This Week in Nintendo History: August 31st to September 5th

Let's travel through time once again and explore the history of Nintendo. The stuff we knew and maybe some stuff you didn't. This week we see the release of two Nintendo consoles, a TV classic, lots of action on the Virtual Console and more. Let's hop right into it and see what happened this week.

August 30th, 1985 brought the release of one of the worst football games to ever appear on the Nintendo Entertainment System. 10-Yard Fight was a port of an arcade version of the game developed by Irem and published by Nintendo themselves. It featured five difficulty levels ranging from high school to Super Bowl and allowed two players to play on opposite teams. It's best left forgotten, trust me.

A Nintendo classic would be unleashed to the world on August 30th, 2004 in the form of Pikmin 2. This was the sequel to the Gamecube launch title and was considered by many to be the better of the two games. It featured two new Pikmin types, white and purple, but it took a lot to gain access to these new helpers. One thing that was done away with in this game and made many players happy was the time limit. This allowed the game to be played more at the players pace and was a welcome addition, or loss, to the game. Pikmin 2 is scheduled to be released on Wii under the banner of New Play control.

Super Mario Bros. Deluxe would be released for the Game Boy Color on August 31st, 1999. This was a remake of the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES with a number of differences. First was the ability to play as Luigi. It also included a save feature, Vs modes, and it "fixed" the minus world glitch so players were no longer able to visit that never ending level. This was one of the first times that The Lost Levels would be released in America and gamers would find out why it had never been released here. This game would also have some connectivity with the Game Boy Camera allowing you to print out pictures with custom captions.

September 1st, 1986 was release day for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe. Alongside it were a number of games including Mario Bros. and Excite Bike. We've documented the NES in the article before so we won't go into any more detail here. This release date was more than three years after the system originally launched in Japan on July 15th, 1983.

It was Virtual Console Monday on September 1st, 2008 in America. This day would see the release of Clu Clu Land for the NES, and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the SNES.

Bomberman Hero was released for the Nintendo 64 on September 1st, 1998. This was a direct sequel to Bomberman 64 and featured more levels, attack items, bosses and better gameplay. One big omission from this title was multi-player, something the Bomberman series has been praised for throughout the years. Some of the differences to the gameplay from previous versions were that Bomberman can now jump and throw bombs farther than he can in previous games, as well as the ability to swim underwater, hover in the air, and fly in the sky.

Let's go racing! Back on September 1st, 1992 Super Mario Kart started its engine for the first time in America. 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. Super Mario Kart featured 8 drivers in three different weight classes with one kart each. 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.

It's Virtual Console day again. This time it's September 3rd, 2007. On that day Adventure Island and Donkey Kong Jr. Math for the NES, Landstalker for the Genesis, and Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure for the TG-16 were released.

Our second console release of the week happened on September 3rd, 1996 when the Game Boy Pocket hit store shelves in America. This smaller version of the Game Boy featured a few improvements over its predecessor. Things like improved battery life; the GBP required two AAA batteries rather than four AA's. The screen was improved to remove some of the blurriness that people experienced. This was all combined with a smaller form factor to give people an even more portable system than before. Gamers in Japan would also have the benefit of an independantly lit screen. This system was replaced later by the Game Boy Color.

Our final entry of the week is one that many gamers remember and love rather fondly. On September 4th, 1989 The Super Mario Bros. Super Show debuted in America. This show featured then WWF superstar Cpt. Lou Albano and Danny Wells in a live action show that would preceed a 13 minute cartoon where they also provided the voices for the characters. On Fridays viewers would be given a Legend of Zelda cartoon rather than the Mario Brothers. This show would also feature many guest stars such as Cyndi Lauper, Roddy Piper, Vanna White, Magic Johnson and many more. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show ran for four years until December of 1989 and has since been released on DVD.

One more week in the books. I hope you've enjoyed it and maybe learned something you didn't know. If there is anything coming up that you know about and would like to see included in this article drop me a line and let me know. Don't forget to leave me a comment below. Until next week.