Home//Retro Gamer/No. 212/In This Issue
Retro Gamer|No. 212THE RETROBATESDARRAN JONES For me, it has to be meeting Ron Gilbert when he visited our Bournemouth office to promote Thimbleweed Park for games™. I just managed to catch him as he was leaving to say how much I loved his games. Expertise: Juggling a gorgeous wife, two beautiful girls, one SNES-loving cousin and an award-winning magazine, all under one roof! Currently playing: Magic: The Gathering Arena Favourite game of all time: Strider ANDY SALTER “Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just glad to see us?” Expertise: Modding games, no ‘vanilla’ versions for me, thanks! Currently playing: Mount And Blade II: Bannerlord Favourite game of all time: Rome: Total War IAIN LEE I’ve never played The Secret Of Monkey Island, I’m afraid. Expertise: Buying overpriced stuff on…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212INCOMING GAMESWONDERFUL DIZZY News has been a little quiet lately but a recent blog post suggests that the new Dizzy game should be available by the end of the year. All the music and graphics are now finished and the actual project has been overseen by Dizzy’s original creators, the Oliver twins. Dig deeper at spectrumnextgames.uk. SPECTRON: 2084 A cracking version of Eugene Jarvis’ game was coded for the Spectrum and reviewed but never released. Hopefully this exciting new update by Robin Verhagen-Guest will have a better fate. It certainly looks the part, but we’re keen to see how the twin-stick setup will be replicated on the Next. FOREIGN CABINET We were huge fans of Split Personalities back in the day so it’s great to see that Lampros Potamianos is working…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212MARIO MADNESSGaming’s most famous character is settling into middle age in style, with a multitude of new releases highlighting the character’s history. On the Switch, Super Mario 3D All-Stars packages Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy into a single compilation, with improved resolution and widescreen support for Sunshine and Galaxy. Bizarrely, this will be made available in limited quantities physically, and will only be available until the end of March 2021 digitally. On 12 February 2021, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury arrives on Switch, expanding over the 2013 Wii U game with a new section themed around Mario’s fire-breathing nemesis. Elsewhere on the Switch, Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit lets you race remote-control cars around your own home using your Switch as a controller. Super…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212It’s the simple things…Is there any such thing as a perfect videogame? Admittedly, it’s a question that is always going to be subjective, but I think it’s an easier question to answer than it might be for other art forms such as, say, music or movies or, I dunno, wood carving. As games have become ever more complex, more expensive and more technologically advanced, I’d argue that they invite more room for imperfections to creep in. I mean, how often do we hear about the bugged releases of massive, triple-A games? Frankly, every single time one is released, because we gamers do like to complain. Modern games tend not to be ‘one thing’. Look at a recent Grand Theft Auto game, for example – it’s not just a shoot-‘em-up… it’s a driving game,…3 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Spy Hunter» ZX SPECTRUM » 1985 » US GOLD It’s funny what pops up in your head and how your synapses work together to pull out memories you’d long since forgotten about. A Facebook post showed up in my feed the other day, and it was from an old school friend who was suffering from a rare illness and had decided to start blogging about it, so that others would have a better understanding of what he was going through. My first thought was a sad one; I vividly thought about his wife and young family, and the challenges they must now be facing – my second was Spy Hunter on the ZX Spectrum. That’s quite a leap, so let me paint you a picture with my memory brush. When I…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Meet The CastGuybrush Threepwood Guybrush is a goofy, yet witty, young lad who desperately wants to be a pirate. Though well-meaning, he’s not afraid to do some pretty questionable things along the way. Elaine Marley Guybrush is a goofy, yet witty, young lad who desperately wants to be a pirate. Though well-meaning, he’s not afraid to do some pretty questionable things along the way. LeChuch LeChuck is perhaps the world’s most bloodthirsty pirate. Driven by a lust for power, and his beloved Elaine, he simply refuses to stay dead. Naturally, he loathes Guybrush. Stan Stan is a fast-talking motormouth, who always has something to hawk. His suit is as loud as his voice, with an amusing pattern that remains stationary, even as the rest of his body flails about wildly. Voodoo Lady…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Arrr-t AttackThe Monkey Island universe erupts with its riotous theme soaring over a moody landscape; stars twinkling beautifully over the layered silhouette of Mêlée Island’s rolling cliffs. As Guybrush strolls into the pirate town, a stunning sunset sprawls from the horizon, over the sea, enveloping the scene in a glorious glow. These were cutting-edge graphics like nothing adventure gamers had ever seen before – a shot across the bow from commercial illustrator Mark Ferrari, who, before Lucasfilm, had “never even touched a computer before”. Mark’s first videogame project was Zak McKracken And The Alien Mindbenders, and though he mastered the DPaint tool quickly, he found the colour restraints of the EGA palette extremely dissatisfying. “You only had 16 colours, and worse yet, those 16 colours were fixed,” he recalls, adding, “it…4 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Mapping It OutHow strongly did EGA influence your artistic choices? Back then, art was never designed in separation from technical limitations. Disk storage capacity and our palette determined it to a great degree. LOOM and Secret Of Monkey Island take place at twilight and night, because the strongest part of the EGA palette is its blues. There were more blues in the EGA palette than there were any other colours. What was your illustrating process? I drew on-screen with a mouse. I didn’t sketch out anything on paper. With the notable exception of Mêlée Town, I didn’t even have any visual reference. I just sat down making lines and filling and dithering shapes on-screen. The reason was that the colours and resolution were so limited that almost nothing in preliminary pencil sketches…4 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Perfect PuzzlersInsult Sword Fighting Without a doubt, Monkey Island’s most iconic puzzle. As Guybrush travels along Mêlée Island, he has to spar with scores of pirates, learning insults in preparation for a showdown with the Swordmaster. Then, he has to think on his toes, applying what he has learnt against the Swordmaster, who has an entirely new set of put-downs. Finding The Swordmaster Before Guybrush can defeat the Swordmaster, he must first wade through the forest to find her. The only person who knows where she lives is the cranky old shopkeeper, a long-time admirer of hers. Dave Grossman loved the puzzle, because it utilised the game’s mechanics in unexpected ways. Prison Break Guybrush can’t set sail for Monkey Island without a crew – and one of the few candidates is…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Darkwing Duck» NES » 1992 » Capcom Do you ever find that one small, singular thing can make the biggest difference to how much you enjoy a game? It’s a surprisingly common occurrence. I have friends who can’t tolerate the original Sonic The Hedgehog unless it’s one of the versions where the spin-dash has been added. For others, English voice acting – or the lack of it – can be a deal breaker. Until recently, I thought that my biggest example was the preference I have for Tetris games featuring a ‘hard drop’ function when you press up on the d-pad, but digging out my NES during the production of our last issue actually highlighted something much more deeply felt. I’d not played Darkwing Duck in a while, but it’s the…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212AN ADVENTURER’S GUIDE TO NEW PHLANFor all of your arms and armour needs, be sure to visit Generic Blacksmith #5 in the market area of New Phlan. He’s famous for his quality of craftsmanship, as well as his somewhat eccentric penchant for piling all of your money on the floor and then blaming it on the game’s interface. Don’t forget to check out the world-famous ‘Small Man Of New Phlan’. What he lacks in stature he makes up for in lucrative quests and randomly generated loot. You’ll find him in the now monster-riddled slums, where he wiles away the days, demanding to know why you’re disturbing him. Be sure to swing by the Proclamations Board and pick up a job or two. You haven’t had the full Phlantastic experience until you’ve monetarily profited from the…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Weapon of ChoiceDagger The dagger is one of the first weapons you’ll find, and it’s a good one. It’s fast, accurate and uses one heart when activated. Axe This bulky weapon is slow and has an annoying trajectory, but it does deliver a decent amount of damage to enemies and it only costs one heart. Whip Extension Grab these whenever you see them as they enhance the Vampire Killer, making it longer and more powerful for a maximum of two upgrades. holy water For the cost of a single heart you can rain down pain on your unholy enemies. It has a low trajectory when thrown, so keep that in mind. Watch It costs a hefty five hearts to use but it’s worth it as this magical device can freeze time and…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212THE MAKING OF GAMES WORLDWho were the Videators? The answer lies in the Friday showcase featured within Games World: ‘Beat The Elite’. This game show had members of the public come in and challenge the show’s collection of champions. These were the Videators, and they became recognisable characters that would appear weekly on Games World’s ultimate event. If you were a kid in the Nineties and wanted to prove you were more than just the best Mario Kart player on your street, the only way to prove your mettle was to come on the show and take on the Videators. There’s no better way to test your strength than to take part in a showdown with the Videators. Tracking down and challenging these champions today will be a sure-fire way to experience a slice…12 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212SERIES HOT TAKESSEASON 1 The original season of Games World was a tad low-budget compared to the others, but what it was lac king in production values it made up for in DIY charm. With cheap sets and costumes, Hewland managed to snatch the attention of the public with this early rendition of the show. SEASON 2 Back with more money and a snazzy new set to boot, Games World’s second season was an overall improvement on the first. Season two also came with Barry’s Joypad, a comedy show that featured videogame reviews and deep dives with Big Boy Barry as the star of the segments. SEASON 3 Games World at the height of its popularity – this is when Games World had the best shows, the best costumes and the best…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212PC PERFECTIONThe PC version of Escape From Butcher Bay, released back in 2004, is a timeless gem of optimisation. It has unlocked resolutions, supports 144Hz refresh rates, and probably counts among the oldest games in the world that still look great today. It features a whole extra action segment involving riot armour, which is a blast in every sense of the word, and once you complete the game, you can play through it all again with developer commentary. There’s a whole bunch of ‘Making Of’ documentaries, concept art and other goodies that give it that early Noughties DVD kind of charm. You can even watch a video of the game’s early prototype, which helps you appreciate how far it came towards the end of development. The catch is that you can’t…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212WHO’S WHO?ZITZ The seemingly self-designated leader of the group is rather concerned with proving his skills in the role, which is worrying because he doesn’t really have a handle on anything. Fortunately, he’s also an agile combat expert with some awesome juggle combos and near-instant dodge speed. RASH Of all the toads, Rash is the most obsessed with returning the group to its former glory. He’s also the group’s ‘best kisser’ (he practices on his hand ‘all the time’) and not averse to some gratuitous murder. In gameplay terms, he’s the balanced choice – faster than Pimple and stronger than Zitz. PIMPLE Poor old Pimple tries to be the gentle giant, favouring calm and reasonable responses to the ridiculous situations he finds himself in. Of course, things sometimes get too much…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Things of noteARCADE ACTION Amongst the minigames on offer in Yakuza 0 are four of Sega’s arcade classics from the Eighties – Out Run, Space Harrier, Fantasy Zone and Super Hang-On. MR SHAKEDOWN New to Yakuza 0 are these heavy-duty thugs, who wander about the city looking to steal your cash – but it works both ways, if you can best them. VCPD WHO? During a shootout sequence, the targets that let you know when enemies will fire has been lifted from the Virtua Cop series, making for a neat retro throwback. BACK ISSUES Yakuza 0 features plenty of cool era-appropriate details, but we particularly like the selection of old magazines, including the likes of Famitsu and Shonen Champion. CELEBRITY CAMEOS In keeping with the shady themes of the Yakuza series, a…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212TimeSplitters 2» GAMECUBE » 2002 » FREE RADICAL Are you haunted by a specific moment in a game which you just couldn’t beat, no matter how hard you tried? Of course you are, we all are. And if you’re not, you’re not human, you’re a game-completing Terminator robot – sorry if that’s come as a shock to you. My personal moment of shame is a weird one, and as you can tell from this screenshot, involves harrowing hand-people that evoke the same amount of terror as Mr Blobby did when I was a toddler. Anyway, let’s get to it. TimeSplitters 2 has an ocean of game modes and characters locked behind certain challenges in the Arcade League mode. These matches give you scenarios to overcome, and they’re pretty tongue-in-cheek and funny…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Hotshot Racing» System: PC (tested), PS4, Switch, Xbox One » Buy it from: Online » Buy it for: £15.99 Visually, Hotshot Racing is lovely, with low-polygon cars and environments that will make you crave the Nineties arcade racers of old. Mechanically however, Hotshot is mixed. The drifting is satisfying and there are a good range of multiplayer options, but a few key things do let things down somewhat. The AI is extremely aggressive, meaning one small slip can result in a loss. Then there’s the disappointing track design with wide flat roads that would be rather dull to race around if it wasn’t for those ferocious AI cars smacking your rear bumper. There’s no denying Hotshot Racing is fun and polished but it doesn’t quite take first place. Score 80%…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212JUST A FEW BITSBIO NAME: Barry Harmon LOCATION: Chicago, Illinois, USA FAVOURITE GAMES:Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Shenmue II, Jet Set Radio, Yakuza FAVOURITE SYSTEMS: Genesis, Dreamcast WEBSITE: www.segabits.com It shouldn’t take anyone long to work out where this month’s collector’s interests lie – with Ryo Hazuki, Ulala, Beat and Akira Yuki to all present, this is most definitely a Sega collection. Our collector, Barry, is one of the administrators of SegaBits, a site that covers everything related to the Japanese gaming giant. “My dad was an early adopter of technology, and I think he felt like I should dive into that, so he asked me what I wanted for Christmas, if I wanted a videogame machine,” explains Barry, telling us how he got started. “It really came down to me seeing the Sonic…4 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Your say@Liquidream For me, it’s the feel. I first played it around my mate’s house and it looked so gorgeous that, for a moment… you could suspend belief, take in the sights and sounds and feel like you’re actually a wannabe pirate, deep in the Caribbean… Jackie Fate I thought originally that I needed to blast the ship with the rock so my crew would come to the island and help me. Instead, you need to hit the banana tree, of course, which is all kinds of stupid! Chris Bartliff The whole atmosphere of Mêlée Island and the fact that I was free to explore it blew me away when I was a kid. @TooOldTooCold Playing it at a friend’s house with a couple of friends over the summer holidays. Pre-internet,…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212TURBO TIME TUNNELThe Battletoads revival movement is still going strong, as iam8bit is currently taking preorders for the Battletoads: Smash Hits double LP. The first disc contains music from the original NES game by David Wise, while the second contains David Housden’s soundtrack for this year’s series reboot. The package is expected to ship in Q4 2020, and is priced at $42.99. The company is also bringing Zitz, Rash and Pimple back to the NES in physical form, but the full 2,000 copy production run of the Battletoads Legacy Cartridge Collection has already sold out at $99.99 a pop. Good luck hunting for that on eBay!…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212ASTRO GO GOHaving already announced the initial ten games for its latest mini system, the Astro City Mini, Sega has since revealed the 26 additional games that complete the Japan-only system’s line-up. These include a number of games that are seeing their first arcade-perfect home releases, including the System 32 brawler Arabian Fight and the Shinobi spin-off Shadow Dancer, as well as popular titles like Space Harrier, Puyo Puyo 2 and the Wonder Boy Trilogy. An arcade stick peripheral costing the same price as the console itself (¥12,800, roughly £90) was also confirmed. The console will be released 17 December 2020.…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212UV or not UV? That is the questionThe Vectrex has been having a resurgence in popularity lately, and one of the coolest things we’ve encountered are Blacklighter’s new ultraviolet overlays, which greatly enhance many of the games that are available. Here, creator Laurence Bennion reveals how they came to be. Where did the idea for your UV overlays originate? I converted a room in my house into a UV ‘man cave’ that lit up like an Eighties nightclub. I bought a UV printer to make my own art. My Vectrex was there and I thought I’d give it the Tron treatment. What does the UV lighting and your overlays offer over a traditional Vectrex setup? The UV complements the vectors as they both glow with a similar intensity. In many cases the overlays can give an impression…3 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212THE LEGACY OF MONKEY ISLANDIt’s somewhat poetic that the rights to The Secret Of Monkey Island have ended up at Disney, as it was a Disney theme park ride that partly inspired Ron Gilbert’s hilarious point-and-click adventure. When Ron was looking for a follow-up to Maniac Mansion, which he designed with Gary Winnick, a love of pirates and Disney’s Pirates Of The Caribbean ride – along with the adventure novel On Stranger Tides – gave him more than enough inspiration for an all-new point-and-click epic. In fact, Ron’s original idea for a pirate-themed game first came to him in 1988 after completing Zak McKracken And The Alien Mindbenders, although at this stage the likes of Guybrush Threepwood and villain LeChuck didn’t exist. While there was interest in the idea at Lucasfilm Games (as LucasArts…3 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Monkey BusinessRon Gilbert What were your biggest comedic influences? A lot of my non sequitur humour comes from Monty Python, and I think that makes its way into Monkey Island. I also loved Mel Brooks’ movies like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. What was your favourite Easter egg? I don’t know if you’d call it an Easter egg, but certainly Guybrush dying after spending ten minutes underwater. I don’t know how often that happens to people or if they figure out the puzzle within ten minutes – it certainly wasn’t meant to be a super hard puzzle. When you were writing jokes, did you have any particular audience in mind? I didn’t really think about, ‘Oh there’s this type of person I want to appeal to, so I should make these…4 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Reinventing Monkey IslandIn 2009, shortly after Telltale answered Monkey Island fans’ prayers with a brand-new sequel, LucasArts added a cherry on the cake – with the Special Edition of The Secret Of Monkey Island. The classic game was given a visual overhaul, with hand-drawn illustrations laid over the original graphics, a sweeping orchestral score and full voice acting – utilising the talents made famous by The Curse Of Monkey Island. The game accommodates a more modern audience, with the inclusion of an in-game hint system. Such features are reflective of changing times – Ron says players simply have different expectations of games today. “Nobody spends three days trying to solve a puzzle, you spend three minutes trying to solve a puzzle, and then you jump to the internet and find a walkthrough…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212The EGA Secrets Of The IslandLookout Point Here Guybrush introduces himself, and Mark Ferrari thinks he first tried colour cycling in Deluxe Paint II to animate the bonfire. Four colours were used. Creatively, and to overcome EGA’s limitations, grey was employed to highlight firelight reflections on stone. The Church “The one interior I remember doing. The stained glass windows were homages to the ones in LOOM, but what I love about this scene is that the turning edge effect on the pillars and draperies was king of an EGA tour de force, that came as close to traditional illustration as I could in that palette.” Melee Town “Ron Gilbert loved inventive camera angles and weird perspectives, but we couldn’t make multiple versions of animations. Buildings were carefully distorted to feel in forced perspective in this…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212The High Sea-quelsMonkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge RELEASED: 1991 Widely considered as the best game in the series, it’s easy to see why LeChuck’s Revenge is so acclaimed. Pretty much every aspect of the original was improved in this sequel, with the streamlined verb interface and new item menu being notable winners. LeChuck’s Revenge still looks great today, and the soundtrack remains a thing of beauty, thanks to the introduction of iMUSE which made its debut in this swashbuckling follow-up. The trio of Ron, Tim and Dave also returned, although only the latter two are credited with writing the hilarious script. There are far more references to Pirates Of The Caribbean this time around too, as well as a controversial and ambiguous ending which implies the game took place in a theme…4 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212THE MAKING OF KaratekaIN THE KNOW PUBLISHER: BRØDERBUND SOFTWARE DEVELOPER: JORDAN MECHNER RELEASED: 1984 PLATFORM: APPLE II GENRE: FIGHTING DEVELOPER HIGHLIGHTS PRINCE OF PERSIA SYSTEM: VARIOUS YEAR: 1989 PRINCE OF PERSIA 2 SYSTEM: VARIOUS YEAR: 1993 THE LAST EXPRESS (PICTURED) SYSTEM: PC, MAC YEAR: 1997 “Dear Mr Mechner,” began the typed letter with the heading ‘Greetings Earthling’ in a futuristic font. It was addressed to one Jordan Mechner in California, care of Brøderbund Software. “I am writing because I have played your game Karateka,” it stated. “I am writing because you need to be congratulated on this game.” Gushing about the graphics, the shadows “and all”, the writer enthused about the “tremendous job”, which he believed “defined the state of the art for future Apple games”. The writer, John Romero, was so taken…9 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212COMMODORE 64 GAMESNINJA STAR THE LAST NINJA DEVELOPER: SYSTEM 3 RELEASE: 1987 Armakuni’s first outing is still one of the Commodore 64’s most fondly remembered games, and rightly so. It featured satisfying combat and plenty of secrets, of course, but let’s not kid ourselves – the gorgeous presentation was a huge reason why we loved it. You could see the attention that had gone into the lavish details of every screen, your character moved smoothly and the isometric perspective gave that sense of depth that made things feel just a little more real. Plus, it wasn’t converted to Sir Clive’s baby, so it was great for making your Speccy-owning mates jealous. The Last Ninja is a great illustration of one of the core features of the Commodore 64 market. As a popular…12 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212CONVERSION CAPERSCOMMODORE 64 The Commodore 64 version is a truly incredible achievement. It runs smoothly, the graphics are impressive for the hardware, and it’s a joy to play. The machine’s SID chip is sadly underutilised though, with just the odd bleep to denote attacks and damage. It’s still a must-have for any serious C64 collector, though. APPLE II While the high-resolution capabilities of the Apple II were no doubt impressive in its heyday, the unusual colour palette chosen for this version is positively headache-inducing. Text is chunky and difficult to read, and the buildings are often difficult to distinguish from one another. PC MS-DOS users often got the short end of the stick when it came to ports, but the PC posse will be pleasantly surprised to learn that their version…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Silpheed» Mega-CD » 1993 » Game Arts On occasion, both myself and Darran have told the story of how we first met at the Classic Games Expo UK in 2005. He was on games™ at the time and selling off some Saturn games. I was 18, still doing my A Levels and turned down the opportunity to buy Panzer Dragoon Saga from him for £50 because that was my whole budget for the day. But recently, my mum asked what I did buy that day, and thankfully I had a photographic record. Some of it was tragic – in my defence, I’d never played the Mega Drive version of Virtua Fighter 2 before. Other bits were pretty good, like the copies of Sonic Jam and Virtua Cop 2 I’d bought…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Boss RushRowdain The first end-of-stage boss you encounter in Super Castlevania IV is a skeletal knight that goes nowhere without his trusty skeletal steed. HOW TO BEAT THEM: Fire projectiles at the horse’s head while avoiding its flaming fireballs. Once his mount is defeated, avoid Rowdain’s leaps and return fire whenever he swings his lance. Orphie Vipers Two heads are better than one and it’s certainly true for this scaly foe as it can fire both fireballs and a short-range flame at you. HOW TO BEAT THEM: Keep to the right, use the axe if you have it and avoid falling off the bottom of the screen. It’s a tough early skirmish. Sir Grakul This knight guards the end of stage seven and is a master of medieval weaponry, using various…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212THE CHALLENGESCHALLENGE ONE Garou: Mark of the Wolves CONNOR VS RADION AUTOMATIC For the fight against Radion Automatic, Garou: Mark Of The Wolves was the game of choice. The first match was close, with each player chipping away at each other’s health with wild punches and kicks, until the game was concluded with Connor throwing out a jumping kick that caught the Videator off-guard. The second game couldn’t have been more different, and Connor wasn’t able to overcome Radion Automatic’s barrage of at tacks. In the final game, both players held back, waiting to see what each other would do, spare the occasional smack. Suddenly, Radion Automatic switched to a super-aggressive playstyle. Connor didn’t know how to keep him at bay and was overrun yet again. It wasn’t even close. CHALLENGE…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Jumping Flash!» PLATFORM: PLAYSTATION » RELEASED: 1995 » DEVELOPER: EXACT, ULTRA As a new PlayStation owner, one thing constantly astounded you – just how interesting a seemingly tired genre could become once 3D was added to the mix. The endless stream of cutesy Mega Drive platformers was boring you, but once again you found yourself playing a cutesy platform game, because for once you’d found one that seemed genuinely different. Of course, it could only be so different, so after the opening couple of stages you were bracing for a boss. But what a boss it was! A whacking great red dragon dropped into the scene, before taking flight and breathing fire right at your face. Resorting to your platform game experience, you leapt onto a nearby hill and from there…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212TIGON TALESWHEELMAN 2009 What do you associate with Vin Diesel? Goggles, tank tops and cars, maybe? With the Dark Athena game covering those first two accessories in 2009, Tigon had to complete the trinity by making a Vin Diesel car game. Wheelman is a fun GTA-style romp that sees you screeching your way around a Barcelona-style city. ASSAULT ON DARK ATHENA 2009 A HD remaster of Escape From Butcher Bay bundled with a multiplayer mode and the titular Dark Athena chapter. The Dark Athena segment feels quite linear next to Butcher Bay, and the multiplayer seems bolted on, but it’s still a solid Riddick package even if it doesn’t quite build on the original game as much as it could have. RIDDICK: THE MERC FILES 2013 This mobile game condensed the…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212MUSHA Aleste» MEGA DRIVE » 1990 » COMPILE If there’s one thing I enjoy about shmups, it’s the shooting mechanics that often feature at their cores. I love an interesting power-up mechanic, whether it’s R-Type’s Force pod or the revolving satellite featured in Prehistoric Isle, which gives you different powers depending on where it happens to be positioned on your craft. I cherish the elegance of Gradius’ selectable power-up system and I adore how Radiant Silvergun gives you access to everything from the off, without needing to pick up icons like in similar games. I’ll spend hours delving into a good shooter, and the latest I’ve been enjoying is Compile’s MUSHA Aleste, a magnificent slice of shmup brilliance that shockingly never received a European release. ‘MUSHA’ is an acronym for ‘Metallic…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212HERO VS FREAKSPERIPHERAL With its angular, futuristic design, the Guitar Freaks guitar looks more like a gaming peripheral than an instrument. Upping the but tons from three to five and inspired by the classic Gibson SG guitar, Guitar Hero certainly has the more authentic controller. GAME MECHANICS As part of Konami’s Bemani music games, Guitar Freaks is similar to the likes of Beatmania and DDR, with notes slowly rising to the top as you strum in time with the melody. Guitar Hero works similarly but with downward falling notes and more complex left-hand pat terns. SONG VARIETY Guitar Freaks excels in its tight tracklist, with a variety of rock, pop, blues and J-pop songs to choose from. Guitar Hero, though, gives you a history of western rock music with classics from every…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Dan KitchenWhat cherished games would you take to the island? With such a staggering number of titles to his name, we have taken inspiration from Jacques’ ‘seven ages of man’ speech in Shakespeare’s As You Like It to discuss Dan Kitchen’s gigantic back catalogue. Here, we present the ‘seven ages of Dan’… We begin with the age of the infant. Dan was born and raised in New Jersey, USA, and spent his formative years surrounded by technology. His father loved tinkering with electronics, and in the late Sixties, his older brother Steve constructed a desk-sized computer from component parts in their basem*nt. “He’s the one who got me interested in electronics,” says Dan. “After high school, I was all set to go to university but Steve had gone to work for…16 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212BattletoadsThis month we finally get our hands on the new Battletoads game, take the new Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater remake for a spin (and kickflip) watch the first series of High Score and push pedal to the metal with Hotshot Racing. Phew! INFORMATION FORMAT REVIEWED XBOX ONE ALSO ON: PC RELEASED: OUT NOW PRICE: £14.99 PUBLISHER: XBOX GAME STUDIOS DEVELOPER: DLALA STUDIOS/RARE PLAYERS: 1-3 If you’re like us, you probably look back fondly at bizarre, absurd cartoons of the Nineties – the kind that would frequently sneak adult-level humour into family-friendly time slots, and frequently went beyond parody into self-parody. The good news is that this spirit lives on with the return of the quintessentially Nineties Battletoads. As we meet Pimple, Rash and Zitz in this game, we learn that…6 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2» System: PS4 (tested), Xbox One, PC » Buy it from: Online » Buy it for: £39.99 Everyone loves a redemption story. After eating the pavement with Pro Skater 5 in 2015, the Birdman has returned to form with this remake. Vicarious Visions is in the developer seat and much like its Crash Bandicoot remakes, it has created a faithful update to two of the most beloved titles in gaming history. Everything you could possibly wish for is here, and sliding back into the warehouse is like slipping on a comfortably battered pair of Vans, though the occasional glitch left us crumpled on the floor. Online can be spotty if you want to play with pals, but we’re sure that’ll get better with time. Score 86%…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212BARGAIN HUNTTHE COVER STAR THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND Original big box copies of LucasArts’ adventure game will set you back a pretty penny these days. The Amiga release ranges from £50 to £165, the Atari ST version from £35 to £100, and the 3.5-inch disk PC version from £75 to £110. 5.25-inch disk PC versions fetch even higher prices, from £150 to £275, with the 16-colour version tending to sell for more than the 256-colour version. Of course, cheaper re-releases are available on all of those formats, and the CD versions are arguably far more convenient too. BATTLETOADS If the modern incarnation of Rare’s triad of troublesome toads has got you hankering for some old-school punishment, a full boxed PAL copy of the original NES game will run you £50…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE ZX SPECTRUM?“When the very first units started to get delivered, we were hit with a stream of unboxing pictures and testimonials that surpassed our wildest hopes”Henrique Olifiers Despite a few teething issues during production, the ZX Spectrum Next was extremely well-received when it eventually arrived earlier this year. In fact, it’s proven to be such a hit that when Henrique Olifiers started a second Kickstarter to deliver an enhanced version of the Spectrum Next, it absolutely smashed its £250,000 target goal in under five minutes, and it went on to beat the original final Kickstarter amount of £723,390 in its first 24 hours. The second run has now finished and sits at a staggering £1,847,106, enough to ensure a new episode of Head Over Heels, with input from creator Jon Ritman…5 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212GUN-AND-FUNFactor 5 has announced the Turrican Anthology, spread across two volumes for PS4 and Switch – each comprised of five games from the Amiga, Mega Drive and SNES. Also, Factor 5 is issuing new Mega Drive and SNES cartridges. Super Turrican 2 will be reprinted, and Mega Turrican: The Director’s Cut and Super Turrican: The Director’s Cut will be available as cartridges for the first time. All of these are available in PAL and NTSC versions for €49.99, with a production run of 1,500 copies for each cartridge. Physical copies are available for preorder at strictlylimitedgames.com.…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212I wanna hold your hand(held)I am overwhelmed by choice at the moment. There is too much of everything and I believe I may have caught the dreaded ‘FOMO’. The fear of missing out is real, and my god it hurts. I can’t sleep at night, I get the sweats and I end up spending money I do not have on stuff I never even touch! I love a handheld machine. The first one I ever got was Mini Munchman, a cute little Pac-Man rip-off, back in the day when you could apparently copy anything in the world and release it as your own. Once I had this game in my hands, even though it was dead easy, I could not put it down. I remember the moment I received it as clear as if…3 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212THE LATEST NEWS FROM NOVEMBER 2003The pressure was on as the battle for Christmas sales began anew, and console manufacturers tweaked their hardware offerings accordingly. Sony brought the official price of the PS2 down from £169.99 to £139.99, bringing it considerably closer to the price of the Xbox, which Microsoft had cut to £129.99 six months prior. Sony also launched a silver edition of the PS2 for £149.99. Nintendo, already struggling to compete, realised that price parity would do it no good and swiftly cut the GameCube to £79.99. This earned the goodwill of Argos, which decided to carry the console again after clearing its own inventory of the console at the same price earlier in the year. The only problem for Nintendo was that the decision came too late for the console to be…7 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Setting SailAs soon as Ron Gilbert finished working on Maniac Mansion, he immediately started planning out his next big title. But, as the sales figures rolled in, he wondered why Sierra On-Line’s King’s Quest was outselling Maniac Mansion by so much. Perhaps, he thought, it was because King’s Quest was a fantasy title – fantasy was all the rage, after all. “The problem was: I didn’t like fantasy at all,” he tells us. “I really didn’t want to make a game about dragons and orcs and all that stuff, so I started thinking about other genres and settings that could capture what I thought fantasy did – without actually being fantasy. One of the ideas I had was pirates.” When Ron was asked to work on Indiana Jones And The Last…4 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212A War Of WordsOne of the major issues Ron had with Sierra games was how “they started to throw action” into their adventure games, with “arcade sections where you had to rely on quick reflexes to get through stuff”. To him, adventure games were about logic. “We had to have some sort of sword fighting in a pirate game, but I didn’t want to do a twitch-type game, and that’s where the insults worked perfectly, because now the sword fighting became puzzle-solving.” The eureka moment came during one of Ron’s regular sessions, when he got the team together to watch old Errol Flynn-era pirate movies for inspiration. “One of the things that I noticed from watching those movies was how much time they spent talking to each other; how much time they spent…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212More Monkeying AroundThe Secret Of Monkey Island was not the only game to get a makeover – LeChuck’s Revenge benefitted from the same thoughtful approach. While the original Monkey Island 2 stripped out some of Monkey Island’s more redundant verbs, the Special Edition does away with words completely. Instead, it offers a true point-and-click experience, allowing players to interact with people and things by simply clicking on them. Once again, the high-quality music and voice acting add a welcome dimension to the game, while making it more visually appealing to those unaccustomed to classic games. Some, however, have argued that amidst all the bells and whistles, much of the original charm has been lost. Visually, the game is a hybrid between the title’s original darker style, and the later exaggerated comic form…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Monkey See Monkey DoIn 1989, as he got to work on The Secret Of Monkey Island, Ron Gilbert published a ‘manifesto’ called ‘Why Adventure Games Suck ’. The piece drew attention to what the genre was doing wrong, taking particular exception to arbitrary puzzle designs. Although The Secret Of Monkey Island was the ‘proof’ of the manifesto, Ron laughs, “It wasn’t like I finished the game, went home, opened up the manifesto and went, ‘Well, let’s see how I did today.’” Ron believed there were too many redundant deaths and dead ends in adventure games. “One of the things that really bugged me – not just about the Sierra games, but adventure games in general, the text adventures and everything else – was that you could forget to solve a puzzle early on…5 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Monkey MagicWhat is it you love about the original Monkey Island? The game has charm and humour that are second to none. A lot of games try to be funny, but Monkey Island is genuinely funny in a way that sticks with you like no other. Why did you re-release the Sega CD version of the game? I’m a big Sega CD fan, and in the US we got a bunch of early games in these very, very flimsy cardboard boxes. If you look at them wrong, they crumple. Monkey Island was one of those games that got the cardboard box treatment and I really, really, wanted to give this game a proper jewel case in line with later Sega CD games. We had also done a few retro Star Wars…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212KARATEKA REIMAGINEDAlthough it didn’t have the same pull as Prince Of Persia, there was more than enough interest in Karateka for Jordan to create a brand-new high definition remake, which was released in late 2012. Overseen by Jordan and developed by Liquid Entertainment, Karateka at first appears to have the same structure as the original, but there are a number of important differences. Mariko still needs saving, but this time two other suitors step up to the challenge if her original beau dies: A quiet, unassuming monk and a large hulking behemoth known as the brute. All three suitors have varying energy bars, which effectively relate to Karateka’s difficulty and completing the game with each will result in a completely different ending. Combat has been greatly updated and while it shares…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Famicom Disk SystemFamicom Disk System fact The jingle that plays when the Famicom Disk System starts up was later reused for the GameCube’s internal operating system music – however, it was played at an unrecognisable slow speed. » PLATFORM: Famicom » RELEASED: 1986 » COST: ¥15,000 (LAUNCH), £45+ (TODAY, BOXED), £30+ (TODAY, UNBOXED) While Nintendo has often been associated with ROM cartridges, it did have a problem with them in the mid-Eighties – they were prone to supply shortages and expensive to make, especially for larger games. The solution was the Famicom Disk System. Its 112KB floppy disks offered more storage space and a significant cost reduction, and players could even write new games to their disks at dedicated in-store kiosks for as little as ¥500. Though Nintendo abstained from producing any…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212THE ADVENTURE CONTINUESCURSE OF THE AZURE BONDS Pool Of Radiance was followed up in 1989 by this direct sequel. Players can even transfer their old characters over, although this would mean you’d miss out on the two new classes, ranger and paladin. Curse Of The Azure Bonds would go on to be almost as successful as its predecessor, selling just shy of 180,000 copies. SECRET OF THE SILVER BLADES Secret Of The Silver Blades is, once again, a direct sequel. This time, however, the world map is done away with in favour of a fully first-person experience. The (by this time somewhat exhausted) adventurers must see off a horde of monsters who have escaped a glacial prison, threatening the town of Verdigris. POOLS OF DARKNESS The final entry in the Pool Of…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212ULTIMATE GUIDESuper Castlevania IVKonami’s Castlevania franchise has a reputation for strong atmosphere, but few games in the series come close to capturing the sheer dark majesty of Super Castlevania IV – confusingly, the eighth main game in the series on its release. Fittingly released in time for Halloween in Japan in 1991 and overseen by Masahiro Ueno (who was credited as Jun Furano), the eighth Castlevania game is a spectacular addition to the series, even if some fans felt it was something of a step back after experiencing Dracula’s Curse on the NES. It’s a fair assessment to make, in retrospect, as mechanically Ueno’s game would have certainly felt a little lacking to anyone that had experienced the branching stages, multiple endings and extra characters that all featured in Konami’s third Castlevania NES…7 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Hardware HeavenESSENTIAL GAME Kishin Douji Zenki: Vajra Fight This anime tie-in plays pretty decently but looks absolutely excellent thanks to the 2D power of the PC-FX, as well as some great sprite art that has often been compared to that of Treasure’s Saturn classic Guardian Heroes. The game consists of short beat-’em-up sections and plenty of boss fights, with fully voiced dialogue from the heroes and villains throughout. It’s one of the most import-friendly PC-FX games, but this is also likely to be one expensive purchase – the most recent copies we saw sold for just under the £650 mark, which is an enormous investment for any individual game. PC-FX » MANUFACTURER: NEC » YEAR: 1994 » COST: ¥49,800 (launch), £225+ (today, boxed), £150+ (today, unboxed) Few console manufacturers have seen…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212VIDEATORS ASSEMBLEMASTER MORIARTY SEASONS 1 - 2 Master Moriarty is one of the most charming Videators from the early seasons, acting as a deeply detestable character due to his snobby attitude. THE EXECUTIONER SEASONS 1 – 2 Here’s a bloke who donned bondage gear as he conquered dozens of kids via Beat The Elite. Memorable, daunting and frankly fantastic at Street Fighter. THE VIOLET BLADE SEASONS 1 – 3 The original software pirate, The Violet Blade was an antagonistic character who’d shout, ‘Arrrgh!’ and steamroll the poor kids who appeared on the show. ELECTRIC EDDIE SEASON 3 A robotic man making good use of his enhancements to play videogames, Electric Eddie shocked audiences with his skills in a variety of titles. BIG BOY BARRY SEASONS 1 – 3 He’s big, he’s…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212THE MAKING OF THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK ESCAPE FROM BUTCHER BAYDEVELOPER HIGHLIGHTS ENCLAVE SYSTEM: PC, XBOX, WII YEAR: 2002 THE DARKNESS SYSTEM: PS3, XBOX 360 YEAR: 2007 BROTHERS: A TALE OF TWO SONS (PICTURED) SYSTEM: XBOX 360, VARIOUS YEAR: 2013 IN THE KNOW » PUBLISHER: VIVENDI UNIVERSAL GAMES » DEVELOPER: STARBREEZE STUDIOS » RELEASED: 2004 » PLATFORM: XBOX, PC » GENRE: STEALTH/FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER You don’t have to spend much time in the steel-capped boots of Riddick to realise that Escape From Butcher Bay is no ordinary movie tie-in videogame. After a tutorial that ends with the somewhat cheap ‘just a dream’ get-out, you’re thrown for real into Butcher Bay prison – a brutalist behemoth of steel and stone on some wasteland planet in a forgotten corner of the cosmos. For the first five minutes you’re on rails, escorted by guards…10 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212BATTLETOADSIN THE KNOW PUBLISHER: XBOX GAME STUDIOS DEVELOPER: DLALA STUDIOS, RARE RELEASE: 2020 PLATFORM: PC, XBOX GENRE: ACTION Gaming has had some unlikely comeback stories, but the 2020 revival of Battletoads is a particularly impressive one. When the game was announced at E3 two years prior, it was the first sign of new activity for the series in well over two decades – and while the series wasn’t forgotten, it had acquired a certain reputation. For most people under the age of 30, Rare’s brawler was most recognisable as a staple of prank calls and lists of obnoxiously hard games. While a residual fondness drove those things, could Rare and Dlala Studios get people to take a new Battletoads seriously? Fortunately, that question never needed answering. After a triumphant brawl…5 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212THE MAKING OF GUITAR HEROIN THE KNOW PUBLISHER: REDOCTANE DEVELOPER: HARMONIX RELEASED: 2005 PLATFORM: PLAYSTATION 2 GENRE: RHYTHM ACTION DEVELOPER HIGHLIGHTS DANCE CENTRAL SYSTEM: XBOX 360 YEAR: 2010 ROCK BAND (PICTURED) SYSTEM: VARIOUS YEAR: 2007 FREQUENCY SYSTEM: PLAYSTATION 2 YEAR: 2001 I magine for a second that you’re part of one of the biggest rock bands on the planet and you receive a call from a little-known game developer asking to put your iconic song into a videogame played with a plastic toy guitar. Would you take that risk? This was the question posed by Harmonix in its pursuit of making the ultimate rock videogame: Guitar Hero. Released in November 2005 for the PS2 by Harmonix and RedOctane, it spawned a series of over 20 titles and expansions across multiple platforms in just five…10 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212YAKUZA 0Info System: PC, Xbox One, PS4, PS3 Year: 2015 Publisher: Sega Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Key People: Masayoshi Yokoyama (producer, writer), Mitsuhiro Shimano (producer), Kazuki Hosokawa (director) Go Deeper With 1.8 million Japanese characters in the original script, as well as unfamiliar board games, localising Yakuza 0 was a mammoth task that took over 18 months. Since Yakuza 0 was built on the same engine as Yakuza 5, a PlayStation 3 version of the game was created. However, this version was only released in Asian countries. THE BACKGROUND With the Yakuza series achieving consistently excellent sales in Japan across five main games and an equal number of spin-offs, there was practically no question that a mainline instalment would be made for the PlayStation 4. When it was finally revealed…5 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212Dan’s Desert Island Disks01 Microsoft Adventure (APPLE II) I bought this game in 1979 and instantly fell in love with it. It was a faithful version of the original Colossal Cave text adventure written on a PDP-11 by William Crowther and Don Woods. 02 Cr ystal Caverns (APPLE II) This was my first published game, a full sentence-recognition text adventure. I designed it after the original PDP-11 adventure, Colossal Cave. I’m very proud of the amount of depth I put into the game. The worlds I created in this and in Crime Stopper are complex and full of challenges which I’ve always enjoyed replaying. 03 Crime Stopper (APPLE II) Like Crystal Caverns, Crime Stopper was another full sentence-recognition text adventure and also one of my favourites. It was my second published game, and…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212High Score» Service: Netflix » Episodes: 6 We’re rather conflicted about Netflix’s new videogame series. On the one hand, it offers some truly fantastic presentation with exceptional access to key developers, on the other it’s an incredibly biased look at certain aspects of gaming, changing or ignoring key things in gaming history to tell its (admittedly informative) stories. Granted, the show does have a tough task on its hand, as it’s an impossible feat to tell the story of videogames across six episodes. So High Score focuses on bigger elements like the console war between Sega and Nintendo, the rise of 3D gaming, and the popularity of the NES and the success of Pac-Man and Space Invaders, and this is where France Costrel’s creation comes unstuck. Even topics as focused as…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212CrossCode» System: PC (tested), PS4, Switch, Xbox One » Buy it from: Online » Buy it for: £14.99 This is an ambitious game that tries to blend puzzles with blasting and manages quite a good balance. While it has all the trappings of a traditional RPG with a slew of sidequests, hours of story and plenty of quirky characters, it’s the combat where CrossCode really shines. Your avatar, Lea, has access to both melee and long-range attacks and all sorts of abilities which can enhanced through skill trees. Lea’s ranged attacks are also used to solve many of the game’s puzzles, like bouncing projectiles off walls to trigger switches. Some of the dungeons feel too long, but it’s still worth investigating, and it looks delightful. Score 75%…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212MAILBAGWIN! Every month, one lucky writer-in will receive a spanking copy of either our NES/Master System or SNES/Mega Drive books STAR LETTER THE ART OF THE REMASTER Dear Retro Gamer I’ve been playing the new remaster of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 and it’s absolutely incredible. I loved the original games growing up and I’ve been eagerly awaiting its release since it was announced and I’ve not been disappointed at all. Conversely, I’ve just seen the new Mario collection that’s been announced by Nintendo, and to be honest I’m a little disappointed as its far more expensive and appears to have had very little work done to it in comparison to Tony Hawk. Still, this leads me to my main point and it’s this: what does the team…6 min
Retro Gamer|No. 212ENDGAMEFAMICOM GRAND PRIX II: 3D HOT RALLY Hey look, it’s Mario and Luigi on the front cover! This isn’t recognised as an ‘official’ Mario spin-off game, like Mario Kart, but then again it didn’t get released outside of Japan so it’s hardly recognised to begin with. So what can we do but shine a light on this somewhat obscure racer? Why, the same thing we do every month, Pinky – we can spoil the ending for you. The race is over, and our favourite family plumbing business might well be finished. After all, the riches gained from winning this rally must surely be enough to set Mario and Luigi up for life, right? You’d like to think so. So the pair drive home, discussing what they’ll do with their newly…1 min
