@Beau Skunky  
Wait, what HAL you guys are talking about. Is it HAL labs? Because that studio still exists.

@Chris0409  
Indeed, I liked HAL & Hudson too, shame they went under, as well. (Would love a new “Bomberman.”)

@Beau Skunky  
Yeah it’s pretty sad now. They a shell of their former selves but at least they had a golden age of gaming when they were on top. Most companies didn’t and just went forgotten. Most game devs hope to have their game hit the top for even just a little, just that one hit wonder would boost their morale but it rarely comes.
 
Two companies I loved that no longer around are HAL, and Hudson who made great games but have been disbanded. One company that is still just hanging on is Atari who were the forerunners in early video games. Hell the Atari 2600 went from 1977 until it was discontinued in 1992. The competition is rough out there and one day the big dogs will be eaten by an even bigger dog.

@Chris0409  
Yes, and that kinda thing is all they practically do now.
 
Maybe not literally, but they practically are almost out of business. They lost almost all their original game developers/employees, their business shrank to only a few people left, and even their website is tiny now, and not as robust as it used to be. They rarely are able to make games with what they have left now.
 
Not to mention, they even said this. >>578265
 
They’re so small now they can barely even make their own games. The new “Killer Instinct” wasn’t even made by them. They may not be literally out of business, but they can hardly even make full games now.

@Beau Skunky  
They didn’t go out of business. They got bought by Microsoft. Who do you think made the avatars?

@Background Pony #D167  
They admitted later on that they overhyped the game a bit, but admitted they still liked it. Also, their scoring system changed as the magazine went on. (Still, it’s not like they just mindlessly praise every game, as I said. Surprisingly one of the critics gave “Super Mario Advance 1” a low score.)
 
Surprisingly, “Battletoads” was an early Rareware game. Surprised Rare never tried to revive the series during their “glory days.” (Before they gradually went out of business…) :(

Battletoads
 
9.4/10 -Nintendo Power  
The control scheme sucked.

At least they are not playing Silver Surfer.

I would love to see Luna cosplay the Dark Queen from this game.  

@Beau Skunky  
To this day one of my best moments as a gamer was when my grandmother asked if she could play Mario Advance on my GBA and she liked.

@Background Pony #7BED  
Also, should add, not everyone who read the magazine were kids, even back in it’s earlier days. In the letters section, they had many letters from teens, and even adults. A few times “grandparents” wrote in stating they loved the NES, and playing it with their grandkids.
 
So there always has been some older gamers out there.

@Background Pony #7BED  
NP wasn’t as bad as some game magazines, I felt honestly as I pointed out already. (Plus they seem less biased to me then say “Game Informer,” which mostly likes the mainstream/popular games) Plus, as I said, the “Player’s Polls” were voted on by the readers, so they were the ones who put “BattleToads” within the top 10 for some months.
 
I guess the game just didn’t age well for some. I never played it so I can’t judge.

Nintendo Power was an “advertorial” rag and children don’t have any taste.
 
To its credit that game did have lots of personalty; really nice sprites and varied levels with neat themes.

@NostalgiaSchmaltz  
Yeah, but even the bad games usually got bad scores/reviews.
 
They even said “Wario: Master of Disguise” wasn’t that good, and one of the critics at NP gave “Super Mario Advance 1” a low score. So they aren’t as “biased” as some try to claim, even when it comes to first-party games. (In fact, they gave Rare’s “Perfect Dark” a higher score then “Ocarina of Time.”)

@Beau Skunky  
A lot of really bad games were featured in Nintendo Power. Even the infamous Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde was in one of the issues.

@RIG  
It’s an edit.

uh, this one was missing?

It’s funny how “BattleToads” was a popular game when it first came out, (even topping Nintendo Power magazine’s top NES game lists as voted by readers) while nowadays alot of gamers, even old-school ones don’t look back on it very fondly, and feel it’s to hard. (And coming from “Megaman” & such fans, that’s saying something.)
 
Sibsy said she likes that game though, I recall.