Innehållsförteckning för No. 264 från Retro Gamer

Who is Iain Lee? Iain Lee is a freelance counsellor who loves gaming, particularly retro gaming. You can get more information about Iain by visiting iainleecounselling.com or heading over to patreon.com/iainandKatherine I was lucky enough to be invited to be part of the Zzap! Live event in mid-August. My task was to interview the Graftgold team of Steve Turner, Andrew Braybrook and Iain Wallington. Stuff like that makes me nervous for a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s a Commodore-based event. And while I really do love that whole scene, as a BBC Micro man I felt like an infiltrator. Secondly, while I had done my research (including reading the new book that’s just come out about them) there will always be people in the audience who know way more about it…

MARCH 2008 – What joys do our time-travelling adventures hold this month? Well, Capcom is trying not to make players cry, the PS2 is taking players back to school and the PSP has its quirkiest game since LocoRoco. Nick Thorpe guides you through the action NEWS MARCH 2008 American game designer Gary Gygax passed away at the age of 69 on 4 March. In 1968 he established the Lake Geneva Wargames Convention, which became the popular tabletop gaming convention Gen Con. However, he is most famous for Dungeons & Dragons, the role-playing game system that he co-created with Dave Arneson – an enormously popular property that has been adapted into movies, videogames and more. Wales capped off a dominant performance to win the Six Nations rugby union competition on 15…

RIDGE RACER 64 In addition to recreating the courses in Ridge Racer and Ridge Racer Revolution, Ridge Racer 64 has a unique set of desert tracks and an additional track that incorporates city and bay area environments. The N64 title also has a multiplayer split-screen mode for up to four players. R: RACING EVOLUTION As well as having licensed cars instead of fictional models, R: Racing Evolution includes a story mode with cutscenes. Tying into this approach is a Pressure Meter that fills up as you get near to competitors, which can cause them to hurl abuse and even lose control of their car. RIDGE RACER Although the PSP’s Ridge Racer predominantly consists of tracks, cars and music from earlier titles, those courses and vehicles are visually enhanced, and the…

HUNCHBACK CENTURY ELECTRONICS, 1983 ■ Rescue Esmeralda by guiding Quasimodo along the castle wall, avoiding fiery pits, deadly arrows and little men with spikes (who would inspire an enemy in Tom Thumb). The coin-op was converted to squillions of systems but sadly not the C16. RICK DANGEROUS CORE DESIGN, 1989 ■ When it comes to exploring tombs laden with traps, we feel that nothing will ever top Rick’s debut outing. It’s frustrating and fantastic in equal measure. Of note: the Egypt stage bears more than a passing resemblance to Tom Thumb. DIGGER T ROCK RARE, 1991 ■ An early Rare success for the NES, where you explore eight expansive caverns in search of a legendary lost city. As you’d expect from Rare, the game is dripping with charm, and the…

MASTER SYSTEM » 1988 » SEGA R&D2 My mum has this really annoying habit of turning plugs off whenever she goes to bed or stops using something. Standby doesn’t exist in my mum’s world – you turn something off by the wall, because that way you know you’ve turned it off properly. When I was in my late teens and still living at home, she’d regularly turn off the heat mat to my Chinese water dragon’s vivarium, which meant I often came home from work to find him in a torpid state (luckily, bathing him in some warm water usually did the trick and revived him). Sadly, once I started dating my future wife Melanie, my home visits were a lot less regular, which led to a situation that no…

RE TRORE VIVAL » AMIGA » 1992 » MINDSCAPE One of the biggest problems I have with videogames is that when a successful one comes along, some person in a suit comes along and demands a new and updated version of the same thing – ideally by next Christmas. Of course, not every game is particularly well-suited to updates and sequels, even if it was a success, but the suit-wearing people are often not involved in the creative process enough to recognise when that’s the case. In many ways, it’s not important so long as people can be persuaded to part with their hard-earned cash. That’s how sequels like Paperboy 2 come to be. Now, I’ve spent many a happy moment playing Paperboy. The secret to making a great occupation-based arcade…

BALDUR’S GATE ◼ The original Baldur’s Gate was a landmark game, both for developer BioWare and D&D fans. It’s a wonderful romp through the Forgotten Realms allowing you to rub shoulders with classic heroes like Elminster and Drizzt Do’Urden, while you solve the secret behind your master’s murder. Beamdog’s Enhanced Edition is easily the best way to experience it today. EYE OF THE BEHOLDER II: THE LEGEND OF DARKMOON ◼ This masterful sequel to the excellent Eye Of The Beholder is a far more expansive adventure than its predecessor. Puzzles are more complex, there are new outdoor areas to explore, while Darkmoon Temple is ginormous. There’s much more interactivity within the game world and a larger array of enemies. It’s also possible to import your heroes from the original game.…

◼ About a year after its original release, The Legend Of Kyrandia was also released on CD-ROM. As was the norm back then, English speech was the main filler of the mighty 700MB! The quality of the voice-over was surprisingly high for the time, also Brandon is voiced by Joe Kucan – an actor we would learn to love and fear as NOD leader Kane in the Command & Conquer games. Brett remembers this time well, saying, “I loved when we did the CD-ROM version, I loved hearing the voices. That’s how Joe Kucan got involved. I knew Joe and what he was doing in the Las Vegas theatre scene. Every now and then he would help us do voice-overs which led to us offering him a full-time position. That…

◼ Sega lacked the Die Hard film licence in Japan and released its new game as Dynamite Deka, meaning Dynamite Detective. Forget John McClane – our hero here goes by Bruno Delinger. His sidekick is known as Cindy Holiday rather than Kris Thompsen. Most importantly, the building they need to battle through has morphed from Nakatomi Plaza to a tower known as Eternal City, which is found in San Francisco rather than Los Angeles. That last difference is one of the few that’s slightly noticeable if you compare the two versions. Nakatomi Corporation logos have been removed in the Japanese release (below), which creates a few visual distinctions in the stages. Aside from that subtle difference and changes to the names and story, the two games are largely identical, both…

RE TRORE VIVAL » SATURN » 1996 » SEGA AM2 My first introduction to Sega’s Saturn was through Brady Kent, one of my friends from Tesco. Aside from having a cool name, Brady had an impressive number of Saturn games and I’d often go around his house after work to play his latest purchase. Brady’s love of the system rubbed off on me and led to me purchasing my own console and I soon fell in love with the machine’s arcade-focussed library. We obviously played a lot of two-player games during our gaming sessions and when we weren’t going head to head on Street Fighter Alpha, we were playing Virtua Cop 2. Converted by Sega AM2, like the original Virtua Cop, it’s an excellent port that felt virtually arcade perfect at…

JADE ◼ A strong, pacifist young woman, only armed with a daÏ-jo and a camera, whose secret origins are well hidden up to the game’s ending. She is portrayed as a main character with a quick wit and a capacity for forthright repartee. PEY’J ◼ Although he’s Jade’s uncle, Pey’j also hides some secrets from her. He is a very talented pig-like humanoid mechanic who can easily create all sorts of gadgets, such as Jet-Boots. He is also in charge of the hovercraft’s maintenance and upgrades. SECUNDO ◼ Forget about Halo’s Cortana, Secundo is the AI you need, capable of managing Jade’s bank account or digitising any objects she can find in order to ‘carry’ them. He is an intangible hologram with a strong Hispanic accent using doubtful vocabulary. DOUBLE…

How did you get into music, David? We lived in a house in Leicester, and my brother was having piano lessons. I’d hear my brother playing stuff, and then I’d just wander across to the piano and start working stuff out myself. I found that I could listen to something and repeat it on the piano. Then writing music really happened a few years later when I got an acoustic guitar. I still don’t know what I’m doing on an acoustic guitar, I just play it completely by ear. I only know a few chords, but I do play it enough to be able to compose bits of music on. Once I picked up that guitar and started jamming with it, that started the compositions off. Did you start playing…

■ The Sunsoft platformer Gimmick! originally launched on the Famicom in Japan in 1992, followed by a limited release in Scandinavia in 1993. More recently, it was re-released on modern formats, allowing more gamers to experience the oddball (and now very expensive) adventure. Now, Swedish developer Bitwave Games is working on a brand-new sequel, and the studio has brought in David Wise to create the game’s music. David has been using Swedish instruments like the nyckelharpa for the soundtrack, recording the music live rather than using Virtual Studio Technology (VST) simulations. “I’ve got nyckelharpa VSTs, but they do not sound like a nyckelharpa,” he says. “When it’s set up and you’ve got somebody who can really play it, it sounds nothing like the VST. So [the VST] was a starting…

Who is Paul Rose? Paul is probably better known as Mr Biffo – the creator of legendary teletext games magazine Digitiser. These days, he mostly writes his videogame ramblings over at Digitiser2000.com. If you want more Biffo in your eyes, you can catch him as the host of Digitizer The Show at www.bit.ly/biffo2000. I’m a bit late to the party when it comes to the current generation of consoles, but I was very kindly given a PS5 last year. There are aspects of PS5 gaming that I really enjoy, and there are other aspects… that I absolutely detest, and which make me yearn for a simpler time. Yes: yearning! I’m officially that old now that I yearn for the golden age of gaming! Take the game I got for my…

RIDGE RACER DS In many ways, Ridge Racer DS is a nicer-looking version of Ridge Racer 64, but it differs from the N64 title in some respects. First and foremost are the DS game’s touch-screen controls and wireless multiplayer, but more interestingly it includes new Namco and Nintendo-themed cars. CRITICAL VELOCITY Imagine Ridge Racer meets Chase HQ and you have a good idea of what Critical Velocity is all about. As it was developed by the PSP Ridge Racer team it’s unsurprising that Critical Velocity features a car commonly featured in the Ridge Racer games in the form of the Soldat Crinale. RIDGE RACER 2 Taking the approach that bigger is better, Ridge Racer 2 retains all 12 tracks of its PSP predecessor, and adds nine more drawn from the…

» MANUFACTURER: Emerson Radio » YEAR: 1982 » COST: $199 (launch), £155+ (today, boxed), £110+ (today, unboxed) Though it might not be the most familiar brand internationally, Emerson Radio has successfully sold all manner of electronics in the USA for decades now – a range that today includes microwaves, TVs and clock radios. Back in the Eighties, the company was enticed into joining the rapidly expanding videogame market, and put together a console based around a pairing of the Signetics 2650 CPU and 2637 video controller – both off-the-shelf parts. The console found itself awkwardly positioned in the market – it couldn’t compete for power with other new machines like the Atari 5200, ColecoVision and Vectrex, nor could it offer the wide range of games that the likes of the…

SQUIRM ■ DEVELOPER: TONY KELLY ■ YEAR: 1985 ■ Mastertronic was one publisher that enjoyed success on the C16, with many of its games achieving enviable sales. This budget gem plays like several golden era arcade games mashed together. Predominantly it’s a spin on Pac-Man, where you have to chase the queen worm around the maze, eating its eggs (the grey dots) while avoiding the deadly worker worms. THE MAGICIAN’S CURSE ■ DEVELOPER: MARK J MOORE ■ YEAR: 1986 ■ Gremlin Graphics was another notable supporter of the C16, releasing dozens of games for the format, including several exclusives like this one. This is a smart graphic adventure where, like Tom Thumb, you wonder how the author managed to squeeze so much into 16Kb. Better still, the presence of simple…

IN THE KNOW » PUBLISHER: SEGA » DEVELOPER: SEGA » SYSTEM: MEGA DRIVE » DUE FOR RELEASE: 1989 The simplicity of Tetris enabled it to become one of the world’s best known puzzle games, one that has remained persistently popular for decades. The tale of how Tetris grew from its humble beginnings as Alexey Pajitnov’s personal project into a global phenomenon is anything but simple, though – the infamous scramble for conversion rights left a whole bunch of companies with the impression that they had a claim to the game, some more legitimately than others. One of those companies was Sega, which ended up with the Japanese arcade rights to Tetris through a chain of sub-licensing agreements, and produced a version using its System 16 board. Just as you’d expect, the…

As Retro Gamer detailed in issue 219’s Ultimate Guide, shoot-’em-up Silkworm was a surprise hit in arcades and on home computers. Converted by the recently formed The Sales Curve (via its in-house development team, Random Access), its success persuaded its boss, Jane Cavanagh, to extend the brand, producing the Silkworm-inspired SWIV on 8- and 16-bit computers. A year later, the next chapter in this dual-player, multi-vehicle series appeared exclusively on the 16-bit consoles now solidly dominating the videogame market. In Super SWIV’s highly original plot (sarcasm mode off), a secret underground race is plotting to take over the world. Several hi-tech military vehicles are missing – including a prototype jet fighter, a battle tank and an underwater mobile missile platform – and are being used for its nefarious plans. This…

LEVEL ONE [MEGA SWIV] DESCRIPTION: This oval construction doesn’t fire directly at the player; instead, it hurls glowing mines that explode if they aren’t shot in quick time. HOW TO BEAT THEM: The emplacement has two stages, but the first can be destroyed almost instantly with high-powered weapons. Try to eliminate one or two mines before concentrating fire on it. LEVEL ONE [SUPER SWIV] DESCRIPTION: A giant sandcrawler that spits laser beams at the player. Eventually, choppers join its assault. Ground vehicles pull out from each side. HOW TO BEAT THEM: Firstly, take out the cannons between shots. Then, shoot the two exits as the vehicles leave. This is the boss’s only vulnerable spot. LEVEL TWO [SUPER SWIV] DESCRIPTION: Three giant cannons, each shielded, fire in turn, in addition to…

IN THE KNOW » PUBLISHER: VIRGIN GAMES » DEVELOPER: WESTWOOD STUDIOS » PLATFORM: PC, AMIGA, VARIOUS » RELEASED: 1992 » GENRE: POINT-AND-CLICK ADVENTURE DEVELOPER HIGHLIGHTS DUNE II: BATTLE FOR ARRAKIS PLATFORM: AMIGA, PC, MEGA DRIVE, RISC OS RELEASED: 1992 LANDS OF LORE: THE THRONE OF CHAOS (PICTURED) PLATFORM: PC, FM TOWNS, NEC PC-9801 RELEASED: 1993 COMMAND & CONQUER PLATFORM: PC, VARIOUS RELEASED: 1995 Westwood Studios, founded in 1985 by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle in Las Vegas under the name Westwood Associates, had very humble beginnings. Early on, it was mainly a conversion company, bringing Epyx’s Temple Of Apshai games to Amiga and Atari ST, for example. Later, the team developed the legendary first two games of the Eye Of The Beholder trilogy for SSI, and shortly afterwards created Dune II:…

The Legend Of Kyrandia: Hand Of Fate (1993) ◼ There was a reason for the ‘Book One’ in Fables & Fiends: Legend Of Kyrandia Book One, because about a year after the original game, Book Two, subtitled Hand Of Fate, was already in stores. This time, the focus was no longer on Brandon, but on the young mystic Zanthia, who had to stop Kyrandia from disappearing. Hand Of Fate offers more of everything: more game world, more variety, more graphics, more sound, more comedy. At the same time, there are fewer sudden deaths, fewer obscure puzzles, and less Malcolm – in fact, he plays no part at all until the very last scene. Zanthia also acts like a normal person for a change, putting on appropriate clothing when she enters…

WRESTLING MOVES ◼ In this telling of the tale, John McClane seems to have a background as a professional wrestler. Suplexes, piledrivers, elbow drops and swinging criminals in circles by their legs are just some of the WWE-worthy moves on show. Weaponry and martial arts moves are also John’s forte. RAMPAGING ROBOTS ◼ At two points in the game you’ll need to get past some high-tech sentry robots with deadly laser-beam attacks. It’s not clear what these futuristic sci-fi creations are doing there, or what they have to do with the Nakatomi Corporation, but they certainly add a bit of variety. PRESIDENTIAL KIDNAP ◼ In the film, the hostages were humble workers putting in a shift at the office just before Christmas. Here there’s a VIP at stake – the…

◼ Officially announced at Ubidays in Paris in 2017 after four years of development, Beyond Good & Evil 2 is admittedly Ubisoft’s largest and most ambitious project since the company was created. It’s an ambitious AAAA game (Ubisoft’s take, not ours) with a dedicated new in-house graphic engine offering co-op action and travel in a vast open world. In terms of working conditions, this project was a big change for Ubisoft Montpellier, which used to work with teams of 30 to 40 people. According to Florent Sacré, who left the company, 400 people are working nowadays on this prequel to Beyond Good & Evil. “Development became too industrial and not organic enough because of the team’s size, which didn’t suit me at all”, he tells us. In an investigation launched…

<Amiga: The latest release from Amiten Games is Holy Warrior, with the digital download costing €2.95. Find it at bit.ly/holywarrior-amiga/> <Amstrad CPC: Dave Moore converted early Spectrum classic Transversion, adding gameplay updates from sequels Sector and Sector: Invasion. It’s available to play by visiting bit.ly/transversion-cpc/> <Atari STE: Puzzle game Chroma Grid from TOYS won the Wild competition at the Sommarhack 2024 demoparty in Sweden and comes with a level editor. Give it a try by heading to bit.ly/chromagrid/> <Atari XL/XE: Check out the excellent conversion of Mikie (top) by Krzysztof Gora, Michal Szpilowski and Krzysztof Ziembik. Return to school and visit bit.ly/mikie-atarixl/> <ColecoVision: Oscar Toledo Gutierrez, creator of CVBasic, has converted GORILLA.BAS to the console. Fancy going ape? Then grab it from bit.ly/gorilla-coleco/> <Game Boy Color: Fans of Nintendo’s F-Zero should…

<BODY> The original concept of Johnny Blanchard’s Jurl can be traced back to 2004. “The gameplay came from playing a lot of emulated Pac-Man and Asteroids, two of my favourites, and I just decided to mash the two together,” we’re told. “I ported the whole thing to the GP2X handheld. In recent times, the PC version came about because I wanted a project to make while learning Godot. This is also where I added the backstory of a diamond miner ignoring government warnings to stay out of a neutral zone because going in there might start an interstellar war.” Atari 2600, Lynx, PC Engine, Master System and Game Boy (Color and DMG supported) development versions can currently be found at tonsomo.itch.io/ “I’ve got some PCBs coming for the Game Boy…

There’s been a flurry of retro activity recently, with all manner of excellent games, compilations and remakes in the works. The most unexpected reveal was System 3’s announcement of its The Last Ninja Collection, which has already smashed its 10K Kickstarter goal after just 40 minutes. The new collection includes the three The Last Ninja games, Ninja Remix, International Karate, IK+ and Bangkok Knights. “We’re in an era where nostalgia and retro games are central to gaming culture, and there’s a strong appetite for these classic experiences,” System 3’s Mark Cale tells us. “With advances in technology, we can now offer the definitive The Last Ninja retro experience on both Switch and PC, something fans have been eagerly awaiting years for.” The compilation includes multiple versions of each game and…

Multiplayer fanatics have been entertained by the Worms games for decades now, and Worms Armageddon may just be the best of the bunch. With Team17 and Digital Eclipse preparing Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition for a 26 September release on all modern consoles, we looked into how and why this project came together. Why is Worms Armageddon receiving a new console port? Stephen Frost: From my perspective, Worms Armageddon is 25 years old at this point and still has such an amazingly loyal and strong following of fans. However, most of that current audience are primarily PC owners who have grown up playing the series, so there’s this huge audience out there of console owners who haven’t really had an opportunity to to play a modern, updated version of this classic…

RIDGE RACER REVOLUTION As well as three new courses, Ridge Racer Revolution has a rear-view mirror option like Ridge Racer 2 and an outside-of-the-car option like Namco’s Ridge Racer port. There’s also a two-player link cable mode, secret unlockable cars and a cool hidden mode where you race beach buggy-like toy cars. RAGE RACER As a concession to realism, Rage Racer is depicted in darker hues than earlier titles in the series. It also has a credit system, where your winnings let you pay for upgrades and better cars. Progress through the game’s five classes of events requires top-three finishes in each one. POCKET RACER A coin-op version of Ridge Racer Revolution’s Buggy Mode, except that Pocket Racer makes allowances for its young target audience. Your buggy bounces off roadsides…

RIDGE RACER ACCELERATED Essentially, Ridge Racer Accelerated is a mobile iteration of the PSP Ridge Racer 2, although it has fewer courses and cars. Where it differs more is with the way you control your car, with options including tilting your device, using on-screen buttons and manipulating a slider bar. RIDGE RACER DRIFT Considering Ridge Racer Drift runs on Java, it’s impressive how much of the Ridge Racer experience the game retains. There’s a genuine sense of speed, convincing drifting and Nitrous-fuelled bursts of speed. Ridge Racer Drift even looks the part, despite it mainly being sprite based. RIDGE RACER 3D Aside from being depicted in 3D, this 3DS exclusive offers a number of other firsts. It has six new modes, including One-Make Race, where you race against a field…

TOM THUMB  ■ DEVELOPER: UDO GERTZ ■ YEAR: 1985 ■ The Commodore 16 was hamstrung from the start. Compared to the Commodore 64, it lacked hardware sprites and the SID sound chip. But its key limitation was memory, or lack of, shipping with just 16Kb. The computer was designed to compete with low-cost micros like the ZX Spectrum, but by the time it launched in 1984, even Sinclair understood that 16Kb was not enough. The C16’s sibling, the Plus/4, did come with 64Kb, and it was possible to purchase third-party RAM packs that would boost the C16’s memory to 32 or 64Kb, but software publishers understandably targeted the largest possible userbase, meaning most games were designed to run inside 16Kb. This ceiling limited the kinds of games available. Simplicity was the…

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COLUMNS 1990, SEGA ■ The Flash Mode of the console versions incorporates Flash Point’s goal of removing the flashing block to win. The Master System version of the game even uses the music from Sega’s arcade version of Tetris. PUZZLED 1990, SNK ■ This Neo Geo game has a similar premise to Flash Point, in which you tackle pre-designed stages. Instead of eliminating specific blocks, your goal is to clear a path for a hot air balloon to float away. PUYO PUYO TETRIS 2014, SONIC TEAM ■ While it doesn’t have a Flash Point variant, this crossover is arguably the best version of Tetris of the many that were made by Sega, incorporating two amazing puzzle games in a variety of interesting ways.…

SILKWORM ◼ The first game in this co-op series hit arcades in the late-Eighties and became The Sales Curve’s first licence. Scrolling horizontally and side-on, it’s aesthetically diverse from the rest of the series but instigated the compulsive simultaneous two-player action of heli and Jeep. All the home conversions are decent to play as well. SWIV ◼ Debuting on the 16-bit systems in 1991, the original SWIV took the ethos of Silkworm (and its two-player Jeep-heli combo) and switched to an overhead, vertically scrolling view. Gameplay-wise, it’s the same frantic shooting action, including a mid-level enemy inspired by Silkworm’s Goose fighter. It was also released on 8-bit formats. SUPER SWIVMEGA SWIV ◼ Sequel Super SWIV is similar to SWIV, but with updated graphics and separate levels. The latter is a…

◼ Some new development faces arrived for the Mega Drive iteration of Super SWIV, and they helped create another excellent shmup, albeit appearing later than ideal in the Mega Drive’s life. Apart from the necessary adaptations in terms of graphics and sound, there’s an extra level at the start and a less busy screen, making Mega SWIV a touch easier than its SNES cousin. Otherwise, the Jeep lacks a jump but appears to skim over many obstacles anyway, and it’s a solid shoot-’em-up for undemanding fans of the genre.…

◼ Kyrandia: Fantasy World Of Legends is a multiplayer adventure (MUD) developed by Richard Skurnick and Scott Brinker in 1988, which already provided much of what would later be found in The Legend Of Kyrandia: the repetitive forests, the great willow, the ruby tree with a biting snake, lots of gems and the Kyragem amongst other things. The Westwood staff loved this game, as Mike tells us, “Back in the late-Eighties and early Nineties, there was a local Las Vegas multiuser BBS, called Multicom. Quite a few of us used to log in and chat with other users, as well as play text-based games. Kyrandia was one of those games, the text descriptions of the locations were very evocative, and the gameplay was quite fun. We decided to get the…

» PLATFORM: NINTENDO 64 » RELEASED: 1999 » DEVELOPER: HAL LABORATORY Who would have thought that classic Nintendo icons would put up such a stiff fight? You’ve fought against Link in the grounds of Hyrule Castle, teamed up with an AI friend to take on the famous Mario brothers and even faced off against multiple Yoshis, but now the end is in sight and Super Smash Bros’ final encounter will surely make you king of the toybox. As your last opponent floats into view you realise that it’s not a classic Nintendo villain at all, but a gigantic gloved hand. “Oh well,” you think to yourself, “Just how tough can an oversized glove be?” Quite tough, as it turns out. In addition to having a huge number of hit points,…

◼ Although Sega was done with the Die Hard licence, it rustled up two sequels to Dynamite Deka. The first of these was called Dynamite Cop (top) in the West and Dynamite Deka 2 in Japan. Players once again found themselves as elite cops in a hostage rescue situation, only this time the setting is a huge ship at sea. Released in arcades and on the Dreamcast in 1998, it offered more of the same larger-than-life beat-’em-up action, with the enemies and weapons taken even to greater heights of silliness. A very similar experience followed in Asian Dynamite (below), which was released as Dynamite Deka EX in Japan. The game came to arcades in 2006 but never made it to consoles. Makoto Uchida was involved in both sequels, with the…

◼ The most striking aspect of Ubisoft’s recent remake is its cosmetic redesign. Beyond Good & Evil now offers a very sharp, crisp image. Textures, shaders and materials have been improved or added to make the game look truly gorgeous in places and it greatly outshines the work found in the 2011 HD remaster. While all the versions look very good, the Nintendo Switch version suffers from a capped 30fps and only offers a 1080p max resolution, which is far below what’s offered on the other (admittedly more powerful) systems. In addition to a visual overhaul, a Speedrun mode has been added, for those who would like to finish the game without making a single save. For many though, this edition’s icing on the cake is the excellent behind-the-scenes access…

Info » System: PSP, PS3, (PS4, PS5) » Year: 2008 (2022)  » Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment » Developer: Game Yarouze/Japan Studio » Key People: Jun Fujiki, Tatsuya Suzuki, Satoru Imamura, Kashin Hodotsuka, Hideki Sakamoto Go Deeper » Echochrome’s composer Hideki Sakamoto considered naming the music tracks after philosophical terms, but later decided to use prime numbers to avoid colouring the perception of the listener.  » The most comprehensive versions to own are the PSP’s physical UMD releases from Japan and Europe, which feature the greatest number of puzzles and game modes. THE BACKGROUND Beginning in 1995, Sony hosted an annual amateur game development program called Game Yarouze! through which participants could submit game designs to be judged by a panel of Sony reps and game journalists. Participants whose ideas were deemed…

RE TRORE VIVAL » DREAMCAST » 2000 » ANCHOR Can you have too much of a good thing? I love fighting games and the Dreamcast certainly has no shortage of great ones, but that became a problem when I binged on them and ended up craving something different from the standard fare. Unfortunately, it’s not the strongest console for wrestling games, and that’s how I ended up turning to Ultimate Fighting Championship – the very first licensed game based on the world’s biggest mixed martial arts promotion, and my first exposure to the sport. It’s easy to forget now that UFC has a turnover of over $1 billion, but at the turn of the century the promotion was just emerging from the underground, after US politicians had campaigned to ban it.…

<INTRO> GETTING YOUR HOMEBREW GAME ONTO A CARTRIDGE IS A REAL POSSIBILITY THESE DAYS. OUR MAIN FEATURE TALKS TO AN AUSTRALIAN PROGRAMMER WHO IS MAKING HIS OWN, AND OUR CHAMPION CODER WOULD LOVE TO SEE HIS GAMES PHYSICALLY RELEASED. THE GAME PREVIEWED IN PROCESSING COULD ALSO APPEAR IN CARTRIDGE FORM FOR MULTIPLE HANDHELD AND CONSOLE FORMATS. ALL OUR REVIEW TITLES WILL BE APPEARING PHYSICALLY, BUT YOU CAN ALSO GRAB A DIGITAL DOWNLOAD TO ENJOY THEM. </INTRO> <MAIN HEADER> ELECTRIC ENTERTAINMENT <INTRO> VETERAN AUSTRALIAN PROGRAMMER TONY CRUISE OF ELECTRIC ADVENTURES IS CREATING NEW CARTRIDGES FOR THE SPECTRAVIDEO, COLECOVISION, AND MSX </INTRO> <BODY> Tony Cruise has always loved coding. “I lived down here in Tasmania, and I started at high school with computers, which was a dumb terminal into the Elizabeth Computing…

A RACING REVOLUTION We reminisce about the Ridge Racer series Back in the Nineties, few games of any kind could equal the impact that Namco’s Ridge Racer had both in the arcades and at home. With the series taking this month’s cover, we felt it was high time we discussed our personal experiences with the classic franchise. NICK How did everyone first encounter Ridge Racer? I have no idea quite where it was, but for me it was definitely in an arcade rather than on the PlayStation. DARRAN This may sound weird, but I don’t recall playing Ridge Racer when it first came out. I definitely saw it in arcades and must have played it, but I distinctly remember the PlayStation version over it. TIM Hmm, I have no idea…