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Retro Gamer|No. 220Hello, goodbyeI did it. Remember the other month I was saying how I had all these old consoles that had been modded and I never used them? A GameCube with a flash drive, a Nintendo 64 that had been upgraded to HDMI, an original Xbox with a hard drive installed, a Dreamcast with HD output and a packed memory card. They were all just sat there under the TV making me feel guilty. I bought them with the intention of streaming them. Except I didn’t. I didn’t even play them. I just cursed them every time I looked behind the telly and saw the absolute mess of cables and plugs lying there. I got rid of them. Well, not all of them. Two of them. The GameCube and Xbox. Gone. Both…3 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220NEWS JULY 2004JULY 2004 – It’s all kicking off! This month sees the first real shots fired in the new handheld console war, and a whole bunch of exciting new games being shown off at E3. Join Nick Thorpe as he hops in the time machine to relive all of the hype Marlon Brando passed away at the age of 80 on 1 July, having suffered pulmonary fibrosis and congestive heart failure. Long revered as one of the best actors of all time, Brando had received many awards and nominations including seven Oscar nominations for best actor, with wins for On The Waterfront and The Godfather. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict became focused on the ongoing construction of the West Bank barrier this month. On 9 July, the International Court of Justice advised the…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220REINFORCEMENTS1. SHADOW FORCE • This tricky force, first seen in R-Type III, is ideal for players that want to cover every direction – particularly with the blue laser, which will fire in the opposite direction to the ship’s movement. 2. CYCLONE FORCE • If you like to get up close and personal with the Bydo baddies, this does enormous damage on contact. It’s ideal for players that like to fling the Force around, rather than hiding behind it. 3. TENTACLE FORCE • Introduced in R-Type Delta and taking inspiration from Irem’s own X-Multiply, this Force’s control rods can spread out for interesting whipstyle attacks, as well as providing an excellent defensive barrier. 4. ANCHOR FORCE • Another Force that comes from R-Type Delta, but one that’s good for throwing around.…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220INTERSTELLAR IMITATORSKATAKIS n This game, originally for the C64 in 1987 and ported to the Amiga in 1988, landed Rainbow Arts in hot water with R-Type’s official licensee Activision Europe. The developer was threatened with a potential lawsuit – unless it agreed to take on the official Amiga conversion of R-Type! XEXEX ■ With Irem’s shooting games having proven strong competitors to Konami’s Gradius series, Konami decided to incorporate some of their innovations into this 1991 arcade game. As well as X-Multiply’s tentacle attack, this game’s spacecraft has a detachable orb that works rather like R-Type’s signature Force. PULSTAR ■ This 1995 Neo Geo game was developed by Aicom – a team founded by ex-Irem developers. The similarities to R-Type are undeniable, with a very similar Force, plenty of visual references…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE EVOLUTION OF IMPOSSIBLE MISSIONInspiration is often found by accident, but sometimes it’s deliberately sought out. The latter was the case when Dennis Caswell went to the movies and came back with the germ of an idea for his next project. Dennis then took further inspiration from a hit Atari 8-bit title, and as he explains, the result was a covert operation-themed platformer. “The idea for Impossible Mission was triggered by the movie WarGames, which I went to see with the express purpose of finding inspiration for a new game,” Dennis says. “The movie gave me the idea of infiltrating a high-tech installation of some sort, but the similarity ended there. The platform design was influenced largely by games like Jumpman, the creator of which sat down the hall from me for a time.”…13 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220STAGES OF EVOLUTION: LEVELLING UPIMPOSSIBLE MISSION You never know what to expect from Impossible Mission, because the order you encounter its underground levels in is entirely random. Added to that, the abilities of the robots on each stage differs from game to game. That said, the overall challenge of the levels is always the same. IMPOSSIBLE MISSION II Unlike the original, Impossible Mission II’s levels appear in a set order, but there are many more of them. The stages are grouped in towers that make up a fortress, and each one is protected by a security code system. The sequel’s levels are also far tougher than its predecessor’s. IMPOSSIBLE MISSION 2025 In a break from the first two Impossible Mission titles, the 2025-set follow-up has vast scrolling levels instead of fixed screen stages. The…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE HISTORY OF ROLANDUnlike Mario, Sonic, Lara and the myriad other mascots and iconic characters that have lit up the gaming landscape over the decades, it’s difficult to conjure a single image of Roland, the character introduced to help launch the Amstrad CPC 464. Some saw him as the computer’s unofficial mascot and the games were played by tens of thousands of computer users. And yet we say ‘him’, when we could so easily say ‘it’. For as well as taking on a human form, Roland was once little more than a block with arms, legs and a smiling face, and, in one game, our shapeshifting hero Roland was actually a flea. What Roland amounted to was a series of games that seemed to have been thought up on the hoof. Indeed, Amstrad’s…18 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220ROLAND GOES TYPINGThe Roland story didn’t stop with the eight games released on tape and disc. Amsoft also published its own magazine, Amstrad Computer User (originally called CPC464 User, then Amstrad CPC464 User) and this publication included two Roland games within its pages. The first was Roland Takes A Running Jump, presented by journalist Peter Green as a masterclass in writing machine code over four issues from November 1985 to March 1986 (one month was missed for some reason). The code was attributed to Keith Wilson and Marcus Sharp and it had players leaping around Amstrad’s office, avoiding boss Alan Sugar and collecting three-inch floppy discs. “Amsoft didn’t mind us using the Roland name and I’m guessing it felt like a good idea at the time,” recalls the magazine’s then-editor Simon Rockman.…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Atari 7800» MANUFACTURER: Atari » YEAR: 1984 » COST: £69.95 (launch), £50+ (today, boxed), £45+ (today, unboxed) Having realised that the Atari 5200 was not going to be the success it had hoped for, Atari quickly moved to create a new console that would address the shortcomings of its predecessor, with General Computer Corporation contracted to do the engineering. The Atari 7800 would offer beefed up graphical capabilities, a less awkward controller and backwards compatibility with Atari 2600 games out of the box. The 7800 is visually similar to its older sibling, with the sloping shape, black plastic casing and silver central strip with rainbow colouring all reminiscent of the 5200. However, the 7800 differentiates itself with onboard buttons and less prominent ventilation grilles, as well as a smaller overall size…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220CONVERSION CAPERSATARI 2600 ■ It may look beyond basic, and sound absolutely awful, but this bare-bones version plays OK. Three of the four stages are included (the ‘springboard’ stage didn’t make the cut), yet the most unfortunate omission is the complete lack of fruit for bombing enemies with. INTELLIVISION ■ A small step up from the 2600 version, benefitting from better defined sprites and a closer resemblance to the coin-op machine. The sound is… well, it sounds like a group of clowns randomly honking their horns. Three stages are included, with Mario’s Hideout sadly missing. COLECOVISION ■ As with the Intellivision release, Mario’s Hideout is AWOL. But otherwise this is a very good version which captures the key elements of the coin-op. An enhanced version that includes Mario’s Hideout was later…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Star Fox» SNES » 1993 » NINTENDO EAD/ARGONAUT SOFTWARE I paid £90 for my Japanese copy of Star Fox, which is about £184 in today’s money. That’s a silly amount of cash to spend on a videogame, but you tend to do silly things when you’re 19. I remember the amount because a PAL Super Nintendo with Super Mario World cost around £120 and a friend mentioned I was crazy spending that much money on a single game when I could just buy a console as well. I’ve since been foolish enough to spend more money than that on a single videogame (collecting retro games is expensive) but at the time it was the most money I’d ever spent on a single game. Star Fox’s quality was obvious as soon as…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE DYNAMIC DUOEasyGlide ■ Asha can glide by grabbing Pepelogoo mid-jump. Essential for navigating rooms and collecting treasure. Amusingly, after he grows large she has to cling to his belly. I’m A Fire Quencher! ■ Putting out fires unlocks passageways. If a fire is too big for Pepelogoo to blow out, Asha can fill her little water bucket. Heat Penetration ■ Is there nothing Pepelogoo can’t do? When penetrating deep into the Ice Pyramids, these slabs will need melting before you can pass. Want To Know A Secret? ■ For players trying to find all the game’s secrets, Pepelogoo will float above hidden doorways with a question mark by his head. Come Up For Air ■ Isn’t this adorable? Pepelogoo will save Asha from drowning in the Stream Sanctuary by plunging in…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220FAMILY MATTERSAssault Suit Leynos ■ At Masaya, Toshirou Tsuchida produced Kai-Serd as a crossover with Assault Suit Leynos. Tsuchida went to Square, helming the popular Front Mission franchise. Some Leynos staff made the sequel Valken (Cybernator here), others went to Omiya Soft creating Gun Hazard, which is the second Front Mission game. Kai-Serd had a sequel, Vixen 357 and there was also Leynos 2 and Valken 2. Aleste ■ Well this is complicated! Zanac, led to Zanac EX, then Aleste, AKA Power Strike, then an upgraded Aleste and Aleste Gaiden. Aleste 2 sadly wasn’t localised; Power Strike II (no relation) was released in Europe. GG Aleste II became Power Strike II. Dennin became Robo; Super became Space Megaforce. Don’t forget Gun-Nac or Musha or Zanac X Zanac. We’re going to have…3 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220KEY GAMESEUREKA! C64, ZX Spectrum 1984 CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER PC, Amiga, Atari ST 1992 TOMB RAIDER PlayStation, PC, Saturn 1996 SWAGMAN PlayStation, Saturn 1997 FIGHTING FORCE PlayStation, PC, N64 1997 THIEF: THE DARK PROJECT PC 1998 COMMANDOS: BEHIND ENEMY LINES PC - 1998 DEATHTRAP DUNGEON PC, PlayStation 1998 FINAL FANTASY VII PC 1998 GEX: ENTER THE GECKO PlayStation 1998 LEGACY OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER PlayStation, PC, Dreamcast 1999 AKUJI THE HEARTLESS PlayStation 1998 DEUS EX PC 1999 DAIKATANA PC 2000 FEAR EFFECT PlayStation 2000 HITMAN: CODENAME 47 PC 2000 TIMESPLITTERS PLayStation 2 2000 PROJECT EDEN PlayStation 2, PC 2001 TOMB RAIDER: THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS PlayStation 2, PC 2003 JUST CAUSE PlayStation 2, Various 2006 TOMB RAIDER LEGEND PlayStation 2, Various 2006…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Twisted Metal: World TourIf you had a moment to stop and think, you might note what an odd feeling it was to be battling it out in rocket-powered death cars to the sound of Frère Jacques. But you don’t have a moment to stop and think, as the likes of Mr Grimm and Grasshopper pursue you through the streets of Paris. And as you’re chased into the teleporter that leads to the Eiffel Tower, your only desire is to get those guys off your tail. In desperation, you drop a remote bomb in there and plummet off the side of the tower. It’s only once you’re safely on the ground that you realise the consequences of your actions. As you detonate that sucker, the explosion sounds rather more forceful than usual, so you…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220CONVERSION CAPERSDREAMCAST NAOMI and Dreamcast sharing similar architecture meant an arcade-perfect port, though both versions releasing within the same month in Japan meant no room for extra modes. Nonetheless, you could unlock the boss characters as well as a few extra weapons, including an over-powered gatling gun. Three minigames were also playable on the Visual Memory Units. PSP Part of the Power Stone Collection, this handheld port included unlockable characters from the sequel and vice versa, as well as adjustments to the UI, such an improved radar for Power Stones in the arena. The lack of online play however was a missed opportunity for a game best experienced in multiplayer.…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220NFL 2K» Dreamcast » 1999 » Visual Concepts To be completely honest with you, I didn’t care at all about NFL 2K when I bought it. I wasn’t really into American football and the last videogame version I’d played was Madden NFL 94 on the Mega Drive, but the seller threw the disc and manual in as a freebie with the copy of NBA 2K I actually wanted. At the time, I was running a Dreamcast website so any extra review fodder wasn’t to be sniffed at, but I didn’t see myself playing it much beyond that. Of course I am a spectacular fool, and had no idea that the game was excellent and had been very highly regarded by the US press. It was a bit of a struggle to…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220N-GAGING X-MENX-Men Legends was such a popular hit on consoles it eventually received a Nokia N-Gage version just five months later. This ‘demake’ of sorts (and its sequel) was developed by Texas-based studio Barking Lizards, who specialised in making licensed videogames specifically for phone and handheld devices. Purists can rest easy knowing it retains all the basic gameplay elements introduced by its big brother, including the ability to swap between multiple mutants on command, fully destructible environments and in-depth stat upgrades. The N-Gage version even manages to look somewhat like its console counterpart thanks to some beautiful pixel art, which helps keep each of the characters identifiable – even if they lack the same amount of detail. Most of the console iteration’s levels are faithfully recreated here, too, as is the…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220DAVID THIEL“I had Tesla coils with a thousand volts going through them in my lab!”David Thiel If you’ve ever wondered what qualifications people needed to break into the early videogame industry, David Thiel has an interesting answer. “I started off as a pipe organ major and after one year, decided that was the road to madness,” he says, without a hint of a cackle. “It was such a solitary pursuit. I switched to technical theatre and can design sets, do lights… and I’ve never used any of it since.” His skills as a coder and a musician were vital for getting his first role in the industry at Gottlieb, though, and soon he was creating audio for all the company’s coinops, including Mad Planets and the all-conquering Q*bert. He moved into…17 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220YOU ASK THE QUESTIONSMERMAN: What sort of sound driver did you use on the C64? Something I wrote myself. I was working on a game called Rock N’ Bolt and the programmer wanted music while you were playing and that’s hard with only three voices. Something’s gotta give. My custom driver which sat on top of the SID chip did a clever thing – I ran six channels of sound through a three channel device. If a sound effect had to happen, it ‘stole’ that channel but in such a way that the other channel was still running but just not touching the hardware, so when the sound effect is done, the music picks up where it would’ve been and you just think you didn’t hear it because the sound effect was so…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Pac-Man 99» System: Switch » Buy it from: Online » Buy it for: Free (in-app purchases) The biggest criticism we can level at Arika’s new game is that while it’s instantly obvious what you need to do at a base level, there are no rules to explain Pac-Man 99’s many new mechanics. Ultimately you’re chomping away at pellets and avoiding ghosts, just like any other Pac-Man game, but things change when you munch a Power Pellet. Any ghosts eaten will become a ‘Jammer Pac-Man’ and be sent over to any player you’ve targeted and slow them down, hopefully allowing them to be caught by a ghost and knocking them out of the competition for good. Additionally you can enhance Pac-Man so that he becomes stronger or faster when you finally munch…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Alice And You In The Planet Of Numbers» System: PC » Buy it from: Online » Buy it for: £5.19 While it might look complex, Alice And You is exactly what a puzzle game should be – easy to pick up, but hard to master. You’re placed in a grid of numbers, and the goal is to walk over every tile. However, your character can only walk as many spaces as the number on the tile in the direction they’re trying to move. Tiles disappear as you walk over them but can be replaced by picking up hearts, and trying to reach that next heart can get very tricky as you try not to overshoot or cross over your own path. With two game modes and a variety of grid sizes, the difficulty matches your patience too.…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE ZOMBIE ZEALOTFor 34-year-old Scott Pearce, there’s one famous videogame series that has dominated his collecting habits over the last few years. “My first encounter with Resident Evil was at a friend’s house,” he tells us. “We piled in to play it on the PlayStation during July 1998 – a spooky coincidence as it’s the same timeframe as when the game itself is set!” Like with many fans, Resident Evil opened up a new world to Scott with its survival horror theme, skilfully staged encounters and intense action scenes. “It was the feeling of impending doom and dread that hooked me at first and the brilliant use of fixed camera angles to obscure the threat. Plus the gameplay is just so addictive; punishing at first, then rewarding and satisfying when you finally…3 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220ONE OF US, ONE OF USRobert Annett The Switch is a great way to play old NES and SNES games, including some only released in Japan. The rewind facility is also very useful on some of the harder releases. Fat Bot It’s currently my most-played system. I like the fact that I can play it anywhere. Great original and retro games, though they need to add more NES and SNES titles. Having to replace Joy-Cons really stuck in my craw, though. I rarely replace controllers, especially after two years of normal use. Jason I got myself a Lite and a full and love them both. Having retro classics, indies, and Nintendo first-party games is great. But it also seems to be the home for point-and-click games old and new. And as a genre poorly represented…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220DEAD GOOD DIGITAL DEALSDear Retro Gamer, Congratulations on an excellent magazine and keeping it packed with quality content throughout the past year. What I normally like most about your articles is when you have pictures of concept art or other artefacts like the Oliver Twins’ tapes and disks they dug out for the Ghostbusters II piece. I say normally because the Treasure feature topped it this month with the reminders that I can buy Guardian Heroes and Radiant Silvergun from the Microsoft store and play them on my Xbox One. Otherwise I’d have assumed they were out of my reach. I’d love to see more information on where you can legally buy the games being featured and perhaps an opinion on which is the best version out there, eg Switch, SNES Mini. Or…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220LOADING…I can still remember the first time I played Irem’s R-Type. It was in a small arcade next to an indoor market in Poole and it was wedged in between a couple of cabs, one of which was Double Dragon. It had a unique aesthetic style that immediately separated it from other shooters I had played and I quickly fed the new cab some money. It didn’t take long for me to lose my available ships, but I fed more cash in, impressed by the novel charge system and the great and varied power-ups you could collect. Eventually I was able to reach the boss we now know as Dobkeratops and what a marvellous monstrosity it was. Irem’s game had a distinct biomechanical style that immediately reminded me of the…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Hints of greatnessIt was the French composer Claude Debussy who said, “Music is the space between the notes.” In short: without music being given the room to breathe, you’re left with a cacophony of noise. I don’t know if any of the rest of you used to experience this, but often older games for me spread far beyond the boundary of what you see on the screen, precisely because they were more minimalist. The restrictions that have long been swept away by technological progress is precisely what made them so vivid and iconic. Almost all the games that have stayed with me through my life are the ones where so much of their promise was merely hinted at. I’ve played all the Call Of Duty games, but even if you pointed an…3 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE LATEST NEWS FROM JULY 2004When Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aimé walked out onto the E3 stage in 2004, he introduced himself to the audience by telling them, “I’m about kicking ass, I’m about taking names, and we’re about making games.” To demonstrate those commitments, he was front and centre for the unveiling of Nintendo’s new dual-screen DS handheld, along with demos of Super Mario 64 DS, Metroid Prime: Hunters, Wario Ware Touched! and more. NGC felt that the system on display was “comfy” and that “it looks a bit like something from Tiger Electronics, but the prototype casing may well evolve before the machine is released”. Edge “came away convinced that with the right software support, it will be a massive hit with the same audience that has predominantly given Nintendo ownership of the handheld market”,…4 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Lock’N’ Chase» Intellivision » 1982 » Mattel Electronics I’ve rarely had a retro gaming find that has been quite as cool as the Intellivision collection I picked up back in 2013. I’d managed to miss the Intellivision Lives compilations over the years so I had no real experience with the console or its library at the time, but here was a system complete with 11 games, all of them boxed and most with their instructions and controller overlays. I couldn’t resist, and I ended up very pleased that I experienced the system this way, rather than via the compilation. You see, my favourite Intellivision game is Lock’N’ Chase, which never appears on the compilations because it’s a conversion of an arcade game by Data East. When you look at the screenshot…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE ETERNAL ENEMYR-TYPE n Here’s the classic enemy – the horrific beast with hideous flesh covering unfathomable internal technology, and a nasty little green abdominal growth. R-TYPE II n The Bydo had the technology, and they rebuilt Dobkeratops in the heavily armoured Zabtom. You won’t recognise it unless you destroy its helmet. R-TYPE III: THE THIRD LIGHTNING n Dobkeratops Albino is a slightly spikier version of the original, with an alternative black version to fight in the second loop of the game. R-TYPE DELTA n This variant, known as Subkeratom, can be knocked out when you attack its traditional abdominal weak spot – but that’s when the trouble starts. R-TYPE FINAL n This encounter with Dobkeratops is almost sad – it appears to be hooked up to some kind of life-support system.…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220BYDO BYGONESOne of the greatest features of the original R-Type Final was the awesome R Museum. As you unlocked new ships to fight with, they would have their entries added to this museum, which would eventually grow into a comprehensive guide to the game’s 101 R-Type fighter craft. Individual ship entries covered their history in the fight against the Bydo, with details including which companies manufactured them and how they developed from their predecessors, as well as explaining the function of their weaponry and allowing you to view each ship. The R Museum is back in R-Type Final 2, and it looks like it will supplant its predecessor as the ultimate guide to the R-Type series. The R Museum is set out in a family tree style once again, charting the…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220STAGES OF EVOLUTION: AGENTS OF CHANGEIMPOSSIBLE MISSION Inspired by the sharply dressed spies of Sixties movies and TV shows, Impossible Mission’s Agent 4125 is a highly skilled athlete with a talent for uncovering secrets. He’s also hard as nails, and so he loses time rather than lives when he’s attacked by a robot or falls from a height. IMPOSSIBLE MISSION 2025 The three operatives in Impossible Mission 2025 are a former marine, a cybernetically enhanced gymnast and a T1000-inspired robot. You would think that they would have different abilities, but in practice they have a somersault move and can survive any threat – just like Agent 4125. IMPOSSIBLE MISSION (REMAKE) Like Impossible Mission 2025, the remake of the original game lets you play as a male, female or android agent. As with its predecessor, the…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE MAKING OF: RECKLESS RUFUSMike Berry, the creator of Reckless Rufus, wanted his game to be different from the many budget titles that were already available. “The early Nineties seemed to be dominated by TV or movie-based games,” he begins. “And even though there were a few exceptions, I thought most of them sucked.” With the 8-bit market on the wane, the target audience was also changing, hence Alternative’s licensing of properties such as Thomas The Tank Engine and Fireman Sam. Mike was having none of it. “I wanted to produce something fairly original, but I knew a lot of the software houses at the time wanted to play it safe with tried and tested formulas. I kicked around a few ideas before coming up with the concept of Reckless Rufus, or as it…5 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220CONVERSION CAPERSZX SPECTRUM Fred’s flickering graphics and a set of rudimentary sound effects threatened to spoil the fun of exploring the Pyramid of Tootiecarmoon. But a well-animated sprite complete with a recoiling gun, a busy set of mazes, a map, a simple yet clear colour scheme and progressive difficulty made for some rather fun tomb raiding. COMMODORE 64 The Commodore 64 version feels faster and more polished. You can select a difficulty level, you’re told how many points you’ll gain for collecting each item and there’s even some in-game music (that rapidly becomes annoying). The maze feels less claustrophobic too and there are bombs to blow your way to the next maze. AMSTRAD CPC Renamed Roland On The Ropes for the CPC, we were confused by the odd order for redefining…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220ARISE SIR FREDAmsoft gave up on the Roland series in 1985 but its spirit lived on in three other games. Doors Of Doom, for instance, was a Roland game in all but name, starring a similar looking character to the one which appeared in Roland In Time and Roland In Space: the one that wore a blue hat, red top and fabulous yellow trousers. “Doors Of Doom carried on the theme,” affirms Gem Software boss John Line who is now considering porting all three games to Windows PCs. The other Roland-inspired titles were Sir Fred and Poogaboo. Sir Fred was created as a sequel to Fred (or Roland On The Ropes) by a group of former Indescomp developers going by the name Made In Spain. Poogaboo was released by Opera Soft as…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE MAKING OF BALANCE OF POWERBalance Of Power garnered both huge critical acclaim and massive financial success on its release in 1985. In the early Eighties, videogames for the most part were perceived by the public as little more than arcade frivolities, but Balance Of Power was different. It offered a daunting glimpse of the complexities of the ongoing Cold War and the delicate statecraft that just about stopped the world descending into nuclear annihilation – which was a very real possibility at the time. Even today, the game is still highly regarded. “Balance Of Power is one of the most consistently requested titles in the archive, year over year,” says Ken McAllister of the Learning Games Initiative Research Archive (LGIRA) in Arizona. “We almost always feature it in game history exhibits we help curate.…10 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE UNCONVERTEDHEAVY SMASH DEVELOPER: DATA EAST YEAR: 1993 GENRE: SPORTS ■ We love a good future sports game – give us some ridiculous body armour, an incredibly thin rulebook, a good dose of violence and you’ll keep us amused for hours. Data East has done just that here, with a game that will instantly remind many players of the Speedball series. Much like the home computer classic, Heavy Smash tasks teams of players with carrying the ball in their hands, running it and passing it around with the ultimate aim of throwing it into the opposing team’s goal to score a point. There are fewer players, the pitches are slightly smaller and the perspective is different, but the action is familiar. You can obviously win by having more points when the…6 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220WE MAKI OHZORABorn on 4 July 1968 in Saitama, Japan, Maki Ohzora initially wanted to be an artist for TV anime. Discovering it was tough to make a living at this she quit and, thanks to a friend working there, eventually ended up at Westone creating graphics. Her pixel artist predecessor was one of the company cofounders, Hiromi Suzuko, who later married to become Hiromi Kurihara and left sometime in the early Nineties. Maki Ohzora would then work alongside Ryuichi Nishizawa, producing graphics for many of the company’s subsequent games. Her first project was the arcade game Aurail (1990). Even though the artwork for Monster World IV is some of the cutest we’ve ever seen, Ms Ohzora is multi-talented with a wide range of styles, having also drawn the gritty backgrounds in…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Amiga CD32 Controller» PLATFORM: Amiga CD32 » RELEASED: 1993 » COST: £16.99 (launch), £70+ (today, boxed) £50+ (today, unboxed) Commodore’s attempt to repackage the Amiga hardware in console form wasn’t a bad idea – the system was a fine gaming platform, and the company was facing an uncertain future in the home computer market. But some things had to be done to improve the system’s viability in the console space, and one of them was addressing the control situation. For years, Amiga owners had been expected to make use of joysticks with just one or two buttons, which just wasn’t enough for the latest arcade conversions. To that end, Commodore created a new pad for the CD32, with a digital directional pad, four face buttons and two shoulder buttons. An upward-curving body…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220WHERE ARE THEY NOWIAN LIVINGSTONE ■ Ian became a CBE in 2013 and is now a partner in Hiro Capital, which helps fund game studios looking to grow. He’s also the chairman of Sumo Group PLC, alongside being a non-executive director for Flavourworks, Antstream, Fusebox, Midoki, The Secret Police and Polyarc. He’s currently writing a new Fighting Fantasy book, alongside Dice Men with Steve Jackson, which charts the first ten years of Games Workshop. DOMINIC WHEATLEY ■ After advising several companies following his departure from Eidos in 1997, Dominic is currently the CEO of Catalis, a company composed of Testronic and Curve Digital. His role is making sure that both companies have heavy involvement in the gaming space, while looking at other companies to acquire and build upon. MARK STRACHAN ■ After leaving…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220POWER STONEIn 1999, 3D fighting games were hardly new. Despite its commitment to its signature brand of sprite-based fighters, even Capcom had taken the leap to polygons, from its debut 3D fighter Star Gladiator to even Street Fighter getting the EX treatment. But even with these new graphical changes, most 3D fighting games rarely utilised the 3D space. Apart from the odd side step, most would keep the action to a 2D plane, still confined in a ring. But the arrival of new hardware in the form of NAOMI – Sega’s arcade board counterpart to the Dreamcast – was the perfect opportunity for new innovative ideas. Enter Power Stone, a new breed of 3D fighting game from Capcom, with co-director Hideaki Itsuno having already cut his teeth on 3D fighters for…6 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220MASTER THE STONEGET THOSE STONES ■ The easiest way to gain an advantage is to get all three Power Stones, then unleash their power for maximum damage. Even without using an item or special manoeuvre, a simple flying kick is enough to knock one from an opponent. Be quick whenever another gem appears on the map PERFECT ESCAPE ■ While low on technical skill, you can nonetheless escape enemy at tacks in a number of ways. Press the joys tick away during an opponent attack and you’ll perform a quick evade – jumping out of the way also counts as an escape. Press grab at the right time and you’ll also cancel your opponent’s grab. BON APPETIT ■ If you’ve been knocked hard you can fortunately get your health back up thanks…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE MAKING OF X-MEN LEGENDSThe early Noughties marked a great time to be a Marvel comics fan. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films were beginning to hit their stride, Secret War by Brian Michael Bendis was a major crossover storyline at the time, and the widely praised Nineties X-Men cartoon had continued to inspire a wide array of successful superhero shows going well into the next decade. Such impressive feats didn’t go unnoticed by the videogame world, being enough to encourage many high-profile publishers to find new ways of translating everyone’s favourite spandex-laden characters from page to screen. Superhero games had existed for years before, sure, yet it wouldn’t be until September of 2004 that console players received their first taste of what one with role-playing mechanics mixed in could look like. ‘Final Fantasy with X-Men’…10 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Future ClassicModern games you’ll still be playing in years to come CELESTE THE BACKGROUND Matt Makes Games came to prominence as a studio for creating the closest thing to a ‘killer-app’ the ill-fated Ouya console ever had in the form of the 2013 release, TowerFall. Whispers about the multiplayer arena-battler’s brilliance erupted into a chorus of praise as soon as it left the confines of the Ouya and made its way onto PC and PS4 as TowerFall Ascension in 2014, hailed as a leading light among a spate of indie games breathing new life into local-multiplayer gaming at the time. The game’s perfectly precise mechanics suggested that this was a studio with the potential to create a spectacular platformer in the single-player space and so it proved to be with its…5 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220FIVE TO PLAYREACTOR ■ Tim Skelly, the creator of such glorious vector titles as Warrior and Star Castle, came to Gottlieb on a three-game deal. Reactor was his only released title, with David providing a rocking soundtrack to this innovative and highly original coin-op. Q*BERT ■ David’s best-known game is an excellent example of the importance of audio to the player experience. The sound of Q*bert jumping across the pyramid and his infamous profanities when he dies are as iconic as his elongated nose. MAD PLANETS ■ ‘Forgotten gem’ is an overused term but is wholly apt for this brilliant blaster. Designed by the late Kan Yabumoto and with graphics by Jeff Lee, David produced a banging score, perfectly complimenting the frenetic action on-screen. WINTER GAMES ■ After leaving the arcade industry…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Ninja Gaiden Black» XBOX » 2005 » TEAM NINJA I loved Microsoft’s original Xbox and it remains one of my favourite systems. I genuinely feel that it was the last console to come out that was significantly more powerful than the available PCs of the time and I can’t see that changing in the immediate future. Power wasn’t the only reason I preferred the Xbox to the PS2 and the GameCube at the time of release, though. All three consoles are great at what they do, but it was the exclusives on Microsoft’s system that really drew me in, exclusives like Sega’s Panzer Dragoon Orta, Bungie’s Halo: Combat Evolved and Team Ninja’s Dead Or Alive 3. Microsoft’s signing of Team Ninja during this period seemed like a particularly sound decision as the…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220RetroMania Wrestling» System: PC (tested), Switch, Xbox One, PS4 » Buy it from: Online » Buy it for: £23.79 Retrosoft has delivered something of a dream 16-bit wrestling game. The excellent art is clearly inspired by the likes of WWF Wrestlefest, with plenty of cool arenas to fight in and some excellent ring entrances. Meanwhile, the neat grappling system takes cues from Fire Pro Wrestling, with a momentum gauge so you can build up to the big moves. There are even a few different match types to indulge in, including cage matches and multi-man scraps. However, the price is perhaps a tad high for what’s on offer. Single players get a story mode starring Johnny Retro and the arcade-style 10 Pounds Of Gold mode, both of which are fun but brief,…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220SONY’S DIGITAL STORE CLOSURESWhile we were putting this issue together, Sony announced that it was going to close the PSP, PS3 and Vita stores – only to reverse its decision on the PS3 and Vita. We talk over the implications of that, and other related issues, for collecting these platforms in the future. NICK So before the shutdown was announced, when was the last time you actually used the PS3 or Vita digital stores? DARRAN Controversial! For me it was probably to review a Vita game for the reviews section. Of course, that changed when I heard all the stores were disappearing! NICK I claimed a copy of a Vita game that I’d backed on Kickstarter last year. For PS3, it would have been around the time Yakuza 5 came out. TIM I’ve…5 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220BARGAIN HUNTTHE COVER STAR R-TYPE FINAL This fantastic update of the arcade classic was a PlayStation 2 exclusive upon its original release back in 2003, yet it is still unlikely to set you back much more than £12, even complete and in mint condition. After the Japanese import? That’ll cost you more, with prices varying between £30 and £40. Whichever you go for, it’s a bargain for this brilliant game. NFL 2K Sega’s answer to EA’s legendary Madden series is an excellent game and cheaply available, albeit in NTSC format only. Even a sealed copy recently sold for just £5 on eBay. POWER STONE While not exactly rare, this Dreamcast beat-’em-up will set you back around £15-£29 in good condition which is at least a lot cheaper than its sequel. The…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Your sayWhat’s your favourite memory of the R-Type games? One Credit Classics Beating R-Type was a massive turning point for me as a person. After I got that clear and we beat it without dying, absolutely ANYTHING seemed possible. What an amazing and truly timeless shooter. All time great. Steve Hardy I always remember that brief panic when the first level boss broke from its restraints and started moving towards you. Brian Faneuff I never got the chance to experience the full arcade glory of it, but I fondly remember receiving R-Type DX for the GBC for Christmas as a kid, which I sunk countless hours into. Jason Edmunds Spending way too much time playing it at Dayville’s in Birmingham and then reading about it coming to the new PC Engine…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220MASTERS IN HISTORY([A-Z])%hen it comes to TV shows about videogames, there are fondly remembered ones, and then there is GamesMaster. From 1992 to 1998, Patrick Moore’s titular character would issue challenges to wide-eyed kids and celebrity guests alike, all of whom would battle it out for a coveted Golden Joystick. At the head of it all, the charismatic double-entendre devotee Dominik Diamond assumed hosting duties for almost all of the series’ run. The show transcended the games to become a piece of the Nineties pop culture landscape in its own right, and now Read-Only Memory is publishing GamesMaster: The Oral History, a book in which Dominik Diamond threads together memories of the show with interviews from over 40 people including the cast, crew and guests, to charting the ups and downs of…6 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Evercade levels upBlaze Entertainment’s Evercade was our favourite console launch of 2020 and proved you didn’t need the latest tech to deliver a great gaming experience. It now has a new home console planned called the Evercade VS and Blaze’s managing director Andrew Byatt and marketing manager Sean Cleaver are here to tell you all about it. When will Evercade VS launch? Andrew Byatt: The Evercade VS is going to be available from 3 November 2021 and available for pre-order from May 28. The pricing will start from £89.99/$99.99/€99.99 and will be similar to how the handheld was released, with a starter and premium pack variant and a special collector’s pack with Funstock. What can you tell us about the new arcade releases? Sean Cleaver: We’re delivering on the promise of arcade…7 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THIS MONTH IN…NGC “Everyone loves to pull out the old Famicom or the SNES for a bit of retro fun, but my N64 hasn’t seen the light of day for years,” worries reader Joe Lawrence. He’s concerned that players like him “have been spoiled by the GameCube’s top graphics and gameplay” and trashes Lylat Wars as “very outdated” graphically, and “fiddly” to control. Oof. Edge Chatting to J Allard, Edge uncovers an interesting piece of information regarding Microsoft’s decision to push Xbox Live. Retailers had apparently had concerns about Live, but had been impressed as “the group of eight people who all hang out together now buy eight copies of Counter-Strike instead of two or three and pass them around,” according to Allard. Play What do you think of the new Nintendo…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE HISTORY OF: R•TYPEMany games have unforgettable moments, but few have moments that transcend the game itself and become iconic of the entire genre.R-Type is one of those games – a game which stands alongside the likes of Scramble and Gradius as a milestone in the evolution of the horizontal shoot-’em-up, and a game which has been plundered repeatedly by imitators. But then, the game’s own successors have leaned just as heavily on the most memorable parts of the original game, while evolving just enough to ensure that the series has always represented the best that the genre has to offer. R-Type is a horizontal shoot-’em-up that pits the player against the evil forces of the Bydo Empire – later established to be living weapons, created by humanity. According to a developer interview…22 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220TACTICAL SHIFTFans around the world were shocked for two reasons when R-Type’s PSP return was announced. Firstly, the series was supposed to be finished, as R-Type Final made clear. Secondly, the new game – R-Type Tactics, or R-Type Command in North America – wasn’t a shooting game at all. Instead, the series would move to turn-based strategy. The original R-Type Tactics, released in 2007 in Japan and 2008 elsewhere, retained some of the series’ signature trappings. Like the shooting games, it is viewed from the side, but with units now assigned to positions on a hexagonal grid. You can choose from many of the spacecraft from the shooting games, and just as in those games they always face the right of the screen, confronting the left-facing Bydo menace. However, freed from…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220SUBSCRIBE TODAYAND RECEIVE A FREE SEGA MEGA DRIVE CONTROLLERGIFT WORTH£30 Officially SEGA licensed Bluetooth controller Compatible with PC, Mac, Android and Switch Features a rechargeable 500mAh lithium ion battery that offers 20 hours of playtime SUBSCRIBE ONLINE NOW AT www.magazinesdirect.com/sega21 SUBSCRIBE TO RETRO GAMER TODAY FOR JUST £25 FOR 6 MONTHS Reasons to subscribe… Stunning exclusive subscriber-only covers You’ll never miss an issue! It’s delivered direct to your door Brilliant value – save money on the cover price UPGRADE TO INCLUDE DIGITAL FOR ONLY £2.50 Increase your saving to 57% ExclusiveSubscriber CoverEvery Issue! SEE THE FULL RANGE ANDORDER ONLINEATwww.magazinesdirect.com/sega21…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220STAGES OF EVOLUTION: RISE OF THE ROBOTSIMPOSSIBLE MISSION You can’t judge how dangerous a particular robot in Impossible Mission is based on its appearance, because models that look the same can pose a very different threat. Some are consistently docile, some are slow until approached and then speed up, and some fire bursts of electricity. IMPOSSIBLE MISSION II Some of Impossible Mission II’s robots have the same defences as those in the original, but the sequel also has a raft of new metallic foes. As well as models that lay mines and push you off platforms, there are spring-like robots that you use as launch pads to reach high-up areas. IMPOSSIBLE MISSION 2025 Impossible Mission 2025’s robots are more like those in the original than the ones in the second game, in so much as they…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220CONVERSION CAPERSCOMMODORE 64 • The original version devised and coded by Mike Berry is the best despite the nagging aliens that incessantly pester poor Rufus. With sound by Mike’s cousin and help with graphics from a friend, there’s a true bedroom coder feel to the game’s creation, ten years after the phenomenon first began. A challenging and compulsive puzzle game that proved there was still life in the C64. AMSTRAD CPC • While it’s a tad slower than the C64 game, the bright display and robust sound effects combine to make Reckless Rufus a real treat for Amstrad owners often starved of good-quality budget games. The same complaints about those pesky aliens surface, and with Rufus still only able to fire one bullet at a time, it can be frustrating. Nevertheless,…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220MORE FROM AMSOFTHARRIER ATTACK Created by Durell Software programmer Mike Richardson and inspired by the Falklands War, this side-scrolling Scramble clone involved bombing enemies and avoiding incoming fire. Bundled with CPC 464s, it ended up in the hands of 100,000 Amstrad gamers. Durell founder Bob White recalls Alan Sugar as being “perfunctory, sharp but straight”. SORCERY+ Not only the finest Amsoft game but one of the best arcade titles to bless the CPC, Sorcery+ (a sequel to Sorcery) looked amazing thanks to its colourful, detailed Mode 0 graphics and fast, fluid animation. Since it was disc-only, the developers were also able to push the number of screens to explore from a paltry 40 to a much more impressive 75. QABBALAH “Daren White and I wrote this isometric projection, 3D game but it…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220BUILDING AMSOFT’S CATALOGUEBefore Amstrad launched the CPC 464, it knew the computer would live or die on the strength of its software catalogue. To build a catalogue of 50 titles, its software division Amsoft asked for 50 prototypes to be created and sent to developers. “We were tasked with making 50 hand-built pre-production prototypes which were distributed to people writing software,” recalls Roland Perry, who had just three months getting from concept to first working prototype. “Eventually, with a bit of cannibalism, we probably shipped 46 or 47 of them.” Grey in colour, these machines didn’t carry the CPC branding. A label stated it was an Amstrad 64k micro computer and the software developers were handed a freestanding 5V power supply and an Amstrad 14-inch colour television with the tuner disconnected and…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE RAREST OF KONGS■ The ColecoVision versions of both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr were missing a stage and the intermissions between stages due to a lack of cartridge space. Coleco later addressed this by producing ‘complete’ versions on cassette for its Adam computer. Yet for Donkey Kong Jr it went a step further by adding a brand new fifth stage set in Mario’s kitchen. Here, Junior has to dodge plungers and navigate an industrial-sized mixing bowl while Mario flings flaming hot pies at him. It’s a neat addition, but the story goes that Nintendo didn’t want Coleco adding enhancements (presumably as it would give it an edge over Nintendo’s own versions). The fifth stage was therefore nixed, but it has since surfaced in leaked prototype builds and it can now be…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220KAMEO KONGSUPER MARIO KART YEAR: 1992 FORMAT: SNES Lining up on the starting grid against seven rivals, Junior is a heavyweight racer alongside Bowser. His special items are bananas, naturally. Junior would not feature in another Mario Kart game until has was added to the tacky Mario Kart Tour in 2020. DONKEY KONG YEAR: 1994 FORMAT: GAME BOY The game that brilliantly revived DK also brought along Junior, who tries to thwart Mario by throwing levers and generally being a pest. Of note is the jungle-set fourth stage which is based on Donkey Kong Jr and features vines, Snapjaws and Nitpickers. MARIO’S TENNIS YEAR: 1995 FORMAT: VIRTUAL BOY Junior pulls on his tennis sneakers and competes against the usual crew in one of the better games to appear on Nintendo’s 3D…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220TIPPING THE BALANCEPOPULARITY CONTEST ■ The aim of Balance Of Power is to increase your superpower’s prestige points without triggering a nuclear war. You do that by getting as many minor countries on your side as possible, either by helping them out or by replacing their governments with more sympathetic ones. CHECK THE NEWS ■ Start your turn by checking the Events tab to see what’s been going on. The newspaper gives an overview of current affairs, while the US Actions and USSR Actions tabs let you find out what that naughty opposing superpower has been up to. QUESTION CAREFULLY ■ You can question your opponent’s actions, but be careful. If they respond aggressively, you could trigger a diplomatic crisis. In that case, either you or your opponent backs down, losing prestige…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE MAKING AND REMAKING OF MONSTER WORLD MW IVDeveloped by Westone and released in April 1994 for Sega’s Mega Drive, Monster World IV (hereafter MWIV) was intended as the final entry in the ridiculously convoluted Wonder Boy saga. Mild spoiler: after the heart-warming ending and credits, your genie companion congratulates you, stating this is the end of the overall series. At the time it was not released outside of Japan. But in 2012, roughly 18 years later, it received an official English localisation for modern platforms. A sequel (Monster Boy And The Cursed Kingdom) came out in 2018 and now we are about to see a remake of MWIV itself. So how did this socalled ‘end of the series’ come about? Leafing through the sketchbooks of art director Maki Ohzora (see the We Love Maki Ohzora boxout) reveals…17 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220UPGRADING MONSTER WORLDThe Third Dimension “I decided a long time ago that if I was going to remake the Monster World series, I would use 3D for the visuals. This requires high-quality modelling.” Revisiting Dungeons “In the original, once you defeated a boss you could not revisit that dungeon. Now you can, to retrieve any Life Drops you missed.” Visible Equipment You can now see your equipped weapon. “The initial equipment is different, so the difficulty level at the beginning of the game is different.” Can You Hear Voices? “At the beginning of development there was a feeling of ‘I really want to hear Asha’s voice’, so it was unanimously decided Asha should have a voice.” Improved HUD Not only are hearts, Life Drops and gold presented more discretely than before, allowing…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220FROM THE ARCHIVES EidosMark Strachan and Dominic Wheatley were working at an advertising agency, when they decided to set up their own business in the gaming industry. “My younger brother had bought a Commodore 64 in January of 1983, [he] was playing Heroes Of Khan, and I was watching him type in certain commands to progress, and I was just amazed,” cofounder Dominic says of the early days. This was the turning point where Dominic decided to pitch the idea of this games business to Mark Strachan, “I took him out to the pub, and said I had this idea, and we agreed to go to this cottage near Goodrich Castle in Wales with our girlfriends, and we drew up a business plan there and then, which became Domark.” At this point the…9 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE DNA OF EIDOSMARKETING ■ From dressing up a man in a camel-coat at Wembley Stadium to having Lara Croft on the cover of The Face magazine, Eidos knew how to market its prized assets and aim them towards a specific audience. ACQUISITIONS ■ The acquisitions of certain companies made Eidos the juggernaut it came to be in the mid-Nineties, showcasing IP such as Tomb Raider, Legacy Of Kain and Gex, just to name a few. TOMB RAIDER ■ The series that transformed Core Design and ultimately Eidos, with over nine million copies of the first game sold, and the subsequent games transforming Lara into a gaming icon. While The Angel Of Darkness marked the end of Core Design’s involvement, Lara is still going strong 25 years later. PLAYSTATION ■ At the start…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220WHO’S WHOWANG-TANG A Chinese martial artist following his master’s instructions to find the Power Stones, Wang-Tang is as optimistic as he is acrobatic, giving his off-the-wall attacks more flair. He basically turns Super-Saiyan when powered up – even one of his Power Fusions is much like a Spirit Bomb. RYOMA One of the only characters with his own weapon, giving him extra reach even if his katana doesn’t instantly knock the stones out of an opponent. Carrying around a blade however means he’s slower with picking up objects. When powered up he becomes an electrocharged silver samurai. FALCON A pilot in search of adventure, Falcon is the game’s lead character. Fighting with a boxing style, his moves aren’t flashy but he’s a perfect all-rounder. When powered up he dons a metal…2 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220POWER HOUR■ If you thought the game was relatively light on plot, an anime adaptation actually tried to put a fun story together across 26 episodes. Produced by Studio Pierrot, whose output includes Naruto and Bleach, the anime focuses on lead character Edward Falcon whose father leaves him with one of seven Power Stones, prompting him to go on a search for the others – cue the perfect set-up for an epic quest encountering rivals and plenty of shenanigans. Most characters remain faithful to their game design, though Falcon clearly sounds American (or maybe he’s Scottish, based on the change of emblem on his jacket), and he’s also accompanied by a comic-relief butler. While the anime released in Japan the same year as the game, the English dub didn’t materialise until…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220THE LEGEND CONTINUESX-MEN LEGENDS 2 ■ Rise Of The Apocalypse retained all the best hallmarks of the first X-Men Legends, expanding upon them with a larger superhero roster that included members of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants as well as the main X-Men team. Watching these sides work together only reinforced the sequel’s co-operative central hook. MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE ■ Raven Software forwent a third game in favour of a spin-off series that would encompass the whole Marvel universe. The cel-shaded look was ditched in favour of a more realistic aesthetic, but the addition of characters like Black Panther, Doctor Doom and Silver Surfer made for some interesting power combinations. MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 2 ■ The first legacy title to not be developed by Raven, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 was heavily inspired by…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Things of noteSECRET STRAWBERRIES You’ll often spot, and sometimes find in hidden places, strawberries floating around the level. These offer an extra challenge for those who want it, testing your skills to see if you are able to grab them. B-SIDES Hidden collectible cassettes unlock harder B-side versions of levels. Beat them and you unlock an even harder C-Side. TEST TIME Set-piece boss-like sections are used effectively to ramp up tension and test the skills you’ve built up. MOUNTAIN MELODIES Celeste received a number of award nominations for its fantastic soundtrack, composed by Lena Raine. SPEED CLIMBING Celeste became a huge hit in the speedrunning community, which helped contribute to the game’s profile and success.…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220SELECTED TIMELINEGAMES 1981ARCADE 1982ARCADE 1982ARCADE 1982ARCADE 1982 UNRELEASED] ARCADE 1983ATARI2600 1983C64COLECOVISION/ATARI 800 1983C64COLECOVISION/ATARI 800 1983VARIOUS 1983ARCADE 1984C64ADAM 1984ADAMC64 1984C64AMIGA 1984C64COLECOVISION 1986AMIGA 1986C64 1988ARCADE 1989ARCADE 1989ARCADE 1989ARCADE 1990ARCADE 1991VRINSTALLATION 1992ARCADE 2014MOBILE 2015MOBILE PINBALL 1983 1987 1988 1988 1989 1989 2006 DATA EAST PINBALL] 2007 2007 2008 2008 2009 2009 2010 2010 2011 2011 2011 2012 2012 2012 2013 2014 2016 2016 2016 2017 2017 JERSEY JACK PINBALL] 2021…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Evercade Multi Game CartridgesBlaze Entertainment hasn’t released any new Evercade cartridges since December 2020, so these new carts are very welcome. The new compilations are Jaleco Collection 1 (ten games) and Piko Interactive Collection 2 (13 games), which should keep you going until the next carts arrive. As with previous Evercade carts, each release costs £14.99, which is tremendously good value. Before we examine the titles across each individual collection, we’ll take a look at everything the carts share in common. Emulation is up first and the two carts cover a good range of systems between them. Jaleco Collection 1 features a selection of NES and SNES games, while Piko’s cart is a little more ambitious and also features emulators for the Mega Drive, PlayStation and Game Boy Advance – two 32-bit systems…6 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220Arcade Retro Classics» Buy it from: amazon.co.uk» Buy it for: £18.99 Hot on the heels of Coin-Op: The Arcade Guide comes another book dedicated to arcade classics. Steve Roach’s new tome will disappoint those looking for new insight or interviews, but works brilliantly as a simple time machine. The majority of the book focuses on the Eighties and 1990, covering 87 arcade greats, including Centipede, Mr Do!, Bomb Jack and Zaxxon, but it also celebrates the likes of Space Invaders, Street Fighter II and even Crazy Taxi. Steve also explains how to enjoy these games on modern systems and even briefly discusses the touchy subject of ROMs and how to jailbreak your console. It’s all finished off with some slick design work and lots of lovely images and is a decent alternative…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220READERS REACTJustin I got Double Dragon Neon, Prince Of Persia Classic, Rain and Hydrophobia. Richard Stone I tried to grab Jeanne D’Arc, but unfortunately it’s not there anymore. I’ll probably get Front Mission 3, Final Fantasy Tactics, Persona, but quite a few things have already vanished. Paulie ‘Walnuts’ Gualtieri I was gonna download Klonoa (PlayStation) but it already disappeared… Downloaded Blood Omen: Legacy Of Kain thankfully. I know, not digital exclusives but physical copies of those two are slight bank breakers. Alex Clogston I grabbed Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles and Persona 3 Portable. Jamie Robinson I’ll try and get as many PlayStation classics as I can before the store closes. Fritz T Montecristo Ever since the announcement I grabbed Gottlieb Pinball Classics, Greed Corp, Rain and the original Tomb Raider.…1 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220SWITCHED ONIf you needed further proof of the popularity of Nintendo’s latest console consider our Greatest Games Systems feature from issue 177. Nintendo’s console was already being championed by readers as the 30th greatest machine of all time and it had only been on sale for about ten months (by comparison its predecessor, the Wii U, didn’t even place). The Switch certainly isn’t perfect (its third-party games can often suffer from performance issues compared to the Xbox and PS4 versions) but there’s certainly a lot to be said for its sheer versatility and adaptability (it’s equally at home in your hands or under your TV). That adaptability, both in how it can be used and the sheer range of games that’s available for it, has ensured Nintendo’s console currently gets more…6 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220MAILBAGNOVEL IDEA Hi Retro Gamer, Ever since the release of the PS Vita (and now the Nintendo Switch) I’ve been enjoying visual novels and was wondering if RG had ever done a feature on this genre? I have no idea of the origins of visual novels and just how far back gamers in the UK were able to enjoy them. I don’t recall seeing them on my glorious ZX Spectrum back in the Eighties, although that was a lifetime ago, so I might’ve forgotten! Joel Weaver We haven’t done a feature on visual novels yet, though Nick is a fan of the genre – as well as the recent Future Classic on 428: Shibuya Scramble, he’ll happily play through the likes of Steins;Gate. We’ll likely do this in the future,…5 min
Retro Gamer|No. 220END GAMEOSHIDASHI ZINTRICK: PUKIE’S ENDING » There was a game made by ADK for the Neo Geo in 1996, which is now quite a rare and pricey thing to find, but is well worth looking for if you get the chance because it’s really brilliant. But enough about Twinkle Star Sprites – ADK’s puzzler Zintrick is all of that, except not really as brilliant. Oh well, maybe there’s something funny at the end? Let’s skip ahead and find out. » Achieving fame via success at puzzle games is no easy feat, but Pukie’s got a plan. After winning at Zintrick a whole lot, he has written an autobiography – a noble endeavour, but a risky one. Who’s going to read it? » As it turns out, pretty much the entire Pukie…1 min
