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Should Mother 1 have been remastered for the SNES between ‘91-‘93?

When we think about popular NES titles from the 80’s that eventually evolved into video game series going into the 90’s names such as Super Mario Bros, Metroid, The Legend Of Zelda, Donkey Kong and many others all come to mind. But one few video games that came out for the NES during the 80’s that evolved into a set that does not get talked about too much was Mother 1 which came out in July 1989. For those who do not know Mother 1 was also known as Earthbound Beginnings and was the prequel to the famous Mother 2/Earthbound game from 1994. While Mother 2 from ’94 is considered to be legendary and is critically acclaimed as one of the best 16-bit RPG’s of the 90’s the game did very poorly in sales within the United States. Despite, having a bizarre yet expensive marketing campaign for Mother 2 the game really did not become as popular as Nintendo wanted it to be in America during the mid 90’s. Some would argue that Earthbound for the SNES was not successful in America due to the popularity of emerging game systems within the mid 90’s such as the PS1 and Sega Saturn during that time period.

But at the same time its possible that Earthbound was not as popular in as it should of been because its prequel was a Japanese exclusive for the NES. Ever since ’89 Mother 1 has appeared on the NES and Game Boy Advance exclusively in Japan until ’15 when the game was finally released for the Wii-U worldwide. Some believe that having Mother 1 digitally remastered for the 16-bit SNES between ’91-’93 could have been more effective in making Mother 2 a huge success on the SNES. In fact, the plot for Earthbound took place a decade following the events from Mother 1 which was never officially released outside of Japan during the 90’s. Similar to how Nintendo re-released the first three Mario games for the NES on the Super NES as Super Mario All-Stars in ’93 the company could have done the same thing with the very first mother game at some point. While the plot for Mother 2 was very intriguing one of the biggest issues following its initial release was that the American audience was in the dark regarding the events that took place in the ’89 prequel for the NES. If Nintendo had released a SNES version of the first Mother game during the early 90’s its possible Mother 2 could have been more popular than it ended becoming shortly after its initial release in America.

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Is Tetris the best puzzle game of all-time?

As many people know the series Tetris has been around since the 80’s following the inception of its very first game back in 1984. The legendary tile matching puzzle game was developed by Russian software engineer Alexey Pajitnov and is a game that has been released for multiple game systems around the world such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and the SNES under the name Tetris & Dr Mario in ’91. Since its inception Tetris became a game that became easily accessible through iOS mobile devices throughout the 00’s and 10’s decade as more remastered versions of the game was released. While the 2D tile matching puzzle genre is not as popular today as it was back in the 80’s & ’90’s some of the most recently installments within the Tetris series would not even exist with the original game from ’84. Between late ’18-early ’19 we got to see the release Tetris Effect for the PlayStation VR and Tetris 99 for the Nintendo Switch. Both Tetris that were recently released gain mainstream attention and were praised for being innovative by fans and critics alike. While Tetris VR offered players a more atmospheric yet sensational experience pertaining to gameplay Tetris 99 introduced a multiplayer Battle Royale mode which was addictive.

It should also be noted that at least one Tetris game has appeared on just about every major game console that ultimately became successful in terms of sales for over the past 30 years. There have been a few Tetris games that has involved iconic cartoon or video game characters such as Mickie Mouse and Super Mario mainly during the 90’s. Also, puzzle games such as Puyo Puyo, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Kirby’s Avalanche and Super Puzzle Fighter II: Turbo were all titles inspired by Tetris following their respective releases between ’91-’96. However, the Tetris series had always remained a top attraction within the puzzle genre of gaming as it continued to appear on younger generation game systems while still appealing to gamers from 80’s & ’90’s. It was reported back in 2018 that Tetris was one of the best selling games ever with at least 170 million copies sold since its ’84 release. Without the original Tetris game where would the puzzle genre of gaming be today in terms of popularity? Tetris pretty much put the puzzle genre of gaming on the map and is quite possibly more of an attraction today then it was during the 80’s and 90’s.

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Did some of Nintendo’s best Zelda games come from the 90’s?

When we think about highly successful Zelda games that has been released on various Nintendo consoles for the past 30 years there are many games that comes to mind. The original Zelda game appeared on the NES back in ’86 and we also got to see Zelda II: Adventure Of Link the following year in ’87 which had gameplay that was different from its predecessor; Adventure Of Link is often viewed as the black sheep of the series because of its gameplay. By the time Zelda: Link To The Past was released for the SNES in ’91 it ended up becoming one of Nintendo’s most high profile SNES game of the 90’s decade. Since its release Zelda: Link To The Past ended up become one of the best selling titles for the SNES and ended up reaching over 4.6 million in sales. In fact, The Legend Of Zelda: Link To The Past ended up becoming the 7th best selling game for the SNES and is considered to be a legendary action-adventure game that still holds up to this day. Less than, two years later the world got to see the release of Zelda: Link’s Awakening in June 1993. Link’s Awakening was the first Zelda title to ever appear on Game Boy and was also highly successful. Critics praised the soundtrack & story for Link’s Awakening as it went on to sell over 3.8 million on Game Boy.

Following the initial success of Zelda: Link’s Awakening in ’93 the game was eventually ported for Game Boy Color in ’98; this was the same year that Ocarina Of Time was released for the Nintendo 64. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time was arguably the best game within the entire series depending on who you ask. It felt like Nintendo gave new life to the series once it became 3D and it was noticeable in Ocarina Of Time. Features such as good storytelling, level design, robust gameplay, optional side-quests in addition to challenging boss battles made Ocarina Of Time a timeless N64 classic. Since its initial release back in November 1998 Ocarina Of Time has reached over 7.6 million in worldwide sales for the N64 and became the fourth best selling game on that console. Zelda Ocarina Of Time was eventually followed more than a year latter with the release of Majora’s Mask for the N64 in 2000.

As far as visuals and gameplay was concerned Majora’s Mask was similar to Ocarina Of Time but the game had a notice darker tone. It should also be noted that opposed to having Ganondorf as the main antagonist Majora’s Mask saw the debut of a new villain named Skull Kid. Majora’s Mask was a game that also ended up becoming highly successful and reached over 6.3 million copies in sales for the N64. Despite, not selling quite as much as Zelda: Ocarina Of Time it was still impressive to know that Majora’s Mask ended up becoming 12th best selling game on the N64. While there have been some other highly successful Zelda games from other decades such as the first NES games from the 80’s it seemed like they were outshined by the installments for the SNES, Game Boy and the N64 from the 90’s. In the 00’s Majora’s Mask along with Zelda: Twilight Princess from ’06 were also very impressive and stood out in a time where the shooter genre of gaming began to surge in popularity.

In the 10’s decade we got to see the release of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild in 2017 for the Nintendo Switch; the game became way more popular than the likes of Hyrule Warriors and Zelda: Skyward Sword. In addition, we got to see a digitally remastered Switch version of Link’s Awakening from ’93 with 3D graphics and backgrounds during September 2019 which was pretty cool. While everyone has their favorites on which games within the Zelda series are the best there is no question that some of the most iconic titles Nintendo made definitely came from the between the mid-80’s and early-00’s time period.

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Retro Gaming 00’s- Gradius V: (2004)

When we think about popular Konami games that came out between the 90’s-early 00’s titles such as Contra III: Alien Wars, Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night, Dance Dance Revolution and others. It seems like most of Konami’s best video games came out during the 99’s which is a statement that many would agree is accurate. However, in the early 00’s we did get to see some cool games that Konami was involved with such as: Silent Hill 2 and Gradius V which were titles that both appeared on the PS2. Gradius V was considered to be the sequel to Gradius IV which was an arcade exclusive in Japan following its release in February 1999. As people know the Gradius series started back in 1985 back when the scrolling shooter of genre was more popular. The side-scrolling shooter genre started to decline in popularity around the mid 90’s onwards and it a bit surprising that Gradius games were still being made between the late 90’s-early 00’s. Gradius V was an arcade line shooter with optimal visuals that allowed both single and multiplayer gameplay. Throughout, the game power-ups can be acquired through destroying enemies in game modes such as Score Attack.

The Weapon’s Array Screen allowed players to choose what type of power-ups they could utilize throughout different levels; players also had the option of customizing the Vic Viper ship using various different weapon combinations which made Gradius V intriguing. As far as sales were concerned Gradius V obviously did not do too well since the scrolling shooter genre of gaming had declined in popularity by the early 00’s. If Gradius V were released a few years earlier sometime around the mid 90’s between the ’94-’97 Time period it could have possibly of been a much bigger attraction than it was on the PS2. As a side scrolling intergalactic shooter game Gradius V was praised by various gaming publications including GamePro & IGN and was seen as game that looked like it belonged in the 90’s decade

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Could Suikoden have worked on the SNES in ’95?

When we think about classic yet underrated 2D JRPG’s from the 90’s one of the few games that come to mind is the original Suikoden installment from 1995. As many people know the first two Suikoden games were released for the PS1 between ’95-’99. While the first Suikoden game may have been a solid JRPG for the PS1 it was definitely overshadowed by various other role-playing games such as Final Fantasy VII & Final Fantasy VIII; While Final Fantasy VII was the second best selling game for the PS1 not too many people remember or have even heard of the Suikoden series. Suikoden was an RPG that had an intriguing plot which involved uncovering corruption within the Scarlet Moon Empire among top officials while the main protagonist is starting his career within the group’s imperial army. The story, graphics and gameplay for Suikoden were definitely fitting for the SNES but Konami decided not to make it a reality due to the success of the PS1 throughout the second half of the 90’s.

While Suikoden may have been overshadowed on the PS1 the SNES also had its share of popular RPG’s during the early to mid 90’s as well. We got to see iconic 16-bit RPG’s like Chrono Trigger, Secret Of Mana, Super Mario RPG: Legend Of The Seven Stars, Final Fantasy VI and many others that could have competed or outshined Suikoden on the SNES. Also, by the time we got ’95 the Super NES was starting to lose its appeal since the console had bed around since 1990; people were becoming increasingly more interested in 3D gaming than the PS1 during the mid 90’s. If anything Suikoden feels like a game that was released a few years to late. If the original Suikoden game was released anytime between the ’90-’93 time period for the SNES the game definitely could have been a success for the 16-bit console.

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Retro Gaming 90’s- Super Mario: All-Stars (1993)

When we think about classic SNES titles from the early 90’s one of the few titles that people think about is the Super Mario: All Stars game from the early 90’s. For those who do know Super Mario Bros I, II, III along with Lost Levels were all initially released during the mid to late 80’s between 1985-1988. Super Mario Bros: All-Stars consisted of the four digitally remastered Mario games from the NES and seemed like a real treat for fans of the series. Super Mario: All-Stars was a couple of years removed from the release of Super Mario World from 1990 and was considered to be something extra to keep gamers interested in Nintendo’s main attraction; along with the release of Super Mario Kart from ’92. Also, it’s quite rare that we get to a collection of Mario games remastered in general. While Super Mario Sunshine along with Super Mario Galaxy I-II were not as popular as the Super Mario Bros titles for the NES they were still really good games that were never officially remastered for next generation consoles that succeeded the game systems they appeared on.

While its no secret that Nintendo likes to look to the future to constantly reinvent themselves its cool that Nintendo took the time to give us 16-bit versions of the NES Mario games from the mid to late 80’s. Super Mario: All-Stars was so popular that it eventually reached over 10 million copies worldwide in terms of sales by 2015. We also got to see Super Mario Bros I-III and lost Lost Levels ported for the Game Boy Advance during the 00’s. The amount of success that Super Mario: All-Stars had since ’93 is a testament to how fun the game was especially since you did not see too many four in one deals going on due the early 90’s on cartridges in general.

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Nintendo-PlayStation prototype console worth over $200,000?

One of the few things that the gaming world has beet buzzing about as of late is the rare Nintendo-PlayStation prototype console which was developed back in the early 90’s. There are of hardcore gamers who know the story behind the fallout between Nintendo and Sony back in the early 90’s as it pertained to both companies doing business with each other. Both Sony & Nintendo were expected to release a joint console that accepted CD-ROM’s opposed to cartridges sometimes during the mid 90’s possibly 1994. The Nintendo-PlayStation was never officially released which lead to Sony & Nintendo competing against each other since the 90’s. While Sony created their own game console known as the PS1 that utilized CD-ROM’s Nintendo had eventually released the cartridge-based N64 console during ’96. Based on how the console wars went from the mid 90’s to the early 00’s many would agree that Nintendo’s fallout with Sony back in ’94 was far more detrimental to company than it was helpful during the long run.

While the Nintendo-PlayStation console was never officially released a prototype version of the game system has been subjected to very high bids by gamers as of late. The bidding for the retro Nintendo-PlayStation prototype has recently exceeded $200,000 which is something that is very had to believe. But at the same time its not to hard to believe that the Nintendo-PlayStation prototype is value at over $200,000 since a very small number of people around the world has ever played a video game on it. While the Nintendo-PlayStation console may not seem like such a big deal to contemporary gamers it was such a big deal back in the early 90’s because it looked like it was ahead of its time. The idea of having a console that accepted SNES-cartridges along with CD based games seemed really innovative back in the 90’s especially since we never saw another console during that time period that included both of those features. While the bidding prices for Nintendo-PlayStation prototype console seems outrageous at over $200,000 its not too surprising to many because its very unlikely that you will find it at a used video game store. Also, the cartridge/CD-ROM based prototype console from ’94 was quite possibly the first and only console that the world was ever going to see from Nintendo & Sony.