Do You NintenKnow: June 2024

Below is a set of clues for games that have a notable US release date anniversary (5, 10, 15, etc.) in the current month. See if you can figure out the title before clicking the blurred image to find out if you were correct! Head down to the comments when you’re finished and reminisce about the personal memories that were dredged up. Remember that these are going by the release date in the United States. Have fun!

June 1989

We’ll start off easy with this Capcom sequel on the NES where you once again control a “super fighting robot” attempting to thwart Dr. Wily and his Robot Masters by defeating them and stealing their powers. This iteration improved upon the original in just about every way, including a wicked soundtrack, a password system, and the addition of Energy Tanks. It also might have the most overpowered weapon in the series with the Metal Blade. Some people still consider this to be the best entry in the franchise and one of the greatest games of all-time. Just the title screen itself lets you know you’re in for one heck of a ride as the camera pans up a skyscraper to see the helmet-less hero with his hair waving in the breeze as a sick beat kicks in!

Crocodile Dundee was hot at the time and Konami capitalized with this NES action game heavily “inspired” by that character. Take control of Billy West as he tries to save his kidnapped girlfriend from the local crime boss, Godfather Gordon. Many of the stages feature side scrolling beat-‘em-up action, but there are also driving stages and shooting stages which allow you to use the NES Zapper. The main character also appeared in a series of Archie comics and was in an episode of Captain N: The Game Master!

June 1994

Capcom brought this professional wrestling arcade game to the SNES which featured character designs from the artist known for Fist of the North Star. Execute regular attacks, grapples, and finishers with a wide cast of original characters including Alexander the Grater and King Rasta Mon. The more interesting characters have ties to other Capcom series such as Mike “Macho” Haggar from Final Fight. There’s also Gunloc, who is supposed to be the brother of Guile from Street Fighter II. The name has a good flow to it, probably better than Monday Morning Moonsault Maestros.

June 1999

The Nintendo 64 was the home for this Camelot Software Planning title where the Mushroom Kingdom crew smack a little white ball around a whole host of themed courses. Besides the fan-favorite characters, there were original ones like Harry, Maple, and Sonny. “It’s a sunny day!”

HAL Laboratory developed this photography-focused rail “shooter” based on the world-renowned monster catching franchise. Help Todd take quality pictures of the “monsters” for Professor Oak. Use apples or pester balls to help get the critters into frame or set off chain reactions with sometimes unexpected consequences. “Wonderful!”

Prior to being known as a foul-mouthed drunk, Rare’s red squirrel starred in this family-friendly romp for the Game Boy Color. He must try and reclaim his stolen birthday presents and rescue his girlfriend Berri from the Evil Acorn. Interestingly, this was a dual-format cartridge which allowed it to run on both the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color with some significant differences including the layout and some events that happen in the game. No matter which one you play, the game wasn’t that well received. Maybe that’s why the squirrel turned to the bottle?

June 2004

Nintendo developed this GameCube title starring their green-clad elf boy…at least partially. You see, in this installment, there were three additional elf boys in red, purple, and blue! Control your character and the clones as you solve puzzles and complete dungeons. The game can be played solo or as a multiplayer experience which requires each player to use a GameBoy Advance as the controller with the link cable. In fact, one of those cables was bundled with the game in North America and Europe which explains why I have one. It’s a really underrated game that not many people have played and I wish it would make a comeback with all this GameCube love recently!

June 2009

High Voltage Software developed this first-person shooter for the Wii, featuring highly customizable controls. Hopefully that helped in the online multiplayer mode or the campaign, where aliens are invading Washington D.C. Use the “All Seeing Eye” to solve puzzles, detect traps, and uncover invisible doors. The game even utilizes the Wii Speak peripheral during online play. As a final fact, one of the characters is voiced by Kevin Sorbo of the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys television series fame!

June 2014

The Nintendo 3DS saw the release of this Nintendo social simulation game starring Mii characters. You get your own island and can then watch the various interactions between Miis such as friendship, marriages, and even child-rearing! It’s a quirky and weird game but sold enough to become the 10th best-selling 3DS game of all time. Interestingly, the producer was key Metroid staffer Yoshio Sakamoto!