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94 Articles

DARRAN JONES Super Castlevania IV, and not just because it has one of the greatest game soundtracks of all time. Expertise: Juggling a gorgeous wife, two beautiful girls and an award-winning magazine Currently playing: Haunting Ground Favourite game of all time: Strider DREW SLEEP Metal Gear Solid 3, its blend of stealth, survival and action is still as exciting today as it was in 2004. Expertise: Grooves and/or wars Currently playing: Monster Hunter World Favourite game of all time: Final Fantasy VIII NICK THORPE I’ve loved Jubeat ever since the first time I saw it on test, about a decade ago. Whenever I visit an arcade that has it, you can be sure that I’ll play a credit or two. Expertise: Owning five Master Systems (I sold two) Currently playing:…

What does Konami mean to you? To me it means two wavy ribbons parallel to each other, one orange and one red, set against a stark white background. Whenever I saw that logo appear on my TV screen it was as much a seal of quality to me as the Nintendo and Sega badges were. I knew that the game that came after that logo was going to be of a high quality and I was rarely, if ever, disappointed. I’m sure, though, that the word Konami means a completely different thing to every reader that picks up this magazine, and that’s largely because Konami has had so much success in the videogame industry over the past four decades; not bad for a company that started off as a repairer…

Tommy Tallarico, who is known for his work as a videogame composer, recently sent the gaming world into a spin when he revealed that a brand-new Earthworm Jim game was being made for the upcoming Intellivision Amico console – another project which Tommy is the driving force behind. Additionally, he revealed that virtually all the members of the original Earthworm Jim team, which should include Dave Perry, Nick Bruty, Mike Dietz and Doug TenNapel, are also helping out. We spoke to Tommy to find out more. Why has it taken so long to reassemble the old team, and what is it like to be back working together? We have tried to do something similar in the past, but there were always a few people who either weren’t available or there…

What do you want from a new Earthworm Jim game? Didn’t know it was happening. But keep the fully automatic pistol, fun platforming and overall weirdness and I am on board. @_LastLegend I want the same great animation and improved visuals to make it easier to tell what is and what isn’t a platform. @videogamenewsr2 Mixed feelings, really. The original was neat at the time, and is very much ‘of its time’ for better or worse. I always preferred the animated series, to be honest. @Stressed Local I am. But I ain’t buying the new system it’s exclusively on. @RonaldSDean I am really excited for Jim’s return. Basically the same game, but with save states of some sort. Maybe a little more frantic gameplay? @sidcrazysteve I’m super stoked for as…

Andy Palmer is a very patient man. The owner of Bury’s Arcade Club has just opened a brand-new venue in Leeds and has been constantly shuttling between the two locations in order to ensure that everything is perfect for this month’s launch. “I have actually been planning to open multiple venues for years,” he candidly tells us,”but first I needed to see if my business model worked before we committed to more venues.” Andy has been putting lots of thought into his new location and he’s aware of just how important each decision he makes is as well as the risks he has to take. “Location is always the main factor as well as population demographics,” he continues. “Also, the initial investment in a new venue is huge! (Whatever number…

Manchester’s annual Play Expo event has become one of the highlights for any retro gaming fan and this year’s was no different. Actually, it was a little different, because it was housed at the Manchester Central Exhibition Complex instead of its usual home at Event City. Easily accessible and with plenty of space in the main hall, the new location seemed to easily handle the large crowds that turned up to marvel at all the excellent games that were on offer. As always, the many pinball tables and arcade machines were constantly in use, and there was a great variety of games on offer catering to all tastes. Space Invaders Part II, Marble Madness and Power Drift were just a few of the classics on offer and there were rarely…

Sega has announced ten more games for its plug-and-play console, meaning there are ten more left to come. In addition to the usual suspects, including Golden Axe, Sonic Spinball, Vectorman and The Story Of Thor, there are three bangers from Capcom: Ghouls ‘N Ghosts, Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition and Mega Man: The Wily Wars. The Street Fighter inclusion has drawn a little controversy as no six-button pads comes with the machine, meaning you’ll have to spend additional cash if you want the full experience. The addition of Mega Man is great news as it usually sells for over £200. No doubt we’ll know the final ten titles in time for the next issue.…

ABE HAS GOT SOUL

It’s been a long time since its announcement in 2016, but Oddworld Inhabitants and Fat Kraken Games have revealed new details about their sequel to Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty. Like New ‘N’ Tasty, Soulstorm is a remake (of Abe’s Exodus this time around), and will include new story elements and expanded locations. While you’ll still be guiding Mudokons to safety, new mechanics include looting and crafting, meaning even fans of the original will have their hands full solving Abe’s new adventure. The second part of Oddworld’s planned quintet, Oddworld: Soulstorm will be out in 2020.…

Summer is about to claw its way from the chrysalis of Spring, bringing with it hayfever, barbecues and trips to the coast. For me, summer is entwined with arcades. Growing up, it was rare that I ever set foot in an arcade outside of seaside summer holidays. On holiday with my parents and grandparents, my pocket money would be spent on two things: fossils (don’t ask) and the arcades. When I go to the seaside these days, I make a point of visiting the arcades, in the hope of getting a fix of nostalgia. Unfortunately, I despair somewhat when I go into an arcade these days. Gone are the games which exist to be played, replaced now by machines which dispense hundreds of tickets that can be redeemed for tat.…

Fans of old-school first-person shooters would’ve rocket-jumped in delight upon the announcement of Wrath: Aeon Of Ruin earlier this year. Built on a modified Quake engine, it harks back to that era of shooters, complete with gib-packed action and explosive weaponry. It started off as a passion project for indie developer KillPixel, however 3D Realms liked what it saw of a prototype and has offered to help with its development. We caught up with KillPixel’s studio head Jeremiah Fox to learn more. Can you tell us a bit about the world of Wrath: Aeon Of Ruin? Well, the main goal, being that Wrath is a classically styled first-person shooter, is to dominate the enemy and survive while doing so. The story and game world, known as the ‘Old World’, has…

THE LATEST NEWS FROM JULY 2002

The press had returned from the sun of LA to provide us an update on everything at E3, and there was some interesting news. Microsoft was the first of the major players to show its hand, and it emphasised that it was going to be sticking around for the long term. The company announced that it had budgeted $2 billion over the coming five years for the ongoing development of the Xbox platform (“which sounds suspiciously like Xbox 2”, according to Edge). Games highlighted during the press conference included the RPG Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, Sega’s Panzer Dragoon Orta, Blinx: The Time Sweeper, Fable, Dead Or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball and Ninja Gaiden. But the big announcement concerned Microsoft’s online service – it would be branded Xbox…

THE LATEST NEWS FROM JULY 2002

JULY 2002 – The time for promises is over – the consoles are out and showing their power. Now it’s all about games, and E3 is where you’ll find them. Nick Thorpe is your guide to the most exciting gaming event of 2002 On 3 July, Paul Kelleher was arrested after decapitating a statue of Margaret Thatcher. The theatre producer was charged with criminal damage and never denied his actions, claiming that his attack on the marble statue was an act of artistic expression. An initial trial in December 2002 failed to determine if he had broken the law, but he was convicted at retrial in January 2003. French president Jacques Chirac was the target of an assassination attempt on 14 July, Bastille Day. Gunman Maxime Brunerie attempted to shoot…

JULY 2002 PLAYSTATION 2 1 LMA Manager 2002 (Codemasters) 2 Grand Theft Auto III (Rockstar) 3 Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (Sony) 4 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty (Konami) 5 Tekken Tag Tournament (Sony) XBOX 1 Halo: Combat Evolved (Microsoft) 2 Project Gotham Racing (Microsoft) 3 International Superstar Soccer 2 (Konami) 4 2002 FIFA World Cup (EA) 5 Max Payne (Rockstar) PC 1 The Sims: On Holiday (EA) 2 Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (Activision) 3 Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault (EA) 4 Dungeon Siege (Microsoft) 5 2002 FIFA World Cup (EA) MUSIC 1 Anyone Of Us (Stupid Mistake) (Gareth Gates) 2 The Logical Song (Scooter) 3 Shooting Star (Flip & Fill) 4 Your Song (Elton John & Alessandro Safina) 5 Foolish (Ashanti)…

THIS MONTH IN…

PC Gamer “It has been rumoured for some time now that Interplay were seeking a buyer for their development studio Shiny,” notes The Insider. “This month it was confirmed that publishers Infogrames have secured the deal, acquiring Shiny for a whopping $47 million.” That comes with the licence for games based on The Matrix. Bargain! Cube Apparently, the less-than-enthusiastic response to The Wind Waker was not universal. “Cel-shaded Link captured everyone’s hearts at E3 – many people were heard to say that it reminded them of the SNES version,” said Cube. Apparently, the style was for the best as it encouraged player imagination. Edge “To be honest, I would feel very sad if people thought this was a CG film. I mean we really did a hell of a lot…

» ZX SPECTRUM » 1985 » ROMANTIC ROBOT While there are plenty of racing games on the ZX Spectrum, I’d hazard a guess there are none quite like Wriggler. Starring a cute quartet of plump maggots, Wriggler was one of a handful of games released by Romantic Robot, a company famous for its range of Multiface peripherals. Despite Wriggler’s competitive theme, the goal was to simply escape a devilish maze – from the garden and scrublands, to a dangerous underground area and a mansion. In the tradition of many early 8-bit games, Wriggler was devised in a bedroom by two brothers from Cornwall. Going under the pseudonym of Devonshire House, Matthew and Allin Kempthorne drew inspiration from the ancient classic Snake, with Matthew challenging his artist brother to animate a…

50 YEARS OF KONAMI

Sometimes, a company can mean many different things to different people – and in Konami’s case, we’d argue that it’s just a sign of success and longevity. You might know it as a producer of excellent licensed beat-’em-ups, or a leading light in music games. You might have grown up putting coins into Scramble and Frogger, or the Konami Code into Gradius and Contra. If asked what the defining Konami series is, you could answer Castlevania, Metal Gear or Pro Evolution Soccer and back any of those options up with a credible argument. Konami’s roots go back to 1969, when it was founded by current Konami chairman Kagemasa Kozuki as a business renting and repairing karaoke machines. The company was fully incorporated as Konami Industry Co, Ltd in 1973, when…

50 YEARS OF KONAMI

KONAMI COMPILED

KONAMI ANTIQUES MSX COLLECTION ULTRA PACK SATURN ■ After three PlayStation compilations of ten games each, lucky Saturn owners got this huge compilation of 30 early Konami games. Many are arcade conversions, but you’ll also find MSX originals including Penguin Adventure and the first Parodius. Sadly, it was a Japanese exclusive. GRADIUS COLLECTION PSP ■ This compilation includes Gradius, Gradius II, Gradius III and Gradius IV, as well as the excellent PlayStation game Gradius Gaiden, which hadn’t previously been released outside of Japan. Similar PSP compilations also covered the Salamander, Parodius and TwinBee series, but were only released in Japan. KONAMI ARCADE CLASSICS DS ■ This compilation includes 15 of Konami’s Eighties arcade hits, such as Scramble, Time Pilot, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Green Beret and Contra. As well as the…

KONAMI

COMPILED

PERIPHERAL POWER

Konami isn’t the first company you’d think of as a hardware manufacturer, but it actually entered the gaming peripheral business back in the Eighties and continued to be involved in it for over two decades. One of the earliest and most surprising was the Game Master, an MSX utility cartridge that essentially functioned as an official cheating device for Konami games. However, most of its controllers were variations on the standard joystick and joypad, such as the HyperBeam wireless SNES controller and the Konami HyperStick for the PlayStation. Some of the company’s offerings have been a little bit more eccentric. The LaserScope, a voice-activated NES lightgun compatible with Zapper games, is notorious amongst fans of oddball gaming items due to its unusual concept. For some reason Game Boy docking stations…

PERIPHERAL

POWER

CHARACTER SELECT

FROGGER » DEBUT: 1981 » SERIES: FROGGER » LOVES: ZEBRA CROSSINGS » HATES: HUNGRY CROCODILES ■ Though most people know him for his arcade hit, Frogger was also an active star in the late Nineties and Noughties. PENTA » DEBUT: 1983 » SERIES: ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE » LOVES: PENKO » HATES: VISITING THE GYM ■ This penguin would do anything for love – he’ll cross the Antarctic, find a golden apple or even go on a big diet. MOAI HEAD » DEBUT: 1985 » SERIES: GRADIUS » LOVES: ??? » HATES: ??? ■ We don’t know where it came from. The only thing we can tell is that it seems to want to destroy Vic Viper. GOEMON » DEBUT: 1986 » SERIES: MYSTICAL NINJA » LOVES: A GOOD SCRAP » HATES:…

CHARACTER

SELECT

CRACKING THE CODE

GRADIUS NES ■ This was the first game to introduce the code, and using it confers awesome destructive power upon Vic Viper by giving it a full set of power-ups. CONTRA NES ■ This arcade conversion was one of the most famous games to include the code, as it gave the player 30 lives with which to surmount its mighty challenge. KID DRACULA NES ■ By this point, Konami was wise to the widespread practice of trying the code to see what happened. So this Castlevania spin-off recognises it, but that’s all. GRADIUS III SNES ■ The code here does the same as in the NES Gradius, except that it also kills you instantly. Use the shoulder buttons instead of left and right, and it won’t. CASTLEVANIA: BLOODLINES MEGA DRIVE…

CRACKING

THE CODE

BEYOND VIDEOGAMES

Though Konami doesn’t publish nearly as many home console games as it used to, the company is still a very large business because it has many interests. Most of these are connected to its heritage in gaming and amusement. For example, Konami Digital Entertainment - the bit that is primarily responsible for videogames – also handles the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, while Konami Amusement does pachislot machines as well as Bemani arcade games. Konami Gaming is the side of the business that handles machines for gambling establishments, from regular slot machines to elaborate systems like the Fortune Cup mechanical horse racing game. Some of these are even themed around videogames, including Castlevania: Valiant Guardian, Frogger: Great City Wilds and Neo Contra: Warrior Reloaded. The company also promotes a system…

BEYOND

VIDEOGAMES

DAFFY DUCK AND THE GREAT PAINT CAPER

Daffy Duck’s love of costumes, alongside Looney Tunes’ roster of colourful characters, held plenty of promise for a videogame. Digital Design, made up of programmer Dave Saunders and artist Ashley Routledge, took on the challenge of making Daffy Duck And The Great Paint Caper for the Commodore 64. “Ash and I had done a few other games for Hi-Tec and were offered Daffy Duck, which we were very pleased with as he was such an iconic cartoon character,” says Dave. “I don’t recall an actual design document but I think we must have had something to reference as I do not remember coming up with the level ideas and puzzle sequences. We did not have a 16-bit machine in the office, so goodness knows how we managed!” Ashley Routledge loved…

DAFFY DUCK AND THE GREAT PAINT CAPER

OR YOU COULD PLAY...

LOONEY TUNES 1999, SUNSOFT ■ Daffy is one of seven playable Looney Tunes characters in this platformer, split into short stages and filled with familiar tropes. There are tricky jumps and end-of-level bosses to conquer (including Yosemite Sam, Marvin The Martian and Elmer Fudd). TINY TOONS ADVENTURES – BUSTER BUSTS LOOSE 1992, KONAMI ■ This mixes the SNES skills of Konami with the star of Tiny Toons. The Dash bar mechanic and switches add a lot to the action, alongside a roster of memorable bosses. TAZ-MANIA 1992, RECREATIONAL BRAINWARE ■ Taz The Tasmanian Devil seeks the Lost Valley, where giant seabirds lay eggs – so he can make a huge omelette. Taz can use his tornado spin to defeat enemies, and he also eats objects in his path – the…

OR YOU COULD PLAY...

ULTIMATE GUIDE: SOLOMON’S KEY

A quick glance at the list of arcade games released in 1986 reveals a few surprises, and demonstrates an industry that was at least attempting to bring some originality to its product. In among the customary roster of shoot-‘em-ups (Salamander), driving games (Out Run) and run-and-gunners (Ikari Warriors), is a selection of imaginative titles that were distinctly different from the rest. In a virtual arcade where the aforementioned genres are banned, you would be able to include the likes of skateboarding sim 720°, Breakout upgrade Arkanoid, BubbleBobble and the urban destruction of Rampage. And nestled between these iconic cabs, a magical hue emanating from its incongruous artwork would sit Tecmo’s Solomon’s Key. Formerly known as Tekhan, Tecmo’s biggest hits before 1986 had been the explosive platformer Bomb Jack and football…

ULTIMATE GUIDE: SOLOMON’S KEY

CONVERSION CAPERS

AMSTRAD CPC ■ Not a great deal was expected of US Gold and Probe’s conversion, given the pair’s recent collaborations for the 8-bit computers, and while the weaker of the three, this Amstrad port is still passably fun and colourful. Only some slightly juddering controls let it down. ZX SPECTRUM ■ Coded by Raff Cecco, working freelance for Probe Software, this version contains the coder’s usual neat graphics and impressive gameplay. The arcade game’s sprites are replicated well, but much of its colour is inexplicably lost. COMMODORE 64 ■ Edging out its 8-bit home computer peers, this is a solid port. The graphics are functional, rather than outstanding, but there’s much enjoyment to be had from the zippy gameplay. It also got a rare thumbs up from the Zzap!64 reviewers.…

CONVERSION CAPERS

BLOCK PRODUCTION ■ Dana is pretty nifty at creating blocks. Not only does pointing to the left or right create one right in front of him, if he crouches down, he can also plug holes in the floor. The cunning wizard can even magic up blocks while sailing through the air, which comes in useful more often than you would typically think. DIFFERENT METHODS ■ Each screen in Soloman’s Key can be tackled differently, although generally there is one obvious solution. Take this first level: the turtle in the centre can be avoided completely, or dropped to its doom by taking out the block beneath it. As long as you acquire that key, the door will be open and escape is possible. EXPERIMENT FOR BONUSES ■ Solomon’s Key encourages the…

CONTINUING THE ADVENTURE

Originally developed as a separate, new IP, the NES title Fire ‘N’ Ice was morphed into a Solomon’s Key prequel in 1992 when that game became a success for Tecmo on the Nintendo console. Taking its cue from the Game Boy’s Catrap, AKAPitman, Fire ‘N’ Ice ramps up the puzzle elements as Dana extinguishes flames throughout each level using his ice-creating wand. Loose ice blocks can be pushed and slid (giving the game an added Pengo dimension) while blocks formed in midair fall to eliminate fires below. While fans of Solomon’s Key may find the lack of a jump annoying, Fire ‘N’ Ice is a fantastic game, with a charming central character and a real sense of achievement when some of the trickier stages are solved. An actual sequel to…

CONTINUING THE ADVENTURE

Q&A RAFFAELE CECCO

How did you come to work with Probe? It was a fairly small industry at the time, and I’d chatted to Fergus McGovern – owner of Probe, sadly deceased in 2016 – about the possibility of freelance work. He knew about my Hewson Consultants titles so it was just a case of waiting for the opportunity to come up. Did you work with anyone else when creating Solomon’s Key? All of the coding was done by myself, although I don’t remember if I had any help with the graphics or if they supplied the original graphics for me to copy. Certainly, the ZX Spectrum graphics look like my style. What did you think of the arcade game? I wasn’t familiar with it, and I really liked it when I played…

Q&A RAFFAELE CECCO

» MASTER SYSTEM » 1988 » SEGA R&D2 I loved playing Shinobi in the arcades. It was one of the first games that I was genuinely good at and I got banned from the coin-op in our local Circle K convenience store because a single ten pence would get me right through to the end of the game. Needless to say, when I decided to buy a Sega Master System, Shinobi was the very first game I purchased for it. I was working at Gateway at the time and would tease my friends who were at university because I had a swanky new games console on the way and they were still using their Spectrums and Amigas. “Wait until you play Shinobi, Paul,” I would say to my best mate.…

THE MAKING OF ROBOCOP 2

By any measure, Ocean Software’s multiplatform adaptation of the hit Eighties movie RoboCop was a success. As well as receiving top ratings across formats when reviewed, Ocean’s licensed title broke every record by staying at number one in the games charts for 18 months. The Spectrum and Amstrad CPC versions were designed by coder Mike Lamb, but as former Ocean artist Ivan Horn explains, the design of RoboCop’s inevitable return to Sinclair and Amstrad systems was given to him instead. “I think Mike Lamb left Ocean after working on the Batman game,” Ivan ponders, “so by the time that work started on RoboCop 2, he was either gone or known to be going. Andrew Deakin and I had always worked together as a team to that point, in so far…

THE MAKING OF ROBOCOP 2

CLASSIC MOMENTS

ZX SPECTRUM 128 CENTRUM FIREFIGHT ■ The Spectrum version’s opening stage has too many criminals and not enough power-ups, but its Civic Centrum level is perfectly balanced. It throws bad guys at you from all directions as the energy bar pick-ups rain down, which produces an intense firefight as you ascend the building. GX4000 HAZARDOUS HOVERPADS ■ There’s a sheer drop in the GX4000 iteration’s first level with a magnet hanging over it, which carries RoboCop through the air and drops him. This seems counterintuitive, but the hoverpad he lands on shortly after allows you to pilot him upwards through a series of gun emplacements. GX4000 PUNISHING PLATFORMING ■ The penultimate stage of the rock-hard GX4000 version is just as tough as you would expect. Its six floors of fearsome…

CLASSIC MOMENTS

“I remember at the time that there was a lot of interest at Ocean in the new GX4000 console from a management point of view,” former Ocean artist Ivan Horn says. “That was to the extent that while in its development, James Higgins – an Ocean coder – went to Amstrad at least once to talk to its GX4000 development team. Ocean was pretty tight-lipped about the sales of the games that we made, so I’ve got no real idea of how many copies it sold. But given that there were only about 15,000 units of the GX4000 console [sold], even if every owner bought RoboCop 2 that would have been pretty disappointing sales for that platform.” On the C64GS RoboCop 2, former freelance Ocean coder Mark Rogers recollects a…

CONVERSION CAPERS

ZX SPECTRUM 128 ■ The stages here are side-on affairs – the first is a gruelling shooter/platformer, the second involves tricky platforming and the third is a thrilling shooter. There are also puzzle and shooting gallery sections. GX4000 ■ This port is pretty much all platformer, with very few villains to shoot. Besides its main stage platforming, it has nicer looking versions of the Spectrum RoboCop 2’s puzzle and shooting range challenges. COMMODORE 64 ■ You get sent to a shooting range for recalibration if you miss your arrest and Nuke confiscation targets in this port. Otherwise, this adaptation alternates between shooting and platforming. AMIGA ■ The Amiga RoboCop 2 incorporates many of the best bits of the Spectrum and GX4000 versions, and it also has its own unique level…

CONVERSION CAPERS

» DEVELOPER: Sega AM2 » YEAR: 1987 A s a game designer, Yu Suzuki has always been preoccupied with creating simulations of some kind, from the motorbike control method of the Hang-On cabinet to the detailed world of Shenmue on the Dreamcast. With Out Run taking care of land-based vehicles and Top Gun drawing millions at the box office, AM2’s next project to use Sega’s cutting-edge sprite scaling technology was a flight combat game. Though critics might argue that the game is a tad shallow, After Burner was truly spectacular to behold, thanks to its blistering speed, massive explosions and full barrel rolls. In keeping with AM2’s previous showpiece games, After Burner was available in a deluxe motion cabinet. But not every operator had the money or space to host…

Life In The Past Lane

The Retro Gamer team is always keen on little nods to history, and the brief cutscene that takes place after a few stages has a good one. Your F-14 comes in to land on a road for some servicing. While this happens, the motorbike from Hang-On starts off down the road and overtakes the fighter jet, only for the jet to quickly speed past the rider as it takes off. Another version of this scene takes place later in the game, and replaces the bike with the car from Out Run. It’s only a small presentation thing, but we love it.…

Life In The Past Lane

THE MAKING OF AMIGA POWER

My biggest disappointment,” begins Matt Bielby, Amiga Power’s first editor, “was that we had a very different cover design at the start.” Later Amiga Power staffers would gently mock the initial incarnation of the magazine, with its clean white look and word-spattered covers, referring to it as the ‘Matt Bielby Golden Age’. But Matt reveals that he never wanted those dull cover designs. Originally, he had called in Jamie Hewlett, the artist behind Tank Girl and Gorillaz, to draw the covers for every issue of Amiga Power. “He developed a character for us,” says Matt. “She was a bit like Tank Girl but had green hair, and she had kind of blobby floating alien sidekicks [you can see a sketch at the top of this page]. And Jamie was going…

THE MAKING OF AMIGA POWER

Where are they now?

MATT BIELBY ■ After birthing Amiga Power, Matt says he’d “become one of the go-to guys to launch anything that was games-y”, and Future offered him the chance to helm either a Mega Drive or a Super NES magazine. He picked the latter, launchingSuper Play in 1992. He went on to launch PC Gamer, .net, SFX, Total Film, Arcade and the Official PlayStation 2 Magazine before eventually leaving Future. Currently, he says he’s “desperately trying to write some novels – they’re not finished yet, but they’re getting there” while running a food mag called Crumbs. STUART CAMPBELL ■ Stuart left AP to work for Sensible Software during the production of Cannon Fodder 2, Sensible World Of Soccer and Sensible Golf. After that he did “all kinds of things in journalism…

Where are they now?

Where are they now?

RICH PELLEY ■ After Rich left Future Publishing he vowed never to play a videogame again (although he says he “DID PLAY MARIO KART ON THE WII AGAINST MY NEPHEW ONCE, AND HE BEAT ME”). He decided to become a men’s magazine journalist. After writing for magazines like FHM and Loaded, Rich finally decided it was “ALL A BIT EMBARRASSING” and started working for The Guardian instead. CAM WINSTANLEY ■ Amiga Power was the first (and only) games magazine that Cam worked on. In 2003, he married former AP art assistant Lisa Kellett after bumping into her at a party. Cam says that “like most freelance writers, I now sit in my spare room cranking out copy for B2B journals and internally-distributed magazines for European IT consultancy firms while writing…

Where are they now?

Essential issues

ISSUE 21 SENSIBLE SOCCER WITH HILARIOUS CONSEQUENCES ■ Amiga Power cover disks often featured bespoke games, like Sensible Soccer Meets Bulldog Blighty in issue 21. “The ball would explode randomly, [it] was just a unique game because it only existed on that cover disk,” says Cam. Gravity Power was another exclusive: “We paid them a few hundred quid and we said, ‘Do us a version where it looks exactly the same, but we want these major changes: we want the gravity halved, and we want the inertia changed to this, and we want the shields changed to this.’ We played it all the time.” ISSUE 32 CANNON FODDER CONTROVERSY ■ The Cannon Fodder poppy cover was changed after The Daily Star saw it in an Amiga Power advert and ran…

Essential issues

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

» SNES » 1992 » CAPCOM When I was growing up, Street Fighter II was a game that I would only get to play on special occasions – during trips to seaside arcades, or when I visited SNES-owning relatives – so my time with the game was always limited. Without time to try all the fighters I’d always just pick Ryu, since he wore a white gi like I did at karate, and therefore looked like a proper martial artist. I never really began to appreciate the rest of the cast until I finally got to play against my cousin, who actually had two controllers. Being a bit older than me and the owner of the console, my cousin was able to wreck me swiftly and decisively, over and over…

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

THE MAKING OF US VS THEM

Warren Davis sighs deeply. “Oh man, I was crushed,” he says, shaking his head. “I loved Us Vs Them so much and was so proud of it. When you create something like this, you do it for one reason – so people can play it. Then I heard about the LaserDisc problems, the backlash, the lawsuit… it was like my world was collapsing. It was a huge regret that more people didn’t get to play the game.” At Retro Gamer we like to share the stories behind the titles that defined our childhood, but sometimes the tales of what could have been are just as fascinating. For a brief moment in the early Eighties, LaserDisc games seemed to be the future of coin-ops, combining movie-quality graphics with the interactivity of…

THE MAKING OF US VS THEM

ASTRON BELT 1983 ■ This Sega-produced shooter is generally recognised as the first commercially released LaserDisc game, though various technical issues meant it didn’t reach the United States until after Dragon’s Lair, which largely stole its thunder, both over there and in Europe. CLIFF HANGER 1983 ■ Stern got into the laser game with this entertaining entry, which used footage from Japanese manga hit Lupin The Third, and offers much car-hopping, helicopter-dangling and breathless scuba-diving sections in your mission to rescue the beautiful Clarisse d’Cagliostro. SUPER DON QUIX-OTE 1984 ■ Featuring a mummy, dragon and electric jellyfish, none of which appear in Cervantes’ 17th century proto-novel, this Universal title does at least include windmills, plus handy icons indicating which direction our brave knight should venture. COBRA COMMAND 1984 ■ Not…

ULTIMATE GUIDE: CONTRA THE ALIEN WARS

We all know that it’s possible to extract amazing performance from a dated gaming platform – with clever programming and perhaps a little hardware help, minor miracles are possible. But sometimes you just have to accept that more power is the answer, as a new hardware platform can bring wholly new possibilities to a game or genre, whether that’s with new graphical techniques or through sheer computational power. When Contra III: The Alien Wars hit the SNES in 1992, there was no doubt that this was one of those instances, as the game featured impressive setpieces and high-intensity action that just wouldn’t have been possible on older machines. Contra was converted to a variety of platforms following its arcade debut and found success on the NES, but Nintendo’s 8-bit platform…

ULTIMATE GUIDE: CONTRA THE ALIEN WARS

AWESOME ARSENAL

SPREAD GUN ■ The classic is back, and we’ll always welcome it. Why limit yourself to a single line of destructive fire when you can spread the damage over a wider area? HOMING GUN ■ Accurate aiming is for chumps and suckers, as anyone who has spent some time with these homing missiles will tell you. It’s great for novice players. BARRIER ■ This handy multihued shield allows you to run around at leisure, unimpeded by enemy gunfire. It turns red when it’s on the verge of expiring, so pay attention! CRUSH GUN ■ This weapon fires powerful blasts that leave lingering explosions, causing extra damage. The major disadvantage is the short range of fire. LASER GUN ■ While this weapon only fires in a straight line, much like the…

AWESOME ARSENAL

CONTRA COLLECTED

Konami’s third compilation celebrating its 50th anniversary is dedicated to Contra. It will comprise several classics, including the arcade games Contra and Super Contra, the NES game Super C, the SNES’s ContraIII: The Alien Wars and the Mega Drive’s Contra: Hard Corps. “I have not been directly involved in the day-to-day development of the Contra Anniversary Collection, however the team has been kind enough to keep me regularly updated and I have given my insight when needed,” explains Contra III director Nobuya Nakazato. Konami has taken extra care with the Contra compilation to ensure that each player will be able to experience their favourites in the way they prefer. “Since bothContra and Probotector are included, everyone will have a chance to experience the series in a new way,” he reveals.…

CONTRA COLLECTED

CONVERSION CAPERS

GAME BOY ■ Given that Factor 5 was trying to squeeze an advanced SNES game into the most limited of consoles available, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Contra III (Contra Spirits in Japan and Probotector2 in Europe) isn’t a perfect port. The graphical excess has been pared back, a number of minibosses and the jet bike stage have been removed, and there’s no rotation in the overhead stages. Once you’ve got past that, it’s fair to say that the team managed to pull off a credible imitation that retains much of the original game’s character. However, there are some things which don’t work in its favour. It’s not a fast game in the way that Contra titles usually are, and enemies have been made more resilient to make up…

CONVERSION CAPERS

STAGE 1 ■ Your first major foe looks like a big, ugly biomechanical tortoise. Its mouth is rather dangerous – it can spit up more enemies and fire a powerful laser. HOW TO BEAT IT Underneath the neck and in front of the front legs, you’ll see that the boss has an obvious red weak spot. Use the platforms to dodge the enemy’s attacks, and aim for the weak spot whenever reasonably possible. STAGE 2 ■ This robot is a bit like a spider, but with six legs rather than eight. The small central ‘body’ has a flashing red target where you would expect to see a head. HOW TO BEAT IT First, you’ll need to destroy the circular targets at the end of each of the robot’s legs. Once…

THE UNCONVERTED

ASTERIX DEVELOPER: KONAMI YEAR: 1992 GENRE: BEAT-’EM-UP ■ Konami’s chunky and bright four-player cartoon beat-’em-ups, notably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons, along with the even larger six-player X-Men cabinet, were a regular staple of arcades, cinema foyers and bowling alleys in the Nineties. But for some reason this beautifully crafted coin-op reworking of the world-famous Asterix comic book series was a far rarer find. And that’s a shame, because, despite being for only two players, it’s arguably more enjoyable than all the aforementioned games. Starring the eponymous wing-helmeted Gaul, the game sees Asterix and his sidekick, the menhirobsessed Obelix, travelling the known world in a similar manner to the books, on the way paffing legions of hapless Romans into next week. The presentation, tone and visual design of…

THE UNCONVERTED

BEST LEFT IN THE ARCADE

MIA - MISSING IN ACTION DEVELOPER: KONAMI YEAR: 1989 GENRE: ACTION ■ This sequel of sorts to Green Beret (aka Rush’n Attack) seems heavily influenced by Rambo: First Blood Part II… if John Rambo was armed with nothing but a combat knife for most of the duration of the film, that is. Tasked with rescuing a number of POWs from the jungles of Vietnam, you’ll soon find that it’s time to get stabby with hordes of enemies that have opted for the fatally suicidal tactic of running straight into your stumpy, yet incredibly deadly, blade. Occasionally you pick up special weapons (grenades, machine guns or bazookas) but the slow speed of firing compared to the stabbing action of your knife, plus the fact that your power-ups only seem to contain…

BEST LEFT IN THE ARCADE

» PLATFORM: N64 » RELEASED: 1999 » COST: £12.99 (LAUNCH), £8+ (NOW) To take advantage of its unique position as the only company promoting both a home and handheld console during the late Nineties, Nintendo created the Transfer Pak peripheral to encourage interaction between Game Boy and N64 games. The device connects to the expansion port of the N64 controller, and features a slot for Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges at a right angle. The resulting device isn’t particularly pretty, and adds a considerable amount of size and weight to the controller, but it does get the job done. The Transfer Pak is most commonly associated with HAL Laboratory’s Pokémon Stadium, as it was bundled with the game. However, the device was available separately and there were 17…

ESSENTIAL GAME POKéMON STADIUM 2

This is the ultimate evolution of the Pokémon Stadium concept on N64, offering full 3D battles and a variety of minigames. The Transfer Pak allows you to transfer your team from any of the first two generations of Pokémon games from the handheld to the big screen, as well as transferring exclusive Pokémon to your Game Boy game. If two Transfer Paks are present, you can trade Pokémon without a Game Boy link cable. The device even allows you to actually play the games on your TV, complete with Super Game Boy-style borders and the option to speed up gameplay.…

ESSENTIAL GAME POKéMON STADIUM 2

ULTIMATE GUIDE: G.LOC AIR BATTLE LOSS OF CONSCIDUSNESS BY G FORCE

In 1990 Sega issued a glossy flyer for its ‘High-Entertainment Gamer Series’, which was its own moniker for the deluxe versions of its ‘Super Scaler’ games. All of these top-of-the-range titles were listed in chronological order, starting with Hang-On and its famous ‘Ride-On’ bike and including such memorable cockpit cabs as Space Harrier, Out Run, After Burner and Power Drift. If you needed reminding why Sega ruled the arcades during the latter half of the Eighties then this was it – a combination of outstanding games housed inside incredible cabs. And there, 11th in line, was its latest ‘Hi-Entertainment’ release, G-LOC (named after the aerospace term ‘loss of consciousness by G-force’). Could it continue the winning run? The moving sit-down cab was another weighty beast, sharing dimensions and aesthetics with…

ULTIMATE GUIDE: G.LOC AIR BATTLE LOSS OF CONSCIDUSNESS BY G FORCE

CONVERSION CAPERS

COMMODORE 64 ■ And you thought the C64 version of After Burner was dire. Bad graphics, poor presentation and turgid gameplay shoot down this turkey from US Gold. In-game audio amounts to a constant high-pitched wailing. Zzap!64 gave this 35%, which was generous. ZX SPECTRUM ■ This one will leave you feeling black and blue – and that’s just the graphics. The monochrome display is far from appealing, but the game does run at a decent pace and offers up a solid challenge. It’s nothing special, though it does play to the strengths of the Speccy. AMSTRAD CPC ■ Very similar to the Spectrum version, as you’d expect, but benefiting hugely from colour graphics (you know when you’ve scored a hit as you actually see the enemy explode into flames).…

CONVERSION CAPERS

Q&A: STUART GREGG

Do you know why Probe undertook this conversion, as Sega often handled its own console ports? Sorry I don’t know for sure, but I think it was a trial by Sega to see how it went. Did you have access to the original coin-op? I didn’t have the machine but I made a few trips to the arcades to play the game. I did have lots of playthrough videos that really helped, though. The Mega Drive version adds several new elements not seen in the coin-op. Were you given free rein to embellish the original, or were the additions requested by Sega? I wasn’t the original programmer, Dave Perry was. He left, moving to Virgin in the US to work on Aladdin. I picked it up from Dave after the…

Q&A: STUART GREGG

EXPLORING THE R360

GYROSCOPE BODY ■ The gyroscope rapidly spins players 360 degrees in all directions. A seat belt and harness inside the cockpit keeps the occupant safely strapped in. EMERGENCY STOP BUTTON ■ If the rider feels unwell, they can hit the large red button inside the cockpit to stop the machine and alert the attendant to the issue. COCKPIT MONITOR ■ The action is displayed on a 20-inch CRT monitor (same as the deluxe version of G-LOC). The display is replicated on a smaller ten-inch monitor built into the attendant tower. SAFETY BARRIER ■ A barrier was positioned around the machine to keep spectators away from the spinning gyroscope. The ride would stop if the area was encroached. ATTENDANT CONSOLE ■ The R360 was designed with a dedicated attendant in mind.…

EXPLORING THE R360

What’s the history of your R360 machine? Where was it originally based and how did you acquire it? It was initially sited in Mr B’s arcade on Blackpool seafront. Many years later it was moved to Metroland at the Metrocentre in Gateshead, where it eventually developed a fault which Sega said could not be repaired due to lack of parts. It was then listed on eBay to see if anyone would buy it before it was cut up for scrap. I went to look at it and made an offer. They were going to scrap it? The reason was that there was only one door that was wide enough for it to fit through. Even then it had to be moved though the full length of the Metrocentre in two…

FROM THE ARCHIVES: RUNNING WITH SCISSORS

If your mother ever told you not to run with scissors, then she would certainly have warned you against playing a violently anarchic, boundary-shifting murder romp starring a gunman rampaging through a town. After all, killing people going about their daily life tends to be something that ends up on a rolling television news channel rather than something you do for fun. Yet that was the premise of Postal, Running With Scissors’ long-running series. And, as you can imagine, it got the studio into heaps of trouble from the start. Blamed for the stabbing of eight people in a Moscow synagogue? Sure. Banned from New Zealand? Absolutely. Dubbed “digital poison” by US Senator Joseph Lieberman who also sought to have it ripped from shop shelves? That, says Vince Desi, the…

FROM THE ARCHIVES: RUNNING WITH SCISSORS

1991 ■ Riedel Software Productions (RSP) is cofounded by Vince Desi and Mike Riedel. 1996 ■ Fed up of making kids games, Vince forms Running With Scissors (RWS). 1997 ■ As the United States Postal Service learns of Postal’s development, it sues. ■ Postal is released to a massive backlash due to its murderous content. 1998 ■ Postal expansionSpecial Delivery is released, bringing a bunch of new content. 1999 ■ Sci-fi game Flesh And Wire is among three canned games as Running With Scissors shifts to concentrate on Postal. 2000 ■ Super Postal is released in Japan. 2002 ■ Postal Plus, Postal with the Special Delivery add-on included, is released. 2003 ■ Postal 2 is launched. 2004 ■ Postal 2 is banned in New Zealand and, a year later, in…

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

VINCE DESI ■ Vince remains the CEO of Running With Scissors and he continues, along with his team of developers, to work on the Postal franchise with updates of the games. Vince loves to engage with Postal fans and see what they’re getting up to: indeed, having made the original Postal code open source in 2016, he has seen the game unofficially ported to machines such as the Nintendo Switch (and since it needs the data files from the original game to run, it helps to generate extra sales). GARY COLEMAN ■ Having made his appearance in both the game Postal 2 and in the Postal movie, the former child actor’s, madcap life continued on. He got married in 2007 to 22-year-old Shannon Price before divorcing the following year. One…

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

THE DNA OF RUNNING WITH SCISSORS

POSTAL ■ A history of Running With Scissors is akin to a history of Postal, given that every game the company has released has been another component of this long-running franchise. RWS has managed to keep interest in the game alive by cultivating a strong fanbase while also remaining entirely independent. The series even saw its own movie release, courtesy of divisive director Uwe Boll. VIOLENCE ■ The studio’s games are known for their very specific flavour of violence, but Vince Desi says they also “showcase many elements of today’s crazy world” and are heavy on satire and humour: “If we took a more serious dramatic approach, it wouldn’t be funny. And we all know it’s always funny until someone gets hurt – and then its absolutely friggin’ hysterical.” CONTROVERSY…

THE DNA OF RUNNING WITH SCISSORS

Zombies Ate My Neighbors

» PLATFORM: MEGA DRIVE » RELEASED: 1993 » DEVELOPER: LUCASARTS Who would have thought that in a game packed with zombies, mummies, aliens, chainsaw maniacs, killer dolls, werewolves and all kinds of other horrors, the scariest foe of all would be a human baby? Well, the star of Titanic Toddler, stage eight of LucasArts’ cult classic shooter, is no ordinary infant. This towering tot is huge, and surprisingly nimble for its size. As well as having an enormous health pool that can take ages to whittle down if you’re short on weapons, its attacks are no joke, either – it can squirt milk from its oversized bottle if you try to fight it at range, while its stomps can leave you flat as a pancake. Oh, and you might want…

Zombies Ate My Neighbors

MORE CLASSIC ZOMBIES ATE MY NEIGHBORS MOMENTS

Day Of The Tentacle This bonus stage is a direct callback to LucasArts’ point-and-click classic, replacing zombies with threatening purple tentacles. The catch? Well, you’re in the lap of the RNG gods if you want to check this stage out – you need to get a lucky bazooka or monster potion pick-up in the opening level in order to smash the hedge wall in the top-left corner of the map. Creature Feature Just about every classic B-movie trope is referenced here, and each new enemy type that gets introduced changes things up in exciting and amusing ways. The monsters are all superbly animated, whether it’s the lumbering chainsaw maniacs prowling the hedge mazes or the killer dolls that leap from their packaging in the toy store. Drink Me The potion…

MORE CLASSIC ZOMBIES ATE MY NEIGHBORS MOMENTS

THE HISTORY OF: SPIDER-MAN

There’s something about Peter Parker’s alter ego that has made the web-slinger one of the most iconic characters in comic books, film, television, toys and, of course, videogames. And it’s easy to argue that Spider-Man has had far greater success in gaming than any of his superhero stablemates. Aside from perhaps Batman, few comic book characters have had the same prevalence in videogames, fewer still have had the consistency. “THAT WAS THE HEART OF THE ENTIRE GAME GETTING THE WEB, THE ARC, THE SWING”Laura Nikolich Spidey’s career starts towards the end of the Seventies, at which point the hero was a household name. With the ascent of gaming, Marvel was clearly on the hunt for a way to bring its hottest character over to the computer gaming market. Around the…

THE HISTORY OF: SPIDER-MAN

SPIDER-SENSE ■ Though it’s always appeared in a variety of forms and functions, the web-head’s ability to detect danger before it happens is a perfect tool to implement into videogames. It creates an excuse to give players extra response times for potential threats. WEB-SWINGING ■ As perhaps the most iconic of Spider-Man’s slew of abilities, web-swinging has been a defining trait of the character in videogames from the very beginning. It’s often the one aspect that needs to be right in a game for it to achieve greatness. WALL-CLIMBING ■ Another iconic trait of Spidey, wall-climbing enables something in the character that not many videogame stars can get. It provides stealth opportunities, exploration of 3D space or even just a way to launch attacks onto enemies. SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH ■ Flying…

THE HALL OF INFAMY

VENOM ■ Easily the most familiar villain in the Spider-Man comics, Venom has appeared in a number of games – not only as an enemy to defeat but he’s also worked as an ally on occasion, too. DR OCTOPUS ■ As the leader of the Sinister Six, Doc Ock has made it into the games a number of times alongside the five other members. He’s also solely been the lead villain of a couple of games, too. THE GOBLINS ■ Whether it’s the Green Goblin, the Hobgoblin or the Demogoblin, these villains have made appearances in numerous Spidey games. Green Goblin has even been playable in one game. SCORPION ■ Old pointy-tail isn’t exactly the most exciting foe for Spider-Man and he’s never been a major antagonist in the games,…

THE HALL OF INFAMY

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!

STATUE OF LIBERTY ■ This is a secret level featured in Maximum Carnage and is actually only one of the few times the famous statue has featured directly as part of the Spider-Man games and their various missions. THE TWIN TOWERS ■ The finalbattle of Enter Electro was supposed to take place on top of the World Trade Center, but as part of the emotional concerns surrounding the 9/11 attacks, it was altered at the last minute. TIMES SQUARE ■ Tourists flock to Times Square daily but few Spidey games actually have moments set within the area itself. The battle with Demogoblin in Maximum Carnage is perhaps the most notable. MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ■ A familiar sight in NY-based videogames due to its varied cultures and points of interest,…

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!

SPIDEY SPIN-OFFS

LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES ■ Naturally Spider-Man plays a significant part of the fantastic Lego game Marvel Super Heroes. He’s important enough to have entire levels dedicated to his storylines and characters, while his unique abilities also mean he’s one of the handful of characters you’ll be using at the end to collect those gold bricks. MARVEL VS CAPCOM ■ When this crossover happened, it’s not surprising that our favourite web-slinger was included in the roster. Marvel has countless characters to pick from to battle Ryu and friends, but there is no way that Spidey would be excluded. He likely will feature in any future similar crossover titles, too. TONY HAWK’S PRO SKATER 2 ■ Since Neversoft worked on both the Tony Hawk’s games and the Spider-Man PlayStation game, there…

SPIDEY SPIN-OFFS

» MANUFACTURER: Nintendo » YEAR: 2004 » COST: £99.99/$149.99 (launch), (£20+ today) Having been the dominant force in the handheld sector for over two decades, Nintendo finally started to feel the squeeze around the turn of the millennium as the explosive rise of mobile gaming transformed portable gaming. Mobile games were simple, cheap and accessible, with basic touchscreen interfaces letting anyone grab a quick gaming session on the go via a device they already carried with them everywhere. So in 2005, Nintendo returned fire at this unlikely opponent with a new handheld console that delivered the best of both worlds – classic button layouts and support for traditional gaming experience, but with the potential to tap into this new casual audience thanks to its optional stylus control on the lower…

Nintendo DS Fact

■ Contrary to popular belief, ‘DS’ does not stand for ‘dual screen’ – Nintendo stated that the intended meaning was ‘developers’ system’, due to the new potential its twin screens offered to game creators. PROCESSOR: ARM946E-S (67MHZ), ARM7TDMI (33MHZ) RAM: 4MB GRAPHICS: TWO THREE-INCH LCD SCREENS (256X192), 18-BIT COLOUR DEPTH AUDIO: 16-CHANNEL PCM8/PCM16/IMA-ADPCM, BUILT-IN STEREO SPEAKERS, HEADPHONE JACK MEDIA: CARTRIDGE (TWO SLOTS – PROPRIETARY DS CARTS AND GAME BOY ADVANCE CARTS) MEDIA: CASSETTE, OPTIONAL 5.25-INCH FLOPPY DISK INTERFACE, OPTIONAL HARD DISK INTERFACE…

EDITOR’S CHOICE

We’re not going to pretend that this novelty slice of pseudoscience is the DS’ best game, but it’s hands-down one of the platform’s most important releases. Between the handheld’s low cost and touch-based interface, and the game’s reliance on simple puzzles and tests, the barrier for entry to gaming was lowered to allow a whole new generation of (typically older) players to pick up and enjoy a Nintendo console. Marketing material frequently went after this demographic following the game’s success, and much of the DS’ own success is down to accessible titles like this bringing in a new audience.…

EDITOR’S CHOICE

“THE ADVANCE WARS-STYLE FORMULA GOT LEFT BEHIND COMPLETELY“Finn Brice To say London-based publisher and developer Chucklefish has a style is an understatement. Pocket Rumble looks like it could’ve been a one-on-one fighter ripped straight from the Neo-Geo Pocket Color’s library; Timespinner is a dead ringer for classic Igavania games; Stardew Valley – a runaway success which Chucklefish originally published – wears its Harvest Moon inspirations on its sleeve. No, Chucklefish has a speciality. The studio is known for its distinctive pixel art games that, at a glance, draw inspiration from fondly remembered sprite-filled classics from the 16-bit and 32-bit eras. That’s not to say that the team wishes to draw you in on nostalgia and call it a day, though. “As gaming transitioned from 2D to 3D, the genres kind…

It’s clear the team behind Wargroove has an affinity for man’s best friend. Initially, when the team was experimenting with different visual themes, the team mocked up a version of the game where each unit was either a cat or a dog (see the picture above). Dogs did make it into the final version of the game, as a unit type that acts as a scout, and they come in four different flavours – Battlepup, Dreadhound, Shiba Inu and Quagmutt, each based on which nation your Commander character is from. And then, of course there’s Caesar, the majestic canine commander, who is somewhat based on Chucklefish’s own office dog, called Iorek. “He doesn’t look exactly the same, he’s not white for one,” Finn tells us, “but they both have the…

CHAIN OF COMMAND

MERCIA ■ The well-meaning and energetic leader of the Cherrystone nation, and the campaign’s protagonist. CAESAR ■ The best of boys, oh yes he is. This majestic beast is Mercia’s pet and best friend – he’s an inspiring leader, too. NURU ■ An upbeat Florian that follows Mercia on her quest. Nuru first appeared in Chucklefish’s first developed game, Starbound. TENRI ■ The empress of Heavensong. Tenri can conjure a fierce wind to blow her enemies away, provided they’re not a commander unit. RYOTA ■ This guy has blades for legs. Actual blades for legs. Naturally, he’s a gifted kicker, as well as a loyal and trusted vassal to Tenri. RAGNA ■ Ragna shouts, a lot. That said, she’s only out for a fair fight and is more a victim…

CHAIN OF COMMAND

» SATURN » 1995 » SEGA I’ve always wanted to own Astal. The opportunity first arose about 15 years ago after I picked up a ‘This Is Cool’ Saturn with 28 shoot-’em-ups for £500, but something stopped me from purchasing it. Fast forward to this year’s London Gaming Market and I was finally able to pick up a copy at a very reasonable price. It turns out that Astal is a very surprising game, but not always for the right reasons. The biggest surprise I had upon Astal loading up was discovering that it’s actually developed by Sega. I had no idea this was the case, which surprised me somewhat because the main character is so ugly. There’s nothing in Astal’s dour design to suggest he comes from the same…

Team Sonic Racing

>> We loved Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, but will the follow-up be just as good? We also put Konami’s latest compilation through its paces, do some dangerous driving and play the latest Puyo Puyo game. Enjoy! We won’t lie, we were disappointed when we found out that Sumo’s latest Sega racing project would focus exclusively on Sonic and regular karting, dropping the aircraft, boats and Sega characters of Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Of course, Sega has gone to great pains to explain that Team Sonic Racing definitelyisn’t a sequel to the All-Stars Racing games, and is in fact very different. So if we focus on what the game is instead of what it isn’t, do we still find something worth playing? Firstly, it’s worth pointing out that Sega’s…

Team Sonic Racing

» Sonic’s relationship with vehicles goes back a long way. He made his first ever videogame appearance (as an air freshener) in Rad Mobile, then eventually starred in two average kart racing games for Sega’s Game Gear. After a brief spell racing on foot with Sonic R he then got back into the driving seat for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, which arrived in 2010. Sumo outdid itself with the excellent sequel, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, which brings us neatly to Sonic’s latest racing game. Phew!…

Castlevania Anniversary Collection

The second of Konami’s trilogy of compilations to celebrate its 50th anniversary is now with us, and it’s a marked improvement over last month’s Arcade Classics. The big news here is that coding duties are being handled by emulation master M2, and while we’ve noticed a few hiccups what’s on offer is very, very good considering this is essentially a budget release. Before we move onto the presentation, however, let’s take a look at the actual games which have been included. Anniversary Collection features all three NES games, Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania: Bloodlines, two Game Boy titles: Castlevania: The Adventure and Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge and the quirky NES game, Kid Dracula. This last title is worth mentioning as it was originally a Japanese exclusive (only the Game Boy port…

Castlevania Anniversary Collection

Puyo Puyo Champions

Puyo Puyo lends itself well to ruthless competition, and this slim digital-only package offers the most popular Puyo Puyo rulesets for a primarily multiplayer audience. Puyo Puyo 2 is the most familiar, operating like Mean Bean Machine but with the ability to counter incoming garbage, while Puyo Puyo Fever adds three and four-puyo drop formations and the ability to trigger prebuilt Fever combos. You can play local and online multiplayer, as well as CPU matches, but there’s no solo campaign. The netcode is rock-solid and replay options are plentiful, making this a decent package for experienced players seeking competition. Sadly, the game does little to educate beginners, who’ll likely prefer Puyo Puyo Tetris. >> Score 80%…

Puyo Puyo Champions

Dangerous Driving

» System: Xbox One (tested) PS4 » Buy it from: Online, retail » Buy it for: £24.99 From the moment you roar off the starting line, perform your first drift and aggressively send a rival car flying through the air, Dangerous Driving’s ancestry becomes instantly obvious. Sure it lacks the glossy presentation that saturated the later EA games, and yes there are a few technical issues, but this is Burnout in all but name and it’s great fun. Three Fields Entertainment’s arcade racing expertise is on show here, from the well-balanced roster of vehicles, to the dynamic tracks and ferociously challenging AI opponents. There’s no doubt of its budget roots (Spotify Premium is used in lieu of in-game music to save budget, for example) and some will want more content,…

Dangerous Driving

Guilty Gear 20th Anniversary Pack

Rather than going for a full compilation, Arc System Works has chosen to focus on just two games – the very first Guilty Gear, and Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R, the final sprite-based entry in the series. While it might have been nice to have the versions in between, this approach serves to highlight just how far the series has come. The original game was inventive but always felt rough, and two decades of progress have not helped that. The newer game takes those outlandish characters and adds plenty more, and coupled with a highly refined fighting system this makes for an excellent game. It also offers plenty to do, with various single-player modes and online battles. >> Score 80%…

Guilty Gear 20th Anniversary Pack

EXCITING ADVENTURES

Being a medium gives a person the ability to talk with the dead and hear ‘echoes’ of events from the past. It also opens up unusual and exciting chances to travel outside of our physical realm to explore the ‘Phantom Zones’, essentially the otherworldly places where major events that have shaped history took place. And that’s what you were doing aboard a flying boat in terrible weather, just before being washed ‘ashore’ near The House On The Other Side Of The Storm, and it doesn’t take long to realise that the natives aren’t friendly. As text adventures go that’s a pretty unusual story so, if you find it intriguing, head to Kikstart.me.uk/house-storm-c64. Staying with text adventures, Ozmoo is an open source engine for playing Infocom’s Inform-powered adventures on the C64.…

EXCITING ADVENTURES

HOMEBREW HEROES

A wedding-themed scrolling shoot-’em-up, where did that concept come from? We wanted to do a game that empowered women while still enabling them to be feminine. The concept of a wedding gave us some conventions to work with – like the classic conflict between brides-to-be and their future mothers-in-law, or the stress of being the maid of honour. We turned these motifs into interesting characters and plot points that highlight how women can be badass without having to be masculine. Doing a pun-laden game that plays with a lot of action tropes allowed us to do this while still retaining our humour and silliness. Who was involved with Lethal Wedding’s creation and roughly how long did it take to develop? The team on Lethal Wedding was great to begin with,…

HOMEBREW HEROES

BRUCE LEE – RETURN OF FURY

Bruce Lee’s first videogame outing was released in 1984 and, rather than re-enacting one of the legendary martial artist’s movies, Datasoft’s interpretation instead saw Bruce himself at the doors of an evil wizard’s fortress, intending to nip in and borrow whatever riches might have been left hanging around while perhaps even defeating the house sorcerer in the process to earn infinite wealth and immortality. The latter doesn’t seem to have panned out however, because Bruce Lee 2 opens with our hero standing at the entrance to a second fortress and very much mortal. As with his previous outing, each room of this new lair is a challenge in itself and, along with ladders to climb and platforms to leap between, there are deadly traps galore to manoeuvre around including motion-triggered…

BRUCE LEE – RETURN OF FURY

DO YOU REMENBER?

Take to the high seas and man the cannons for Cannon Bubble, a pirate-themed version of Taito’s classic arcade puzzler Puzzle Bobble. Each of the game’s stages starts with the playfield partially filled with coloured cannonballs and the player must fire similarly hued projectiles to form clusters of three or more which then tumble harmlessly down the screen, taking anything they were supporting along for the ride. More balls are randomly added to the pile over time to make things a little bit more trickier, but there are a couple of extra items which help the player out. Bombs, unsurprisingly, blow away whatever is around them when they settle and every cannonball of a specific colour will be removed when one is touched by a skull. Cannon Bubble is fun,…

DO YOU REMENBER?

Sometimes game designers don’t put much effort into their storylines, but Higgy 2 – The Wrath Of McMania sees the titular hero trying to rescue his kidnapped cat Titch from a parody of WWE owner Vince McMahon’s castle in the sky. If that sounds like your kind of bonkers, there’s more information at Kikstart.me.uk/higgy-2-spec. But why play just one game when you can have many at the same time? That’s the premise behind the web-based Super Spectrum World which throws the player into a bustling world that’s been built using screens from Jet Set Willy, Jetpac, Exolon and countless other classic Spectrum titles, each of them littered with items to collect. The exploration begins behind Kikstart.me.uk/ super-spec-world-web.…

HOW TO... MANAGE YOUR GAMES COLLECTION

DIFFICULTY FORMAT » VARIOUS HANDY HINTS » It’s worth thinking about what you’re trying to accomplish. Physically pile your games collection together and divide the games up according to format, so at least you know where you’re starting from. » Don’t be afraid to use this as an opportunity to spring clean. Ended up with multiple copies of the same game? Consider this the time to sell them on or trade them with a friend. GOING MOBILE Your smartphone offers loads of great options for organising and managing your games. It won’t take long to be able to take a list of your collection with you wherever you go » Gameye facebook.com/ GAMEYEVG/ Gameye works via manual entry, as well as scanning barcodes or loose cartridges. It has an encyclopaedia,…

HOW TO... MANAGE YOUR GAMES COLLECTION

Q: My collection is huge! Where do I even begin? A: Spend a day separating everything according to console and work from there. Tackle the smallest collection first, add it to a website or app and store it. Then it’s time to move onto the next one. Enjoy picking out the memories as you go along. Q: Where should I store my games collection? A: It’s important to store your games somewhere safe. Don’t store your collection in a garage or shed. Both are often too cold or dusty and you’d be on the path to damaging your collection. Instead, store your games somewhere comfortable. Ideally, inside your home where temperatures don’t change drastically and you can keep an eye on their quality. Q: Should I use special containers for…

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED…

WII WORTH IT Is a first-gen Wii the better option for playing GameCube games? Brad Belote via Twitter The Wii isn’t the prettiest option because the GameCube looks far nicer, that said, however, it is much cheaper to get hold of a second-hand Wii than it is a well-looked-after GameCube. There’s the added advantage that many Wii games are still worth playing, too, so you’re getting two consoles for the price of one. Just make sure that you buy a GameCube controller and memory card to go with it. The Wii controller makes playing GameCube games pretty uncomfortable. THE BIG QUESTION SNES or Mega Drive? Steve Powell via Facebook How can we possibly choose? It would be like choosing your favourite between your children. Occasionally, we might pick a favourite…

TIME CRISIS Beau and Emily: “We love Time Crisis, so when we found this rarity on a classified site we couldn’t let it go. It required a lot of effort to get it running.” PAID: AU$700 SUPER MARIO WORLD 2: YOSHI’S ISLAND Emily: “After 15 years of searching, I found one in near-mint condition at a price I was willing to pay.” PAID: AU$980 CUSTOM PLAYSTATION Beau: “Jeffrey from Jevaho Creations is an amazing console customiser. Jurassic Park is one of my favourite movies, so I had to have this.” PAID: AU$380 For this month’s Collector’s Corner we are featuring two collectors from across the pond in Brisbane, Australia. “We met through mutual friends in 2005 and within months were sharing our love for retro gaming,” begins Emily, already warming…

KONAMI CLASSICS SUIKODEN I AND II PlayStation games have boomed in value recently and Konami’s brilliant RPG series Suikoden is no exception. The original game, set in a fictional world of political intrigue and war, can be picked up for as little as £40- £50 by a patient buyer. However, its sequel, released in 1998 and held in higher regard by many fans, regularly commands over £150 for a mint copy. ZOMBIES ATE MY NEIGHBOURS Not the most uncommon Mega Drive and SNES game, yet another that’s steadily climbing in value. Expect to pay just under £20 for a cartridge on either system, with boxed editions ranging from £35-£50 depending on condition. ROBOCOP 2 This Ocean movie licence was a good seller across a range of formats with the ZX…

MEGA-CD MANIA Dear Retro Gamer, What on earth is going on with the prices of Mega-CD games at the moment? Prices seem to be reaching SNES levels of silliness, and it’s highly unlikely that I’ll now own a copy of Snatcher or Keio Flying Squadron, even titles like Final Fight are starting to constantly push past the £100 mark. Please don’t feature any Mega-CD games in the magazine any more, as I don’t want prices to go up higher than they already are. James Belbin While it’s flattering that you think we’re responsible for these rising prices, we’d argue that YouTubers are doing a lot more to raise awareness of these more obscure machines. Our advice is to keep the collecting fun and focus on what you can reasonably afford.…

I’ve been reading on various websites lately that Retro Gamer should create a new magazine that’s dedicated to ‘proper’ retro gaming. One person was suggesting it should be called ‘Vintage Gamer’ and that it should only feature 8-bit and 16-bit gaming, as only machines from that era are properly retro. Of course, this is absolute nonsense, and as I snorted milk through my nose I wondered if they realised what the ramifications of a magazine like Vintage Gamer would be. You’ve only got to look at various Kickstarters to see that there aren’t millions of people out there looking to buy into a magazine like this, and it wouldn’t be long before the Retro Gamer readership gets split down the middle. It’s rather elitist to assume that the only important…

What’s your favourite Konami game and why? @8bitadc Scramble! Played it every holiday for hours. @NicMakin Vendetta. The best of the Konami beat-’em-ups, and a key inspiration of Raging Justice. Though I always loved the look of Gradius,I always found it tough. Kurt Machin Rocket Knight Adventures. Classic platform fun! Great soundtrack, fantastic graphics and so enjoyable to play. I still own this for my Mega Drive. @FlavioAR555 Castlevania SOTN! One of the best games ever! And, well, Vandal Hearts: a simple, but great TRPG! @nakamuramartin This is like choosing a favourite child, but I’d probably have to say Super Castlevania IV because it fuses amazing visuals, wonderful music and brilliant gameplay. Steve Hird Vulcan Venture. I just love side-scrolling shooters, but this one with its amazing soundtrack, graphics and…

» “Well, you’ve killed my wife,” says the villain of the piece. “I wish you hadn’t done that, I was planning to do it after our successful conquest of the universe, to prove the depth of my villainy.” The hero remains unmoved by his turmoil. » “You didn’t think conquering the universe was enough?” replies the hero. “Not to mention the fact that you kidnapped my girlfriend.” Our villain briefly ponders revenge, but falters. “Whatever mate, take her.” » “Oh, cheers. Anyway, you’ve done a naughty so now you’ve got to go to space jail,” the hero cheerily says. “Balls to that,” the villain responds. “Do you know what happens to beautiful men like me there? Haircuts. I’ve got another idea.” » The villain pulls out a little device that…

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