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like-it-or-not,-the-smash-bros-series-wouldn’t-be-what-it-is-without-its-most-maligned-entry VG247

Like it or not, the Smash Bros series wouldn’t be what it is without its most maligned entry

March 8, 2023VG247

In defense of everyone’s least favourite Super Smash Bros. game. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is painted with much acclaim from critics and fans alike, but one game before it often gets maligned by fans: Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Tripped up by its controversial own tripping feature and bad online implementation at the time of its release, Brawl deserves more praise: it laid the foundations for Ultimate to succeed. 15 years after its release, I am here to tell you why this maligned entry in one of the most sucessful gaming series of all time deserves more respect. The Brawl-to-Sora pipeline…

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VG247’s The Best Games Ever Podcast – Ep.31: The best game that reminds you of Christmas

December 23, 2022VG247

Special guests from across the games media join us in the spirit of togetherness. Welcome to VG247’s Best Games Ever Podcast: Episode 31 – the best game that made reminds you of Christmas. Christmas is a time of togetherness, of sharing your table with family, friends, and strangers. In that spirit, we invited a number of our friends and colleagues from across the games media to contribute to this, our first ever Christmas edition of the VG247 Best Games Ever podcast. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it, and wish you all a…

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it’s-mario-kart-ds’-17th-anniversary,-and-waluigi-pinball-is-still-one-of-the-best-tracks-in-the-series VG247

It’s Mario Kart DS’ 17th anniversary, and Waluigi Pinball is still one of the best tracks in the series

November 14, 2022VG247

I simply won’t hear any different, unless it involves Coconut Mall. It might make you shiver when I tell you that Mario Kart DS is the first way I experienced Mario Kart. I later visited the N64 version and (of course) would go on to frequent the Wii version, too. But Mario Kart DS will always have the most special place in my heart among them all. Fancy a trip down memory lane? Here’s the trailer for Mario Kart DS. Growing up, I did a lot of travelling between parents. I still do, but not as nearly as often as…

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Lego’s Atari 2600 is a brilliant bit of weaponized nostalgia – and we need a Sega console next

September 30, 2022VG247

Lego’s latest build aimed at older fans is designed to stoke the fandom and memories of 90s kids – and despite some superfluous inclusions, it’s a great set. It’s now official, and irrefutable: Lego is no longer just for children. This has always been the case, of course, but in recent years the company itself has started to embrace this fact. First there was ‘Creator Expert’, a line of larger, more complicated and expensive sets. Then came adult-driven packaging, signaled by sleek black boxes and a marketing campaign that gleefully declares ‘Adults Welcome’. Like a lot of the best kids’…

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Star Fox Adventures is 20 years old today – and it’s still the last truly good Star Fox game

September 23, 2022VG247

It’s hard not to think about how the excellent Star Fox Adventure was criticized as not ‘true’ Star Fox – only for the series to then have 20 years of disasters. Back in the 16 and 64-bit eras, UK-based developer Rare was exceptionally good at looking at what its then almost-parent Nintendo was doing, then developing their own killer take on it. I mean, seriously, look at the evidence – Diddy Kong Racing gives Mario Kart 64 a run for its money, but is awash with way, way more content. Banjo Kazooie is right up there with Super Mario 64….

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Gargoyles is being remastered 27 years after launching on the SEGA Genesis

September 12, 2022VG247

The remaster was revealed at The Disney and Marvel Games Showcase. Revealed at The Disney and Marvel Games Showcase, Gargoyles will be privy to a remaster way over 10 years since it first released on the SEGA Genesis. Catch the trailer for the original Gargoyles video game adaptation from 1995 right here. Gargoyles, which was first released back in 1995, is a video game adaptation of the animated series of the same name. Both the series and the game didn’t reach the same popularity as other Disney classics at the time, like The Lion King and Aladdin, but it’s still…

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If you’ve ever so much as played Tekken 3, you owe it to yourself to watch Netflix’s Tekken: Bloodline anime

September 11, 2022VG247

The King of Iron Fist Tournament is back, and in animated form – and it may be the first Tekken adaptation that doesn’t totally suck. Tekken is a massively popular series: the latest game in the series bypassing 9 million sales in its lifetime is proof enough of that. But as popular as the series is today, there’s something about the early games in the fighting game franchise – Tekken 2 and Tekken 3, specifically – that left their mark in the cultural consciousness in an altogether different way. For lots of people, their first exposure to Bandai Namco’s 3D…

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The Dreamcast lives on with a new ‘next-gen’ iteration of its iconic VMU memory card

September 8, 2022VG247

The Dreamcast never dies – and this latest project aims to bring its most significant peripheral up-to-date. Sega may have long since left console manufacturing behind, but the Dreamcast remains one of the longest-lived games consoles going, with fans ever so occasionally putting out new Dreamcast releases. The system has a cult following – the Dreamcast never dies. The latest new development in Dreamcast technology is now available to be backed on crowd-funding site Indiegogo – and it’s a curious upgrade to one of the system’s most unique features – its VMU memory cards. For those of you who aren’t…

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what’s-old-is-new-again:-what-the-rise-of-‘boomer-shooters’-says-about-the-fps-market VG247

What’s old is new again: What the rise of ‘Boomer Shooters’ says about the FPS market

August 19, 2022VG247

‘Boomer shooters’ are really just shooters without the fat – it’s just a shame about that damn name. Ion Fury is the latest in a long and enjoyable line of boomer shooters I’ve ticked off lately. The two of us were bound to intersect – me, a 36-year-old with a professional sideline in harping on about the ‘90s for gaming sites; Ion Fury, an uncomplicated corridor shooter running on Duke Nukem 3D’s old game engine. I played, I laughed, I rolled sprites of bombs at little cyborg heads on robot spider legs. And then I got to thinking. Why do…

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Wave Race 64 is a true classic, and an essential play on Nintendo Switch

August 19, 2022VG247

Originally released way back in 1996 for the Nintendo 64, Wave Race 64 jets onto Nintendo Switch Online today for anyone with the Expansion Pack. Nintendo’s Switch Online N64 service adds one of the best – but perhaps somewhat underappreciated – racing games on the system this week. Released in the N64’s launch window, Wave Race 64 was as much of a tech demo for Nintendo’s new 64-bit system as Super Mario 64, with the beautiful transparent ocean and realistic waves wowing any gamer who saw it, much like F-Zero’s Mode 7 tour-de-force did a generation before it. Shigeru Miyamoto…

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with-its-latest-update,-the-luxury-game-boy-replica-analogue-pocket-just-got-a-lot-more-interesting VG247

With its latest update, the luxury Game Boy replica Analogue Pocket just got a lot more interesting

July 29, 2022VG247

Analogue Pocket’s new update fixes an annoying issue with this luxury gaming hardware, and launches the opinion-splitting openFPGA scheme to the public. The Analogue Pocket, the gorgeous but expensive modern Game Boy replacement, gets its first major update today – and it’s bringing with it significant new features. The new features added today are headlined by the introduction of ‘openFPGA’, something which is an impressive new string to the Analogue Pocket’s bow – while also being a feature that has ruffled feathers in the wider retro gaming community. The update also includes the much-anticipated 1.1 update to the Pocket’s operating…

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Speedy Eggbert’s level editor made it the best game to ever score 4%

June 1, 2022RockPaperShotgun

I used to draw Abe’s Oddysee levels. Then Abe’s Exoddus, when that came out. Also, before them, every other platform game I ever got my hands on. Take a sheet of plain paper, turn it horizontal, draw two long lines across it, dividing it into three strips. That’s a level; that’s a side-scrolling environment. That’s what I’d do, basically all the time, basically every day. You could call me a budding game designer, only I had no knowledge of how to transfer my genius creations into digital form. I’d tried before, with Doom, but the editor was incomprehensible. Sectors? Vectors?…

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the-analogue-pocket-is-the-best-gaming-hardware-i’ve-used-in-years VG247

The Analogue Pocket is the best gaming hardware I’ve used in years

December 13, 2021VG247

The modern-retro maestros at Analogue are back. Their latest system, a tribute to handheld gaming, is their best yet. We are entering a golden age of retro gaming. Modern video games are also pretty good right now, of course, but if you have a love of the old stuff, this is an unprecedented time. Technology, fan interest, and the right clever brains behind-the-scenes are lining up in just the right way to make playing old games as hassle-free as it is nostalgic, and as era-accurate as it is thrilling. The new embodiment of this era? Analogue Pocket, the greatest Game…

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Sega admits it announced new Sonic the Hedgehog game a bit too early

July 25, 2021VG247

By Dom Peppiatt 25 July 2021 16:45 GMT Sega has conceded that its vague reveal of a new Sonic the Hedgehog game due to launch in 2022 was “a bit premature” in a new interview.Back in May, Sega announced that it is working on a new Sonic the Hedgehog game for release in 2022. There are no details – at all – about what this new title is going to be, and so far the only teaser we’ve got for the game features Sonic running… and nothing else other than an unexplained symbol flashing up during the trailer.In an interview with 4Gamer, (via Nintendo Enthusiast), Sonic…

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final-fantasy-pixel-remaster-may-come-to-other-platforms-if-there’s-“enough-demand” VG247

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster may come to other platforms if there’s “enough demand”

July 20, 2021VG247

By Dom Peppiatt 20 July 2021 11:00 GMT Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster could eventually come to PC and consoles if there’s enough demand, a Q&A released by Square Enix has revealed.When the Pixel Remaster series was first announced, the internet reacted in collective joy – then horror – as publisher Square Enix revealed that they would only be available on mobile platforms.The games, which come with gameplay improvements, auto-battle options, modernized UI, a rearranged soundtrack, and more, seem like a nice modern way to enjoy the classic titles, so Final Fantasy enthusiasts around the world seemed fairly miffed when Square…

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