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THE RETROBATES WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE TEENAGE

MUTANT NINJA TURTLES GAME?

I
’ve never read a Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles comic in my life, but that
doesn’t mean I’m not aware of the
DARRAN JONES TIM EMPEY NICK THORPE exploits of Leonardo, Michelangelo,
For me it’s Turtles In Time. It I hired Tournament Fighters It’s not a nostalgic pick, but Raphael and Donatello. Even if you did
builds on the craziness of the out of the video shop many I’ve grown really fond of The
first arcade game and has a times. Loved it, but didn’t Manhattan Project on NES. It’s consider yourself too old for the Turtles
fantastic SNES conversion know about the other versions an awesome achievement on
to boot. until many years later. the 8-bit machine and plays
during the late-Eighties and early Nineties like
Expertise: Juggling a Expertise: Finishing Game really well. I did, it was impossible to ignore the reptilian
gorgeous wife, two beautiful Pass games before they go Expertise: Owning five
girls and an award-winning Currently playing: Master Systems and a Mark III heroes because they were seeping into every
magazine, all under one roof! Resident Evil 2 Currently playing: aspect of mainstream media, from movies
Currently playing: Favourite game of all time: eFootball 2023
Lollipop Chainsaw God Hand Favourite game of all time: and cartoons, to toys and videogames.
Favourite game of all time: Sonic The Hedgehog Aside from watching the first Turtles film
Strider
in 1990, my entire knowledge of Splinter’s
students comes from videogames, typically
the ones that Konami produced. I loved
Turtles In Time back in the day, and still own
the Super Famicom cartridge version of it
today. It has been fascinating then to talk to
members of Digital Eclipse about not only
this year’s The Cowabunga Collection, but
also why those early Konami games were
such a big deal on their original release.
ANDY SALTER PAUL DRURY ANDREW FISHER We’ve even looked at the many Turtles
I was a big fan of the cartoon My favourite turtle game is Konami’s 1989 coin-op,
series of the late-Eighties and Turtle Bridge Game & Watch particularly playing Donatello games that followed, including this year’s
early Nineties and the arcade but if they have to be mutant (the best turtle, no discussion
machine is still impressive to and ninja, then the original is needed).
rather entertaining Shredder’s Revenge.
this day. arcade game. Expertise: Forty years of But if the heroes in a half shell leave you
Expertise: Modding games, Expertise: Spectrum gaming, from Commodore 64
no ‘vanilla’ versions for Pac-Man clones to Switch cold, you’ll still find plenty to enjoy this issue,
me, thanks! Currently playing: Atari 50: Currently playing: including an extensive look at Hewson’s back
Currently modding: The Anniversary Celebration Swoon: Earth Escape
RTR: Imperium Surrectum Favourite game of all time: Favourite game of all time: catalogue, the creation of Alpha Centauri,
Favourite game of all time: Sheep In Space Wizball Fightin’ Spirit, 1080º Snowboarding and Lego
Rome: Total War although I
guess it’s the Remastered Star Wars, the Ultimate Guide to Sabreman’s
edition now.
first adventure and much, much more.
Stay safe and enjoy the magazine.

GRAEME MASON RORY MILNE ADAM BARNES

The David Perry/Nick Bruty It has to be the Turtles In Time Definitely TMNT: The
game from 1990 seemed coin-op. Its time-travel plot Hyperstone Heist. It was a
impossibly colourful for the allows it to have completely thing of beauty thanks to the
Speccy and I spent weeks over-the-top level designs, speed of the Mega Drive, the
playing it. and it gets even crazier with smooth animation, the slick
Expertise: Adjusting the tape four players. music, the “pizza time”. Just
azimuth with a screwdriver Expertise: The game that incredible.
Currently playing: I’m writing about at the time Expertise: Being pretentious
Halo Infinite of writing about coffee
Favourite game of all time: Currently playing: Currently playing:
Resident Evil 4 The Way Of The Exploding Fist Marvel Snap
Favourite game of all time: Favourite game of all time:
Tempest Baldur’s Gate
CONTENTS
>> Load 241 Breathing new life into classic games

RETRO RADAR 48
6 Main News
Karl Mizen tells us about Numskull
Design’s Space Invaders and TMNT cabs

8 Iain Lee
Our resident columnist used to love
playing a certain arcade game back in the FEATURED
day, but now it no longer has its appeal.
36 The Making Of:
10 Mr Biffo The Fear: Storm II
What’s happened with the logos of Find out how The Firm made its sequel
games companies? Paul has no idea to its highly acclaimed Gauntlet clone

12 A Moment With 48 The Making Of:

We quiz Sergei Kolobashkin about his Fightin’ Spirit
company’s new shmup Space Runaway Despite being one of the Amiga’s best
fighting games, Fightin’ Spirit wasn’t a
14 Back To The Noughties knockout hit. Damiano Gerli finds out why
It’s April 2006 and Nick is on another
exciting time-travelling adventure 54 Peripheral Vision:
Arcade Power Stick II
Nick loves playing arcade conversions
46 on his Mega Drive, and this hey joystick
certainly helps with that

56 Ultimate Guide:
Cannon Dancer
Lewis Packwood revisits this spiritual
successor to Strider and looks at Strictly
Limited Games’ incoming re-release
18
70 Hardware Heaven:

REVIVALS
3DO FZ-10
There are lots of different variations of The History Of:
16 Freeway
the 3DO. Nick takes a brief look at this
popular Panasonic model Teenage Mutant
Why did the chicken cross the road?
Darran thinks he knows the answer
84 Retro Gamer’s Favourite…
Cheeky Clones
Paul Drury is our resident cheeky lad, so
Ninja Turtles
We chart the videogame success and failures of the heroes in
46 The Jungle Book it makes sense that he unearths some of
a half shell and quiz Digital Eclipse on its Cowabunga Collection
Nick has fond memories of this slick videogaming’s dodgiest knock-offs
Master System platformer

62 Zero Wing
86 The Making Of: 30 Ultimate Guide:
Lego Star Wars:
The Mega Drive has some great The Video Game Sabre Wulf
shmups and this is one of them It wasn’t the first videogame based on Greg Duddle explains how he
Lego, but Lego Star Wars set the standard converted the Spectrum hit to the C64
76 Virtual On: going forward. Here’s how it happened
Cyber Troopers
Nick has costly hobbies and one of them
is buying Virtual On games 86
92 The Legend Of Zelda:
The Minish Cap
Everything might be shrunken down, but
Link’s handheld adventure is still epic

112 WipEout Pure

If you’re looking for a great PSP game, this
futuristic racer is just the ticket
FEATURED

4 | RETRO GAMER
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AND SAVE E
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SEE PAGE 2
8 64

The Making Of:

Sid Meier’s
Alpha Centauri
Discover how Firaxis Games’ first title had
to follow the strategy epic Civilization

78 ESSENTIALS
28 Subscriptions
More radical than beating Turtles In Time
on a single credit
The Making Of: 98 Homebrew
1080º Snowboarding Andrew Fisher returns with a fantastic
selection of homebrew reviews

102 Hot Topic: Spectacular

REVIEWS Sports Games
From Winter Games to Speedball 2, Nick
and the rest of the team talk sports

104 Collector’s Corner

Do you store your games collection in
drawers? Our latest collector does

106 My Retro Life

Nick reveals how a Christmas present
94 Atari 50: The 30 years ago led to a gaming obsession
Anniversary Celebration
108 Mailbag
38 96 RepliCade X: We read every single letter you
Missile Command send us. Please don’t stop

96 Sonic Frontiers 111 Next Month

Can’t use magic to see into
96 Itchy, Tasty: An Unofficial the future? Use this instead
History Of Resident Evil
114 Endgame
Darran tackles the best
96 The Rumble Fish 2
ending of Streets Of Rage 3,
can he do it?

A Tribute To:
Hewson
Andrew Hewson looks back at the many
superb games that defined his company

RETRO GAMER | 5
GIVE US TWO MINUTES AND WE'LL GIVE YOU THE RETRO WORLD

» No date was
announced when
we went to press,
but both Turtles
games will be
released at the
same time.

MINIATURE MAGIC
The Ninja Turtles and Space Invaders are getting the Quarter Arcades treatment

I
f you’ve any interest in retro a spanner in the works an internal battery.” The
gaming you’ll be well aware of for Quarter Arcades and team has been working
CONTENTS Numskull Design’s miniature essentially ground us to a hard on making the cabs
arcade cabinets. Released halt,” admits Karl Mizen, as authentic as possible,
6 MINIATURE MAGIC under its Quarter Arcades label and Numskull Design’s creative and as a result has spent
Numskull Design’s Karl Mizen on
Quarter Arcades’ incoming arcade designed using authentic arcade director. “Our design and a lot of time perfecting
cabinets based on Space Invaders parts, numerous cabinets have initial development are Space Invaders’ Pepper’s
and Konami’s popular TMNT games been released, including Namco’s carried out in-house in the Ghost effect. “For those
Pac-Man, Galaga and Dig Dug, and UK. Still, we work closely » Numskull Design’s unfamiliar with the term,
8 IAIN LEE Taito’s Bubble Bobble. with our manufacturing Karl Mizen is a big
Pepper’s Ghost is an
Our resident columnist meets TMNT fan. “I loved the
an old flame from his past, but
Back in issue 213 our Arcade partners to get the cartoon as a kid (I had illusion technique used
discovers that the magic is no Heaven article went behind the technical aspects correct, every toy going), and in Space Invaders to
longer there scenes of Quarter Arcades and which became impossible it’s great that my kids project the gameplay in
can still enjoy it today.”
mentioned incoming cabinets that when COVID emerged. front of the starfield,”
10 MR BIFFO included Taito’s Space Invaders On top of this, COVID caused explains Karl. “This is achieved by
This month Paul is getting nostalgic and Konami’s Track & Field. a global shortage in electronic positioning the screen inside the
for old-fashioned videogame
logos, including classics by Sadly, the pandemic meant both components, which hit us hard.” cabinet and using an angled piece
Atari and Activision games didn’t make their planned It would appear that Quarter of glass to give the effect that the
launch windows. “COVID threw Arcades is finally ready to move game is floating in front of you.”
12 A MOMENT WITH forward as it has recently put In a way the delay has worked
We go behind the scenes of Space the long-awaited Space Invaders in Quarter Arcades’ favour as
Runaway, a minigame that became cabinet up for preorder along with 2023 marks Space Invaders’
a standalone release
Space Invaders Part II. Despite 45th anniversary. As a result,
14 BACK TO THE the time that has passed Karl is limited editions will be available.
NOUGHTIES confident the machines will be “We’re thrilled to offer a limited
Nick puts his foot on the throttle and worth the wait. “Space Invaders run of both versions signed by
powers his way to April 2006. What is a big machine, mainly due the creator himself, Tomohiro
will he discover there? to its internal construction and Nishikado,” Karl says. “The
positioning of the monitor,” he machines will also come with an
says. “The machines boast highly exclusive Space Invaders ¼-scale
detailed, iconic artwork, inside and stool, collectors’ coin, certificate of
» [Arcade] The addition of pads is a good idea
because even the original arcade cabinet could out, and retain all of the features authenticity and unique postcard
feel crowded at times. from previous devices, including celebrating 45 years.”

6 | RETRO GAMER
 VISIT RETROGAMER.NET/FORUM TO HAVE YOUR SAY

A CRASH
SMASH!
etro fans recently

R travelled to Walsall
to take part in Fusion
Retro Books’, Crash 2022
Live, a new yearly event in
collaboration with Revival
Retro Events and The
Retro Computer Museum.
Malcolm Evans, Clive
Townsend and Kevin Toms
were among the featured
» There will be 78 limited- videogame celebrities,
edition Space Invaders cabs while our own Paul Drury
and 79 Space Invaders Part II was on interview and
cabs to represent the years
they were released. quiz duty. Over 50 Sinclair
systems were available to
play and there were plenty
We have a of other attractions as well.

good relationship
with Konami, so
it seemed like a
no-brainer
KARL MIZEN
Although Track & Field is currently
on the backburner, Quarter Arcades GOLDEN
hasn’t been idle and has been
working alongside Konami to create
» Quarter Arcades has gone to great pains with
the Space Invaders cabs, including replicating the
» As you can see, the Quarter Arcades cabinets
are significantly smaller than the coin-ops they are JOYSTICK
authentic replicas of its Teenage
neat Pepper’s Ghost effect found on the machines. based on. There’s a nice range now available.
WINNERS
Mutant Ninja Turtles and Turtles players to jostle around the greatly enough to work with ViacomCBS elda and Monkey
In Time cabinets. “We’re always
looking to expand the range and
offer a varied collection of cabinets,”
reduced cabinet. “It can be a little
crowded while playing four-player,
but it is still surprisingly playable,”
on other Turtles products,”
explains Karl. “The main issues
usually revolve around approvals
Z Island were just
some of the classic
franchises that did well
Karl says proudly. “The four-player Karl offers. “These are the first and ensuring everyone is happy at this year’s Golden
Konami cab is a great-looking machines where we have added with the product before we go into Joystick Awards. The
machine, and we thought it would an extra feature to allow for better mass production. In the case of Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of
complement the current Quarter gameplay, but not wanting to alter Turtles, this involves ViacomCBS, The Kingdom won Most
Arcades line-up very well. We have the aesthetics of the cabs, we were Konami and Nickelodeon.” Wanted Game, while
a good relationship with Konami, so careful to make sure it was hidden.” That’s quite the hurdle to clear Return To Monkey Island
it seemed like a no-brainer.” That extra feature Karl mentions but it has happened, which makes won PC Game Of The Year.
It might seem like a no-brainer, comes in the form of hidden us wonder if games like Alien Vs Final Fantasy XIV received
but one thing that does concern USB ports that allow external Predator, The Punisher or The Best Game Community,
us is how easy it will be for four controllers to be hooked up to Simpsons could appear in the while Pokémon Legends:
the machines. They’re accessed future. For the moment though Arceus nabbed Nintendo
via the coin panels on the front of Karl and the rest of the team are Game Of The Year. You
each machine and it sounds like looking forward and if the recent can see all the other award
a decent compromise for when release of TMNT games like winners by visiting
things get too crowded. Shredder’s Revenge and The bit.ly/goldenjoystick
The Turtles cabinets are Cowabunga Collection is anything
significant for another reason to go by, Quarter Arcade’s future
as well, as the licensing isn’t looks very bright indeed.
as straightforward as with
past cabinets, due to having to You can preorder Space
» [Arcade] “Seeing the original toys back on Invaders and Space Invaders
work with both Konami and the
the shelves fills me with nostalgia, and I think
our Quarter Arcades will do the same for many Turtles current owners. “It can Part II by heading over to
people,” Karl says about the incoming cabs. be challenging, but we are lucky numskull.com/quarter-arcades

RETRO GAMER | 7
FEATURING IAIN LEE
COLUMN Who is Iain Lee?
Iain Lee is a freelance broadcaster who loves gaming, particularly retro gaming.
Join him as he hosts a phone-in show and plays games at www.twitch.tv/iainlee
and also check out www.patreon.com/iainandKatherine

Not everybody was

kung fu fighting
S
ometimes you can’t go back. I’m going to be fantastic! I haven’t played it in 40 years. What
really enjoying taking my two lads fun! Except it wasn’t fun. Firstly, it was a lot harder than I
(11 and 13 in January, how did that remember. I could barely get 30 seconds into it before I got
happen?) to these retro arcades where done in. But even worse than that – it was boring. Slow, dull, it
you pay an entrance fee and get to play on all held my attention for approximately 90 seconds before I let out
the machines for free. Wonderful stuff and my a heavy sigh and walked away from it, mid-game.
boys love it. Despite being Minecraft, Gorilla Tag and Fortnite I felt bad doing that. Surely I owed it the respect of at least
addicts, they totally dig Ms Pac-Man, Defender and pinball completing a level? It was Kung-Fu Master on freeplay. But
tables. I also get a chance to show them my Pac-Man skills, I just couldn’t face it. It was empty and so was I. Why was I
which are decidedly average but in their eyes, I am a god. so disappointed? Sure, a lot of the old games aren’t as good
This time we went to the Pixel Bunker in Milton Keynes. as we remember them but they are still playable. Defender
Absolutely fantastic (although I wasn’t so impressed with is a bit shonky now, but other games have aged rather well.
the adjoining sci-fi museum) and a really lovely selection of Namco’s Pac-Mania, the 3D Pac-Man game where you can
games. As we wandered around, I no doubt bored the kids jump is now ridiculously good fun. We were taking turns on
with tales of high scores, begging for ten-pence pieces and that one for about 15 minutes. In fact, Kung-Fu Master was
putting three-letter swear words into the hall of fame. the only cab in that room that left me feeling a strange ennui.
At one point I looked across the room and my heart started Who knows why I felt like this. I didn’t tell the kids about
beating faster. Like seeing an old girlfriend across the room, it, why should I? They probably wouldn’t care let alone
I became all flustered. Except it wasn’t a girl, it was Kung-Fu understand. Before we left, we did one last sweep of the
Master. I absolutely loved this when I was about nine. Even arcade to make sure we had played everything we wanted
then I knew it was based on the insane Bruce Lee movie to play. As the boys walked through the exit, I turned and
The Game Of Death. Dead simple premise. You walk along looked at Kung-Fu Master and shook my head. It was like I
different levels of a tower and kick, punch and jump your way was saying goodbye forever.
through the hordes of knife-throwing baddies. As soon as I Those last two sentences read like the ramblings of a very
saw it, I stopped playing Dig Dug and ran over to it. This was sad old man. Which I think I may just be.

A lot of the
old games aren’t
as good as we
remember them
but they are
still playable

Do you agree with Iain’s thoughts? Contact us at:

RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag retrogamer@futurenet.com

8 | RETRO GAMER
 COLUMN
FEATURING DIGITISER’S MR BIFFO
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.

Loveless logos
W
hat’s the best gaming logo of all one of the rare logos that worked back then, and still
time? I’m talking about works within the requirements of modern corporate
companies, hardware, all of that. branding. See also Capcom, Konami and Nintendo
For my money, nothing tops (though arguably all three were relatively ordinary to
Atari. Aside from the iconic font, that begin with).
second A – either meant to represent the Infogrames is now Atari SA, so it gets a pass due
game of Pong, or a pair of hands high-fiving a vase, to Atari’s sublime emblem, but its logo began life as a
depending on who you ask – has endured. Even now, rainbow-striped armadillo – somewhat inexplicably –
almost 50 years later, it still feels futuristic to me. which got increasingly stylised over the years, before
We’re very much in an era where games company ending up as a vaguely armadillo-shaped squiggle. It
branding is very corporate and sterile. Identity is could be seen as a metaphor for the declining creativity
faceless, generally wrapped up in crisp font, with maybe in games company branding.
a hint of graphical flourish; Ubisoft, Sony, Microsoft, Not all classic games company logos embraced the
Electronic Arts, Epic Games. Dull, dull, dull. fun, admittedly. Perhaps because they were intended, at
I genuinely miss the days when games company logos least, initially, as serious home-computing companies,
made you smile. Remember all that airbrushed chrome? both Sinclair and Commodore had pretty boring
Ocean Software, Ultimate Play The Game, Psygnosis, branding. Plus, I can’t look at Commodore’s stylised C
Imagine, Elite and the Mega Drive all embraced the without thinking it looks like a chicken’s head.
chrome look. Yes, it’s dated by today’s standards, Why has the fun gone from logos? Is it a sign of
where everything has to be representable in games ‘growing up’ – that the whole airbrushed
monochrome for branding purposes, but there chrome thing, and artistic fonts, were a bit too
was so much more character back then. heavy metal? Did they conjure images of pasty
Addictive Games, who released Kevin Toms’ young men in their bedrooms, their failing
Football Manager, literally had a lightning bodies trying to desperately absorb vitamin
bolt striking through it. Arctic Computing – D from a flickering CRT? Certainly, there are
publisher of countless scarcely remembered elements within the games industry that are
ZX81 and ZX Spectrum games – had a logo desperate to be taken seriously – but it’s weird
that was written on the side of a cartoon how the same hasn’t happened with, say, the
lorry. The company responsible for The movie industry.
Lords Of Midnight, Beyond Software, Dreamworks has a boy fishing from
showcased its creativity with a logo that within a crescent moon. Paramount still
rose up over a boiling sun. has that mountain. Bad Robot has,
At least Activision has well, a bad robot. I just think
remained consistent, that branding should
keeping branding that represent the product. Games
highlights the T and the V, remain as fun as they always
to look like some sort of were. Why haven’t the logos
swooping bird of prey. It’s done the same?

I genuinely miss the days when games

company logos made you smile

Do you agree with Paul’s thoughts? Contact us at:

RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag retrogamer@futurenet.com

10 | RETRO GAMER
SHOWING OFF COOL RETRO-THEMED STUFF THAT’S GOING ON
NEWS
A MOMENT
WALLWITH...

Space
Runaway
Sergei Kolobashkin on meching » Sergei Kolobashkin is the
CEO of 110 Industries and has
a new Nineties-themed shmup big plans for Space Runaway.

S
ome games start small level but things quickly grew
and that’s exactly what beyond that. We made a decision
happened with Space to release the game when
Runaway, Soleil’s we realised that we’re making
excellent-looking mech-themed an actual game, not just one
shoot-’em-up. Sergei Kolobashkin, level. Space Runaway is still a
CEO and creative director of component of Wanted: Dead and
110 Industries, explains why the the players will be able to give it a
publisher decided to go big on its spin when Wanted: Dead launches
brand-new shoot-’em-up. in February, but we decided to
also release Space Runaway in
Where did the concept for Space December for free. Taking things
Runaway originate? to the next level is something you
Wanted: Dead, our third-person will see a lot with Wanted: Dead.
action title created by some of the One of the game’s characters is a
talent behind Ninja Gaiden that’s former TV chef and that led to us
releasing on Valentine’s Day 2023 creating a cookbook and a cooking
has a bunch of fun minigames show that your readers can find
in it. There are ramen-eating on YouTube called Vivienne’s Late
minigames, a rhythm action dance Night Chow. Making a fully fledged
» [PC] Although Space Runaway isn’t a bullet hell shmup it certainly gets quite tough at times. game and more. Space Runaway Nineties-style shooter out of what
was another concept we had for a was originally just supposed to be
fun minigame, but it also came out one level is the kind of thing we
of a desire to create an in-universe do. We always go all in!
shooter that could have taken
on a life of its own. It was very Why use a robot for the main
important for us that the game character rather than a more
that would later become Space traditional ship?
Runaway wasn’t an imitation. We picked the mech intentionally.
Space Runaway is a fictional
You mentioned it started franchise in the world of Wanted:
off as part of another Dead – toys, comic books, anime,
game. Why release it as videogames. It’s way harder
a stand-alone product? to produce an animated show
The original idea for Space around a spaceship, wouldn’t
Runaway was just to create one you agree? Stefanie Joosten

» [PC] When enemies die they stay on-screen. Stop firing and they’ll
» [PC] While Space Runaway typically scrolls to the right, it occasionally scrolls upwards as well. detonate, destroying anything they come into contact with.

12 | RETRO GAMER
 When you’re » [PC] Although we get a
nice Thunder Force vibe from
trying to make an this boss, Sergei tells us it’s
completely unintentional.

authentic arcade these sources. Zentradi-

experience, you esque ships also make an
appearance. Both Gradius
don’t want to and Thunder Force were
inspired by the same source
disappoint the fans material. Space Runaway
is quintessentially Nineties
of the genre and I believe that we were
able to achieve the look we
SERGEI KOLOBASHKIN were aiming for.

What aspects of Space

Runaway have you found
and Nelson Tai had a lot of fun the most difficult?
designing the titular mech and The most challenging aspect of
I’m incredibly jealous that I wasn’t Space Runaway is just like with » [PC] We love the style of Space Runaway. It’s got some excellent-looking bosses to battle.
around when they were putting any other game in development
this character together. – getting it right. We were aiming about the challenge in front of you. will be pleasantly surprised when
for a certain look and a certain The team has designed power-ups you play it. [I was – Ed]
What games has Space feel. When you’re trying to make to give the player all the necessary
Runaway been influenced by? an authentic arcade experience, tools they need to beat the game Why do you think the shoot-’em-
I’m a huge fan of Android Assault: you don’t want to disappoint the – it’s tough to beat, so you need to up genre remains so popular?
The Revenge Of Bari-Arm on fans of the genre. You want to become powerful to defeat what’s Spaceship shooters, shoot-’em-
Sega CD. This game served as meet the expectations of the fans in front of you. ups and such are the most
the main influence. and you want to make sure you videogamey videogames. We’ve
deliver a great game. Input lag can make or break been playing these since the
Space Runaway’s bosses share shmups like Space Runaway. Seventies and some things don’t
elements with bosses from The power-ups in Space How much effort is being put really need to evolve to stay
Gradius, Thunder Force and Runaway are quite interesting. into reducing it? relevant. Asteroids is not
other shooters of the era. Is this How much time and thought The team at Soleil is incredibly contemporary by a long shot but is
an intentional homage? went into them? talented – as I mentioned before, still fun as hell.
This wasn’t intentional. We were All power-ups serve gameplay. We they include some of the team that
looking at the mech designs from of course wanted to make sure worked on Ninja Gaiden, so precise Space Runaway should be
the Eighties and Nineties and players have a variety of different controls are something they know available now. Look out for it at
we drew a lot of inspiration from weapons to play with, but it’s also all about! All I will say is I think you steampowered.com

RETRO GAMER | 13
 APRIL 2006 – An unexpected
shower of games greets
players this spring, from
racing classics to pugilistic
paradise, as well as some
handheld oddities. Nick
Thorpe is the man
delivering your weather
forecast from the not-
too-distant past

NEWS
APRIL 2006 » [Xbox 360] Never before had
the digital punching men been so
The Italian general election, held incredibly, enormously sweaty.
on 9-10 April, was the subject

THE LATEST NEWS

of controversy after Romano
Prodi’s alliance The Union
defeated incumbent Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s
House Of Freedoms coalition by
a razor-thin margin. Berlusconi
refused to concede defeat and the
FROM APRIL 2006
here’s nothing quite like driven games – all wrapped up with Coast received excellent reviews,

T
battle eventually ended up at Italy’s
highest court, which ruled that a heavyweight main classic EA high-production values including 91% from Play and 9.0/10
Prodi had won by just 24,755 votes. event, and EA certainly and topped off with a lovely layer from Official Xbox. The former
This gave Prodi his second term, delivered one with Fight of sheen,” said X-360’s review, noted that “there’s been nothing
having previously served as Prime Night: Round 3. The flagship Xbox summing up the overall mood. like it on PS2 before” and said that
Minister from 1996-1998. 360 version received 5/5 from 360, The game also scored well on the the arcade racer was “as pure a
12.6 million people tuned in to 9/10 from X-360, 9/10 from Official older formats, receiving 9/10 from title as we could have ever hoped”,
see Mike Baldwin’s final regular Xbox 360 Magazine, 8/10 from Official PlayStation 2 Magazine, while the latter appreciated that
episode of Coronation Street on games™ and 8/10 from Edge. “The 8.7/10 from Official Xbox Magazine it was “beefed up with heaps
14 April. The character, portrayed finest graphics ever seen, combat and 79% from Play. more stuff” and “one of the most
by Johnny Briggs for almost 30 so deep that we’re still stripping Sumo Digital’s handling of gorgeously colourful games ever”.
years, had been suffering from back layers some 100 fights in and Sega’s Ferraris was judged The PSP conversion was also
Alzheimer’s disease since late drama that outshines most story- superb, as OutRun 2006: Coast 2 acclaimed, receiving 93% from Go
2005. During his final appearance, Play and 9/10 from Official PS2.
he suffered a heart attack in the Former Retro Gamer writer Luke Edge felt that although it was “a
street and died in the arms of his Albigés does some Guitar Hero win for publisher, developer and
busking on the London Underground.
long-term rival Ken Barlow. expectant fans”, the graphical
An unsuccessful trip to Old fidelity ensured that “the framerate
Trafford on 22 April meant that pays the toll” and scored it 8/10.
Chelsea would be unable to claim On the Xbox 360 and PC, The
the FA Cup, as the team was Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion delivered
knocked out by Liverpool. One fantastically entertaining RPG
week later, Chelsea became Premier action. “This is a game that grabs
League champions after beating you by the balls from the first fight
Manchester United 3-0, with José until the demands of the real world
Mourinho’s side becoming the fifth snatch you back away,” enthused
to earn back-to-back championships X-360’s 9/10 review. Comparing
in the post-war era. experiences with another reviewer,
PC Gamer noted that “in the first

14 | RETRO GAMER
 BACK TO THE NOUGHTIES: APRIL 2006

30 hours of play there was only

a single quest that we both took
on” and awarded the game 93%.
Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords
also impressed PC Gamer, earning
84% and being described as
“brain-taxing” and “funny” but also
“big, intimidating and not afraid to » [Xbox 360] Getting into a sword fight
quote every work of science fiction with a vampire is stupid. Just go buy APRIL 2006
you’ve ever read”. some garlic, dummy.
PLAYSTATION 2
PS2 owners in the mood for a » [DS] Seriously though, what kind of
town doesn’t have apples? That’s a 1 – Black (EA)
party would have been thrilled with 9.0/10. First-person-shooter sequel dreadful state of affairs.
Guitar Hero, which scored 92% in Far Cry Instincts: Evolution scored 2 – TOCA Race Driver 3
Play and 9/10 in Official PS2, the 8.0/10 in Official Xbox, which felt it frustrating, too bloody hard” game (Codemasters)
latter encouraging potential buyers to be “a very competent expansion, earning 77% from NGC. Those 3 – Shadow Of The Colossus
that, “Even passing the one guitar albeit one that’s way too brief”. wishing to join another skilled (Sony)
around is brilliantly entertaining.” Far Cry Instincts: Predator, which profession could try Phoenix Wright: 4 – Torino 2006 (Take Two)
Onimusha: Dawn Of Dreams also bundled the two Instincts titles, got Ace Attorney, which scored 82% in 5 – Rugby 06 (EA)
launched on PS2 this month. Play 4/5 from 360 and 6/10 from X-360, NGC. Capcom’s point-and-click court
gave it 90% for a “combination of with both magazines decrying poor drama was considered “thoroughly XBOX 360
great visuals and a sweet combat AI but disagreeing on the extent to old-fashioned in many ways” but 1 – Call Of Duty 2 (Activision)
system”, but Edge felt that the which it undermined the game. also “laugh-out-loud funny”. You 2 – Dead Or Alive 4 (Tecmo)
game “takes so few risks that After an initial period of fairly could also just move to a forest in
3 – Project Gotham Racing 3
it’s hard to imagine it appealing to light touchscreen experiments, the Animal Crossing: Wild World, a social
(Microsoft)
new players” and awarded it 6/10. Nintendo DS finally started settling simulation sequel that earned 92%
Elsewhere, games™ gave it 8/10. into its groove – one that was no from NGC because “despite its 4 – Perfect Dark Zero (Microsoft)
On the Xbox 360, tactical shooter less experimental, but offered familiarity, this retains the ability to 5 – Ghost Recon: Advanced
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter rather meatier experiences. Trauma charm your socks off.” Warfighter (EA)
earned 9/10 scores from games™, Center: Under The Knife by Atlus That was all very jolly, wasn’t it?
PC
Official Xbox 360 and X-360, with used the touchscreen to simulate, Join us again next time, when we’re
games™ recommending that cutting, stitching and other surgical sure to bring you more of this kind 1 – Star Wars: Empire At War
players treat the solo campaign as procedures, with the “clever, cute, of cross-generation fun. (LucasArts)
“a training exercise for the real battle 2 – Football Manager 2006
that lies ahead… that of Xbox Live (Sega)
multiplayer”. Official Xbox also liked 3 – The Sims 2 (EA)
the last generation version, scoring it
4 – Command & Conquer:
The First Decade (EA)
» [Xbox] Reviewers this month really
wanted you to play OutRun 2006. You all 5 – Age Of Empires III (Microsoft)
went and bought it, right? [I did - Ed]
MUSIC
1 – Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
2 – No Promises (Shayne Ward)
3 – One (Mary J Blige & U2)
4 – No Tomorrow (Orson)
5 – SOS (Rihanna)

» [Xbox 360] Even when your combat gear is glitchy,

it still helpfully highlights the baddies in red.

THIS MONTH IN…

Official PlayStation Official Xbox NGC
2 Magazine 360 Magazine The canned N64 RPG
“There’s Resi 4 Special “I for one think LAN play Mother 3 has resurfaced
Edition, for 20 pounds. I’m blows online out of the as a Game Boy Advance
shocked but I buy it,” writes water,” writes reader Lord M game. “The UK and US
reader Izzy Kirby. “Why Gaymer. “I know you need are still waiting to hear
are these amazing gaming more consoles, TVs and if the game known as
masterpieces not valued as copies of the game, but being Earthbound in the West
they should be?” Hopefully able to see each other as you will ever surface.” Don’t
they like today’s £70 prices. fight to the death is priceless.” hold your breath, chaps.

RETRO GAMER | 15
Freeway
AVIAN FROGGER

» RETROREVIVAL
 ATARI 2600  1981  ACTIVISION
Playing through Atari 50: The
Anniversary Celebration has
reminded me of just how
good the Atari 2600 was. Sure,
many of its biggest hits were
adaptations of its popular arcade games, but
it also had plenty of original games as well.
And yet, as great as Atari’s own Atari 2600
library of original games was, I’d argue that
Activision’s offerings were even better.
Activision was formed by a group of
disgruntled and disillusioned Atari staff, a group
of individuals that wanted to prove they were
worth far more than Atari was paying them.
As a result, Activision had a fire in its belly and
that fire certainly lit up the Atari 2600.
I’ve mentioned the Activision games of
Steve Cartwright in the past, classics like
Barnstorming, Seaquest and Frostbite, but
David Crane’s fantastic library of work on the
system also needs highlighting. While Pitfall!
and its sequel will always be the games David
is best remembered for, I’d like to make a
case for the delightful Freeway.
Freeway is essentially a retread of Frogger,
but the ponds, logs and lily pads have been
replaced by a bustling freeway and Konami’s
iconic frog has been swapped out for a yellow
chicken. Navigate ten rows of traffic and you’ll
earn a precious point, but care needs to be
taken as the lanes of vehicles move at different
speeds – get hit by a car cruising at low speed
and you’ll be knocked back a lane or two, a
collision with a vehicle travelling at top speed
however kills you instantly.
Luckily, time is your only real enemy in
Freeway and you have just over two minutes to
notch up as many points as possible – you can
even play against a friend which adds a further
level of urgency. While it may look simplistic,
the fast and frantic pace of Freeway means it’s
still a laugh to play today. Here’s hoping Digital
Eclipse gets to tackle an Activision-themed
Atari 2600 compilation next.
18 | RETRO GAMER
 THE HISTORY OF: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

SOME LICENSED CHARACTERS MAKE FOR

GREAT GAMES, BUT THE RADICAL HALF-
SHELLED HEROES HAVE MANAGED TO ACHIEVE
GREATNESS REPEATEDLY – THOUGH NOT ALWAYS
CONSISTENTLY. WE LOOK BACK AT THREE DECADES
OF TURTLES, FROM THE BAD TO THE RAD JUST WHERE DO THOSE MAGNIFICENT
MUTANTS COME FROM?
Q When Peter Laird and Kevin
» Thomas Church, Eastman dreamed up Teenage
designer, Digital Eclipse. Mutant Ninja Turtles in the
mid-Eighties, enormous global
success wasn’t part of the design.
The concept was full of parodies,
with Daredevil being a notable
inspiration, and the duo only used
the names of Renaissance artists
because they couldn’t come up
with Japanese names that sounded
convincing. The independent creators only
printed a few thousand copies of their first issue.
» Chris Kohler, editorial » Stephen Frost, head of Though the creators of the Turtles didn’t
director, Digital Eclipse. production, Digital Eclipse. have grand ambitions, their first major licensee
did. Playmates, a toy company, wanted a TV
or many people the name OBVIOUSLY WHEN SOMEONE THINKS series on the air to help sell its action figures.
Leonardo conjures up thoughts OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, That arrived in 1987, and despite having to
of da Vinci, one of history’s most THEY THINK OF THE TEAM DYNAMIC adopt a lighter tone to appeal to children,
brilliant artists, but if you were BETWEEN THE TURTLES THEMSELVES it quickly overtook the comics in the public
a child of the Eighties or later it consciousness. Popular villains including Krang,
probably brings to mind his namesake – the Bebop and Rocksteady were introduced in
leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. working your way through scrolling platform the show, as were the distinctive coloured
Starting off as a cult comic before ballooning environments and beating up enemies, with headbands that make the heroes more easily
into an enormous multimedia franchise, few the goal of retrieving the Life Transformer identifiable. A live-action film followed in
aspects of youth culture have been able to Gun from Shredder in order to free Splinter 1990, grossing over $200 million and spawning
escape Splinter’s pupils, and videogames are from his rat form and make him human again. two sequels, and in 1994 the New York Times
no exception. However, the Turtles licence is Although the game is a solo affair, you play as reported that the franchise had generated over
no run-of-the-mill cash grab, as plenty of the all of the Turtles. “Obviously when someone $6 billion in merchandise sales.
games have been very memorable. thinks of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The series hit a rough patch in the late-
If you grew up with a NES in the UK, they think of the team dynamic between the Nineties, with the end of the animated series
chances are you got it because it was bundled Turtles themselves,” says Thomas Church, in 1996 and the beginning of the infamous
with the first-ever Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles designer at Digital Eclipse, the team behind live-action series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
game – or Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga The Next Mutation, which introduced the rarely
we called them in our ninja-averse part of the Collection. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles remembered female fighter Venus. Kevin
world. Konami’s action game saw you primarily for the NES made great use of this aspect Eastman even sold his share in the property in
by allowing players to dynamically swap 2000. But when the Turtles re-emerged from their
between the turtles whenever they’d like and shells for a second animated series in 2003, it
incentivising use of said mechanic by having was a success that ran for 155 episodes over six
each turtle retain their own health bars.” years and paved the way for a CGI film in 2007. In
Top-down sections facilitate travel between 2009, the series was sold to Nickelodeon.
the platform areas, with the Turtles fending Since then, two additional animated series
off enemy attacks as they go. “Looking at have brought the total number of TV episodes
the design documents in The Cowabunga to more than 500, and two more live-action
Collection, you can see that Konami’s designers films were released in 2014 and 2016, with a
wanted to craft something new and unique new CGI film scheduled for 2023. Meanwhile,
around the story of the Teenage Mutant Ninja IDW Comics has been
Turtles. They were clearly inspired by the idea publishing Teenage
of travelling underground through the sewers Mutant Ninja Turtles
of New York City, and thus came up with comics since 2011, with
the concept of sewers that connect players Kevin Eastman returning
to different bits of the overworld that are to write many of the
otherwise inaccessible,” says Chris Kohler, stories for the new series.
» [NES] Donatello usually has the greatest reach of the Turtles, which editorial director at Digital Eclipse. “Rather than
is handy in situations like this. just slapping the Turtles into a pre-existing

RETRO GAMER | 19
 » [Game Boy] Fall Of
The Foot Clan is rather
visually detailed for such
an early Game Boy game.

» [Arcade] Splatting a Foot Soldier

against the side of a building is a
neat little graphical touch.

game format, Konami’s designers really

thought about what suited the backstory
and mythology of the Turtles, which is
commendable.” The NES game was a roaring
success, scoring 90% in Mean Machines and
selling a whopping four-million copies, with
conversions later developed for a variety of
home-computer formats.
The Turtles made their arcade debut a few
months later, and it didn’t struggle to gain
attention. “If you didn’t know there was a vibrant colours used for IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW THERE WAS A game, despite being one
TMNT game, you would know it as soon as you each Turtle and how all TMNT GAME, YOU WOULD KNOW IT AS of the more forgotten
walked into the local arcade or bowling alley, my friends would each SOON AS YOU WALKED INTO THE LOCAL entries in the series.
heard the unmistakable sound of the TMNT be drawn to their own ARCADE OR BOWLING ALLEY Teenage Mutant Ninja
theme song blaring at top volume throughout uniquely coloured turtle. Turtles: Fall Of The Foot
the place, and cranked your head around to see Even family members Clan brought the series to
this full-screen, colourful animation playing in who weren’t familiar with the Game Boy in 1990.
this behemoth four-player cabinet,” says Chris. the franchise could still say stuff like, ‘Oh, I like Although the game has a similar plot to the
The scrolling beat-’em-up tasked the Turtles this Turtle wearing purple!’” NES version, the action is more like that of
with rescuing April O’Neil and Splinter, en Kung-Fu Master, with some light platforming
route to a climactic showdown with Krang and eenage Mutant Ninja Turtles elements sprinkled in. “I can only speculate
Shredder at the Technodrome. earned the award for the here, but I think the design is based on the idea
The arcade beat-’em-up scene was very Most Played Dedicated that players would be approaching this game
competitive in 1989 thanks to the arrival of Videogame in America at the during a few minutes of downtime here and
games like Golden Axe and Final Fight, but AMOA Awards in October there,” says Chris. “Rather than a complicated
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles gained a unique 1990, and the game was very successful design like we saw in the original NES version,
advantage from its source material. “While internationally too. A NES conversion it’s really just about moving forward and taking
multiplayer beat-’em-up games were hardly arrived just in time for Christmas that year each enemy as they come, with nice big sprites
a rarity back then, TMNT was one of the first and although it only offered two-player action, that can be clearly seen on the Game Boy’s
games to really start pushing the number of Konami changed and extended the experience low-resolution, non-backlit screen.” Mean
players who could all play together,” says to make it worth playing in its own right. The Machines felt that “even the most seasoned
Thomas. “When I think back to playing TMNT voucher for a free personal pan pizza at Pizza of beat-’em-up fans will find the going tough”
in the arcades, I immediately think of the Hut certainly didn’t hurt, either. Probe also and awarded it 88%. A sequel titled Teenage
handled conversions to popular home-computer Mutant Ninja Turtles: Back From The Sewers
formats in Europe, with the 8-bit versions being arrived on the Game Boy in 1991. The graphics
generally better regarded than the 16-bit ones. and sound are a major step up from Fall Of The
PC owners got an exclusive adventure in Foot Clan, and gameplay switches between
1991, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Manhattan the original gameplay style and arcade-style
Missions. The game retells the origin story of sections with lateral movement. ACE gave it
the Turtles and it’s clear that the comic is 785/1,000, complaining that “basically it’s just
more of an inspiration for the tone the first Turtles game with bigger graphics”.
of the game than the cartoon, but The Turtles returned to the arcade in 1991
it incorporates enough elements with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In
from that and the film to make for Time, which saw Krang stealing the Statue Of
a strange mishmash of ideas. The Liberty before Shredder sends the brothers
player takes on missions in a non- through a time warp. Konami stuck with the
linear fashion, with gameplay that winning formula of the previous game, tinkering
the developer Distinctive Software with new moves such as a side-to-side slam
clearly liked in Prince Of Persia, attack. “Not only did it have all the aspects that
» [NES] The dramatic fire in April O’Neil’s apartment right down to the time limit on finding made the first game so popular, but it came
building is a nod to events in the comics and film. Shredder. It’s certainly an interesting about in a time when technology was really

20 | RETRO GAMER
 » [Arcade] Throwing
the enemy into the
screen via the magic
of sprite scaling still » [PC] One thing Manhattan Missions has going for it is some really lovely art.
feels very cool.

» [Game Boy] Impressively, the second

handheld game manages to look even
better than the rather nice original.

AFTER THE SUCCESS OF THE TURTLES,

KONAMI WENT BIG ON BEAT-’EM-UP TIE-INS

Q Like the Turtles’ arcade debut, the Q How do you top a four-player Q Just like the Turtles game that Q This adaptation of the popular
first game starring Springfield’s most game? Easy – add a couple more inspired it, The Simpsons was a big French comic series was unusual
famous family is a popular four-player control panels to the cabinet so six success, so a number of the same in that it didn’t have the four-player
beat-’em-up. That’s no coincidence, people can control Marvel’s mutants. staff returned to create this cartoon action of its contemporaries. A
as Chris Kohler points out, “In the The graphical staff of the Teenage tie-in. Once again, the four-player number of its staff – particularly
credits for The Simpsons, there’s a Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game treatment was key to the success of those working with sound and music
special thanks to ‘Team GX963’ – moved on to work on this, with their the game, which arcade operators – did work on Turtles games before
that’s the part number for the TMNT efforts showcased via a spectacular ranked highly in RePlay magazine’s and after Astérix, including the
arcade circuit board.” dual-monitor display. earnings poll. prolific composer Michiru Yamane.

RETRO GAMER | 21
 Q Whether it’s with pixel art or cel-shaded 3D models,
capturing the distinctive looks of the comics and
cartoons helps to lend the games an air of authenticity. Q The fact that the Turtles are a closely bonded Q When you’re deflecting enemy bullets with your
quartet should be factored into gameplay, even when weapons, chucking enemies at the screen and
you’re playing solo as in the original NES game. racking up crazy combos, you feel like a real ninja.

hitting its stride in bringing out the best in a single-player experience – that the SNES
beat-’em-up games,” says Thomas. “Both version definitely has more to offer, overall.
sound and graphic quality felt like a noticeable However, there is also something compelling
step up, even if this was simply how they were and magical about having four players come
implemented in-game and not necessarily together to play the arcade version.”
because of a change in hardware.” That was NES owners didn’t get a conversion of
evident with presentational flourishes such Turtles In Time, but they did get a bespoke
as defeated Foot Soldiers flying towards the beat-’em-up in the form of Teenage Mutant
screen and enormous moving enemies. Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project. Being
a fairly late NES release, and one which didn’t
nce again, arcade success led to see a European release, The Manhattan
a home conversion, this time for Project doesn’t always get its due. “TMNT
the SNES. “When Konami brought III: The Manhattan Project is, in my view, an
» [NES] The Manhattan Project features an impressive Turtles In Time from the arcade to absolute 8-bit masterpiece – beginning with
amount of action on-screen, considering the platform. the SNES, they knew they had to the framework that they’d laid down to get
lose the four-player mode, but they wanted a version of the arcade game playing on the
MANHATTAN PROJECT IS, to improve it in every other way, by adding NES, they now had the ability to do something
IN MY VIEW, AN ABSOLUTE 8-BIT more features, more bosses, more levels, and entirely new that played to the strengths of
MASTERPIECE – BEGINNING WITH THE by improving the feel of the combat as well,” the NES versus trying to replicate something
FRAMEWORK THAT THEY’D LAID DOWN Chris explains. “What came out of those from more powerful hardware,” says Chris.
TO GET A VERSION OF THE ARCADE efforts was, in some fans’ view, the ultimate “Manhattan Project is just stuffed to the gills
GAME PLAYING ON THE NES expression of the Turtles beat-’em-up.” The – more levels, more characters, more moves,
subject of which version is better is a matter of more animation. It was more complex than the
debate, as Digital Eclipse’s head of production arcade games could have been – this would
Stephen Frost acknowledges. “From a have been too many levels, too many options
personal perspective, I think – especially for for an arcade game that was designed to churn

» [Game Boy] Very few Metroidvanias had been

attempted on Game Boy prior to Radical Rescue.

» [SNES] 16-bit hardware allowed

Konami to more closely match
the look of the arcade games.
22 | RETRO GAMER
WHAT MAKES UP THE DNA OF THE
GREATEST TURTLES GAMES?

Q Vehicular sections have provided plenty of great Q Whether you’re battling Bebop and Rocksteady,
moments in Turtles games, from jet-powered surfboards Baxter Stockman or Shredder himself, defeating a
to rides on the back of Casey Jones’ motorbike. fearsome foe just makes you feel all the more heroic.

» [Mega Drive] The Hyperstone Heist is good fun, but has become a
rather expensive game in its original form.

through players (and their tokens) efficiently.

But as a home-only game, it was perfect.”

he success of Sega’s Mega

Drive had become impossible
to ignore by 1992, with
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
The Hyperstone Heist being
one of Konami’s first releases for the
console. Rather than directly adapting Turtles In
Time, this beat-’em-up takes elements from both
arcade games. “It was not common in Japan
at that time to see multi-platform releases. If » [Mega Drive] If you’re going to fight a clone of your friend anywhere, it may as well be space.
you look at Konami’s Genesis game line-up,
you might see games in the same franchises after its Game Boy predecessors, given the last big push with the series in the Nineties.
as what appeared on the SNES, but the games name, but the 1993 release actually goes in Unusually, three different games were
themselves were usually different, usually by a radically different direction despite being produced under the same name, all three
different teams,” notes Chris, explaining the developed by the same core staff. Starting being one-on-one fighting games with different
unusual approach. “Look at the fact that they as Michelangelo, you must rescue the other character rosters, settings and plots. SNES and
did three totally different Castlevania games for Turtles as well as Splinter and April O’Neil, not Mega Drive versions were released in 1993,
the SNES, Genesis and PC Engine, for example. only because it’s the right thing to do but with the former generally being
I think there was more of a sense that they also because you need their abilities to considered better. “When you look
had to provide original, unique content for each progress through the Metroidvania-style at the design documents (hundreds
platform.” Mega gave it 80%, calling it “more platform adventure. CVG gave it 90%, and hundreds of pages of which are
fun than Streets Of Rage 2” but also saying feeling that it has “good music for a in The Cowabunga Collection!), you
that it “doesn’t quite have the variety of clever change” and “could soon be in the top can tell there was a massive effort
moves or quite as much challenge”. five handheld games of all time”. put forth here to craft something
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Teenage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: worthy of the TMNT franchise and
Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue takes Tournament Fighters was Konami’s something that would be Konami’s

RETRO GAMER | 23
 HOW KONAMI’S CLASSICS HAVE RETURNED VIA THE COWABUNGA COLLECTION
Q Shredder’s Revenge wasn’t the only reason been a fan of Digital Eclipse’s other collections scanned, organised, translated/captioned, and
that 2022 was a great year for fans of Teenage and was eager to see if they were interested. included in the Turtles’ Lair,” he explains. “They
Mutant Ninja Turtles games, as Konami released Seeing their excitement to work on a TMNT weren’t sure what was left since it had been over
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga collection let me know that they’re the right 30 years since anyone had pulled these files,”
Collection. Developed by Digital Eclipse, this group to work on this project.” adds Charles. “They did a fantastic job hunting so
compilation is available on all modern platforms Digital Eclipse is known for going above and many pieces! I was overjoyed that we could show
and comprises 13 console and arcade games beyond on its retro-gaming collections, and this these awesome docs to our fans for the first time.”
from 1989-1994, including arcade, NES, SNES, one is no different. “We’re very privileged to “I’m really proud of the overall scope and
Game Boy and Mega Drive games. get to work with Rich Whitehouse, who was the level of quality in The Cowabunga Collection.
“When Konami began releasing its earlier ROM engineer on this project and was able to We spent a lot of time on everything from the
collections, there was a pretty strong fan reverse-engineer the games and figure out how presentation to the content found in Turtles’ Lair
outcry for a Turtles compilation,” says Chris to enable things like playable bosses as well as in order to provide an experience that would
Kohler. “The original TMNT on NES was the surface other buried features that for whatever excite both long-time fans of TMNT, as well as
biggest-selling third-party game for the platform reason didn’t make it into the original games,” the casual audience,” says Stephen Frost, who
worldwide, with over four-million units sold, so says Chris. Other options, depending on the is particularly proud of the interactive strategy
that’s not too surprising!” Charles Murakami, game, include regional variations, sprite flicker guides. “There was a time where we didn’t
senior producer at Konami, also saw this fan removal and even online play. think we were going to be able to include them
response and took the opportunity. “I pitched To create the Turtles’ Lair museum section, since they required a lot of work across all
a collection with 13 of Konami’s classic TMNT Chris spent a full week researching at The Strong the disciplines and our final deadline was fast
games along with comic and cartoon pieces to grab press materials and style guides, as well approaching. However, everyone felt they were
to make a full TMNT celebration! The Konami as tracking down complete copies of every game important and wanted them, so we got them in.
US office was enthused with the plan and the in the collection. “Konami went through their It seemed that extra work paid off, too, as the
rest of Konami were convinced this was the massive archive in Japan and found nearly 2,000 guides are generally one of the main things that
most exciting way to go,” he explains. “I’ve also pages of design documents and art, which we fans bring up and talk about.”

» [SNES] It feels like

Nintendo fans got the
best end of the stick with
Tournament Fighters.

24 | RETRO GAMER
 THE HISTORY OF: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

biggest in-house competitor to

Street Fighter II. So much effort
was lavished on the animations, the
move sets and the ambience,” says
Chris. The NES version, Konami’s
final game for the platform in North
America and Europe, arrived in 1994
and was a particularly ambitious
project. These games ended up as
a last hurrah for the initial range of » [Game Boy Advance] There’s some good fun to be had with
Turtles games, as they skipped the Konami’s GBA games, with Battle Nexus being the best.
PlayStation, Saturn and N64.
When the Turtles returned to TV screens enjoyment off”. Teenage Mutant
with a new cartoon in 2003, Konami was ready Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare » [NES] Making a one-
with a brand-new beat-’em-up simply titled scaled back the platforming and on-one fighter for the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for the PS2, gave players their own life bars and NES was ambitious, and
GameCube, Xbox and PC. Just as in the new new team-up moves, as well as a likely thankless by 1994.
TV series, the four heroes come into conflict shop system allowing the purchase
with mutated sewer-dwelling humans, and the of more moves. This improved
story is told using clips from the show – in fact, the game slightly but even a budget price point combat in the style of Power Stone in the
it even includes newly animated sequences couldn’t save the game from a 3/10 review in 2005 multi-platform game Teenage Mutant
for the new plot points. Stunning cel-shaded Official PlayStation 2 Magazine, which described Ninja Turtles: Mutant Melee. GameSpot felt it
3D graphics perfectly captured the look of the it as “another sub-standard beat-’em-up that to be “slapdash and barren”, complaining of
cartoon, but the gameplay lacked the variety won’t test your brain”. poor character balancing, repetitive action and
and four-player action of past instalments. cramped arenas, awarding it a final score of
Reviewing the Xbox version, games™ felt that series of decent handheld just 4.3/10. After many years with Konami, the
it “doesn’t do anything particularly innovative, games ran parallel to the 3D time seemed right for another company to try
though it’s perfectly playable and looks great”, adventures and bore the same its luck with the reptilian heroes.
giving it a 5/10 score. names, with the emphasis That company was Ubisoft. 2007 saw the
Two sequels followed in 2004 and 2005, shifting from combat to arrival of TMNT, a CGI movie in which the
adapting further seasons of the show. Teenage platforming as the series went on. Battle Turtles drift apart, before having to reunite
Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Battle Nexus allows for Nexus on the GBA is the best of the bunch, to fend off the threat of ancient, immortal
four players but bizarrely forces them to share a with Mutant Nightmare for the DS suffering warlords, and its multiformat movie tie-in put a
life bar, and Cube’s 4.4/10 review suggests that from the addition of pointless touchscreen new emphasis on the agility of the Turtles with
an additional emphasis on platforming “kills the bits. Konami also experimented with arena a much more prominent platforming element.
In many ways, it felt like a kid-friendly version
of the company’s Prince Of Persia games, with
the main flaws being that it was rather short
and easy. Critics had different opinions on how
big of a problem this was, but GameSpy rated
it 3.5/5, saying that, “If you judge TMNT on
its own merits as a platform-hopper with a
dash of semi-imaginative combat thrown in,
then it’s a fine game.” A bespoke 2D scrolling
beat-’em-up was created specifically for the
Game Boy Advance, taking after Konami’s 2D
games with the addition of shopping between
stages and a broader set of moves, which could
be strung together in satisfying fashion for big
combos. IGN’s review scored the game 8.5/10
and reflected the overall mood around the game
well, calling it “one of the best brawling games
I’ve played in years” despite disappointment
over the lack of multiplayer. Unfortunately, it
was largely overlooked as many players had
already moved on from the platform.
Ubisoft launched a few games for the 25th
anniversary of the franchise in 2009. For Xbox
360 and PS3 owners, it looked to the past
and came up with Turtles In Time Re-Shelled,
a downloadable remake of Konami’s arcade
game. The game didn’t fare too well with
critics, due to its short length and the inability
for additional players to join the action mid-
» [PC] What you can’t see is that this game runs at a smooth 60 frames per second. It looks great. game. It also released Teenage Mutant Ninja

RETRO GAMER | 25
 SOME OF THE PARTIES THE FEARSOME FOURSOME HAVE BEEN INVITED TO CRASH

Q This free-to-play MOBA pits various deities and their Q This DC Comics crossover fighter is the perfect Q Imagine Mario Kart, but with the Turtles racing
minions against each other in a battle for supremacy. environment for the darker incarnations of the against the cast of Hey Arnold, Rugrats and Spongebob
The Turtles arrived as part of a battle pass in 2020, Turtles, akin to what you’d see in the comics rather Squarepants. They also show up in two sequels, which
with the characters acting as skins for Osiris, Loki, than the cartoons. All four characters were released significantly expand the roster while inexplicably failing
Mercury and Sun Wukong. as a single DLC pack in 2018. to include characters from Kenan & Kel.

Turtles: Arcade Attack for the DS, a truly Activision would be the next to take up the didn’t fare much better, and the PS3 and Wii U
unfortunate beat-’em-up which was derided by half-shelled heroes, and its era got off to a truly versions never saw the light of day.
the press for being simple, repetitive and easy. disastrous start with Teenage Mutant Ninja Activision turned to well-known studios for
The best of the trio was Teenage Mutant Turtles: Out Of The Shadows, a budget-priced its next games, but the improvements were
Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up. The title of the game downloadable game for Xbox 360 and PC more modest than expected. WayForward
provides a clue as to its nature, as Super released in 2013. Xbox: The Official Magazine Technologies took on Teenage Mutant
Smash Bros Brawl co-developer Game Arts condemned the hack-and-slash adventure for Ninja Turtles: Danger Of The Ooze for Xbox
was enlisted to create a Turtles-themed clone its low framerate, poor camera, “mindless” 360, PS3 and 3DS in 2014, delivering a
of the popular party fighter. In a 6/10 review, platforming and “braindead” combat, awarding Metroidvania that IGN described as having
games™ stated that it “lacks that sense of the game 2/10. The PS3 release in 2014 made “little actual life and soul to it” in a 5/10 review.
celebration that permeated Brawl”, complaining some technical improvements, but not enough Bayonetta developer Platinum Games was
that relatively few of the interesting characters to improve the general perception of the game. behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants
and locations were utilised, and judged the use In Manhattan, released for Xbox 360, Xbox
of a traditional life bar to be a mistake. Other omehow the developer Magic One, PS3, PS4 and PC in 2016. Activision had
reviews scored it a little higher, but the overall Pockets managed to limbo under previously worked with the Japanese team
impression was that it was a decent effort that that low bar with Nickelodeon on The Legend Of Korra and Transformers:
would struggle to avoid being overshadowed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Devastation, and you’d expect it to be the
by its inspiration on the Wii. A PS2 version was based on the computer- ideal match for this kind of project, but with
released in North America, which lacked four of animated TV series from 2012. X-One just seven months between Transformers and
the Wii game’s characters – Fugitoid and three magazine blasted the beat-’em-up, saying that Turtles, the team had clearly been stretched
of Ubisoft’s Rabbids mascots. it was “bereft of any worthwhile gameplay or too thin. PlayStation Official Magazine’s 5/10
narrative” and awarding the Xbox 360 version a review sums up the mood nicely, stating that,
measly score of 2/10. The Wii and 3DS versions “Almost every idea included here is a strong
one – yet they’ve all been executed terribly.”

» [PS2] Mutant Melee offered a promising concept » [Wii] With more characters and settings, a » [Game Boy Advance] TMNT looks totally gorgeous
that we’d like to see tried again one day. Turtles Smash clone could have been a winner. on the GBA, but went under-appreciated in its time.

26 | RETRO GAMER
 THE HISTORY OF: TEENAGE MU

Q This free-to-play fighter from Ubisoft features dozens Q Imagine Super Smash Bros, but with the Turtles
of crossover characters, allowing the Turtles to fight fighting against the cast of – oh wait, we’ve done
characters from Adventure Time, Castlevania, GI Joe, that already. We appreciate that it allows us to
Street Fighter and The Walking Dead. As in Smite, chop Spongebob into cushion stuffing, and to
they’re premium skins for existing characters. show Garfield that pizza always beats lasagne.

» [PS3] WayForward has made great games including the Shantae » [Xbox 360] We’re surprised that Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant
series, so it’s unclear what went wrong here. Ninja Turtles got a physical release over Out Of The Shadows. » [DS] Catching a ride with Casey Jones is
certainly one way to have a wild night.
hankfully, the Turtles soon into translating their personalities more into
got back on top form. Raw their movesets. Some of it came from the
Thrills delivered an arcade animations, like the animators were excited and
beat-’em-up in 2018, Teenage pushed for a move.” The level design goal was
Mutant Ninja Turtles, which for, “Each mission to feel like an episode of that
Arcade Heroes described as “just like an early TV show – self-contained but feeding into a
Nineties brawler” and “totally worthy of a larger story.” Play felt that the result was “better
‘cowabunga!’” Two big projects arrived in 2022, than returning to the classics” and that the only
one of which was Konami’s Teenage Mutant major criticism was “too much faithfulness to
Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection, Turtles In Time”, awarding the game 8/10.
discussed in the boxout, Delivery? No Seeing Turtles rise to prominence again
Collection. The other was DotEmu’s Teenage has been fantastic to see, because it shows » [PS4] We still wonder about the Turtles game Platinum
Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. It’s that it really is an elite licensed property. could have done with more time and resources.
dripping with nostalgic appeal thanks to its pixel Many players will automatically think back to
art and Tee Lopes’ soundtrack, but the retro Konami’s early efforts when Teenage Mutant
connections go deeper. Speaking to PC Gamer, Ninja Turtles games come up in conversation,
DotEmu CEO Cyrille Imbert noted that Streets and while the likes of TMNT on the Game Boy
Of Rage 4’s success “reassured us that beat- Advance and Shredder’s Revenge certainly
’em-ups could still be a thing”, while key staff at build on the successes of those games, they
the developer Tribute Games had worked on the also go to show that great Turtles games are
Game Boy Advance version of TMNT and felt not the preserve of a single company or a
that it “wasn’t able to live up to its full potential”. particular era. If you’re having some friends
Tribute’s Jonathan Lavigne told PC Gamer over any time soon, bust out some extra
that differentiating Shredder’s Revenge from controllers and something starring the Teenage
past efforts involved highlighting the differences Mutant Ninja Turtles – you’ll doubtless remind
between the characters. “We wanted to yourself that they’re not just a perfect part of a » [Switch] Fun fact: Ghostface Killah and Raekwon
differentiate them more and more. We looked pizza party, but ideal videogame heroes too. are on the soundtrack to Shredder’s Revenge.

RETRO GAMER | 27
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FRUIT
BAT

ULTIMATE GUIDE

SCORPION
MOSQUITO TWICE AS EXPENSIVE AS PREVIOUS ULTIMATE
GAMES AND SOLD IN PRESTIGE PACKAGING,
SABRE WULF WAS AN INTENSE SAFARI ADVENTURE
RENDERED IN VIBRANT HUES. WELCOME TO ITS
JUNGLE, YOU’RE GOING TO NEED A GUIDE
WORDS BY RORY MILNE
t’s often forgotten that the day were kept in the dark. All except for

I
UK home-computer boom of receiving a stylish but enigmatic full-page
the early Eighties coincided advert to run, which simply announced the
with a recession. This general name of the new Ultimate game – Sabre
decline in economic activity, Wulf, and the fact that it would cost the then
coupled with the fact that home-computer princely sum of £9.95.
games were easily copied onto cheap blank Previously, Ultimate titles had been sold
cassettes, gave the emerging British games for £5.50 – the going rate for UK computer
industry a major problem – piracy. games at the time, so effectively ACG
As one of the most popular new had doubled its prices, and all without
HIPPO Spectrum developers of 1983, Ashby
Computers & Graphics felt this drain on its
giving any details about its new release.
The advert for Sabre Wulf didn’t have a
profits more than most. And after releasing description of its features or gameplay, and
six hit titles on its Ultimate label in its first there were no screenshots to pour over. So
six months of trading, nothing more was there was nothing to judge the game by
heard from the firm until the spring of 1984. other than its slick airbrushed logo and the
Even then, the computer magazines of the very high standard of ACG’s prior work.

30 | RETRO GAMER
 ULTIMATE GUIDE: SABRE WULF

“I USED TO BORROW
A SPECTRUM AT THE
WEEKENDS FROM MR
MICRO AND PLAYED
GAMES ON IT, AND
SABRE WULF WAS
LIVING MY FAVOURITE”
FLAME Greg Duddle

» [ZX Spectrum] The rhinos in Sabre Wulf are invulnerable, but you can see them off with your sword.

» [ZX Spectrum] You typically get surrounded by foes as soon as you start a game of Sabre Wulf.

CONVERSION CAPERS THE PROS AND CONS OF

THE VARIOUS VERSIONS

ZX SPECTRUM AMSTRAD CPC C64 BBC MICRO

Q The original is defined by its Q Likely adapted by Ultimate, the Q Published by Firebird, the C64 Q Converted by Paul Proctor, the BBC
confined pathways, and the colourful Amstrad version uses a low-res, title depicts its sprites in equally Sabre Wulf features a multicoloured
graphics that border these. There’s multicolour mode, which allows its high resolution to the original, but it Sabreman and single-colour enemies.
colour clash when Sabreman sprites to have more colours than has blockier backgrounds. Its music Its pre-game music isn’t multi-channel,
interacts with his foes, but it’s not the original’s. Its music isn’t multi- and sound effects are the best of but its sound effects are almost as
that noticeable. Its pre and post- channel, instead it’s identical to the any version, and unlike the original, good as the C64 version. However, its
game tunes are lively, and its sound Spectrum’s chiptunes, but its sound Sabreman stands next to your choice score and lives are squeezed into the
effects are subtle but effective. effects are more musical. of controls pre-game. background graphics.

RETRO GAMER | 31
 SURVIVING SABRE WULF

KNOW YOUR LIMITS MAKE A MAP TREASURE HUNT

Q You don’t have an energy bar in Sabre Wulf; if Q There are few identical screens in Sabre Wulf, Q The aforementioned amulet is your main
you take a hit you lose a life. You only have four but the background graphics from screen to priority, but Sabre Wulf is full of other treasures.
to begin with, and extra ones can be scarce, so screen are similar enough that it’s very easy to Extra lives are rare, but appear more often as you
use some caution. That said, if you sheathe your get lost. The trick is to make a map based on your get further into the game’s jungle maze. There are
sword you can often run right through screens repeated attempts, but bear in mind that amulet also various collectibles such as treasure chests
before any enemies have spawned. pieces are rarely in the same places. that simply boost your score.

» [ZX Spectrum] Sabre Wulf’s jungle huts look like

they have a purpose, but they’re purely decorative.

32 | RETRO GAMER
 ULTIMATE GUIDE: SABRE WULF

HOW TO GET THROUGH THE

ULTIMATE JUNGLE ADVENTURE
NATIVE

LIZARD

FLOWER POWER FIGHT OR FLIGHT

Q Depending on their colour, Sabre Wulf ’s orchids Q You have to deal with Sabre Wulf ’s invulnerable
have different temporary effects. The red ones foes differently. You can scare away the hippos
make you invulnerable, the blue ones make you and rhinos by grazing them with your sword, but
fast and the yellow ones stun you. The purple the wulf and natives have to be avoided. To make GUARDIAN
ones reverse your controls, while the white ones
neutralise the effects of the others.
the living flame vanish, you just leave the screen
it’s on and then re-enter it. GORILLA

Popular multiformat magazine Computer But on the other hand, Sabre Wulf had just
& Video Games pushed ACG for details, and the mechanics and “I RECEIVED TWO one player character,
just as Sabre Wulf was due to be released aesthetics built on these BIG LISTINGS. ONE Sabreman, with a
WAS A Z80 CODE
the monthly publication revealed what little common foundations hand-to-hand weapon,
it had learned. Sabre Wulf was to be the differed greatly and no hidden exits. As
first of a new range of Ultimate games for depending on which LISTING, AND THE well as lives, Atic Atac’s
the 48K Spectrum and Commodore 64 that
would represent “a gigantic leap forward in
title you were playing.
So whereas Atic Atac
OTHER WAS GRAPHICS adventurers had energy
bars, and pick-ups to
games entertainment”. It didn’t disappoint. was set in the many DATA, WHICH TOOK replenish them, unlike
ix months prior to Sabre
rooms of an improbably
large castle, Sabre Wulf
A LONG TIME TO Sabre Wulf, whose
protagonist simply

S
Wulf, ACG had released the took place in the darkest PUZZLE OUT” had a set number of
incredibly successful Atic depths of a sprawling Greg Duddle lives, although extras
Atac, and it was a measure jungle. Besides these could be obtained. In
of just how far ahead it contrasting settings, Sabre Wulf had terms of other collectibles, Atic Atac had
was of other arcade adventures that it screens that accommodated multiple paths colour-coded keys and doors, where Sabre
was the only game that reviewers could that were inaccessible from one another, Wulf had colour-coded flowers that either
really compare Sabre Wulf to. This was unlike Atic Atac, which consisted entirely powered-up or handicapped its hero. The
all the more understandable because the of open-plan locations. big-bads of both games differed too, in that
two games shared some core gameplay, Perhaps more noticeable was how Sabre Atic Atac’s mayors could be defeated, as
although they were very different in almost Wulf’s protagonist, combat, collectables and long as you had the required weapon, in
every other respect. On the one hand, both opponents varied from its predecessor’s. contrast to Sabre Wulf’s bosses, which just
games had numerous single-screen stages In Atic Atac, you had the choice of playing had to be avoided at all costs.
populated by spawning enemies, and each as one of three heroes, each with their A cost of a different kind was discussed
had objects to assemble that would allow own unique ranged weapon and ability to in almost all of Sabre Wulf’s reviews,
you to escape their hostile environments. access specific secret doorways, whereas the aforementioned steep price that the

RETRO GAMER | 33
 GREG DUDDLE ON CONVERTING SABRE WULF TO THE C64

How familiar were you with Sabre What help did you get pixels. I had to design a
Wulf before converting it? from Ultimate? couple of tools for converting
When I got the job I already loved the game. I I received two big listings. the graphics – a sprite editor
used to borrow a Spectrum at the weekends One was a Z80 code listing, and so on. For the rest I used
from Mr Micro and played games on it, and and the other was graphics a Koala Pad.
Sabre Wulf was my favourite at the time. So data, which took a long time
when I was asked if I wanted to convert it to to puzzle out. There was a Why weren’t the sprites
the C64 it was a no-brainer! I loved the idea. little bit of information there multicoloured?
that I could use, but the rest Single-colour sprites had
How did you get the job? of it was just transferring single-pixel resolution,
I think it was because I’d made a game what I could see on-screen and Ultimate’s graphics
called Willow Pattern. It was for Firebird in the Spectrum original. for the creatures were
too, and it wasn’t a million miles from being wonderful. Of course, the
the same type of game. So Firebird must What challenges did you have? original had high-resolution backgrounds
have recognised that if we could do what The trickiest part was going through as well. There was a nice mode on the
we did with it then we were the perfect Ultimate’s Z80 code, because there were a Spectrum where you could choose two
people to do Sabre Wulf. few comments in there, but not many. So I colours per character square, but I didn’t
had to work out what was going on at each have that on the C64.
How much contact did you have stage. But it was very cleverly written.
with the Ultimate team? There were some very neat tricks in there, Why didn’t you convert more
Well that’s easy – I had none. I worked for and you could work out what they were Ultimate titles?
Mr Micro, whose boss was Jim Gregory. doing and code them in 6502. So far as I know we were never offered
He did all of the deals. So I never met them another Ultimate game. I don’t know why
or had any contact with them. It was all What concessions did you make? that was the case, unless Ultimate wasn’t
done through my boss. I did provide code I used a totally different graphics mode happy. But I don’t remember receiving any
updates every now and then – versions of from the Spectrum, because for the range complaints. I thought I’d done quite a decent
the game, but he sent them on. of colours that I needed I had to use double- job of doing a one-to-one conversion.

SQUIRREL
SNAKE
SABREMAN
TARANTULA

RHINO

34 | RETRO GAMER
 ULTIMATE GUIDE: SABRE WULF

» [ZX Spectrum] If you’re on one of Sabre Wulf’s screens too long an indestructible flame chases you.

» [ZX Spectrum] You can’t escape from Sabre Wulf’s jungle without four pieces of a sacred amulet.

“I USED A TOTALLY itthat

game was being sold at, but as well as this wasn’t considered informed players
this and pointed comparisons with Atic by other reviewers, other games in the
Atac, even the most sceptical of magazine many of whom sung DIFFERENT GRAPHICS series were planned,
critics acknowledged that Ultimate had
outdone itself with its latest offering. This
its praises.
Around the
MODE FROM THE whereas the latter title
had a novel isometric
view was reflected in Sabre Wulf’s speedy same time as the SPECTRUM, BECAUSE viewpoint that was like
ascent to the top of the sales charts, with
the Ultimate Spectrum title going on to
Commodore 64 game
saw the light of day,
FOR THE RANGE OF nothing before seen on
a UK home computer.
sell more than 350,000 copies. Given the the Amstrad iteration COLOURS THAT I Both were massive hits
scale of its success, it was inevitable that of the Ocean Software NEEDED I HAD TO when they came out in
it was going to be made available for other compilation They Sold December 1984, and
computers, although the small size of ACG A Million arrived in USE DOUBLE-PIXELS” conversions for other
meant that it was far too busy to produce shops. This featured Greg Duddle systems followed in the
conversions for systems with different a version of Sabre subsequent year.
processors. Artist/founder Tim Stamper Wulf that was most likely converted The spring of 1986 saw the release of a
did, however, find time to design an by ACG itself, given the fact that the fourth Sabreman adventure – Pentagram,
attractive ornate border for its cover art. Amstrad computer had a Z80 CPU like another isometric outing with similar
In terms of porting duties, freelancer Paul the Spectrum’s – making it a relatively challenges to Knight Lore coupled with
Proctor was trusted with the BBC Micro easy port, and given that the initials on its fresh overall objectives. Mixed reviews
version, which came out in early 1985 to high-score table were those of the Ultimate for the Spectrum original ranged between
much applause. Some months later, a team. Whoever its author was, the CPC 50% to 100%, and a faithful MSX
C64 adaptation was licensed to Firebird Sabre Wulf was well-received by critics, conversion followed.
Software, which then sub-licensed the both when it appeared on Ocean’s multi- The fifth and final adventure for
project to Mr Micro Limited. The conversion title release and when ACG later brought Sabreman was later mothballed by ACG
process was assigned to coder/artist Greg out the conversion as a stand-alone title. founders Tim and Chris Stamper, as they
Duddle, and released in early 1986. By this transitioned to their new console-focussed
point, the original had been around for 18 hile these adaptations of firm Rare, and so little or no work was done

W
months, which caused the Zzap!64 critics to the original game were on the mysterious Mire Mare.
give the C64 version low marks, although being released, ACG was That’s not to say that this downbeat
busily working on three footnote tarnishes Sabre Wulf’s reputation
Spectrum sequels, all in any way. The colourful arcade adventure

FROG starring protagonist Sabreman. The first

two – Underwurlde and Knight Lore –
is still immense fun to play, and a serious
challenge for all but those with the fastest
were both essentially platformers. The reactions, keenest map-making skills and
former was side-on and largely based dogged determination to explore and
around vertical ascents – and completing escape its vibrant but unforgiving jungle.

RETRO GAMER | 35
 THE MAKING OF

FEATURING A HACKNEYED PLOT AND SWORD-AND-

SORCERY COVER ART, THE SEQUEL TO STORM WAS
THE COMPUTER-GAME EQUIVALENT OF A DEATHSTALKER
MOVIE – WHICH MEANT IT WAS CHEAP YET CHEERFUL.
JOIN US AS WE TELL THE TALE BEHIND THE FEAR
WORDS BY MARTYN CARROLL

T
he original Storm was an planned out the whole map and setting –
unsurprising hit when published the design was more connected rather than
by Mastertronic on the room by room. This meant that the visuals
Amstrad CPC in 1986. We say made more sense, had continuity and were
unsurprising because it would better connected to the story.”
have been more of a shock if this budget The story was once again based on
Gauntlet clone, released months before the Seán’s fantasy poetry. Taking place at the
official full-price Gauntlet conversion, had same time as the events of Storm, Princess
failed. It went on to sell 48,000 copies on the Silver and her companion Prince Frost must
CPC, with total sales hitting almost 200,000 locate the Fear, an all-powerful item around » These days Seán Martin, the
IN THE when converted to six other formats. which such tales revolve (and the source of ‘ideas man’ at The Firm, is a
published author and filmmaker.
KNOW Mastertronic expected this success, as the the game’s title). Building on the original,
 PUBLISHER: inlay refers to the game as ‘Part 1’. Further the sequel takes place in a variety of indoor
MASTERTRONIC parts were clearly coming. and outdoor locations, with the overall aim
 DEVELOPER: Working on the sequel was something of returning the Fear to an old monastery.
THE FIRM
 RELEASED:
the creators relished. “We loved Storm and We hear about games being written
1987 were very proud of it, but knew that we rapidly back then and The Fear was no
 PLATFORM: could do better,” says programmer Kevin exception. “We set ourselves a target to
AMSTRAD CPC Shrapnell, who was one third of The Firm write the sequel in one month,” says Kevin.
 GENRE: alongside fellow programmer Mike Talbot “We started on 1 August and missed
MAZE GAME
and designer Seán Martin. “The biggest and our deadline by a few hours, finishing
most obvious improvement was the visual at 4am on 1 September. We jumped in
» Kevin Shrapnell programmed
upgrade,” he continues. “We adopted a a car and headed to Glastonbury Tor to
The Fear alongside Mike Talbot.
side-view approach which allowed us to get watch the sun rise, then sent the gold He’s presently the CEO of Magic
away from the top-down crab-like rotation master to Mastertronic later that day. ” Fuel Games.
and animation of Storm. In addition we Although written in mere weeks, Seán

DEVELOPER
HIGHLIGHTS
BRIDGE TO THE EAST
SYSTEM: BBC MICRO
YEAR: 1984
STORM PICTURED
SYSTEM: VARIOUS
YEAR: 1986
COMBAT ZONE
SYSTEM: VARIOUS
» [Amstrad CPC] As with the original, the sequel supports two » [Amstrad CPC] Many of the screens have
YEAR: 1987 playable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. a deceptive maze-like quality about them.

36 | RETRO GAMER
 » Photo evidence of the boys watching the sun come up over
Glastonbury, having just wrapped work on The Fear.
» [Amstrad CPC] Finding the Fear is one thing. Defeating the fiendish hooded figures that guard it is another.

MAD For It
FOUR OF THE BEST GAMES RELEASED
ON THE MAD LABEL

SPEL LBOUND
David Jones’ follow-up to
Finders Keepers is one of the
best 8-bit arcade adventures
at any price, mixing puzzle
and RPG elements with
» [Amstrad CPC] Unlike Gauntlet, The Fear doesn’t scroll, which » [Amstrad CPC] If one player exits a room, the other has to fight it out plenty of humour. It’s
reduces the technical demands of the game. alone. Not that we’d ever do that on purpose, for kicks, of course. available on multiple machines but the
standout is the Commodore 64 version
hasn’t forgotten The “WE LOVED STORM AND The game reviewed thanks to Rob Hubbard’s music.
Fear. “I remember well – Amstrad Action
working on the sequel WERE VERY PROUD OF called it “A worthy sequel THE MASTER
in the summer of 1986 IT, BUT KNEW THAT to Storm” and awarded OF MAGIC
at Mike’s house. Like WE COULD DO BETTER” it 70% – but no further Another budget game that
Storm, it was inspired by
my fantasy world. It was
KEVIN SHRAPNELL instalments were to
follow. “I don’t recall
could have easily sold at
full price, Richard Darling’s
a more ambitious game and it was going discussions about doing a third game,” underground adventure
to be made available on other machines, says Seán. “There were three poems in my proves that crude graphics
but those versions never appeared. I don’t trilogy. The third poem was called The Silent can still convey unbelievable amounts of
know why.” Kevin believes he knows why. Field and told of the big showdown between atmosphere. Figure in the highly accessible
“We wrote the CPC version and provided light and darkness, but I don’t think we ever gameplay and you have a Mastertronic classic.
the source code to Mastertronic to port, considered turning that into a game. We had
but the developers who promised to do too many other projects on the go by then.” 180
the work allegedly skipped the country to “I think the disappointment over The Fear Binary Design produced
Spain and no ports were ever completed. might have taken the wind out of our sails,” several significant titles for
This was a shame as The Fear was a much adds Kevin, referring to a potential Storm III. the MAD label, including
more attractive and balanced game. Being “We also had a couple of new people join this wonderful darts game.
only on the CPC wasn’t really enough to the team and that brought new creative ideas It goes heavy on the humour
generate the success we’d hoped for.” and directions. Maybe there’s still time?” and stereotypes, but at

I
Despite that hint of unfinished business, its core is an excellent darts simulation
ndeed, The Fear sold just Kevin has nothing but positive memories featuring the ‘floating hand’ mechanic and of
13,667 copies when released on about his time in The Firm. “We were course the “180” shout.
Mastertronic’s premium MAD label in working everything out as we went along,
the spring of 1987. This was around and we weren’t very practical or reasonable MOTOS
a quarter of what the original sold in our ambitions. We were inspired by classic An official coin-op
on the CPC. “We never saw much money text adventure games and tabletop RPGs, conversion appearing on
from it,” admits Kevin. “We were paid a and had a couple of over-ambitious projects a budget label? Okay so it
£2,500 advance for it, and on that basis we which didn’t see the light of day. The main was based on an obscure
didn’t recoup. We did have a slightly higher reason for getting The Fear done quickly was Namco effort from 1985, but
royalty as well, as it retailed for £2.99 rather simply our enthusiasm and desire to release the instant arcade gameplay
than £1.99 – which might also have been a another game. Looking back there are so was perfect for players seeking cheap
factor in the sales. The market had become many memories and for us in the Eighties, thrills. Another winner from Mastertronic
saturated with Gauntlet clones too.” work and life seemed to intermingle.” and the boys at Binary Design.

RETRO GAMER | 37
 » Andrew Hewson
was a bedroom
coder before
forming Hewson
Consultants in 1982.
The company would
go on to find great
success throughout
the Eighties.

ike many 8-bit software houses in market a huge impetus –

the UK, the Hewson journey began especially in the UK – and one
with one of Sinclair’s idiosyncratic particular cassette submission
computers. Stirred by the arrival of fortified Hewson’s burgeoning
the ZX80, Andrew Hewson began reputation as a Spectrum specialist. The
studying the micro, determined to overcome game was 3D Space-Wars, and its author,
his writing issues and create a book of Steve Turner, would go on to become an
tips and hints for the Sinclair computer. intrinsic part of Hewson’s success.
Wholeheartedly believing that computers As Hewson built its catalogue, Steve’s
were the future, Andrew followed up Hints & business partner, Andrew Braybrook,
Tips For The ZX80 with an equivalent for the discovered a love of the Spectrum’s rival, the
ZX81, selling both via mail order as his newly Commodore 64. As Steve created technically
formed company, Hewson Consultants. impressive games such as Avalon and
Like many a bedroom coder, Andrew’s Dragontorc, the balance of power shifted
fledgling business initially operated out of with Andrew Braybrook’s triple assault of
his spare bedroom as he continued his full- Gribbly’s Day Out, Paradroid and Uridium. All
time job. The 1981 ZX Microfair cemented three games were well-received, and in the
his belief in the popularity of computers. latter’s case, a solid gold sales hit. As a result,
Soon after, the publisher EMAP approached Hewson had an enviable catalogue for the
him to write a column in its new computing two biggest home computers in the UK.
magazine, Sinclair User. The result, The software house had also acquired
Hewson’s Helpline, catapulted Andrew into a reputation for high-quality and
homes throughout the country, and by the innovative games and was able to tempt
time the ZX Spectrum became a breakout ace programmers such as Raffaele
success for Sinclair, Hewson was receiving Cecco to work on its behalf. The hits
masses of cassettes from hopeful game were non-stop. Shoot-’em-ups Zynaps,
developers. The most significant of these
FROM ITS HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Cybernoid, Netherworld and Marauder;
was Mike Male, an air-traffic controller OF SPACE INVADERS CLONES run-and-gunners Exolon and Stormlord;
by day and coder of relatively complex ON THE ZX81, HEWSON and pioneering games such as Nebulus
flight sims such as Pilot (on the ZX81) and CONSULTANTS (LATTERLY and Eliminator. All these were critically
Nightflite (ZX Spectrum) in his spare time. HEWSON) BECAME ONE OF THE acclaimed and released during Hewson’s
The success of the latter led to Andrew MOST LOVED AND RESPECTED golden period between 1987 to 1989.
investing further in cassette duplication. SOFTWARE HOUSES OF THE Sadly, like many 8-bit publishers, Hewson
By 1983, Hewson had expanded enough EIGHTIES. JOIN RETRO GAMER struggled with the increasing costs of the
for Andrew to leave his job, take on some AS WE CELEBRATE SOME OF ITS subsequent 16-bit era. Yet for ZX Spectrum
full-time staff and move from its small FANTASTIC GAMES ALONGSIDE and Commodore 64 fans in particular, its
office in Wallingford to a 2,000-square-foot FOUNDER ANDREW HEWSON name will be fondly remembered forever for
warehouse just outside Didcot. The ZX its remarkably consistent run of genuinely
Spectrum had given the computer-games WORDS BY G R AE ME MASON pioneering games throughout the Eighties.

38 | RETRO GAMER
 A TRIBUTE TO: HEWSON

NIGHTFLITE
ZX SPECTRUM • 1982

Q Having tested the ZX81 with the notable Pilot, Mike Male’s
Nightflite debuted on the 16K Spectrum and quickly became
Hewson’s first major hit. Set purely in the night sky (thus
avoiding having to process that awkward horizon), the depth
and complexity of Nightflite set an incredible standard of what
could be achieved on the computer when it came to flight
simulations. The re-released version came with one of Hewson’s first

SPACE INTRUDERS professionally produced cassette inlays.

ANDREW’S MEMOR
ORIIES
ZX81 • 1981
Mike Male was a real air-traffic controller at Heathrow Airport.
Q With dollar signs for alien missiles and asterisks for He avoided the issue of having a 3D view of the ground by setting
the player’s cannon fire, Hewson’s Space Invaders clone the game in the night sky. I loved it when programmers came up with little
certainly stamped its ZX81 aesthetic to Taito’s successful dodges like that.
single-screen shoot-’em-up. Nonetheless, despite the lack of
bespoke graphics, Space Intruders is a decent effort, with the
phalanxes of aliens (or blocks) hovering menacingly as the
player seeks protection behind the pyramid-esque buildings. While it may
lack the flying saucer, and the invaders never descend, eroding much of
the original’s panic and excitement, it still plays remarkably well, especially
considering the primitive capabilities of the ZX81.

ANDREW’S
S MEMORI
RIES
Not quite our first game, but the first of any real consequence. To begin
with, we thought that copying everyone else was the way to go.

3D SPACE- THE SEIDDAB SAGA

HOW WE BATTLED THE SEIDDAB MENACE

WARS
3D SPACE-WARS
Q The murderous Seiddab arrive and
systematically devastate our star system. Jump
ZX SPECTRUM • 1983 into the last fighter-killer class spacecraft and
take the fight to them. Don’t forget to refuel!
Q The appetite for space-based
shoot-’em-ups, whetted by movies 3D SEIDDAB ATTACK
such as Star Wars and arcade Q Unfortunately, we only partly repulsed the
games like Space Invaders, was in initial invasion, and now Seiddab saucers
its prime by 1983. So when a young menace the planet’s surface. Patrol the streets
programmer from Essex named in your tank and destroy them all.
Steve Turner sent Hewson his first game, a
space shoot-’em-up, Andrew could immediately 3D LUNATTACK
see the commercial potential. Throughout the 3D Q Having successfully destroyed the Seiddab
part of the Seiddab (‘baddies’ backwards) series, on Earth, it’s time to attack their base on the
Steve constantly improved the lightning-fast Moon. Let’s hope the Z5 Luna Hover Fighter
gameplay, creating an exciting and action-packed is up to the task.
franchise for the ZX Spectrum. The games also
proved consistent sellers and helped establish DI-LITHIUM LIFT
Hewson’s reputation and commercial standing. Q The Seiddab have stolen our energy supply –
the eponymous crystals. Locate their vault and
ANDREW’S MEM
MEM
E ORIES
get them back before the Earth goes dark. This
is the only game in the saga Steve didn’t code.
Very different to everything else
available at the time. 3D Seiddab Attack
– sorry about the name, everyone – was the
ASTROCLONE
Q Twenty years have passed since the
sequel, and with the third game, 3D Lunattack,
Seiddab Wars. With the stargates open, only
Steve was working very hard to get as much as
superclones, thrust through the gates, can
possible out of the ZX Spectrum.
repel the Seiddab menace once and for all.

RETRO GAMER | 39
 DI-LITHIUM LIFT
ZX SPECTRUM • 1983 TECHNICIAN
Q Released the same year as Steve Turner’s groundbreaking
3D Space-Wars, Hewson repurposed this fast-paced arcade
game into another episode of the Seiddab story. The perennial
TED
ZX SPECTRUM, AMSTRAD CPC • 1985
invading baddies have stolen Earth’s valuable Dilithium
Crystals and secured them in a heavily guarded vault. Q The development team of Steve Marsden and David
Di-Lithium Lift is a grid-based game in the vein of Ocean’s Cooke first came to prominence with this fine platform
Transversion and Jeff Minter’s Gridrunner. The player guides their stick- game in 1985. Technician Ted follows the rotund titular
like avatar throughout each maze, dodging incessant enemy fire while character during a typical workday at his microprocessor
collecting the Dilithium Crystals. It’s an uncomplicated game but one of factory. There are 21 tasks for Ted to perform, and, in the
Hewson’s better early efforts, especially its bouncy sound effects. spirit of the game’s inspiration, Jet Set Willy, plenty of wacky
Di-lithium Lift’s coder, Simon Cobb, went on to work for Ocean Software. characters and hostile objects ready to sap Ted’s lives away. While
horrendously tricky in places, requiring pixel-perfect movement and
ANDREW
W’S
S MEM
MEM
E ORIE
ES judicious timing, Technician Ted was met with critical and commercial
One of our first titles, and we signed it because it had me absolutely acclaim, making it another solid Spectrum game for Hewson. A 128K
hooked. The premise was simple, but it was a classic arcade version, The Megamix, followed a year later.
experience with some cracking sci-fi sound effects. Like myself, the coder
ultimately left the industry. ANDREW’S MEMORIES
A very demanding game to play but successful enough for us
to take it to the Spectrum 128K. I was always interested in the
underlying technology, which made Technician Ted additionally attractive
to me because it had its own bespoke loading screen.

TED’S TASKS
IT’S ALL IN A DAY’S WORK FOR THIS BUSY TECHNICIAN

AVALON
ZX SPECTRUM • 1984

Q While the core Seiddab trilogy was undoubtedly a success,

this game and its sequel, Dragontorc, propelled both Hewson
and author Steve Turner further into the big time. Inspired
by Arthurian legend, the player controls Maroc – or, more TED’S DESK (COMPLETE BY) 08:56 LASER SLICE SEPARATION (CB) 12:15
accurately, Maroc’s astral form – a wizard determined to Q The first task of Ted’s day is to Q In one of Ted’s most important
halt the evil of The Lord Of Chaos. Avalon was a surefire hit make his way over to his desk and duties, he has to oversee a chemical
thanks to its multiple spells, locations and attractive display. However, pick up his tools, but beware, he’s not process involving these dangerously
it’s the groundbreaking gameplay – for example, enemies follow Maroc even safe here. Ted’s Desk is a simple active bottles of acid. Who’s in charge
throughout each room, existing beyond the current screen – that makes it level that eases you into the game. of this crazy factory?
such a significant Spectrum game today.

ANDREW’S
S MEM
MORIES
A brilliant game for which we held a press launch in London on the
South Bank with Bryan Ferry’s Avalon playing in the background. I
played it to completion sitting at home one long winter evening.

QUALITY ASSURANCE (CB) 14:25 THE WAGE DEPARTMENT (CB) 16:07

Q Some of the rooms in Technician Q Finally, having completed all his
Ted change as Ted completes tasks. numerous tasks, Ted can collect his
Having overseen the production of wages and head home (and maybe
several items, Ted has to study this stop in the pub). There’s just one small
computer in Quality Assurance. piece of red tape left to finish first.

40 | RETRO GAMER
 A TRIBUTE TO: HEWSON

PARADROID
COMMODORE 64 • 1985

Q Widely acknowledged as one of the finest games of all

SOUTHERN BELLE time on the Commodore 64, Paradroid is a genuine 8-bit

classic and was another step in cementing both Andrew
Braybrook’s and Hewson’s elite status. Its plot is typically
ZX SPECTRUM, VARIOUS • 1985
diverse from Andrew: a series of radionic beams has hit
Q Air-traffic controller Mike Male broke away from flight a fleet of robot-controlled freighters, sending the metallic
simulations in 1985 to create this fabulous train game guardians berserk. Earth is left with one choice, to send a prototype
focussing on the golden age of steam, the early Thirties. droid known as the Influence Device. Beamed aboard the fleet, this
The player assumes the dual roles of driver and fireman. The droid can eliminate the rogue robots with its laser or assimilate with
former controls the train’s speed and pays close attention them via an interface called Transfer Mode. While essentially a shoot-
to track signals, while the latter ensures the water and ’em-up at heart, Paradroid’s depth of strategy, outstanding presentation
coal levels of the train’s engine are maintained correctly. Presented in a and information created a legend which Zzap!64 magazine called
wireframe view, the countryside between London and Brighton scrolls “faultless in appearance and execution”. With eight ships, each housing
past as the player attempts various scenarios. Take a leisurely journey multiple decks, an innovative minigame and dozens of robots to combat,
down to the coast with the easy run or go full steam ahead and try to it also represents one of the best-value Commodore games.
beat the 48 minutes and 41 seconds record set by a B4 class Pullman on
the 26 July 1903. The quaint and unique Southern Belle was another hit ANDREW’S
S MEM
MEM
E ORIE
ES
for Hewson, and the two-person team of Mike and Bob Hillyer shifted to A typically highly original and hugely playable game from
the Bath-Bournemouth line for its sequel, Evening Star. Graftgold. As a game design, it must go down as one of the most
elegant and strategically beautiful games in history.
ANDREW’S
S MEM
MEM
E ORIE
ES

PARADROID PARTICULARS
Good fun to play and a great press launch at the Steam Railway
Centre in Didcot. Journalists competed against each other to ride
on a steam engine footplate. FIVE FACTS ON THE HEWSON CLASSIC

DOCTOR WHO INFLUENCE

Q As a committed Whovian,
the eerie wandering robots of
the Tom Baker story Robots Of
Death helped inspire Andrew to
create Paradroid.

HIDDEN PLAYTESTERS
Q Two of Andrew’s friends,
Richard Harvey and Robert

GRIBBLY’S DAY OUT Orchard, assisted with

playtesting Paradroid. Their
names appear in the game’s
COMMODORE 64 • 1985
droid library.
Q Andrew Braybrook made a stunning Commodore 64
debut in 1985 with the superbly original Gribbly’s Day Out, a DIARY OF A GAME
game which set the template for his phenomenal output on Q Andrew’s regular diary in
the computer. The game’s star is a frog-like creature from Zzap!64 magazine proved
the planet Blabgor, a strange and surreal world inhabited by an ideal platform to promote
creatures such as Gribbly and their offspring, the Gribblets. Graftgold games. It began with
The Gribblets are an adventurous sort, prone to wandering off into Paradroid in 1985.
the Blabgorian landscape in search of excitement. Sadly, Blabgor is
far from safe, with many nasties preying on innocent little things such BEYOND A SHADOW
as Gribblets, not least the evil Seon, a mutated Blabgorian held within Q Another influence on Andrew
a powerful web. Throughout each hazardous region, Gribbly collects during Paradroid’s early
Gribblets in his cave as the game’s fascinating evolutionary process development was Beyond’s
occurs. An imaginative game that combines elements of classics such icon-driven sci-fi adventure,
as Defender with a new style of gameplay, Gribbly’s Day Out is a brilliant Shadowfire, particularly its
fusion of technical and game design prowess. claustrophobic environments.

ANDREW’S
S MEM
EMORIES THE LOOK OF PARADROID
Our first Commodore 64 game and a brilliantly innovative game. I Q Andrew achieved Paradroid’s
still have a soft spot for Gribbly’s, and it was a fine introduction for bas-relief effect simply by playing
Andrew Braybrook and Hewson to the C64. with shades of light on alternate
sides of the game’s walls.

RETRO GAMER | 41
 FIRELORD
ZX SPECTRUM, AMSTRAD CPC, COMMODORE 64 • 1986 QUAZATRON
ZX SPECTRUM • 1986
Q As 1986 dawned, Hewson’s reputation meant that
established programmers were beginning to offer their Q It’s a testament to Paradroid’s enduring and absorbing
work to the software house. Fresh off the back of the gameplay that Steve Turner took it as a template, forging
brilliant Starquake, Stephen Crow was one such coder, his Spectrum-tinted impression of the Commodore 64
proposing a similar style of game to Hewson, albeit game. As in Paradroid, a collection of robots have gone
transplanted to a medieval setting. The result was Firelord, rogue, and the player-controlled droid – amusingly named
an old-fashioned tale set within the fictional bucolic land of Torot. KLP-2 (Klepto) – must either destroy them with its laser,
Sir Galaheart has returned to his homeland only to discover an evil ram them or integrate using the same grappling minigame from the
queen has stolen a dragon’s Firestone and cursed the land, turning Commodore 64 classic. The idea for Quazatron came about when Steve
its previously happy inhabitants into morbid apparitions. The brave Turner began experimenting with an isometric engine before merging
knight gathers the ingredients to the spell of eternal youth, hoping it with Paradroid’s concept and gameplay. The result was a Spectrum
its acquisition will persuade the vain queen to part with the stolen interpretation of Paradroid, adapted to its strengths, yet containing all
Firestone. Firelord is a vast and colourful game boasting 500 screens, a of the compulsive elements that made the original such a hit. The
range of items and a frantic barter/stealing minigame. fresh perspective gives KLP-2 an extra advantage over its foes: now

KERB APPEAL
it can push enemy robots to their doom off the edge of the map, and
the system proved so successful that Steve Turner used it again in
Quazatron’s sequel, Magnetron, and in the fantasy game Ranarama.
TOROT’S TOP ESTATE AGENT TAKES US AROUND THE
BEST DESIRABLE PROPERTY THE LAND HAS TO OFFER

TOWN HOUSE
Q These two-storey townhouses
are very much in demand in
Torot at the moment. All come
with highly flammable thatch
as standard.

STABLES
Q Got a love of horses? This
delightful abode-over-stables is
perfect for you, with plenty of
URIDIUM
COMMODORE 64, VARIOUS • 1986
room for your four-legged friends
while you sleep above. Q Space shoot-’em-up Uridium came to define both Andrew
Braybrook and Hewson more than any other game. It’s easy
FLINT COTTAGE to see why, as Uridium is a supreme technical marvel, its
Q We can now offer compact speed and impressive parallax scrolling – then commonly
dwellings such as this quaint assumed impossible on the Commodore computer – lifting
stone cottage for those on a both programmer and publisher into the stratosphere. Of
slightly lower budget. Demonic course, it doesn’t hurt that Uridium’s gameplay is top-notch as well,
possession is not guaranteed. with your Manta spacecraft shooting down waves and waves of vicious
enemies, all set against the backdrops of gigantic warships called
WOODEN BARN Dreadnoughts. The energy and finesse behind Uridium, powered by the
Q Here we have a unique sleek and deadly Manta spacecraft, ensured it became a critical hit and
investment opportunity. This a commercial smash, remaining Hewson’s biggest seller throughout its
ramshackle barn can become your lifetime. Although it was ported to numerous systems many feel the C64
dream country home with just a original is the best version. Interestingly, Mindscape’s NES adaptation of
few minor additions, such as walls. The Last Starfighter movie is actually a reskinnned version of Uridium.

THE WHEATSHEAF INN ANDREW’S

S MEM
MORIES
Q Have you ever dreamed of
What can I say that hasn’t been said before? Silky-smooth
owning your own tavern? Now’s
graphics, better than anything we had seen before and utterly
your chance because Torot’s
compelling. Its brilliance was obvious from the first time I saw it at Steve’s
world-famous The Wheatsheaf
home in Essex. We promoted it like crazy, and it became a huge success.
pub is up for sale. Ale not included.

42 | RETRO GAMER
 A TRIBUTE TO: HEWSON

EXOLON
ZX SPECTRUM, VARIOUS • 1987
NEBULUS
COMMODORE 64, VARIOUS • 1987

Q While much admired, John Phillips’ tech demo didn’t

Q Raffaele Cecco had already proved himself to be an appear to have an obvious gaming application when he first
expert coder with games such as Cop-Out and Equinox presented it to Hewson. However, the coder had different
for Mikrogen. His first effort for Hewson continued to ideas and returned to Hewson with Nebulus, an evocative
demonstrate his innate capability of making a Spectrum sea-bound tale set within a series of rotating towers. Nebulus’
game look utterly beautiful and almost on par with its arcade clean and fast-moving graphics wowed gamers, and although
peers, coupled with some wonderfully balanced gameplay. In Exolon, its gameplay could be a touch too frustrating at times – those random
the player is Vitorc, an armed soldier on a mission across a dangerous and frequent projectiles in particular – Nebulus had all the ingredients to
landscape. Gun emplacements, homing missiles, tanks, mines and become another notable addition to the Hewson catalogue.
more await Vitorc, who has a powerful blaster for organic life forms
and a grenade launcher for the more robust enemies. In addition, each ANDREW’S
S MEM
MEM
MORIES
landscape houses a suit transformation booth. Guide Vitorc into one of John [Phillips] created a demo of a horizontally rotating cylinder
these, and he transforms into the Exolon exoskeleton, a hydraulically with a sine wave scrolling over the top. It was a very clever piece
powered suit that makes him tougher and better-armed. With its of work, but I couldn’t see a game in it. He then reworked it, turning the
colourful explosions, compulsive gameplay and gorgeous display, Exolon cylinder through 90 degrees with sprites instead of the sine wave, and it
was an exceptional start for Raffaele at Hewson. became obvious that the game should be ‘climb the tower’.

ANDREW’S MEM
MEM
E ORIES
Colourful, playful and explosive – a great game. I thought being
able to see your character physically upgrade his exoskeleton
was a particularly nice touch.

KNOW YOUR ENEMY

FOUR OF THE DEADLIEST
OBSTACLES IN EXOLON

CANNON
Q Vitorc encounters one of these
cannons on the first screen, and
they pepper the rest of the game,
spitting their deadly bullets at
him. Duck or die.

DOUBLE TANK
Q This two-tier steel tank has an
ZYNAPS
SYSTEM: ZX SPECTRUM, VARIOUS • 1987
indestructible lower half, and Vitorc
can only pass after destroying the Q Following the success of Gradius/Nemesis and R-Type,
top segment. With both constantly programmers began emulating the gameplay of these arcade
firing, it’s a formidable opponent. shoot-’em-ups, particularly their power-up systems. Having
already proved his programming skills with an astonishing ZX
HOMING MISSILE Spectrum port of Uridium, Hewson commissioned Dominic
Q Vitorc can’t shoot this sleek Robinson to create a new game from scratch with the Gradius
homing missile, and it quickly template in mind. The result was both an excellent game and a useful
gathers pace across the screen. Scrabble score, Zynaps. Inside the Scorpion space fighter, the player
Only targeting its globe control escapes from an alien space station, battling enemies and deadly asteroid
tower will destroy it. storms. Fortunately, defeated enemies often leave glowing power pods,
and picking one up activates the Scorpion’s upgrade system. Collect
LASER BARRIER one pod, and the Scorpion increases speed and manoeuvrability; collect
Q While harmless in isolation, another, and its firepower increases; collecting a third unleashes a powerful
Vitorc has to shoot these barriers bomb against ground targets while a fourth pod activates missile targeting.
to proceed. Unfortunately, that’s Finally, absorbing the fifth pod engages the Scorpion’s Seeker Missile,
usually the cue for a bunch of a devastating weapon that homes in on its enemies. Together with its
aliens to attack. massive bosses, Zynaps remains one of the Spectrum’s best games.

RETRO GAMER | 43
 RANARAMA
ZX SPECTRUM, AMSTRAD CPC, ATARI ST, COMMODORE 64 • 1987

Q Unfairly dismissed as a ‘mere’ Gauntlet clone, Steve

Turner’s mix of fantasy and Paradroid’s engrossing
gameplay nevertheless proved popular upon release,
notching a Crash Smash, among other accolades.
Wizard’s aide Mervyn, having accidentally transmogrified
himself into a frog during an ill-advised attempt to attract the
opposite sex, is stranded inside a dungeon. Being a frog has some
advantages: the invading warlocks overlook Mervyn, leaving him
free to escape. But first, he must eliminate the warlock that inhabits
each level of this grimy underworld. All of Ranarama’s rooms are
hidden until Mervyn enters, adding a frisson to the gameplay as the
little frog hunts down warlocks, battling them in a neat minigame
that involves shifting a row of runes to form the name of the game
correctly. With its efficient spell system, which Mervyn must
carefully balance, Ranarama is a game of considerable depth and
certainly much more than the unsophisticated thrill of Gauntlet.

RESOLVING RANARAMA
FIVE SLIPPERY TIPS TO HELP MERVYN DEFEAT THE WARLOCKS
JUST LIKE IN GAUNTLET YOU GLYPH ME UP, PART ONE MAGICAL WEAPONS YOU GLYPH ME UP, PART TWO SPELL BALANCE
Q OK, the similarity isn’t totally Q Watch for the helpful floor Q Comprising Munchers, Q The Glyph Of Power Q As Mervyn defeats warlocks,
off – Ranarama’s monsters Glyphs. Combine the Glyph Spinning Knives and more, these releases a deadly bolt while he’ll receive better spells.
spawn from generators. Destroy Of Seeing with the See spell are virtually impervious and not the Glyph Of Travel permits Use the Glyph Of Sorcery to
the generator, and they’ll stop to reveal a map and the worth the effort. Just destroy Mervyn to move up and down activate them but beware of the
spawning. Just like in Gauntlet. warlock’s location. their generators, and move on. the dungeon. increased power usage required.

NETHERWORLD
COMMODORE 64, AMIGA, AMSTRAD CPC, ZX SPECTRUM • 1988
Q Hewson’s habit of attracting top programming talent
continued into 1988 with this fantastic multi-directional shoot-
’em-up from Finnish coder Jukka Tapanimäki. The player’s
craft is trapped in a tortuous world, plagued by acid-spitting
demons and other assorted nasties. The only way to escape
is to buy your way out by collecting the many crystals littered around
each level. While essentially a shoot-’em-up at heart, Jukka’s game
injects enough variety to make Netherworld another Hewson winner,
CYBERNOID
ZX SPECTRUM, VARIOUS • 1988
particularly on its original Commodore 64 platform. The Boulderdash-
esque diamond collecting is Q For his second Hewson game, programmer Raffaele Cecco
an enjoyable objective, and once more redefined what was thought possible on the ZX
the game’s smooth scrolling Spectrum, leading one Crash magazine reviewer to declare
and beautifully clean graphics it “an arcade game in your own home”. While that might
help portray its slightly be slightly fanciful, there’s no doubt that Cybernoid is one of
demented world. Yet while the most interesting shoot-’em-ups of the Eighties and an experience
Netherworld is a solid and precisely tailored to the Spectrum. In its workmanlike plot, pirates
entertaining game, it doesn’t have raided some storage depots, and rather than chase the corsairs
quite match Hewson’s usual themselves, the Federation hires you and your Cybernoid fighting machine
innovative gameplay. to hunt them down. The player encounters traps, pirates, missiles and
more throughout Cybernoid’s many screens as they seek to reclaim the
ANDREW’S MEM
ME
EMORIE
ES
stolen goodies. The dramatic explosions and colourful graphics were
remarkable back in 1988, and the game itself is meticulously balanced,
Another high-quality offering. How did we continue to find such great
with an assortment of power-ups such as a rear cannon and our particular
talent? Basically, we worked hard to review everything that was offered
favourite, a giant wrecking ball. A mammoth hit for Hewson, Cybernoid’s
to us. I travelled to Finland in mid-February to meet Jukka and sign the deal.
success led to Cybernoid II: The Revenge later the same year.

44 | RETRO GAMER
 A TRIBUTE TO: HEWSON

STORMLORD
ZX SPECTRUM, VARIOUS • 1989

Q Raffaele Cecco was already considering a fantasy-based

game before the runaway success of Cybernoid distracted
him into creating its sequel. The coder was undeterred,
however, and once Cybernoid II: The Revenge was done
and dusted, it was back to his mystical romp, a classic

PINBALL
fairy-tale story involving an evil queen (naturally), a brave hero (of
course) and naked fairies in pots (wait, what?). Playing the eponymous
hirsute fellow, Stormlord rescues the fairies held prisoner by the queen

FANTASIES
while fending off the deadly menagerie she has scattered across the
world. Unfortunately, while as beautiful and professional as Raffaele
Cecco’s earlier games, the difficulty of Stormlord put many gamers
off, and it doesn’t quite have that elusive hook of Exolon or Cybernoid. AMIGA, VARIOUS • 1992
Nonetheless, it’s still a tremendously impressive game, and Hewson
maximised its potential, even licensing a version to Sega’s Mega Drive, at Q Like many 8-bit software houses, Hewson struggled
which point the fairies had to finally put some clothes on. towards the end of the Eighties, failing to generate enough
revenue to fund the ever-increasing development teams
ANDREW’S
S MEM
MEM
E ORIE
ES required by most games. Its successor, 21st Century
In the wake of Cybernoid’s runaway success, we had delayed it, Entertainment,
deciding that a Cybernoid sequel would be a better move. Another lasted until 2000, with most
colourful product from Raffaele Cecco, which we ported to the 16-bit platforms. of its success based on
the pinball games of Digital
Illusions. While not much more
than an upgraded version of its
predecessor, Pinball Fantasies
included enough extra whistles
and bells to become the
biggest seller of Andrew
Hewson’s career.

ANDREW’S
S MEM
MEM
E ORIE
ES
I loved our Pinball series, and they sold in huge numbers. This

PARADROID 90 sequel was by some margin the most successful game of my

career, selling even more than Uridium.
AMIGA, ATARI ST, ACORN ARCHIMEDES • 1990

Q It felt inevitable that Andrew Braybrook would eventually

return to the game that made his name, and once both he
THE HEWSON STORY
FROM SPACE INTRUDERS TO DIGITAL PINBALL
and Hewson felt comfortable with the 16-bit computers,
that time duly arrived. The aesthetically clean and shiny bas- Q Despite Andrew’s move into
relief graphics return in Paradroid 90, as does the grappling accountancy after the end of 21st
minigame, albeit with a steampunk-style gloss. In a strange move, the Century Entertainment, the Hewson flag
game scrolls just vertically, but the core gameplay of Paradroid is present still flies today thanks to his son, Rob,
and correct. The new Influence Device can shoot or attempt to integrate CEO and creative director at developer
with enemy robots as it proceeds throughout the many decks of each Huey Games. Over the past six years, Huey has
spaceship. Interfacing with an opponent adopts it and its powers while, carved a unique niche, releasing limited-edition collectors USB
as in the original, lifts take the player to other decks, and consoles reveal cassettes alongside an impressive variety of indie games such as the frantic
both essential and trivial information about each droid. Yet while the shoot-’em-up Hyper Sentinel and the evocative open-world trading RPG
enduring gameplay is as good as ever, this 16-bit upgrade is a case of Silk. Featuring many of the personnel behind games such as Lego Star Wars
what could have been. Horrendously tricky in places, there’s plenty of and Pinball Fantasies, the Huey story goes from strength to strength, and
buzzing and beeping in this busy robotic world, and the music is suitably if you want to know more about the Hewson story, Huey also sells Andrew
catchy. But if we’re being honest, the original remains perfection, and Hewson’s excellent book, Hints & Tips For Videogame Pioneers. Head on over
that’s pretty hard to improve. to hueygames.com to find out more.

RETRO GAMER | 45
The Jungle Book
“FORGET ABOUT YOUR WORRIES AND YOUR STRIFE”

» RETROREVIVAL
 MASTER SYSTEM  1993  SYROX DEVELOPMENTS
If you’ve been to the cinema for videogame
movies like Detective Pikachu and Sonic The
Hedgehog over the last few years, you’re sure
to have noticed plenty of nostalgic Millennials
introducing their kids to the things they grew
up with. That’s hardly a surprise to me though, as my big
Christmas gift in 1993 was a copy of The Jungle Book for the
Master System. It was definitely something I wanted as I’d seen
the Game Gear version on Bad Influence and the film had recently
been released on VHS, but I’m sure my mum’s fond memories of
the film played a part in her choice.
Looking back, I have fond memories of the game, and it’s
not hard to see why. A jolly rendition of The Bare Necessities
accompanies the opening stage and Mowgli is pretty well
animated. There are some very cool stage concepts too, from the
elephant platforms you see here to a river ride on Baloo’s belly. In
places, it looks so good that it could just about pass for a Mega
Drive game. But I have no idea how I coped with it as a child.
It controls a lot like other Virgin Games platformers of its era –
Cool Spot, Aladdin and the like – but it can be quite unforgiving
in places. Playing it now, I struggled with the precise timing
needed to springboard from a crocodile’s opening jaws, enemy
placements that seem impossible to work around and important
items that almost require you to sacrifice a life.
Was I just better at games back then? Probably not – I just had
far fewer games to play and plenty more time to play them, as
well as a far greater willingness to use cheats if I found myself
struggling. So if I ever have a kid of my own, I’ll probably spare
them this slice of my own childhood until they’re ready to tackle
some of gaming’s trickier challenges.
 THE MAKING OF

» Francesco Iorio still works in » Massimiliano Calamai continued

the games industry. He was head working in games long after Light Shock
of development at Revolution was dissolved, first on several adventure
Software, developing Broken Sword: games with Italian studio Artematica. He
The Sleeping Dragon and currently later founded Smallthing Studios, which
works in IT in Canada. is currently working on a new entry in the
Simon The Sorcerer series.

48 | RETRO GAMER
 : FIGHTIN’ SPIRIT

DEVELOPER
HIGHLIGHTS
FIGHTIN’ SPIRIT
PICTURED
SYSTEM: AMIGA CD3D
YEAR: 1996
BLACK VIPER
SYSTEM: AMIGA
YEAR: 1995
» [Amiga] Yadon prepares to PRAY FOR DEATH
beat up poor Eric. Notice the
splotches of blood on the floor. SYSTEM: PC
YEAR: 1996

I
From the passionate region n the Nineties, SNK was one of the The game was developed by Italian software
of Sicily, comes one strong kings of the fighting genre. Before 3D house Light Shock Software, which was

contender for the best-

games would arrive to kick-start the genre designed to be different from the average
in a new dimension, SNK, along with development studio. Founded by Francesco
add`^c\Ã\]i^c\\VbZdc Capcom, developed some of the best Iorio and Massimiliano Calamai, the two had
Amiga, which successfully titles to be found in the arcades, such as Fatal been working on Commodore computers
applied the SNK lesson to Fury and Samurai Shodown. But, if one wanted
that same quality at home, they’d have to pay
since they were kids and had several contacts
within the industry. Francesco had worked
the home computer. This is hefty prices for both SNK’s AES console and its with Team17 on a PC conversion of racing
the story of Fightin’ Spirit huge cartridges. So, who could resist game Overdrive, which in the end

WORDS BY
a cheaper alternative which boasted The phone was never released. Massimiliano
that same graphics fidelity and frenetic was ringing had worked at the Italian studio
DAMIANO GERLI gameplay? This was the starting point off the hook Simulmondo as a graphic designer.
for the developers of Fightin Spirit’ or, all day long Together with their friends Matteo
Perpetual Craze, as it was then known. Marco Biondi Tesser and Marco Biondi, the newly
formed team of four seemed to
» [Amiga] Rhajang is hit it off right away. Matteo remembers they
no ordinary tiger, he’s a would spend weekends at each other’s house,
tiger out for revenge.
alternatively staying in Florence and Belluno.
After a few months, Massimiliano and
Francesco decided to fly to London’s ECTS
to show a portfolio of projects to publishers:
images and demos they had been working on.
They returned to Italy with great hopes for their
IN THE work, so much so that in October 1994 they
KNOW decided to officially create Light Shock Software
 PUBLISHER: as a company. “Legally, only Massimiliano
NEO SOFTWARE
PRODUKTIONS and Francesco were actual members of the
GBMH company, since me and Matteo were not the
 DEVELOPER: official founders,” Marco remembers. “But still,
LIGHT SHOCK
SOFTWARE relationships between us were on the same
 RELEASED: level, there was no real hierarchical organisation.”
1996 The studio then approached The Games
 PLATFORM: Machine magazine for an interview. The resulting
AMIGA, published feature would put the fledgling studio
AMIGA CD32
 GENRE:
on the map. “The phone was ringing off the
BEAT’EMUP hook all day long, we got sent all kinds of games
and demos via mail”, recalls Marco. While

RETRO GAMER | 49
 Francesco and Massimiliano already had plans more successful.” Dynamic Style could not find
to develop their own games, when they saw a publisher so, when the offer from Light Shock
how many promising projects were out there, came, it felt it had no choice but to accept.
they saw an opportunity. They would help those The work in bringing Perpetual Craze from
young teams, not only by being their publisher beta version to release would end up taking
but also by carrying their game to the finish line. more than a year. “There was little to no
Francesco had seen first-hand how difficult it gameplay, so we had to build that up from
was to finish a project, despite already having a the ground. In the end, the project pushed
publishing agreement with Team17. By helping the Amiga ECS so much that we had to cut
other teams with their projects, Light Shock out some of the original songs that the team
would be known for operating in a way that had written because, otherwise, the game
resembled a quality assurance team, rather than would not have fit on the floppies,” comments
an average software house. Massimiliano. Marco adds, “The team had put

F
their hearts and souls into Perpetual Craze, they » [Amiga] It’s beast verses old man. Our pocket money is on Yadon.
ightin’ Spirit was born almost by were barely 18 years old by that point, so they
chance, Massimiliano mentions, were indeed incredibly passionate about the plundered, with three characters that sport
while he was browsing some project. Sure, perhaps they were being a little too the likenesses of those featured in the popular
gaming magazines. He noticed an bright-eyed about it, but that’s understandable.” Japanese anime/manga.
interview with Dynamic Style, a team While Perpetual Craze had been brought to Davide Busetta was the musician in charge
from Paterno, Sicily. It had been working, at that Light Shock more than halfway completed, it of the soundtrack, and he also did his share
stage for several years, on a fighting game in still needed work and the Dynamic Style team to embrace the Eighties hard-rock style, going
the style of SNK’s Fatal Fury and Art Of Fighting, members lived pretty far away. Most of the work full blast on the intro track Into The Night. All
called Perpetual Craze. Light Shock phoned the was carried out via exchange of floppies and the sound effects and voices of the characters
developer up and, soon after, Dynamic Style CDs via mail, which definitely made were actually created by Light
was working with the two producers day and communications difficult. There was Shock itself together with a few
night, ironing out bugs and adding new graphical It is fair to say that Fightin little to no friends and girlfriends, recording
touches. “The team had done a really great job Spirit’ is a title heavily inspired by gameplay, so them in a basement through a
with the graphics, Perpetual Craze looked as classics of the genre, along with we had to build cheap microphone. Assistant coder
close to an actual SNK beat-’em-up as it was being infused with pop-culture that up from Cesare Di Mauro mentions how
possible on the Amiga,” explains Massimiliano. references from the Eighties and the ground he had also programmed dynamic
Massimiliano Calamai
Perpetual Craze’s slick-looking graphics were Nineties. Giacinto mentions having illumination for the game’s night
created by Giacinto Platania, he mentions drawing a lot of fun in picking out as many as possible: scenes, but they were not incorporated as
them by hand “pixel after pixel” in Deluxe Paint IV. from the Van-Damme movie Kickboxer to a that would have meant Giacinto would have to
Giacinto also explains how the fighting character designed to look just like Freddie modify the graphics again and, well, “He did
game had been originally planned for a 1994 Mercury (Lorentz). He also says the character not feel like it.”
release, under its Perpetual Craze moniker. of Yadon was inspired by Thulsa Doom from Ironically, it was the demo of Perpetual Craze
“It was missing a lot of the animations and Conan The Barbarian. The post-apocalyptic that would actually score Light Shock its first
graphic pizazz of the Fightin Spirit’ version, but anime series Fist Of The North Star, which was publishing agreement. Massimiliano mentions
perhaps in 1994 it would have been much a hit in Italy in the Eighties, was also heavily that the team managed to get a positive

KENTO SAZAKI BURKE TONG LEE YURI ERIC WINDSOR LORENTZ O’

Q Kento is a Japanese MORTLOCK Q Hailing from Thailand, HOSHIMOTO Q Eric is a real easy rider, DONNELL
martial arts fighter, the Q Burke is an American Tong is a master in Q Hailing from Japan, Yuri he likes to live carefree Q Lorentz is the true bad
last student of the school mercenary who enjoys both Thai boxing and is very skillful with the and just roam around the guy, a businessman who
of Shaolin Hakiota. He beating up his adversaries kickboxing. He seems wooden stick (Bo) and he country. He is Sheila’s used to run a criminal
is his master’s pride for the thrill of it, rather to have quite a grudge is a champion of Yoseikan former boyfriend and a organisation which was
and joy and participates than just taking their against Japan and he Budo. He considers his good friend of Kento. destroyed by Jenshi.
in the tournament to money. He apparently is ready to defend his weapons to be a natural His fighting style comes His nickname is Lethal
show everyone why the possesses the venomous reputation as one of the extension of his arms and directly from the streets, Weapon and he uses all
Hakiota style is the most spirit of the scorpion and best fighters in his style of legs. In his free time, he as he doesn’t need no the tricks at his disposal to
devastating of all. loves playing videogames. martial arts. likes to collect paintings. school, baby! best his opponents.

50 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: FIGHTIN’ SPIRIT

» [Amiga] Things start off well for Yadon and » [Amiga] …Shuzar retaliates and uses his viper
he immediately kicks Shuzar in his face… spirit to unleash a deadly special move. Poor Yadon.

» [Amiga] In a move clearly inspired by Shiryu from Saint Seiya, Kento goes all dragon on us.

» [Amiga] When Rhajang wins, he mysteriously freezes in place. He must be a Siberian tiger.

Meet the warriors

of Fightin’ Spirit

SHUZAR SHEILA NASH SHIRO ASUKA RHAJANG YADON JENSHI

Q This fighter is a Q Sheila is an undercover Q Shiro grew up training Q Rhajang is a tiger and, Q Yadon is a true animal, YAMAMOTO
complete mystery, as CIA agent, posing as a with Kento, but he was well, he is no ordinary and one of the most Q Jenshi is the head
legend has it he should dolphin trainer in Miami, soon thrown out by his animal at all. There is an deadly on the planet. of Hikawa, a ruthless
be the master of the who also used to be Eric’s master because of his bad urban legend that Rhajang It was found bleeding international crime
School Of Orion and he is sweetheart. Despite her behaviour and jealousy was created as part of an to death in a cave in syndicate. He is the
supposed to have trained work being mainly about towards his friend. Since experiment to create the Indonesia. Yadon brutally tournament’s organiser and
Jenshi. But not much else reporting to her superiors, then, his one goal in life is most deadly animal on the murdered its saviours with his combat techniques
is known, except for his she has been trained in proving to his master that planet by splicing human without a second thought, he is considered to be one
supernatural abilities of martial arts, so she can he is the best by beating DNA with that of a tiger. It despite their valiant of the most dangerous men
mind control over animals. easily defend herself. Kento in a fight. pretty much worked. attempts to save it. on the planet.

RETRO GAMER | 51
 Other releases from
Light Shock Software
BLACK VIPER
Q This is an action racer in the style of » [Amiga] Get hit too much and our character will
Road Rash and Street Hawk that had been in start seeing little octopi (tako) floating around. » [Amiga] Uh oh, Burke has unleashed the spirit of the scorpion and its deadly sting.
development by the Italian team DEX since
1993. Light Shock would help with debugging, answer from Austrian publisher Neo, which in wanting to finish and release it on Amiga,
along with polishing and enhancing the title was also a young company, being founded only that a possible conversion was never even
for release. The main new feature would be an two years prior. It was the publisher which considered.” Apparently, some of the members
animated intro, exclusive for the Amiga CD32. insisted on changing the original name of the of the Dynamic Style team do remember
It was also published by NEO and seemed to game, to the apparently more easily marketable working on a prototype that would run on PC,
sell very few copies. Marco Biondi remembers Fightin Spirit’. But, there was a problem as the but they soon gave up on finishing it.

A
the game was essentially ready for release game was coming out at the worst possible
when DEX sent it to Light Shock, where it was time. Neo also insisted that it wanted a PC fter winning the MCW Amiga
polished and had bugs fixed, which ended up port, otherwise, it warned Light Shock that the award for Game Of The Year
being a six-month process… Black Viper was game would sell very little. So much so that, in 1996, Fightin’ Spirit was
also one of the last commercial CD32 releases. as Massimiliano recalls, “Neo told us that if released, receiving mostly
we wanted more money than what they were positive reviews from magazines
offering, which honestly wasn’t much, we such as Amiga CD32 and Amiga Format. It is
were free to find a new publisher. We tried still remembered by many to be one of the best
and could not find anyone, I remember Team17 fighting games on Commodore’s home computer.
saying that if we had shown them Perpetual Despite its acclaim, it did not go on to sell
Craze three years before, it would have been impressive numbers or, apparently, to really sell
a hit! In the end, we had no choice but to anything at all! By the mid-Nineties, the market
swallow our pride and stick with Neo.” for the Commodore Amiga had trickled down
Francesco confirms that, but also to very small numbers. Marco Biondi
comments that even if they had We got says, “I think if it had been released
managed to port the project on no money even three months before, things would
PC – in 1995 – that would have not out of the have been very different, but that was
been interesting for an international whole deal, impossible, I can attest that we were
publisher. “An SNK-style beat-’em-up not even working as fast as we could.” The
PRAY FOR DEATH for MS-DOS, back then, would have an advance same problem would also affect the
Q This was the final game released by Light basically no market to speak of and payment sales of the other Light Shock game
Shock and was a fighting game in the style of Dynamic Style was so persistent Francesco Iorio released by Neo, Black Viper.
Rare’s Killer Instinct. Vysio Arte Elettronica

HERE COME NEW

originally sent its demo to Light Shock and
used Lightwave 3D for the characters and
Real3D for the backgrounds. Massimiliano
Calamai mentions that the team’s objective
was bringing that arcade quality of Killer
Instinct to PC. This was easier said than
done and Marco Biondi mentions the game
took more work than all the others, as the
publisher, Virgin, was very careful in wanting
to release a bug-free game. Matteo Tesser
also created a video compression algorithm
from scratch in order to make the intro
video fit on a single CD.

BODY BLOWS DANGEROUS STREETS

Q In 1993, Team17 attempted to fill the gap for a decent Q This was another fighting title developed by an
beat-’em-up on the Amiga with this okay effort. While Italian team, but unlike Fightin’ Spirit, it misses the mark
it featured a variety of characters and smooth graphics, completely. It is considered by many to be one of the
its average fighting mechanics meant that it couldn’t worst beat-’em-ups ever for any platform, mainly because
compete with the arcade classics it wanted to emulate. of its terrible roster of fighters and chaotic gameplay.

52 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: FIGHTIN’ SPIRIT

» [Amiga] USA vs Japan in a fight to the death. Who will triumph?

At the time, many seemed to complain that

they could not even find Fightin Spirit’ in shops.
Interestingly, Fightin Spirit’ did seem to have
a lot of demand in the United Kingdom, so » [Amiga] Tong Lee seems to have borrowed most » [Amiga] The characters’ animations are really
much so that, in 2000, it would be re-released, of his special attacks from Street Fighter’s Sagat… impressive, granted they have to be seen in motion…
on CD only, by Alive Mediasoft. This would
probably make Light Shock’s hypothesis of Neo correct to say that all work on both Fightin their games were perfect – beautiful, fun to
not really going out of its way to distribute it, Spirit’ and Black Viper was done for free. This play and unique. So, when they discovered
probably not far from the truth. Massimiliano clearly contributed to the guys’ pretty sour that they were not selling like hot cakes and
remembers that the team did all that was in mood, and obviously ours as well. I have to they weren’t getting any money, they started
its power to check that Neo was acting in mention that Neo did provide us with an Amiga to blame Light Shock, and our publishers, both
good faith. “They kept reporting that the game CD32, to work on and test that version of Neo and Virgin. I can definitely understand that,
sold nothing and, as much as we were able to Fightin Spirit’, but that was the extent of their but there was little that we could have done.
check, these reports seemed to be correct. It is financial support.” Honestly I hope that, by now, everyone has

D
fair to say that Fightin Spirit’ only rewarded us… calmed down,” concludes Marco.
spiritually, since the finished product was indeed ynamic Style had another title Apparently that does not seem to be the
one of the best fighting games on the Amiga. in the works, USA Racing, a case for everyone involved in Fightin’ Spirit,
Economically, we got nothing out of it and when top-down racer in the style as Giacinto mentions he’d really like to not
we told the Dynamic Style team that we could of Super Off Road, but the have any more contact with the former Light
not give them any money, well, they got quite game would be cancelled Shock members. He also remembers Dynamic
angry with us. I understand their reactions but, after finishing Fightin’ Spirit. The team did Style actually wanted to sue both Neo and
honestly, it was quite frustrating for us as well.” not develop anything else and disbanded soon Light Shock to, at least, get some money
Giacinto mentions how the game was the result after. Light Shock would also be short-lived, as out of the deal, but, in the end, had to drop
of years of gruelling work by him and his team it dissolved shortly after the release of Pray For the idea, since the team could not afford to
of friends and, having nothing to show for it at Death, in 1996 as Massimiliano and Francesco hire a lawyer. But, at least, he’s satisfied that
the end, was really insulting. had different ideas on where the company people are still playing and being surprised
While talking about the publishing deal with should go. The final months in the software by the quality of Fightin Spirit’ to this day. He
the Austrian company, Francesco still feels that house were also marred by discussions and concludes on a final note, “If I had to remake
the overall agreement was a disaster, “We got Dynamic Style being particularly angry with the the game today… well, it would still be in 2D,
no money out of the whole publishing contract, two original founders. “I think everyone’s young no way it would be in 3D. But for sure, I would
not even an advance payment. Nothing. It is age (I was the oldest at 24) led them to believe not use Deluxe Paint again!”

CHALLENGERS! Key Amiga games Fightin’

Spirit faced off against

SUPER STREET FIGHTER II: SHADOW FIGHTER SPITTING IMAGE:

THE NEW CHALLENGERS Q Another beat-’em-up made in Italy in 1995, this time by THE COMPUTER GAME
Q This arcade conversion saw release in 1995 and was NAPS team. Shadow Fighter sported impressive graphics, Q A tie-in with the infamous UK show, it allows players
developed by Freestyle. While it definitely played OK, it solid gameplay and an interesting roster of characters. It’s to fight as several world leaders, including Margaret
was a huge graphical downgrade compared to the arcade considered by many Amiga fans as a real contender to the Thatcher and the Pope. While it was a novel idea, the
original, making it closer in visual style to the SNES version. throne of best fighting game on Commodore’s computer. below-average gameplay failed to make it a big hit.

RETRO GAMER | 53
 Arcade
Power Stick II
fact
■The model pictured is the North
American version – the European one
has red Start and Mode buttons,
and the Japanese one has a
microswitched joystick and
blue buttons.

ESSENTIAL GAME
MORTAL KOMBAT II
Though Street Fighter II: Special
Champion Edition was the game that
accompanied six-button Mega Drive
controllers in most regions, its biggest
rival was also greatly improved by
the extended control scheme. High
and low punches are no longer forced
to share a button, and the block
command moves to the face buttons
allowing players to pause with the
Start button. Of course, for the Mega
Drive owner who truly has to have
everything, the improved 32X version
of the game benefits just as much
from the Arcade Power Stick II.

54 | RETRO GAMER
PERIPHERAL VISION: ARCADE POWER STICK II

Arcade Power
Stick II
 PLATFORM: Mega Drive  YEAR: 1993
 COST: £34.99 (launch), £50+ (today, boxed), £40+ (today, unboxed)

I
n mid-1993, the Mega Drive had never been more popular,
but it was also close to five years old and beginning to
show its age. The hardware design definitely had an
Eighties feel to it, and those three-button control pads
were not adequate for the latest arcade hits. To
combat this problem, Sega engaged in a major
revamp and introduced the Mega Drive II and
Mega-CD II, plus peripherals to match. One of
them was the Arcade Power Stick II, a six-
button revision of the original device.
Since the Arcade Power Stick was
popular, the basic form factor was retained,
with the dedicated turbo-fire buttons
omitted to make way for the X, Y and Z
buttons. Turbo fire was retained though,
with the same variable-rate slider as
before, and a bank of switches to allow
the function to be activated for each
individual button. The Mode button
was also added, alongside a switch to
activate three-button mode in case of
game compatibility problems. If you
want to play fighting games on the Mega
Drive, this is really the device to own.

SUPPLIED BY
EVAN
AMOS
56 | RETRO GAMER
 ULTIMATE GUIDE: CANNON DANCER

ULTIMATE GUIDE

THIS OBSCURE ARCADE ACTION

GAME ACTED AS AN UNOFFICIAL
CONTINUATION OF THE STRIDER
SERIES, AND WOWED PLAYERS WITH KIRIN
ITS VIBRANT COLOURS, OUTLANDISH FOOT CANNONS
BOSSES AND IMAGINATIVE LEVELS
SOLDIER
WORDS BY LEWIS PACKWOOD

T
here’s a good chance you’ve » [Arcade] When you finally catch up
never heard of Cannon Dancer. with duplicitous attorney Jack Layzon
That might be because you know at the end of stage five, he fearfully
backs away – towards his doom.
it instead by the name Osman, the
title it was released under in the
West. Or it might be because the game was
never ported to home consoles, remaining
locked in the arcades, and never seeing an
official release in Europe.
Then again, you might be all too aware
of Cannon Dancer’s illustrious heritage as a
spiritual sequel to the legendary Strider – a
game that, even if you haven’t played it, you’re
almost sure to know of (it’s a favourite of our
editor, who may have mentioned it once or
twice in these pages). Released in arcades
by Capcom in 1989, Strider was directed by
Kouichi Yotsui, but he wasn’t involved with the
1990 sequel, Strider II, which was developed
by Tiertex. Nor did he work on Capcom’s
own arcade sequel Strider 2. Indeed, Yotsui
left Capcom not long after the release of the
original Strider, and after a brief stint at Takeru,
a studio set up by several former Capcom
employees, he joined the Tokyo-based game
developer Mitchell Corporation, where he
worked on The Karate Tournament (1992) and a
tile-based puzzler called Lady Killer (1993).
But the undoubted highlight of his time at
Mitchell was the release of Cannon Dancer
in 1996, a game that shares an enormous
amount of DNA with Strider. The protagonist
Kirin (renamed Osman in the US version, which
incidentally is also the name of the founder of
the Ottoman Empire) has an almost identical
move set to Strider Hiryu, including his signature
cartwheel jump and nifty floor slide. The main
difference between the two is whereas Hiryu
attacks with a blade, Kirin relies on kicks and
punches, with a rather clever twist. Collecting
a red power-up capsule during gameplay » [Arcade] Kirin hops aboard a tiny boat at the end of stage
allows Kirin to generate a yellow body double four, which surfs over some seriously impressive waves.

RETRO GAMER | 57
 » [Arcade] Stage four sees Kirin
board a sinking warship, where the
deck is pitched at a crazy angle

whenever he attacks, thus doubling the

power of his punches. But the real advantage
of this is that Kirin can leave the invulnerable
body double in place to keep attacking while he
retreats to a safe distance, a strategy that’s key
to defeating many of the game’s tricker bosses.
By continuing to collect power-ups, Kirin can
generate up to four body doubles at the same
PIRATES

W
time (see the Magic Trousers boxout).

ithin the first few seconds

of starting Cannon
Dancer, you know you’re
going to be in for an
absolutely wild ride. Kirin
is dropped into the futuristic city of Agadan
on the Persian Gulf (‘Gran’ in the Japanese
original) and the first soldier you meet literally
explodes in a shower of blood on contact with
your mighty kicks. This is a game that doesn’t
do half measures. Within moments you’ve
eliminated a small army of grunts and laser-
JACK
LAYZON TIGER MIZUTI shooting four-legged robots, not to mention
spinning gold statues that peel back their
faces to reveal guns. Then you’re met with a
chap dressed like a TV Gladiator stood atop
a futuristic limo, which rises up to reveal the

REVIVING
first of many mini-bosses: three statues locked
in gravity-defying poses, which pelt you with

CANNON
lightning and butterflies. Like we said, wild.
The game continues in this vein throughout.
Every few steps you’re faced with a brand-new

DANCER
foe or a dazzling piece of level design. It’s
relentless and brilliant. The gameplay changes
from moment to moment, with fresh ideas
THE ARCADE GAME FINALLY COMES HOME being constantly tossed into the mix. One
minute you’re battling a giant bell-shaped
Cannon Dancer/Osman never received a automaton on spindly legs, then the next
conversion to home consoles back in the day. you’re fighting off a tiger before running hell for
But now, nearly 27 years after its came out leather from a runaway truck. It never stops,
in the arcades, it’s being released by ININ Edition, priced at £62, features an art book, and you never know what to expect next. Plus,
Games as a digital download for the Nintendo poster, arcade flyer, marquee stickers, photo Kirin’s ability to hang from or climb up almost
Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Xbox, frame, CD soundtrack, tenugui (Japanese any surface lends Cannon Dancer a feeling of
in collaboration with game designer Kouichi hand towel), arcade coin and a diorama of the dynamism and agility as you elegantly leap and
Yotsui and artist Kiyoshi Utata. three Teki bosses you face in the game. These swing around the screen.
In addition to the digital version, Strictly physical editions are available to preorder now The plot is suitably outlandish. Set in a
Limited Games is releasing two physical ( strictlylimitedgames.com ), although there’s late-21st century where the whole world is
versions of the game for Switch, PS4 and PS5. no firm release date yet, aside from “early 2023”. run by a body known as the Federation, the
The Limited Edition, priced at £27, includes The re-release will add options to save and game begins with the Federation’s attorney
the game and manual, while the Collector’s load your game, as well as a rewind feature, general, Jack Layzon, ordering you to eliminate
and you’ll have the choice of switching a cultist group known as Slaver, whose
between English and Japanese. Plus, players members worship a goddess who goes by the
can choose to start a game with several same name. However, after Kirin defeats the
optional enhancements, including a double cultists, Layzon betrays him and sends him to
jump, invincible jump, invincible slide and rapid- be chained up and devoured by a beast in the
fire auto attack, and there are several cheat desert. Kirin breaks loose, and after making
options, too, such as unlimited hit points. Cheats his way through some mysterious caves, he
and unlimited enhancements are available in escapes with the help of a band of pirates on a
Standard mode, where trophies are disabled; to submarine. Along the way he faces off against
unlock trophies, you’ll need to play in Challenge rogue members of his futuristic mercenary
mode without the use of cheats, but with the unit, Teki, and finally corners Layzon, who is
option of using up to two enhancements. killed by the goddess Slaver. Then, in the final
stage, Kirin confronts the goddess herself in a
battle for control of the Earth.

58 | RETRO GAMER
 ULTIMATE GUIDE: CANNON DANCER

BOSS RUSH
THE BOSSES OF CANNON DANCER AND HOW TO BEAT THEM

GAMRAN HERIO
Q At the end of the first
Q A floating, flaming being
stage you’ll come across
that attacks with falling
this fire-spewing metal
gobbets of fire and giant
monstrosity, which charges
ethereal hands which
you with a rotating blade.
squeeze the life out of you.
HOW TO BEAT THEM:
HOW TO BEAT THEM:
Leap onto Gamran’s metal
Clamber onto one of the two
arm, above the spinning blade,
tiny platforms to attack Herio
and leave your doppelgängers
when it comes near. If you’re
to attack its head and body,
overwhelmed with flame
while you leap back to avoid
attacks, drop down and head
its flame attack.
to the other platform.

CANNONS
Q Cannons doesn’t attack
directly, instead ordering his
giant robot to fling its head,
hands or legs at you. As you do.
HOW TO BEAT THEM: As
you leap around trying to hit
Cannons, keep an eye on the
mech in the background to see
which bits are coming your
way. The head comes from
below, legs from above and
hands from the side.

TIANON
Q Tianon floats around the
screen and has a massive
reach to her attacks – plus
she can throw you with her
SLAVER
Q Slaver has three phases: first, balls will fly
cloak. Be careful.
from the sides of the screen, then lethal jelly
WILLF HOW TO BEAT THEM: beans will fly from the centre. Finally, she
Q Willf’s nifty hat also Tianon is invulnerable chucks the Earth at you. [What! - Ed]
functions as a shield, a while she’s floating around,
HOW TO BEAT THEM: It’s all about
boomerang and a flying but you have a window of
the dodging. Keep moving to avoid the
platform, and his nasty metal opportunity to hit her when
projectiles, and try to get inside the middle of
claws have a pretty big reach. she stops, and a hit will
the circle before it flies outwards.
cancel her attack.
HOW TO BEAT THEM: This
boss fight is merely a case
of leaping in to get a few
hits, then leaping away again
before Willf attacks with his
claws – but be prepared to
avoid his boomerang hat.

EURO-GAM
Q One of the toughest bosses in the game, this giant mech fires
energy bullets that bounce off the floor at an angle, as well as
powerful blasts from its face.
HOW TO BEAT THEM: The trick is to wait for a gap in the energy
bullets, then quickly leap towards the mech’s head to get a couple
of hits, then run away before it looses off any giant face blasts.
SCORPION
 » [Arcade] This bell-shaped robot goes by the name of Visete, and its
hobbies include leaping on people and releasing a cloud of tiny robot pals.
WILLF

» [Arcade] Cannon Dancer’s vision

of Prague is somewhat different
from the city as we know it today.

WEAPON-CARRYING PIRATES

SLAVER SANDORA
TIANON

MAGIC TROUSERS
CANNON DANCER’S UNIQUE POWER-UP SYSTEM
Kirin’s magnificent billowy trousers begin as Gaining a second power-up changes Kirin’s
a fetching shade of blue, but if you procure trousers to red, and allows him to place a
a red power-up gem, they morph to a lovely second body double, while a third power-up
shade of purple. In addition to the pleasing switches the powerful trousers to white and
colour change, Kirin gains the ability to create provides access to a whopping four body
a yellow energy double of himself. Pressing doubles. A fourth red gem causes the magic
the attack button fixes the body double in trousers to turn black, and adds blades of
place, and it will continue attacking for a short energy to Kirin’s kicks, extending his hit
while every time you press the button, before range. However, unlike the other power-up
eventually disappearing. This is very handy for, levels, the super-duper black trousers only
say, depositing a body double next to a boss’ last a short while and soon revert to white
weak spot, then leaping out of harm’s way – and if Kirin takes a hit at any point, he’ll go
while the doppelgänger continues to attack. down a trouser level.

60 | RETRO GAMER
 ULTIMATE GUIDE: CANNON DANCER

THE MINI MAKING

OF CANNON DANCER
There are six stages in total, with the first
two being set in the neon-lit city of Agadan,
while the third begins in the desert, but then
descends into the ground and a complex of
THE GAME’S DESIGNER AND ARTIST LOOK BACK ON THEIR WORK
caves with spinning crystals. This is where
you have a choice of routes, and your pick Game designer Kouichi Yotsui (also known
determines the order in which you face the as Isuke), says that the brief for Cannon
three rogue Teki members: Cannons, Willf Dancer came from the Mitchell Corporation,
and Tianon. The fourth stage is probably the “They asked us to make a Strider-like action
game’s highlight, beginning with the pirates’ game,” he says. Yotsui had created Strider
submarine ramming an enemy warship, which in 1989 when he worked at Capcom, and
you then board and fight through as it begins to now he revisited the concept with a fresh
sink and explode. Afterwards you leap onto a take. “I wanted to create an adventure in a
tiny skiff that glides over some enormous and world and landscape not often featured in
beautiful waves while jetpack troopers swoop movies and games of the time.” He notes that
in to attack, and the stage ends with you being decision to change the game’s name to Osman
» From left to right: Dennis Mendel (cofounder of Strictly
flown up into the sky by the goddess Slaver to in the United States was down to Mitchell Limited Games), Kouichi Yotsui and Kiyoshi Utata at the Tokyo

T
face off against one of the Teki. Corporation’s president, Roy Ozaki. Games Show in September 2022.
The look of Cannon Dancer sets it apart
he fifth stage begins in a from its spiritual predecessor, and the setting trying to create an unusual karate game that
mysterious forest near Aleppo, has been described as ‘neon-lit cyberpunk would not pander to the market. It was a time
but then, after entering a Arabian’ – although the game’s artist, Kiyoshi when the martial arts were getting a lot of
tunnel and fighting another Teki Utata, doesn’t necessarily think of it as attention. I think that had an influence on us.
member, you somehow end up Arabian. “It was not our intention to make the “Hand-to-hand combat is essentially a last
in Prague, the capital of the Federation. setting in an Arabic style,” he explains, “but resort, using oneself as a deadly weapon to
After Slaver appears and kills Jack Layzon, we were conscious of building a near-future, defeat the enemy,” continues Utata. “If the
she spirits you away to a location in the Arctic stateless image. The player, Kirin, could also loss of a weapon is a symbol of the inability to
with malevolent red skies, and resurrects be seen as Arabic in style, given his waist fight, then the ultimate strong weapon is the
all of the game’s bosses for you to fight belt and trousers, but the concept is that of a human being who can carry out all missions
all over again. Yes, it’s a classic boss rush, Japanese steeplejack. I designed the design with only one body, without running out of
which makes the final level a considerable by adding impressive embroidery and the obi ammunition. We thought that we could make
challenge – a challenge that’s heightened by as a silhouette of the character to it. him the ultimate character.” It was Yotsui’s
the fact that you’re sent back to a checkpoint “I think the art style, especially the world idea to use multiple versions of the character
every time you die on this stage, rather than building, is very much inspired by our planner, as a form of power-up. “We looked for an
respawning exactly where you left off, as Mr Yotsui,” Utata continues. “For the boss interesting-looking expression that is not too
happens on earlier levels. designs, Mr Yotsui would prepare an image powerful, not too convenient, and can be
It’s a tough old game then, although things of the game, and then the in-house art team easily set to attack positions during play as
are made slightly easier by the inclusion of a would compete for ideas. In the end, Mr a sub-weapon,” he says.
button that unleashes a Star Festival attack Yotsui’s choice was selected from among He also says that development difficulties
– essentially a smart bomb, where Kirin zips them. It was the culmination of everyone’s included tight scheduling and a low budget,
around the screen and destroys every enemy, ideas. This created diversity.” For his part, and Utata adds that the graphics pushed
or knocks a big chunk off a boss’ health meter. Yotsui says his inspirations for the artwork the technology of the time. “We were
The downside is that you only get three of included Wilbur Smith’s adventure novels, so concerned with the main character’s
these, and can’t collect any more, although Larry Niven’s science-fiction novels and Carl animation that we had to put pressure on the
they’re replenished when you die. Kirin also Gustav Jung’s theory of archetypes. ROM capacity of the entire game,” he says.
only has three hit points, although you can add Whereas Strider Hiryu used a blade, Kirin “At the time of development, I felt that I had
a fourth by collecting a yellow power-up, while relies on his fists and feet alone, a decision put out everything I had.” Looking back, Yotsui
green power-ups restore a unit of health and that Utata says was partly down to prevailing is proud of “the fact that Cannon Dancer is a
blue ones restore all of your health. trends in the arcade scene of the early high-end tableau for 2D and dot art games,
The sheer imagination on display Nineties. “At the time, fighting games were which are in decline as game production
throughout Cannon Dancer is what makes it booming,” he says. “All the games on the technology continues to change”.
such a delight, and unmissable if you’re a fan market were fighting games, and we were Kouichi Yotsui and Kiyoshi Utata attended
of the Strider series. Released at a time when the Tokyo Game Show in September 2022
videogames were rapidly pivoting towards 3D, to promote the re-release of the game (see
it stands as a high watermark in pixel art, with Reviving Cannon Dancer), which Yotsui says
huge, beautifully animated sprites, outlandish has been welcomed by fans. Utata notes that
bosses and dazzling use of colour. But since several people came to seek them out at their
it only saw a limited release in arcades, and booth. “I was very happy,” he says. “It was
was never ported to home consoles, relatively also a little heartwarming to see young game
few people even know of its existence. designer students who want to work in the
Hopefully that will soon change with the game industry playing and trying out various
upcoming re-release, and many more gamers » Kiyoshi Utata meets fans at the Tokyo Game Show. games for their studies.”
will finally experience the chaotic, fever-dream
world of Cannon Dancer.

RETRO GAMER | 61
Zero Wing
MORE THAN A MEME
» RETROREVIVAL

 MEGA DRIVE  1991  TOAPLAN

Today, Toaplan’s Zero Wing is perhaps
most famous for its “All your base
are belong to us” meme, which
first began circulating in the earlier
Noughties. Whilst it’s nice to see Zero
Wing’s reputation cemented in videogame culture in
such a memorable way, it’s perhaps doing the game a
disservice as there is far more to Toaplan’s game than
poorly translated cutscenes.
Mechanically, Zero Wing on the Mega Drive plays
just like its arcade brother, so gameplay largely focusses
around your ship’s Seizer Beam. This useful piece of
hi-tech weaponry allows you to either grab nearby
enemies to use as handy shields, or fling them towards
other ships. It’s a neat mechanic that adds a surprising
amount of strategy to the gameplay. In an additional
nice touch, certain heavier ships will also cause your
craft to lose altitude as well while you’re carrying them.
As useful as the Seizer Beam is, it’s not the only
weapon you have at your disposal as your craft can
access homing missiles, lasers and cannon fire by
grabbing the appropriate green, blue and red power-
ups. Grab different-coloured icons to switch between
weapons or simply nab the same colour to enhance
that weapon’s firepower – you can even grab a bomb
to chuck at enemies as well. Like the Seizer Beam, the
three weapons are carefully balanced and the clever
level design means you’ll often want to switch between
them to gain the best possible advantage.
Originally released in 1991, Zero Wing on Mega Drive
is very close to its arcade parent and while it loses out
aesthetically, the game’s level design and tremendous
boss fights all remain intact. I spent hours playing it as
a youngster and like Tatsujin, Kyukyoku Tiger and Hellfire
before it, it convinced me that I’d made the perfect
choice backing Sega’s console at the time.
 THE MAKING OF

IN THE
KNOW
 PUBLISHER:
ELECTRONIC
ARTS
 DEVELOPER:
FIRAXIS GAMES
 RELEASED:
1999
 PLATFORM:
PC
 GENRE:
STRATEGY

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MANKIND SETS » [PC] Making planetfall

SAIL INTO THE STARS TO COLONISE NEW in Alpha Centauri and
starting out in Civilization
WORLDS? RETRO GAMER EXPLORES THE certainly do look similar.

CREATION OF ALPHA CENTAURI, THE STORY

OF LIFE AFTER CIVILIZATION AND HOW IT
HELPED TO GIVE BIRTH TO FIRAXIS GAMES
WORDS BY ADAM BARNES

F
or reasons that are likely
obvious, when anyone thinks
of MicroProse, of Firaxis Games
and of any game tagged Sid
Meier’s, the first thought is
almost always Civilization. The reason is
clear: it was a standout title that gave birth
to its own breed of strategy game, and one
that has been a retaining part of the games
industry since its initial birth. Yet while it is true
that Alpha Centauri couldn’t exist if it wasn’t we’d shuttle code around using Jazz drives.
» Jason Coleman previously for Sid Meier’s earlier work on Civilization, the We also didn’t use any source control at first
worked on Civilization II before story behind its creation is so much more than so, for a period of time, I’d hand merge all of
moving over to Firaxis Games
‘Civilization in space’. our changes each morning.”
and Alpha Centauri. Like Tim
Train, he’s one of the founders of The important thing to remember first is While Gettysburg would go on to be the first
Big Huge Games. the timeline. Sid Meier, Brian Reynolds and game released by Firaxis, with essentially two
Jeff Briggs left the sinking ship that was teams working in conjunction there was space DEVELOPER
MicroProse and formed Firaxis Games in May for a second in the form of Brian Reynolds’ HIGHLIGHTS
of 1996, with a goal to leave behind the mess Alpha Centauri team. “At a business level, SID MEIER’S
GETTYSBURG!
of manufacturing and distribution and instead there was the cold hard reality that Firaxis did SYSTEM: PC
focus solely on designing great games. While not (yet) have the rights to the Civilization IP,” YEAR: 1997
the studio got up and running, it would need to says Tim Train, who was a co-designer and
SID MEIER’S
start making some games, and so Sid and Brian part-time producer on Alpha Centauri. “But at a CIVILIZATION III
individually went away to prototype their ideas. creative level, we’d spent two entire Civilization SYSTEM: PC
“I developed the underlying code systems games sending spaceships to Alpha Centauri, YEAR: 2001
to support both,” recalls Jason Coleman, who and we were excited to finally tell the story XCOM: ENEMY
had worked previously on Civilization II and of what happened once those colonists had UNKNOWN PICTURED
others over at MicroProse before joining the blasted off from Earth. SYSTEM: PC
» Tim Train was a co-designer YEAR: 2012
and part-time producer on Alpha
newly formed Firaxis team. “As I recall, Brian “Brian is an avid sci-fi reader, and could
Centauri. He’s currently working started work on what became Alpha Centauri also bring his interest in philosophy to the
at Big Huge Games as vice right away, while Sid had a few prototypes table with an emphasis on deeper societal
president of operations going before settling on Gettysburg. We didn’t questions that could be posed in a future-
and development.
have an office at first and no substantive facing game.” Brian, in fact, had studied
internet for large file storage at the time, and philosophy at university before he got his job

64 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: SID MEIER’S ALPHA CENTAURI

“WE DIDN’T HAVE AN OFFICE

AT FIRST AND NO SUBSTANTIVE
INTERNET FOR LARGE FILE
STORAGE AT THE TIME”
JASON COLEMAN

» [[PC] Alpha Centauri was built with plausible science

in mind… but only if you ignore the Mind Worms…

at MicroProse; Alpha Centauri was freed of

the Civilization’s historical restrictions, meaning
there was scope for a deeper exploration of
topics such as planetary colonisation and how
the human race might handle that.
“This was the golden age of game design,
where ‘build a game you love to play, and
you’ll probably find an audience for it’ was the
dominant business model,” explains Tim. “We
all loved the depth, richness, and replayability
of turn-based strategy, and so rather than start
from some top-level goals, we just built a quick
engine to prototype core gameplay in the 4X
model, and started to play the game every day.”
From the earliest prototype, the team would
have regular play sessions where they’d work
out what elements were fun, what weren’t,
and then quickly iterate on those learnings
while also cramming in new stuff just for
additional experiments. “Brian and Jason » [PC] The UI was crammed with tidbits of info and decorative » [PC] Combat was more numbers driven than any Civilization game,
were often coding up new systems by the elements to make it feel like a sci-fi computer. which added to the strategic depth.

RETRO GAMER | 65
 CHOOSE YOUR FACTION
IT’S GOOD TO KNOW WHO YOU’LL BE DECLARING WAR ON…
THE LORD’S GAIA’S HUMAN HIVE MORGAN
BELIEVERS STEPDAUGHTERS Q This is the game’s INDUSTRIES
Q An inability to Q The Gaians’ main communism analogue Q This faction is the
research anything for advantage is that they and as such benefits ‘sci-fi corporate entity’
the early game is a can expand quite easily from enhanced that puts cash before
disadvantage for the due to the boost in industry, while the people. Despite the
Believers, but this is a faction that is nutrients they get. This ability spread extra growth means it can expand advantage and the bonus 100 credits
better suited to early game military out far and wide is incredibly useful, quickly too. That industry advantage to start with, Morgan Industries
offensives so that they can strong- making them one of the strongest is important since it means the Hive is one of the few underwhelming
arm their way to the top for when it’s factions in the game – made all the is capable of a huge army or of a factions in Alpha Centauri. You’ll
time to take science seriously. And better with their ability to capture well-built empire, but to the detriment afford more things, but you’ll need to
that +25% when attacking is deadly. Mind Worms early on. of its economy. be picky about how you play.

next play session,” says Tim, recalling how any of our previous work from MicroProse,” he for undulating terrain, 3D unit models and
this fast-paced approach to development says, adding that since it was the early days even a simulation powering the terraforming
helps to refine a game over the course of its of Firaxis he was also, “Acting as IT and tech feature of the game. “The biggest challenge I
development. “On a future development team, support for the company.” recall involved the units,” says Jason. “Having

V
we’d call this kind of engineering ‘JSI/RSO customisable units was important to Brian and
Certified’, for ‘Jam Shit In, Rip Shit Out’ – a isually, Alpha Centauri held our solution (pre-reliable hardware accelerated
specific skill set that prioritises fast iteration, a candle to its preceding 3D) was to use a voxel rendering system.”
ideal for systems-driven strategy games. Play Civilization games, if not Jason adds that this brought with it “all kinds of
the game every day, make it more fun the next for the obvious benefit that challenges”, with the rendering looking muddy
day, lather, rinse, repeat, and after a couple of would come from fans being and the performance of the game taking a
years you’ve got a great game.” able to compare the two, then for the hit. “The core algorithm was all in assembly
On the technical side, Jason was in charge standardisation that the genre had adopted and we spent a bunch of time back and forth
of the engine that powered Alpha Centauri, since the release of Civilization II. Even so, with some Electronic Arts engineers to make
meaning things like input and output, graphics having to build everything from scratch was an it workable. This ended up including some
rendering, UI system and the like. “This was opportunity to do new things, and the engine self-modifying code where there would be
all built from scratch; we didn’t have access to that Jason and the team at Firaxis built allowed one pass to set constants for jump points in
the code so we could save on registers while
looping. I’m actually surprised that any of that
» [PC] The terraforming aspect
of Alpha Centauri is a surprisingly still works on modern CPUs.”
capable simulation that affects the It was important for the team that this was
terrain (and how you can use it). seen as something new, Firaxis might have
had the big-name clout behind many of its
team members coming over from MicroProse,
but it still needed to prove it had the goods
– without actually having the goods, such as
Civilization. In that sense, Alpha Centauri did
have a certain need to pull players in from
Civilization, but it very much had to be its own
game in its own right if Firaxis was going to
succeed without Sid Meier’s biggest creation
behind it. “We intentionally tried to straddle
the line there,” says Tim. “Our internal and
external pitch for the game was ‘The Spiritual
Successor to Civilization’, and so we very
much viewed it as an unofficial sequel. One
key Sid Meier design principle is that sequels
should be a mix of one-third new, one-third
improvements, and one-third retained from
the previous game, and I think Alpha Centauri
hewed pretty closely to that ratio.”
But that wasn’t the only design approach
that carried over from earlier games through to

66 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: SID MEIER’S ALPHA CENTAURI

PEACEKEEPING UNIVERSITY OF SPARTAN

FORCES PLANET FEDERATION
Q There’s no distinct Q For those who like to Q Given the name, it’s
strategy guiding the play the tech race, UOP perhaps no surprise
Forces, which makes gives a huge boost to that this faction is
» [PC] The sci-fi nature of the game allowed Alpha
them the most flexible scientific research for driven towards a Centauri to make better use of the open expanses of
faction in the game. Particularly an unmatched scientific advantage as militaristic style of play. With a very water than Civ ever could.
interesting is the fact that you’ll get the game progresses. You get a free high morale and a bonus to a police
double votes to be elected Planetary starting tech, +2 to research and a state faction, playing the Spartans
Governor and the benefits that come free Network Node (ie 50% boost to forces you down the route of building
with it, with the bonus to talent all science resources) in every base: a massive army – even if their
means Golden Ages aplenty. what’s not to love. industry is slower than most.

Firaxis and Alpha Centauri. How Civilization and

its sequel had been designed in some ways
also impacted the decision-making process
behind Alpha Centauri. Tim explains, “Another
Sid Meier design principle is ‘a game is a
series of interesting decisions’. At a systemic
level, the Civilization model does a great job of
presenting players with agonising trade offs and
choices – the hallmark of all great turn-based
strategy games. So above all, we really wanted
to retain that framework.” Tim suggests that
it is important that there should never be one
singular ‘best’ route through the game, or that
any specific technology, faction or unit should » [PC] The Social Engineering system allowed
stand out as ‘the best’. “You might want to play players to design their play style through
as a strict pacifist, chasing Transcendence,” policies they would set for their faction.
says Tim, “but when the Spartans show up on
your door on turn three with laser tanks popped
from Monoliths, you know it’s going to come to » [PC] Nineties PC games would definitely benefit from the learnings
blows sooner rather than later.”

T
the last decade of games have learnt about user interface…

his was why the factions of the narrative side of the game in a way that
the game were designed to be Civilization with its make-believe retelling of
so distinct from one another. real-world history simply couldn’t. “Multimedia
Later Civilization games would producer Mike Ely developed a fully realised
adopt a stylistic approach to backstory for the faction leaders,” explains Tim,
how any given empire should play, but it was “eventually authoring three books set in the
Alpha Centauri that first introduced the idea Alpha Centauri universe, in addition to his work
that players could make a playstyle choice creating all the Special Project Movies. The
before the game even begins. “The sci-fi non-linear story of the factions, and of Planet
setting obviously allows you access to fun new more broadly, was revealed through snippets
technological concepts,” says Tim, “but at a of fragmented narrative drops that could come
deeper level, the exploration of the nature of in different orders depending on your path » [PC] It’s testament to the balancing of the game that no one faction is more
society and humanity could be much richer through each game.” Fun fact: this disparate capable than another... despite what internet commenters said at the time.
when you imagine what might happen, as approach to an unravelling narrative was even
opposed to what did happen.” an inspiration for Ken Levine when creating the “THE SCI-FI SETTING
Because of its sci-fi setting, Alpha Centauri
was more able to let players imagine
tape recordings in BioShock.
To match that sci-fi setting, Jeff Briggs – one
OBVIOUSLY ALLOWS
themselves as leaders of a colony: rather than of the three Firaxis cofounders and the composer YOU ACCESS TO FUN NEW
recreating the past, Alpha Centauri instead
asked players how they would take command
for Alpha Centauri – had felt a need for a more
futuristic interface, which was throughout its TECHNOLOGICAL CONCEPTS”
of the future. But this also opened up areas for development more in line with Windows in the TIM TRAIN

RETRO GAMER | 67
 » [PC] Sure, Alpha Centauri’s AI was impressive, but the text
interactions were also way more rich and believable than in Civilization.

Nineties. “The original UI was very boxy,

opaque and with big caption bars,” says Jason,
adding that, “It didn’t feel particularly sci-fi in
any way.” According to Jason, Jeff asked for
a UI revisit while Brian was away on vacation
for a couple of weeks, “That was kind of an
unusual thing to do… let the guy have a vacation
without worrying that his game is gonna get
scrambled! Anyway, I worked on some UI
system enhancements and implemented a UI
refresh headed by artist Dave Inscore. On his
return, Brian accepted the idea and that’s pretty
much the UI style that we shipped with.” Jason
adds that it was Dave’s work at this point that
would ultimately lead to him being made one of
the partners alongside Tim and Brian when they
went on to create Big Huge Games.

I
n the end, Alpha Centauri took two-
and-a-half years to develop, a long
process (especially for the time)
of constant testing, tweaking and
improving. The team let its design evolve
organically in keeping with the newly formed
Firaxis attitude towards development, and
through that the game became more and more
refined. Even by the end of development,
mere days away from sending the title out
into the world, new additions were getting
implemented. “Literally days before we were
scheduled to ship, Brian decided that we
needed three entirely new victory conditions
in the game, beyond just a straight military
conquest victory,” recalls Tim. “This was in the
early internet days when patching a game was
» [PC] Wars feel more important in Alpha Centauri than in Civilization, but they’re impossible to avoid so better to prepare… still a major hassle, and so if you were going to

MASTERING ALPHA CENTAURI

HOW YOU CAN CLAIM PLANET AS YOUR OWN

UNITY PODS TERRAFORMING MONOLITHS

Q Much like the tribal villages of Civilization, Q Being able to shape Planet to your needs is a Q On top of the Unity Pods are the
Alpha Centauri’s Unity Pods are little complex and rich system. It can be overwhelming Monoliths, which are incredibly important
treasure troves dotted throughout a map at first, but it’s important to consider if you structures to find within the world. They’ll
and up for grabs from the moment you make want long-term success in Alpha Centauri. Just provide 2/2/2 resources for any city, allow
planetfall. Though the rewards are random, remember that too much terraforming can have you to fully heal any unit and even allow
any advantage early on will be appreciated disastrous effects, even potentially causing the you to promote one unit once. He who
– focus on these from the start! polar ice caps to melt, flooding everyone… controls the Monoliths, controls Planet.

68 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: SID MEIER’S ALPHA CENTAURI

get a feature in, you had to do it before launch. I

remember kicking up something of a fuss about
this, but we all tested it as thoroughly as we CAUGHT
could and started burning the gold masters.”
IN THE
CROSSFIRE
And even then the last final hurdle of getting
those masters sent away would prove to be a
challenge all by itself. “Partly due to last-minute
design changes and partly due to the standard THE EXPANSION PACK
insanity of tying off all your loose ends, we THAT ADDED IN ALIENS…
were still burning the final discs at the 5pm Q Once it was clear that Alpha Centauri was
close of FedEx hours near our offices just north a success, an inevitable expansion pack
» [PC] Drone riots are rebellions caused by poor city
of Baltimore, MD.” says Tim, who adds that the planning, but can be handled by ‘nerve stapling’ – an was set for development. “Expansions are
persistent snow piling up throughout the day atrocity that will cause trade sanctions from other factions. a great opportunity to tweak a base game
which ultimately escalated into a severe storm. in wacky ways,” says Tim, who adds that
“Someone had to get in the car and drive them accessibility that’s hard to replicate in a sci-fi with this one the team wanted to, “Push the
to the FedEx courier location at Baltimore- title,” says Tim. “You never need to explain to boundary on asymmetric faction gameplay,
Washington International Airport, at night, with someone why Gunpowder is important in Civ, so these new groups wouldn’t just play as
several inches of snow on the roads… just but what is Superstring Theory and what is slight modifications on the original set.”
the job for this newfangled ‘producer’ role,” it good for? That’s harder to describe. So we The result was Alien Crossfire, which added
laughs Tim, who remembers “white-knuckling” expected to have a less broad audience than in two playable alien races (among other
his 1995 Saturn through the snow to get the Civilization, particularly given the juggernaut factions) that would be played completely
masters hand-delivered to FedEx on time. “I that Civ II had become.” different to the base game’s factions.
made it with ten minutes to spare. We all took With some smart determination from EA’s After playing the base game solidly during
the next week off and awaited the reviews.” Bing Gordon, who Tim describes as Alpha development, Tim adds that the team “had

T
Centauri’s, “Patron of our partnership with a pretty good handle on what worked about
he efforts all paid off, Electronic Arts,” the game went on to achieve the core mechanics of Alpha Centauri”.
however. Alpha Centauri an impressive one million in sales. “Bing is a Interestingly that broad and unspecific
released on Windows PCs marketing genius, and I remember him making approach to the game’s narrative was also a
in February 1999, with Mac the case for a demo,” explains Tim, which key part of its development. “A secret design
following a year later to a great helped build up some hype in the first post- objective was to insert the lyrics of Jim Jones
deal of positive press, high review scores and MicroProse project from the team that made into the backstory in Alien Crossfire,” adds
even a few Game Of The Year awards. To Civilization II. It might swap rewriting history for Tim. For three decades now, Brian, Jason,
this day it is cited as one of the all-time great a sci-fi look at the future, but Alpha Centauri and I love to get together and play music,
strategy games, even alongside its spiritual managed to do exactly what it set out to do: mostly folk tunes. We are all big fans of Bob
predecessor Civilization II. “We knew that prove that Firaxis Games didn’t need to rest on Dylan’s Good As I Been To You album of folk
history as a theme has a broad appeal and an the laurels of Civilization to succeed. covers, which includes Jim Jones. I was
excited to put a lyric snippet from the song as
part of the Free Drones backstory.”

“WE KNEW THAT

HISTORY AS A THEME
MIND WORMS CUSTOM UNITS
HAS A BROAD
Q While at first you’d consider Mind Worms to be Q Learning how to make the most of Alpha APPEAL AND AN
the Alpha Centauri equivalent of the barbarians
from Civilization, in fact they’re a little more
Centauri’s unit customisation feature will get you
far. Finding that balance between the cost of the
ACCESSIBILITY THAT’S
nuanced. However, if you aim to be harmonious unit and what it offers your army is crucial, but it’s HARD TO REPLICATE
with Planet rather than terraforming it to your will,
you’ll be able to enlist these psi-attack units into
equally important to do a ‘stock check’ from time to
time to see if there are any units now obsolete or in IN A SCI-FI TITLE”
your own armies for free. need of tweaking or upgrading. TIM TRAIN

RETRO GAMER | 69
 ESSENTIAL GAME
FIFA International Soccer
Few games showcased the
generational leap that 32-bit
consoles offered like FIFA. The
original Mega Drive game was
highly impressive when it arrived
in 1993, but the 3DO game played
out in a full 3D stadium, with
camera angles that allowed you to
get up close to the pre-rendered
players. The new technology was
no hindrance to the action on
the pitch though, as the game
played just as well as its 16-bit
counterpart. In the mid-Nineties,
this was just about the most-
impressive sports game ever
seen in the home.

SUPPLIED BY
EVAN
AMOS
 HARDWARE HEAVEN: 3DO FZ-10

3DO FZ-10
 MANUFACTURER: Panasonic  YEAR: 1994
 COST: £299.99 (launch), £190+ (today, boxed), £90+ (today, unboxed)

W
hen Panasonic introduced the 3DO
format to the world with its FZ-1
console, its clear technical advantages
over existing consoles were
overshadowed by its mighty price tag. Just
one year later, the Japanese electronics giant
responded with its new FZ-10 – a smaller, lighter
and, most importantly, cheaper 3DO. Where
the FZ-1 looked like a piece of stereo equipment,
conveying Panasonic’s aspirations of fitting the
3DO into your home entertainment system, the
FZ-10 looks more like a traditional console, most
notably in its use of a regular lid instead of a
motorised tray for the CD-ROM drive.
The FZ-10 and new 3DO models from other
manufacturers were the right products to
introduce, but arrived as Sega and Sony
introduced the Saturn and PlayStation, both
of which had more developer support and
better 3D capabilities. Game production
continued until mid-1996, but the 3DO
never really gained a foothold in the
market. Although Panasonic purchased
the next-generation M2 technology
from the 3DO Company with the
view to introducing a successor,
it would ultimately abandon
the highly competitive
videogame market in
July 1997.

3DO
FZ-10 fact
QLike other 3DO models, the 3DO FZ-10
only has one controller port. This is because
each controller contains a port for an extra
player to connect to.
PROCESSORS: 32BIT ARM60 12.5 MHZ
RAM: 2MB MAIN, 1MB VIDEO
GRAPHICS: CUSTOM CHIPS CLIO AND MADAM 12.5
MHZ, 320X240 RESOLUTION, 24BIT COLOUR PALETTE,
FILL RATE 916 MILLION PIXELS PER SECOND
AUDIO: CUSTOM DSP WITH 13 DIGITAL INPUT
CHANNELS, CD AUDIO
STORAGE: 32KB BUILTIN SRAM
MEDIA: 650MB CDROM

RETRO GAMER | 71
 Nintendo’s 16-bit system is one of the world’s favourite consoles, and its
games have shot up in value over the last couple of years, so it’s a good time
for us to take a look at how much some of its best games will cost you today
Words by Nick Thorpe

REAL PRICEY GAMES

More costly RPGs for your SNES

Final Fantasy VI
■ Many swear by
Square’s final 16-bit
entry in the Final
Fantasy series as its
best game overall, thanks to its decision
to move away from strict fantasy and its
memorable villain Kefka. The US version,
named Final Fantasy III, comes with a
map and poster. There are other, cheaper
» [SNES] The unusual atmosphere English versions of the game available on
of Earthbound isn’t for everyone,
but its fans truly adore it. EXPEC T TO PAY
various platforms with some changes in
£25+ content and localisation, which you may
JAPAN wish to consider before taking the plunge
RAID YOUR SAVINGS
on this rather expensive cartridge.

EARTHBOUND
EXPECT TO PAY
£1,60 0+
USA
Breath Of Fire II
■ If you’ve ever
DEVELOPER: APE INC/HAL LABORATORY thought that you
RELEASE: 1994 could solve most of
your problems by
■ Shigesato Itoi’s cult classic is known for its The Japanese simply becoming a
oddball characters, its unsettling final boss and version, titled dragon, Capcom’s RPG might well be the
its relatively low sales in North America, with Mother 2, is game for you. A map insert was originally
140,000 copies sold. While it’s not the rarest considerably cheaper. It’s highly undesirable provided with the non-Japanese releases
game, its lofty reputation and a devoted fan to anyone who can’t read the language and of this game, so be sure to make sure
following both help to keep demand high, as like many Japanese RPGs of the era, it sold it’s included. The localisation isn’t
does the fact that a complete package includes far better in its homeland. If you’re not already amazing, so maybe learning Japanese
items like a scratch and sniff card which is often a committed fan who has to have the original is the best option for playing this one.
not present. Earthbound’s price has rocketed cartridge, we’d advise you to play the English There’s also a Game Boy Advance
over the last couple of years, and it now has a version via Nintendo Switch Online or the version that makes a few changes, and
combination of quality, notoriety and desirability SNES Classic Mini, both of which are much that’s cheaper but still a bit pricey.
that few other SNES games possess. more affordable options.

72 | RETRO GAMER
 SO YOU WANT TO COLLECT… SNES GAMES

EXPECT TO PAY

BEST BABYSITTER
£25+
JAPAN

YOSHI’S ISLAND
DEVELOPER: NINTENDO EAD
RELEASE: 1995

■ At a time when the SNES

was being overshadowed by
EXPECT TO PAY the arrival of 32-bit machines
£20+ and starting to look a little
JAPAN
long in the tooth, Yoshi’s
first solo platform adventure EXPECT TO PAY
» [SNES] This is how we remember Rainbow
Road – short and unforgiving. Like life.
» [SNES] You don’t get the feather in most later Mario Karts,
which makes this one better.
provided a welcome dose of Nintendo £45+
magic. Super FX 2 special effects were EUROPE

TOP BANANA applied to some excellent crayon-sketch

SUPER MARIO KART

graphics, and the typically excellent EXPECT TO PAY
game design persuaded players to £10 0+
USA
keep the 16-bit faith a little longer.
DEVELOPER: NINTENDO EAD One thing to note is that the European prices
RELEASE: 1992 for this game are all over the place – we’ve seen
it go over £100, but couldn’t see any particular
■ It’s crazy to think that Mario’s most lucrative spin-off didn’t EXPECT TO PAY distinction between some copies that have gone
start as a Mario game at all, but rather an attempt to create a £40+
EUROPE/USA
for far less. It’s also worth knowing that the
multiplayer version of F-Zero. The addition of the Mushroom Japanese version does contain some text boxes,
Kingdom’s inhabitants certainly didn’t hurt, but it’s the items that you can use to your mostly to explain controls and game mechanics.
advantage that really make this a competitive classic. It’s not as chaotic as later games
in the Mario Kart series, but if you’re a frequent recipient of Blue Shells in those you
may appreciate the relative purity of the racing here.
Super Mario Kart is a great starting point for any SNES collection, because as well
as being one of the console’s most popular games, it’s pretty affordable across all
regions. The game received a budget Player’s Choice reissue in both North America
and Europe, but the variant you choose doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of
difference to the price you’ll pay.
» [SNES] Graphically, Yoshi’s Island » [SNES] Interestingly, only the
EXPECT TO PAY
has aged far better than the 3D games Western releases add Super Mario
£85+ it was competing with. World 2 to the title.
USA

WHAT ABOUT MARIO?

He’s the pinnacle of platformers, after all

» [SNES] Rare’s expertise with pre-rendered graphics » [SNES] Nintendo’s relaxed rules on violence post-Mortal
helped its games to shine in the mid-Nineties. Kombat paved the way for games like Killer Instinct.
Super Mario World Super Mario All-Stars
EXPECT TO PAY The best game of all time, This compilation of the NES
OUR PRICEY MUSIC
£100+
KILLER INSTINCT EUROPE as voted by you lot back in Super Mario Bros games
issue 150, is an extremely is excellent value, offering
easy game to own – loose some fantastic games with
DEVELOPER: RARE carts are cheap and common. lovely 16-bit makeovers.
RELEASE: 1995 However, because the It’s pretty affordable right
game was bundled with around the world, so if you
■ Pre-rendered 3D sprites and crazy combos are the order consoles in North America haven’t already got the NES
of the day in this scrapper, a conversion of the arcade hit and Europe, boxed copies games, this is a great start
that purportedly used the technology of Nintendo’s SNES are exceptionally difficult to your collection. There’s
successor, the Ultra 64. The 16-bit rendition actually comes across pretty well, giving to find and often command also a second version of the
fighting fans a nice alternative to the likes of Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat. a hefty price as a result. cart with Super Mario World
The main driver of the price here is the bonus Killer Cuts soundtrack CD, which is Think carefully about if you included, which makes it
typically missing from otherwise complete copies of the game. Without it, US copies really, really need some extra even better value as a
go for £50+, while PAL copies start at about £25, assuming that the box and manual cardboard for your game. starter game.
are present in decent condition for both regional versions.

RETRO GAMER | 73
 Get loose Be patient Matters of import Look around
■ Remember, you’re paying a hefty ■ Choose auctions over Buy It Now ■ The only difference between North ■ As always, eBay attracts higher
premium for cardboard boxes – you on eBay if you want the best prices. American and Japanese consoles is prices because most people are looking
can easily save a lot of money by Plus, a game might come to Nintendo the cartridge shape, but PAL games there. Join Facebook groups and scour
sticking to collecting loose cartridges. Switch Online while you wait. have proper regional lock-out coding. local sales listings for better deals.

EXPECT TO PAY
CHEAP HITS FUN GUNNER £6 0+ EXPECT TO PAY EXPECT TO PAY
£8USA0+ £70+
STREET FIGHTER CONTRA III:
JAPAN

EUROPE

II TURBO
DEVELOPER:
THE ALIEN WARS CAPCOM DEVELOPER: KONAMI
RELEASE: 1993 RELEASE: 1992

■ Street Fighter was an EXPECT TO PAY

■ Konami seemed to be on another level compared to most
institution on the SNES, with £25+
EUROPE/USA
developers in the 16-bit era, and this spectacular run-and-
Capcom releasing four games gun really benefits from the team’s technical expertise – the action is relentless
between 1992 and 1996, and while everyone will and features special effects that seem to push beyond the limits of the console.
have their own favourite version we’re guessing that Because there aren’t regional disparities in terms of pricing, we’d advise picking up
most people would go for this one. It has the classic either the North American release or Contra Spirits, the Japanese version. The PAL
cast, without the Super characters but with playable game, known as Super Probotector: Alien Rebels, has the usual edits to turn angry
bosses, and the speed adjustment allows you to gun-toting blokes into angry gun-toting robo-blokes. The Game Boy Advance version
make the game insanely fast if you choose. The great sadly loses the Mode 7 stages, but the SNES Classic Mini has the American version
news is that the game was so successful back in the included so it may be worth your while.
Nineties that it is an affordable classic today, with
relatively low prices across all regions. PAL copies
can tend to attract higher prices more consistently,
with some going as high as £50, but if you wait for a
bargain you’ll soon come good. EXPECT TO PAY
£2 0+
JAPAN

» [SNES] Guile blocks Chun Li’s » [SNES] That’s a heck of a range » [SNES] Other developers couldn’t compete with » [SNES] The occasional Mode 7 sections
kicks, presumably before unleashing on that dragon punch there, Ryu. the amount of on-screen action in Contra III. helped to break up the side-scrolling action.
a nasty flash kick of his own. What gives?
EYEBROW RAISER EXPECT TO PAY
EXPECT TO PAY
£125 +
£100+
WORTHY CHALLENGERS
What do the other SNES Street Fighter games offer? ACTRAISER
DEVELOPER:
EU ROPE
USA

QUINTET
Street Fighter II RELEASE: 1990
The original version of Street Fighter II
was a killer app that put plenty of ■ Here’s a game that is highly unique not just on the SNES, EXPECT TO PAY

SNES hardware into homes, but but in general – after all, how many games can you name that £25+
JAPAN
it’s the most basic option available, combine platform action with god game sections? Add an
missing many of the extra moves amazing soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro, and it’s amazing to think that it was one of the
and the playable boss characters very earliest third-party SNES games. Unfortunately, it’s one that doesn’t come cheap
of later iterations. these days, at least outside of Japan – the price has spiked over the last two years,
[Game] most noticeably for the North American version.
Super Street Fighter II The problem here is that although it has been reissued a couple of times, the Wii
This version includes four additional Virtual Console is now gone for good, and the 2021 update Actraiser: Renaissance is
characters – Cammy, T Hawk, a very divisive version that makes a number of changes to the core gameplay. If you
Fei Long and Dee Jay. It’s a good want to own a copy of the game that’s authentic to your memories, you might just
conversion in general but it’s not have to fork out a considerable sum and get the SNES version.
as fast as Street Fighter II Turbo can
be, which means some people prefer
the older version.
[Game]
Street Fighter Alpha 2
The final SNES Street Fighter is the
most mechanically advanced and
features plenty of new characters,
including Sakura and Rolento. It’s a
massive technical achievement, but
better home versions exist on more
powerful platforms. » [SNES] You can’t hear screenshots, but if you » [SNES] The god game sections really set
could you’d be loving this. Trust us. Actraiser apart from everything else of the era.

74 | RETRO GAMER
 SO YOU WANT TO COLLECT… SNES GAMES

POWER PAK

EXPECT TO PAY
£1 2+
JAPAN
KIRBY’S FUN PAK
DEVELOPER: HAL LABORATORY/NINTENDO
RELEASE: 1996

■ This multi-game package is

arguably the most popular Kirby
game of the lot, with plenty of
classic sections to get stuck into
including Gourmet Race and a EXPECT TO PA
Y
partial remake of Kirby’s Dream £160+
USA
Land titled Spring Breeze. This
» [SNES] “Go on Tim,” you shout. Your child responds, » [SNES] Super Tennis, like many things in life, is one has huge regional variations, with the Japanese
“Who’s Tim?” Suddenly, you feel very old. better when shared with a doubles partner. version being very cheap and the North American
version being quite pricey, despite appearing to be
LOVE LOVE EXPECT TO PA
Y more common than the PAL release. If you’re looking

SUPER TENNIS
DEVELOPER:
£9+
USA

TOSE
for a cheaper option but don’t like buying Japanese
games, it’s also available on the SNES Classic Mini,
Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions and the Wii
RELEASE: 1991 compilation Kirby’s Dream Collection, so you’ve
definitely got some choices. EXPECT TO PAY EX
PECT TO PAY
■ Sports games aren’t normally particularly expensive EXPECT TO PA
£
Y £2 5+ £90+
games, but that’s often because they’re quickly discarded 1 0
EUROPE
+ JAPAN
EUROPE

due to the yearly update model that most of them work on.
Super Tennis didn’t have that issue, but it’s still a game that manages to hold a very
low price across all regions. Super Tennis is an all-time great sports game, which
manages to pull off a similar trick to other great tennis games like Smash Court
Tennis and Virtua Tennis – it’s very easy to pick up and play and can offer hours of
multiplayer fun, so even if you’re not particularly interested in the sport itself, it’s
easy to get drawn into the game. So don’t sleep on Super Tennis assuming that it’s
your average shelf-filler sports game – at the kind of prices it sells for, it should really
be a foundational part of your SNES collection.

EXPECT TO PAY
£7 0+
JAPAN

PINK POWER!
Kirby’s other SNES adventures
Kirby’s Dream Course
If you want a break from platform game
action, this is an oddball crazy-golf
game starring the rotund hero and his
various enemies and allies. It’s probably
» [SNES] It’s a strange-looking game to modern » [SNES] Boss encounters are a big part of the weakest Kirby game on the SNES,
eyes, but Axelay has a style all of its own. Axelay’s appeal as a classic shooter. but it is certainly a bit different.
EXPECT TO PA [Game]
AXE AND CASH Y
£160+ Kirby’s Avalanche

AXELAY
DEVELOPER:
USA

KONAMI
You know how Puyo Puyo used to get
reskinned into all kinds of different
games? Well, this is another example
RELEASE: 1992 of that – it’s the same puzzle gameplay
you know and love, but with Kirby’s big
■ The perspective is unusual, but Axelay is fondly EXPECT TO PA pink face plastered all over it.
Y
remembered by plenty of SNES shoot-’em-up fans for its £60+ [Game]
spectacular graphics and challenging action. It’s also tied to EUROPE Kirby’s Dream Land 3
the SNES today, unless you happen to have a Wii U loaded with This is a lovely platform adventure,
eShop credit to buy the Virtual Console release. All versions of Axelay have gone with beautiful pastel graphics that
up in price over the course of 2022, with the North American version in particular are almost as easy on the eye as
doubling before settling down a little. But while the NTSC prices for this game are the game design is on the player. As
pretty stable, PAL copies are absolutely all over the place with no apparent reason a late release, the North American
why some copies go for loads of cash and others for relatively little, so European version is quite pricey these days.
gamers might be able to grab a bargain relative to the price we’ve listed here.

RETRO GAMER | 75
Virtual On:
Cyber Troopers
HOW TO MECH ME POOR
» RETROREVIVAL

 SATURN  1996  CRI

If ever there was a machine in
Sega Park that seemed to be there
just for me, it was Virtual On. I’d
heard of the game in magazines but
didn’t have a Saturn, so the arcade
was my only hope of getting to play it. After a little
bit of adjusting to those twin-stick controls, I was
able to enjoy battling it out with some surprisingly
agile giant robots. I feel like that control scheme
might have put people off though, as I’m not sure
I ever actually saw anybody else play that twin
sit-down cabinet in the back corner, but I was more
than happy that I never had to wait for a game.
Of course, that also meant that the machine went
away sooner than I would have liked.
My friend James ended up giving me his Saturn
collection during a clear out a few years later, and
despite having nearly 30 games to play, the Sega
Flash Vol 4 demo disc caught my attention early on.
That’s partially because it had a demo of Sonic 3D,
but mostly because it allowed me to play Virtual On
for the first time in ages. Getting back into those
frenetic fights and actually hearing the music
instead of a noisy arcade, I fell in love all over again
and eventually picked up the proper game.
Somehow though, this game still manages
to goad me into spending more money, and the
Dreamcast sequel is just the tip of the iceberg. Did
you know there was an online version of Virtual On
for the Saturn? Did you know that fans have been
working to get it running via DreamPi? I do, and
now I own a modem for the Saturn, and I suppose
if I want to do my best against my online opponents
I should probably invest in the twin-stick peripheral
too. But I can stop any time I want. Honest.
 ΨHʵÈX-
x¯

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č÷  ƍƎ ƭƢì ÷ƃ  ƀ ƠŇ ƚƏ ơđ ì ƓƄ Ɯč ƍƢ ƪŘ Ƅ čƞ  ƖÜ Ƭ ůƎ ƑƤ ƢĬ Ɔ ĴƧ  ƀĬ ƃ
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‹X¹År©Ú-°»ÉFЯÏrXµ

78 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: 10800 SNOWBOARDING

r nowboarding was the freshest

sport on the slopes when Giles
Goddard became hooked in
the Nineties. He’s still a keen
snowboarder to this day and has
recently released Carve, a VR snowboarding
game for modern platforms (see issue 225).
But back in early 1997, Giles was working
on a new graphics technique that created
realistic-looking limbs that bend and twist.
“I had this prototype demonstrating inverse
kinematics and wasn’t sure how to test it. » Giles Goddard was the lead designer on 1080º
Snowboarding and is now CEO of Chuhai Labs.
So, I had this arm that was attached to a ski
pole and the arm was flailing around. That's Once the game design got underway,
where the topic of making a ski game came Giles explains that he was simply left to get
up with Miyamoto. There weren't any good on with the development. “I think they just
skiing games for the N64 and Miyamoto let us run with it. At the time, I was working
said, ‘Let's make a skiing game.’” in the N64 research group and it was my
Giles advised Shigeru Miyamoto that task to figure out what it could actually do IN THE
it would be better to go with one board
instead of two skis. “Around that time,
to get the most realistic-looking graphics
on the N64.” This was quite a departure
KNOW
 PUBLISHER:
snowboarding had just begun to grow into from a typical Nintendo game with Giles NINTENDO
a big thing. So, we had a discussion about adding, “All their other games, like Zelda  DEVELOPER:
which one would be more fun. A typical and Mario 64, had a very intended look, NINTENDO EAD
 RELEASED:
ski game, simply turning left and right, or very anime, very stylised look. With 1080º, 1998
a game where you can jump onto things I wanted it to look completely different to  PLATFORM:
and have massive leaps, twists, grabs and all those games. It was a very conscious N64
all this kind of stuff. It's a no-brainer that's decision to make it look very unlike Mario.”  GENRE:
going to be the more interesting game.” It was this search for realism that led Giles EXTREME
SPORTS
After the decision was made, Giles to use a technique called skinning. “When
continued developing the technology. you make 3D graphics or a 3D character,
“I was playing around with AI inverse you make parts for them,” he elaborates.
kinematics, which is a way of animating “You don't make an entire arm, you make a
limbs programmatically,” he continues. hand, forearm and upper arm. And then you
“You don't animate by hand, you get the join them together using a bone system.
CPU to animate things. I was into using
that kind of technique because it meant you
» [N64] It gets tough in the deep
could do all sorts of cool things. A lot of powder trying to avoid those trees.
these things came from experiments that
somebody happened upon when walking
past my desk at the time.”

» [N64] There are three difficulty modes to beat,

with a new course being added each time.
© Getty

RETRO GAMER | 79
 It's great for characters like Mario, but the
problem is in-between the joints. You can

x¯ĶÐJ see the polygons overlapping each other

and it looks unrealistic and unnatural. So,

X¨¹ÅÆkº the skinning merges those models together

to create a continuous shape that will still

I
bend naturally…”
MEET THE CAST OF 1080º SNOWBOARDING
t wasn’t just the realistic
H¨¹ÊÉ‘¨´Ê character models that helped
Akari is a happy-go-lucky boarder from Japan 1080º Snowboarding stand out,
who focusses on technique the snow on the slopes was
over speed and power. an important part of creating a
She’s a good choice for realistic simulation as well. “The goal was
beginners learning the to make it feel realistic by having these
game due to her great different types of snow,” Giles says. “You
balance that will stop need three types: soft powder, normal
you from crashing out snow and then the ice. Without those, you
on jumps and turns. basically have this very generic experience
that may as well be a driving game. There's
8¶µÃJºÕk nothing unique about being on a flat surface
DEVELOPER
Being the fastest boarder in 1080º and just skating around. So, each type of HIGHLIGHTS
SUPER MARIO
Snowboarding makes Dion snow has a very different characteristic in BROSPICTURED
the best choice for racing terms of physics and looks. It was vital to SYSTEM: NES
and his power is useful for have these different surfaces otherwise the YEAR: 1985
bashing away rivals as you game wouldn't have worked.” FZERO
jostle for position. However, And if the snow effects weren’t enough, SYSTEM: SNES
Dion lacks balance and has the team went the extra mile producing YEAR: 1990
a tendency to crash out on some impressive weather effects that THE LEGEND OF ZELDA:
corners and jumps. appear throughout 1080º Snowboarding. A LINK TO THE PAST
Giles explains that creating realistic weather SYSTEM: SNES
HµÔ¼HƲ8Ψ¯Ê was quite easy at the time. “You can add YEAR: 1991
Kensuke is a great all-rounder with decent
speed, balance and » [N64] It’s not just the ice against you as
technique. He is a great rival boarders attempt to crash you out.
choice for nailing the tricks
on the courses as well as
finishing with a good time.
His poor jump means he
struggles with the Big Air
and Half-Pipe events.

k8ªÌ‘¾°ÏxƹÃXkµ
If you need help landing your tricks or pulling
huge combos on the
half-pipe then look no
further than Ricky. His jump
enables him to leap higher
and further than the others
and his great technique
makes pulling the infamous
1080º trick a breeze.

kX©ɨ‘¾ÐXÅ
Rob can be considered the best all-round
boarder and is your go-to to
win the Expert Course and
two-player races. He rarely
crashes out and has decent
stats for pulling tricks while
keeping control. He’s also
the coolest boarder with
his snazzy shades.

80 | RETRO GAMER
 » [N64] Filling the leaderboard with your
own times unlocks secret boarders to use.

course. “Because we wanted to create

that realistic snowboard feel, you aren’t
going to have all these buildings and
stuff everywhere,” Giles explains. “Even
without putting extra stuff in, you couldn't
just draw an entire course because that
would take too much time. You have to cut
it into bits and then decide how all that fits
together. So even just drawing the ground
itself was a major undertaking.”

.
» [N64] The Big Air event is your chance to show
off those 1080º rotations you’ve been practising.
iles found one of the bigger
challenges came when the
fog that cuts the drawing distance,” he of the N64. “Most of the decisions revolved team was implementing the
begins. “You know the number of polygons around how it affected the framerate and it multiplayer mode. “With the
you can see on the screen at once and you was the number-one goal to keep it within two-player split-screen, you've
cut them down. That gives you a lot more 30 frames a second. If you wanted to win potentially got four characters on-screen
GPU power to use somewhere else. You an argument as a programmer back in that you'll be showing,” he explains.
can use the extra power to draw extra stuff those days, you just said, ‘Well, we don't “Because you race somebody that could be
like the snow particles that hit your very close to your own character, you
eyes. So, you take one thing down, you can see yourself on their screen and
move it, and you pull something else ɩµÚ¶Ö8P¨®ÊÏQ°µÕÆQ«X¼ÔÊQ®Ì°x¯ they can possibly see themselves on
out. From a technical standpoint, it’s your screen as well. To get it working
actually quite easy to do anything once -³8Ïx°µÕ4Æ·ÓXP¶»ÊXϨJ´ÂÕk°Â³ɒɪ we had to redo the entire game engine
you introduce fog.” from scratch in some parts.”
For all the great effects that Giles was
.8³¬Ô.ЫÅk« It wasn’t just the N64 graphic
able to use to create a realistic game, he have enough GPU to draw that.’ So, you capabilities that caused headaches for the
was still constrained by the overall power keep putting stuff in until you hit that limit.” team. The limited storage space on the N64
The limitations of Nintendo’s console cartridges caused issues as well. “That was
» [N64] If you like returning to beat your high
also helped with decisions about how a huge part of making the game,” Giles
scores, you’ll enjoy 1080º Snowboarding.
many objects would be included in each recalls. “How do we fit all of this into a cart
© Getty

» [N64] There are some great snow particle » [N64] Pulling grabs is a great way to showcase
effects that help create an immersive experience. skills without the risks of crashing out.

RETRO GAMER | 81
 at ease and it’s possible to play the game
with one hand during certain sections.
Giles explains that it was important to get
this right. “Designing the game was one to
one with the controller because Nintendo
wanted to use it to its full potential,” he
says. “It's one of the first controllers with
a proper analogue stick and it was a good
fit for that kind of game.” A feature of the
game’s controls is using the Z-trigger to
bend your boarder's knees. This added
to the sense of realism, especially when
landing tricks and picking up speed on
the slopes. The unique idea came from
Miyamoto, and Giles felt it was a weird thing
to include but admitted it added plenty to
the gameplay. “It adds the timing mechanic
to the landing, which is true in real-life
snowboarding. Miyamoto is a skier, not a
snowboarder, and you have to bend your
knees a lot in skiing.”
» [N64] There are plenty of secret routes to 1080º Snowboarding has a punk-rock
uncover as you blast down the slopes. soundtrack that sounded different from the
usual music Nintendo would use. However,
when everything from the data to the code afterwards, we called it a dynamic loader.” before the soundtrack was finalised,
has to fit in the RAM? When you make a This proved popular as Giles explains. “It's Giles used his own musical influences to
game, everything from the code and the a win-win for the programmers, software showcase early demos of the game. “When
data gets clumped together into a zip file, designers and hardware designers. We I was putting together early demos of 1080º,
and that's your ROM.” To enable the N64 always wanted to use that system going I used to make videos to show in shops and
to handle 1080º Snowboarding’s large data forward rather than the old way of just to potential people buying the game,” he
files Giles had to design a new way for the dumping it all in one go.” says. “At the time, I was really into Prodigy

h
data to be loaded into the system. “We and The Fat Of The Land had just come out.
made this new technology that swapped laying 1080º Snowboarding feels I used some Prodigy tracks on the demos
code in and out in real-time and patched it natural and this is largely down and it just fitted so well with the aesthetic of
all up. So that’s how we got quicker load to the N64 controller and its 1080º.” Giles's face lights up as he says. “I
times and more space to use. Also, that intuitive analogue stick. Your later found out that Prodigy’s Liam Howlett
was the technique used for every N64 game boarder sways around the slopes was a big fan of 1080º, which is pretty cool.”

P´¶Ó³ζPƵÕr
COOL THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR WHEN YOU’RE ON THE SLOPES
8¬ªÖÃJ¶½ÆÔQȥȣ .»Õ¶x¯ÆÄ4X·Ñ¬k 8¬ʪèÀ 8¬¯ÂÍ-ɡh8·¬Ɍ
One of the earliest moments that There are several iconic moments A tough section is this ice cavern ¨«ÂɨɎ
grabs your attention in 1080º during play where a helicopter that has several different routes to On the final course you find yourself
Snowboarding is the N64 ice cube appears and follows your boarder take. Make a wrong turn and you jumping off a huge cliff that leads
that appears as you tackle a tough for a short while as you weave in will find yourself in trouble. The into a gigantic ice half-pipe. If you
corner on an ice patch. Be careful and out of turns. It looks spectacular best route depends on your skill survived the initial big drop you
admiring the beautiful artwork and expert players can get quite level but you can’t go wrong by will now need all the skills you’ve
though, it’s easy to slip out on this close to the chopper with heading right, right and finally learned to keep control during this
corner and lose your race. a well-timed jump. going for the centre. slippery section. Good luck!

82 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: 10800 SNOWBOARDING

Sadly, Nintendo wouldn’t go with Giles' idea

to include Prodigy on the soundtrack but he
muses on the possibility. “I wasn't involved
in the final music and Nintendo would never
-8µÅ°Q®Õ4Æ·Ó-¬ªÕ³Ï¬
have gone for Prodigy anyway. Can you HOW GILES AND THE TEAM TWEAKED
imagine Nintendo using Keith Flint in the 1080º SNOWBOARDING’S DIFFICULTY
promotional material?” Q 1080º Snowboarding is a tough game and finishing all the courses and nailing all the tricks takes


practise and patience. Giles feels that, “At that time, people expected the games to be hard and they
ny extreme sports title worth its were disappointed if they were too easy. So, you had this fine balance trying to appease the real hardcore
weight in snow needs to have an gamers who want a full game for their money, which meant them having to work hard to see the best
array of tricks to pull off. These things they can get in the game. You also have to make sure that people aren’t alienated before they’ve
are not just for showcasing your even had a chance to play, so it’s quite a difficult balance.”
style either, 1080º Snowboarding That wasn’t the only challenge. “Nintendo was always against the infinite retry mentality in those days,
cannot be fully completed without it was very much that they were making arcade games for the home. So, if you run out of credits then you
performing every trick and scoring some big die and had to start from scratch,” Giles explains. He had another frustration with the board damage gauge,
combos. But before 1080º Snowboarding, which he feels should have been removed. “I hated it because there was no indication that your board was
the only other snowboarding simulator was getting chipped away. Then suddenly it will fail and you die. If your bar’s really low and you clip something,
Cool Boarders and the PlayStation exclusive you’re dead. You couldn’t really tell that you were going to suddenly fail and I hated that.”
boasted a complex system of combining
rotations with board grabs. When it
came to designing 1080º Snowboarding
however, Giles took a different approach things as well. So, resources were stretched “It got a really low score in the internal
by separating boarder rotations from the on a very tiny team.” Nintendo tests, anything under a six is bad
grabs. This limited the combinations players Another departure for Nintendo was and they don't usually release the game. I
could use to rack up scores and ultimately the decision to use real-life companies just thought it was going to be a complete
relegated the trick portion of the game to as sponsors for the equipment within the flop. But it goes to show that even
second place, far behind the more exciting game. LaMar and Burton were fledgling Nintendo doesn't know what games are
racing sections. “I think it was just to snowboard makers at the time and working going to sell,” he says. “I was surprised
simplify things but I actually didn't like the that they actually didn't drop it because it
trick system.” Giles explains, “We were didn't really cost them that much to make
worried that it would be too complicated
if you could do things like a grab and a
ɩ8x®¶ÆÔxXºÉ¶‹»ÉÂx½¬Ï it and it wasn’t adding to any of their
franchises at the time.”
twist, spin or flip at the same time. We Q8µÕ¬Q«ÐÅX¬rµɬx²ÏX‹¾É¨x When reflecting on 1080º Snowboarding,
wanted to make it very easy to understand
and you're either doing the grab or you're
.´¬ÔÂk®¶ÊÏ.»XÔ¬J³ɪ Giles feels the reason for its success was
down to “the controls and the physics.
doing the spin. Also, I think we only had .8³¬Ô.ЫÅk« Because those are the things we spent the
one animator, and he was busy with other most time working on. A lot of games don't
get the same effort put into the little things
with Nintendo would’ve boosted their brand like camera movements, or the tiny, subtle
in a growing sport. Giles remembers that physics reactions”. 1080º Snowboarding
Nintendo, “Wanted some kind of tie-up sold over two-million units worldwide and
with a snowboard firm to make it more had a GameCube sequel that didn’t quite
legitimate. Otherwise, it's just too generic. live up to the original. Nintendo went
I think they were trying to aim for a bit of outside its comfort zone allowing Giles and
hµÅ¨hƹÇ»°ÐÏ attitude, but not too much attitude. So, to his team to experiment with the N64 and
If you manage to get through 1080º have that you'd need some kind of trendy 1080º Snowboarding still stands out as one
Snowboarding’s toughest challenges brand in there somewhere.” of the system’s more unique titles. It also
you will be rewarded with a few There was also a moment when Giles helped pave the way for the realistic physics
secret boarders and snowboards thought the game might get cancelled we see in the extreme sports genre today.
that have better stats. One of the after it scored poorly during testing. That’s quite the legacy.
funniest moments of the game is
unlocking a panda that has his
own secret tricks to master.
© Getty

» [N64] Fly down the half-pipe and pull » [N64] Watch out for the big drops, tapping
those rotations to rack up big combos. the Z-trigger as you land is key.

RETRO GAMER | 83
 In the days before respecting other people’s intellectual property became an
inconvenient necessity, the videogame business was full of blatant clones and
shameless rip-offs. Here are some of our favourite poorly disguised pastiches

DEFENDA (ZX81)
CLONE OF: DEFENDER
DIG DOG (ORIC)
CLONE OF: DIG DUG
Q Kudos to Quicksilva for squeezing Williams’ mighty Q A cursory glance at this early effort
shoot-’em-up onto the humble ZX81 but only bothering by Taskset and you might conclude it has
to change a single letter of the original’s title? Come given Namco’s earth-moving arcade hit a
on chaps. Try harder. Same goes for anyone releasing a canine makeover and hoped no one would
Skramble, Zalaga, Monkey Kong or Donkey King. And your notice. The truth is Namco ‘borrowed’
dyslexia defence will not stand up in court, either. the idea for Dig Dug from The Pit, a game
created by Taskset founder Andy Walker
– who then decided to byte back.

ROLAND GOES DIGGING

(AMSTRAD CPC)
CLONE OF: SPACE PANIC
Q Roland’s adventures On The Ropes and In The Caves
were at least officially sanctioned clones of Indescomp
titles Fred and Bugaboo (The Flea) respectively, but this
is a blatant rip-off of Universal’s alien-burying arcade hit.
Rumours of a planned sequel aimed at the adult market,
Roland Goes Dogging, remain unconfirmed.

GOBBLEMAN (ZX SPECTRUM)

CLONE OF: PAC-MAN
Q From the Vic-20’s Jelly Monsters to Munchkin
for the Philips Videopac, Pac-Man must be
the most cloned videogame ever, with brazen
impersonations of the rotund, yellow glutton
appearing on a vast array of platforms. World Of
Spectrum alone has listings for 78 versions. We
like this one as it also happens to be our Grindr
profile name. [It’s not mine – Ed]

CUTHBERT
(DRAGON 32)
IN THE JUNGLE
CLONE OF: PITFALL!
Q There was a reason Aldi called its copycat caterpillar
cake Cuthbert – the name has long been associated
with copyright infringement. Whether he’s ripping off
Amidar when he Goes Walkabout, Jetpac during his
time In Space or this shameless clone of David Crane’s
Pitfall!, Cuthbert’s smiling, bespectacled face suggests
he doesn’t give a monkey’s.

84 | RETRO GAMER
 RETRO GAMER’S FAVOURITE… CHEEKY CLONES

HORACE GOES SKIING

(ZX SPECTRUM)
CLONE OF: FROGGER AND ALPINE SKI
Q Everyone’s favourite no-necked
monstrosity, Horace owed a debt to Pac-Man
for inspiring his debut outing, Hungry Horace.
We are highlighting the follow-up, though,
as an audacious example of ‘double cloning’
– copying not one but two original games.
There’s no use making those big eyes at us,
Horace. We know what you’ve done.

LLAMATRON (ATARI ST)

CLONE OF: ROBOTRON: 2084
Q Jeff Minter, the head honcho of
Llamasoft, has spent over 40 years
adding hairy, hooved beasts to
famous coin-ops, notably Centipede,
Defender and Tempest. This excellent
take on Eugene Jarvis’ twin-stick
shooter is one of his best but we still
wish he’d made a dot-eating maze

MR EE! (BBC MICRO)

CLONE OF: MR DO!
game featuring a small camelid and
called it Alpaca-Man.

Q We could have filled this list solely with BBC

Micro clones, such was the cavalier attitude of those
developing for Acorn’s machine to intellectual property
rights. Rocket Raid (Scramble), Dunjunz (Gauntlet) and
The Great Wall (Hunchback) were all great but we like
this one best because we insist on pronouncing the title
in a broad Yorkshire accent.

GALS
(ARCADE)
PANIC
CLONE OF: QIX
Q Qix is a strikingly
abstract game concept.
Presented with a pitch-
black emptiness, you
must carefully carve out

WHO DARES WINS II (C64)

CLONE OF: COMMANDO
territory, bringing light to
the darkness and giving
substance to the void, as
Q When Alligata first released Who Dares Wins, it naturally geometric forms buzz and
caught the attention of Elite, which owned the official spiral in the abyss. So
Commando licence for home computers, and the game was what do developers Kaneko
soon pulled from shelves. A few cosmetic changes and map decide this minimalist
rejiggles later and a near identical ‘sequel’ was on sale artwork needs? Girls with
within the year. He who dares, Rodney! their baps out. Philistines.

RETRO GAMER | 85
86 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: LEGO STAR WARS: THE VIDEO GAME

ANAKIN SKYWALKER ONCE SAID, “THIS IS WHERE THE FUN BEGINS,”

AND THAT’S CERTAINLY TRUE OF TT GAMES’ ICONIC MASHUP OF TWO
VERY FAMOUS NAMES. RETRO GAMER PIECES TOGETHER HOW IT ALL
BEGAN WITH THE LEGO TITLE THAT FAITHFULLY COVERED THE
STAR WARS PREQUELS

WORDS BY DAVID CROOKES

t's fair to say there was some wipes in particular,” he explains. It would To explain, Lego Star Wars was a thrilling
scepticism when news of Lego also be aimed at a younger audience and action adventure that took players on a
Star Wars: The Video Game was be family friendly. “We wanted the game jaunt through the three Star Wars prequels
announced ahead of its release in to be accessible to everyone, including – that is Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom
2005. Although the concept parents helping out their Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of
was eye-catching on paper, offspring,” John adds. The Clones and Star Wars: Episode III –
fans of both the world's most One of the early decisions was Revenge Of The Sith. Players would assume
successful film series and the to ensure that players wouldn't the roles of familiar characters – unlocking
world's favourite toy weren't die. “The ‘no die and reset’ more as they progressed through the levels
sure how well it would play out. mechanic meant continuous – and they would be tasked with battling
Furthermore, the build could so play for gamers,” John explains. enemies (Jedi's using lightsabers, of
easily have fallen apart since The “This helped with the feeling course), solving puzzles and collecting coin-
Lego Group decided to pull out of » John Hodskinson was that gamers were playing like studs that served as in-game currency.
the games business shortly after lead programmer on Lego through and immersed in a Although the game used fixed camera
development began, heralding the Star Wars and is currently cinematic story. The penalty angles, the environment itself was more
end of Lego Interactive. senior advanced games was just the flexible. Objects such
designer at TT Games.
Then the pieces came together. loss of studs as fences, tables and
Key management from Lego Interactive and, like an arcade “IN SOME RESPECTS windows could be
formed a new, small publishing company game on free play, WE WERE LED BY, AND smashed and bricks could
called Giant Interactive which immediately you could keep going DESIGNED AROUND, be moved using Force
gained the exclusive licence for Lego-based seamlessly while the
THE RESTRICTIONS powers to form new
videogames. The developer tasked with story unfolded – the items. There were also
creating the Lego Star Wars title, Traveller's hope was that some of OF OUR TARGET plenty of challenges to
Tales, continued its work and formed a that storytelling was PLATFORM” enjoy, with many drawing
close relationship with the publisher – so done in gameplay, not JOHN HODSKINSON upon a character's
much so that the studio founded in 1989 just the cutscenes.”
by Jon Burton and Andy Ingram would
soon end up buying Giant Interactive,
creating TT Games in the process.
By this time, Lego Group had formed
a long and fruitful partnership with
Lucasfilm. It released its first physical Star
Wars set in 1999 – the X-wing Starfighter
– and the success of this and subsequent
sets led to the suggestion that a game
within a Lego Star Wars universe would
work. “From a developer perspective the IN THE
conversation went like, ‘Want to make a KNOW
Lego Knights Kingdom game?’, ‘What's  PUBLISHER:
GIANT
Knights Kingdom?’, ‘What about a Lego INTERACTIVE
Star Wars game instead?’, ‘Yes!’” says John  DEVELOPER:
Hodskinson. The next step was planning TRAVELLER’S
how it would turn out. TALES
John was the lead programmer for  RELEASED:
2005
Lego Star Wars: The Video Game (he's
 PLATFORM:
now senior advanced game designer at PLAYSTATION 2,
TT Games). From the start, he says the VARIOUS
studio's intention was clear. “We absolutely  GENRE:
» [PS2] Dispatching the Droidekas takes a bit of ACTION
wanted to immerse players in Star Wars ADVENTURE
effort – you need to smash their protection first.
with the music, text crawls and screen

RETRO GAMER | 87
 THE LEGO STAR WARS FEATURES
THAT HAVE SHAPED THE LEGO SERIES

As well as enjoying the

action, you’d look forward
to the next well-crafted
cutscene, finding yourself
laughing out loud as familiar
characters stumbled over
» [PS2] As well as being useful for
blocks, failed to turn on their lightsabers in time attacks, the lightsaber also comes
or lit up the screen with a funny face. The end in handy as a defensive tool.
result is a story told with real humour.

“IT WAS NEVER A GOAL TO CREATE AN

Although the game could ARBITRARILY HUGE ROSTER OF CHARACTERS,
be played alone, having
a friend jump in at any MORE TO GIVE PLAYERS DIFFERENT
time while you battled CHARACTERS TO PLAY WITH”
enemies, collected studs JOHN HODSKINSON
and demolished the
environment made a fun game even particular skills, and players could not only
more enjoyable. You’d each play a different switch between characters but team up
character simultaneously, working together with a friend in an amazingly fun co-op
to complete each level. mode that allowed both gamers to play on
the same screen simultaneously.
“In some respects we were led by, and
Aside from dealing with designed around, the restrictions of our
swarms of enemies, Lego target platform which was PlayStation 2 in
Star Wars was packed interlaced mode, so the fact that it had to
DEVELOPER
with puzzles, some of them target 50/60Hz is partly what led to same- HIGHLIGHTS
proving rather perplexing. screen co-op with fixed camera views and a LEANDER
To complete many of them, modest density of objects, puzzles SYSTEM: AMIGA,
ATARI ST, MEGA DRIVE
you needed to switch between characters and and enemies,” John says. “The YEAR: 1991
draw on their respective strengths. Jar Jar upshot is that the game and levels PUGGSY PICTURED
Binks finally proves to be useful! were easy for players to navigate. SYSTEM: AMIGA, MEGA
We also realised players could be DRIVE, MEGACD
more invested in what they’re doing YEAR: 1993
To the delight of players, in the game if learning how to play SONIC 3D BLAST
the game’s developer was quick and easy without having to SYSTEM: MEGA DRIVE, PC,
decided to mix things up know how to move a camera manually. SATURN
a bit by throwing in some I think this is still true today, but more YEAR: 1996
really cool minigames, most people know the language of videogames
notably the thrillingly fast so it’s less of a hurdle.”
Mos Espa Podrace level that got progressively
harder and the starfighter shooter missions, o ensure the games were
Gunship Cavalry and Battle Over Coruscant. largely faithful to the source
material – albeit with the
addition of lashings of humour
Quite aside from the (including a bit of slapstick
Star Wars title music, 56 here and a funny face there) and a few
playable characters and small changes such as C-3PO being met
relative faithfulness to the on Geonosis rather than Tatooine – the
Star Wars prequels, there developers spent some time sitting in
was no getting away from front of a television with a couple of DVDs.
the fact you were in a Lego-built universe. The The film The Phantom Menace debuted in
developers took two IPs and mashed them 1999 and Attack Of The Clones hit the big
together to near perfection. screen in 2002. Revenge Of The Sith was
opening in cinemas on 19 May 2005 so the
developers didn't get a chance to see it

88 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: LEGO STAR WARS: THE VIDEO GAME

during production. One of the key elements to a cantina available to us,” John says of
which came out of these sessions was the decision to create this area of the game.
an urge to break up the action adventure “We didn’t want a UI-based interface for
gameplay with some vehicle-based selecting levels. It needed to be a place
minigames. Players could engage as Anakin you could practise with the controls. So we
in a podrace to win enough money to tried to give it some charm in Lego form
repair his ship and, later, shoot and dodge with Dexter acting as shopkeeper for you to
their way around a starfighter level called spend your studs, an exterior space to view
Gunship Cavalry. In Battle Over Coruscant, minikits, and the ability to start fights. So
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin sought to it might be a tiny little open-world hub but
rescue Chancellor Palpatine by engaging in it’s a fun, reactive one.”
a good old shoot-’em-up. The hub was a player's first taste of the
» [PS2] By using the Force, you can turn a mass of
Lego bricks into something useful – such as a bridge!
“Aside from Star Wars: Revenge Of The game and it introduced the art style that
Sith, we analysed the films and chose would make Lego Star Wars stand out.
appropriate sequences that inspired James Cunliffe was the game's lead artist,
suitable gameplay.” John explains, pointing with Jeremy Pardon on board as lead
to how they went about picking out scenes animator. James and John worked on the
from the movies. “We felt it was important design with James Kay, Glynn Scragg and
to represent the vehicles of Star Wars Jon Burton and they were not only inspired
with a vehicle level per episode and these by Lego and Star Wars, they also took
were the main exceptions to the ‘no die inspiration from past games too.
and reset’ rule. They were a chance to mix “We knew we couldn’t achieve realism
up the play styles, hence the podracing on the PlayStation 2, and the original film
sections, Zaxxon-style gunship run and trilogy has quite the smorgasboard of
Coruscant space battle all being rather stylised locations, so we tried to recreate
different to each other.” the feel and stylings of those places
rather than recreating totally accurate
he levels were accessed via replications,” John says. “There were also
a hub called Dexter's Diner a number of influences from elsewhere
that continued to populate such as the blob shadows under the feet
as players progressed. You'd that were inspired by The Legend Of Zelda
also find any pieced-together and helped with performance. The same
vehicles here, enter codes or make applied to animation – the characters you
» [PS2] There are loads of retro purchases using the accumulated studs. control aren’t toys, they are a real Jedi,
elements in the game including “Given that the coverage was the prequel scoundrel, droid and whatever else that just
this sideways dash.
trilogy, the diner seemed the closest thing happen to be Lego and just happen to be in
a videogame, and just happen to be unable
to talk. But they don’t know that.”
The decision not to give the characters
a voice was entirely deliberate and it
THE GAME BOY ADVANCE VERSION IS FAR, FAR FROM A PORT extended beyond the levels into the
Q If you were only familiar with the excellent Game Boy Advance version of Lego Star Wars cutscenes, each of which provided
then the screenshots dotted around these pages may look rather alien to you. Then again, continuity while fleshing out the story and
there's a stark reason for that. The GBA version was created by Griptonite Games rather than setting up the different situations. “We
Traveller's Tales and it largely trod its own path, bearing in mind the different approach needed decided early on to use silent comedy and
to create such a title on a smaller screen. visual storytelling – something a few of
The first thing you'll notice are the cutscenes – or rather the lack of them, given the GBA us had wanted to do for a while – and we
version makes use of still images rather than cute animations. You'll then see that Dexter's thought we could accomplish this when
Diner has been axed, with levels selected via a menu instead. What's more, it's a shorter applied to something as well-known as Star
game. You'll find just 14 levels here: five making up Episode I, three forming Episode II and a Wars,” John says.“But that meant there
further six comprising Episode III. All are played couldn’t be any exposition, so things were
from an isometric viewpoint – again, a departure naturally simplified with no chance of
from the other versions. Get stuck into the game explaining the whys and wherefores.
and the differences keep coming. Aside from “It had to be a fast-track to setting up
only enjoying the game as a single-player quest, the gameplay action, but still nail iconic
you'll discover most of the characters have a moments, before finishing with a ‘call to
second ability. You can still switch between action’ for the next gameplay sequence.
characters to resolve puzzles but you'll find The fixed (but varied) camera angles also
there are fewer playable ones. The bosses are helped with this, as the player might have
generally defeated through perseverance too. otherwise been confused where to go.
And yet it all makes for a unique title, enhanced We tried not to break camera rules when
by the availability of useful cheat codes. You'll wiping the screen between sections,
definitely feel the force with this one. so the players didn’t get disorientated,
which also helped maintain continuity.”
Even so, John says the gameplay

RETRO GAMER | 89
 HOW THE LEGO SERIES HAS EVOLVED

For this game, the developers drew Of course, the Lego series has This game also lent a voice to the
As well as being able to ride on the real-time strategy genre and not been solely based around the plastic minifigures but it did so
creatures and use character-specific it meant you could control clone Star Wars franchise. Games have by making use of audio from the
attacks, the sequel to Lego Star trooper battalions and build bases also been based on Indiana Jones, classic movie trilogy. It meant you
Wars allowed you to customise a while calling in reinforcements. While Harry Potter and more. Here, DC could enjoy key lines from the films
Lego minifigure for the first time. In simple compared to full-blown RTS superheroes star, complete with full and that, in a certain sense, made it
choosing parts of characters, there games, you could still engage in voice acting rather than a simple more faithful to the source material
were many combinations to create. combat across huge battlefields. reliance on visual humour. than any other Lego title.

objectives were sometimes arbitrary. Having a large roster of characters helped up who you played in recreations of classic
“Destroy this many droids before you enormously – and yes, if you got to chapter scenes – it was important to us that you
can rescue Padmé for example,” he says, six of Episode III, Darth Vader was waiting could fight General Grievous as two other
referring to the Jedi Battle (chapter four of as the final boss. Just prior to that, you General Grievouses, for example.
Episode II) in which players were told, for could unlock and play as Yoda – tot them “It comes back to the kind of things
example, to target two Droidekas and five all up and you had 57 playable characters children could do with physical Lego where
Super Battle Droids. “So it’s not necessarily overall, each one clearly a Lego minifigure their imaginations are in charge and they
the perfect union of story and gameplay in digital form. Unlocking and collecting can make anything they want to happen.
but we figured our intended audience could them added another fun element. It was about feeding that sense of play,
work around that if they understood what “Although it ballooned over the years, slackening the rules of story integrity.
was required of them.” it was never a goal to create an arbitrarily In fact, that’s why Free Play didn’t show
If nothing else, it added variety and kept huge roster of characters, more to give the cutscenes, and partly why the levels
interest high. Defeating those enemies was players different characters to play with,” weren’t too long: we wanted players to
consistent too – nobody lay dying in a John admits. “This especially applied to want to jump straight back in and play
pool of blood but, far more cutely, ended Free Play mode which allowed you to mix again, but in a different way.”
up being smashed into a pile of bricks.
It retained the family friendly vibe while » [PS2] Collecting and meeting a huge number of Star f course, as with most
also proving to be a heap of fun for Wars characters such as R2-D2 is an undoubted thrill. games, things could
adults too. There was a clear affection also have worked out
for Star Wars throughout the game and it differently. Lego Star Wars
was hard not to get caught up in it. took two years to develop
and, in that time, ideas came and went –
some of which were more advanced than
» [PS2] Like a good old-fashioned platformer, you need
to work out ways of crossing dangerous terrain. others. “We had a prototype Varactyl
test, a half-baked Zam Wesell chase, and
an attempt at Anakin’s inadvertent assault
on the Droid Control Ship,” John says.
The latter two ended up in Lego Star
Wars: The Complete Saga, a 2007 release
which combined Lego Star Wars: The
Video Game with its sequel, Lego Star
Wars II: The Original Trilogy (the latter
based on the movies that were released in
1977, 1980 and 1983). Incidentally, bomb
dragging was introduced to Gunship
Cavalry for this combo-release. “It was
an attempt to be more engaging in terms
of mechanics but we fell into the trap of
adding it for the sake of it and making it less
fun. So, you live and learn,” John laments.

90 | RETRO GAMER
Rather than draw upon the
movies, TT Games looked inwards
and the result was a title based
on the popular Lego City brand.
Beginning life as a Wii U exclusive,
it’s often been compared
to Grand Theft Auto due to its fun
open-world approach. » [PS2] Battle Over Coruscant is a tricky
starfighter mission where you’re shooting,
avoiding and collecting studs.

There were other omissions in Lego common at the time. And we felt the game To the team's great delight, the game
Star Wars. “We didn’t ever have creatures had to have arcade-like simplicity. went down well. Released on Xbox,
in the Petranaki arena – that would have “The collectibles, smashables, character GameCube, PC and Mac as well as
been cool, but we wanted to keep the abilities and even the size of the levels all PlayStation 2, it's said to have sold 6.7
focus on the battle for story reasons,” contribute to the feeling that you’re 'playing million units worldwide. It was critically
John says. “And some now long-standing with Lego' even if you’re not building with well-rece=ived. “We were thrilled with
features weren’t added until the second individual bricks. That’s a crucial distinction the general reception and the commercial
game, such as riding creatures and getting – you can have an action adventure that still success that followed,” says John. “We
in vehicles, melee (punching enemies or feels like it has Lego construction, without made the game at least I had always
objects) and even 'build-its' – in the first being fiddly and time consuming, taking wanted to make, and Star Wars afforded
game all building was done by the Jedi away from the storytelling.” us that luxury.” He said risks were taken,
transforming one object That feeling of playing particularly regarding the lack of lives and
into another.” with Lego extends to continues, but reckons the right decisions
Yet what the debut
“WE DECIDED EARLY the game’s stud were made, including the short levels.
Lego Star Wars game ON TO USE SILENT collecting as well. “Even “Everyone could get through it, which
did was set out the COMEDY AND VISUAL picking up studs is more valuable to me in a family friendly
stall for the many other STORYTELLING – contributes to that by game than providing challenges predicated
Lego videogames since being satisfying in itself, on repetition,” he adds. “Other games and
created by TT Games. SOMETHING A FEW OF as we added meaning to genres do that perfectly well and it would
“Internally, I’ve always US HAD WANTED TO it by adding things to be wrong to try and imitate them – there’s
said Lego Star Wars DO FOR A WHILE” spend them on and room for all of us!”
was more than the adding to the progress
JOHN HODSKINSON
sum of its parts,” John bar to obtain True Jedi
says. “The two-player status,” continues John.
component was critical, especially the “The penalty for the loss of studs is so light
drop-in/drop-out aspect which wasn’t that the focus remains more on
incentivising you to keep hold of your
studs, and by extension this rewards
experimentation – so the game encourages
players to go ahead, jump off that cliff, at
least it’s funny.
“The game becomes more a case of
everything working together in balance,
and it was figured out organically during
development between the whole team.
Finally, the Star Wars story is what gets
people’s attention in the first place, but then
hopefully they stick around and ultimately
» [PS2] Some parts of the game can have you » [PS2] The aim here is to defeat a set number and type of
running around in circles – literally in this case!
recommend it to friends because of the easy-
enemies – finding them is harder than cutting them down!
going gameplay and affectionate parody.”

RETRO GAMER | 91
The Legend
Of Zelda: The
Minish Cap
SHRUNK TO PERFECTION
» RETROREVIVAL

 GAME BOY ADVANCE  2004  CAPCOM/FLAGSHIP

As much as I enjoyed playing A Link To The
Past on my Game Boy Advance, it wasn’t a
new Zelda adventure. Granted, it came with the
delightful Four Swords, but as entertaining as that
was, it still felt like a glorified sidequest, something
to do when you wanted a break from Link’s main adventure.
Four Swords was clearly popular, because The Minish Cap
continued and greatly expanded its story, taking place before
the events of Four Swords and explaining the origins of its
antagonist, the evil sorcerer Vaati. It also builds on Four Swords’
Gnat Hat, a magical device that could shrink you in size.
The magical cap you discover in The Minish cap is no ordinary
piece of headwear, it’s actually a sentient being called Ezlo, with
an interesting backstory that I won’t spoil here. Suffice to say,
in addition to being pivotal to The Minish Cap’s story, Ezlo can
also dole out helpful advice and (like the Gnat Hat), can shrink
you down in size. This shrinking ability is the main gameplay
mechanic of The Minish Cap, allowing you to explore otherwise
inaccessible places (all scaled to perfection with giant acorns and
similar environmental details), and interact with the Picori, a tiny
race of beings that live alongside the Hylians.
The ability to shrink Link down in size isn’t the only trick The
Minish Cap has in its arsenal. It also introduces several new
items like the Mole Mitts which enable Link to dig through
the earth, as well as Kinstones, colourful ceramic stones that
grant access to rupees, hearts and even sidequests when
they’re eventually assembled.
While The Minish Cap constantly goes out of its way to
stress just how small Link is as he interacts with the Picori or
investigates numerous dungeons, it can’t hide the sheer epic
scale of Link’s GBA adventure. In fact, I’d argue that it’s the last
great proper portable quest that Link has had (Switch games
don’t count). If you can stomach the eye-watering price it now
goes for you’ll discover one of the franchise’s best games.
 » [Switch] We’re pleased the Atari
8-bit computers got their due, but
wish the ST had joined them.

>> We kick
things off
with a look
at Digital
Eclipse’s new
compilation,
discover how
Sonic’s latest
adventure
fares and
learn the
history behind
Capcom’s
early Resident
Evil games
Atari 50: The
Anniversary Celebration
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY, GOLDEN CELEBRATION
For all of the ups compilation that celebrates Atari’s
INFORMATION and downs that successes and doesn’t shy away
 FORMAT REVIEWED:
SWITCH
the Atari brand from its failures.
has experienced The genius of Atari 50 is that it
 ALSO ON: PS4, PS5, XBOX
ONE, XBOX SERIES X/S, PC over the past doesn’t just go big on museum
PICKS OF  RELEASED: OUT NOW five decades, its legacy is content, it mixes it with the BRIEF HISTORY
THE MONTH  PRICE: £35.99
undeniable. It’s the name behind games. There’s a simple game-  Atari 50 is the latest retro
 PUBLISHER: ATARI
many of the innovations that went selection menu if you want it, but compilation from emulation
into spawning the videogames by far the best way to experience experts Digital Eclipse, and
 PLAYERS: 14 features over 100 games
business, and one attached to Atari 50 is to follow its interactive from the arcade, Atari 8-bit
many fine games, but it has also timeline, watching the video computers, Atari 2600, Atari
been attached to controversies interviews and reading the stories 5200, Atari 7800, Lynx and
Jaguar. It also includes
DARRAN and colossal stinkers. There’s to get a sense of how each game interview content from
Evercade: Toaplan no question that it deserves fits into the Atari story. Every developers including
Arcade 1 celebrating but it’s a daunting part of it is wonderfully produced Howard Scott Warshaw,
It arrived a little too late to » [Switch] The timeline David Crane, Eugene
task to tackle, and we’ve really and it’s easy to navigate, and it’s
review (like the Evercade structure is superb, Jarvis and plenty more.
EXP) but an early play and really helps you to got to take our hats off to Digital easy to find yourself stopping
suggests this is another appreciate each game. Eclipse – this is an excellent to admire a particularly beautiful
solid collection. flyer or piece of artwork. It
doesn’t feel like you’re choosing
items from a menu so much as
browsing an expertly curated
museum exhibit, and we hope
that future retro compilations will
adopt this approach.
NICK In some ways, the list of games
Atari 50: The Anniversary
Celebration is almost a secondary concern.
It couldn’t be anything However, you get plenty of
else, this is the best genuine greats including Asteroids,
compilation in ages and
really shows how they Centipede, Missile Command,
should be done. Star Raiders, Tempest 2000 and

94 | RETRO GAMER
 REVIEWS: ATARI 50: THE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

WHY NOT TRY

WSOMETHING OLD
ARCADE SMASH HITS

WSOMETHING NEW
SNK 40TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION

» [Switch] Even when games like Fight

For Life are awful, it’s fascinating to
see Atari attempting to follow trends.

which combines elements of budgetary factors preventing the

vector games including Asteroids, inclusion of these games, the
Lunar Lander and Tempest – omissions may be too much for
it’s a fun mash-up that really some to swallow.
emphasises the beauty of While it’s easy to imagine what
those displays. Yars’ Revenge Atari 50 could have been in an
Enhanced and Neo Breakout also ideal world, it’s hard to imagine
stand out as being particularly a way that Digital Eclipse could
enjoyable, with the latter also have meaningfully improved
being one of the games that upon it in the real world. It’s no
allows you to unlock extra games exaggeration to say that Atari 50
via in-game actions. sets the standard that the
» [Switch] We love the simulation of the lights on the arcade cabinet, on either side of the screen The thorniest issue is really presentation of every single retro
what isn’t included. Atari’s messy compilation will be judged against
Warlords. You’ll also find that selection. But the presentation business history means that the from now on, and even with the
there’s plenty to enjoy about often elevates the content just by coin-ops created by Atari Games compromises that have had to
games like I, Robot and Dark contextualising its place in Atari’s aren’t present – that means be made, it’s a genuinely stellar
Chambers, which aren’t as widely history. For example, Fight For no Marble Madness, Gauntlet piece of work.
celebrated, and get the chance Life is an awful fighting game, but or STUN Runner. The Atari ST
to play unreleased prototypes knowing that it is the final game doesn’t have any representation In a nutshell
like Akka Arrh. Each game is Atari ever developed and released at all, and the compilation is Atari 50 is the closest thing
emulated with care and attention, for its last console helps you also missing plenty of defining you’ll get to an Atari museum
particularly when it comes to the appreciate why it is here. Plus, it’s Lynx games such as California in a box, and is as enjoyable to
control system – paddle games like always nice to get the chance to Games, Chip’s Challenge and watch and read as it is to play.
Breakout allow you to slide your play a rare game that has never the various arcade conversions.
finger along the touchscreen rather been officially reissued before. While we recognise the legal and >> Score 90%
than using the analogue stick. The modern Atari Reimagined
It’s fair to say that the Atari games are a real highlight of the
2600 games in particular may be package, and could well have
a tad too simplistic for many, and stood alone as downloadable
with over 100 games there are games in their own right. We
also a good number of duds in the particularly liked VCTR-SCTR,

» [Switch] There’s some great video interview » [Switch] Akka Arrh is a really interesting
content spread throughout the collection, inclusion, and one of a few prototypes featured
which we really appreciate. in Digital Eclipse’s compilation. » [Switch] VCTR-SCTR looks absolutely beautiful in action, and offers a fair old challenge to boot.

RETRO GAMER | 95
RETRO ROUNDUP
WE LOOK AT THE LATEST RETRO-RELATED RELEASES

PICK OF THE MONTH

RepliCade X: Missile Command
» Buy it for: $159.99+ » Buy it from: newwavetoys.com

One thing we love about New replica shipping box. There’s a supplied Micro USB
Wave Toys is the attention to detail cable, a power switch, volume control and, like
its RepliCade X miniature arcade the Quarter Arcades cabinets, it includes a built-in
cabinets offer. Over the past few battery. There’s no HDMI connection though, so
years it has released machines based on a number you won’t be able to link it up to a TV.
of classic arcade games, from Dragon’s Lair and Emulation seems excellent, with the game
Tempest to Q*bert and Street Fighter II and its playing just as we remember, while the LCD
latest is one of its most ambitious offerings yet. screen does a great job of emulating a CRT.
For $159.99 (or $179.99 if you’d prefer the more Sadly, the included Trak-Ball XL, while fairly
glamorous Field-Test Edition), you can purchase decent, isn’t as accurate as we’d like and precise
a replica of Atari’s iconic Missile Command. It’s movement can be quite tricky, particularly when
certainly not cheap (particularly when you factor you get past the first few stages. It does get
in shipping and potential custom charges) but it’s easier with practice, and adjusting the sensitivity
easy to see where all your cash will be going, as in the options certainly helps, but it does lack the
this is one gorgeous-looking machine. precision of the coin-op’s trackball.
Everything appears to be perfectly replicated, That lack of precision will no doubt make or
right down to the eye-catching art and marquee break a purchase for many, but if you do have
and it has a surprising amount of heft, as you’d deep enough pockets and don’t mind putting a lot
expect from something made with real wood. of practise in, you’ll discover a beautiful-looking cab
» The first coin slot adds credits while the
Hell, even the outer packing is impressive, being a that doesn’t play quite as nicely as it looks. second accesses various options, including
adjusting the difficulty and screen brightness.

Itch, Tasty: An Unofficial

History Of Resident Evil
» Buy it for: £18.99 » Buy it from: unbound.com
Fans of Resident
Evil would be wise
to pick up Alex
Aniel’s excellent
new tome about
Sonic Frontiers Capcom’s popular
horror series.
The Rumble Fish 2
» System: PS5 (tested), PS4, Xbox One, Xbox » System: Switch (tested), PS4, PS5, Xbox One,
Series X/S, Switch, PC » Buy it for: £49.99 While it’s not quite Xbox Series X/S, PC » Buy it for: £26.99
» Buy it from: Retail, online as definitive as the » Buy it from: Online
back cover claims
Sonic has been placed into an open – it only covers This 2005 arcade fighting game by
world for the first time, and the results events up to 2006, Dimps is finally receiving its first home
are uneven. The maps are blighted by concluding the story when Resident Evil’s port. The basic fighting is satisfying and
pop-in and messy designs featuring one- original creators left the series – it’s the offers plenty of mechanical depth, with the
way obstacles, but completing challenges only real disappointment we had. Years of most notable feature being the individual
to map them out proves to be compulsive research and the opportunity to interview gauges for offensive and defensive moves.
once you understand their flow. The key figures, including Shinji Mikami, The use of multi-segmented sprites to
high-speed platform stages don’t handle Yoshiki Okamoto and Tokuro Fujiwara achieve smoother motion gives the game
brilliantly and rely on recycled designs has allowed Alex to really delve into the a unique look which still holds up very well
from past games, but the new focus on guts of Capcom’s long-running series today. As well as Arcade mode, online play
combat pays off in the form of some and the end result is a book that’s filled with rollback netcode has been added, as
thrilling battles. Ultimately, it offers plenty with surprising revelations and interesting well as Survival, Time Attack and Training
of frustrations and deviates significantly anecdotes. Alex’s love and respect for modes. Unfortunately three of the game’s
from the traditional Sonic template, the subject matter is obvious throughout 16 characters are only available as DLC,
but it’s longer, tougher and far more and it’s written in an engaging style that costing £3.59 each, which strikes us as
interesting than Sonic Forces was. keeps you invested in the franchise’s stingy given the initial asking price.
NICK THORPE many twists and turns. An essential read NICK THORPE
for horror and Capcom fans alike.
>> Score 60% DARRAN JONES >> Score 79%

96 | RETRO GAMER
 JOIN US ON A JOURNEY
THROUGH TIME AND SPACE
In this special edition from the makers of SFX and Retro Gamer, we celebrate
the best of sci-fi from yesteryear. From Star Wars to Star Trek, Frankenstein,
Halo and more, get ready to jet off on an 88-mph journey through time!

ON SALE
NOW

Ordering is easy. Go online at:

Or get it from selected supermarkets & newsagents

 <Your monthly guide to everything
happening in the homebrew scene/>

<!--- [Amiga] Sprites and background graphics

are being developed in Professional Paint. --->

ROBOCOP RETURNS
<MAIN HEADER>
<intro> It’s been
another busy
month for coding
competitions. Voting
took place in the <intro> After issue 240’s RoboCop coverage, the classic arcade game
CPCDev 2022 and is reaching new patrol areas on Amiga and Mega Drive </intro>
NESDev (itch.io/jam/
nesdev-2022), and the
Amiga Blitz Basic Jam 001 <body> “I played a lot of RoboCop in arcades 031 the photo e-fit sub-games. Some of the prologue
(itch.io/jam/abbgjam) 002 032
also ended. We are now in the late-Eighties,” explains Retro Encoder phrases were a bit… oddly worded so I’ve changed
looking forward to 003 (@RetroEncoder on Twitter). “I knew the tricks 033 those slightly to make it read better,” he adds. “I’ve
Amiga Game Jam 2023, 004 034
with its sword-and- to earn more points with the boxes and shooting the also added a few things to the intro sequence, like
sorcery theme and 005 points in the third and fourth stages. I also finished 035 the fourth directive and some moody music from
the annual SMS Power 006 036
competition due to end it with one credit. When I got my Sega Genesis in Amiga RoboCop 3. There’s also a nice cutscene
on 27 March. There 007 the Nineties, I really wanted an arcade version of 037 before the level loads of the newsreaders explaining
will also be another 008 RoboCop for it, but it never came.” As a result he’s 038 about the riot on downtown main street. Gameplay
MSXDev to look
forward to. Read this 009 now developing a new port. “I use Microsoft’s Visual 039 will obviously have to change slightly too, the arcade
column to keep up with 010 Studio, C++ and the SGDK,” he says. “The most 040 was easy to complete so long as you kept threading
it all! </intro>
011 difficult things are converting arcade sprites to the 041 coins into it – but that’s not going to work with a
012 Genesis colour palette and remaking map tiles to fit 042 home version, so I’ll have to think about that a bit.”
013 VRAM.” Interestingly, no changes will be made. “My
014
015
plan is to develop a faithful arcade port,” he says. “I
do not intend to release this port on a cartridge, as I R USING REMAKES
016 believe the community makes its own cartridges.”
017 There is box artwork to print out in the classic Sega
018 style, which has been created by Yan at System
019 Gamer Magazine. Retro Encoder is also looking
020 forward to the forthcoming Amiga version.
021 “I don’t think the original Amiga version did the
022 hardware any justice,” says Daniel Allsopp of his
023 AGA remake, adding, “I just wanted to learn 68000
024 assembler, and do something meaningful whilst THE SIMPSONS ARCADE TURRICAN 2 AGA
025 learning. My only memories of playing the arcade (Mega Drive) (Amiga)
026 game were on holiday in Mallorca when I was <Ray Castello and his team are <Daniel Allsopp is looking
027 probably 10 or 11.” Daniel is hoping it will be a nice working on a remake of this forward to this one, as it’s based
Art Credit: Yan @ System 028 companion piece to Ocean’s games. “There are Konami side-scrolling beat-’em- on the MS-DOS version. The
Gamer Magazine 029 differences in the home versions which I do want up. We’ll be interviewing Ray on Amiga board thread includes a
030 to include, for example, the alleyway shoot-out, and these pages soon. /> demo. Bit.ly/eab-turrican2 />

98 | RETRO GAMER
NEW GAMES NEEDED
Our new email address is waiting for all your homebrew news,
previews and more: retrogamer@futurenet.com

<intro> All the latest news, handily

arranged by format </intro>

<Amiga: Matze1887 gave Amiga owners a

treat with the massive platform game Minky,
featuring 28 levels and playable on a stock
<!--- [Mega Drive] A sprite sheet from Amiga. Find it at bit.ly/minky-amiga />
the Mega Drive version, including the
separate motorbike and rider. --->
<Atari 7800: An impressive conversion of 1942
flew in, supporting YM music on the Dragonfly
cart, or POKEY music for Concerto users. It’s at
bit.ly/1942-7800 />

<Atari ST: Dr Floyd released a playable demo

of the massive sci-fi RPG Cosmos Chronicles,
inspired by the classic Ultima games. Head to
bit.ly/cosmos-st-demo and give it a try. />

<C64: New Lands by Magic Krol is a strategy

<!--- The menacing ED-209 encounter on (left-right) arcade, Amiga, and Mega Drive. ---> game where you build colonies and defeat
pirates. Try it at bit.ly/newlands-c64 />
043 A physical release looks unlikely, though. “I would
044 love a physical release; I see all the other new Amiga <PICO-8: Paul Hammond’s latest reimaging
045 homebrew releases being offered in glossy boxes is Beamrider (pahammond.itch.io/beamrider)
046 and with real floppy disks so that would definitely be while Morning Toast brings us Invader
047 nice to have.” Daniel is aware of the copyright issues Overload (morningtoast.itch.io/invader-
048 potentially surrounding the release though. “I have overload) cleverly using backgrounds from the
049 no idea what would be involved here; on one hand, recent TweetJam. />
050 I doubt anyone cares about the Amiga anymore but
051 then RoboCop is still a high-value money-maker for <PLUS/4: TCFS, Unreal and Csabo strike again
052 someone so it might get shot down straight away.” with the conversion of Raid Over Moscow,
053 If these conversions do stay out of copyright trouble, <!--- Daniel Allsopp is complete with the infamous hangar scene.
making a new Amiga version
054 look forward to playing them soon. </body> of RoboCop. ---> bit.ly/raid-plus4 has what you need. />

<intro> more incoming remakes to look forward to </intro> <Various: Haplo has released Tenebra 2 for
Plus/4 and C64 and is now converting the
original Tenebra for ZX Spectrum. Find it at
h4plo.itch.io />

<ZX Spectrum: Zoysa updated its 2019 game

Drift to become Drift 2K22 (top image), with a
new competition and new cars at bit.ly/drift2k22
Daniel Isoba updated his 1986 game Pac-Hic to
become Pac-Hic Rehab (for 128K machines),
THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’94 WONDER BOY CASTLEVANIA: with both versions being included in the
(Mega Drive) (Amiga) SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT download from danielisoba.itch.io/pachic
<Daniel Moura has been <Work is continuing on this AGA (Mega Drive) Finally, Team Moritz unleashed the Halloween
sharing artwork on Twitter from conversion, being built in the <Pigsy’s latest YouTube game Johnathan – Trick Or Treat, with clever
potential SNK remakes for Mega Scorpion Engine. Acidbottle has dev diary has revealed the sprites based on famous Spectrum people. It’s
Drive using the Blaze Engine, about “50% complete” with a two-player mode, and a ROM at bit.ly/jonathan-trick />
including this select screen. /> demo at bit.ly/wbaga-demo /> showing parallax scrolling./>

RETRO GAMER | 99
 Don’t forget to follow us online for all the latest retro updates
RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag retrogamer@futurenet.com

ALASTAIR LOW
<intro> Alastair Low’s homebrew games have reached a wider
DEVIL’S TEMPLE 
audience, thanks to Evercade and Playdate </intro>
<info From: Scotland Website: lowtek.games Format: NES, Playdate
SON OF THE KUNG
Recently game: Flea, Tapeworm Disco Puzzle Working on: Playdate experiments />

How has dyslexia affected

FU MASTER
<info By: McGeezer, TenShu, Hoffman, no9, DJ MeTune
your game-playing and Format: Amiga (minimum A500 with 0.5Mb slow RAM) Price:
£14 (digital) / £42 (boxed edition) Visit: bit.ly/devilstemple
programming games? (digital) geezergames.co.uk/ (boxed version) />
<Being dyslexic has really affected
my gaming life. I stayed more in <body> Three years
the NES era over SNES as the after Thomas defeated
games were less wordy. On the X at the Devil’s Temple
creation side, my main problem (in Kung-Fu Master/
was reading the documentation Spartan X), his son
which was usually text; I’ve Tommy must now
recently got a screen reader which save his girlfriend Lena
I couldn’t imagine living without. <!--- Alastair Low’s homebrew career from X’s clutches.
The spread of YouTube tutorials has started with The Games Factory and The first five levels pay
some unreleased Mega Drive titles. --->
helped. When something breaks, tribute to Irem’s Vigilante,
the first thing to check is if I’ve spelt with Tommy kicking and punching his way through the
variable names the same. /> What prompted the NESTEK and streets, the subway, and an arcade to reach the temple.
NES To Dreamcast tools? Enemies will grab you and must be shaken off before they
What development environment <There was no easy way to publish drain your precious energy. Hidden bonuses include food
do you use? NES games to Steam or Dreamcast. to restore energy and weapons (knives and nunchucks)
<NESmaker for Flea, then C and I commissioned a programmer friend to help you fight back. The next five stages see Tommy
NES lib for Tapeworm. I’ve played to make it an easy reusable solution fight through the Temple itself to reach X, featuring many
around with GBStudio and have been that anyone can use. I’d love to do the familiar baddies from the original Kung-Fu Master and
impressed with what you can achieve same for Playdate too. /> tough bosses to defeat at the end of each level. There
with no coding experience. /> are also three bonus rounds, with Tommy kicking balls for
How did you get involved with additional points. After an impressive opening animation,
How did you come up with Flea? Evercade and Playdate? the menu gives a choice of three difficulty levels, music
<From mobile games like Temple <I liked the idea of Evercade. After or sound FX and the option to start at any stage. The
Run, where you always run and then seeing the Mega Cat Collection, I animation throughout is superb, and the backgrounds are
must jump. I liked the idea of the connected with a bunch of devs; we filled with plenty of detail. The great music has familiar
reverse, always jumping and you formed a Discord chat that grew and themes from the arcade games remixed, and some
must control movement. Fleas are became the Indie Heroes 1 cartridge. excellent effects. It is tough, even on the Easy setting, but
underrepresented in games; pixels The inclusion of Tapeworm on Indie it’s hard to stop playing. This is another superb title from
are small and so are fleas, so it could Heroes 2 was a given. Playdate Graham Cowie and the team. </body>
zoom out and see the bigger picture. I was more of a passion project. I’m
would like to expand the Flea universe enjoying learning Lua through smaller Score: 90%
with more genres and bring new projects and am going to build more
twists to familiar mechanics. /> stuff for it. />

<!--- [Dreamcast] The

NES to Dreamcast tool
helped Flea leap onto
Sega’s console. --->

<!--- [NES] Wind the

worm back and forth
to collect the musical
notes in Tapeworm <!--- [Amiga] Damn it, we’ve already done the ‘Everybody was
Disco Puzzle. ---> kung fu fighting’ reference this issue. --->

100 | RETRO GAMER

NEW GAMES NEEDED
Our new email address is waiting for all your homebrew news,
previews and more: retrogamer@futurenet.com

<intro> Learn how ICON64 drew inspiration

from some classic Eighties games for its
brand-new C64 release </intro>

<body> Terrestrial is in final testing as we

get the chance to play through its many varied
stages. Design and graphics are by Trevor
Storey, the coding is by Stuart Collier while
Saul Cross handles sound. There are heavy
influences from two classic Access games – the
controversial Cold War title Raid Over Moscow
and the earlier Beach-Head. Launch your rocket
TOKI
<info By: AmstradGGP (MaitreJoe, Jack) Format: Amstrad CPC Price: Free (digital
from the orbiting satellite, shoot down enemy
fighters and then bombard the motherships.
download) Visit: amstradggp.com />
A third-person viewpoint is used when flying
down canyons, which is reminiscent of Buck
<body>As the princess is abducted during Toki’s intro, she says, “Don’t make Rogers – Planet Of Zoom. There’s also a Cabal-
30 years this time,” referencing how long it has taken the Amstrad to receive a style section where you destroy buildings and
conversion of the arcade hit. There are many familiar baddies and hazards to tackle, shoot aliens. Tanks then negotiate the hazard-
but Toki can spit at them and use power-ups, including his flaming breath. Certain strewn battlefield, and there’s a big shield
enemies will drop coins, and collecting ten earns an extra life. Just be sure to watch out generator to destroy. Trash three generators
for Toki’s tough bosses. This is very well-presented, from the choice of language to the and you fly on to the main city, where you must
in-game score panel. The graphics are well-made and colourful, with decent scrolling destroy the base with its massive cannon, take
for the machine, while excellent music and sound effects help drive the action along. on the droids defending the final chamber and
Amstrad owners should not miss this, and other users should play it too. </body> defeat the alien brain there in order to triumph.
This is shaping up to be another excellent C64
Score: 88% cartridge and disk release for Psytronik – more
at bit.ly/terrestrial-preview </body>

GHERBERT <!--- [C64] Like Beach-Head, shoot down the enemy

GROUNDHOG IN ships before destroying the larger ones. --->

SAVE THE DATE

<info By: Psychic Parrot & PuttyCAD Format: ZX
Spectrum Price: $2.00 (digital) Visit: bit.ly/gherbert1 />

<body>The jealous critters have stolen everything from Gherbert

Groundhog’s burrow, and he has a date at 8pm. Now he must find everything and
bring them back one at a time, dodging the falling acorns and patrolling animals along
the way. This is classic flick-screen platform fare, with great cartoon-style graphics and
decent sound (including a very jolly title tune). There is plenty of variety in the screens,
the controls are responsive with the option to redefine keys, while a ticking clock adds
extra pressure. It’s an entertaining game that we really enjoyed. </body>

Score: 84%

RETRO GAMER | 101

HOT TOPIC
RETROBATES MULL OVER THE SCENE’S MOST INTRIGUING ISSUES

SPECTACULAR SPORTS GAMES

The team goes all Grandstand for an issue

W
hat’s not to love » [Mega Drive] It doesn’t matter
about sports that Speedball 2 depicts a fictional
games? Familiar sport, it’s a staple of the genre.
rules make them
DARRAN easy to pick up, they don’t
JONES require actual exercise and
they even let you live out wild
fantasies like Spurs winning
the Premier League, so we got
together to share the games in
NICK our personal Halls Of Fame.
THORPE
NICK
Sports games seem to get a
bit of a hard time from retro
gamers – they’re often seen as
the preserve of casual players,
and little more than shelf-filling
TIM fodder today. But I’m sure we
EMPEY have some fond memories of
sports games, right?

DARRAN
Absolutely, I placed International
Superstar Soccer ’98 in my DARRAN remember being obsessed with TIM
Top 25 N64 games that I Funnily enough I’ve been enjoying EA’s various sports games at the I had that on the Amiga, great
wrote for Games Radar and Summer Games and Winter time and I don’t even like sports! game. Did anyone else ruin
don’t regret it for a second Games myself as I’ve been playing their Quickshot joysticks on
(it made ninth place). them on the latest Evercade TIM Daley Thompson’s Decathlon?
cartridge. My fave is definitely Yeah I went through a phase Eventually I turned the joystick
TIM California Games, particularly on around then too. FIFA, NHL and upside down and waggled it
I had great fun with Summer, the Master System. Were you a Madden on the Mega Drive. I from there. It was much easier.
Winter and California Games. fan of that series, Nick? wasn’t very good. I just used
They were all pretty good, aside the C button on FIFA and always DARRAN
from the ice-skating one – I NICK went for the Hail Mary play on I saw many a joystick ruined by
never could get a good score. Oh yeah, I love those kinds of Madden. I don’t know why. the Daley Thompson games.
Years later I found out you were multi-event games. I’ve got While we’re on the subject of
supposed to perform every trick Winter Games for the C64 and NICK multi-event sports games again
while facing backwards first. California Games on the Master My dad had Madden but I found I’d like to mention Hyper Sports,
System, not that owning it it a bit too complicated as a Track & Field and the many great
helped me when we played it in young kid, I preferred EA Hockey home conversions that were
your shed one evening. which was on the same cart. I available. I used to love watching
got an ex-rental copy of Madden First Class when they did the
TIM NFL 94 a few years later and
The loading kind of sucked loved it. We used to play loads
though, I might have to invite of FIFA too.
myself round to your shed Darran
and have a go on the Evercade. DARRAN
Those early FIFAs certainly
DARRAN seemed to get everyone
Well you now have to deal with pumped, but if I’m honest none
the fiddly virtual keyboard, but it of them could hold a candle to
of the works OK, Tim. Did anyone get Sensible World Of Soccer, what
» [C64] Plenty of Eighties gamers have fond memories » [Master System] Nick’s still bad at
original joystick destroyer, Daley Thompson’s Decathlon. swept up in the Madden craze a game that was. I still play it on California Games – it took ages to catch
when it first hit Mega Drive? I my Xbox 360. the disc for this screenshot

102 | RETRO GAMER

 HOT TOPIC

ON ME
HEAD, SON!
Which sports games keep you
coming back year aer year?
retrogamer
They may not hold up for most, but my
nostalgia for Super Action Baseball and
Super Action Football on the
ColecoVision is really what keeps these
» [Mega Drive] EA’s sports empire was well earned – 16-bit in rotation for me. So many fond
Madden, NHL and FIFA games were all phenomenal. » [Amiga] SWOS doesn’t need loads of commentary or memories of playing these with my dad
Ultimate Team – just high speed and crazy curling shots. and brother while using those huge
multi-buttoned controllers.
skeet shooting and long horse like Aggressive Inline and BMX XXX
events. That was great fun. did nothing for me though. Aaron Wren
Tecmo World Cup 90 is not the greatest
NICK NICK football game by any stretch but it will
We used to have Decathlete at It’s amazing how far that genre always be the greatest football game to
me. A nostalgic arcade classic.
my local sports centre, which I came from the Cool Boarders
had great fun with. I also really series – I played the second one Christopher Richards
like some of the oddball ones on PlayStation Classic recently Daley Thompson’s Olympic Challenge.
like Numan Athletics, where and it felt very clunky. Aer 34 years, I will still find time to
you have to throw missiles and play this. I was crap at it to begin with
DARRAN but my father was brilliant at it. I can’t
push trains. Did you guys enjoy
think about this game without thinking
any of the more unusual sports I never liked Cool Boarders, but about him.
games like that? 1080º Snowboarding and Amped
were superb. What about golf Dave Williamson
DARRAN and boxing games, we’ve not » [Neo Geo] Neo Turf Masters is as good a I used to love Tony Hawk’s years ago. It
multiplayer game as any Neo Geo fighter. was a PS Plus game a few months ago,
I remember getting into Cosmic mentioned either yet!
I replayed it and it was still a lot of fun. I
Smash for a while (although I’ve introduced my 12-year-old son to it and
long since sold it). Windjammers TIM we really enjoyed taking turns finishing
is obviously great fun and I’ve Yeah I played Barry McGuigan the challenges together, quality time.
also got a soft spot for Speedball World Championship Boxing on
Null Ray
2: Brutal Deluxe as I recently the C64. And Ready 2 Rumble
When my son was around five or six I
picked it up for the Mega Drive. and Fight Night later, but threw showed him Tecmo Bowl and he spent a
in the towel when FaceBreaker LOT of hours playing it. For some
TIM came out. I hate golf by the way. reason it resonated with him even
Speedball 2 was amazing. I liked though he was solidly a member of the
NICK Switch generation.
it when sports went extreme in
the Nineties and Noughties with I don’t care for golf as a real Tobias Jensen
stuff like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, sport, but Neo Turf Masters is Capcom’s Gold Medal Challenge on NES
Mat Hoffman Pro BMX, Kelly one of my favourite multiplayer is still one of the best videogames ever
Slater’s Pro Surfer, Dave Mirra games, and I really enjoyed made of the Olympic Games. Where
else can you find Marathon as an event?
and the SSX series. Golf Story on the Switch a few » [PlayStation] Extreme sports games like Tony Hawk’s
years back. Super Punch-Out!! Pro Skater 2 often had excellent soundtracks too.
Chun Wah Kong
DARRAN is brilliant, and coming off that I Baseball Stars 2, the greatest baseball
Great shouts, Tim. I used to love got drawn into some of the UFC game ever made.
Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer on Xbox. games over the years too.
Binni Erlingsson
The GBA version is surprisingly
Tiny Toons Acme All-Stars. My kids took
good as well. I never got into the DARRAN a liking to it when they were young and
SSX games or Dave Mirra, but I I can’t believe we’ve not covered we sometimes pick it up for laughs. It’s
did love the Tony Hawk’s releases, wrestling games yet. Oh wait, actually a fine game.
particularly 2X on the Xbox. Games wrestling isn’t a sport. Zing!
David Haywood
I still enjoy firing up Bobsleigh for the
I just used the C button on Amstrad CPC from time to time. It’s
nothing remarkable, but for early 3D it

FIFA and always went for the holds up well.

Paul Sunderland
Hail Mary play on Madden » [GameCube] Who cares about realism if you can pull
Hyper Sports for the win, loved it in the
arcade and the C64 conversion was ace.
TIM EMPEY off SSX 3’s outlandish Uber Tricks?

RETRO GAMER | 103

COLLECTOR’S CORNER
READERS TAKE US THROUGH THE RETRO KEYHOLE
PERLER
BEAD
BOWSER
“This was a wedding gift.
It’s one of a kind.”
PAID: GIFT

EARTHBOUND
“I got this as a gift from my
wife when we were dating.”
PAID: GIFT

NINTENDO
CEREAL
SYSTEM BOX
“This was something that I had
been eyeballing for years. The
hologram one is so cool.”
PAID: $200

OFFICE SPACE
Our latest collector’s room is for both work and play

BIO
NAME: I
f there’s one thing we’re aware
of as remote workers, it’s
the need for space. Our latest
collector, Nick Mantzoros is no
system. So PS2, GameCube, Wii U,
Switch, etc. The middle door opens
up and contains handheld games and
Saturn and power/AV cables.”
stores. The most expensive game
that I had in my collection was the
first Mega Man which cost me $20.
Then I just started branching out
Nick Mantzoros different and moving house during the In addition to solving storage from there. Just collecting things
pandemic meant he had to be quite issues, there’s a practical element to from my childhood and building a
LOCATION: practical with his new games room. how Nick houses his games as well. collection over time.”
Illinois, USA “We bought right as COVID was “Storing games away also protects That collection has grown to
starting to affect things so originally them from the light,” he continues. cover everything from the Saturn to
ESTIMATED VALUE OF
COLLECTION: the room was to be a gameroom/ “As the value of these games the Master System and Atari Lynx,
At least $10,000 YouTube studio,” he says. “We now increase the light damage becomes but Nintendo remains dominant
work remotely full-time so I needed an increasing concern. I also just throughout Nick’s collection. “I have
FAVOURITE SYSTEM: to arrange the room in a way that I wanted a unique setup. No one really a lot of Nintendo games because
NES could work and then play after work.” puts games in drawers but I wanted that’s what I grew up with,” he
Many gamers tend to simply rely space to create themed shelves admits. “Their games just feel right
FAVOURITE GAME: on shelves to store their precious that I can swap out at any time. Get to me, especially the ones that I
Mega Man 2 videogames, but Nick’s need for sick of the Zelda shelf? Swap it out grew up with as a kid.”
a balance between work and play for things in the closet and now my Nick feels that attachment is
YOUTUBE: means he’s been a little more collection looks different.” important, particularly when first
@SuperNicktendo inventive with his approach to storing Regardless of how many times starting out. “Take time to think
his collection. “One thing that I have Nick changes his shelves and about what and why you really want
learned over the years is that there’s drawers around, one thing that to collect,” Nick says. “I have 1,000
only so many ways you can won’t change is the sheer amount of games in my collection and I feel it’s
display individual games,” Nintendo-themed stuff he has, which curated to my tastes. If you try to
explains Nick. “I got a started off as a friendly competition collect everything all at once, you’re
BUBBLE
BOBBLE credenza (under the with a friend. “I started collecting in going to go broke and you’re going to
PART 2 TV) which stores all of about 2003 – I originally set out with not have any attachment to anything
“I got this as a capstone to my NES my disc-based games my friend Dave to collect the top 25 in your collection.” Sound advice,
collection. I had been on the hunt for
it in the wild for years and decided
(PS2 and newer). Each NES games,” he says. “We could particularly if you’re dealing with the
to bite the bullet on eBay.” drawer has a different still find them at Gamestop and local same space constraints Nick has.
PAID: $220

104 | RETRO GAMER

 COLLECTOR’S CORNER

Got an impressive collection of your own? Contact us at:

RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag retrogamer@futurenet.com

ALUNDRA
“I played this non-stop
for a weekend after my
wisdom teeth were pulled and
my grandpa passed the same
weekend. It took my mind off
things for sure.”
BARGAIN
Your guide to the rising
HUNT
PAID: $30
world of retro prices
THE COVER STAR
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA
TURTLES: TURTLES IN TIME
Loose carts of the NTSC versions range from £30-£60 with complete
copies hitting as much as £200. Mint PAL copies can reach
£1,000, making The Cowabunga Collection a far cheaper alternative.

SABRE WULF
If you fancy experiencing Sabreman’s first Spectrum adventure it’s still
easy to do so. Complete boxed editions rarely sell for more than £25
and we’ve sometimes seen it go for as low as £6.

FIGHTIN’ SPIRIT
The low sales of Fightin’ Spirit means it fetches high prices today.
If you can get a complete Amiga disk version for under £170
consider yourself very lucky.

ZERO WING
This entertaining Mega Drive shmup is rising rapidly. Complete Japanese
editions can top £157 in mint condition (possibly due to it not receiving a
US release). PAL versions can reach £48 complete.

1080º SNOWBOARDING
This slick N64 game still sells at a decent price. Complete PAL copies
range from £10-£25 while the NTSC editions rarely pass £25.

LEGO STAR WARS:

THE VIDEO GAME
The game that defined Lego’s later games costs no more than £3 on PS2. If
you want to experience the GBA release you’ll be paying £15-£20 instead.

URIDIUM
Hewson’s best-selling game has several variants on C64 so here’s your
guide to the more interesting ones. The Rack-It label starts at £5 and
can reach £15, while the disk edition usually reaches £40. If you
want the double-pack with Paradroid you’ll get little change from £100.

WIPEOUT PURE
This excellent futuristic racer remains nice and cheap. If you you
spend more than £10 on it you’re doing something wrong.

SID MEIER’S ALPHA CENTAURI

This classic strategy gem from the minds behind Civilization won’t cost
the world. The big-box edition can be found for under £20 while the
numerous re-releases never top £5.

JEWEL IN THE CROWN HOW MUCH?!

SUPER PUZZLE FIGHTER II TURBO TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA
Q “This was my friend Dave’s copy. He passed away 15 TURTLES II: THE ARCADE GAME
years ago and we always played this. If I ever get rid of Here’s a price that will leave you shell-shocked! Five eager
it all, I’ll keep this.” collectors pushed the price of this sealed non-graded NES
PAID: GIFT game to an astonishing £2,355.01. No wonder The
Cowabunga Collection is so popular at the moment.

Prices correct at time of print

RETRO GAMER | 105
MY RETRO LIFE
PERSONAL STORIES ABOUT OUR SHARED PASSION

MEETING FIVE FAVOUR

THIS IS IT – THE MOMENT
I GOT THE MASTER
SYSTEM II. A PIVOTAL LIFE
EVENT, TO BE SURE.

THE MASTER
Nick explains his enduring love for the Master System
N
ITES
ick’s pick of the
Master System pa
ck
SONIC THE

W
hen I that I would end up It wasn’t the Mega
HEDGEHO
G
realised with something like The Drive game I knew
grew to love its un , but I quickly
ique levels and m
when Cyber Shinobi because usic, as well as
its higher difficult
y.
this issue I liked playing Shinobi,
would hit shelves, I but I can still remember COLUMNS
This is a great vers
ion of the puzzle cla
just knew I had to write about her surprising me after mode and the hig ssic, thanks to Fla
sh
hly competitive tw
the Master System. You see, it will school with games like o-player mode.
be almost 30 years to the day since Rampart and Robocop ALEX KIDD
IN SHINOBI
Miracle World is gr WORLD
I received Sega’s 8-bit console – the Vs The Terminator, eat too, but this cr
best of Alex Kidd’s ossover classic is
games and a wond the
first gaming machine that was ever both of which I came erful platformer.
bought just for me. It was the machine to love. WIMBLEDO
An odd choice? Ma N
that had me thanking my mum over The great thing ybe, but I spent un
told hours on this
surprisingly good
and over all day, and the one that she about living in a poor tennis game back
in the mid-Ninetie
s.
thought she’d blown up during setup, area was that the WONDER B
OY III: THE
Like Final Fantasy DRAGON’S
as she rolled the TV unit over a balloon. Master System was VII, this is a game TRAP
that I couldn’t leave that I enjoyed so m
It was the machine I wanted for Sonic, actually the perfect it at home when we uch
went on holiday.
that would go on to introduce me to choice. Plenty of my
Alex Kidd, Wonder Boy, Golden Axe, friends had Master
Out Run, Rampage, Double Dragon, Systems of their own, so it was I was
R-Type and so many other classics. easy for us all to lend and borrow finally gifted a Mega Drive in the
Of course, you’ll know that the games and experience way more summer of 1997, just months
Mega Drive was out by this time than any of our families could before its final game came out,
and that Sonic 2 was flying off afford. I never owned Road Rash and months after the UK arrival of
shelves, so it might seem quaint or Mortal Kombat, but my friends the Nintendo 64. But I never lost
that I was so excited by my gift. did and in return they got to play my interest in the Master System,
Circumstances meant that was the likes of Lemmings and Desert continuing to pick up games and
the best I was going to get – my Strike. The fact that companies peripherals here and there over
parents had divorced and my mum were still releasing the years. These
was raising two kids on her own,
so the Master System was a huge
such big-name
games ensured
The Master days I have a
fairly impressive DAD WAS CLUED IN ON
stretch for her in a way that I didn’t
understand at the time. For most of
that I never felt
like I was missing
System was collection,
including a boxed
MY BIG GIFT FROM MUM,
SO HE WAS ABLE TO GET
ME SONIC AS HIS GIFT.
the year that followed, she’d make
weekly trips to Littlewoods to pay
out – at least for
the first couple
actually the Sega Super
System bundle
off the machine in instalments. I
was no stranger to the joys of 16-
of years.
perfect choice with the Light
Phaser and 3D
NICK THORPE

I
bit gaming as my dad had bought had never glasses, a boxed
a Mega Drive earlier in the year, experienced Mark III – the
and while I would have loved to the decline of a console Japanese equivalent of a Master
have had the latest system, I was before, and for a while I’d see System – and about 100 games.
genuinely overjoyed to have any Game Gear games like Sonic Of course I still have that original
new machine. Triple Trouble and assume they Master System II as well.
My mum was an absolute hero were coming to my console too. They say you never forget your
long after that too. She never I’ll never forget the reality check I got first love, and there will always be
viewed gaming as a waste of my upon seeing, “Stuff all (Sorry!)” listed a place in my heart for the Master
time, and she would regularly in the Master System section on the System. The formative experiences
browse the shelves of Future cover of Mean Machines Sega one I had on that console shaped my
Zone looking for games that had month. Fortunately I still had plenty gaming tastes for decades to
been mispriced by even £1 – an to keep me going even though new come, and owning it when I did [MASTER SYSTEM] MY SISTER ISN’T A
HUGE GAMER, BUT SHE DOES LIKE
amount that absolutely made a releases were dwindling, as friends taught me that you don’t need PUZZLE GAMES AND WE ENJOYED
difference to us back then. She’s and family would pass on their old the latest hardware to have fun. I PLAYING COLUMNS TOGETHER.
never been a gamer though, and stuff when they chose to upgrade – fully expect that in 30 years time,
always had to guess at what I including the hardware, which is why I as I’m on the cusp of becoming a
would like. Occasionally that meant have so many Master Systems. pensioner, I’ll still be playing it.

106 | RETRO GAMER

 MY RETRO LIFE

HERE’S THE TOP

THE IDEAL
ITEM IN MY MASTER
SYSTEM COLLECTION EXPERIENCE
– I PICKED IT UP A FEW
MONTHS BEFORE I TWITTER USER Readers tell us the first
JOINED RETRO GAMER. GTOMEGA_ game they’d play with a
BRIAN MADE
THIS MEME Super System bundle
AFTER I TOLD
THE STORY OF Adam Hay
MY MANY MASTER Zelda might be one of the
SYSTEMS ON all-time big games series, but
SEGA’S TWITCH let’s not forget that for one
CHANNEL. brief shining moment Sega had
a better Zelda than Nintendo
did. I’d settle in for a nice, long
Golden Axe Warrior session.

Liam Brooks
Operation Wolf! Always thought
it was a gem of a game, plus
the Master System port was the
best one. The gun was always
responsive and the nostalgia
would be through the roof.

WHEN MY HOLIDAY TO Classic WWF

JAPAN WAS CANCELLED IN Definitely Gangster Town. It
2020, I DECIDED TO BRING was the first game I played
SOME JAPAN TO THE UK. on the Master System and
the game that got me into
console gaming.

Paul Lambert
Donald Duck & The Lucky
Dime Caper. Absolute
masterpiece, one I still play
to this day and got my
daughter into retro gaming.

Intergalactic Geo
[MASTER SYSTEM] SONIC WAS A I want to say Phantasy Star, but
FAIR BIT TOUGHER ON THE 8-BIT since I can play that elsewhere
CONSOLES, BUT WHEN YOU CAN’T and have the glasses, going
AFFORD MANY GAMES, THAT HELPS. with Missile Defence 3-D. I
remember the 3D being pretty
good, and I never could beat it.
Last line was sobering, “One
[MASTER SYSTEM] reached East/West City. That’s
THINKING all it takes. Game Over”
BACK, MUM WAS
TERRIBLE AT Nick Moudios
HIDING GAMES
Out Run 3D with the 3D glasses.
FOR CHRISTMAS,
Simply for the joy of being at
WHICH IS
Coconut Beach. We already had
PROBABLY WHY
VR in the Eighties.
I GOT RAMPART
IMMEDIATELY.
Billford123
Maze Hunter 3D was mind-
blowing. The depth felt like
you were looking into your TV,
it was like nothing I had ever
experienced before.

Retro Jonesy
Either Alex Kidd In Shinobi World
[MASTER SYSTEM]
HENMANIA WAS
or Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s
WELL AND TRULY
Trap. Two of my all-time
ON THE RISE BY favourite Master System games
[MASTER SYSTEM] WITH NO LOCAL THE TIME I GOT which I still play today.
ARCADE, THE MASTER SYSTEM GAVE ME MY
WIMBLEDON.
FIRST EXPOSURE TO MANY CLASSIC GAMES. Tony Cruise
R-Type is one of the best
versions and a great game.

RETRO GAMER | 107

 WIN!
Ever y mo
nth
one lucky,
write in
will recer-
ive
a spankin
copy of o g
of our cla ne
retro boosksic
Good lucsk.
HAVE YOUR SAY… SEND US A LETTER OR MAKE YOURSELF ever yone!
HEARD ON SOCIAL MEDIA – TWITTER.COM/RETROGAMER_MAG

MOTION WOES Tombi. Do you have any advice for » [Xbox] Lex struggles to play games like
Dear Retro Gamer, those of us with motion sensitivity? Silent Hill 2 now. Can any readers offer them
Over the last several years, I’ve Lex Camelio any helpful advice?
developed a motion sensitivity
which has been limiting my game We’re sorry to hear you are
choices. The trigger is usually map having trouble with some of
rotation, meaning I can no longer your favourite games, Lex.
enjoy old favourites like Silent Hill 2 While we can’t offer any
or Xenogears. I haven’t completely advice, Nick is no longer able
pinpointed how this sensitivity to enjoy first-person games
works, though – for example, I have like Mirror’s Edge, Doom or
no issues with Valkyrie Profile 2, but GoldenEye 007, so he does
I get dizzy after about 20 minutes of sympathise with you.

STAR LETTER
A PUZZLING END
Hello Retro Gamer, its association with cheap
Am I the only person who feels mobile games left its reputation
the traditional puzzle genre tarnished. There are still a small TRIBUTE TIME has sadly passed but his legacy of
is nearing extinction? Sure, handful of great puzzle games Dear Retro Gamer, fantastic artwork is incredible.
there are probably thousands every generation, many from After the sad death of Oliver Frey Yours sincerely, Andrew Price
available on mobile, mostly of indie developers, but I really this year I was re-reading the
the match three variety and miss the days when puzzle Fantasy Art book dedicated to all his We wrote a tribute to Bob
designed to squeeze every games were held in the same magazine covers from the Eighties Wakelin when he passed,
penny out of you, but how regard as platformers, shooters and can thoroughly recommend Andrew. If you’re able to find
often do we see a high-quality and RPGs by both gamers it to anyone growing up with a it online, issue 179 came with
console puzzle game these and publishers. Spectrum, Commodore or Amstrad. a double-sided poster that
days? Replaying Pokémon Now if you will excuse me, I This reminded me of another featured some of Bob’s most
Puzzle League and Dr Mario 64 have a date with ZooCube. artist which brought me so much memorable illustrations.
through Nintendo Switch Online Daniel Betts pleasure each month through his
reminded me of what we used advertisements for Ocean and CHRISTMAS DELIGHTS
to have with every release; You’re right Daniel, new Imagine Software. Have you ever Dear Retro Gamer,
great visual presentation and puzzle games are on the done an article, or plan to do one Around this time of year, I dig out
soundtracks, a variety of single wane nowadays. Still, on Bob Wakelin. I know he too my Christmas issues of Crash
and multiplayer modes as well good examples of the
as interesting mechanics, and genre do exist, with Nick
where the genre was heading recommending Baba Is You,
in the early Noughties before Crossniq+ and Tetris Effect.

» [PC] Sadly, games like Tetris Effect are the exception rather
than the rule nowadays for mainstream puzzle games.
» Our poster from issue 179 featured some of Bob Wakelin’s best art. How many do you recognise?

108 | RETRO GAMER

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Writing Adam Barnes, David Crookes, Paul Drury,
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magazine (and Retro Gamer of that also like a healthy dose of DISCUSSED THIS MONTH Rory Milne, Lewis Packwood, Paul Rose
course) and read them from cover Christmas nostalgia? Design Jonathan Wells
to cover. I’ve been doing this for All the best. Christmas Games Advertising
Every year the team likes to put games aside to Media packs are available on request
the last, well, let’s say over 30 Joel Weaver play over the Christmas break and this year is Commercial Director Clare Dove
years, and each year I marvel at no exception. Andy is going to christen his new clare.dove@futurenet.com
Commercial Finance Director Tom Swayne
PC with Skyrim, Tim is planning to complete the
just how good those magazines You’re certainly not alone, Joel. remake of Resident Evil 2, while Nick hopes to tom.swayne@futurenet.com
still are. Just looking at the While Darran no longer has his Advertising Director Tom Parkinson
spend time with Kirby And The Forgotten Land.
tom.parkinson@futurenet.com
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he can revisit all the Mega-CD games he can kevin.stoddart@futurenet.com
smile to my face as I recall those he still enjoys the Christmas no longer justify buying.
International
early years of gaming. Am I alone issues we used to run. He also «ƺɎȸȒJƏȅƺȸǣɀƏɮƏǣǼƏƫǼƺǔȒȸǼǣƬƺȇɀǣȇǕƏȇƳɀɵȇƳǣƬƏɎǣȒȇِÁȒˡȇƳ
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» If you’ve not read it, Robert
mainframe. I had such recommends The Friendly
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a lovely time reading Circulation

Orange Glow. Circulation Manager Matthew de Lima
The Friendly Orange Production
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» [PC] Turtles In
Your say
and accreditation

Time was a popular All contents © 2022 Future Publishing Limited or published under licence.
All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or
choice, but this year’s
reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. Future
Every month, Retro Gamer asks a question on social media Shredder’s Revenge Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in England and
and prints the best replies. This month we wanted to know… has also struck a áƏǼƺɀِ«ƺǕǣɀɎƺȸƺƳȒǔˡƬƺ‫ي‬ªɖƏɵRȒɖɀƺًÁǝƺȅƫɖȸɵً ƏɎǝ ‫׏׏‬ÈِǼǼǣȇǔȒȸȅƏɎǣȒȇ
contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware,
What’s your favourite Turtles game? chord with readers correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot accept any responsibility for
errors or inaccuracies in such information. You are advised to contact manufacturers
and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this
Tim Shrimpton TMNT game and it was just James Harvey publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our
control. We are not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates
Having played The Cowabunga fun! Yes, there were gameplay Tournament Fighters! ɎȒɎǝƺȅِÁǝǣɀȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺǣɀǔɖǼǼɵǣȇƳƺȵƺȇƳƺȇɎƏȇƳȇȒɎƏǔˡǼǣƏɎƺƳǣȇƏȇɵɯƏɵɯǣɎǝɎǝƺ
Collection freshly, I think it problems, but being able to Fighting games with licensed GC companies mentioned herein.
might actually be TMNT III: The play as my favourite turtle characters was such a cool I am gonna break the usual If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/or have the
Manhattan Project on NES. (Raphael) more than made up novelty back then. replies here and say that the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and you automatically grant
Future and its licensees a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in
Although it’s vying against the for them. TMNT game based on the any/all issues and/or editions of publications, in any format published worldwide
modern Shredder’s Revenge. Jason-Cameron 2007 movie is more than and on associated websites, social media channels and associated products. Any
material you submit is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken,
Bay Area Retro Turtles In Time on the SNES. a decent action platformer neither Future nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable
Lee Turtles In Time is my favourite To this day it’s still one of the game (similar to a Prince Of for loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless
otherwise stated, and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions.
The Turtles In Time arcade without a doubt. It’s hard to best side-scrolling beat-’em- Persia title).
game is my favourite. The think of a game I’ve replayed ups. It has aged incredibly well
graphics were gorgeous then more and it will always stay in in my opinion. Fridaynightgamenight
and they still look stellar now. my gaming rotation! I love Teenage Mutant Ninja
Jason Williams Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist!
Member of Public Rob Rankin Turtles In Time on the SNES. I So many great memories of
Shredder’s Revenge. It takes The original coin-op followed love the Mode 7 effects. playing it with my brother.
some of the best bits of the by Turtles In Time. Solid gameplay and the music
previous games like lobbing JC3 in my opinion was better than
the enemy at the screen and Kellen Lynch Shredder’s Revenge added a Turtles In Time!
feels like Streets Of Rage. The original NES game. lot of depth to the formula.
The utter insanity that is The constant call backs to Roo Cumner-Price
Gord to the G that game, along with its the comic and show are I’ll always love the NES game,
TMNT: Fall Of The Foot Clan infamous difficulty level, outstanding. It’s the best game even though it’s brutally
for Game Boy. It was my first makes it a legend. in the franchise. difficult and unfair.
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WipEout Pure
PURE VALUE
» RETROREVIVAL

 PSP  2005  STUDIO LIVERPOOL

It has largely been forgotten
now, but there was a lot of
uncertainty about the PSP in
the run up to its launch, with
particular concerns over battery
life and screenshot authenticity. Many of my
friends at the time were sceptics, but I couldn’t
help feeling the hype when I saw WipEout Pure
– I was drawn to the idea that I could take one
of my favourite game series anywhere, with
stunning good looks and the kind of soundtrack
that I’d come to expect of it. When I finally got
it, it was everything I wanted it to be.
In fact, it was even more than I wanted it to
be. I was happy with the content on the UMD,
with eight new tracks, four classics and four for
Zone mode, but then there were sixteen more
tracks that you could download, along with
new teams and even extra music. Keeping all
of those packs installed certainly bumped up
the loading times a bit, but the new stuff was
every bit the equal of the main game content,
with Ubermall and the fantastically nostalgic
Altima VII being favourite tracks of mine. The
Omega League tracks were pretty odd, having
been designed by various artists without the
game’s aesthetic in mind, and the Pure Urban
tracks wouldn’t have stayed installed even if
they didn’t cause a crash on Exostra Run, but
it would have been churlish to complain as
everything was free of charge.
I know that the idea of being excited about
DLC seems totally ridiculous now, as it is largely
considered to be another way for publishers
to wring every last penny out of a player, but
WipEout Pure offered a truly generous package
and I had naively hoped it would set the
template for how DLC would be handled in the
future. I guess that’s the one thing about the
PSP that really was too good to be true.
 STREETS OF RAGE 3
» It may have the most decisive soundtrack
of the series, but there’s no denying that
the core combat that takes place in the
third Streets Of Rage game is rock solid.
But what happens when the dust settles,
you’ve saved the chief and you’ve beaten
the final boss within a strict time limit?
Let’s find out, shall we?
01 02 03

» When he had his mech suit Mr X’s » He’s still a complete dick, mind, » Adam may be a bit slow and clumsy
brain was a right evil sod, killing with and threatens to bomb everyone into in a fist fight but he certainly knows
impunity and cancelling Tuesdays like oblivion. When it looks like the end is how to make a extremely fast getaway.
the Sheriff Of Nottingham. Without it nigh, Adam breezes in to save the day. The team escapes in a handy helicopter
though, he’s just a snivelling mass of You know, the guy no one liked using while Mr X’s brain disintegrates into a
pathetic grey matter. in the first Streets Of Rage game. million soggy pieces. Yuck!

04 05

» Every game needs a dramatic hero shot to finish on and » If this was a Nineties action movie that comment would
Streets Of Rage 3 is no exception to the rule. “Hey,” Adam cause everyone to laugh and things would then end on a
angrily exclaims to the others, “you wouldn’t even be posing freeze frame. It isn’t, so you’ll have to simply settle for the
like that if I hadn’t saved your miserable asses.” team admiring a cool sunset instead. How sweet.

114 | RETRO GAMER

9000 9001