The Blog

Sonic’s 3D outings have a complicated and interesting journey that’s impossible to chart. That said, ever since the first Sonic Adventure, one thing’s remained constant. At their heart, 3D Sonic games have been linear, course-based affairs like their 2D brethren. Whether it’s the Dreamcast classics or the games that fall under the “Boost” umbrella (as coined by fans), this has been the golden rule.

Super Mario Bros. is an iconic game that needs no introduction. Nintendo’s smash hit platformer, released in September 1985 on the Famicom and later that same year for the NES, essentially defined the basic skeleton of the platformer genre on home consoles. To this very day, Super Mario Bros. stands the test of time as a noteworthy video game release, being a part of the official Video Game Hall of Fame.

There’s no 2D platformer franchise I can think of more intimate with re-releases than Sonic the Hedgehog. This isn’t a knock or an insult, either! When it comes to availability, there’s a good chance no matter what console or handheld you’re playing on, you have access to a 2D Sonic game of some kind; generally either the full selection of or a partial selection of the 16-bit games that lifted up the Sonic franchise to the status it has today.

April 23rd marks a very special day in Nintendo history; the day when the Satellaview launched in Japan! What is the Satellaview, exactly? It’s a weird little piece of Nintendo’s history, of course! Not only was it a fairly advanced, technically-interesting combo of hardware and software, it also housed a bunch of really unique games that have sadly been lost to time. It stands as one of Nintendo’s many experimental, weird console add-ons alongside things like the eReader, and oddities from other companies, such as SEGA’s own SEGA Channel.

Happy Mar10 day, everyone! Acknowledged officially by Nintendo since December 2016, March 10th serves as a day to reminisce about our favorite plumber-turned-doctor-turned kart racer turned…just about everything under the sun, really! Mario truly is the delightful little Renaissance Man of video games, so it’s appropriate we eke out a day to really celebrate his storied legacy across numerous titles. Whether they be the charming and exciting cosmic journeys he takes in the Super Mario Galaxy games, or even the humble, yet imaginative trip he embarks on in Super Mario Bros. 3, there’s many a great moment to be shared. After all, Mario’s been around for nearly 41 years!

But…let’s wind that back a little bit to my “everything under the sun” comment. I could write about those games I just mentioned (Super Mario Bros. 3 in particular!), but I want to shine the spotlight on a different set of Mario games. Mario games that have fallen out of cultural canon, be it due to a Japanese-only release (this is very frequently the case with titles in the 80s and 90s), or a required console accessory. These games are incredibly fascinating; their existence a testament to how different the Mario brand was back then, and proof that every long-lasting franchise has some really interesting history to dig up if you look hard enough. Without further ado, let’s look at some of Mario’s most strange and overlooked titles!

If you’re looking for a brand new Strategy RPG in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics or the Disgaea franchise, Triangle Strategy might be just the Switch title to look into. Developed collaboratively by Ardlink and Square Enix, and spearheaded by producer Tomoya Asano of Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler fame, Triangle Strategy aspires to that same pantheon by offering satisfying, yet familiar gameplay elements for the genre, along with new ideas present in both gameplay and story progression.

Triangle Strategy is set on the continent of Norzelia, and focuses on three countries within: Glenbrook, Aesfrost, and Hyzante. Players follow Serenoa Wolffort of House Wolffort in Glenbrook, and his closest allies, consisting of his fiance Frederica Aesfrost, Prince Roland of Glenbrook, and his advisor Benedict Pascal. They are thrust into an intense geopolitical conflict between the three nations over the scarcity of natural resources, and unfortunately, the only way to survive the dispute is to fight their way out.