Innehållsförteckning för No. 263 från Retro Gamer

The Japanese developer Sunsoft is back in a big way thanks to Ufouria The Saga 2 and its new Retro Game Selection. Sunsoft’s head Yuichi Ochi, Ufouria The Saga 2 director Masatomo Ina and Retro Game Selection’s director Shoki Harada tell us what to expect. Why has Sunsoft embraced classic games again? Yuichi Ochi: The answer is simple. It’s what the game users would like to see from Sunsoft. Speaking from a business perspective, no one can rewind time, so the fact we have such classic titles is an advantage. There was never an option for me to not make the most of this. Why partner with Red Art Games for these releases? Yuichi Ochi: I met Red Art Games in 2022. I had heard of them from another Western…

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SPECTRUM YOU CAN VISIT THE RETRO GAMES LIMITED WEBSITE USING THIS QR CODE Of all the things the Retro Gamer team could be surprised by, you wouldn’t think the device you’re seeing on these pages should rank very highly on the list. We didn’t think so either, but the more we thought about The Spectrum, the more it has surprised us. What initially seemed like something simple and obvious has given rise to a whole load of questions, which ultimately left us dumbfounded as to how the machine could even exist. What is The Spectrum? It’s a full-sized recreation of the classic Sinclair computer in its original form, complete with working rubber keys. It comes with 48 built-in games ranging from Eighties icons to…

THE C64 MINI 2018 Unsurprisingly, this debut effort had 64 built-in games including the likes of Impossible Mission, California Games, Monty On The Run and Paradroid. It was a good start, although the included joystick was a bit stiff and many people longed for a full-sized model. THE A500 MINI 2022 Another Commodore machine made sense, and this time it was back to the Minis. The A500 Mini also emulates the Amiga 1200, and introduced Retro Games Ltd’s CD32-style The Gamepad. This is arguably the best of the bunch so far, for simplifying a system that can be tricky for newcomers. THE C64 2019 The successor to The C64 Mini had all of the size of the original machine, and a fully working keyboard to boot. It added VIC-20 support…

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: THE BABY BOOMER EDITION ◼ ODE and Domark cleverly released two versions of this follow-up – one an expansion that loaded into the original Genus edition and a standalone game, which was naturally more expensive. With its questions aimed at people now approaching middle age, critics inevitably pondered how many Spectrum game players fitted into its demographic. TRIVIAL PURSUIT: YOUNG PLAYERS EDITION ◼ As per The Baby Boomer Edition, this 1987 game came in two forms: expansion and standalone. Its target audience is much more logical, with most questions aimed at eight and sixteen-year-olds. Nevertheless, the format is identical, and fans were starting to pine for a genuine update. TRIVIAL PURSUIT: A NEW BEGINNING ◼ Domark’s total revamp came in 1988. While the core gameplay remains the same,…

From its earliest releases onwards, Parker Brothers set its stall out as a producer of licence-based videogames. Parker started 1982 with convincing Atari 2600 adaptations of the hit Konami coin-ops Amidar and Frogger. Its other titles for the year included the hugely successful Star Wars shooter for the 2600 and Intellivision The Empire Strikes Back, and a popular videogame adaptation of Spider-Man. 1983 saw Parker bring Nintendo’s arcade platformer Popeye to the Atari 2600 and a raft of other platforms, and in the same year the firm built on its earlier successes with arcade and Star Wars licensed titles. To this end, it published home versions of coin-ops such as Nintendo’s twitch reaction-based Sky Skipper, Konami’s side-scrolling helicopter shooter Super Cobra and Gottlieb’s smash hit cube colourer Q*bert. On the…

“THE ADDITIONS TO THE RENEGADE FORMULA WERE CLEARLY INSPIRED BY THE DOUBLE DRAGON COIN-OP” Flashback to 1987. The year’s software sales charts are dominated by coin-op conversions – Out Run from US Gold, Combat School from Ocean, Enduro Racer from Activision and Paperboy from Elite, to name just four. The outlook for 1988 looks to be no different, with publishers vying to sign up the hottest coin-ops, attracted by the ready-made audiences that are happy to see the games on their systems in some form or other. Expectations are now simmering for the home versions of Technos’ Double Dragon, one of the highest-grossing coin-ops of 1987. Which publisher will bag the rights? The smart money’s on Ocean, as it has =already scored a hit with its conversion of Renegade, the arcade…

◼ The brothers will be greasing back their hair and wrapping up their hands once more as Target: Renegade heads to the Spectrum Next. The updated version is being developed by WASP (We Are Spectrum Programmers), with Next luminary Phoebus Dokos overseeing the project. Phoebus tells us, “The game is being programmed by master retro programmer Marco Varesio on behalf of WASP, which was founded by the late Lyndon J Sharp. Graphics are being reimagined by Kayashii Furio, and the music will directly draw inspiration from the original version. The whole project is supported by SpecNext Ltd and Henrique Olifiers, who also procured the rights to the franchise.” This means the game can enjoy an official release when it’s ready. And when will it be ready? “The first level is…

Few people who played through Ambermoon on its release three decades ago seem to have forgotten the feeling of awe it gave them. The reputation of the game has snowballed in recent years, with copies changing hands for high prices and an unofficial expansion pack recently making waves online. Widely considered to be one of the most satisfyingly rich fantasy role-playing adventures on the Amiga, Ambermoon was created by Thalion Software, a German studio known for the likes of Lionheart and No Second Prize; games that drew on the demo-scene roots of the staff to push Amiga hardware to impressive technical heights. We caught up on a group call with Erik Simon, Karsten Köper and Jurie Horneman – who now live in Malta, Germany and Canada respectively – to look…

So Robert, when did you start playing Ambermoon? I guess I was around 12 so it was probably around 1997. My brother-in-law gifted me his Amiga and with it his whole gaming collection. I explored one game at a time and one of them was Ambermoon. I loved it from the start, spent months playing the game, made handwritten notes and had a wonderful time. I guess other fans can relate. The feeling is indescribable. You just get completely involved in a totally different kind of reality. It was like I was really on Lyramion. What sparked the idea to make an expansion for the game? My first plans to create a game like Ambermoon are at least 20 years old. It is one of the reasons I became a…

◼ Shortly after the completion of Mickey Mania, Jon Burton began work on the official sequel, which would have continued the original concept of cartoon-based time travel: the first scenario would have been set in the Wild West, based on the 1934 short film Two-Gun Mickey, which, like Steamboat Willie, would have started out in black and white, only to move seamlessly into the Technicolor era as the level progressed. The gameplay would have been essentially more of the same, but with a higher percentage of puzzles using the now unlimited supply of marbles that had more use than before. There were also additional collectibles, such as hidden MICKEY letters, a deeper 3D background effect, smooth day/night transitions within a level (including fireflies buzzing around lanterns as darkness falls), a…

Raised on movies, his parents encouraging him to watch them by himself from a young age, Hideo Kojima quickly turned to making his own short films. He yearned to become a professional filmmaker – but ultimately joined the games industry and took his first job at Konami in 1986. After working on Penguin Adventure, an into-the-screen racer with platforming elements, Kojima got to implement his cinematic inspirations in 1987’s Metal Gear, the stealth action pioneer’s gameplay based on what he’d seen in 1963’s Steve McQueen-starring blockbuster The Great Escape. After directing that breakthrough, he eyed something with far greater connections to the silver screen: Snatcher. Narratively a mixture of Blade Runner, The Terminator and Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Snatcher sets its story in 2042 (later ports updating this to 2047),…

◼ Snatcher owes its three-act storyline to 1990’s SD Snatcher, a cute-looking RPG based on 1988’s original which takes some creative liberties and adds a clearer, cleaner conclusion. An MSX2 exclusive, SD Snatcher turns Snatcher’s characters into ‘super-deformed’ avatars with large heads, cartoony facial features and tiny bodies. The game’s exploration plays from a Final Fantasy-like top-down perspective, with turn-based battles presented in a Phantasy Star first-person view. The game increases the number of enemy encounters and adds new mechanical nasties to blow away. Whereas the 1988 versions of Snatcher end with Gillian discovering a Snatcher has infiltrated Junker HQ, SD Snatcher reveals further sinister connections with Kremlin experiments and a plan to replace world leaders with android impersonators. Spoilers, but the Snatchers are very much a man-made menace. This…

“KIND OF THE CORE CONCEPT WHEN WE PITCHED IT TO PEOPLE WAS: WHAT IF YOU COULD PLAY A GAME OF D&D WITH YOUR FRIENDS, ANYTIME?”Beoffrey Zatkin While we’re not here to start a fight, the Nineties was arguably one of the most significant decades for gaming in its entire history. The leaps and bounds of technology came at a bullet’s pace, and videogames came hurtling along with it: 3D graphics, optical discs, portable gaming and whole new genres of games just burst into popularity from one day to the next. But perhaps most significantly, there was the advent of the internet as people around the world increasingly began to connect themselves together through bleeps and bloops and digitised telephone calls. It might not have had the tangible visibility that Mario’s…

EVERQUEST ONLINE ADVENTURES ◼ In 2003 the EverQuest experience was brought over to PS2, reworking the gameplay to be more controller friendly. Set 500 years before the events of EverQuest, this PS2 MMO maintained a community that survived until 2012 when its servers were closed. There’s a fan project called Project: Return Home dedicated to reviving the game on PC. LORDS OF EVERQUEST ◼ The world of Norrath was arguably well suited to an RTS what with its strong fantasy vibes and aesthetic, but Lords Of EverQuest (2003) – developed by Rapid Eye Entertainment – ultimately didn’t do enough to stand out from the crowd at a time when making a successful RTS was a incredibly challenging task. CHAMPIONS OF NORRATH ◼ Perhaps the most successful spin-off for the franchise,…

» System: Switch (version tested), PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X » Buy it for: £19.99 » Buy it from: Online If you didn’t know this was meant to be a spiritual successor to Sensible Soccer, you wouldn’t guess from a first glance – not with the default side-on camera, real licensed players and Ultimate Team-style Career Mode. However, while it doesn’t have the pace of Sensi, the ball pings about between players in a familiar way and that alone makes it a refreshing arcade-style alternative to EA and Konami’s football games. It’s worth noting that the default difficulty is low enough that we took England to Euros victory on our first attempt, but don’t worry about other barriers to progress – thankfully, there’s no pay-to-win in the…

<INTRO> KICKSTARTER HAS BECOME AN IMPORTANT WAY FOR HOMEBREW DEVELOPERS TO GET THEIR FINISHED PRODUCT INTO THE HANDS OF THE GAMER. TWO OF THE GAMES FEATURED THIS MONTH HAVE GONE THAT ROUTE – TRIALS OF KHARZOID HAS ALREADY BEEN SUCCESSFULLY FUNDED, WHILE CRONELA’S MANSION IS PREPARING TO LAUNCH WITH PLENTY OF REWARDS AND GREAT-LOOKING BOXED VERSIONS. MEANWHILE, OUR CHAMPION CODER FAVOURS THE BBC MICRO, AND WE HAVE THREE VERY DIFFERENT REVIEWS TO EXPLORE. </INTRO> <BODY> If you’re wondering what game inspired Francesco ‘Straynus’ Terraciano’s latest creation, it’s a classic Lucasfilm adventure. “My favourite game is Maniac Mansion, the NES version to be more exact,” he tells us. “I always wanted to play a similar game on NES again, but it never happened. I started creating videogames so that somewhere in…

<INFO LOCATION: GODALMING, UK WEBSITE: BIT.LY/CHRISB-BBC, BIT.LY/GHOSTBUSTERSBBCB FORMAT: BBCMICRO(B/B+/MASTER) PREVIOUS GAMES: CASTLE DEFENDER, NIGHT NINJA, ACORN ISLAND, UNTITLED DUNGEON GAME CURRENTLY WORKING ON: VOXEL DEMO (BBC) /> WHAT IS YOUR DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT LIKE, CHRIS? My general workflow uses BeebEm – or B2 and B-Em, depending on what I’m trying to do. For code editing, I use VSCode with the Beeb VSC extension. For assembly, the Beebasm assembler. There are lots of great tools that the Beeb community have produced – BeebSpriter for sprite editing and the BBC micro image converter for converting to the Beeb’s screen format. WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE TO REMAKE GHOSTBUSTERS? Because Dave_E asked on the Stardot forums! He’d drawn up some example screens in Mode 1 (320x256x4 colours) and the only one that I’ve used is…

THE COVER STAR THE SPECTRUM If you like the look of The Spectrum, you’ll be pleased to know you can preorder it now for £89.99, with the controller costing an additional £19.99. TRIVIAL PURSUIT It might have been pricey on release, but that’s no longer the case now. You shouldn’t have to pay more than £3 for a Spectrum copy of ODE’s popular quiz game. STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK You won’t need a Rancor-sized wallet to buy this Atari 2600 gem as loose PAL carts can be had for around £15. It typically tops out complete for just over £40. TARGET: RENEGADE Whether you go for the original release or the Hit Squad re-release, the Spectrum variant of this ace brawler should never cost more than £10. MICKEY…

Permission to say something controversial? And you have to believe me, I’m not doing this to be a contrarian and to start a fight. I used to do that on the radio years ago. I remember once saying on air we should close all libraries and turn them into Blockbusters as films were better than books. ‘Turn them into Blockbusters’ – that shows how long ago we are talking about. I had 52 complaints (none upheld!) While that style of very light shock jockery was designed to get people going, what I am about to tell you is my true belief and I have never said it out loud. I’m a little nervous, but here we go. I AM NOT KEEN ON THE DESIGN OF THE ORIGINAL ZX SPECTRUM 48K.…

Criterion unleashed Burnout Paradise on the HD consoles this month, and Official Xbox 360 Magazine felt that taking the aggressive automobile action from standard circuits to the open world “has managed to refresh the franchise without completely changing its heart”, giving it 8/10. Though it felt that the core gameplay remained compelling, games™ gave the game 7/10, bemoaning the lack of fast travel and the ease with which you could miss turnings and get lost, as well as the removal of features from past games such as Aftertouch and Signature Takedowns. Edge, giving the game 9/10, presciently declared “it might be the last Burnout you ever need”. Other scores included 5/5 from 360, 9/10 from X360 and 74% from Play. Those preferring to vent their aggression via bullets instead of bumpers…

ZX SPECTRUM VEGA ◼ 2015 You couldn’t accuse the old Vega of being short on games, with 1,000 packed in and the option to add more via Micro SD card. The joypad body didn’t mesh well with the many text adventures included, and these days the composite video output feels even more dated than in 2015. THE RECREATED SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM ◼ 2015 Elite’s approach was certainly an interesting one, if maybe a bit too fiddly for our liking. Rather than releasing a stand-alone gaming device, it recreated the venerable Speccy in full-size form as a Bluetooth keyboard. This could then be used with dedicated apps on iPad, PC and other devices. ZX SPECTRUM NEXT ◼ 2017 The Next is aimed at the hardcore Spectrum enthusiast. The computer sports both…

Ahead of the launch of The Spectrum in November, we were given the chance to spend some time with a prototype system for this feature. We should stress that it wasn’t near final – while most of the system software features were available, we had a very limited selection of games to play and USB loading was disabled. As for the hardware itself, it already looks very similar to a real Spectrum but with the word ‘Retro’ replacing the classic Sinclair logo, and naturally a different set of ports on the back. However, we couldn’t judge the keyboard as the final machine is set to have a number of production differences, of which the rubber is one, alongside differently coloured keyboard art. Despite those caveats, we’ve liked what we’ve seen…

Formed in 1984 by two advertising executives who had noticed how poorly computer games were often promoted, Domark’s place in the games industry cannot be underestimated. But it almost didn’t happen. “We did a game called Eureka!,” begins Dominic Wheatley, the ‘Do’ or ‘Dom’ of Domark. “And it didn’t do [the business] we thought it would do. We thought it would either be a big success and we’d make a fortune or nothing, and we’d go bankrupt.” In the end, Eureka!, a graphic adventure set across time and written by Domark investor Ian Livingstone, did neither, despite frequent promotion, especially regarding its competition and an enormous £25,000 prize. Undeterred, Dominic had a brainwave. Roger Moore’s final outing as 007, A View To A Kill, was in the cinemas and proving popular…

◼ In the US during the Eighties, GI Joe and Strawberry Shortcake were incredibly popular toys, and James Bond movies were almost as popular as Star Wars. With this in mind, it’s hardly surprising that Parker Brothers secured the rights to make licensed videogames based on all three properties. GI Joe: Cobra Strike (left image) is a single-screen shooter with twin objectives. Firstly, you have to protect military trainees from a giant laser-spitting snake using a movable shield, and secondly you have to target the snake with a cannon, or with two cannons in the two-player mode. Strawberry Shortcake: Musical Match-Ups is a puzzle game, where you have to unscramble Strawberry Shortcake characters against the clock using knowledge of the toys or going by their colour-coordinated looks. Lastly, James Bond 007…

ZX SPECTRUM ◼ The lead version is not just the best brawler on the Speccy, but probably the finest co-op game too. It builds on the brilliant original to deliver a thrilling arcade experience. The gameplay, graphics and sound (on the 128K) are all excellent, making this our preferred version. AMSTRAD CPC ◼ The CPC version was ported by Mike Lamb himself and it’s very good indeed. The game uses four-colour graphics, which means it looks a little unrefined at times – particularly the backgrounds – but this helps keep the action coming thick and fast. This is first-rate brawling. C64 ◼ Developed in tandem with the Speccy version, but seemingly not in conjunction, this is quite a different game. Sprite limitations mean it’s single-player only, and the streets are…

STAGE 1: CAR PARK ◼ Your trail of vengeance begins on the third floor of a multi-story car park, surrounded by the local biker boys. Start by kicking the bikers off their rides and then proceed down to the ground floor. These low-level enemies pose few problems, especially when you’re swinging a hammer. STAGE 2: SEEDY STREET ◼ It’s night time and you’re surrounded by lovely ladies. Worse, their ‘boss’ is afoot and he’s packing heat. Thankfully he’s a terrible shot, and by positioning yourself behind the women, he’ll likely hit them instead. Defeat him when he’s out of ammo, and then hotfoot it to the phone. STAGE 3: THE PARK ◼ This leafy area is no place for a picnic. Punks have taken over and they provide your toughest…

◼ The PC game Albion is closely connected to the Amber games. Not only was it made by some of the same team, including Jurie Horneman and Erik Simon after they joined Blue Byte, but it was also built using the same game editor. “It was very much the bones of Amberstar and Ambermoon, but Erik and I took a different direction for the world and story,” Jurie says. “But the editor tech is exactly the same, to the point where we bought hardware ST emulators to put in our DOS PCs to run those editors, because of course those were all written for the Atari ST.” Albion was praised for its intriguing plot. The storyline has some parallels with the later Avatar films, which Erik realised when a forum…

◼ Snatcher was envisaged as a PC-8801 exclusive and released first for the Japanese home-computer line in November 1988. While compromised compared to later versions of the game it’s still superbly atmospheric, with its crisp pixel art capturing a lot of personality and environmental detail. Arriving shortly after the release of the PC-8801 version, the MSX2 release was boxed with Konami’s SCC+ cartridge, allowing for enhanced music. Its visuals are richer this time around but loading times are slower, which can lead to frustration when navigating the sometimes-obtuse command options. Arriving four years after the home-computer originals, the PC Engine version of Snatcher takes advantage of the CD-ROM format with great music, exceptionally graphic visuals, voiceovers and adds a story-wrapping third act adapted from 1990’s SD Snatcher. Its console-optimised controls…

What do you feel elevates Snatcher above its array of influences? Snatcher’s in-game computer, JORDAN, is cool – I wanted to have a JORDAN system in 2064, which was going to be called MINERVA. MINERVA went on to be an information science organisation in NEURODIVER. But if you look at the 1988 Snatcher, it’s more or less the same as other adventure games of the time. For example, JB Harold: Murder Club came out two years before and was just as cool. Snatcher is more recognised because of its English release – and because it’s ‘the other game the Metal Gear guy made’. It’s unique enough when compared to Western adventure games, with a great cinematic feel, and a point of reference when looking back at Kojima’s work. Did you experience Snatcher on Sega’s…

While the original Super Woden GP allowed you to collect and race in over 70 different cars, the sequel ups this number considerably. There are now over 180 different vehicles to master, from humble bangers to deluxe sports cars and, as you’d expect, they all handle differently to each other. While none of the game’s vehicles are actually licensed, it’s not hard to work out what real-life vehicles they are based on. Just be mindful that you’ll need a lot of credits to unlock them all.…

» System: PS5 (tested), PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X » Buy it from: Online » Buy it for: £19.99 If Super Woden GP II is the expert option for fans of arcade racers, then Atari’s reboot of its classic Sprint series will appease everyone else. It’s a genuinely great little game, with a distinctive art style and a solid selection of game modes, including a challenging time trial-based Obstacle Course and loads of charming unlockables. Like Super Woden GP II it lacks online multiplayer but ups the ante by catering for eight players locally. The jewel of the reboot though is the incredible course designer. This mode offers some excellent longevity and makes it a worthy alternative to ViJuDa’s game, even if it is a little more…

THE ADVENTURES OF THE BLACK HAWK Steam <Recommended by Francesco himself, fight for justice as the masked Black Hawk in this Spanish-made adventure set in pre-Revolutionary France. /> CASTLE SHADOWGATE C64 <Genre pioneer ICOM’s NES fantasy game makes its way onto the popular 8-bit computer thanks to the hard work of Donnie Russell II. /> NEONNOIR Amiga <The short but well-made cyberpunk adventure won the Amiga Blitz Basic Game Jam in 2022. If you like the genre, it’s highly recommended. /> BLAKE’S 7 Oric <Defence Force’s gorgeous sci-fi adventure based on the TV series has recently been updated, fixing typos and adding a French translation. /> PERFECTLY NORMAL APARTMENT PICO-8 <Created with Liquidream’s SCUMM-8 engine, this quirky horror adventure has an option to turn off its bad language. />…

Raid Guardian (Broken) (Flawed) I played EverQuest from the beginning but when Ruins Of Kunark came out, I no-lifed the game! guttertrash EverQuest, played it like a job in 2000, phone line constantly jammed, ping of 10,000, no idea what to do and it was amazing. Ana Lu I first tried playing online in Nox. But after a few respawns I knew for sure it was not for me. Luke The Fox VA I started out with Runescape with a mate of mine. First day I went into the wilderness (wildy) and got instantly killed. Noob mistake. Luke Middleham I dabbled in World Of Warcraft. Had a big push at Final Fantasy XIV last year, but it just never seemed to get going. So my greatest MMO moment is still…

Artificial Intelligence scares me. I’ve written about it before in this column, but that was when we were seeing the first flickers of what it can do. Recently, I was listening to some new music by one of my favourite artists, Steven Wilson… except these songs had nothing to do with him: they were entirely created by AI. An artificial recreation of his voice on music made entirely by software. There was no uncanny valley effect; they were scarily accurate. What scares me most is that I enjoyed a lot of these songs as much as I did his most recent album. I am SO conflicted by that. I understand all of the arguments against AI, but I think it’s too late. It’s out there. There’s no putting it back in…

» ATARI 2600 » 1982 » COLECO This may be hard to believe given the way I make my living, but although I know that I own the first videogame I ever played, I can’t actually remember which one it was. I know for sure that I played it in my family home on what was then my dad’s Atari 2600 and I’m certain it was either Donkey Kong or Centipede. This all happened so long ago that the Soviet Union still existed though, so neither my dad nor I can say for sure. I was yet to start nursery school at the time, so at least I don’t have to worry that my memory is failing. Better yet, I don’t have to worry that my memory is failing. [Erm……

ALIEN GIRL ◼ Javier Fopiani’s homebrew game sees you as a human-alien hybrid, roaming around top-down environments as you battle to assert your place as the one true queen. It’s a nice-looking game and has some particularly cool AY music. ARMY MOVES ◼ Tackling the enemy however you can is the name of the game in this horizontally scrolling shooter. You’ll start off in a Jeep before taking to the air in a helicopter, and finally making your way into battle on foot. GAME OVER II ◼ Another game where you start off in a vehicle before heading out on foot, Game Over II starts you off in typical horizontally scrolling shooter fashion before transitioning into more of a platform game. It was also known as Phantis. THE GREAT ESCAPE…

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ZX SPECTRUM ◼ As one of the original versions, it’s disappointing that ODE didn’t change the Spectrum’s boring old typeface. Otherwise, the digitised board replicates Trivial Pursuit’s nicely, although its size means it’s sometimes difficult to discern whose turn it is. COMMODORE 64 ◼ The board here feels less cramped and helpfully tells you whose turn it is. While TP’s clicking feet can grind a little, he’s well-animated and zips nicely between the screens. Its extra flourishes and better tunes give the C64 the edge over the other 8-bit versions. AMSTRAD CPC ◼ Trivial Pursuit is a treat for Amstrad fans – even more so if they like the original board game. It’s similar to the C64 game, with brighter colours, random objects appearing on the shelves around the fireplace,…

» MANUFACTURER: Mattel Electronics » YEAR: 1983 » COST: £89.95 (launch), £130+ (today, boxed), £70+ (today, unboxed) With the home-computer market booming in the early Eighties, everyone wanted a slice of the pie – even Mattel Electronics, despite its disastrous attempt to expand the Intellivision into a fully fledged computer with the Keyboard Component. Mattel once again turned hardware design over to Radofin, the Hong Kong-based firm behind the Intellivision hardware, and what it got was the Aquarius. Its black-and-white plastic housing and blue rubber keys are decidedly Eighties, as was its modular approach – the Mini Expander was needed just to add game controllers. The Aquarius was very cheap relative to other computers on the market, undercutting even the 16K version of the ZX Spectrum by £10. However, it…

» GAME GEAR » 1991 » JAPAN SYSTEM HOUSE There are many reasons that I count myself as fortunate to be working on Retro Gamer, but one of the big ones is that everybody is pushing in the same direction. Many years ago, in a different job, I often felt like the only person in the building trying to do anything useful – a feeling that comes rushing back when I play Factory Panic. Outside the factory, a queue of needy people await, wanting all of life’s necessities – bread, medicine, Game Gears. Inside, you play as a boy rushing around and single-handedly directing those goods to customers via systems of conveyor belts, while being harassed by guards. The story about Mr Greede buying up all the factories in Segaville…

ULTIMA ◼ Karsten believes the Ultima series has given us “the greatest role-playing games of all time” and Erik tells us Thalion’s RPGs are “rooted in Ultima”. The first instalment of Richard Garriott’s adventure series was released in 1981 for the Apple II before launching on other platforms. Players had the freedom to explore an open world viewed from above and dangerous dungeons seen from first-person perspective. This inspired countless other RPGs built in the same mould. FINAL FANTASY ◼ Karsten played many Japanese RPGs before designing Ambermoon, while Erik says early JRPGs are up there “on top of the list” along with Ultima as inspirations. One example they mention is the original Final Fantasy, a game that has since had 16 sequels plus remakes and spin-offs, becoming one of…

SNES ◼ Alongside the Mega Drive version, Mickey Mania was also released on the Super Nintendo. This version is slightly more colourful than the original and has a few graphical improvements. Unfortunately, it also has a much smaller playfield, fewer special effects, fewer levels, less Pluto, less music, shorter credits – and much longer loading times. The version to avoid, if you have the choice. MEGA-CD ◼ Shortly after the original release, Mickey Mania also became available on the Mega Drive’s CD expansion. The game stays pretty much the same, but there is one additional enemy, slightly extended boss battles, more voice acting and a much better sounding CD soundtrack. Compared to the original, loading times are also slightly longer, but at least they are shorter than on the SNES.…

» PLATFORM: NES » YEAR: 1990 » COST: £40 (launch), £20+ (today, boxed), £12+ (today, unboxed) Once upon a time, gamers had to use POKES and PEEKs to get the upper hand in videogames, or simply scour magazines for codes and cheats. The Game Genie series by Codemasters took the process one step further and allowed you to temporarily modify the very data of the game you were playing, meaning you could add infinite lives, change the parameters of a character’s movement and much more. Being able to hack the likes of Super Mario Bros and Contra made the device very popular with gamers, but not so much with Nintendo. Its release led to a fierce legal battle with Nintendo that the big N ultimately lost and opened the floodgates to…

How did you come to work on the English-language version of Snatcher? I was asked by R&D to give my opinion as to whether or not Snatcher would be enjoyed by the English audience. I very enthusiastically said yes, it would potentially be very welcomed. I was completely immersed in the game, and I absolutely loved it. When R&D requested that I be temporarily transferred from the International Business Department to them, to work directly on the conversion and localisation, it was a dream come true. Snatcher is very text heavy, and this was an early job for you in your career. Were you intimidated by it, or did excitement take over? This was the only localisation project I worked on while an employee at Konami, and the translation was done…

» PLAYSTATION » 1999 » BLACK OPS ENTERTAINMENT When I was very, very young I would always say I wanted to be a dinosaur hunter when relatives asked what I’d like to be when I grew up. I actually meant I wanted to be a palaeontologist, but I could never pronounce it (even though the lengthy names of dinosaurs presented no issues for me). And besides, Dinosaur Hunter sounded cool. Sadly, while I never got to live out my dream, my fascination with dinosaurs has never left me (they’re retro birds, after all), and I’ll give anything a try if it has dinosaurs in it. As you can guess, I’m a big fan of Jurassic Park, from the original book to the films and many countless games that followed. Yes,…

RUINS OF KUNARK ◼ This was the first expansion pack released for the game and came out roughly a year afterwards, giving players a new lizard-like race called the Iksar, the new continent of Kunark to explore, epic class weapon quests, a raised level cap and plenty of group content to beat. PLANES OF POWER ◼ Regarded as one of EverQuest’s best expansion packs, Planes Of Power arrived in October 2002. For players at the time it was adored for its great raid and group content, as well as adding in a travel hub where players could skip those long boat raids to get around the game’s growing world. LOST DUNGEONS OF NORRATH ◼ While the September 2003 expansion pack of LDON is divisive among the EverQuest player base, the…

» DREAMCAST » 2000 » PITBULL SYNDICATE I have defied the destiny of my bloodline. That’s a fairly dramatic statement, isn’t it? But it’s true – before me, the men on both sides of my family were lorry drivers, mechanics, chauffeurs, so I was born to work in the automotive field in some fashion. I grew up being taken to car auctions and watching cars get fixed at the family business, so I’m fascinated with them despite never having actually driven one. One memory from when I was young really stands out, and that’s when my dad took me out to see write-off wrecks meet their final end at the banger racing. Whenever I remember those days out, I inevitably get the urge to play Demolition Racer: No Exit. In…

» System: Switch (tested), PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X » Buy it for: £13.49 » Buy it from: Online ININ Gems’ latest collection offers three shmups: Over Horizon and two variants of Steel Empire. If you’ve never played Over Horizon, it’s an expensive NES blaster with challenging shooting mechanics and a superb Edit Mode. The Mega Drive spiritual sequel Steel Empire is an equally enjoyable blaster that shares similar mechanics and features greatly enhanced visuals. Less impressive is the weak GBA update which suffers from a cramped playing area. Every game features the usual quality-of-life improvements like rewind options and slick visual tweaks, while the price point makes this hard to ignore. >> Score 78%…

<Amstrad CPC: Solve a riddle behind our included link to find part 1 of The Key, the English translation of Pakete Soft’s point-and-click adventure. Test your skill at bit.ly/thekey-cpc /> <BBC Micro: Martin Moxon’s Elite Compendium brings together all his hacks, including the docking computer and the troublesome Trumbles. Hunt for it at bit.ly/elite-compendium /> <C64: For more point-and-click action, check out Broken Mirror (top image) by Tommie Hansmar. There’s more info at bit.ly/brokenmirror-c64 /> <Game Boy: Version 4.0 of GBStudio has been released at bit.ly/gbstudio4 and there’s a great guide to GBDK-developed games at bit.ly/gbdk-showcase /> <Jaguar: Lawrence Staveley of Reboot Games converted Haplo’s Tenebra and Tenebra 2. You’ll find them both at h4plo.itch.io /> <Oric: Defence Force has updated its itch page with multiple releases, including Oricium, Impossible…

<BODY> The latest game from Pascal Belisle takes its ideas from numerous classic games. “I was inspired by Arkanoid, Castlevania and Zelda, but also lesser-known games like Pinball Quest and Kirby’s Block Ball, where I got the idea of using more than one paddle,” Pascal tells us. What is The Trail Of Kharzoid about though? “Kharzoid is an evil necromancer who made a game filled with traps and foes,” explains Pascal. “The hero sacrifices himself by being put into this trial, risking his soul.” Playing as a skull did pose some challenges for Pascal. “He cannot carry a large inventory around, so where will he put that stuff?” poses Pascal. “There are no stats like strength, intelligence, or the like, but I will try to give the player a sense…

» PLAYSTATION PORTABLE » 2009 » HARMONIX, BACKBONE ENTERTAINMENT Sony’s portable handheld has a number of excellent music-focussed games, from Lumines and the Patapon series, to overseas exclusives like Taiko No Tatsujin Portable and DJMax Portable. One of my favourites however is Rock Band Unplugged, a harmonious collaboration between Harmonix and Backbone Entertainment. Knowing that plastic peripherals wouldn’t be a good fit for Sony’s PSP, Harmonix and Backbone instead focussed on channelling the gameplay mechanics of Harmonix’s earlier hits Frequency and Amplitude. The end result is an incredibly successful transition with the d-pad and face buttons focussing on hitting beats while the shoulder buttons let you skip between instruments. The Rock Band series has always been famed for its excellent licensed soundtracks and Unplugged is no different with 41 master…