Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Wii U
Someone remade Super Mario Land in Super Mario Maker
Super Mario Land was one the five games to launch alongside the Game Boy in 1989, but it has been largely forgotten by Mario fans thanks to the release of the superior Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins in 1992 and the inevitable march of time.
Thankfully, one dedicated Super Mario Maker maestro is bringing it back. “KHAce” recreated all 12 courses (along with the final boss fight against Tatanga) from Super Mario Land in Super Mario Maker, and you can download them on the Wii U right now:
- 1-1: 8088-0000-02E1-8DAB
- 1-2: 3EB9-0000-02E1-8E7E
- 1-3: 0BE6-0000-02E1-8F1B
- 2-1: 5751-0000-02E1-8FCF
- 2-2: E5C3-0000-02E1-90B3
- 2-3: 3624-0000-02E1-9251
- 3-1: BC22-0000-02E1-93EE
- 3-2: 20C5-0000-02E1-9504
- 3-3: 25B0-0000-02E1-963A
- 4-1: B108-0000-02E1-9772
- 4-2: EE82-0000-02E1-986D
- 4-3: 0103-0000-02E1-9992
- 4-3 (Tatanga Fight): ECCD-0000-02E1-9A32
“KHAce” also uploaded a video walkthough of his Super Mario Maker recreation, and its been embedded above.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Maker
Nintendo Download: Pokemon Snap, Spheroids, and more
Before Pokemon Go let fans take pictures of their Pokemon in the real world, Pokemon Snap offered a similar “Pokemon on Safari” experience on the Nintendo 64. Originally released in 1999, players wandered the game’s countryside and used a camera to “capture” wild Pokemon on film. Pokemon Snap owners could even take their Memory Card to Blockbuster Video and print out a copy of their prize-winning photograph.
While you might be shaking your head at “Memory Card” and “Blockbuster Video,” Pokemon fans will probably be happy to learn that Pokemon Snap is now available to download through the Wii U eShop as part of today’s Nintendo Download.
Also available to download for the Wii U today is Spheroids, a side-scrolling platformer where blockheaded humans battle spherical aliens.
More information on Pokemon Snap, Spheroids, and the rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Pokemon Sun/Moon were the best-selling games on Amazon in 2016
Earlier this week, Steam provided a quick glimpse at the best-selling games available through the storefront in 2016. Besides The NPD Group’s monthly reports on gaming’s retail sector, it might be the best window into what sells and what doesn’t that we have.
However, Amazon also published a list of best-selling games from 2016 earlier this week, and naturally, it features a considerably more console-centric bent. Nintendo’s Pokemon Sun and Moon reigned supreme, taking the #1 and #2 spots. Final Fantasy XV was the best-selling PS4 game (#3 overall), while Madden NFL 17 claimed the Xbox One’s highest ranking (#5).
You’ve got to go all the way down to #18 to find the best-selling Wii U game (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD), and the only PC game on the list is Overwatch (#46). No Vita games managed to crack Amazon’s Top 100 (which also included console bundles and accessories), but the Wii version of Just Dance 2017 checked in at #21.
The complete list of Amazon’s best-selling games from 2016 can be found after the break. (more…)
The Video Game Canon: An Introduction and The Top 100 (Version 1.0)
The Video Game Canon is a statistical meta-ranking of dozens of “Best Video Games of All Time” lists that began in 2017 with Version 1.0, and the ranking has been updated several times since then. Which game is #1? There’s only one way to find out…
Is it possible to rank the greatest video games of all time in a “scientific” way? Do you just throw the question to so-called experts and let them hash it out in a no-holds-barred debate? Or is there some way to create a “Video Game Canon” that the wide-ranging community of developers, critics, and players can all agree on?
Probably not. But we can try.
Since gaming’s earliest days, dozens of publications have tried to sort through the noise and compile their own list of “The Best Video Games of All Time.” By analyzing all of these attempts at ranking the greatest games and combining them into a single list, we can apply a little scientific rigor to the process and possibly create a “Best Video Games of All Time” list that everyone can agree on.
Before we go any further, let me just say… no matter how we try to justify it, it’s impossible to prove, by “science” or otherwise, that one game is definitively better than another. My attempt at adding “science” to the mix is just a way to add some zing to the numerical formula doing all the work behind the scenes.
Ideally, this project will give us the chance to look back at the history of video games reflected through some the medium’s greatest titles. The list itself will serve as something of a road map to help us learn how the best games of all time are connected to each other, to better appreciate how players interacted with video games in the past, and to explore what video games might become in the future.
Visit VideoGameCanon.com for all future updates to this project and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Nintendo Download: Mario Kart 64, Castlevania Dracula X
Even though it’s Thursday, only two new games were added to the Nintendo eShop today. But Nintendo is definitely going with quality over quantity this week, as both can rightly be called stone-cold classics, and one would make an excellent party game for your New Year’s Eve bash this weekend.
Originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997, Mario Kart 64 was the second game in the Mario Kart franchise and the first time it achieved perfection. Now available to download through the Wii U eShop, Mario Kart 64 featured the debut of four-player Battle Mode, as well as the infamous Blue Shell.
New 3DS owners will be able download Castlevania: Dracula X beginning today. Serving as a precursor to Symphony of the Night, Dracula X was released in extremely limited quantities for the Super NES back in 1995, but that won’t be a problem with the 3DS eShop edition.
More information on both games can be found after the break. (more…)
Nintendo Download: Shantae Half-Genie Hero, Mario Party 2, more
Even though we’re counting down the days until Nintendo’s Switch Presentation, the consolemaker is still adding new titles to the Nintendo eShop, including one game that’s retro-styled and another that’s just plain retro.
WayForward’s Shantae series began on the Game Boy Color all the way back in 2002. It wasn’t a design choice to create retro-styled side-scrolling platforming in those days, but it is today, and Shantae still looks impressive in her first high definition outing on the Wii U. In Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, a mysterious crime wave has swept through Sequin Land, and players will need to master the genie’s “devastating Hair-Whip Attack” to fight back against the criminal masterminds employed by Risky Boots.
Also available to download for the Wii U today is Mario Party 2, which was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. More than a dozen sequels have been added to the Mario Party in the years since, but I’m sure one of the earliest games in the franchise still has plenty of fans for this Virtual Console re-release.
You can learn more about both of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break. (more…)
Link snowboards and wishes fans a “Happy Holidays” in new Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild mini-trailer
After the strong sales of 1080 Snowboarding, Nintendo embraced their extreme sports success and pushed out a sequel, 1080 Avalanche, for the GameCube. More than 13 years later, the consolemaker hasn’t shown any interest in revisiting their surprise hit.
And yet, it’s hard not to be reminded of the 1080 franchise after watching Link shred some powder in this brand new mini-trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The hero wants to wish fans a “Happy Holidays” and tear down a mountain with reckless abandon on his shield. The epic music is also a nice touch.
In addition to the new mini-trailer, Nintendo is trotting out a series of new Breath of the Wild screenshots on Facebook that will “explore the Hyrulean landscape.”
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be released for the Nintendo Switch and the Wii U sometime in 2017.
Posted in News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo Download: Super Mario Run, Picross E7, Excitebots, more
This Spring’s Miitomo was a fun experiment, but Nintendo is truly kicking off their mobile push today with the launch of Super Mario Run. The “one-handed” platformer will include dozens of levels, a multiplayer versus mode, and a Kingdom Builder mode for players interested in creating their own Mushroom Kingdom.
Also available to download this week on the Wii U is Excitebots: Trick Racing, which was originally released for the Wii in 2009. Swapping out motorcycles for customizable robots, Excitebots features 25 different courses and a huge selection of stunts.
Finally this week, the seventh Picross E game is now available to download through the 3DS eShop. Picross E7 is the latest game in the “Picture Crossword Puzzle” series and the first with 20×15 “Mega Picross” puzzles.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Run