Nintendo Quiz

1. Nintendo was founded in 1889 — long before video games existed. What product did it originally make?

1. Board games
2. Clockwork automata
3. Hanafuda playing cards
4. Mechanical toys

2. Nintendo's first major arcade hit, which introduced a character named Jumpman, was:

1. Donkey Kong
2. Mario Bros.
3. Pac-Man
4. Space Invaders

3. Which legendary Nintendo designer created Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong?

1. Gunpei Yokoi
2. Masahiro Sakurai
3. Satoru Iwata
4. Shigeru Miyamoto

4. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was released in Japan in 1983 under a different name. What was it called?

1. The Famicom
2. The Game Boy
3. The NES Classic
4. The Super NES

5. In The Legend of Zelda, the playable hero — who many people mistakenly think is named Zelda — is actually called:

1. Ganon
2. Hyrule
3. Link
4. Zelda

6. The original Super Mario Bros. launched in 1985. What is the name of the villain Mario must defeat?

1. Bowser (King Koopa)
2. Donkey Kong
3. Waluigi
4. Wario

7. The Game Boy, Nintendo's hugely successful handheld console, was released in which year?

1. 1985
2. 1989
3. 1992
4. 1995

8. Pokémon was originally released in 1996 as two versions: Pocket Monsters Red and Green. They were games for which system?

1. Game Boy Color
2. Original Game Boy
3. Super Nintendo
4. Virtual Boy

9. The Nintendo 64's name refers to what feature of the console?

1. It had 64MB of RAM
2. It launched in 1964
3. It used a 64-bit processor
4. It was Nintendo's 64th product

10. The Nintendo Wii, released in 2006, revolutionised gaming with which innovative feature?

1. High-definition graphics
2. Motion-sensing controllers (the Wii Remote)
3. Online multiplayer
4. Touch screen controls

11. The Nintendo Switch's defining feature — which its name refers to — is that it can:

1. Be used as both a home console (on a TV) and a portable handheld
2. Switch between different controller configurations automatically
3. Switch between different game formats
4. Switch between Nintendo and third-party game libraries

12. Metroid, Nintendo's sci-fi action franchise, revealed a famous plot twist at the end of its first game in 1986. What was it?

1. Samus dies at the end
2. The alien planet was Earth
3. The main villain was secretly a Nintendo character
4. The protagonist Samus Aran — assumed to be male — is actually a woman

13. Nintendo's beloved CEO Satoru Iwata died in 2015. He was famous for which personal commitment during a difficult financial period in 2014?

1. Personally delivering games to fans in hospital
2. Playing every Nintendo game himself before approving release
3. Returning his entire salary to shareholders
4. Taking a 50% pay cut rather than laying off any employees

14. Which Nintendo game composer wrote the iconic Super Mario Bros. theme and The Legend of Zelda overworld music?

1. Koji Kondo
2. Masashi Hamauzu
3. Nobuo Uematsu
4. Yoko Shimomura

15. Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold over 13 million copies in its first six weeks, partly because it launched during which major world event in March 2020?

1. A global gaming convention
2. COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns
3. The 2020 US Presidential Election
4. The Tokyo Olympics

16. The Game Boy's creator, Gunpei Yokoi, also invented the hugely successful Game & Watch handhelds. What other Nintendo accessory did he design?

1. The D-pad (directional pad)
2. The NES Zapper
3. The Nintendo 64 controller
4. The Wii Remote

17. Super Smash Bros. is Nintendo's crossover fighting series. What is its central mechanic that differs from traditional fighting games?

1. Characters have health bars to deplete
2. Characters must be knocked off the stage rather than having their health reduced to zero
3. Matches are decided by race to 10 points
4. Only Nintendo characters can be played

18. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017) is the best-selling Nintendo Switch game. It is a re-release of Mario Kart 8, which originally launched on which failed Nintendo console?

1. Nintendo 3DS
2. Nintendo DS
3. Nintendo GameCube
4. Wii U

19. Nintendo's handheld Nintendo DS introduced which innovative feature in 2004?

1. 3D visuals without glasses
2. Motion controls
3. Online multiplayer via Wi-Fi
4. Two screens — including a bottom touchscreen

20. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) is consistently voted one of the greatest games ever made. It was the first 3D Zelda game and introduced which revolutionary camera technique?

1. First-person perspective exploration
2. Free camera control with the right stick
3. Split-screen multiplayer
4. Z-targeting (lock-on targeting) for 3D combat