Indholdsfortegnelse for No. 242 i Retro Gamer

Just as the Evercade EXP was due to launch, Blaze revealed that a large shipment of its Limited-Edition EXPs totalling half-a-million pounds had been stolen in a suspected targeted attack. CEO Andrew Byatt revealed in a statement that Blaze is planning to remanufacture the stolen goods and will be given those affected suitable compensation. “We firmly believe that the customers of Blaze and Funstock are victims here and we apologise for the impact this event will cause.” More updates soon.…

Matt Sephton has a passion for videogames – indeed, he’s recently developed a handful for the Playdate handheld console. He also loves the massive megalith Moai statues at Easter Island and he adores lists. So forgive him for indulging all three interests with a website that lists the 671 videogames (and counting) that include Moai in some way. We spoke to him to find out more. What do you like about Moai? I’ve always been fascinated with the world’s ancient wonders such as the Pyramids Of Giza, the Hanging Gardens Of Babylon and of course Moai. Around 2010, I’d just moved house and saw a relatively small Moai for sale in a garden centre. I thought it would look cool on display at home! When did you first start noticing…

There was no obvious or defined route to becoming a computer-games developer in the mid-Eighties, and this was as true in Europe as it was in the UK or the US. Manfred Trenz had as unique a start as any. In 1984, he was a professional draftsman, then a day playing around with a friend’s VIC-20 convinced him that he needed to buy a C64. After using it to code a simple helicopter game in BASIC, he realised how slow the language was, and so he taught himself how to program his computer in machine code. It was his artistic abilities rather than his talent for coding that got him noticed, however, when he came third place in a graphics competition run by the German C64 magazine 64’er in 1986. His…

» MANUFACTURER: Victor » YEAR: 1993 » COST: ¥59,800 (launch), £900+ (today, boxed), £500+ (today, unboxed) The original Wondermega was a curious product, a combination Mega Drive and Mega-CD unit for a Japanese market that wasn’t tremendously excited about Sega’s hardware. There must have been something in it though, as Victor – better known as JVC here – released this second model just over a year later. The cost-reduced model was 25% cheaper than its predecessor, making it more affordable but still considerably more than the ¥42,600 that the recently released Mega Drive 2 and Mega-CD 2 would cost you. Beyond being smaller in size, the most notable feature of the RG-M2 Wondermega is its inclusion of six-button infrared wireless controllers as standard, with a receiver on the front of…

THE TREACHEROUS TYRANNOSAURUS ■ This drowsy dino awakens when you upset its offspring and starts to spit boulders and regurgitated cavemen at you. It also tries to eat you. HOW TO BEAT THEM: Jump to the upper platform and attack its head, while keeping right to avoid its nasty bite. When the platform drops, jump up and keep focussing on its head. THE LEGENDARY TYRANT TRIFFID ■ Is it a Triffid or is it Audrey II? Either way, it’s hungry and will try and lash you with its tendrils. It also sheds seeds which quickly produce baby Triffids. HOW TO BEAT THEM: Stay ducked down to avoid its tendrils, then jump up and fling projectiles at it when they recede. Deal with the small plants as soon as they appear.…

» MEGA DRIVE » 1989 » SEGA Along with Castle Of Illusion, Thunder Force III and Strider, Sega’s Golden Axe was one of the main reasons I imported a Mega Drive back in the day. I had read all the reviews in magazines like Mean Machines and often watched the game running in the shop window of Densham Computers. I soon convinced myself that Sega’s conversion was arcade perfect and therefore an essential purchase. Yes it was certainly expensive at the time, but my twisted reasoning for picking up a copy was that if I had an arcade-perfect version at home I’d no longer have to pay to play it in arcades. That notion was as ridiculous then as it sounds now, but it was certainly enough to convince me…

WATERLOO ■ Dr Peter Turcan’s Waterloo gave players the chance to rewrite the outcome of the 1815 clash between Wellington and Napoleon. Using the same turn-based game engine Turcan employed for Borodino and subsequent games, the player had ten hours to win the battle. REACH FOR THE SKIES ■ Rowan Software’s Reach For The Skies simulator recreated the Battle Of Britain between the RAF and the German Luftwaffe, fought between July-October 1940 over the skies of Southern England. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. CONFLICT: MIDDLE EAST ■ SSI’s Conflict: Middle East was a 16-bit hexagonal-based wargame set around the 1973 Arab Israeli war and included a fictitious Nineties conflict between Israel and a coalition of Arab states. It…

CHEAP THRILLS BLUE LIGHTNING DEVELOPER: EPYX RELEASE: 1989 ■ Epyx’s military-themed shoot-’em-up was the perfect launch game for the Lynx as it instantly highlighted all the elements that made Atari’s handheld so desirable at launch. It genuinely felt like having After Burner in the palm of your hands back in 1989 and while that impact has diminished somewhat in the last 30-odd years, Epyx’s game remains an impressive technical achievement. Packed with action and featuring a fair amount of variety, Blue Lightning remains a great blaster and an essential Lynx purchase, even if it isn’t as fast as we remember it. Fortunately, if you fancy adding Blue Lightning to your Lynx collection today it can be done with very little cost due to complete versions rarely selling above £35. Loose carts are…

» System: Evercade, Evercade VS, Evercade EXP (tested) » Buy it for: £17.99 » Buy it from: Online, retail It’s a shame that Toaplan Arcade 1 wasn’t bundled with the Evercade EXP, as it does a far better job of showing off the new system’s Tate mode than Irem’s cart. Four of the included games: Tiger Heli, Truxton, Alcon and Flying Shark all utilise it and they really shine on the EXP’s IPS screen. The remaining four games are more of a mixed bag. Snow Bros is a brilliant single-screen action game, even when played solo, while Zero Wing is another excellent shmup. Teki Paki is a surprisingly compelling puzzler, while Guardian is the only true weak link in the collection, being a rather basic action game. The emulation throughout…

<Amiga: Zooperdan converted the brilliant C64 puzzle game Luma. Pay your own price and get it at bit.ly/luma-amiga/> <Amstrad GX4000/Plus: The 50th anniversary of Atari was marked by Cyrille of the GGP Team converting Missile Command. Choose your price and get it at bit.ly/missile-gx4000/> <Atari 8-Bit: The C64 update of Bruce Lee, entitled Return Of Fury, has been converted. Play it at bit.ly/returnoffury-a8/> <C64: Anthony Messane is working on the virus-busting puzzle game Dr Maria. Visit @sysantmin on Twitter for updates./> <Game Boy Color: A physical cartridge of Magic & Legend: Time Knights can be ordered now. There’s a playable demo of the game available at ghamson.itch.io/timeknights/> <Mega Drive: The SNK classic Windjammers has arrived in alpha form (it’s at the top of this page). More at bit.ly/windjammers-alpha/> <MSX2+: 9958…

<BODY> Running from March to October 2022, an impressive 13 entries were created with Blitz Basic – all now available at the link above. Third place went to Settle The World from Christian Wiegel, an impressive work-in-progress that recreates the gameplay of Civilization. Second place was Capacitor’s Revenge by Pixelplop, an update of a classic 8-bit shoot-’em-up where you must defend the Amiga’s motherboard. And the deserved winner was NEONNoir from Steamknight, an outstanding point-and-click adventure where you play a private detective exploring a cyberpunk-style city for a missing girl. Personal favourites were shoot-’em-up Ace, the Daredevil Dennis Remix and the incomplete My Life Sucks (an interestig first-person exploration game where you control a sentient robot vacuum cleaner). </BODY> NEW GAMES NEEDED Our new email address is waiting for all…

THE COVER STAR SHADOW OF THE BEAST The original Amiga game with the beautiful box art can go for over £60 though if you’re happy with just the game disks, you can pick them up for under £20. A sealed copy of the Lynx cartridge recently went for £25. Was that you, Darran? [Nope – Ed] GOLDEN AXE You should be able to get this fine scrolling axe-’em-up, complete on Mega Drive, for around £30, though if you’re on a budget, you could opt for a loose copy of Mega Games 2 for £12 and get The Revenge Of Shinobi and Streets Of Rage thrown in. PLAQUE ATTACK Activision’s brush-’em-up can be yours for under £5 if you’re happy with just the cartridge. Double the price if you want to…

After the disaster that was Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness and a transfer to American developer Crystal Dynamics, could Lara Croft regain her relevance? The reception to Tomb Raider: Legend certainly suggested so. In its 8/10 review of the Xbox version, Edge drew comparisons to Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time and described Lara Croft’s character model as “one of the best ever created”, but noted that the game “knowingly sacrificed a considerable part of the purity” of past games by reducing the emphasis on exploration. The game was broadly well received across platforms, earning 8/10 from Official Xbox 360 and 7/10 from X-360, 7/10 from games™ and 72% from Play for the PS2 version, and 80% in PC Gamer. The Nintendo DS continued to impress, with Metroid…

You absolutely loved playing R-Type in the arcades and were eagerly looking forward to getting the Master System version for Christmas. The big day arrived and you rushed downstairs to see a familiar-looking wrapped present under the tree that could only be a Master System game. Hastily unwrapping your gift you took the cherished game upstairs – it was time to find R-Type’s secret stage! You knew it was on the fourth level, but it wasn’t easy to find and took several attempts to unlock it. Needless to say you were as excited as an excited person that had a special reason to be excited. That excitement was soon tempered once you realised just how tough the secret level was. The gaudy colour scheme made an already tough game even…

Caveman games should really have their own subgenre. When Ubisoft released the prehistoric spin-off Far Cry Primal in 2016, a number of online listicles popped up to remind us of some earlier examples. From Ugh! and Frak! to BC Bill and Bonk’s Adventure, to the likes of Chuck Rock and Prehistorik, there are a surprising number of them. And front and centre on most of these lists was Joe & Mac: Caveman Ninja, Data East’s highly entertaining prehistoric-themed platformer. You might also know it simply as Joe & Mac, or by its original Japanese moniker Tatakae Genshijin: Joe & Mac. Regardless of the title, the game sees our two heroes embarking on a quest to rescue their beloved cavegirls who’ve been kidnapped by a rival tribe. Along the way they…

JEWELS OF DARKNESS ■ Level 9’s first trilogy compilation for Rainbird Software pulled together Colossal Adventure, Adventure Quest and Dungeon Adventure into one package. The addition of basic location graphics and improvements to the system made Jewels Of Darkness an essential purchase for PC, Amiga, or Atari ST owners. SILICON DREAMS ■ A second compilation, but this time a solid science fiction trilogy comprising of Snowball, Return To Eden and The Worm In Paradise. As with Jewels Of Darkness, Silicon Dreams’ four-colour simplistic location graphics weren’t to everyone’s taste, but you couldn’t fault the challenges posed in the games. THE GNOME RANGER SERIES ■ There aren’t many humorous text adventures, so the two Gnome Ranger games featuring Ingrid Bottomlow were a bit of a risk for Level 9. Playing a…

■ One of the easiest ways to currently experience Atari’s Lynx is via the Evercade, Evercade EXP and Evercade VS. Blaze’s systems support two Lynx-themed cartridges and between them they’re a great way to experience the handheld. While it is annoying that none of the Lynx’s superb arcade conversions are included, both cartridges do a good job of showcasing the Lynx’s limited library. Atari Lynx Collection 1 features 17 games, including Awesome Golf, Super Skweek, Dracula: The Undead and CyberVirus, while Atari Lynx Collection 2 has a smaller number of games, but the quality is far higher. In addition to Blue Lightning it also includes California Games, Electrocop, Checkered Flag, Chip’s Challenge, Gates Of Zendocon, Todd’s Adventures In Slime World and Zarlor Mercenary. Both titles are excellent value for money…

DEVELOPER: TELEGAMES RELEASE: 1993 ■ If you’re after the later Telegames releases you’re much better going straight to its website, rather than eBay. Take Super Off Road for example. We’ve seen copies sell on eBay for as much as £225, despite the fact it’s still readily available from Telegames for £49.99. Of course, even £50 may be a tad too much for you, but if you are prepared to take the plunge you’ll find an okay conversion of the arcade original, although the handling and turning of your vehicles can make it needlessly hard. It certainly looks the part, even with the visuals greatly scaled down to fit the Lynx’s small screen. WHO NEEDS EBAY? Two other Telegames releases to buy direct Double Dragon Despite its zoomed-in playing area, this conversion is…

<INTRO> PREPARING THIS COLUMN UP TO TWO MONTHS IN ADVANCE CAN SOMETIMES CAUSE PROBLEMS. SEASONAL TITLES SUCH AS CHRISTMAS ROBIN SIMULATOR FOR THE SPECTRUM – BIT.LY/ROBINZX – MAY MISS COVERAGE, OR DELAYS TO A MAJOR RELEASE COULD HAPPEN. THAT WAS THE CASE WITH EYE OF THE BEHOLDER FOR THE C64, FINALLY RELEASED VIA EOTB64.COM AFTER BUGS WERE FIXED. BUT THE SHOW MUST GO ON, AND WE HAVE MORE GREAT HOMEBREW RELEASES AND CREATORS TO TALK ABOUT. </INTRO> <BODY> “I always loved the ZX81 version of 3D Monster Maze,” Max Hall tells us. “I was playing it one day and thought to myself, ‘Maybe I could convert this to the C64?’ I always wanted a version on that machine, and as far as I know, no one had ever done a…

<BODY> In this recreation of Sega’s Columns, you can play solo, against another player or the computer in three modes. Classical is an endless game, Time Attack gives a fixed time limit to score as many points as possible, while Stage mode provides a series of increasingly tough challenges. Three difficulty settings are also included. The graphics throughout are excellent, especially the way the gems disappear when matched, and the title tune is very good – but in-game sounds are limited. Columns fans will lap this up, with a physical cassette version to be available soon. </BODY> SCORE: 79%…

AGRICULTURAL ACTION Hi Retro Gamer, Have you ever considered doing a feature on farming simulators and how they’ve evolved over the years? I’m aware that it’s not the most rock ‘n’ roll of videogame genres and I know you’ve featured Harvest Moon, but I can’t remember if there were farming games on the ZX Spectrum which was my machine of choice back in the Eighties. Bryan Summers Interestingly, farming was often found as a mechanic in strategy and god games in the past, rather than a main focus of the gameplay. It may be high time we look at this subject though, as the likes of Farming Simulator and Stardew Valley are here to stay, and even the notorious Facebook game FarmVille is 14 years old now. WHAT WENT WRONG?…

Dear Retro Gamer, I’m a big fan of the Homebrewer’s Kit, and Andrew’s work has inspired me to take a look around at what’s out there. I love shooters like Doom but never had a PC in the Nineties, and I always used to wonder if something like it was possible on older platforms. It’s amazing to look at things like Dread that do absolutely crazy things with the Amiga, pushing it like I never saw it pushed back then, and have the proof that it totally could have been done. Weirdly though, the one that really got me was Doom Resurrection for the 32X. It’s great to see the true capability of the machine, but I can’t understand why the official version paid professionals made isn’t as good as…

» After getting stranded on Koholint Island, Link embarks on a quest to awaken the mysterious Wind Fish that resides there. However, his journey reveals unsettling information which suggests that the island is nothing more than a dream and will disappear once the Wind Fish is awakened. What is poor Link to do? 01 » After defeating the dastardly Dethl, Link is greeted by the owl who has been giving him helpful advice throughout his quest. It turns out that the cheeky scamp was actually the Wind Fish’s spirit all along. 02 » The Wind Fish finally awakens from its deep slumber, and tells Link that it is now time for them both to return to the real world. Link is sad and fearful of what will become of his…

» BBC MICRO » 1981 » TIM DOBSON/RICHARD G WARNER I pity my poor teachers at primary school – none of them were computer experts, but they were expected to operate three different types of computer, all with different operating systems. The Windows 3.11 machines were actually useful in terms of preparing us for future computer usage, and the Acorn Archimedes was at least modern even if we’d never encounter RiscOS anywhere else. We still had a lot of BBC Micros too, mostly because the school had plenty of educational games based on shows like Through The Dragon’s Eye and Geordie Racer. That was normally as close as we got to gaming at school, but for reasons I can’t quite remember, one day my teacher decided to set up Bat…

The impact of the original Shadow Of The Beast is perhaps best described through the lens of someone who experienced the game as a player. It was 1989 and 16-year-old Matt Birch was visiting a friend for a sleepover, when a relative lent the pair a new Amiga 500. Staying up late in the warm glow of Commodore monitor light, they played through disk after disk of what Matt recalls being fun but ultimately forgettable games. “But then around midnight we tried Shadow Of The Beast. It was a revelation. The music, the graphics, the gradient sky and the parallax scrolling. It was magical, like seeing Star Wars for the first time. Blurry-eyed in the morning, I got on the bus to go home and all I could think about…

■ One level of Shadow Of The Beast III requires you to solve a giant slide puzzle, before commandeering a robot crane to transport killer fish between tanks so you can wade through. At another point, you’ll need to sneak into a castle by hiding inside a barrel, which is then carried along a conveyor belt into the arms of an ogre. Puzzles like these are just as central to the four levels of the game as the platforming and fighting. Martin says his desire to shift away from the fairly simple action of the original game towards these more interesting scenarios was influenced by his early game design ventures. “The first game I made on the BBC Micro [Ravenskull] was an ‘open-world’ four-way scroller. I was a fan of…

» ATARI 2600 » 1983 » ACTIVISION One of the things I loved about the embryonic stages of gaming was just how inventive everything felt. It seemed like anything could form the idea for a good videogame, no matter how dull or pedestrian it might be and Steve Cartwright turned the mundanity of brushing one’s teeth into one of the Atari 2600’s finest shoot-’em-ups. In many ways Plaque Attack shares similarities with Atari’s earlier Missile Attack, as you’re effectively protecting bases from enemy fire and the game typically ends when there are no bases left to protect. The spin here of course is that the bases you’re protecting are someone’s teeth and your ship is a tube of toothpaste. Enemy forces are represented by different types of food that range…

Imagine Software still remains one of the gaming industry’s biggest cautionary tales. Set up in 1982 by Mark Butler and David Lawson, the Liverpool-based developer quickly earned a (rightful) reputation for its high-quality games and its unique, forward-thinking approach to packaging and advertising. Despite its outward appearance, all wasn’t as it seemed at Imagine Software and even by December 1983 rumours were circulating that the company might be in some sort of financial trouble due to unpaid advertising bills. Everything sadly came to a head for Imagine when it was chosen by BBC television director Paul Anderson to be the focus of its latest Commercial Breaks episode. Although there was initial reluctance, Imagine eventually agreed to participate and the documentary remains one of the only ways that you can still…

Why collect Imagine's games? You couldn’t possibly have an expansive collection of Spectrum games without having any by Imagine. The titles released by the Liverpool Imagine are noteworthy because they were among the first games to have really great-looking artwork. And the later Imagine games I collect because I was working at Ocean when the majority were released. I have had some work published on that label so it’s inevitable that I should own some titles. What did you like about Imagine's early games? The artwork looked great, and most still do. Alchemist was the one I played most back when it was new but I think Jumping Jack is the best. It might look really simple, but it has that ‘one more go’ thing. What impact did the BBC’s…

» PLATFORM: PlayStation » YEAR: 1999 » COST: £59.99 (launch, with Ridge Racer Type 4), £40+ (today, boxed), £25+ (today, unboxed) Not content with having introduced one pad for racing fans, the twisting NeGcon, Namco decided to introduce another with the release of Ridge Racer Type 4. The Jogcon’s key feature is the large dial in the centre of the controller, which is used for analogue steering in compatible games. What isn’t apparent at first sight is the force feedback function, which allows the dial to pull against you and react to on-screen events. Compatible games typically move regular functions to the shoulder buttons, in order to free your thumbs for steering duties. Although there’s a fun novelty to the additional physical feedback that the Jogcon offers, it doesn’t necessarily…

DEVELOPER: EPYX RELEASE: 1989 ■ There are several variants of California Games to look out for – one with a rubbish flat cartridge, one with a slightly more accessible ridged cartridge, and one with the curved lip that would become standardised for all later Lynx games. As you’d expect the later curved lip variant is the most popular and as a result tends to fetch the highest price, with cart prices ranging from £7 to £25. Regardless of which version you do end up with you’ll discover a cracking game. Sure it’s missing two events – roller-skating and flying disc, if you’re interested – but the four that did make it are great representations, and in the case of the half-pipe event, even manage to throw in some superb scaling effects. Boxed…

» DREAMCAST » 2001 » SEGA/SCARAB A little while ago, I saw a suggestion on Twitter that Fighting Vipers 2 had been undeservedly forgotten because it never came out in the USA, and the American retro-gaming narrative tends to be dominant online. I can see that line of thinking, because taken on its own terms the game is great fun. The hard-rock soundtrack and outlandish characters suggest that it’s less stuffy than its sibling Virtua Fighter, and the gameplay confirms that with ridiculous launcher moves and mid-air recoveries. But there’s plenty of technique to the fast-paced fighting, including an armour system, a useful parry move and even Super KO attacks that win two rounds instead of one. The lack of recognition is easier to explain with a bit of context,…

» System: Switch (tested), PC » Buy it for: £35.99 » Buy it from: Online SNK brings ten more games back from its cult favourite handheld, and the emulation and front end are solid as has become expected of this series. However the game line-up is a bit of a mixed bag. The highlights are SNK Vs Capcom: Card Fighters Clash, Mega Man: Battle & Fighters and Biomotor Unitron. Puzzle Link 2 is an interesting spin on the genre and Pocket Tennis and Baseball Stars are decent, but Neo Geo Cup 98 and Big Bang Pro Wrestling are a little weak. King Of Fighters: Battle De Paradise is marred by the constant need to refer to the manual since the game wasn’t translated, and minigame collection Ganbare Neo Poké-kun will…

MOOD <After multiple previews by No Name, the latest version features an auto-map, multiple weapons and different enemy types in its chunky and textured mazes./> WOLFENSTEIN 3D <Using the 25MHz co-processor or emulation, this clever mod produces a playable adaptation of the classic Nazi shooter rendered in shades of grey (a SuperCPU is required)./> MINOTRACE <After his 3D space combat simulator Gates Of The Ancients, Dr Mortalwombat’s raycaster makes clever textured mazes for you to race through (no combat involved)./> GREY <Still in development, Grey is a promising effort by developer Piotr Kózka that has coloured Commodore signs for doors and enemies to blast for keys and ammo./> THE RED SERPENT INVASION <Demogroup TRSI unleashed this preview with its raycaster and physics engine, allowing the player to collect keys, shoot…

<BODY> László Rajcsányi was a huge fan of the Commodore 16 growing up, and in particular the games of Tynesoft. With the help of GB Studio, he has been recreating some of his childhood favourites for the Game Boy Color. This special physical release in association with Inside Gadgets comes with a glossy box and instruction booklet. This reveals the controls for each game and credits for the original titles. In terms of gameplay, there is plenty of variety, although the quality varies. Aside from the infamously poor Super Gran, a lot of fun is to be had with the bouncy Pogo Pete and the Amidar-style Wacky Painter. Shoot-’em-up fans have Battle Star, Rig Attack and Zap ’Em to enjoy, as well as Missile Command variant Vox. You can become…

<BODY> “Tournament Arkanoid was essentially a 1987 update: the 32 screen layouts were all new, with an emphasis on making it more challenging (gold and especially silver bricks were more plentiful),” Martyn tells us. So what’s in the new update? “The new Spectrum version updates the original Arkanoid conversion by Ocean Software (code by Mike Lamb, graphics by Ronnie Fowles and music by Mark Jones),” continues Martyn. “It features a new title screen by Jarrod Bentley (who helped hack the code), the mothership is now red, and screen layouts were created using Mark Alexander’s Arkanoid Editor. Due to the Spectrum’s narrower playing area, the screens had to be redesigned. The overall difficulty level should be consistent with the arcade version – it is meant to be tough!” This inspired the…