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Transcript:

Hello and welcome! My name is Katosepe and I’ll be your host for today’s Video Game of the Day.

Sports video games tend to be focused on their multiplayer gameplay. Sure, there are always modes to play against the AI but usually these modes feel like training to play against other players and that makes sense. Sports are all about getting outside with your friends, why wouldn’t the video games be similar? Today’s game is a bit different though and focused primarily on a fleshed out single-player experience, even when the other versions of the same game did not. Today’s game is Mario Tennis for the Game Boy Color, developed by Camelot and released on the Game Boy Color in 2000.

Many fans remember Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64 and may be wondering what single-player focus I’m referring to. Actually, despite sharing the same name and coming out at the same time, Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64 and Mario Tennis for the Game Boy Color are very different games developed by different teams. They both feature many similar modes, however. Exhibition matches allow players to play tennis as the Mario character of their choice and play against AI opponents. There’s also a multiplayer mode, which on the Game Boy Color uses the link cable to play with friends.

This is where the similarities end, however. Game Boy Color Mario Tennis’ main single player mode is called Mario Tour and may be a bit different from what you’d expect. You start out choosing to play as Alex or Nina, basically a boy/girl option. Whoever you choose, they are a new student at a tennis-focused school called the Royal Academy. You must train with teachers and play matches against other students in order to increase your character’s stats and eventually play in the Castle Open against Mario himself. Other than these last few matches, you don’t play against Mario characters at all. Every opponent is human in appearance, just like you and outside of tennis matches, the game plays like an RPG, focusing on increasing your characters stats and living school life.

Mario Tennis was well received by critics and there was significant comparison to Virtua Tennis on the Sega Dreamcast, an impressive comparison to make considering Virtua Tennis was a new gen game, at the time, and Mario Tennis was on the Game Boy Color. The RPG storyline was well received by fans as well, but despite this, Nintendo did not return to the idea for later entries. Camelot would go on from Mario Tennis to create the cult-classic Golden Sun series for the Game Boy Advance. They also continue to work on Mario sports titles to this day.

Thank you so much for listening! Did you know I have a new podcast I co-host along with Adrian Simple from The Gaming Observer? It’s called The Gaming Observer Podcast and it’s available now on iTunes and all other podcast hosts. Go check it out, leave us a review, and let us know how we’re doing! As always, don’t forget to check back here tomorrow for another Video Game of the Day!

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The post Video Game of the Day – Mario Tennis (GBC) appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Donkey Kong for Game Boy was released in 1994, so most folks call it Donkey Kong ‘94 to differentiate it from the arcade original. At first impression, the game is a fairly straightforward port , tasking Mario with climbing the original four stages to rescue Pauline. After clearing the original stages, something unexpected happens: Mario chases Donkey Kong up and out of the construction site and into a Super Mario Bros. 3-style map. There are 96 new stages past the “remake” of the first four; 100 stages in all. There’s a variety of worlds thrown your way, from a forest, a pirate ship, an airplane, and even an iceberg to name a few.

The variety of levels is impressive, especially for a game of its size.

DK94 throws new mechanics at you quickly, but not overwhelmingly. You can climb and hang along tightropes to cross gaps or build momentum, enemies and items can be picked up and thrown if you jump on top of them. There is a backwards jump a la Super Mario 64 to gain extra height. You can even make Mario do a handstand, walking on his hands and letting some projectiles bounce off his feet. Each world introduces new items and mechanics as you go, such as ally creatures that help you reach higher jumps, climbable ropes, and balance beams to twirl on. Mario arguably has more movement options in this game than most of his 3D outings, let alone any of the other 2D titles. It’s a blast to use these skills to rush through each level, grabbing the purse, hat, and parasol Pauline left behind in each level to rack up a high score.

There’s a lot of charm in DK94’s graphics and sound, evident from even just moving Mario around. Have him fall from a high enough spot and he splats on the ground, leg twitching in the air. When performing acrobatic feats, he strikes gymnastic poses, something that became a staple of the 3D entries. There’s some really incredible sprite work at play here, and it helps the flow of the game with how easy the levels are to read. Cutscenes between levels introduce the new mechanics, so you’re never thrust into a level with no idea what to do. As you progress, you’ll even see DK bring Jr. into the mix, having the younger ape throw poison mushrooms to fell the plumber. This would be Jr.’s last major appearance aside from hitting the court in Mario Tennis and getting added as a racer in Mario Kart Tour, so it’s nice to see him helping his pop.

Mario’s acrobatics are fun to watch, as seen in this official art for the game.

In the sound department, while the music works, it’s the voices and sound effects that are more memorable. Pauline’s pixelated cries for assistance, the bounce of Mario’s jumps, and the slams of barrels falling down are captured well on the Game Boy, but I wish there was a bit more to the soundtrack. It’s not bad, but there’s not really anything here that’ll make you tap your foot or look up online for later listening. I suppose it shares that with the arcade game, as there’s more music overall, so it’s got that going for it over the original.

There’s an ingenuity at play here that you don’t see much from Nintendo’s safer titles starring Mario. Off-beat games like this are often regulated to the Warios and Captain Toads of Nintendo’s roster, So it’s surprising to see many “Best of Mario” lists skip right over DK94, when it’s easily in my top ten, maybe even top five, 2D Mario games. Handheld titles can be overlooked, Mario Land notwithstanding,  but this one’s still not in the conversation! It’s a shame, but it’s easy to guess why.

First, its title is pretty bad. Just “Donkey Kong” makes the average gamer think this is yet another port of the arcade game, and by 1994 people were looking for bigger and better games than a four screen platformer. This goes hand-in-hand with the twist at the start of the game. After the first four screens, the game opens up, but turning the game on for the first time and just seeing the original 25m stage, an uninformed player might look at the title and the game and figure it’s just the same old game and move on.

There’s also the issue of timing. The Super Nintendo had been out for about a year by the time DK94 had been released. The Game Boy was a bit long in the tooth, and there was both a more popular “Mario” game available on Game Boy with Wario Land ( technically Super Mario Land 3!) *and* a more popular Donkey Kong game on SNES coming later that year in the revolutionary Donkey Kong Country. Gamers wanted to look to the future, and something that could easily be mistaken as an old arcade game wasn’t on the forefront of most people’s minds.

I’m guessing a lot of people missed this screen.

Donkey Kong ‘94 is worth going back to. Its mechanics are surprisingly modern, it’s quite beefy in scope, and it’s just a blast to play. It’s best experienced in color, with several Super Game Boy options built into the cartridge. If you are a fan of this game and want more, there is a sequel! Mario vs Donkey Kong on the GBA is *actually* a true-blue follow-up to this! The Lemmings-style minis didn’t factor into the gameplay until the second Mario vs. Donkey Kong. It’s a shame that Nintendo hasn’t made another game in this style, as bite-sized puzzle platforming would be great on Switch. It was released on the 3DS Virtual Console, but that’s not exactly an option now, so for now Donkey Kong ‘94 makes for a great reason to continue to rally for Game Boy on Switch so everyone can get a taste of a bona-fide classic of portable platforming.

The post Donkey Kong ’94: The Handheld Masterpiece You Might Have Missed appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Now before I get people with torches and pitchforks in the comments let me make something clear.  I DO think this game is a masterpiece.  When it came out it truly revolutionized how 3D games are made and set a near impossible standard for games after it to overcome.  However there are some issues with this game that I have and mentioned when I first wrote about me being a first time player over a year ago (you can read that article right here if you need a refresher).  The camera controls are a far cry from being decent, the flight controls are not fun, and I can’t tell you how many times I died because I missed an easy jump.  No, that’s not why I’m writing about Mario 64 today, but merely it’s the catalyst for a train of thought I was having while I was finishing up the game.  I started playing Mario 64 when I got 3D All-Stars over a year ago and at some point I just put the game down.  I was having problems with a certain star so I decided to take a break and play something else.  That ‘break’ lasted over 5 months.  I played and beaten so many other games before I went back to Mario 64, so it got me thinking.  If the game I’m playing is good, and I’m having a great time with it, why am I not playing it?

Mario 64 isn’t the first game where this sort of thing has happened to me, most recently, the victim in question has been NieR: Automata where I’ve been playing that game on and off for well over a year and a half.  Yet why do things like this happen?  For me it’s because I’m either really frustrated on a level, or I just get sucked into a different game.  With Mario 64 however, I’ve noticed there were multiple parts of the game that I was glad I would never have to do again.  Such as getting 100 coins on Tick-Tock Clock or Rainbow Ridge.  Those courses got me so mad when I would miss a jump or a coin that I almost immediately turn the game off.  On both courses I was less than 10 coins away from getting the star when I missed a jump and would have to start all over again.  It was annoying to say the least and when I would boot up the game, I would be reminded of my previous downfall.  There were times it was hard for me to play the game, but once I got the star, I would want to continue.

The question remains as to what I did when I gave myself a break from these games.  I either caught up on some reading or I played other games.  While in my Mario 64 run I beat Metroid: Zero Mission, got to Champions Road in Mario 3D World, and played some games online with friends.  Metroid I played because I want to go through all the Metroid titles, I was playing Mario 3D World co-op with my girlfriend, and I would just have some fun with my friends on various multiplayer games.  Just because we put down good games doesn’t mean we don’t like them.  Sometimes life just gets in the way and you don’t feel like playing it.  That is perfectly normal and totally fine.  Gaming shouldn’t feel like a chore but something you WANT to do.  You may forget about the game or just get hyper fixated on a different one.  That’s life, your tastes and interests change and the same can be said with video games. Playing something else doesn’t make you any less of a video gamer than you already are .

The post When You Stop Playing A Good Game appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

The clock has different animations throughout the day.

First let’s get to why I think this little thing is so neat.  This particular version of the Game & Watch does exactly what the previous models did with a few bells and whistles.  The screen is color, it officially comes with 3 games, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and Ball.  Ball, for those who didn’t know, was the title of the first ever Game & Watch Nintendo ever produced way back in 1980.  The first thing I noticed when I turned on my Game & Watch is that the screen is gorgeous.  It is tiny but it looks fantastic and the brightness is easy to adjust and it sounds great as well.  However you may want to make sure you’re holding it a certain way because your finger can easily cover the speaker.  Aside from that the 8-bit tunes of Super Mario Bros. sound exactly how they’re supposed to sound.  The whole build feels great and you can tell Nintendo put some love and care into it.  It doesn’t feel cheap and I don’t feel like I’m going to break it while I’m playing a game.  The battery so far has been great, I charged it 100% before I started playing it and it’s only gone down 1 cell since I opened it 6 days ago.  Of course I’ve only been playing in short bursts but it looks like I wouldn’t have to worry too much on constantly charging it.  I like the color scheme too, I’m willing to bet that when designing this, Nintendo wanted to make the colors reminiscent of the original Famicom console.  Even the box it comes in has some Easter eggs.  Once you take the Super Mario sleeve off, it reveals a screenshot and renames the unit to Ball.  On the side where you open the box it has the initials SM-35 as well as a little LCD style Mario and Luigi saying, “Special thanks to you.”  I just recently started keeping the boxes of my systems and this is one I know I’m not going to throw away anytime soon.

Moving the sleeve reveals the original Game & Watch title.

Now because of it’s size that’s where some of my issues with this come up.  I get that the Game & Watch line was created for those on the go to kill some time, meaning the design has to easily fit in a jacket pocket.  This version is no exception but the caveat here is that the early models were simple LCD screens whereas this one has an original NES title packed in.  The screen looks great but it can be hard to see Mario scrolling along the screen, especially when he’s small with no power ups.  I’m also not the biggest fan of the A and B buttons.  The D-Pad feels like it would on a regular NES controller but the rubber style buttons for A and B don’t feel as responsive sometimes.  There have been a few moments when I was running and couldn’t make a jump because the button press didn’t register.  I must’ve played for a good 30 minutes or so when I noticed my thumbs would hurt a little bit after I was done playing.  One more little negative is that the instruction pamphlet doesn’t really tell you how to exactly set the time when you first turn it on.  Like all former Game & Watch games this one has a clock but it took a little while to figure out how to set it.  Thankfully you can adjust the sound so you don’t have to hear the little blip you hear when a second passes.  You also don’t have to constantly change the volume, which ever sound setting you’ve picked for either game or the clock stays at that setting.

This system is definitely for fans of Mario and it does what its meant to do, kill some time.  When you need to stop playing the system saves the game and you can pick it back up right where you left off, even if you turn the power off. Your progress and your high scores will be saved and you don’t have start all over again.  Now as I said in the beginning of this article, the second hand market is already upselling these things.  Ebay has prices all over the place and when I went to a local trade show one seller was selling it used for $40 ($10 off MSRP and it was CIB) and another guy was selling one sealed for $100.  Of course Nintendo isn’t helping either by making these things a limited release until March 31st.  I was lucky enough to find mine at a Target but it was locked away with the Nintendo Switch consoles so if you want to try and find it at a store, look where the consoles are.  Personally I’m really glad I got it because I love the nod to history and how easy it is to play.  It truly is a fun novelty and even though the $50 price tag isn’t my favorite, especially since it only comes with 3 games that are very easily accessible elsewhere.  Since Zelda and Metroid also have 35th anniversaries coming up I’m willing to bet that we’ll be seeing more of these Game & Watch releases, hopefully with a little more added in.

The post The Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch: A Neat Little Nostalgia Trap appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Now if you’re thinking, “But Ben, backwards compatibility on the Game Boy isn’t anything new.  Why does that make the GBA the best?”  Well let me explain.  Myself and possibly a few others may fancy ourselves retro video game collectors but have a bit of an issue with our bank accounts.  We may not be able to go out and buy older Game Boys like the original 1989 ‘brick’ or the classic teal GBC.  As much as we want these old systems for collecting sakes we need to pick and choose what to get.  Even if we were to get a modded Game Boy that IS backlit it’s still an original Game Boy only with a few bells and whistles.  It will take 4 double A batteries to use and good luck if you happen to snag a GBC only game because those aren’t going to work on that modded Game Boy.  You’ll need the GBC for certain games to work properly.  Luckily those games can be pointed out thanks to the shape of the carts but if you only have the one Game Boy, you’re going to need the other one which may drain more money out of your wallet.  That’s where the GBA comes in because it can play every single Game Boy and GBC game that’s out there.  Doesn’t matter if it’s the original version or the SP, a GBA will play any Game Boy game.  For those like me who want to grow their game libraries and not worry about if it can play on my system the GBA is the way to go.  Sure the older carts will be sticking out quite a bit if you have the GBA or the SP version, but that little eyesore is a small price to pay when being able to play your copy of Link’s Awakening DX or Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.

Besides the GBA being the retro collector’s best friend, the games that came out on the system are quite good and highly sought after.  Sure Nintendo’s personal line of Mario games were all ports of older games, but for someone who didn’t own a SNES until much later in his life the Super Mario Advance series was a great way to play classic games.  Until my brother got Super Mario World (Mario Advance 2) we haven’t played this classic game in over 10 plus years.  Besides Mario you had the gems like Metroid Fusion, Golden Sun, Advance Wars, Zelda: The Minish Cap and Fire Emblem.  It was because of the GBA that North Americans were finally able to experience Fire Emblem and Advance Wars.  These titles stayed over in Japan until Nintendo finally brought them over and now these titles are adored all over the world.  Third party titles also made a splash on the system.  Konami made an amazing Castlevania game while Capcom had a slew of different Mega Man titles to choose from.  Square Enix revived the  Final Fantasy Tactics series on the system as well as re-released classic Final Fantasy games.  Granted they went up to VI while skipping III but they updated the graphics for I and II and put both games on a single cart.  THQ developed some of the best Sonic games at the time with Sonic Advance 1-3 whereas all SEGA really did for Sonic on the GBA was help make a really bad port of Sonic 1.  The GBA did have a ton of ports of older NES and SNES games but I can look past that since now classics like A Link To The Past and Super Mario World were now portable and in some cases made better.  Metroid Zero Mission and Kirby Nightmare In Dreamland are remakes of the original Metroid and Kirby’s Adventure which were on the NES.  Both games were remade from the ground up and are now considered the definitive way to play these classics.  Nintendo did release original versions of NES games for the GBA but made them cheap and easy to get.  The games for the system are top notch and I find myself hunting down GBA games more than I do any other system I own.

Now as much as I love the GBA, that doesn’t mean I don’t like the versions that came before it.  I still have my original Game Boy Pocket and would LOVE a modded brick Game Boy and a modded teal GBC in my collection, however I just don’t have the money for those right now.  The GBA takes out the need to get the older systems at all so if you want a Game Boy system I would shoot for the GBA first and save up for the other versions later.  Modded versions of the GBA do exist so if the original model feels the best in your hands but you really want a backlit screen you can find one.  It may be a bit more expensive but they are out there and are completely worth it.  The Game Boys are truly a testament to handheld and portable gaming, and the GBA perfected it with style and substance.  Sure the handhelds Nintendo put out after are great and the Switch is a phenomenal machine, but the GBA got it right the second you opened the box.

The post Game Boy Advance: Handheld Gaming Perfected. appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

The day I got my SNES Mini after waiting 3 hours in line.

One way these games refuse to die is that their developers keep finding ways to re-release their old titles.  Be it for an anniversary, a new system launch, or just because.  Games like Super Mario Bros., Sonic, Pac-Man keep getting re-releases be they games, plug n plays, or on mini consoles.  Take Sonic and Mario for example.  Both franchises have been around for a long time and one is celebrating an anniversary this year with the other having a big one just around the corner.  Now for the 35th anniversary of Mario the original game was re-released for the umpteenth time, on a brand new Game and Watch system.  Now this is pretty neat since it also takes a look back at Nintendo’s storied history and it adds a bigger nostalgia factor to those who were fans of the original handhelds.  Now with this new addition, it adds yet another way one could play the original NES game.  If memory serves there is as least 1 way you could play the original Super Mario Bros. on every major Nintendo console minus the N64 (there was a way to play it on the GameCube through Animal Crossing but the only way to reach it is by hacking the game).  Now with Sonic’s 30th coming up next year, you know SEGA is going to do something big and most likely it means re-releasing the original 16- bit Sonic games on a new platform of some kind.  Getting off SEGA and Nintendo games for a bit, another big anniversary this year was for Pac-Man as he reached the big 40.  Arcade 1Up celebrated by making a new 40th anniversary cabinet as well as the company Numskull with their 40th Anniversary quarter-cade.  The Pac-Man twitter team even made a special filter during the summer when San Diego Comic Con was supposed to be happening.  In the past Namco also released Pac-Man plug n plays which featured the infamous level 256 where the  game glitched out.  It included other favorites too but the real draw was Level 256.

Besides re-releasing games, the retro aesthetic has become a fashion statement as of late.  More and more people are embracing the things they loved in their childhood by wearing clothes with retro pixel art on them, getting different merchandise, or their new wallet/backpack.  I had a Game Boy wallet for the longest time and I’ve gotten so many compliments on it I’ve lost track.  It’s always a cool conversation starter and more and more I’m seeing people wearing shirts with a NES controller saying that they were “Classically Trained.”  Even when we don’t play the games as much as we used to, we can still show our love of a certain era with different merchandise.  I’m guilty as charged when it comes to getting retro gaming gear.  I’m at a store and if I see a pajama set with 8-bit Link or a 16-bit Sonic blanket, I’m going to want to get it.  It used to be a rare occurrence when you saw anything retro and now it’s not hard to find.  Last year for the Christmas holiday season, Nintendo had a tab that was just labeled ‘Retro’ and you could guess where I wanted to spend my money.   Besides buying things companies even take notice and do cool things with retro games.  For the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man Google made a playable doodle on their home page which you can still play to this very day.  In case you don’t believe me, here is the link for that doodle.

Now after a while these games that we love will start to get stale a bit.  It doesn’t mean that they aren’t bad, it’s just we’ve beat them so many times before that they aren’t as fun anymore.  That’s when developers like to switch things up and make the game a bit more interesting.  Case and point, Tetris 99.  It’s just Tetris but with 98 other players and you are facing off against them.  It adds more concentration to the game and instead of throwing my controller down in disgust when I get knocked out, I want to keep going.  Tetris is one of the most addicting games ever made, and making it a multiplayer game, a battle royale game even, kept making me want to go back.  Eventually they added a marathon mode for those who didn’t want to play online but the main draw is the online match ups.  Mario did this as well with Super Mario 35 and while it’s not as popular as Tetris it still shook things up.  Best part that this isn’t even the first time I had a little Tetris revival.  For those who forgot, back in the late 2000’s Facebook would have games on the site.  Some (like me) still have nightmares of Farmville requests but there was one game in particular that my friends and I played almost daily.  Tetris, now what made this version cool was that it kept score of you and your friends who were also playing the game.  Meaning if you got the high score, you could go to school the next day and brag to your friends on how you demolished their high score.  Which is something I did and was on the receiving end of.  I recall playing Tetris on Facebook for a good long while just to beat my friend’s high score, it was fun and a great precursor to Tetris 99.

The Pong Coffee Table: Retro City Fest 2019.

Now I’ve mentioned Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man, and Tetris quite a bit in this article, and I can hear someone ask me about the beloved Atari 2600 games, or about any of their favorite games.  Now just because some games get some more attention than others does NOT devalue their classic status.  Granted the ones I’ve mentioned are the more popular franchises but sooner or later some developer comes along and releases a collection or more.  I’ve seen Atari Flashback games for the PS4 and Xbox One, Namco Museum games for the GBA and newer systems, the Neo Geo collection on the Nintendo e-shop and a 3D version of Pong which also doubles as a coffee table.  Do a little digging and I’m sure you’ll be finding some way to play your favorite game.  True classics won’t be going anywhere, and some how, some way, they will find a way back into your lives.  It may not be the most orthodox way, and it may take a while before they come back, but somehow they’ll be back before you even realize it.

The post Why The Classics Never Die. appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

I have of course, played some Mario games over the course of my gaming career.  I’ve mostly dealt with the 2D games like the original, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.  Now before you bring out your torches and pitchforks as to why I’ve never played Mario 64 for over 24 years allow me to explain.  Even when I had a N64 my focus was on Pokemon Stadium, Mario Kart 64, and Super Smash Bros.  I knew what I liked as a 11 year old when I finally got the console and that didn’t change until much later in my life.  Even when I got my Wii (never owned a Gamecube) and Galaxy came out I played a bit of Galaxy before I had to give it back to my brother’s friend.  Then we got Guitar Hero for the Wii and that took up most of our time and sadly I never got a Wii U.  I didn’t fully play a 3D Mario game until Odyssey and that’s 3D Mario perfection.

Super Mario 64 is a great game and I am bummed that I’ve never experienced it until now.  It truly is fun and I love finding stars and secrets throughout the castle.  However as fun as this game is good Lord is it dated and no I’m not talking about how the game looks.  It does look a lot cleaner than the original N64 version but it is a straight port of the original cartridge, but even with this game’s issues, I can see the building blocks for future Mario games.  The biggest thing that was kicking my butt was the camera.  I’m sure so many people have already complained about it not being in the right spot so you can see where you’re going but dang I didn’t know it was this bad.  I was fighting with the camera quite a bit especially when I needed to line up a jump only to have the camera switch at the last second, making me miss.  Also another thing I’ve had a bit of a an issue with is how drifty Mario is.  He doesn’t stop on a dime and when he lands he moves just a little bit further, also causing me to fall off platforms and losing a life.  For a first timer like me getting used to moving Mario like this takes a bit of getting used to, but luckily with practice comes perfection and I would eventually be landing jumps no problem.

Super Mario 64 literally gives you all the things you need to advance the game, just go out and find the stars.  If you’re having trouble the Toads around the castle do help out every once in a while and some might even give you stars.  I was trying to figure out how to get over this one fence in Wet-Dry World and couldn’t figure it out.  I talked to a Toad and he gave me the hint on jumping higher into the painting.  Next thing I knew I was able to clear the fence and get the star I needed.  I also love how the game wants you to explore every nook and cranny, and you can possibly get stars you weren’t supposed to if you’re clever enough.  I got the chain chomp star in Bob-Omb Battlefield the first time I went there and found another star on my way up to King Bob-Omb.  There is a set path but the games rewards you for going off of it and finding something new.

The best thing I can say about Mario 64 is that it truly hasn’t lost its luster.  It’s dated for sure and maybe Nintendo could’ve done a bit more TLC to fix a few bugs, the clipping, and the camera, but I keep finding myself in the same situation I found myself in when I played Odyssey for the first time.  I would get a moon then think, “Oh it’s not THAT late, I can get a few more,” and would keep going until hours later.  It’s the same with Mario 64.  I get a few stars, look at the time, and think the same thing and down the rabbit hole I go.  Next thing I know it’s very early in the morning and I should have gone to sleep hours ago.  The game is still that much fun even 24 years later.  Even with all the problems I have I’m having a blast and can’t wait to get into Sunshine and Galaxy which are next on my list.  I can say, without a shadow of a doubt that Super Mario 64 truly is a masterpiece and a pivotal part of gaming history, of course I’m just 24 years late to the party.

The post The Dated Genius of Super Mario 64. appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Now this isn’t the first time Nintendo has pulled something like this, but hopefully they’ve learned their lesson.  The most recent “limited release” fiasco I can remember is the initial launch of the NES Classic.  I still have nightmares looking at eBay and the over $200 price tags for a system that was meant as a novelty gift for hardcore old school gamers.  Luckily they did rerelease the system and made getting the SNES Classic less of a headache but they did receive a ton of backlash for the lack of product.  In all fairness it is a great marketing tactic by Nintendo to say that a game that many fans have been waiting for will only be available for a limited time.  It gives us consumers a sense of urgency and fear of missing out so we better strike while the iron is hot.  However this sense of urgency has bitten Nintendo in the behind before (NES Classic again) but looking at their track record recently things are looking good.

Full disclosure I was able to walk into a GameStop and pre-order a copy of Super Mario 3D All-Stars the day after the direct with no problem whatsoever.  I also saw other game stores I follow announce they are also open for pre-orders.  By the looks of things, and watching some people whom I follow online, no one has had an issue getting a pre-order of the game.  Just from that it looks like Nintendo is making an effort to have physical copies available to all who want one.  Of course we also live in a digital world so if you can’t get the physical copy of the game you can download it off the e-shop which is something I was prepared to do.  I’m an old soul in I like having a physical copy of my games but dang it if I had to settle withe the digital copy I’ll take what I can get.  However one other thing I’ve noticed people aren’t super happy with is the price of the game.  It’s a full priced game at $60 and I’ve seen people compare this to the Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy that was not only $20 cheaper, but added new modes and levels to the original games.  Not to point fingers but this does raise a decent point and this isn’t the first time Nintendo has released a game at full price (Link’s Awakening I’m looking at you).  Now I’m not too fond of spending that much (even though I’ve already payed for the game in full) but I know I’ll be getting a quality product and that puts my mind at ease.  Also who knows?  The physical copy could end up selling for much more down the line, these games usually do later down the line.

I mentioned at the top that the SNES Online service just got the original All-Stars game and I have to say it was a great lead up to the unveiling of 3D.  I am a subscriber to the service and have never played the original All-Stars game so having it there for me to play is great.  I won’t go too much into it but seeing a 16 bit version of Super Mario Bros 1-3 is absolutely gorgeous.  Not to knock to original graphics and 8-bit art or anything but dang do these games look pretty.  They also play very well and I’m looking forward to playing these while I wait for 3D to come out.  Luckily the game isn’t too hard to come by if you want a hard copy, I’ve seen loose carts of it at trade shows and used game stores for a reasonable price.  The Wii version is a little more pricey depending which edition you want, and if you want the cart complete in box then prepare to drop some serious cash for it.

Mario is the face of Nintendo so of course they’ll go all out for him when it comes to games, march, and celebrating his anniversary in general, but that also raises another question.  What about the other big Nintendo franchises with 35 year anniversaries?  Zelda and Metroid share one and while I’m willing to bet money on some sort of anniversary thing for Zelda, we need one for Metroid too.  For the past few years the Metroid franchise has been very quiet with the only big news being Metroid Prime 4, way back in 2017 and nothing since.  As much as I expect (and most likely will love) a Zelda 35 year anniversary game, we REALLY need one for Metroid as well.  Of course this direct was all about Mario, and its well deserved.  35 years of being a gaming icon is nothing to sneeze at and I am very much looking forward to the next 35 years of our favorite red plumber.

The post The Hype, and Reservations, of the Mario 35th Anniversary Direct. appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

However, not everyone was blessed enough to be a Nintendo Power subscriber, and there were very few other ways to determine a game’s potential attributes. The existence of online playthroughs and reviews that showed actual gameplay footage would still be decades away. Today, you can watch games being played, you can hear the music and in-game sound effects, and you can browse dozens of unbiased online reviews. There’s really no excuse for any modern gamer to purchase a game that might completely take them by surprise, in either a good or bad way, unless they intentionally avoid the multitude of media options that already cover the gaming industry.

In the late 1980s, your options were magazines, such as the aforementioned Nintendo Power, television advertisements, word of mouth, or simply browsing the titles available at any given time at your local retailer or rental store. It may seem like an antiquated method today, but I distinctly recall checking out games this way. For me personally, in 1986–1989, that would have either been Pamida, a small, now defunct, mid-western department store chain or Wal-Mart, the big-box retailer that moved into my Wisconsin hometown around this time and promptly ate Pamida up & spit it out.

To get my grubby preteen hands on these games, I would either tag along with my parents on their shopping trips, making a beeline towards the electronics section, or else I would jump on my bike with friends on the weekends or during summers. I used these opportunities to imagine what each Nintendo game laid out in front of me would be like to play, how the levels were designed or how the gameplay might be like. I now know stores like Toys R Us would only have laminated cards representing each game and you’d have to take the card of the game you wanted to look at and possibly buy to the counter before you could see it for yourself in person. However, I definitely recall having full access to the complete, shrink-wrapped NES games and their glorious, pixelated 8-bit era boxes located in these smaller chain stores during the early days of NES popularity.

This series of posts are meant to celebrate the preliminary years (1985–1987) of NES game boxes and what being able to touch them, turn them over, read the description and view the screen shots meant to a 12-year-old video game fiend with no money to actually spend. These will be the NES black box era games I have the most vivid memories of seeing in stores or in advertisements. These NES boxes sparked my imagination and led me to believe, correctly or incorrectly, that the games housed within the cardboard were magical adventures, realistic sports titles and reflex challenging platformers.

The original set of first party games released for the NES were known as the “black box” titles due to their uniform appearance. Each box had a black background with a drawn representation of the game’s sprite-heavy graphics on the upper half. The bottom half was divided by the game’s title, printed in colorful block lettering while pointing diagonally towards the upper right corner and the words Nintendo Entertainment System (circled in red) underneath. In the lower left corner was the game’s “series” designation, a one or two word descriptor meant to provide the potential buyer with a clue as to what game genre would best fit. Action, sports, programmable, arcade, light gun, robot or the infamous education series were the varieties available for these black box titles. The adventure series wouldn’t be introduced until Nintendo added a new color pattern, silver, in 1987, but that’s for another post.

No discussion of Nintendo black box games would be complete without introducing the granddaddy of them all, Super Mario Bros. Part of the action series, Super Mario Bros. was of course the pack-in for many versions of the NES, either as a stand-alone game or as part of the Duck Hunt dual pack or Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet triple pack. The box art itself is fairly generic as the black box titles tend to be. However, Nintendo chose to represent the now iconic plumber as something other than his normal jump-suited/red-capped, mustachioed self. The Mario image chosen for the box art is the fireball version, which changes his uniform and cap to white while his shirt/hair/moustache changes to red.

In gameplay terms, this is the visual clue that Mario can throw fireballs as an alternative weapon to jumping on enemies. Of course, the artist chose to draw the sprite of a jumping Mario more dramatically, with a fireball directly in front of him, indicating it had just been thrown. There is also a wall block that Mario is apparently supposed to be jumping onto with lava licking his boot heels. This is clearly a suicide pose for Mario, intended to get that perfect shot for the box cover. Who knew that Mario was such a martyr for the sake of his art?

On the back of the box, you are treated to a much more accurate description of this iconic game. The challenge has been laid in front of you. “Do you have what it takes to save the Mushroom Princess?” There’s no mention of the name the Mushroom Princess would eventually go by, Princess Peach, nor is there any mention of your eternal nemesis, Bowser. Instead Bowser is referred to as the Koopa King, the king of the turtle tribe. The four screen shots used for the back of the box show off a nice variety of gameplay and worlds. The largest shot in the upper right is of Mario jumping in world 2-3. That’s the level where the red Cheep-Cheeps fly up from below.

Additionally, there are smaller screen shots from castle level 1-4, where Mario is jumping over one of the fake-Bowser’s fireballs, level 4-2, where Mario can be seen jumping yet again, this time onto one of the rising platforms, and finally level 7-2, which is a water level, so Mario isn’t jumping for once. The box does a good job of showing the wide variety of world and level types representing above ground, underground, water and dungeon levels. Overall, it’s a very simple, yet effective box that certainly shows off the type of graphics, gameplay and excitement of Super Mario Bros.

Pro Wrestling, part of the sports series, was another game that really caught the eye early on in the NES life cycle. The front of the box art offers an excellent representation of the look and feel of real wrestling action, characters and special moves, with the glaring exception of “who the hell is that wrestler with the red and yellow boots and mask?!?!” There is no character in the game that looks like that, which is confusing since the actual wrestlers in the game were likely programmed by the time the box art was commissioned for drawing. As kids, we all assumed that is what the game’s final wrestler, Great Puma, looked like since none of us could actually reach him to find out. Whoever he is, he looks cool in contrast to the other wrestler, Fighter Hayabusa, with his generic black boots and black wrestling trunks.

“Now real wrestling action is at your fingertips!”

Indeed, the back of the box intends to show off the real action that players of Pro Wrestling might expect, along with the variety of wrestlers you could choose from and the moves they can pull off. The larger photo in the upper right once again features Fighter Hayabusa, this time performing a Brain-Buster on the fuchsia-clad Starman. The three smaller screens on the bottom show King Slender, with his long blonde locks, taking on creepy, green merman The Amazon, who is performing one of his special moves, the Outlaw Choke, while outside of the ring. King Slender turns the tables on The Amazon by performing his special move, the Backbreaker on another screen picture and the final screen shot is of King Slender flying through the air, about to perform the Flying Body Attack from the upper left corner post on Kin Corn Karn.

Only Hulk Hogan wannabe, the suntanned within an inch of his life Giant Panther, and of course the elusive final wrestler, Great Puma, are not represented on the box art. Nevertheless, the Pro Wrestling box was a winner with its inclusion of detailed character sprites and special moves clearly identifiable. The box certainly was enough to sell me on its charms back in ’87 as it was one of the first games I asked for when I got my NES that Christmas.

The post Early NES (Nintendo) Box Art Pt 1 – Black Box Titles appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

My original NES with box. The box still has the price tag sticker in the top right corner. Only $79.99!

30 years ago to the month I received my very first home video game console, the Nintendo Entertainment System. I remember as a 12 year old at the time, that Christmas 1987 was the year I received the greatest present in my short life and the one and only item on my Christmas wish list. Up until this time, I had exclusively been playing on friend’s NES consoles as well as getting my Super Mario Bros fix at the local bowling alley’s Playchoice 10. After 12 long months, that was no longer going to suffice for me. I begged and pleaded but my parents weren’t exactly thrilled to spend over $100 on a single Christmas gift. I somehow convinced them that it truly was what I needed, notice I didn’t say wanted, and I explained to them that no additional gifts were necessary for me that year as long as I got a NES. I was with them the day they picked it up at the Kay-Bee toy store in the local mall sometime in late-December and assured them I didn’t NEED the more expensive Deluxe set that came with R.O.B., the light gun, Duck Hunt and Gyromite. All I wanted was the control deck with Super Mario Bros and I was good to go. The long 40 minute drive back home didn’t help to ease my anticipation. It was evening and the car was too dark so I couldn’t even properly scan over my console box and review the game titles and screenshots on the back. By the time we arrived back home, it was much too late for me to open it up and play it.

The back of my original box. All I know is that those kids have no idea how to actually hold a NES controller.

I was forced to wait until the next morning before I could carefully and meticulously open the box, remove all of the contents, read the instructions and eventually play my Nintendo. I recall it being a long, restless evening of sleep. I guess I should be thankful my parents didn’t make me wait until Christmas day to open up my gift. I don’t remember exactly how many days prior to Christmas that I received my NES but it wasn’t Christmas Eve, that’s for sure.

The next morning I was completely consumed with playing Super Mario Brothers over and over again. I had spent a lot of my paper route money playing it at the arcade and was pleased to find that the home version was a bit easier. I invited a friend over to join me in my Super Mario marathon that first day as a Nintendo owner. I wanted to share the joy of my new toy with my best friend. Fortunately, I had a birthday coming up in a few weeks so I was planning on asking for a second cartridge but wasn’t sure which one yet. It didn’t matter. At that moment, I had in my possession the greatest video game ever made! For the remainder of 1987, the arcades in my town would not see another quarter from me. I now had a potential arcade machine at home. I was playing with power!

The poster that came with the console that I adorned with stickers. I had this on my wall next to posters of Michael Jordan & Dominique Wilkins. R.O.B. was still the face of the console at the time.

The NES shaped my gaming future and the types of games I enjoy today all have something in common with games I enjoyed then. I have more NES titles in my gaming collection than I do for any other system. It’s also the console I still play the most to this day and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

The NES is one of the most iconic classic gaming consoles of all time and it has transcended my generation as to what younger people now think of when they think of classic or retro gaming. The Atari VCS/2600 used to hold this title but that torch has now been passed on to the NES. There will be a day in the not too distant future, where the NES will be considered a bygone relic and retro gaming’s face will take the form of a different console. Maybe it will be the PlayStation 2? Maybe it will be the Nintendo 64? Maybe it will be the XBox 360? It’s hard to guess as it ultimately depends on how well these consoles and the games associated with them hold up over time and who in the gaming community will continue to fly those system’s respective flags. All I am certain of is that the Nintendo Entertainment System will be the one console I will cherish above any others and will be my favorite to collect for and continue to play. Thanks mom and dad and Merry Christmas!

The post System Spotlight Christmas Edition – Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.