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Forums - Nintendo - The darkness of 90s Nintendo

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CaptainExplosion on 18 May 2026

*sigh* Happier days. Nintendo just plays it too safe nowadays.



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Leynos on 18 May 2026

Again everyone did this stuff but it's funny even Nintendo joined in. A real downside of that era were the gross out ads. Nintendo had a magazine ad showing just peoples tongues different colors. A gross lunch lady serving gross food. Yoshi's island commercial was a spoof on the Monty Python exploding fat man ad. So they had a man explode in green goo. They had a scratch and sniff ad for Earthbound that smelled bad telling people the game stinks. (idiots) and a magazine ad of a jar of toenail clippings. Gross out stuff was a 90s thing. Play it Loud era and Ge N or Get out. Nintendo of all companies was basically falling it's own audience fuckwads. Telling them to fuck off. While you expected SEGA to do that. HEY ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?!! Then a screaming old man on the page. GET A SEGA CD FUCKFACE! (no actual swearing but it was the vibe) Seeing Nintendo do it was sad but funny.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

killeryoshis on 18 May 2026

Nintendo has this problem, but it is not solely a Nintendo problem. It is a cultural problem. Entertainment overall has become sanitized over the last few generations. The brutal environment that people grew up in has been made far easier with the newer generations. For instance, if you looked at the Original Grim Brothers tales. (The 1812 Version,) You will see how people used to tell stories to their kids. 

In the story "The Singing Bone" two brothers go to kill a beast. One of the brothers kills the other and keeps the reward for himself. But someone finds the dead brother's bones, which are made into a flute that, when played, tells his entire story. Then the king executes the living brother for his crime.

This story would never be made today. (Without a high age rating.) 


I am not really a fan of brutal entertainment like Saw, but I think making candy versions of stories can be harmful in another way. It promotes a false view of the world that will teach them the wrong lessons. 



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curl-6 on 18 May 2026
burninmylight said:
curl-6 said:

Yeah The Neverending Story comes to mind; that got a G rating for all ages here in Australia back in the 80s but holy shit some of the stuff in it is nightmare fuel.

This guy will forever have a free place to stay, free of rent, in my head:

Also, add an image of Zero-2 from Kirby 64 to that list in the opening post. Those dark moments that hit you the hardest are the ones that pop up in games that were never meant to be associated with horror or the macabre. 90s Nintendo was a master of that.

And thank you for adding the giant eel from Mario 64; everyone talks about the mad piano, but what about the huge ass eel with a mouth bigger than your entire body that drastically differs from the game's artistic aesthetics and looks like it could swallow you whole any time it wants to?

Oh fuck that guy scared the shit out of me as a kid lmao

And good call with Zero Two; added him to the OP.

Regarding the Starfox remake, yeah I am interested in seeing how they handle the brain and even the giant monkey head; I would also imagine we're not getting lines like "Daddy screamed REEEAAAL good before he died!" or "cocky little freaks!" this time around, can imagine some Karen parent complaining about how the new Nintendo game called their son a freak or talked about his deceased dad dying.