Introduction Terranigma was developed by Quintet and published by Enix, released for the SNES in 1995 as the third entry in the studio’s loosely connected Gaia trilogy alongside Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia. Players control Ark, a boy from an underground village who accidentally releases the surface world from a sealed void, then sets…
Introduction The Goonies II was developed and published by Konami, released for the NES in 1987 as a loose sequel to the arcade platformer The Goonies, itself based on the 1985 film. Rather than repeating the arcade original’s stage-based action, The Goonies II restructures the series into a Metroidvania-style adventure, sending Mikey through a large…
Introduction Illusion of Gaia was developed by Quintet and published by Enix, released for the SNES in 1993 as an action-adventure following a young boy named Will who can transform into two other forms, the powerful Freedan and the healer Shadow, each suited to different combat and puzzle situations. The game sends players on a…
Introduction Scooby-Doo Mystery was developed by Illusions Gaming Company and published by Acclaim Entertainment in partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive, released for the Genesis in September 1995 as a licensed adaptation of the classic Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! animated series. Unlike the more action-oriented platformers typical of licensed Genesis games, Scooby-Doo Mystery leaned into a…
Introduction Jurassic Park was developed by BlueSky Software and published by Sega, released for the Genesis in 1993 as a tie-in to that year’s blockbuster Steven Spielberg film of the same name. The game let players choose between two very different characters and play styles across its campaign: game warden Dr. Alan Grant, who explores…
Introduction Ecco the Dolphin was developed by Novotrade, designed by Ed Annunziata, and published by Sega, released for the Genesis in 1992 as an unusually atmospheric action-adventure game starring a bottlenose dolphin rather than a typical human or animal-mascot protagonist. Players guide Ecco through underwater environments after his pod is mysteriously swept away by a…
Introduction ToeJam & Earl was developed by Johnson Voorsanger Productions and published by Sega, released for the Genesis in 1991 as an unconventional blend of action, exploration, and roguelike-inspired design. Players control ToeJam and Earl, two alien rappers whose spaceship crashes on Earth, scattering its pieces across a series of randomly generated, procedurally shuffled islands…
Introduction Metal Gear began life as Hideo Kojima’s directorial debut, originally released by Konami for the MSX2 computer in Japan and parts of Europe in 1987. The NES version that followed, reaching Japan in December 1987 and North America the following June through Konami’s Ultra Games label, has a notably messier history: a separate Tokyo-based…
Introduction Blaster Master was developed and published by Sunsoft, a studio better known during the 8- and 16-bit era for licensed tie-in games, with directors Hiroaki Higashiya and Koichi Kitazumi, designer Kenji Sada, and composer Naoki Kodaka leading a small team of around five people on what became the company’s one original flagship franchise. It…
Introduction The Legend of Zelda was developed by Nintendo R&D4, directed and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto with Takashi Tezuka as story writer, and built alongside Super Mario Bros as a launch title for the Family Computer Disk System, released in Japan in February 1986 before reaching the NES on cartridge in North America and Europe…
Introduction Metroid was developed by Nintendo R&D1 under producer Gunpei Yokoi, first released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan in August 1986 before arriving on cartridge for the NES in North America the following year. The team set out to blend Super Mario Bros’s side-scrolling action with The Legend of Zelda’s open, non-linear exploration,…
Welcome to Arcana, play this classic retro game directly in your browser! Enjoy the nostalgic experience. About Arcana Arcana is a 1992 role-playing game created and published by HAL Laboratory for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System — the same studio behind the original Kirby’s Dream Land, which is why Kirby makes a cameo in Arcana’s…