Tag Archives: Retro Replay FYI

Mario’s Mustache Was a Hardware Trick Mario’s iconic mustache wasn’t added for style — it was added because the technology of the time demanded it. When Shigeru Miyamoto designed Mario for Donkey Kong in 1981, he was limited to a tiny 16×16 sprite on arcade hardware. There simply weren’t enough pixels to draw a clear mouth and nose. The solution? A bold mustache that visually separated the nose from the …

Most fans can’t picture Mario without Yoshi, the cheerful green dino who first carried him across Dinosaur Land. But earlier in development, the “rideable friend” Nintendo wanted for Mario wasn’t a dinosaur at all. According to an interview packaged with the SNES Classic, the team originally imagined a horse that Mario could mount and use to sprint through stages—an idea later echoed in reporting by IGN. You read that right: …

The PlayStation 2 Also Worked as a PC When most people think about the PlayStation 2, they remember the massive library of games, the excitement of slipping in a DVD for the first time, and the fact that it went on to become the best-selling console of all time. What fewer people realize is that Sony had an even bigger vision for their machine. In 2002, they released the Linux …

When Super Mario Bros. 2 launched in North America in 1988, it introduced players to a whole new roster of characters. Among them was a pink dinosaur-like enemy named Birdo, who quickly stood out as one of the strangest and most memorable figures in the Mario universe. But Birdo’s legacy goes far beyond just being a quirky boss. In the original instruction manual, Nintendo described Birdo as a male who …

Most gamers have pulled an all-nighter to finish a campaign or grind out a boss, but one player took it to an entirely new level. In July 2015, Carrie Swidecki from Bakersfield, California set the official Guinness World Record for the longest video game marathon by playing Just Dance 2015 for a staggering 138 hours and 34 seconds straight. That is almost six full days of nonstop gaming. Swidecki was …

How the NES Zapper Really Worked When gamers think back to the NES, the gray and orange Zapper light gun instantly comes to mind. It was the accessory that let kids blast away at ducks, clay pigeons, and even mobsters on their living room TVs. But here is the surprise most people never realized: the NES Zapper did not actually “shoot” anything at the screen. Instead, the TV was doing …

The First Console Game with Voice Acting When we think of voice acting in video games, our minds often jump to cinematic RPGs, immersive shooters, or modern story-driven adventures. But believe it or not, one of the first consoles to ever feature spoken dialogue was the Mattel Intellivision all the way back in the early 1980s. The secret weapon? A quirky little add-on called the Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module. Released …

Zelda’s Real Inspiration Before Link ever picked up a sword or ventured into Hyrule, The Legend of Zelda began with the childhood of its creator, Shigeru Miyamoto. Growing up in the countryside of Sonobe, Japan, Miyamoto often spent his days wandering through the fields, forests, and caves near his home. To a curious child with an adventurous spirit, every hill became a dungeon, every grove a hidden temple, and every …

Few games are as universally recognizable as Tetris. With its falling blocks, catchy music, and addictive gameplay loop, it has become one of the most iconic puzzle games ever created. But its origins are just as fascinating as the game itself. Tetris was created in 1984 by Alexey Pajitnov, a computer scientist working at the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Inspired by his love of puzzles and simple shapes, …

When gamers think of the PlayStation era, one title stands above the rest. Final Fantasy VII was a landmark release that defined a generation, blending cinematic storytelling, massive environments, and unforgettable characters. But what many people forget is that this legendary RPG was almost a Nintendo 64 game. In the mid 1990s, Square had been a long time Nintendo partner, releasing every mainline Final Fantasy title on Nintendo hardware. Naturally, …

How a Bug Created Grand Theft Auto Today, Grand Theft Auto is one of the most recognizable franchises in gaming history. Known for its open worlds, crime filled stories, and freedom to cause absolute chaos, it has defined generations of players. But what if I told you the entire series only exists because of a programming mistake? Back in the mid 1990s, developer DMA Design (later renamed Rockstar North) was …

When Mortal Kombat hit arcades in 1992, it shocked the world with its brutal fighting, over the top violence, and those unforgettable Fatalities. It was the game every kid wanted to play and the game every parent wanted to ban. So when the time came to bring it home to consoles, Nintendo and Sega faced a tough decision on how much of the blood would make it into living rooms. …

Before Resident Evil, There Was Sweet Home When you think of survival horror, chances are your mind jumps straight to Resident Evil. Released in 1996 on the PlayStation, it defined the genre with its tense atmosphere, limited resources, and unforgettable scares. But what many fans do not know is that Resident Evil owes its existence to a little-known NES game from Japan called Sweet Home. Released in 1989, Sweet Home …

Lara Croft’s Iconic Look Was No Accident When Tomb Raider launched in 1996, Lara Croft quickly became one of the most recognizable characters in gaming. But while a popular myth claims her famous proportions came from a “programming mistake,” the truth is a little different. Lara’s design was carefully planned by Core Design artist Toby Gard. He originally envisioned her as a tough, adventurous woman inspired by comic book heroines …

The Accidental Horror of Silent Hill’s Fog When players think of Silent Hill, the first image that often comes to mind is its thick, suffocating fog. It is one of the most haunting visuals in all of gaming, setting the tone for fear, dread, and the unknown. But here is the twist: that fog was never meant to be scary at all. The original Silent Hill was released on the …