This Week In Nintendo History: August 16th to August 22nd

Howdy guys! It's time once again to explore the deep, dark depths of the history of every one's favorite video game company, Nintendo! This week we've got the blue bomber, Samus, kart racing, and the man in green. It's not safe to go alone, take This Week in Nintendo History.

August 17th 1983 saw yet another Game & Watch game, this time it's Popeye. This version of the game had you moving Popeye left and right to avoid Bluto's punches and countering with a punch of your own. Of course all the while you were trying to rescue Olive from his clutches. You were not only trying to win the game, but do it by getting as many points as you could by hitting Bluto, knocking him into the ocean and rescuing the girl. This Game & Watch game also featured an alarm clock.

It was all about the Virtual Console on August 18th, 2008. The original Mega Man was released for the NES on the system. If you haven't played this game you need to go and download it right now. It was the start of one of gaming's most classic franchises and set the stage for many games to come. Also released on that day was Neo Turf Master for the Neo Geo.

Another big day for the Virtual Console on August 20th, 2007. Super Metroid, arguably many people's favorite iteration of the series was gifted to the world when it was released on Nintendo's classic download service. Alongside Samus' return was Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master and Neutopia for the TG-16. If you're more into the brain thing you could have gone out that day and picked up your copy of Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day for Nintendo DS. This was the second game in the brain training franchise and it had you completing puzzles and challenges in order to help keep your brain strong.

Game & Watch saw another release on August 20th, 1984. The G&W version of Donkey Kong 3 was released. While it shared the same name as an arcade version of DK3 it was completely different in terms of gameplay. The G&W version of the game was a two player affair where one player would control Donkey Kong and the other would control the human Stanley. They were both attempting to protect their gardens from bees with water guns, and shooting the insects would cause them to fly closer to the other players garden. You scored points if the bees reached the opposite side.

August 21st, 2000 was a sad day in the history of gaming. Earthbound 64 was in development for the Nintendo 64 DD, the ill fated CD attachment to the N64. On that day, the game was cancelled. It would be revived five years later and released on the Game Boy Advance, but you would only be able to play it if you lived in Japan. The game never saw release in America.

The Nintendo 64 saw the sequel to one of the first games dedicated to skating, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was released for the N64. Originally designed for the Playstation and ported to other consoles it was very similar to the original. If you've played a Tony Hawk game before, you know what to expect.

The Nintendo DS would see some of the first use of it's Wi-Fi system on August 21st, 2006 when Tenchu: Dark Secret was released. Tenchu is a stealth action game where you were tasked with taking out enemies using various items in your inventory, as well as things found in the environment. It was one of the first games to take advantage of the Wi-Fi system and allowed you to trade items with players around the globe.

Japanese gamers were given the beginning of one of Nintendo's most popular franchises on August 22nd, 1992. That was the day that Super Mario Kart raced on the Super Famicom in Japan. Players got their first taste of three dimensional racing and flinging turtle shells at other cars. The game used the Mode 7 system which allowed the designers to create the feeling of a three dimensional race, when in actuality you were static and the environment moved around you. This series has gone on to spawn several interations over every console since the Super Famicom and has been played by millions of gamers worldwide.

Our last piece of history, is a big one. On August 22nd, 1987 players finally learned that it was not safe to go alone. Link burst onto the scene in The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Since then Link has grown to be the second biggest star in Nintendo's history behind the famous plumber and has been in a large number of games. He's been around to launch consoles, fight Ganon and save the Princess for over twenty years and he's still going strong. This game featured a huge overworld populated by near endless numbers of enemies, memorable dungeons and a huge inventory of items. There are few that have owned a Nintendo console that haven't played this game at some point. Well excuuuse me, Princess!

So there you have it. Another week of history is in the books. I hope you enjoy this article and if there is anything that you know of coming up soon that you would like to see included in this article please drop me a line and let me know. You can find a link to my email address over on the right side of the page. Let me know what you think.