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Thrilling Tales of Old Video Games

thrillingtalesofoldvideogames.com

Exploring the stories behind classic video games to find out how they came to be the way they are.

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162 from 1 Apr 2022 to 29 Oct 2026
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2026 47

  1. Why Does Luigi Fight Ghosts With a Vacuum Cleaner?
  2. The Halloween Surprise Hiding in Super Mario World
  3. Metroid, Justin Bailey and the Need for Meaning in a Chaotic Universe
  4. Why Do Orcs Look Like Pigs? But Only Sometimes?
  5. The Elementals of Secret of Mana Are Quintessential
  6. Sylph, Undine, Gnome, Salamander and the Swiss Doctor Who Invented Them
  7. You Can Now Support Thrilling Tales on Patreon and Kofi
  8. Translating the Long-Lost Sequel to Super Mario Bros. 2
  9. What’s the Correct Way to Pronounce Mario’s Name?
  10. Mario 101: Part Eight
  11. Is There a Disney Reference Hiding in Golden Axe?
  12. Waluigi’s Wikipedia Weirdness
  13. Why Do Video Games Associate Mice With Bombs?
  14. Ganon’s Mysterious Origins (Revisited)
  15. The Mysterious Connection Between Lufia and Lunar
  16. The Dream Machine Hiding in Super Mario Bros. 2
  17. Why Does Art of Fighting 3 Take Place in Mexico?
  18. Since When Is There a Telephone in Donkey Kong?
  19. Sonic’s First Girlfriend Was Madonna
  20. Super Mario RPG and the Mystery of the Fifth Card Suit
  21. How Samurai Shodown Turned a Catholic Radical Into a Gay Warlock
  22. At Last! A Webring in 2026!
  23. Bill in Street Fighter vs. Bill in Final Fight
  24. The Mystery of Marin
  25. The Pop Culture Relevance of Mudman from World Heroes
  26. Why Can Pokémon Only Say Their Names?
  27. Mario 101: For Super Players
  28. The Logic to Mega Man’s Robot Master Weakness System
  29. Is There a Vibrator Joke in Super Princess Peach?
  30. Why Do We Think Mario and Luigi Are From Brooklyn?
  31. When Did Luigi Get His Own Look?
  32. Is the Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s Rosalina Reveal Canon?
  33. Super Mario Bros. and the Legend of ‘Drain Man’
  34. What Is the Etymology of ‘Power-Up’?
  35. Who Put the ‘P’ in the Fire Flower?
  36. Who Put the ‘Kong’ in ‘Donkey Kong’?
  37. A Crystalline Connection Between Final Fantasy VII and Street Fighter III
  38. What Is the First Nintendo Crossover?
  39. Subscribe to Thrilling Tales of Old Video Games, Newsletter-Style!
  40. Why Did the Super Mario Anime Make Toad Female?
  41. Was the Legend of Zelda Actually Named After Its Heroine?
  42. Did Dhalsim Get His Name from a Curry Restaurant in Osaka?
  43. Does Final Fantasy Tactics Have Two Characters Named After Beowulf?
  44. How a 1991 JRPG Foreshadowed 2026’s New Weird Tiktok Trend
  45. Is There a Sex Joke Hidden in Plain Sight in Zelda II?
  46. Why Does Donkey Kong Throw Barrels?
  47. In Defense of Final Fantasy VI Calling Terra’s Mom ‘Madonna’

2025 43

  1. How Did Final Fantasy Turn Shiva Into a Literal Ice Queen?
  2. You Will Be Visited by Three Ghosts… of Super Mario RPG 2
  3. Esper, Eidolon, Eikon, Aeon: The Evolution of Final Fantasy’s Summoned Monsters
  4. Maybe We Don’t Need to Call Birdo ‘Birdetta’
  5. There’s Super Mario DNA in Doki Doki Panic
  6. How Kolchak: The Night Stalker Influenced Final Fantasy
  7. Wait, Super Mario Galaxy’s Lubba Is Female?
  8. How Nonexistence Connects Chrono Trigger to Super Mario Bros. 2
  9. The Secret Origin of the Darkstalkers
  10. The Origin of Mario’s Trademark Death Animation
  11. Why Is the Big Bad of Bubble Bobble Named ‘Super Drunk’?
  12. How Chrono Trigger Taught Me the Word ‘Epoch’
  13. Is Final Fantasy IV’s Barbariccia Named After… a Certain Organ?
  14. The Strange Urban Legend About Golden Axe and Death Row Inmates
  15. How I Perpetuated an Internet Rumor About the Duck Hunt Dog
  16. Hylian 101: The Secrets Hiding in the Language of Zelda
  17. The Action Movie Obviousness of Mortal Kombat Character Names
  18. Somehow, King from Art of Fighting Is Not a Gay Character
  19. A Speculative Origin for Final Fantasy’s Tonberry
  20. Searching for Signs of Super Mario Bros. 2 in Mario Kart World
  21. Streets of Rage’s Ash Never Got His Moment in the Spotlight
  22. Pauline: A History of Nintendo’s First Leading Lady
  23. How Eagle Became Street Fighter’s First Gay Character
  24. Was the Zelda Fairy Fountain Music Inspired by a Track From Super Mario Bros. 3?
  25. Long Live Wart!
  26. The Mystery of the Brainwashed Blondes
  27. Is Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga One Big Fart Joke?
  28. Did Akira Nishitani Lie in the 1994 Capcom vs. Data East Lawsuit?
  29. How One Weird Little Guy Connects Yoshi’s Island to Donkey Kong
  30. Are Super Mario’s Mushrooms a Reference to Hallucinogenic Drugs?
  31. Dr. Wily vs. Albert Einstein
  32. Organ Grinders, Kongs and Super Mario Monkey Business
  33. Did Time Magazine Declare Birdo Trans?
  34. The Chocobo Was Not Inspired by Nausicaä, Apparently?
  35. On the Origins of Chrono Trigger Character Names
  36. How WarioWare Brought the Satanic Panic to Nintendo
  37. Apparently ‘William F. Guile’ Is Street Fighter Canon?
  38. Does Aerith Make a Stealth Cameo in Final Fantasy V?
  39. Final Fantasy vs. Dungeons & Dragons
  40. Secret of Mana’s Mysterious Blue-Haired Girl
  41. Justice for Dyluck: Sacrifice and Star-Crossed Love in Visions of Mana
  42. Why on Earth Was This Final Fantasy Monster Named ‘Veteran’?
  43. Wherefore Art Thou, Princess Prin Prin?

2024 22

  1. Ghosts ’n Goblins vs. Nintendo’s Ban on Religion
  2. The Devil in the Mushroom Kingdom
  3. Is There a Wizard of Oz Reference Hidden in Super Mario Galaxy?
  4. The Wanted List: Video Game Names and Terms With Unknown Origins
  5. Does the Tower of Babel Make a Cameo in Super Mario Bros. 3?
  6. Don’t Call Her ‘Titty’
  7. Fighter’s History: Legally Not a Street Fighter Clone
  8. Street Fighter’s Surprising Crossover With Red Earth
  9. Why Does Street Fighter Have a Character Named ‘Sodom’?
  10. Ryu and Ken No Longer Practice Shotokan Karate
  11. Sheng Long, Street Fighter and the Legacy of W.A. Stokins
  12. How Impa Jumped from Background Lore to the Zelda In-Game Canon
  13. We Don’t Know Where Ganon’s Name Comes From
  14. You Cannot Grasp the True Form of Giygas!
  15. A Complete History of Birdo’s Gender
  16. Where Did You Go, Ms. Pac-Man?
  17. Princess Peach Can’t Get a Break
  18. The Legend of Bowser’s Dead Wife
  19. Since When Is There a Simpsons Character Named Nina Skalka?
  20. Is Valentina from Super Mario RPG a Jimmy Buffett Reference or Not?
  21. Localization Strangeness in the Super Mario RPG Remake
  22. Hard Hats in the Mushroom Kingdom

2023 19

  1. Christmas Eve on Shooting Star Summit
  2. Koopa vs. Kappa
  3. Bowser vs. Koopa
  4. Is WarioWare Hiding an Homage to a Forgotten Nintendo Heroine?
  5. Mallow’s Name Is a Better Pun in the Japanese Version of Super Mario RPG
  6. Localization Drift and Hidden History in Castlevania: Nocturne
  7. Princess Daisy’s Long Road to Being Playable in Super Mario Bros. Wonder
  8. Sci-fi Stripteases in Barbarella, Metroid and Mach Rider
  9. Is Super Mario Wonder’s Prince Florian a Nod to the Mario Anime?
  10. Secrets of the Super Mario RPG Shaman
  11. Nintendo’s First Playable Female Protagonist Isn’t Female in Japan
  12. Why Did Nintendo Change Foreman Spike’s Name?
  13. Foreman Spike Was the Original Wario
  14. A History of Toad’s Gender… One Way or Another
  15. Did Super Mario Bros. 3 Change Our Understanding of the Tanuki?
  16. The Indie Pop Legacy of Super Mario Land 2
  17. Yoshi vs. the Loch Ness Monster
  18. How Final Fantasy Taught Me the Word ‘Jihad’
  19. Bahamut and Behemoth: One and the Same?

2022 31

  1. Sea Hag or Sagahin? A Quick History of an RPG Water Monster
  2. Meet Mega Man’s Brother, Bruce
  3. The Story Behind Super Mario RPG’s Valentina
  4. A Parade of Princess Peach Prototypes
  5. What Is the Etymology of ‘Goomba’?
  6. The Extended Capcom Darkstalkers Universe
  7. Dogs, Popeye and the Super Mario Bros. Anime
  8. Is There a John Candy Joke in the Ending to Castlevania?
  9. The Many Mysteries of Castlevania’s Sypha Belnades
  10. What’s With the Equals Signs in Golden Axe?
  11. How Popeye Changed Video Games
  12. Unpacking the Sounds of Earthbound’s Arcade
  13. Super Mario Bros. 3 Happened Before Super Mario Bros. 2
  14. Who Put the ‘P’ in the P-Wing?
  15. A Short History of the Goomba
  16. Is Princess Lana Based on Palutena from Kid Icarus?
  17. Is Samurai Shodown II Referencing a Real-Life 16th-Century Cyborg?
  18. The Real-Life Revolutionaries Behind Charlotte from Samurai Shodown
  19. Why Is Super Mario Bros. 2 Missing a Level?
  20. If His Name Is Blanka, Why Is He Green?
  21. The Legend of Zubaz
  22. Is Terry Bogard in Street Fighter I?
  23. A Short History of Street Fighter II Character Names
  24. What Do Hockey Pucks Have to Do With Pac-Man?
  25. Cliffs Notes for Dante: Final Fantasy IV’s Elemental Fiends
  26. Birdo Was Yoshi Before Yoshi Was Yoshi
  27. There’s a Piranha Plant in My Zelda Dungeon!
  28. The Enemies of Super Mario Bros. 2
  29. The Legacy of Super Mario Bros. 2
  30. Who Put the Pit in Kid Icarus?
  31. It’s a Secret to Everybody