Nintendo Okie

It’s that time again and after missing last week due to some technical issues we’re back to look at the history of Nintendo.  I’ve been doing this article since May and I’m noticing that the length of the article follows release patterns and that until recently they haven’t changed much.  Things slow down a bit in the summer and pick up slowly until just before Thanksgiving and it falls off.  This week is the first week in a while that there weren’t many releases so it might be a little shorter, but we do have a very important birth to look at, so let’s hop in to history.

The man who started it all, Fusajiro Yamauchi was born in Kyoto on November 22^nd, 1860.  He founded the company Nintendo Koppai and served as President for a number of years.  He had a daughter who would go on to marry his successor, as President, Sekiryo Kaneda.  He has been related somehow to every man who served as the companies President until Satoru Iwata took control in 2002.  He retired his role in 1929 and died of a stroke in 1940.

Many people regard this next entry as probably the best game in the series, though it is debated.  On November 23^rd 1998 Nintendo released the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64.  This was the fifth entry in the Zelda franchise, the fourth on consoles and ushered Link into the 3D era.  Game play in the game revolved around a time traveling mechanic where you would be required to complete different parts of Link’s adventure during his childhood and other parts as a teen.  This was accomplished through the use of the titular ocarina, a musical device that allowed Link to control time.  Ocarina of Time also introduced elements new to the Zelda franchise like context sensitive buttons and a target lock system.  It has sold more than 7 million copies worldwide, along with numerous awards.  Many gamers consider this to be their favorite entry in the series.

The Behemoth introduced gamers to new beings with the release of Alien Hominid for the GameCube on November 23^rd, 2004.  This side scrolling shooter started as a flash game in 2002 before being moved to consoles.  The game stars a little yellow alien who is trying to retrieve his spaceship after being shot down by the FBI.  He’ll travel through sixteen different stages in places like Russian and Area-51, taking out hundreds of enemies in the process.  The game was featured in a number of magazines both gaming and non-gaming related and was best known for its very high level of difficulty.  It was moderately successful on GameCube, but became even more popular with its release on Xbox Live Arcade.  

Mario may have set the standard in Kart Racing, but that doesn’t mean other people can’t try to improve it.  Rare attempted to do just that when they released Diddy Kong Racing on November 24^th, 1997.  This Nintendo 64 kart racer featured Diddy and nine other rare mascots racing through a number of colorful worlds.  Unlike the Mario Kart series which is more traditional racing Diddy Kong Racing features a number of worlds that have tracks to race on, battle stages and a boss fight.  Despite being praised for its graphics it was criticized for being too similar to Mario Kart.

Diddy’s older simian relative Donkey Kong saw his most popular release on November 25^th, 1994 with the availability of Donkey Kong Country for the SNES.  This game was designed by Tim Stamper and the first starring the ape not to be helmed by Shigeru Miyamoto.  Donkey Kong Country features 39 levels that DK will travel through in an attempt to recover his stolen banana horde.  DK is accompanied by his nephew Diddy and the player will control both throughout the adventure.  Some of the more memorable areas included the mine areas where you controlled the primates traveling in a mine cart.  It should be noted that Donkey Kong Country was one of the first games to use pre-rendered 3D graphics on a 2D plane.  It was very well received by gamers everywhere and has been re-released a number of times, including on Nintendo’s Virtual Console.

November 25^th, 2005’s release of Metroid Prime Pinball is exactly what it sounds like.  This was a pinball game themed in the Metroid universe.  Unlike traditional pinball games, Metroid Prime Pinball allows you to fire weapons, jump off walls and attack enemies.  While traversing the games different tables you are attempting to collect twelve artifacts and defeat a number of boss characters.  Though people were initially unsure of a pinball game in the Metroid universe it was well received by critics and players alike. 

November 26^th, 2007 was VC day and on that day Nintendo released Double Dribble for the NES, Vegas Stakes for the SNES, and Ecco Jr. for the Genesis.

Also on that day the DS saw the release of Master of Illusion.  While this is not a game in the truest sense of the word it does include a number of mini-games that you can play to earn points.  It also came packaged with a deck of Nintendo playing cards that you could use to practice the tricks in the game.  Master of Illusion was broken up into smaller parts and released on Nintendo’s DSi Shop Channel shortly after the release of the new system. 

Kirby has been in a number of adventures through the years and Kirby’s Dreamland three was the third game in the dreamland series, but the fifth overall.  This game was the second on the SNES and was received with mixed reviews.  It was released very close to Kirby SuperStar and was criticized for not being more like that.  Instead it was a more traditional Kirby game where you traversed the levels, inhaling enemies and defeating King Dedede.  It was the last first-party game to be released by Nintendo on the SNES.

Konami released Lost in Blue for the DS on November 27^th, 2005.  This game featured two main characters Keith and Skye who have been stranded on a desert island.  In the game you used many features of the Nintendo DS hardware to help the two survive.  Some examples were alternating between the left and right shoulder buttons to build enough friction to start a fire or blowing into the microphone to help the fire get going.  It was a very open ended game with a number of different endings that were possible to achieve. 

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time was the fifth game released in the Mario RPG series and hit stores on November 29^th, 2005.  This game would see the titular duo teaming up with their baby selves to help defeat a race known as the Shroobs that have invaded the Mushroom Kingdom of the past.  The plumbers, with the help of Professor E. Gadd, must solve puzzles in the past and present and take advantage of their different abilities to complete their mission.  The game allowed you to control either duo with the press of a single button and there were many context, character sensitive abilities in and out of battle.  Many critics praised the game for its humor, as well as the innovate puzzle design and is considered by many to be the best entry in the Mario RPG series. 

Our last entry of the week is a re-release of two classic puzzle franchises.  Dr. Mario and Puzzle League were combined into one game with the release of Dr. Mario & Puzzle League on November 29^th, 2005 for the Game Boy Advance.  There were no new additions to either of these franchises, but they made a great combination and a good gift for any puzzle fan in your life.

That’s it for this week.  We should be back to normal now, barring any technical issues.  I hope you’re enjoying this look back through Nintendo’s history and as always leave us a comment letting us know what you think.  You can also let us know of anything coming up that we can feature in the article.  Until next week, see ya’.