EVERCADE EXPANDS

We go hands-on with Blaze’s upcoming releases

Rock Band Unplugged

WHO NEEDS PLASTIC PERIPHERALS?

Super Woden GP II

In a world where additional extras are often hidden behind microtransactions and downloadable content it’s rather refreshing to find a game that comes loaded with an obscene amount of extras.

THE MAKING OF MICKEY MANIA

THERE WERE SEVERAL GAMES ON THE MEGA DRIVE FEATURING THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS MOUSE, SOME VERY GOOD (CASTLE OF ILLUSION), SOME VERY BAD (FANTASIA). AND THEN THERE WAS MICKEY MANIA, AN IMPRESSIVE TECHNICAL SHOWCASE FROM TRAVELLER'S TALES

PARKER BROS

BY USING ITS CONTACTS IN THE ENTERTAINMENT SECTOR AND FORMIDABLE MARKETING CLOUT, PARKER BROTHERS BROUGHT TITLES LIKE STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, SPIDER-MAN AND FROGGER TO THE ATARI 2600 AND ITS RIVALS. RETRO GAMER HIGHLIGHTS THE FIRM’S BEST RELEASES

SNATCHER

AS HIDEO KOJIMA HAS BECOME A RARE CELEBRITY IN THE GAMING WORLD, SO HIS OLDER WORKS ARE INCREASINGLY REVISITED. BUT HIS 1988 CYBERPUNK ADVENTURE SNATCHER IS ALMOST UNPLAYABLE TODAY, LEGALLY, AND ONLY RECEIVED ONE ENGLISH PORT – WHICH HAS ONLY INCREASED ITS CULT APPEAL, AND COST

ULTIMATE GUIDE TARGET:RENEGADE

THE CITY STREETS ARE NEVER SAFE FOR LONG, ESPECIALLY IN THE DELIGHTFUL-SOUNDING SCUMVILLE, WHERE IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED. JOIN US AS WE REVEAL HOW WITH TARGET: RENEGADE, OCEAN SOFTWARE RETOLD THE STORY OF A VENGEFUL VIGILANTE AND CREATED ONE OF THE BEST EVER 8-BIT BRAWLERS

THE MAKING OF Trivial Pursuit

IN 1986, A SMALL SOFTWARE HOUSE ON THE VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY LICENSED THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BOARD GAME FOR HOME COMPUTERS. IT CHANGED DOMARK – AND THE UK GAMES INDUSTRY – FOREVER

Donkey Kong

ABRIDGED TOO FAR?

THE SPECTRUM

IT’S ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC HOME COMPUTERS EVER MADE, AND IT’S BACK IN PLUG-AND-PLAY FORM. WE SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE BEHIND IT TO FIND OUT WHY IT’S TAKEN SO LONG, AND GET A CHANCE TO GIVE OUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS AHEAD OF LAUNCH

MARK WEBLEY

The cofounder of Two Point Studios talks about his amazing career at Bullfrog and Lionhead, where he worked on classic titles like Theme Hospital, Black White, Fable and The Movies

AND THE PLANETEERS

ON CHRISTMAS MORNING OF 1991 MANY LUCKY KIDS WOULD WAKE TO FIND THE AMIGA'S CARTOON CLASSICS PACK UNDER THE TREE. ALONG WITH LEMMINGS, BART SIMPSON VS THE SPACE MUTANTS AND DELUXE PAINT III WAS CAPTAIN PLANET AND THE PLANETEERS, DEVELOPED FOR MINDSCAPE BY ANTONY CROWTHER, JASON KINGSLEY AND THE LATE BEN DAGLISH

RETURN OF THE JEDI

WITH ITS EPISODIC NATURE AND PLENTIFUL ACTION, RETURN OF THE JEDI SEEMED LIKE A PERFECT FIJ FOR A MOVIE TIE-IN, BUT HOW DID ATARI'S COIN-OP FARE? JOIN US AS WE BRING YOU THIS INFORMATION - AND TRY NOT TO END UP LIKE MANY BOTHANS

THE MAKING OF TRON

EVER WISHED YOU COULD BE IN LIKE FLYNN AND ENTER A VIDEOGAME? LEAD PROGRAMMER AND DESIGNER BILL ADAMS TELLS US ABOUT PUTTING ARCADE GOERS ON THE GAME GRID

THE EVOLUTION OF GAUNTLET

WHEN ATARI ADAPTED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS FOR THE ARCADES WITH GAUNTLET, IT POPULARISED FOUR-PLAYER CO-OP GAMING AND PAVED THE WAY FOR A SUCCESSFUL FRANCHISE. BOB FLANAGAN, MIKE HALLY AND JOHN ROMERO EXPLAIN HOW THE SERIES EVOLVED

THE MAKING OF Booty

YO HO HO AND A BOTTLE OF RUM! RETRO GAMER FINALLY CATCHES UP WITH JOHN F CAIN, CREATOR OF THE FINEST PIRATE BUDGET GAME ON THE ZX SPECTRUM. FROM THE ISLE OF MAN TO THE HIGH SEAS, THIS IS THE ENTERTAINING STORY OF BOOTY. ARRR!

THE LATEST NEWS FROM DECEMBER 2007

Nintendo can always bank on Mario's inimitable blend of mass appeal and fundamentally excellent gameplay, and Super Mario Galaxy was its big Wii hit for the holidays.

Paul Murphy

A quick chat with the founder of Ninty Media

THE FIRST CONSOLE WAR ENDS

Atari acquires Intellivision in a surprise deal

THE IMPACT METAL GEAR

KONAMI'S METAL GEAR SOLID INFILTRATED THE PLAYSTATION IN 1998, POPULARISING A GENRE WITH ITS BLEND OF TACTICAL ESPIONAGE ACTION AND CINEMATIC STORYTELLING. FROM CLONED BROTHERS AND CYBORG NINJAS TO EXCLAMATION MARKS AND CARDBOARD BOXES, RETRO GAMER DECODES THE MULTITUDE OF WAYS THAT HIDEO KOJIMA'S GAME LEFT ITS ENDURING FOOTPRINT IN THE SNOW ON THE GAMES INDUSTRY

PLAYING CO-OP

This month's collector isn't going it alone

The 400 Mini

MORE FUN, LESS HASSLE?

THE MAKING OF BURNOUT 3 TAKEDOWN™

THIS IS THE REMARKABLE STORY OF HOW CRITERION'S DISASTROUS DEAL WITH EA TO REMAKE A CLASSIC SKATEBOARDING GAME SOMEHOW LED TO THE BRITISH STUDIO CREATING ONE OF THE BEST RACERS OF ALL TIME

PSP Go

While Sony was no stranger to tinkering with its hardware, the PSP got a lot of attention over the years – the PSP Go was the fourth major iteration of the hardware, and the most radical redesign.

THE IMPACT OF 3rd STRIKE STREET FIGHTEr III

THEY SAY THIRD TIME'S A CHARM, ALTHOUGH STREET FIGHTER III DIDN'T IGNITE FIGHTING GAMES IN THE SAME WAY AS ITS PREDECESSOR UNTIL 3RD STRIKE. MEMBERS OF THE FIGHTING GAME COMMUNITY TELL US HOW THIS COMEBACK CEMENTED ITS PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF 2D FIGHTERS

ARCADE WRATH OF THE MUTANTS

A NEW TURTLES BEAT-'EM-UP IS FINALLY HEADING HOME AFTER YEARS OF DELIGHTING ARCADE-GOERS WE TALK TO EUGENE JARVIS AND MARC-ANDRÉ JUTRAS TO LEARN HOW THIS THROWBACK BRAWLER CAME TO BE, AND HOW IT'S BEEN EXPANDED FOR CONSOLES

THE MAKING OF STAR TREK 25TH ANNIVERSARY

SPACE MAY BE THE FINAL FRONTIER BUT STAR TREK ADVENTURE GAMES WERE PRETTY MUCH THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY IN THE EARLY NINETIES. AT LEAST UNTIL STAR TREK: 25TH ANNIVERSARY CAME ALONG A GAME THAT DARED TO GO WHERE NO STAR TREK GAME HAD GONE BEFORE

Datasette

If you’re going to adopt a common storage method across a range of computers, it makes sense to make the hardware as widely compatible as possible – and that’s just what Commodore did with the Datasette, known by the model numbers 1530 and C2N.

THE MAKING OF CAPTAIN BLOOD

AS HE TRAVELS THE HYDRA GALAXY IN HIS SHIP THE ARK, CAPTAIN BLOOD MUST TRACK DOWN AND DISINTEGRATE HIS FIVE REMAINING CLONES. TO DO SO, HE’LL HAVE TO COMMUNICATE WITH SEVERAL ALIEN SPECIES USING THE UPCOM, A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE DEVICE. UNIVERSALITY IS THE KEY CONCEPT BEHIND THIS WIDELY ACCLAIMED FRENCH CLASSIC

SUPER METROID AN ENDURING LEGACY

AS NINTENDO'S SCI-FI CLASSIC TURNS 30 WE REVISIT THE PLANET ZEBES AND SPEAK TO DEVELOPERS OF BOTH METROIDVANIAS AND ACTUAL METROID GAMES TO LEARN WHAT MAKES SAMUS ARAN'S 2D ADVENTURE SO SPECIAL