r/NintendoClassics

This game is selling for 50+ dollars being sold loosely. Can anyone explain why/how this cartridge is so valuable on the Gameboy Advance?

This game is a really interesting concept for something to make about a fictional species. I wish they had made more of these before the new one.

Thought I'd give a reminder, as well as an additional bit of extra news, regarding the upcoming end of the DK Challenge—a limited-time event that partly takes place within the games on Nintendo Classics. The event, now running for nearly three months, concludes September 1st, 2026, at 12:59am PST / 3:59am EST.

To take part, you do require a Switch 2, as well as a basic Nintendo Switch Online subscription. 15 of the challenges are spread throughout each of the 2D Donkey Kong games on the NES, SNES, and Game Boy. They do trigger while playing normally, but you can also access them directly through the "DK Challenge" section of the Nintendo Switch Online hub (that's the red icon on the HOME Menu). This way even lets you retry instantly (and rewind...)!

The other 24 challenges are a part of Donkey Kong Bananza—making for a total of 39 challenges, with each giving you a digital collectible card.

39 digital cards, and a 39-card physical set... You can probably expect them to look just like these, then.

Nintendo's news article on the new physical card set notes that every single challenge (Bananza included) must be completed before the deadline, to qualify—and that it also comes with a case. The offer is valid for the US only. Anyone making the cut will receive information on how to redeem their reward by early October.

If you don't have Donkey Kong Bananza, however—don't fret! There are a couple of lesser rewards you might be interested in... We're talking icon designs!

So, it's not much... but... Okay—I honestly find these fairly ugly.

The three icon designs here, are earned through:

• Completing any challenge (for the silhouetted DK)
• Completing all Nintendo Classics challenges (for arcade DK, grasping Pauline)
• Completing all Donkey Kong Bananza challenges (for Bananza DK, with child Pauline)

They'll be distributed in September, once the event has ended. All in all—they're really not much to look at. I think the Donkey Kong series has many superior art pieces that could've been used... like, perhaps, those iconic Rareware renders on the cards?

Still—an interesting little event this turned out to be! Though, I could've done without it pushing me to purchase a $70 game that hasn't seen one sale, yet (I didn't bite, by the way). Anyone starting now, will truly have their work cut out for them... I hear those Bananza challenges aren't easy. Now, let's see if the future holds anything more to come, from this challenge set-up... ★

This looks like a very interesting game. Shame it’s not on the American service.

I have nothing to say about this one. Never played it.

Congo’s Caper fans, sound off in the comments and tell me why. Because I don’t really get it.

Sorry I’m late to post this, I was caught up thinking about how good Pinball is…Pinball…

Super Mario Sunshine has one of the most immersive worlds out of any 3D platformer I have played. The intentional design and cohesion between locations does a lot to make Isle Delfino feel more alive than any other Mario location. Each level feels like such a natural extension of the general environment, making this general beach setting more appealing than anything else. From harbors, windmill villages, amusement parks, underwater ruins, and so-on, this world never ceases to amaze me with its imagination and cleaver world-building. Every level is absolutely amazing and beautiful in their own way, that literally any of them can be someone’s favorite while in something like Super Mario 64, no one has Dire Dire Docks or Rainbow Ride as their favorites. The world is chalk-full of environmental storytelling. Even these strange locations that take place far in the sky or some otherworldly locations make this world feel more mysterious. The dream-like aesthetic is a wonderful part of the Mario series and it’s captured very well here!

Just existing in Sunshine is a beautiful experience! What helps that is Mario’s movement in this game. Mario’s movement just feels incredibly fluid as I can pull off whatever moves I feel like at a moment’s notice very intuitively. The way Mario’s momentum works in this game as you have the ability to manipulate your momentum also makes Mario super fun to control. The game just gives you a ton of different tools too from tightropes, rocket nozzles, turbo nozzles, missiles, etc that elevate Mario’s interactions with the world.

The level structure of this game though linear, also feels much like it also tells a storyline, making each level feel like a journey as you continue to explore it in new ways. Never in any of the levels did I feel like I was retreading old ground in the exact same way, and I appreciate that considering how each level has over 8 missions. Even though it is a more linear game than 64 or Odyssey, the blue coins and bonus shines make exploring the world feel rewarding. Oftentimes, by experimentation and trying stuff out, you are rewarded with something for your efforts that is actually meaningful. For example, in Pianta Village there is a rumor that there is a secret coin stash in the moon, and when you spray it, you get a blue coins. Another example is Gelato Beach, which has the blender taunting you with a shine sprite in every mission, but the blender isn’t just foreshadowing. If you blend a piece of fruit that isn’t a watermelon such as a coconut, you would be rewarded with a blue coin.

The world just finds new ways to keep your imagination active. I think about Shadow Mario’s paintbrush and the implications it has. Paint has been a motif feature prominently in Super Mario 64 and Luigi’s Mansion, and has been tied to preserving life. Then you have E. Gadd, who is never seen in this game but secretly drives the conflict and resolution of this game in the background, giving his intentions an air of mystery behind them. That combined with the corrupt nature and brazen behavior of some Pianta’s makes it clear that there is something off about these characters. Then there is Corona Mountain, which is the final location of the game, and can be seen from every level in this game, which gives a level of significance to this mountain. Oh! The fact that this world is shaped like a dolphin too which is a nod to to Dolphin code name of the GameCube, but beyond that, several Nintendo games referenced the Dolphin which brings like this connective tissue between Mario Sunshine and Pikmin for example with the SS Dolphin. (Super Mario Galaxy even has the Hokotate Freight in Space Junk Galaxy!)

This may surprise you, but I never grew up with Sunshine. As a matter of fact, I grew up with literally every other 3D Mario game from 64 to Odyssey, aside for Sunshine (and Bowser’s Fury). Sunshine was just never released on a modern console when I was a kid and I waited a long time until I got a GameCube to finally play it. Galaxy was my first game I ever owned and though that game truly opened my imagination as an introduction to Mario, looking back, Mario’s movements feel too stiff, the level design doesn’t allow for nearly as much expression, and these worlds don’t feel as cohesive and natural as what we see in Sunshine. The closest game to Sunshine is Odyssey, but in my opinion I prefer the connection between the different worlds. Also, though I like how every collectable allows you to progress in Odyssey, I don’t like how there are so many collectibles that don’t feel meaningful as part of my main objective. DK Banaza’s structure works better as an evolution as you have to engage with the main story and every collectible is pretty much optional. Point is, from the environment, world-building, movement, level-structure, and so-on, Sunshine s just very well-crafted and excels beyond anything else in my opinion that it might be my favorite game in the series!

What are your thoughts on this game? 😊

Check it out. I love these Classic Games!

I love the copy ability mixing you can do in this game, and wish a future game would bring it back.

Nintendo has really been treating fans of its classic games, this month—as, only a week ago, we received two never-before-released Virtual Boy titles! Now, yet another major update makes its way to Nintendo Classics. This one's for the Switch 2 users. It's the return of gaming's most famed and most mustached hero, in his second 3D adventure ever:

Only Mario's second foray into 3D, this game chose the unique setting of an Italian-inspired island.

Released July 19th, 2002 in Japan, and August 26th, 2002 over in North America—Super Mario Sunshine had the gargantuan task of following up a game as groundbreaking as Super Mario 64. Whilst utterly beloved at the time—in the years since its release, its reputation has become a bit more divisive. However! In spite of any issues some may have with the game, it remains an incredibly unique adventure, as worthy of the Super Mario name as any other.

Directed by Yoshiaki Koizumi (with Kenta Usui as his co-director) after an astounding stint, deeply involved with masterpiece after masterpiece (Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask), this game would follow in the footsteps of those predecessors, continuing to experiment with new ideas to push its respective genre forward. Any fan of 3D platformers owes it to themselves to give this game a play. If I may inject my own bias, for a moment... To me, this game bests Super Mario Galaxy. I said what I said~

Begin your lovely island vacation, with flights departing tonight! Don't forget your reading and listening material:

• Super Mario Sunshine Instruction Booklet
• Super Mario Sunshine: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide
• Super Mario Sunshine Original Soundtrack (Nintendo Music • YouTube)

Please discuss your feelings on the game in the comments! Were you there at the time this one came out? How did it compare to Super Mario 64, in your eyes? How would you rank it in the overall Mario lineage? And what are your thoughts, as you make your way through it, now?

Isle Delfino... Mamma mia~ ♡

A very funny game to have at 200 because I have no strong feelings on it. It’s Sonic pinball. Music’s good, at least.

There’s not as much in this one as the games that came after it, but I like the simplicity.

I like Space Harrier, but this version runs pretty weirdly. M2 (who are very good developers) made an updated version a few years ago to fix some issues.