Three decades ago Nintendo brought Metroid to the 16-bit era in splendorous fashion with Super Metroid. They took everything good about the original Metroid and improved, expanded, and fixed it. No game is perfect, but this one comes awfully close. It holds up brilliantly today. Super Metroid follows the formula of the original, with a semi-open world divided into different sections. In many respects it feels like a remake, similar to what Nintendo did with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past . The "bounty hunter" Samus Aran returns to the planet Zebes and travels through Norfair, Brinstar, and Tourian, facing the Space Pirate bosses Ridley, Kraid, and Mother Brain. The maps are different, though a few sections from the original are deliberately recreated. In fact, at the very beginning of the game, Samus passes back through the escape shaft and original chamber in which she defeated Mother Brain the first time, only now things look eerily abandoned. Then she has to leav...

I adored Wario Land as a kid but never played Wario Land II because by 1998 I had moved on from such childish activities as playing Nintendo games. Boy, did I miss out! Wario Land II is a rich puzzle platformer, featuring an astonishing 51  levels. Originally released on the Game Boy (except in Japan, weirdly), it was re-released for the Game Boy Color the following year. The first Wario Land game was technically part of the Super Mario Land series and played similarly to Super Mario Land 2 . Wario received Mario-style power-ups in the form of hats. Wario Land II is quite different: Wario is now, in his own words, "immortal." He can't be damaged by enemies, and there are no pits. When he gets his by a normal enemy, such as a goom, he is bounced backwards and loses several coins. There are no power-ups, but the attacks of certain enemies temporarily change Wario's bodily form. While these cartoonish transformations are depicted as negative, they let him go places and ...