Racketboy

If you’re ever wondered what Rez would be like in 2D, Space Invaders Extreme is one of the closest examples you will find.   That’s right, this is not another one of those vanilla Space Invaders remakes.  The masterminds at Taito and Square/Enix have put a fresh spin on the pioneering game to bring it more […]

Note from racketboy:  You can definitely tell when Fastbilly1 is passionate about a topic…. This time he shares his thoughts and research of an oft-overlooked component of the Nintendo Entertainment Systems, the Select Button.
Often it is shoved to the side, disregarded, or the target of outright hatred.  Many gamers do not believe it is useful […]

Just because we have a DS doesn’t mean we don’t want to play some older portable Nintendo games.  While we could play the original Gameboy cartridges on our Gameboy Advances, the Nintendo DS doesn’t afford us that luxury.  However, with a little emulation power, we can resolve that issue and make your portable gaming life even […]

 
Some established franchises just feel more natural in 2D.  Even though I love the Metroid Prime series,  I still long for the polished 2D gameplay of the earlier installments.  Just for fun, I wanted to think about five different projects or ideas that would suit Nintendo just fine in filling the 2D drought that we […]

Note from racketboy: Special thanks goes to andymol21 for putting the majority of this guide together!
It’s pretty easy to find a list of “The Top Nintendo 64 Games” or some similar ranking, but most of them were written back when the system was cutting edge and almost all of them only compare the games against other […]

Presented by: Fastbilly1, Marurun, & Racketboy
New To Together Retro? Check out the introduction to the club
Welcome to the second entry in the Together Retro Game Club. After the challenge of the first two club installments of Defender and Kid Icarus, we thought we would have something a bit more lighthearted but still full of […]

Not too long ago, I was spending some time in a Barnes & Noble browsing the magazine racks. I picked up a toy collecting magazine since I used to be into that stuff a decade ago and I was curious what has happened lately. While flipping through the pages, I spotted an ad […]

Presented by: Fastbilly1, Marurun, & Racketboy
New To Together Retro? Check out the introduction to the club
Welcome to the second entry in the Together Retro Game Club. For our first entry we featured the arcade hit Defender, one of the most challenging arcade titles around. We know we hit hard but we’re not quite ready to […]

presented by fastbilly1 with racketboy
The Idea In A Nutshell
Zelda Four Swords Adventure for the Gamecube is a killer party game, but who wants to play on a GBA? We fix this issue with a killer multi-Gamecube, multi-TV setup.

Nintendo Makes Legend of Zelda Multiplayer
It is a fickle slope when traditionally single player series add multiplayer […]

Adding some retro functionality to your Nintendo DS is always a good thing. This time we will be showing off NES emulation for all your favorite 8-bit Nintendo classics.
What Is The Best NES Emulator?
I was surprised to find that most of the emulation sites out there are pushing old NES emulators that are just […]

Considering how much of a nostalgic powerhouse the NES is, there should be little surprise that Nintendo’s 8-bit library is filled with so many collectors pieces. And opposed to the Super Nintendo’s rare and valuable list, the most desirable NES games are not necessarily the most popular games. Because of the unassuming nature […]

Many of the most old-school of gamers still pride themselves on playing all the classics on the original hardware and look down on emulation. Many other Nintendo fans may be loading up their Wiis with plenty of excellent N64 games on the Virtual Console. However, if you are looking for something to breath […]

Japan always gets the best videogame artwork. I’m not bitter, but it definitely makes decorating a grown-up-friendly game room more challenging. Since we can’t just wander into your average gaming shop and expect to find a wide array of frame-worthy artwork, we have to be a bit more creative in finding suitable […]

A guest post by Daniel Primed….
I’m a Nintendo fan and have been so since the late NES days. What I’ve discovered over the years is how for every new Zelda, Metroid or Mario installment that Nintendo produce there is at least two or three other great, under-appreciated games released by the same company. Sometimes these […]

Here is another chance for you to raid you closets or used game stores for hidden treasures. The Super Nintendo is the target of this expedition and there are plenty of highly-collectible games this time around. Surprisingly, many of the the most valuable SNES games aren’t actually rare, but are instead driven by popularity and […]

Every now and then, a game arrives on the scene that has gameplay that is so refined, it is is difficult to improve up (other than graphical upgrades). M.U.L.E. was a pioneer in both the realm of simulations and multiplayer games. While the original releases on the Atari 400/800 and the Commodore 64 […]

The RetroGaming 101 series is aimed at gamers who are just starting out in the classic gaming scene or are curious about an older console or handheld that they don’t know much about yet. Those of you that are especially knowledgeable about the featured machine, I encourage you to add any information that you think […]

8-Bit Sega fans may have another way to enjoy their classics. Master System and Game Gear games will be availible on the Nintendo Wii’s Japanese Virtual Console service in February and should also be coming to the rest of the planet soon after. Personally, I find it interesting that the Game Gear actually […]

The Punch-Out series holds an especially nostalgic place in my heart and I’m sure that many other old-school gamers feel the same way. Each game was filled with a colorful lineup of iconic characters that were always entertaining. I’ve been personally looking forward to showing off these Punch-Out-inspired pieces as they are […]

Note from racketboy: fastbilly1 shares one of his favorite hidden puzzlers from the Super Famicom (SNES). I admit that I had never heard of this game, so I want to thank him for pointing this gem out.

It is always nice when you have a craving to play a classic games like Tetris, but end up […]

Do you have a bunch of old game sitting in your closet that you’d like to trade in for a stack of cash? Or are you on the hunt for the most desirable games for your collection? In stark contrast to the Cheapest Games series, This new series will round up the […]

It seems like every gaming site has their own “Best of the Year” lists, but here at Racketboy, we will be taking a look at the best new games of 2007 that focus either focus on old-school gameplay or are remakes of classic games.

With high-powered portables and game downloading services on all the new consoles, […]

Note from racketboy: To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the original Final Fantasy, racketboy.com contributer, Fastbilly1 has spent a great deal of time putting together a look back at this landmark RPG series. This look back at both the original game and the extensive and diverse series that followed is filled with both an historical […]

Thinking back to most of the games you played on the NES, it’s easy to remember the 8-bit library as being simple and possibly even primitive. However, if you dig deep into the library, there is a surprising amount of games that maxed out the NES hardware to produce some impressive graphics and sound. […]

Even though the DS a very popular, new platform, there are now a number of great games that you can find at an impulse-buy price level. Since the DS is so popular, there aren’t a lot of good titles under $10, so I’ll set our mark at $15. Yes, I know, the […]

Note from racketboy: I felt this piece from fastbilly1 did a wonderful job looking at one of the most pivotal console FPSs and how it is still relevant and practical today. I hope you enjoy it.
Few games have caused as much awe and frustration as Rareware’s 1997 Goldeneye 007. Bringing four-player FPS multiplayer to a […]

It’s pretty easy to find a list of “The Top 10 Gameboy Advance Games” or some similar ranking, but most of them were written back when the handheld was cutting edge and almost all of them only compare the games against other GBA games.This is all fine if the GBA is the only portable you […]

In a response to many requests, I’m starting a new series covering the best modern 2D games for newer consoles. What’s especially interesting about modern 2D games is that not all of them use old-school sprites or hand-drawn art. Some of them actually use 3D graphics for all of the visuals, but keep the gameplay […]

Since you probably never thought you would see me bother to review a Spyro game, let me cut to the point — Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night on the Gameboy Advance ROCKS.  I can honestly say that this game can easily be put in the same league as Metroid Fusion, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, and […]

When there are a number of home versions of a classic game, you can’t help but wonder what compromises have been made from the original version. For older games, it is very hard to find some solid comparisons of various ports. Fortunately, every now and then somebody puts together a comparison of screenshots and characteristics […]

Those of you who have been reading racketboy.com for a while know I have been waiting for this release for a while. On my Nintendo DS Wishlist of games or compilations I would like to see on my DS Lite, I specifically listed a new Namco Museum collection that would have some Namco classics […]

Luckly for old-school gamers, there are plenty of two-dimensional games on portable gaming devices like the GBA, DS, and PSP. However, when it comes to modern home consoles like the Wii, XBox 360, and the PS3, quality 2D games are getting harder to find and often get overlooked. […]

When you add a console to your collection, the first thing you want to do is get a handful of games to keep you busy with your new toy. However, most of us can’t spend afford to spend fat pile of cash for a few games. This budget-friendly list should help you quickly find which […]

The 16-bit era might just have been the most exciting time in the video game industry. Rivalries were never quite as intense as those between Nintendo and Sega, not to mention underdogs like NEC/Hudson (with the TurboGrafx-16) and SNK’s Neo-Geo. Nintendo knew that in order to take back market share from Sega, their […]

I received a friendly email the other day asking what NES clone I would recommend. While I have talked about all of the major players in the past, I haven’t actually owned any myself, nor had I done enough research to give a reliable answer. Also, I thought it would be nice […]

The Nintendo Entertainment System is legendary in the video game world. Nintendo virtually came out of nowhere to invade the world with a reborn love for home-based video games. To fuel the revolution, Nintendo and a skilled group of third parties loaded the NES library with a wealth of high quality 8-bit games […]

Note from racketboy: I had to share this enthusiastic review from Mozgus. He has been one of the biggest contributers to the site’s community and I know from experience that if he likes a product a lot, than it must be worth mentioning. I also agree with his standing that the GBA is […]

You can’t help but admit you like the benefits of newer consoles: wireless controllers, better video connections, faster load times. So is it so bad to want to be able to play a bunch of old games on your new hardware? Of course not.
With classic game compilations you can easily get a solid […]

Note from racketboy: With so many unique and interesting games from the past out there, I obviously don’t have time to review them all myself. This time around we have racketboy.com contributer, SegaVega reviewing one of his favorite Nintendo classics, Little Nemo: The Dream Master for the Nintendo Entertainment System. I’ve also added a […]

When you add a console to your collection, the first thing you want to do is get a handful of games to keep you busy with your new toy. However, most of us can’t spend afford to spend fat pile of cash for a few games. This budget-friendly list should help you quickly find which […]