#Anniversary
11 article(s)
Vandal Hearts II at 27: The Tactical RPG Nobody Wanted to Defend
On July 8, 1999, Konami released Vandal Hearts II on PlayStation, two years after an already demanding first installment. Twenty-seven years later, the game remains an anomaly in the tactical RPG landscape: more brutal, more experimental than Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre, yet it has vanished from collective memory. This silence says something about what the industry chooses to celebrate—and what it prefers to forget.
Final Fantasy IX at 26: The Remake We're Still Waiting For
Released in 2000 on PlayStation, Final Fantasy IX turns 26 today in relative editorial silence. Square Enix remade VII, has begun tackling VIII, but the ninth installment remains without an official remake project. Yet it's one of the most beloved titles in the franchise. A paradox that says volumes about a publisher caught between commercial nostalgia and artistic integrity.
Samurai Shodown at 33: The Edge That Stands the Test of Time
In 1993, SNK unleashed Samurai Shodown in arcades and redefined what a fighting game could be with a single slash. While Capcom dominated with Street Fighter II and Midway provoked with Mortal Kombat, the Japanese studio played a different tune: slow, surgical, deadly. Thirty-three years later, the franchise remains a textbook case that the industry has never truly managed to replicate.
Furi at 10: How The Game Bakers Changed Everything with One Game
On July 5, 2016, The Game Bakers released Furi and transformed a mobile studio into a reference point for independent action gaming. Ten years later, this radical boss rush remains a testament to what a small team can accomplish when it commits entirely to a single vision. This milestone deserves a hard look back.
Warcraft III at 24: The RTS That Reinvented Its Genre by Accident
On July 3, 2002, Blizzard released Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos on PC. Twenty-four years later, this title remains a textbook case: by imposing individual hero management within a massive RTS framework, it fractured an entire genre and planted the seeds of the MOBA without intending to. With the RTS spinning its wheels today, revisiting this rupture isn't nostalgia—it's understanding why the genre still struggles to reinvent itself.
Bubble Bobble at 40: What's Left of Taito's Masterpiece?
Forty years after its arcade debut, Bubble Bobble remains one of Taito's most iconic creations. But beneath the easy nostalgia lies a real question: how did a 1986 game manage to permanently stamp its DNA on cooperative game design, and why have its sequels never truly capitalized on that symbolic capital? The verdict is more complicated than it appears.
Mystic Quest Turns 35: Square Enix Drops a Nostalgia Video
To mark 35 years of Mystic Quest, Square Enix released a brief tribute video spotlighting the original score composed by Kenji Ito in 1991. A minimal gesture for a franchise chronically neglected by its publisher. Does it signal genuine renewed interest in the Mana series, or does it merely confirm that Square Enix knows how to handle anniversaries without ever committing to the franchise's future?
Spec Ops: The Line at 14, Still Without a Spiritual Successor
Spec Ops: The Line turned 14 this week. In 2012, Yager Development delivered a war game that turned the genre against itself, forcing players to confront what they were actually doing. Fourteen years later, no AAA war game has shown the same editorial courage. This isn't nostalgia—it's a collective failure of the industry.
Super Mario 64 at 30: Fans Made It Immortal, Not Nintendo
Thirty years after its 1996 release, Super Mario 64 never ended up in the graveyard of frozen icons. The community took it into their own hands: pixel-perfect speedruns, mods, unofficial ports, obsessive analysis of every vertex. What Nintendo didn't maintain, thousands of players built themselves. It may be the harshest lesson this game teaches its own publisher.
Halo 3 Turns 20: Revisiting the Trailer That Stunned a Generation
On May 6, 2006, just after 1 p.m. Pacific time, E3 came to a close and Bungie dropped a piano, a kneeling Master Chief, and a line etched into gaming history into the auditorium. Two decades later, Halo 3's reveal trailer remains one of the most powerful conference moments in video game history. An anniversary worth examining.
Wuthering Waves 3.3: New Characters and 2-Year Anniversary Celebration
Kuro Games has unveiled the contents of Wuthering Waves version 3.3, launching April 30. The update brings new playable characters, special events, and a major two-year anniversary celebration. A presentation livestream confirms the gacha continues to beef up its content at a steady pace. Here's what players can expect from this anniversary update.