Feature: The Legacy of Pokémon

Preface

For over twenty-three years, the Pokémon franchise has been a constant and welcomed presence in my life. This massively successful series started in 1996 in Japan, with the release of Pokémon Red & Pokémon Green for the Nintendo Game Boy by a company called Game Freak. Its huge financial success and popularity eventually found its way overseas, finally reaching Europe in 1999. It continued to dominate the lives of children and their parents’ wallets with an obscene amount of content and merchandise, such as toys, animation, trading cards, and video games. At twelve years old, it was impossible for me to avoid the craze that had captured the attention and imagination of kids throughout the world. Here, I will attempt to recount my own memories of the Pokémon series, and share highlights from my personal journey through a franchise that means so much to me.

Darren

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By |2023-01-09T15:33:00+00:00January 5th, 2023|3DS, GameBoy, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Switch, Omega Ruby/Alpha Saphire, Pokémon, Retro, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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REVIEW – Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda

Last year, I had the pleasure of reviewing the excellent Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch system to celebrate the thirty-fifth anniversary of the beloved plumber. This year, it’s the turn of the hero in a green tunic, as we celebrate three and a half decades of adventuring through Hyrule and beyond, with The Legend of Zelda Game & Watch system from Nintendo.

There are many similarities between last year’s Super Mario Bros. release, and it comes just in time for the holiday season. But how does this one compare? Is it the perfect gift for that Zelda fan in your life? Or a crushing disappointment that makes the CDi games look like a masterpiece? Let’s go on an adventure…

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By |2021-11-26T13:38:20+00:00November 26th, 2021|Retro, Review, The Legend of Zelda|0 Comments
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Pivotal Moments in Pokémon History

With the 25th anniversary fast approaching, we are taking a deep dive through Pokémon history, looking at some of the biggest decisions made in the mainline games that have had a lasting impact. In this article, we will look at everything from the original release of Pokémon Red and Green in Japan, all the way to Pokémon Sword and Shield in 2019.

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By |2021-02-22T22:01:02+00:00February 22nd, 2021|3DS, Features, GameBoy, Nintendo Switch, Omega Ruby/Alpha Saphire, Pokémon|0 Comments
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The Legend of Zelda – Every Journey Has a Beginning

This year, 2021, marks the 35th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series. Over this time, The Legend of Zelda franchise has spawned twenty-seven mainline games in addition to ports/remakes, an array of spin-off titles, books, manga and even a short-lived animated series. It has become a leading Nintendo franchise, headlining the launches of both the Wii and the Nintendo Switch, finding itself behind only Mario and Pokémon in terms of its popularity as a series. The most recent mainline release, Breath of the Wild, brought us an expansive and wonderfully realised open-world experience which remains one of my personal highlights on the Switch to date. The Legend of Zelda’s origins on the NES were far more simplistic, yet no less ambitious. In this feature, I’m going to be sharing my experience playing through the NES classic for the first time, as well as looking back at my experience with the series as a whole. Read on for more.

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By |2021-02-21T00:46:48+00:00February 21st, 2021|Features, Retro, The Legend of Zelda|0 Comments
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Nintendo’s Forgotten Franchises – Kururin

My first forgotten franchises article extolled the virtues of Nintendo’s wonderful Wave Race series, a franchise which is long overdue a comeback. The logical next step in this series of articles would then be to continue looking back at Nintendo’s other forgotten sporting franchises – the thrilling, off-road racer, Excitebike or perhaps their exhilarating snowboarding series, 1080. Who needs logic though? Instead, let’s take a look back at the Kururin series!

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By |2020-09-27T11:20:20+00:00September 27th, 2020|Features, GameBoy, Retro|0 Comments
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Nintendo’s Forgotten Franchises – Wave Race

Nintendo make wonderful games; I think if you’re reading this then there’s every chance that you agree. However, if there’s one criticism that I could aim at them it’s that they often play it too safe. Whilst the last five years have seen the release of two major new franchises (Splatoon and ARMS), the same five years has also seen the release of close to 30 Mario themed games across various platforms. Now, I love Mario as much as the next gamer, but Nintendo have a wealth of franchises which have been neglected, in some cases for generations and new entries are long overdue. In this series I will explore some of Nintendo’s forgotten franchises and just how they might return in the future, starting with Wave Race.

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By |2020-08-07T17:34:52+00:00July 2nd, 2020|eShop, Features, GameBoy, N64, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch|0 Comments
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Paper Mario – A look back at the series so far

Paper Mario is a series which launched almost two decades ago on the Nintendo 64 and has since spawned six mainline entries, the latest of which, Paper Mario: The Origami King, is set to release next month on the Nintendo Switch. Yet there are many, myself included, who feel that this series has struggled to recapture its early magic with more recent entries. So, what exactly was it that made the original game so special? To answer that, we need to take a stroll back down memory lane to the Year 2000, when the Nokia 3310 was at the peak of mobile technology and Anne Robinson was instilling fear in contestants on the Weakest Link.

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By |2020-08-07T17:34:57+00:00June 17th, 2020|Features, N64, Nintendo Switch|0 Comments
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