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Sorry I missed your 30th birthday, Super NES
I missed one of my best friend’s birthdays this week – but belated best wishes are better than nothing. So, to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, my favorite console of all time, which arrived in the US on August 23rd, 1991, I wish you many happy returns.
Free-to-play JRPG Tales of Phantasia launches for iOS
Namco Bandai has resurrected its 1995 Super Famicom RPG Tales of Phantasia as a free-to-play IOS app supported by in-game microtransactions. The iOS version of Tales of Phantasia retains the classic JRPG's storyline and unique side-scrolling battle system, but ramps up its difficulty to encourage players to purchase optional status boosts and items that revive characters after death. Touch Arcade reports that the game's microtransaction system requires a constant online connection. Tales of Phantasia has seen numerous ports over the last two decades, including enhanced remakes for the PSOne and PSP. The majority of these ports were exclusive to Japan, however. Previously, the only existing English-language version of Tales of Phantasia was a Game Boy Advance port published by Nintendo in North America in 2006. Phantasia is the first of several Tales of... series games debuting stateside in 2014. Tales of Symphonia Chronicles will launch in February, followed by the release of Tales of Xillia 2 later this year. The latest series entry, Tales of Zestiria, was recently announced for the PlayStation 3 in Japan.
New Super NES cartridge Nightmare Busters now shipping worldwide
Retro boutique publisher Super Fighter Team is now shipping copies of its Super Nintendo run-and-gun platformer Nightmare Busters to pre-order customers worldwide, marking the first time in several years that Nintendo's 16-bit console has seen a new cartridge production run. Originally created and scheduled to launch in 1994, the Nichibutsu-developed Nightmare Busters failed to materialize on store shelves, and never saw a release anywhere in the world. A completed version of Nightmare Busters was discovered years later, and Super Fighter Team began accepting cartridge pre-orders in 2012 after acquiring the rights to release the game officially. While Super NES reproduction releases for prototype and fan-translated games are common, Nightmare Busters is a more ambitious project, shipping with a replica cardboard box and manual in addition to a uniquely-shaped cartridge that is compatible with SNES and Super Famicom consoles from all regions. Super Fighter Team is currently accepting orders for future cartridge production runs, and a complete-in-box copy of Nightmare Busters is available for $70 plus shipping.
Speedrunners make Super Mario World reprogram itself to play Pong, Snake
A programming loophole in the Super NES platformer Super Mario World has given speedrunners the ability to build and execute arbitrary code during gameplay, leading to the creation of fully playable minigames built on top of existing cartridge assets. An in-game hack takes advantage of a convoluted glitch that was previously exploited in order to finish the game in an impossibly quick span of time using software emulators. Starting at the 1:40 mark in the video above, the hack is deployed, and new code is written using an array of eight emulated Super NES controllers -- no keyboard input or explicit programming language is used to create these new minigames. The discovery follows up on a similar hack for Pokemon Yellow that allows players to overwrite the game's code using only the Game Boy's controller input. Fans have since used tool-assisted speedrun tech in order to produce in-game art and other unexpected results. If the videos above left you confused and maybe even a little frightened, that's normal; the Super Mario World hack made its debut during last week's Awesome Games Done Quick charity marathon to a crowd of stunned onlookers. Have speedrunners gone too far this time? Is there anything we can do to stop them?
Ys 5 fan translation released, full series now available in English
Falcom's 16-bit action-RPG Ys 5 has been localized and patched by the team of fan translators at Aeon Genesis, ending its long reign as the sole entry in the Ys series to never see an English-language release. Ys 5 debuted as a somewhat controversial game in 1995, arriving exclusively on the Super Famicom after a string of multiplatform releases. Ys 5 ditches the simplified enemy-ramming combat of earlier Ys games in favor of more traditional, Zelda-like fare, giving players more control over sword strikes and defensive maneuvers. Series enthusiasts previously localized the PC Engine version of Ys 4: The Dawn of Ys and its Super Famicom counterpart Ys 4: Mask of the Sun, and many other entries in the series were officially translated and released in North America. Ys 5 was never officially localized and a revised edition, Ys 5 Expert, also remained exclusive to Japan. A translation patch for Ys 5 is available at Aeon Genesis' website, and requires either an emulator or a Super NES flash cartridge to play. Falcom's most recent series entry, Ys: Memories of Celceta, was released last week for the PlayStation Vita in North America.
'Project Unity' is 15 fully-functional consoles in one giant box
Constructed by evil genius/mad scientist/hardware hacker Bacteria, Project Unity is a single, unified gaming console that can play Sega Master System, Neo Geo MVS, GameCube, Dreamcast, Saturn, Intellivision, Colecovision, Atari 7800, Turbografx 16, PS1/PS2, Mega Drive, NES, Super NES, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64 and Amstrad GX4000 games.Project Unity's most impressive feature, besides the fact that it works, is that it was constructed entirely out of authentic hardware and does not make use of emulators or combo units like the FC Twin. It also manages to use a single power supply, video output and custom-built controller, regardless of the system selected.Jump to 09:30 in the video above for a demonstration of this behemoth in action, including the repurposed NES cartridges that contain different circuit boards for each controller type, or start from the beginning for some deliciously chaotic wiring shots.
Prettied-up pastel SNES consoles now on sale
Okay so, we've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that a French retailer called Lekki has started selling four different shades of gorgeously refinished Super Nintendo console, each with its own matching controller and bonus Super Mario World cartridge. Hooray!The bad news, for us non-Europeans at least, is that these are PAL systems, which means that your dust-covered, attic-stored boxes of old SNES carts won't work, and therefore you'll need to either find a good import shop, or only ever play Super Mario World. If you are European though, or you've run out of holiday gift ideas for the retro-gamer in your life, the consoles will set you back €150, which is essentially $200.
Wiikly Wares: Ogre Battle, Family & Friends Party
This week's downloadable titles on Wii are a mixed bag. We get what appears to be some shovel(Wii)ware, but a tried-and-true classic on the Virtual Console. Sure, it's a niche genre, but it's still 100% classic.Virtual ConsoleOgre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (SNES, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): The classic strategy title finally comes to the Virtual Console. Personally, our own experience with the franchise has been mainly through the N64 sequel, so we're anxious to give this one a whirl. Look for it in our VC in Brief segment later today.WiiWareFamily & Friends Party (Gammick Entertainment, 1-8 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Billed as "an interactive board game," this WiiWare title sounds a lot like Mario Party in its description and supports up to eight players.
Wiikly Wares: Kirby Dream Land 3, Sandy Beach
WiiWareSandy Beach (Konami, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points): First, the good news: Yes, you can build sand castles in this game, either at your leisure or facing off against swarms of crabs in the Defend Your Castle-esque Crab Battle mode. The bad news? Well, it wasn't the first Crab Battle that came to mind ...Virtual ConsoleKirby's Dream Land 3 (Super NES™, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points): This title had the unfortunate luck of coming out within a week of the incredibly awesome Kirby Superstar -- great timing, Nintendo! Still, it's a fun game that happens to be just like its predecessors. We half expect the company to pull some poetic injustice and release Superstar on Virtual Console next week.%Gallery-31937%
eBay alert: EVERY SUPER NINTENDO GAME
Remember that scene in The Professional where Gary Oldman turns to a guy and says "Bring me everyone" and the guy is like "What do you mean by 'everyone'?" and then Gary Oldman goes"EEEEEVERYYYYYYYONE"? Well, if you win this auction, the seller will ship you EEEEEVERYYYYYYY ONE of the 720 Super Nintendo games released in the US, all of which are complete, and many of which are sealed. Plus you get 74 duplicates, which you can then use to recoup some of your investment.The collection includes future Virtually Overlooked subjects like Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus, Pieces, and Cacoma Knight in Bizyland. The price is a little high per game, but the convenience factor of not having to comb hundreds of eBay auctions and game stores for a complete copy of Super Troll Island is considerable.If you win, and you don't want your extra copy of Super 3D Noah's Ark or Packy & Marlon, please consider sending it along to your friendly neighborhood bloggers. Just a thought.[Via Game|Life]
