accessory included with the Wii and allows gamers movement with an analog stick as well as two shoulder buttons.
Wii Component Cables
Not shipped with the Wii, these cables allow for players with either and ED or HDTV to enjoy their games on the Wii in 480p
Wireless Sensor Bar
Allows users to place a sensor bar for the Wii in previously out of reach places. Also allows for easy transportation.
Wii Charge Station
Lets users charge their controllers with an easy to use rechargeable lithium battery pack
NINTENDO SERIES HISTORY
Mario Series
Introduction
In 1980, Shigeru Miyamoto was developing his first game as a young and budding videogame designer. At first the game was to be made after Popeye (I am sure you all know this guy) but Nintendo lost the rights. When Miyamoto was asked to create a game that he wanted to create, he came up with a game called Donkey Kong staring Jumpman. In this game a huge monkey (Donkey Kong) had captured a woman and it was Jumpman’s job to rescue her. After a while, Jumpman’s name changed to Mario, because of his resemblance to the Italian landlord of Nintendo’s office in New York. In Donkey Kong Jr. Mario officially made his first appearance.
When Miyamoto created Mario, he based him on these principles. At the time hair couldn’t flow freely in the air, so Miyamoto gave him a hat. Mario also has a very big nose and mustache. Why you ask? Because Miyamoto wanted gamers to notice that Mario had a nose. To see Mario’s arms moving, he was given red overalls and a blue shirt. In the first Super Mario game though he had a brown shirt but after that he was officially switched to blue overalls and a red shirt.
Super Mario Bros.
In this game Mario teams up with his brother Luigi’s to fight against Bowser and his evil minions. It is thought of by some as the first true side scrolling game. This game is pretty much the game that started it all. From mushrooms to the princess to Bowser to Koopa it was all there (some left out).
Mario is a fairly easy game to understand and play. The plot is very easy too(and would become the staple of every Mario game to come). Bowser had captured Princess Toadstool and it is now Mario’s job to travel through all the levels of Super Mario Bros. to defeat Bowser and save the princess. There were many obstacles in his way though. Some of the enemies in Mario include the Goombas, the Hammer Bros., Bullet Bills, and Koopas. The way Mario killed these enemies was mostly by jumping on top of them. There were also many upgrades you could get throughout the game that helped Mario on his quest. There was Fire Flowers, which gave Mario the ability to shoot fire. The Mushrooms, which made Mario bigger and stronger. There were also coins, and whenever Mario got 100 of them he got an extra life. There was 8 worlds in Super Mario, with each of them having 4 levels (32 total).
Super Mario Bros. 2
In 1988 when Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in the states it left a lot of gamers scratching their heads. The game had little resemblance to the Mario game that we all known and loved. It also appeared in a different world called Sub-Con. Actually the real sequel to SMB was actually only released in Japan in 1986, where as this game was a modified version of a game in Japan called Doki Doki Panic (cool name huh?) You could also choose from 4 different characters (which never returned in any new installments of the series) Even though the game wasn’t a true sequel, many of the aspects used in SMB2(US) have been continued to be used in new installments of the series.
Super Mario Land
Super Mario Land for the Game Boy was one of its original launch titles. The game was basically the same as the original SMB, but with worse graphics and a new princess to save. This time Mario was trying to save Daisy, not Peach. All the old enemies were still there though, even though this was probably the worst looking Mario game of all of them.
Super Mario Bros 3
SMB3 is considered by some to be the best Mario game made. This game goes back to its roots in which Mario is back trying to save Peach from the clutches of the evil beast Bowser. This was probably the best looking game to come off of the NES. Actually, Nintendo actually held Mario back one year after it was completed to build anticipation for the game.
Along with the old power ups that Mario could acquire in the game, there were also many new ones. There was the leaf, which gave Mario the ability to fly. The Frog Suit, which gave him the ability to swim. There were other suits too but those were the most notable. Mario also had many secrets for gamers to get which also heightened the appeal for the game. Mario was released at the peak of the popularity on the NES and the 2D Platforming genre.
Super Mario World
In 1991, Mario made his first entry onto the 16-bit Super Nintendo with Super Mario World. The game shows a vast improvement in the graphics department, along with some new characters in the game. One of them being Yoshi. When Mario would find Yoshi in SMW he could ride around on Yoshi and Yoshi could eat and spit out enemies. When an enemy hit you, Yoshi would run back and forth until either you got back on him or he fell off a cliff. You could not take Yoshi in to fight the boss though.
While SMW wasn’t as revolutionary as the first game, it still showcased some of the best graphics of its time. This is due to the Super Nintendo’s increased resolution and high color palette.
This game also gave gamers multiple ways to solve the levels and many secrets to find. The game was also much less linear then all of the previous Mario games. Gamers could freely roam each level and like stated above could also find new ways to beat the level. This was one of the primary reasons the SNES sold so great, because it was packed in with the system. All the gamers that bought a Super Nintendo could enjoy Super Mario World for no extra charge. A wonderful move on Nintendo’s part.
Hotel Mario
This game debuted on the Philips CD-I (Possibly the biggest failure ever). Bowser once again captured Princess Peach and hid her in one of seven hotels (hence the name).Mario will have to check behind all the doors for the princess while also battling with familiar enemies from previous Mario installments.
Super Mario All-Stars
This is basically the first three Mario’s jam packed into a Super Nintendo cartridge. Also there was a game called the lost levels. These levels weren’t really lost though. It was actually the never released in America real Super Mario Bros. 2. The graphics and sound is better on all of the games and a save feature is added to each game.
Mario Clash
Virtual Boy. Those two words speak volumes…
Basically it was the first 3D attempt at Mario, but the limitations of the Virtual Boy proved fatal.
Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars
This time Square and Nintendo join forces to create one of the best Mario titles ever made. Even though the game starts off with peach getting stolen, it doesn’t end with him rescuing her. Now since not everyone has played this game I will let it rest at that. Square did an excellent job on the story and its pretty much a basic RPG except for Mario style wink
Paper Mario
This game is essentially the sequel to the SNES version. It features 2D characters in a 3D environment. This game was not co-developed by Square, but it is still good in its own right.
In the beginning of the game, Bowser actually defeats Mario and almost puts him out for good. With the help of the stars, Mario is saved and embarks on an adventure to save the stars and get back Peach. That is all I am going to say again because I don’t want to ruin the game.
In Paper Mario, You can only attack with one character per turn. Some may not like that idea and some might love it. If you are an RPG and a Mario fan, this game is a must buy.
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64, probably considered by most to be one of the best games in the series(if not the best game of all time) was the first game ever to have a fully interactive and expansive 3D environment. Even though the story was basically the same, the gameplay was as fresh as ever. Peach was captured by Bowser, and Mario had to defeat the levels in the paintings to gain stars and open new levels. Every time you got enough stars to advance, you would have to battle Bowser.
The Game abandoned the traditional Directional Pad for the Analog stick, offering more movement and also you can vary the speed at which Mario walks/runs. Compared to other games at its time, Mario’s graphics were the top of the line for a very long time. Nintendo and Miyamoto found the perfect game engine for a 3D adventure game (so perfect it was basically the same found in Zelda)
Mario’s lush 3D environments and awesome gameplay gives it a special place in almost any gamer’s heart who has owned a 64.
Super Mario Sunshine
As a sequel to the Mario franchise and SM64, this game really doesn’t offer anything new except for one oddity. This time Mario has a water pack. The concept of the game is actually a little bit varied then others. Mario goes on vacation but is framed as the man who has been splattering the streets with graffiti. But true to the series, as soon as Mario gets out to do some work, Peach gets captured by a Mario look-a-like. I am not going to spoil anything for anyone, but the story seems to go back to its roots from there. As for the Gameplay, the water pack is pretty much what Mario uses for battling. He uses it to clean the place up, to fight enemies, and to propel himself up to hard to reach locations. There are also upgrades to the Jetpack you can acquire, which is a pretty cool thing. Super Mario Sunshine definitely isn’t that innovative, but sure is a blast to play.
Super Paper Mario
The next episode in the Paper Mario series brings itself to the Wii, and is the first offering on the Wii staring the lovable plumber. In this game you start off going to Bowser’s castle to rescue Princess Peach, who you think he just captured. After getting there you realize that not only does he not have the princess, but that he was actually plotting to come and get her the moment you walked in the door! You soon find out that there is a new evil (Thank you!) that you must take out along with a load of new henchmen to go through as well.
Super Paper Mario isn’t your normal Mario game. In all reality it is a breath of fresh air into a legendary series. You will find yourself laughing at many parts during this game because of the humor purposely added into the game. Sometimes it will be small things related in the game itself. However, other times, they take jabs at everyone from computer junkies(like us tongue ) to even Nintendo themselves!
Another thing about this game is that it is a side scrolling Mario adventure like in the past. However, you also can go into 3D mode and explore the world in a completely different way finding many different things that will help you along your journey to save the Princess.
Zelda Series
Legend of Zelda
In July 1987, the first ever Zelda game was released. This game had very good graphics for the time, but also some other qualities that stunned videogamers across the world. Gamers controlled link in a 3/4's overhead perspective through nine dungeons. The best thing about this game though was its nonlinear, detailed, and expansive world. Before this, gamers had never seen a game like Zelda. Pretty much the plot for Zelda was like this. Ganon tries to get the Triforce. Zelda separates it into 8 pieces across the world. Ganon imprisons Zelda. Then Link comes in to save the day. To this day The Legend of Zelda has sold 6.3 copies worldwide.
The Legend of Zelda: The Adventures of Link
In December of 1988, a little over a year after the first Zelda title made its debut, the next installment came out. It was called The Adventures of Link. In this Zelda title Miyamoto incorporated several RPG elements not seen in the first one. In this game when you got in battles it shifted to a side perspective. He could also now jump in this game. As Link progresses in the game, he also learned new techniques, similar to RPG style games. In this game when Link ran into an enemy the screen switched into an entirely different screen. Also, when Link killed enemies he got experience points that could be used for life, magic, or attack attributes. The Adventures of Link also incorporated a better story, wherein people actually helped you with hints to complete your quest. Here is the plot for Zelda II: The Adventures of Link. On Link's 16th birthday, the crest of Hyrule Kingdom appears on his hand, and he asks Impa about it. When they get there, they see that an evil magician placed a spell on here to make her fall asleep. Now Link must get the 6 magical Gems from around the world to save her. This game was considered the "dark horse" of the series even though it sold around 4.3 million units. The first few thousand units also came in a shiny gold case.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
With the release of the Super Nintendo, along came another Zelda title. Arguably the best title in the series, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was shipped to the US in April of 1992. This game pretty much went back to the first Zelda without all the PRG elements. This was news all gamers were glad to hear about. It was back to the 3/4's perspective view, a heart-based life system, and the huge inventory of items. This game is more of an add-on to the already great first game than a revolutionary title. It had most of the same things, but A LOT of upgrades. The plot for this story was pretty much like this. An evil wizard is trying to bring Ganondorf back. To break the seal he is transporting all the wise men’s daughters into the darkworld, including Zelda. Link is framed for the disappearance of Zelda and the evil wizard gets rid of the king and takes his place. First Link must get the three pendants to get the Master Sword and then he must go through the Dark World and collect all the crystals. After that he has the epic battle with Ganon once again. Even though this title is considered the best by many it sold less than the first two, garnering only 4 million in sales.
Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Link's Awakening Was the Zelda series first incarnation on a handheld console, and was also the first to take the game out of the traditional Hylian setting. Released in August of 1993 on the Game Boy, it took place right after the game's main character, Link, had defeated the evil Ganon. A new age of peace had set over Hyrule and all the people were joyous, except for Link. He couldn't help but feel nervous, that Ganon would somehow return. So for reasons not known by us, he decided to seek the answers to his anxiety at sea. He sails out into the vast ocean, only to be met by a ferocious storm and be shipwrecked. He awakes in the house of a girl named Marin (who he at first mistakes for the princess Zelda.) and a man named Tarin. Tarin returns Link's shield to him and Link begins to search for his sword on the nearby beach. After retrieving the sword an owl descends on our hero and informs him that the only way to leave Kohilant Island (the name of the island in which Marin and Tarin reside) is to awaken the Wind Fish that is currently locked away on an egg on top of a mountain. The only way to complete this task is to play the Ballad of the Wind Fish (taught to you by Marin) on the eight Siren Instruments that are locked away in dungeons across the island. After collecting the eight instruments Link scales the mountain and enters the egg of the Wind Fish where he is first challenged by a maze and then 6 Nightmares. After defeating the six nightmares, Link awakens (hence the game's title) in the wreckage of his ship, and it appears that the whole game was a dream, that is until the Wind Fish flies overhead. In December of 1998, after the release of the GBC, the game was remade in full color for the system, with a all new dungeon in which color played a crucial role. At the end of the dungeon the player had the choice between a red or blue tunic that would increase offense or defense, respectively.
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
After a few titles on the Game Boy, Zelda was reborn on the Nintendo 64. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, released in November of 1998, was finally released after many delays into the middle of the consoles life-span. With the Legend of Zelda, Miyamoto dared to take the series where no gamer ever imagined it could go. This new title was supposed to start out on the 64DD, but the failure of the add-on moved it to the Nintendo 64. Many gamers were skeptical at first, but Miyamoto showed them the power of the 64. Zelda utilized a 3D environment, in which Link could go virtually anywhere. This was a huge leap over what A Link to the Past was for the Super Nintendo. This game still had the same style as the 1st and 3rd Zelda titles, but just in 3D. This game got many perfect scores. In fact, videogames.com gave it its first ever 10/10! There was just so much attention to detail to this game it was amazing. This game was worth every second of the wait. The plot was very similar to LttP, but also had its differences. This time Link had a partner. Navi, a small fairy, accompanied Link wherever he went giving him advice. The plot goes like this. Zelda asks link to find the three elemental stones for her so she can open the Door of Time. When Link gets them Ganondorf steals the Triforce. Seven years later Link awakens as an adult with the master sword in his hand. His quest is to awaken the six sages, and use their help to defeat Ganon and send him back into the dark world for good. This title was by far the best selling one of the series, selling around 7,1 million copies.
Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
After The Breakthrough title Zelda:OoT was released, a new Zelda title was on the way. The Legend of Zelda, made its way 2 years later into the homes of gamers everywhere across the US. This game really didn't do anything new to the series. It was pretty much the same game with updated graphics and some new gameplay elements. The plot was like this. Link was riding Epona one day and was jumped by a little kid. The kid stole his Ocarina and Link chased him. Link was thrown with the kid into another dimension in the land of Termina. There was something very wrong though. The moon was about to crash into the ground and destroy everything in its path. Link must learn the song of time, to help him on his quest, and then go across the land of Termina and collect the special masks to stop the Moon from falling. The mask trading part of this game was a very nice touch along with a few other additions. If you put on one of the magical masks you would transform into that creature. You could be a Goron, a Zora, or a Deku. There was also a secret mask at the end of the game that allowed you to turn into a special Link. Oni Link. The story was very captivating and was the main reason the game sold as well as it did. I couldn't get no numbers on this game but I would estimate that it sold around 4 to 5 million titles. This was one of my personal favorites. wink
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Since the Legend of Zelda was released for the original NES in 1987, the Zelda series has earned a reputation for delivering innovative action-packed gameplay mixed with engrossing storylines and unforgettable characters. The latest two games in this series, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons for Game Boy Color, build on this excellent reputation and add even more mind-bending gameplay elements to the mix. Each game presents a unique adventure for Link to conquer, but to get the most out of either game you'll want to play them both. It doesn't matter which Pak you play first. When you complete one of the games, you will earn a password which you can enter into the second game. When your new adventure begins, your character will have the same name you gave him in the first game. He will also begin the game with more items than in the first quest, and you'll be treated to cool cameos from some of the characters you encountered in the first adventure. At the end of your second adventure, you'll face an additional boss battle which would not occur if you had not already completed the first game.
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages gives gamers more of the classic Zelda action which has made the series so popular, with a heaping helping of new concepts and puzzles. Link must travel around a vast overworld collecting clues and items, and explore challenging dungeons filled with fierce monsters and maddening puzzles. When Link's adventure begins, he uses the power of the Triforce to travel to a new land known as Labrynna. Veran, the Sorceress of Shadows, is planning to alter Labrynna's past so that she may rule over the present. Through trickery and deceit, Veran harnesses the power of Nayru, the Oracle of Ages, and travels 400 years into the past. Immediately, Labrynna's present changes dramatically, reflecting Veran's evil actions. Before the Sorceress of Shadows can complete her dark mission, Link must use the Harp of Ages to travel through time and recover the eight Essences of time. Time travel presents Link with some unique problems and puzzles. Many of the game's challenges require Link to travel from one time period to another in order to reach his goal. If a river is blocking your path in the present, for example, you can travel to the past and move a stone to redirect the flow of the water. If you plant seeds in the past, you'll find full-grown trees and vines when you return to the present. Also, Link meets some powerful friends in Holodrum who can help him in a variety of ways. A winged polar bear named Moosh can help Link attack enemies with a powerful ground-pounding blow, or Link can ride a friendly Dodongo named Dmitri across deep bodies of water. When Link rides in the pouch of a boxing kangaroo named Ricky, he can K.O. his enemies with a few quick jabs.
Link's latest adventure offers great gameplay, an engrossing storyline and beautifully detailed graphics. Whether you're a long-time fan of The Legend of Zelda or a newcomer to the series, you're sure to spend many rewarding hours helping Link restore order to Labrynna.
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Since the Legend of Zelda was released for the original NES in 1987, the Zelda series has earned a reputation for delivering innovative action-packed gameplay mixed with engrossing storylines and unforgettable characters. The latest two games in this series, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages for Game Boy Color, build on this excellent reputation and add even more mind-bending gameplay elements to the mix. Each game presents a unique adventure for Link to conquer, but to get the most out of either game you'll want to play them both. It doesn't matter which Pak you play first. When you complete one of the games, you will earn a password which you can enter into the second game. When your new adventure begins, your character will have the same name you gave him in the first game. He will also begin the game with more items than in the first quest, and you'll be treated to cool cameos from some of the characters you encountered in the first adventure. At the end of your second adventure, you'll face an additional boss battle which would not occur if you had not already completed the first game.
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons takes place in the troubled land of Holodrum. After magically transporting to this new world, Link witness a power-hungry general named Onox summon a mighty storm and kidnap the Oracle of Seasons -- a beautiful dancer named Din. Onox uses Din's power to hurl the forces of nature into chaos, so it's up to Link to once again restore peace to the land. The game doesn't stray too far from classic Zelda challenges and gameplay. Link must travel around a vast overworld collecting clues and items, and explore challenging dungeons filled with fierce monsters and maddening puzzles. Oracle of Seasons presents some new challenges as well. Using the Rod of Seasons, Link has the ability to change the seasons whenever he pleases. The landscape changes depending on the season, which provides the premise for many perplexing puzzles. If a river blocks your path in the summer, for example, you can summon the winter months and freeze the waterway to ensure a safe passage. Also, Link meets some powerful friends in Holodrum who help him in a variety of ways. A winged polar bear named Moosh can help Link attack enemies with a powerful ground-pounding blow, or Link can ride a friendly Dodongo named Dmitri across deep bodies of water. When Link rides in the pouch of a boxing kangaroo named Ricky, he can K.O. his enemies with a few quick jabs.
Link's latest escapade offers gamers great gameplay, an engrossing storyline and detailed graphics. Whether you're a long-time fan of The Legend of Zelda or a newcomer to the series, you're sure to spend many rewarding hours helping Link restore order to Holodrum.
Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
As you all know, the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker takes place 100 years after the Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. In That time much has changed. The world is now one huge ocean with little islands scattered around. Nobody really knows what happened, because everything has now passed into legend, and the Hero of Time is only a myth now. On every boy’s birthday, they always have to wear a green tunic. The same kind of green tunic that the Hero of Time used when he defended the world from Ganondorf and his evil dominions. At the beginning of this game its Link’s birthday (coincidence huh?)and now it’s his turn to try on the green tunic. But soon after he puts it on he already finds himself in the adventure of a lifetime. After saving a girl in the woods Link then learns that his sister has been taken captive by a huge bird. When Link goes to save her from the Forbidden Fortress he realizes that there is a man behind all this madness. His name is Ganondorf. Now Link sets off on an adventure of an epic proportion, and not one likely for a Zelda fan to forget soon.
Now the battle system is pretty much the same thing as the old Zelda. There are a few awesome battle tweaks though. Basically there is still the action button, the sword button, and the “C-buttons”. Mostly everything is the same except during combat with enemies. You still will be Z-Targeting when you face off with enemies but there is now a new strategy in fighting your foes. You let them attack first, and then you evade and attack at the same time! Now how would you do that with a combination of the control stick and sword button you ask? Well actually it’s very easy. All you do is move with your enemy for a little bit and when he gambles with an attack a flashing green “A” will appear where your action button is. It will only stay for a split second, and if you hit it Link will pull of a cunning move that has your opponent eating dirt. Even if you don’t use those maneuvers Link still has his standard evasions and some kick ass combos to boot!
There are also a few different gameplay features. Now when you travel the ocean you will be looking for treasure and other various sorts of things. During the course of the game you will be able to fill in spaces on your ocean map using fish that are in the ocean. You will also pick up treasure maps in various dungeons that will give you anything from money to a heart piece. Also you can’t just swim forever and ever like in previous Zelda games. Now you have a stamina meter that will go down as you are swimming. If you swim for too long you will get tired (cramps maybe) and drown.
This game is definitely one of the greatest Zelda games ever made if not the greatest. It is one of the first Zelda games with an engrossing story that continues to pull you in from the beginning credits to the end credits. Many gamers thought that Miyamoto had lost his touch when he decided to go the route of Cel-Shading with the new Zelda but many of those same people are playing countless hours of The Wind Waker as we speak. Miyamoto took on the challenge and he definitely succeeded in making on of the best games ever to be placed in a home console.
Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess is Nintendo’s most recent endeavor into this series. Better yet, it’s on the Wii! Well…sort of. The game was in development for many years, probably twice as long as most other titles, and was originally slated for release on the Nintendo Gamecube. Shortly after the Wii came about, Nintendo decided to release to versions of the game. One for the Wii and one for the Gamecube. This helped allow all gamers get to enjoy Link’s newest adventure. Twilight Princess is also the first “realistic” Zelda since Majora’s Mask. When the Wind Waker was released on the Gamecube it was met with much skepticism. The majority of gamers did not want to play a cartoon version of Link. After the game came out a lot of the dust settled, and while it was a great game, a lot of gamers still wanted more. That is when the Twilight Princess came into play.
Offering a realistic environment in which to enjoy was only one of the things that the new Zelda game did right to captivate gamers. The art direction was brilliant and the scale of the world in comparison to previous titles was unbelievable. The game was many, many times larger than Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, but while they could have felt daunting at times it became very easy to do due to your acquisition of Epona very early in the game and the ability to warp to different areas in the game. All the different areas of the game were perfectly captured as well. Hyrule Castle was amazing and large. The forest areas were well done and not just open spaces. The Overworld was brilliant to say the least. This game was perfect on many levels.
The Wii version of Zelda: The Twilight Princess also sported a new control scheme to keep things interesting as well. In this version of the game, you needed to swing the Wii remote from left to right or jab it forward for link to swing his sword. While using the hookshot or bow and arrow you also needed to aim precisely before hitting the button allowing you shot. This system allowed for a much needed breath of fresh air into the game as every game since OoT was almost the same in regards to gameplay. There are many other things you can do with the new improved controls, but I won’t get into all of them and just recommend that you all play this game…now.
The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess was a lot of things that Nintendo needed, and it symbolized a new direction for them as a company. The dark story and atmosphere to the game, something not common in their games, was a testament to that. The controls also were a breath of fresh air into not only a series, but a company that needed one badly.
Metriod Series
Metriod
On the uninhabited planet SR-388, scientists discovered a species dubbed "Metroid". The Metroids actually destroyed the colonies that flourished there before it reducing it to barely anything. The scientists found many things out about the Metroid. Its airborne, is pretty hard to destroy, and has a hard exterior shell to make it hard to kill. When the space pirates found out about this species they attacked the ship carrying the Metroid and took it back to there base on planet Zebes. After a full out assault failed by the Federation Police Force, other actions were forced to be taken. The Galactic Federation asked Samus, a bounty hunter clouded in mystery, to get the Metroid back for them. With just an arm blaster and a protective suit, Samus infiltrates Planet Zebes and starts killing everything. As Samus went on though he gained many mysterious artifacts which gave him new abilities to do things and use weapons he could do before. After defeating two of the Space Pirates greatest men, Ridley and Kraid, Samus reaches Tourian, which is the base of the space pirates. Samus is confronted by an army of Metroids, but soon learns their secret and kills them on his way to the Mother Brain. After a hard fought battle Samus defeats the mother brain and sets off a self destruct system which blows the whole place up. Also at the end of Metroid you find out that Samus Aran isn't a he. He is a she!!! This surprised many gamers making Samus one of the first female videogame stars.
Metroid was basically a side scroller like Mario, but with a few big differences. Unlike Mario, Metroid was a huge world all packed together in one side scrolling game, where you had to wait to get upgrades to get to new areas, where a new path would always open up. There is also a lot of jumping in Metroid, which is one of the reasons it is so great. The graphics are sub-par but were considered state of the art on the NES, while the music is some of the best ever heard on the NES. Metroid was truly one of if not the greatest game on the NES.
Metriod II
After Samus had destroyed Kraid, Ridley, and the Mother Brain on Zebes along with completely destroying the planet, the Galactic Federation turned to SR-388. After sending both a science team and a military group was lost, Samus Aran was called on yet again, to wipe out the Metroids once and for all. After arriving on SR-388, she notices something very surprising. The Metroids here are not like the ones found on planet Zebes. In fact, the ones on SR-388 are stronger. There are three types of Metroids Samus has to deal with. One, the Alpha Metroid, which is the first one she sees. Another, the Gamma Metroid, which can attack with lightning. Lastly, the Zeta Metroid, which is huge in size. After battling her way through, Samus finds the Queen Metroid. After another hard fought battle, Samus destroys the Queen Metroid and the Metroid threat seems to have diminished. But Samus soon sees a Metroid hatchling and when faced with the decision to kill it, Samus decides to let it live and take it back to the scientists for more research to be done on it.
The Game itself was almost identical to Metroid for the NES. The graphics were a little worse though because the game was made on the Game Boy, but everything else was still very intact. Another great game in a great series.
Super Metriod
Super Metroid is argued by most to be the best Metroid ever made. This one takes off right where the last one leaves off. In fact, if you didn't play the last two she explains it to you in the beginning tongue . Anyways after taking the hatchling Metroid she takes it to the Ceres space station and gives it to the scientists to study yet again. This time the scientists actually found some good use for the Metroid. But soon as she left the space station was under siege by the space pirates, seeking yet again to harness the power of the Metroid for their evil plans. By the time Samus gets there all of the scientist’s bodies were scattered everywhere and when she got to the Metroid she finds her old friend Ridley, who takes the Metroid away. After the self-destruct system is activated, Samus must escape before the whole station blows up. After she barely gets out, she is once again heading to Zebes, to stop this carnage once and for all. Zebes has changed since the last time Samus was there, but there are also a lot of nostalgic parts too. In fact, she enters the fortress by the means in which she escaped last time. Pretty cool huh? That’s not it though, as you also go through Mother Brain’s old chambers and also the very first room of Brinstar. Samus once again has to travel through the different regions of Zebes, new and old. Ridley and Kraid also make reappearances as Samus once again defeats them. There are also many Metroids that Samus has to kill, but you basically kill them in the same way. When Samus goes to fight the Mother Brain she is almost destroyed, until the Metroid she saved in the last Metroid (M2: RoS) comes back to help her. This time when the Mother Brain is defeated though, the whole entire planet is going to blow up. Samus gets out in the nick of time once again (how many times have we seen this? tongue )
What can I say? This game is the climax of side scrolling as we know it. The graphics are beautiful for a SNES game, almost the best ever made. This game still uses the same old strategy though, but it uses it to perfection. IMO this is one of my top 5 favorite games and not many games can get this good. wink
Metroid Fusion
This is the last Metroid in the storyline. It starts out with our heroine exploring SR388 because all others sent were killed by the X Parasites, the food of the now extinct Metroids. She is infected by the parasite and is forced to return to the scientists' lab, where they make a vaccine from the DNA of the last Metroid. The vaccine saves her but also causes interesting changes. Her suit becomes more organic, and to quote her, "As one life ended, another started". A new Samus has been formed. She no longer has any of her old abilities (figures huh?) and also when the X-parasite attached to her it took all of her powers when she was the most powerful in Super Metroid and transformed into a perfect clone. Now she is on a mission to hunt down and kill all of the X-Parasites, while also being chased by her Super Metroid Clone
Once again the game is pretty much the same except for the fact that Samus can't use some of her old abilities. Since her body is part Metroid she can no longer use the Ice Beam but she now has really cool Ice missiles and diffusion missiles. A very nice addition to the game.
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime is the latest installment of the Metroid series. For the people that don't consider Super Metroid the best game of the series, this one is it for them. Now I don't really want to go too far into the game for you but I will give you the beginning. The Galactic Federation sends Samus to check out the Space Pirate activity on Tallon IV. When she gets there she notices an abandoned space station. After seeing a few weird things upon entering, the space station explodes and Samus makes it out again (Is this gal lucky or what?). After Samus lands on the surface of Tallon IV this is where the real fun begins. I am not going to spoil it for any of you guys though because I don't want to ruin the experience for anyone.
As soon as you turn on Metroid Prime you notice one huge difference. The game is in FULL 3D! Retro studios does a wonderful job at this. Also in putting the game into 3D there were also many challenges presented to the developers. Mainly to keep it true to the series. It passes this test with flying colors so you need not worry. The platform jumping is still there and so is everything else. You still have to collect your upgrades (At the beginning Samus is thrown into a wall causing all of her powers to malfunction) like the morph ball and the Charge Beam but there are also many other new upgrades never seen in a Metroid game. The new visors are awesome and the effects to them are even cooler. There are so many effects in this game it will make you wonder how Retro released this game in 2002 and not in 2005. This game is the greatest game in the Metroid series in my opinion and also probably the best game ever made. That is why it is #2 on Gamerankings.com in overall total rankings. Not many games can do something like that wink
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Basically, this game is exactly the same as the one above it, with a little bit different of a story. So instead of wasting my time typing about anything else, I will just give you a little bit on the story of MP2: Echoes. There really isn’t much to say about that either, as Metroid’s story is driven in a completely different way. By scanning items such as dead soldiers’ logs or markings on the wall, the story begins to piece together for you. If you don’t scan anything, chances are you won’t understand anything about the story you hear later on in the game. The only real new aspect to this game is the inclusion of a dark Samus into the mix. Also with the Dark Samus come the Light and Dark worlds as well. This further expanded gameplay options and brought about new puzzles for gamers to figure out. Basically same gameplay mechanics with a little twist in the story.
Metriod Prime: Hunters
In terms of the storyline, Metriod Prime Hunters takes place between Prime 2 & 3 in the series. While being a title on the Nintendo DS, Hunters showed how powerful the little handheld system could be. The game is rendered in 3D and comes from the same viewpoint as the two previous Prime titles before it: through the visor. The game really does look beautiful on the DS as well.
However, one of the biggest hurdles with this game to get over was the control. Surprisingly, despite many doubts, Hunters came through in that area as well. Mimicking a style close to the keyboard/mouse gameplay that PC gamers are accustomed to, the directional pad would work as the keyboard and the touch screen would work as a mouse. The game also allows for lefties to adjust settings to play correctly as well. For being one of the Nintendo’s flagship titles for the DS early in its life, Metriod Prime Hunters was a game that was an innovation in handheld gaming and another step in the right direction for Nintendo.
Star Fox Series
Star Fox (SNES)
Star Fox for the NES is probably one of the first 3D flying shooters to come out, and is considered by some as their favorite games ever. It was one of the first games to use the FX-Chip to create the 3D environments that you played in the game.
The games story is pretty simple. This evil guy named Andross has been banished from Corneria because of doing dangerous experiments close to large populations. Through his years in exile, Andross actually was creating an army of massive proportions to take on the fleet of Corneria. Left crippled Corneria calls for reinforcements in the form of the Star Fox team. The members included Fox McCloud, Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad and Falco Lombardi. Their mission was simple, to defeat Andross for good.
The game itself although decently hard had a relatively easy design. Depending on the skill you beat the level in, you could be sent to one of three levels (sometimes two levels). Most of the times there were secrets you had to unlock to get into the harder planets and some other times you had to shoot down a certain amount of enemies.
The games mechanics were relatively simple with a few special tweaks added in. You had a button to shoot, one to speed up, one to slow down and one to let bombs go. Bombs pretty much destroyed everything in sight. You could also use your left and right trigger buttons to turn sideways and even do barrel rolls.
This game caught the eye’s of quite a few gamers and made gave Fox and his crew a position in Nintendo’s cabinet as another group of mascots.
Star Fox 64
Even though this game is loved by many, it was basically just a rehash. Nintendo adopted the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” routine when making SF64, because the game has a striking resemblance to its SNES predecessor. The game's fifteen mission’s link together in a number of possible paths to your final objective, and that was once again the fight on venom. The controls were also the same.
Even though Nintendo basically rehashed SF for the SNES is that really a bad thing? Of course not, as SF sported some of the best graphics that the N64 had seen along with a pretty awesome multiplayer game allowing up to four people battle it out in their Arwings. There was also a load of speech in this game. From Slippy’s constant bickering to Falco’s cocky attitude, it was all there and it was great. If you are a fan of the Star Fox series (shooters) then this game is a must buy for you.
Star Fox Adventures
Actually Star Fox adventures stared out as a game called Dinosaur Planet. After Nintendo seen the striking resemblance of the main character of the game to their own Fox McCloud, then Nintendo and Rare joined up again to create an epic masterpiece. Basically, Star Fox Adventures is a Star Fox version of Zelda. Once again this is not a bad thing, because Rare does a great job in copying Zelda, including giving it that epic feel wink . I am not going to spoil anything about the story in this one considering the game is relatively new. All I will say is that General Scales has taken control of Dinosaur Planet and it’s your job to stop him.
Basically the gameplay was pure Zelda at its roots. All you guys have played Zelda here so I really don’t think I need to get into the game to much
Star Fox Command
Star Fox Command is the new Star Fox game for the DS. As you could have already guessed, one of the main changes would be the fact that you now control your team with only the touch screen, which also doubles as a map too. One of the things about the game that has changed though is that the levels are now for the most part free roaming now, allowing you to go anywhere you want to in the map as long as you kill the designated enemies in each section and grab the tokens that they drop. The story revolves around what looks like a disbanded team and some sort of love interest thing. However, the story still turns out to be pretty good and is a highly recommended title for the Nintendo DS.
Donkey Kong Series
Donkey Kong
In Donkey Kong first appearance in, "Donkey Kong Arcade", in 1981, he has captured, Pauline, (Princess Toadstool) and Jumpman or should I say Mario comes to the rescue. This game was the created by the former playing card series called Nintendo. This game wasn't only successfully establish the foundation for one of the greatest gaming companies of all time, but it also release two of the characters that made Nintendo where it is today.
On the first level of Donkey Kong Arcade , Mario must maneuver his way up through the levels of steel girders to reach Donkey Kong and Pauline who are waiting for him at the top. Kong in the meantime throws barrels down at the plumber, and at the same time, fireballs moved up toward Mario from the bottom of the screen. And the only thing Mario can do to avoid the fireballs and barrels is do what he does best: jump. Mario does have an very impressive vertical leap (enough to get over the barrels and fireballs), and at certain strategic points he could grab a hanging sledgehammer and strike back, earning bonus points. If Mario managed to cross the platforms and climb the ladders up to his lady love, the reunion would be all too brief. Donkey Kong merely snatched Pauline away again, carrying her up to the next level.
Donkey Kong Jr.
Apparently, Mario isn't the forgiving sort. After having his girlfriend Pauline taken from him again and again in the original Donkey Kong he decided it was payback time in Donkey Kong Junior. This sequel puts you in control of the title character, a little ape with a cute darling white baby jumper. Since Mario took daddy Kong and locked him up in a cage, it was up to Junior to get him back.
On the first level, Junior hopped, climbed and ambled across rows of vines to work his way over and up to where his poppa was held. That nasty Mario tried everything he could to stop Junior, releasing bear-trap-looking Snapjaws. Junior could fight back with the fruit that hung from the vines, dropping it onto the Snapjaws for extra points. The little primate was unfortunately allergic to water, since any contact with the water at the bottom of the screen would cost him a life. Unfortunately, Mario had taken a few lessons from the first game. Even when you reached the top, the dastardly mustachioed man would simply cart Donkey Kong off to another level. Just like Donkey and Pauline.
Donkey Kong 3
Donkey Kong 3 starred the gargantuan simian of the first two games, but in place of Mario, his nemesis was now Stanley the Bugman. You controlled Stanley, a small man in charge of a big greenhouse. Somehow, Donkey Kong had decided to take up residence on two vines inside, and it was up to you to drive him out. The great ape fought back by agitating the nests of bees and other stinging bugs, who swooped down to attack Stanley.
Armed only with a tube of bug spray, Stanley blasted away at the descending bugs, keeping them away from his precious flowers. Five pots lined the bottom of the screen, and if the insects managed to carry off all five, Stanley lost a life. DK also kept things lively by tossing coconuts down at the Bugman.
To beat a level, Stanley had to push Kong up to the top of the screen by shooting him in the nether-regions with the sprayer. Spray him high enough, and DK would knock down a super sprayer, giving Stanley increased power for a limited time.
Donkey Kong Country
The story in this game is not the deepest thing you'll ever see. It's a bunch of monkeys trying to get back their bananas. One must keep in mind; however, it is an action game, not an RPG. Action games don't usually have a very deep story.
Despite the lacking story, however, the characters are well-done and given genuine personalities. Cranky Kong (whom I assume is supposed to be the original Donkey Kong) is the most entertaining, with his comments on the state of video games in the 90's and his constant complaining. This can be incredibly challenging. Even the early levels have you rushing through the thick of bad guys and doing barrel gymnastics across the jungle. It rarely gets challenging to the point of frustration, however, and keeps you going. To top it off, there are bonus areas everywhere. Even if you've beaten the game, you can play all the levels again and look for hidden barrels or pathways. Have a blast.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest
Diddy and his Girlfriend Dixie. Diddy can do cart wheels into enemies and kill them and dixie can hover for short distances by using her hair as a helicopter. The enemies are called kremlings and their leader is Captain K.Rool. There are six worlds and each of these worlds contain 5-12 stages. The map itself is really cool. You start on a pirate ship and slowly climb to the top of a tower where you must fight K.Rool.
Donkey Kong 64
K. Rool is back in business and getting ready to blast Kong Island right off the map. To top it off he's stolen all the golden bananas and scattered them far and near in an effort to thwart any counterattack that the Kong's can muster. It falls upon the shoulders of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Chunky Kong, Lanky Kong and Tiny Kong (along with the help of a host of supporting characters, including Cranky and a top-heavy newcomer who at one point asks if you "want to have two melons.") to capture the bananas and defeat K. Rool. And so begins the fun in this epic-sized adventure. Players start off controlling Donkey Kong. Access to other characters as well more advanced moves become available as the game progresses. Learning new moves is executed the same way it is in Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. Actually a lot of the moves will be familiar to those that have spent time with either game - they look similar and are performed the same way. There are a few notable exceptions beginning with the music abilities. The music abilities blast a shockwave of noise that will destroy nearby enemies. They can also be used on specific pads to open doors, etc. And on the subject of pads and switches - they're all over the place! There are "banana warp" pads (5 points per level), music pads, coconut switches, peanut switches, feather switches, special barrels . . . the list goes on and on! (Heck you can even take on Rhino form and cause some major havoc!) Each of the switches (peanut, etc.) can only be activated by specific characters, adding another level of gameplay and exploration. Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses - and knowing when to switch characters for particular situations is sometimes the key to success. To gain access to these other characters is simply a matter of freeing them (after finding them of course). For example, early in the game Diddy Kong must be freed from his prison by using Donkey's coconut gun. Diddy Kong must be freed to explore other areas since his peanut gun is the only way to activate the necessary switches. Thankfully, the character switching is easy and finding the other characters is fairly straightforward.
There are many hours of exploration available in DK64 due to the massive environments. The downside to such a large gaming world is that getting lost and wandering around wondering what the hell you should be doing is all too common. It doesn't help that there isn't any direction other than "Get the gold bananas." There's no "game funnel", something that would direct your attention to do Step 1 then Step 2. (Like what is found in Mario 64 with the big locked door clearly visible in the foyer of the castle.) When a level is opened, a short cut scene shows a door opening or a boulder crumbling to reveal another area but it doesn't show you where it is or how to get there. You can go pretty much anywhere you want so a map feature would have been welcomed with open arms. Thanks to the included RAM expansion pack, the graphics is DK64 are some of the best ever to grace the N64. Everything is bright and colourful (except the dungeons, of course) and foliage has never looked so good. The camera is along the lines of the Banjo-Kazooie games. It drifts more often though and repositioning is a constant necessity. Once you get used to it, it's not much of a problem but until then expect to misjudge distances and fall. A lot. Music and sound is undeniably stamped "Rare." The music is good and adds to the experience of the game. Sound effects are good, especially Donkey Kong's exclamation of "Banana!" DK64 also supports Dolby Surround. Crank the base!
Control is standard for a Rare game, which is to say that it's excellent - for the most part. Executing moves is easy and response is very good. What gets in the way is the slightly drifting camera angle. Some of the "power-up" abilities - Diddy Kong's jetpack for example - take a few tries to get used to. As mentioned above, many of the moves are executed the same way as in the Banjo-Kazooie games. I see this is a plus because you're not forced to learn a different control scheme.
Overall, Donkey Kong 64 is one of those Rare games that will have you playing for many, many hours. Huge levels (plus/minus), many mini-games and sub-missions, familiar control scheme, good graphics and sound, included RAM expansion pak and Donkey Kong himself make DK64 a highly recommended game for N64 owners.
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
This game is basically an old school platformer with a twist. Instead of playing with a controller, you play with a set of bongos which are included with the game. By hitting the bongos, you will perform different types of moves. The game is very short, only about 3 to 5 hours long, but will provide you with a lot of fun. Even after you beat the game, you can go back and try to get the medals for each level. The more beats that you collect, the higher the score and medal you will get. Medals will also open up new levels to play and really just are fun to try and get. The best part of the game is the combo system, which allows you to do as many crazy things as you want in turn increasing the number of beats that you receive.
Kid Icarus Series
Kid Icarus: Angel Land Story
Kid Icarus is the original title for the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). You take the role of a somewhat angle-type guy and travel throughout the world in search of a way to save the world from the clutches of evil!!! At first pit is captured and thrown into the underworld prison. Pit escapes from the underworld prison thanks to Palutena, Goddess of Light, who magically sent him a bow and arrow so that he could escape form the underworld prison. Now Pit is on a mission to defeat Medusa, who has kidnapped Palutena, and save Angel Land from the clutches of evil. In fact, Pit is actually the Capitan of Palutena’s personal bodyguards. From the names of the characters and also the looks, this game borrows heavily from Greek Mythology. From the way Kid Icarus looks to the names of the people (Medusa) and some of the items too. It seems that that is how the developers got the information for the game. The game also has a kind of Metroid feel to it. Even though you’re not in space and you are not some hot chick in a space outfit the game layout is kind of the same. It is even said that there is a Metroid that makes an appearance in the game!!! These are just minor things but the game is actually pretty good. Some of the parts of the game are side-scrolling, while other parts of the game include vertical scrolling, and some room to room adventure. This makes for a pretty good and original game.
In Kid Icarus every time you defeat an enemy you gain strength and money. In the game you need to get 6 main items and there are 20 of each. These items help you along your quest to save the world from Medusa. There are 4 main areas in the game. The Underworld, in which Pits adventure begins. The Overworld, where Pit does most of his land fighting in the game. The Sky Palace, where he travels across the plains and mountains. And the Skyworld, where Pit does most of his battling in the sky. This is where he flies across the world in order to fight terrible monsters and save the world (cheesy huh?). Then there is the palace in the sky, where Pit fights Medusa in the final battle in side-scrolling style(easy battle, but when you win Palutena turns you into a man so next time she gets kidnapped you can easily rescue her). Pit can only go here though if he has in his possession the three Sacred Treasures. When you fight every boss (except Medusa), all of your items are taken away and you are left to battle them with barely anything (except a bow)! There are also many characters that you have to battle during the game. One, a thief, steals your magical weapons given to you by the gods. There are also Grim Reapers that will chase Pit around during the game. Every time one spots you, it calls out tons of little Grim Reapers to come and kill you. To kill him, you have to jump behind him and shoot him with an arrow when he is not looking. Another one, the Eggplant Wizard, throws cursed eggplants at you. If Pit gets hit, he will have to find some way to cure his poison. Most of these people leave cash behind when killed, and this money can be used at the shops in the game. The currency of cash he gets are heart containers (why couldn’t it be Rupee’s…lol). For a NES game it has a wide variety of things to do which also makes it a great game.
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
This is the only sequel to the Kid Icarus game. It was released in America on November 1991. It was made only for the Game Boy system. Pretty much this game is almost the same as the version for the NES. In this game Palutena was sleeping and in her dreams she had a very bad nightmare. When she called a soothsayer, she asked him of the future. Then he said, “"Angel Land will be attacked, Attacked by an invasion of demons from another world. Terrible demons by the name of O...Or...Orcos!". Then he became silent. Palutena immediately sends for Pit, the leader of her army. Then she has him take a seat and starts to talk to him. She tells him that evil demons named Orcos are coming to attack Angel Land and he is the only one to save them. She tells him to tell nobody else about they’re discussion, and to begin his training. In the beginning she sends Pit on a training mission until he is strong enough to wear and use the Three Sacred Treasures. She starts him off by sending him into the Underworld Tower. She tells Pit that whoever gets the Sacred Treasures will be given magical powers so that they can battle any demon. After he does that, his real mission starts.
Once again, the world is divided into 4 parts: The Underworld Tower, the Over world, the Sky World Tower and the Sky Palace. Once again, Pit has to defeat the guardian of each fortress to advance. In this game there are many different items Pit can acquire. There is everything ranging from Credit Cards to Hammers. You can also still go to the shops to trade in your hearts. There are a lot of the same monsters and a lot of the puzzle layouts are the same (near identical on some points).
Captain N: The Game Master
Captain N: The Game Master was a late 80's, early 90's cartoon series about a video game player who gets magically sucked into his TV screen, and visits various video game worlds. Pit was one of the main characters in the show. According to the pictures I have seen, Kid Icarus looks like a piece of shit in this cartoon. He looks nothing like he should and almost looks like Cupid. He has an oversized head and has rosy pink cheeks. In fact, everybody featured in the show looked nothing like they should have been represented as!! One of my favorite game characters ever, Megaman (MegamanX was the best), was turned into a little boy wearing Spandex!!! In fact almost every cool character from Nintendo and other great game developers (Castlevania) that are on the cartoon have been twisted in some sort of fantasy world where it has nothing to do with the original games themselves!!!! Also, I heard from various sites (sorry for the plagiarizing) that the cartoon has really nothing to do with the game itself. It is basically a completely different cartoon that has nothing to do with the game except for the fact that it has Kid Icarus in it. One example, is somewhere in the cartoon, Kid Icarus has to go look for the Wings of Pegasus. But in reality, the purpose of those wings was to make him fly and he has already been flying for the whole cartoon series. This refutes the arguments that people had when they said that Kid Icarus was wearing the shoes all along. There are similarities in some parts though. Like the fact that the Evil Eggplant Wizard actually makes an appearance in the comic!
Even though the comic never was really that close to the game I didn’t really care for it. I didn’t really have that kind of nostalgia feeling I got with the game. The real reason I didn’t like the cartoon that much is because it looks like it should be on FOX Kids at seven in the mourning right after Looney Tunes. But, heck you got to give it a chance. If there was one thing that owning a Nintendo console taught me is that the graphics of the game aren’t really that important. Look at games like Pikmin for example. If they would have put that game on the 64 but with all the same options but not as good graphics I would still have loads of fun playing it. The graphics are really just a bonus to a great game.
Kirby Series
Kirby’s Dreamland
The first in a long line of games starring the famed pink Marshmallow, Kirby’s Dreamland for the Game Boy offered platforming as it had never been implemented before. This was the bold and daring quest of the star warrior Kirby against the dastardly (and duck-like) King Dedede. A big step forward, Kirby’s Dreamland not only boasted an unusual style, but also ground-breaking graphics for the Game Boy. Soon we eould see this niche title develop into a series that outshines even the Metroid and Halo games.
The gameplay was amazing, allowing the interesting ability to eat your enemies and copy their powers. In addition, Kirby could fly and even spit his enemies out to destroy other ones. Kirby traveled through many levels using his strange powers to get to an ultimate showdown with King Dedede, who was quite easy to beat despite his giant hammer and aggressive attitude. However, this would not be the last time King Dedede tried to mess around with Dreamland’s inhabitants.
Kirby’s Adventure
The amazing popularity of Kirby’s first game inspired Nintendo to release another one on the NES home console, taking the technical possibilities to a whole new level. In this game, Kirby’s goal was to recover the shattered pieces of the magical star rod, which had been stolen by King Dedede (gasp!).
The second installment in the Kirby series offered even more powers than the first, along with dazzling graphics and more complex environments than the first. It also had larger environments, which was a major plus that made it just as respectable as the amazing popular Mario and Sonic games.
Kirby’s Pinball Land
Wishing to stray from the main line of Kirby games, Nintendo designed this experience to be an enjoyable mini-game sort of thing that Kirby fans could enjoy. Since just about everything else had a pinball game at this point, so why not Kirby? The fans wanted it, so Nintendo delivered this short but fun game.
Just as the name implies, this is basically pinball with Kirby. In this 17-screen game, the screen was a pinball machine with Kirby being the ball. This pink fluff was whacked around to gain points and defeat enemies, namely four boss monsters. Very different from past Kirby games, this was something a guy would just play for a few minutes when he got bored for a quick thrill. One may say this is marshmallow abuse, but I don’t hear any of you complaining about Super Monkey Ball, now do I?
Kirby’s Avalanche
Continue on with the mini-game/puzzler approach! The wild success of Kirby’s Pinball Land convinced Nintendo to give us this, thinking that perhaps Kirby’s career should be best-lived in the realm of mini-games. This was also Kirby’s first Super NES game, with amazing visuals (if not a bit familiar in style).
This game was essentially Puyo-Puyo with a dash of Bubble Bobble and a pinch of other puzzler treasure that you might think of right now. And guess who’s the star! That’s right, it’s Kirby! People actually liked the prospect of playing this game so much that it achieved Player’s Choice status. The old stack the items and destroy them at will strategy was great, and with Kirby added, it made it all that much more fun.
Kirby’s Dream Course
This…erm…interesting rendition of a Kirby game was made as yet another mini-game/spin-off, only this time Nintendo wanted to satisfy the hunger for classic Kirby platforming at the same time. Kirby does not have a main goal of slaying evil or recovering the star rod, but rather to change the way we look at golfing forever.
As you may have guessed, the classic power-stealing, block-busting, floating gameplay is back for this game. In addition, Kirby is doing this all throughout a giant golf course. While the premise is strange, the gameplay is fantastic, with environments perhaps not as complex as Kirby’s Adventure, but still rather large and with a wide array of familiar enemies. Playing this game gave gamers a dose of nostalgia and fun along with the urge to make confused faces.
Kirby’s Dream Land 2
At this point gamers were just getting sick of all the Kirby spin-offs, so we took up our pitchforks and torches to threaten Nintendo. They responded with this, a true sequel to Kirby’s Dreamland. Featuring new aspects and sharp Game Buy visuals, this quickly became the most popular (and best IMO) Kirby game to date.
Revolutionary gameplay complemented the greatness of Kirby, featuring the ability to ride animals. You could choose Rick the Hamster, who had excellent speed and traction. Coo the Owl, who (obviously) let you fly indefinitely and dive bomb your opponents (heh). Finally, Kine the fish let you swim quickly and msnuever better. Together, you set out to the seven rainbow isles and defeat King Dedede. And for the true Kirby player, one could collect the seven rainbow pieces. Mixing the best elements of each game, Kirby’s Dreamland 2 got well-deserved recognition.
Kirby’s Block Ball
Kirby continued to break new frontiers as the video game industry lived on, his popularity now at its peak. Having satisfied fans’ hunger for a true Kirby, Nintendo decided to create the next spin-off puzzler in the series, Kirby’s Block Ball. In Nintendo’s never ending quest to have Kirby exploted in just about every way possible, this was a clone of yet another existing game using Kirby. But no one complained because it was 100% fun on the go.
Kirby’s Block Ball is, as one may guess, a Kirbified rendition of Break Out. It has some enemies walking on the blocks, and guess what the ball being used to break the blocks is? That’s right, Kirby! There isn’t much to say here, other than that the levels got harder as you accomplished more, adding more blocks of higher strength and more enemies. Simply a quick thrill for when you’re on a long line, Kirby’s Block Ball will nevertheless always hold a special place in our hearts.
Kirby’s Super Star
Not exactly classic Kirby gameplay but not exactly a spin-off puzzler either, Nintendo wanted to release something that both the casual gamer and the hardcore Kirby player could like. Hence they created this game in 1996, introducing a few new characters, the most notable of which is the dastardly Meta Knight. With this, Kirby gained even MORE popularity, shortly before it died for a while…
The gameplay is classic Kirby all around, with one minor tweak: two players could go at it in 9 different minigames, as this was deemed a party pack by Nintendo. Otherwise a classic Kirby puzzler, it sported vivid animation and new enemies. With Meta Knight, the Kirby series finally had a nemesis that could actually relate to Kirby, both in size and shape. Sporting a sword, the head of the Meta Knights duels Kirby for the first time in this one. This is considered one of the best Kirby games by some, but it’s a shame that the Kirby rush had to die down with the next two releases…
Kirby’s Star Stacker
Nintendo once again took the puzzle route, only this time they were not very original. This basically was the core essence of what other Kirby puzzle games had been, particularly Kirby’s Avalanche. What was so great about it now? Seeing the success of Kirby’s Dreamland, Nintendo decided once again to add multiplayer.
This is a mini-game pack, with generic things you would see in any other. It actually had some that seemed oddly familiar to the previous Kirby Game Boy ventures. This puzzle pack had your basic Tetris clones and whatnot, using characters like Rick, Coo, and Kine, along with stars worked into the gameplay. Not very notable, this was the start of the decline of Kirby’s popularity.
Kirby’s Dreamland 3
Seeing the disappointingly low popularity of Kirby’s Star Stacker, Nintendo made a last ditch attempt to release a classic Kirby game. Why would the sequel to one of the best platformers ever fail, you ask? Well obviously Nintendo didn’t care enough to put it on a system that was actually alive. Hence the Kirby fanbase went practically dead with this one.
This is essentially the same gameplay as Kirby’s Dreamland 2, featuring the sidekicks Coo the Owl, Rick the Hamster, and Kine the Fish once again. A new addition, like in the other new Kirby games, was multiplayer. The difference is that this time is purely cooperative gameplay. This game obviously did not live up to fans’ expectations, since it did not really offer that much new stuff in the gameplay department. This was the lowest point in Kirby’s popularity, with few caring to buy the game even if they were fans because it was, along with Kirby’s Star Stacker, one of the few Kirby games that offered no real innovation.
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Kirby’s popularity was pretty much dead after Kirby’s Dreamland 3, with not a single game being made with him in it, save for Super Smash Bros. in 1999. Amazingly, this game where Kirby played a non-starring role is what made Nintendo fans want a Kirby game (seeing as how he was the strongest character in SSB and all). So Nintendo released this N64 Kirby game, with the return of King Dedede and a new mission for Kirby.
The gameplay, while you would expect it to be 3D, was actually a 2.5-D platformer. A fully polygonal Kirby ran through a track rendered in 3D, but such that he could only go left, right, up, and down. It is akin to what you have seen inn SSBM’s adventure mode. All his power-stealing abilities were there, only now there was an alarmingly high cuteness level added to make the game more appealing to children. Collecting the six pieces of the crystal is mildly fun, and offers 3 four-player mini-games. So while this was a pretty good game, it still was not enough to push Kirby back into the mainstream (mostly because of the cuteness).
Kirby’s Tilt and Tumble
At the end of the Game Boy Color’s life, Nintendo released several of its best games, including the Zelda Oracle series, and this, the most innovative Kirby game to date. Using special sensor technology, Nintendo made this like no game before it, implementing something where the Game Boy itself acted as the plane Kirby was on, and he could be rolled. To show its uniqueness, Nintendo even gave it a special clear pink cartridge.
The story’s premise is familiar, recovering the lost stars that King Dedede had taken. The graphics obviously were updated, and the gameplay was mostly the same. However, as stated before, the new sensor technology made it much more interesting. You actually had to feel the movement of Kirby to do anything, and predict what the game physics would do with each tilt. For example, if you quickly popped the top of the Game Boy up, Kirby would jump. In addition to the single player quest, there were five memorable mini-games that used the tilt technology. A new step in technology that sadly was short-lived, Kirby’s Tilt and Tumble remains one of the best Game Boy Color games to date.
Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland
Near the end of 2002, Nintendo inexplicably decided to push Kirby to be their next posterboy, perhaps even reaching the grand scale of Pokemon. They started by creating a comic for him within Nintendo Power, then releasing Kirby: Right Back at Ya on the Fox Box broadcasting program. In December, Nintendo released a game that was essentially Kirby’s Adventure remade for the Game Boy Advance, along with some other content, including the duel with Meta Knight in Kirby’s Super Star. This was to give new Kirby fans a taste of what the series was really about, and hopefully a new Kirby game will be released in the future.
The gameplay is basically the exact same thing as Kirby’s Adventure, and as usual with some mini-games thrown in to add to replay value. The game itself is short by today’s standards, which for some is a good thing given the cuteness rush Nintendo has been on since 1996. It includes some mini-games from past Kirby games, along with brand-new ones, all in beautiful and vibrant GBA graphics. This is the sort of port I’m hoping they’ll make for The Legend of Zelda if they ever do make one. Well, this is the last game in the Kirby franchise so far, but his popularity lives on in the hearts of those who can still remember the lingering ghost of King Dedede at the end of Kirby’s Dreamland 2. The upcoming GameCube game should be fun wink
Yoshi Series
Yoshi’s Island
The Super NES, the best video game console in the history of video games IMO, owed a large part of its success to the launch title super Mario World. Naturally, Nintendo decided a good 4 years later that they wanted a sequel. But this could be just any sequel. It had to have a completely new and innovative idea. The loveable dinosaur called Yoshi that you could ride in that game soon became a famous star, making cameos in such games as The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Super Mario RPG, both 3D Mario games, and the Dairantou Smash Bros. series. Seeing this massive potential, Nintendo gave Yoshi his own game in October of 1995.
The gameplay was essentially what you saw in Super Mario World while riding Yoshi, with a few tweaks. The first noticeable one was the ability to turn your opponents into eggs when you swallowed them. You could throw these eggs using an intuitive targeting system, either to activate switches, hit objects, or vanquish foes. The other major design change was that Yoshi could struggle to stay in the air for a longer time if you held down the jump button. Now finally, a minor change, but one that defined it nonetheless was the fact that you were playing as Yoshi, and you had to take care of baby Mario. To quote EGM, the urge isn’t to collect all the red coins or face all the gigantic boss monsters, but rather to “SHUT THAT $@#%#ING KID UP!!!!!!!” That’s right, if he fell off you had 10 seconds (or more if you had some extra stars) to get him back before Magikoopa’s cronies came by and took him away. At the end of each level, if you were good and collected some flowers, you had a chance of entering a bonus game to get more lives. (And let’s not forget that THIS is where the butt-stomp originated, NOT Mario 64) This is how the gameplay worked out, up until the final showdown with baby Bowser. Speaking of which, I think now is as good a time as any to mention that the premise of the game is that it takes place when Mario and Luigi are born, with Luigi taken away by Magikoopa to baby Bowser’s castle, and Mario falling down to Yoshi’s Island while being carried by a stork. The point is to rescue Luigi. A deeply satisfying platformer, this is something you will not easily forget. Now the game has also spawned a sequel, known as Yoshi’s Island 2 for the Nintendo DS.
Yoshi’s Story
After enjoying the masterpiece and glory that was Yoshi’s Island in addition to seeing Yoshi cameos in Super Mario RPG and Super Mario 64, the fans cried out “We want Yoshi!” Okay, maybe that was just me. Well, the point is that people wanted to see Yoshi in full 3D glory, and his immense popularity convinced Nintendo that it was the profitable and right thing to do. And sadly, this is the last game with Yoshi playing a starring role (not counting the remake of Yoshi’s Island).
That annoying weird-voiced cry, “Yoshi!” or whatever the hell he says, started right here. I recall when I first saw this game, I asked myself “Haven’t I played this before?” And it was a valid question, because Yoshi’s Story draws its gameplay elements from Yoshi’s Story, only making a gorgeous (for its time) 2.5-D experience, with amazing backdrops set to make it appear as if you are in the pages of a story book. The point is to get through all eight chapters and save the adult Yoshis trapped within the storybook from perishing forever (yes, you play as chibi-Yoshis). Eight amazing story chapters reveal Yoshi at his best, with all the egg-throwing, butt-stomping, and swallowing of Yoshi’s Island (plus the addition of shy guys that can change their color). Crafted by mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto himself, this game remains an inspiration for other platformers (only with less of the N64 child-oriented cutsieness). This is the last Yoshi game in the series, although he has made many appearances in such games as Mario Golf, Tennis, Party, and Paint. In addition, he was in Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee. An interesting character that will always have fanfics about him and Link having sexual relations written, Yoshi continues to humor (and in some cases annoy) us to this day.
Punch Out Series
Punch-Out!!! (Arcade)
This is the game that started it all for the Punch-out franchise. In the game you controlled a wire frame boxer that was completely green. Because of the camera view, you needed this to see through your guy and to see the opponent.
The controls were very basic for one of the Arcades first boxers, as you moved left and right to dodge punches, and up and down to raise and lower your gloves. The two buttons were used to do left and right punches. This way you can inflict deadly combinations to your opponent.
As you fought, a KO meter filled up at the bottom of the second screen ( the arcade had to separate screens). When filled up, you could unleash lethal combinations on you enemies to defeat them.
Nintendo then went on to release Super-Punchout for the arcade in 1985, giving you five new international boxers. Canada’s Bear Hugger, Hong Kong’s Dragon Chan, Russia’s Vodka Drunkenski, India’s Great Tiger and the USA’s Super Macho Man.
Mike Tyson’s Punch-out!!! (Punch-out!!!) NES
This game is the first of the Punchout games to be released on a Nintendo Platform. In this game you are Little Mac, and with the aid of your trainer Doc(who basically did nothing) you had to fight your way past three different classes and then you get to go battle Tyson(who is next to impossible to beat)
The controls are very basic and almost the same as its arcade counterpart. You dodge by hitting left and right, punch with the two butt..... well you get the picture. The game was basically an updated version of the Arcade brawler.
After a while though, there was some issues with Tyson and Nintendo. So Tyson was taken out of the games and replaced by Mr. Dream and the game was just named Punch-out!!! That is about it for Punch-out on the NES
Super Punch-out!!!
It’s basically the same game with some improvements to give it a more arcade like feel. The rounds are 3 minutes instead of 2. Super Punchout has some very well animated graphics that are pretty damn good for the Super Nintendo. Super punches are from a power meter on the bottom, and when you fill it up it gives you the power to do super punches.
The enemies each have their own special pattern to be beaten, which makes it a lot more fun and challenging. The sound in the game is pretty cool, but it’s really nothing to brag about. That’s about it for this game. After I have explained the basics of the other ones to you there really isn’t much for me to say about this game.
Wario Series
Wario’s History
I didn't know much about this guy so I just read up on him and did this.
Believe it or not, Wario is no evil brother of Mario’s or anything. In fact, he was his friend. They always used to play together, but Wario always got the short end of the stick. One example being when they played Cowboys and Indians.
Now after they broke up Wario was bitter. But not until Mario made it a routine out of saving Peach did he act on this. When Mario was away saving peach, Wario took over his castle. Wario had sealed the castle with the power of six special golden coins and spread them through out the island that this castle was on. But true to form, Mario came back and whooped Wario’s out of the castle tongue . After a while of going back and forth Wario ended up getting a castle, which was really a planet with his name on it.
Then from a warp pipe on his planet, Wario ended up in the middle of Bomberman City. Of course Wario being his greedy self tried to take the place over, but his plans were thwarted by the Bombermen and he was blown off the island.
After that, while flying around in his plane called the Bull-Dog, Wario spots a huge treasure that these little people had stashed. On his way to getting it though, he crashed to the bottom of the cave and had to get his way back up.
Basically after all this, Wario has taken up racing. Yes racing (Mario Kart). That is what he has been doing wink
Warioland 2
Captain Syrup and her comrades - who are even more ill-mannered than Wario himself - have swiped Wario's treasure and left his castle thoroughly trashed. To reclaim his treasure and sock it to Syrup, Wario must journey through as many as 52 baffling levels, gathering coins, trouncing troublemakers and solving mini-puzzles.
Warioland 3
Wario Land 3 is packed with 25 puzzle-filled worlds and tons of amazing transformations. In Wario's biggest adventure to date, he's on a quest to help a mysterious figure by finding five music boxes and lots and lots of Coins.
Warioland 4
Wario looks great on the Game Boy Advance, but he's still the same money-mad rascal who's starred in some of the greatest hand-held platformers of all time. This time around, a tale about a golden pyramid is enough to send the big blowhard scurrying off to the jungle. Sure enough he finds the object of his greedy desire, but before he can collect his loot he'll have to undergo a brain- and body-bending series of challenges. Four guardians stand jealous guard over the four passages of the pyramid. Each passage, in turn, features four levels.
Comments
You've come to the right place to learn more about a Direct TV satellite system from the major television company, Direct TV. A Direct TV satellite system is a great choice for satellite television and offers all kinds of benefits. Everybody knows that Direct TV is the leader in the satellite television industry, as they provide 250 channels of great digital television to 15 million customers around the country. They have played a crucial role in the advancement of television technology by providing the first fully digital television service and demonstrating the benefits of the 18 inch satellite dish that's now the industry standard. Best of all, Direct TV satellite system viewers get a satellite signal they can rely on, with an incredible picture that's clear and consistent.
http://www.squidoo.com/direct-tv-satellite-system/