RG17 Cover UK.qxd:RG17 Cover UK.qxd 20/9/06 16:09 Page 1 er gamer retro COMMODORE • SEGA • NINTENDO • ATARI • SINCLAIR • ARCADE *
VOLUME TWO ISSUE FIVE
Sega Special Game Gear, Mega-CD & Sonic Back to Skool ...with the game’s creators Gaming Ages Dawn of the digital era Mortal Kombat Blood ‘n’ guts gaming
Retro Gamer 17 £5.99 UK $14.95 AUS V2 $27.70 NZ 05 Untitled-1 1 1/9/06 12:55:47 RG17 Intro/Contents.qxd:RG17 Intro/Contents.qxd 20/9/06 16:27 Page 3
Retro Gamer, ISSN number 1742 3155, is published monthly (twelve times per year) by Live Publishing at 1320 Route 9, Champlain, N.Y. 12919 for US$123 per year. Periodicals postage paid at Champlain, NY. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Retro Gamer c/o Express Mag, P.O. Box 2769, Plattsburgh, NY 12901-1329.
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>Content v2.05
Retro Revival p16 Japan Happy Play Noise p18 Aaron Birch looks back at the history of Our man in Japan returns with a fresh dose of gaming’s cheesiest action hero, Duke Nukem Eastern-flavoured retro gaming
Sega Game Gear p26 Next Level Gaming p36 Damien Kapa charts the tragic life and times of Aaron Birch follows the highs and lows of Sega’s handheld console Sega’s Mega-CD system
Global Gaming p52 Play to Win p56 John Szczepaniak continues his travels, Adam Dawes looks at the gifts that were up for stopping off this month in Holland grabs in the heady days of early 8-bit gaming
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>Regulars Retro News p06 Four pages of the latest retro news, including our exclusive report from this year’s E3 event
Back to the Eighties p10 A look back at what was happening in the gaming world 20 years ago this month Desert Island Disks p20 Paul Drury chats with freelance games Retro Rated p12 programmer Paul Carruthers Retro Gamer reviews the latest plug ‘n’ play devices on the market
Killer Apps p72 Simon Brew examines the appeal of Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog
Games That Weren’t p74 Frank Gasking takes a stroll through the gaming graveyard and turns up Atari’s long- lost Combat Two
Strange Games p76 Per Arne Sandvik looks back at some of the weirdest games to ever hit the SNES The Old School p44 Mark Green talks to the creators of Skool Daze, High Score p78 Dave Reidy and Keith Warrington Paul Drury talks to Perry Rogers, the best Mario Bros. player in the world... ever!
Retro Scene p82 News direct from the retro community, including reviews of the latest scene releases
Retro Forum p86 Four glorious pages of reader feedback and Web forum posts
Retro Auction Watch p91 Richard Burton keeps his eye on the wonderful world of eBay A Brief History of Videogames Part 2 p62 Spanner Spencer follows the history of Retro Coverdisc p92 videogames through the 70s and early 80s The best 2D shoot-em-ups on this month’s shiny cover CD
Endgame p98 Sonic draws another issue to a close
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Namco is 50! Pac-Man creator celebrates birthday in style
Namco has never been a The new release, imaginatively company afraid of re-releasing titled Namco 50th Anniversary, its classic back catalogue to a will appear on all major formats new generation of fans, and including PC, PlayStation 2, we’ve had plenty of retro Xbox, GameCube and GameBoy releases from the games giant Advance – so no matter what over the last few years. Namco your poison, you should be able is now gearing up to launch a to grab hold of a copy. All home new range of classic arcade versions will feature 14 of retro offerings. The titles on to the Xbox Live service. titles, this time to celebrate its Namco’s greatest hits, with the offer in the full-grown version The smaller, but perfectly 50th anniversary. GBA incarnation housing five are Bosconian, Dig Dug, Dragon formed, GBA version will contain Spirit, Galaga, Galaxian, Mappy, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Dig Dug and Rally X. Strangely, Position, Pole Position II, Rally this ‘new’ GBA outing is almost X, Rolling Thunder, Sky Kid and the same as the already Xevious. The pack will include a available Namco Museum which hub section in the guise of a has been doing the rounds since virtual arcade hall in which 2001. Oh well. you’ll be able to walk around No firm release date is known and select games at your at the time of writing, but we’ll leisure, and Xbox owners will be have a full review as soon as we able to upload their best scores can put our greasy mitts on it. Arcade Memories PlayStation 2 collection stirs recollections
Last month we revealed that some later games including there was a new Taito collection Elevator Action Returns, Space on the radar, but as we went to Invaders DX and Puchi Carat. print no information on the But given the large number game was available. Well, of Japanese-oriented wonder no longer as details of titles in this pack, pack will be on 28 July. If all goes well, we’d this new Taito product have don’t be surprised exclusive to the expect a US release date a couple been announced. if the final line- PlayStation 2. of months later, and a European Taito Arcade Memories Vol.1 up changes for At the date a little after that. Plus, as will be a generous retro- its eventual moment, a this is titled Vol. 1, we’d also powered compilation of 25 of Western release. Western expect to see further collections the company’s most fondly All the games release date isn’t in the near future. After all, there remembered titles, featuring old are going to be known, but the are greats such as Rainbow favourites such as Space the coin-op Japanese Islands, The New Zealand Story Invaders, Darius, Rastan Saga versions, version will and Puzzle Bubble/Bust-a-Move and Bubble Bobble, as well as and the be in stores yet to come.
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REGULAR | RETRO NEWS Gunstars The latest retro news given to you straight Sighted ‘Super’ details revealed… Sega has ending speculation by officially announcing Gunstar Super Heroes, the eagerly awaited update of Treasure’s Mega Drive classic. Starring original heroes Blue and Red, the game once more sees the Empire attempting to resurrect the God of Ruin, with our fearsome duo vowing to stop its evil plans. The game will be But our two exclusive to the GBA and deliver all the most eagerly frantic gameplay we’ve come to expect Handheld Heaven awaited from Treasure (including the introduction of packs are multiple routes through the game). Gunstar Zoo promise retro fun for GBA planned for Super Heroes should be available in release on 1 autumn this year, in time for the original Brit-soft publisher Zoo Digital with the first volume September and game’s 10th anniversary. continues to support the retro containing Centipede, will feature cause with a slew of GBA games Breakout and Warlords. The Gauntlet and planned for release this year. The other two packs will feature Super Rampart in one, and titles are labelled ‘GBA Breakout, Millipede and Lunar Paper Boy and Rampage in compilations’ and will each Landing, then Pong, Asteroids and another – all classics, and all well contain two or more arcade retro Yar’s Revenge respectively. suited to the GBA. releases, redone and slotted into The releases continue We’ll have full reviews of these a single cart. throughout the year, introducing compilations when they arrive. In The initial three releases are retro classics such as Spy Hunter, the meantime, it’s looking very scheduled for arrival on 1 July, Super Sprint and Klax to the GBA. likely that Zoo will soon publish Robocop and Barbarian on the GBA, the former an update of the original 2D arcade game and the latter a reworking of the classic Jakks’ one-on-one sword-fighter (complete with the infamous ‘head chop’ move.) For more Back information, and to view the latest release schedule, visit New Capcom TV game… www.zoodigitalpublishing.com. Yes, it’s another TV game, and yes, it’s from Jakks Pacific. The new release will include Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins, Mega Man, Side Arms, Gun Smoke and 1942 (see this month’s Ikari Returns Desert Island Disks for more information on the 1942 port). But that’s not all. Jakks is Warriors, Warriors, coming out to play also going to release the Capcom Gamekey, a small device that will plug into the TV It would seem like there’s no Originally released in 1986, it game and add extra games including Street end in sight to the TV games featured superb scrolling action Fighter II: Championship Edition, Mega Man craze, with another new unit similar to Capcom’s Commando, 2, Mega Man 3 and more. recently announced by major only with a great two-player Sounds like a great idea to us, and player Jakks Pacific. mode and the ability to maybe more developers will release add- The latest device will be a commandeer vehicles. Victory ons like this instead of a never-ending collaboration between Jakks Pacific Road was released later in the series of sealed units. Both products and SNK Playmore. However, the same year and served up more of should be out in autumn. new release won’t deal with SNK’s the same, though the levels and won’t be available for some time. major product lines like King of baddies were much more bizarre In fact, you’ll have to wait Fighters and Metal Slug, but will this time around. Vanguard, approximately six months before take a much bigger step back in meanwhile, dates back to 1981 you can play it. But out of all the time and include retro gems and is a vertical-scrolling shooter TV game releases, we’re Vanguard, Ikari Warriors, and its with decidedly garish graphics. especially looking forward to this sequel Victory Road. Despite announcing the games one, particularly if the device Ikari Warriors is the most on offer already, don’t get too replicates the rotational joysticks recognisable of these titles. excited yet as the SNK TV game seen in the Ikari arcade games.
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emulation. Surely we can now look forward to a glut of great Saturn games on the current home consoles. Nights anyone? Or how about a Treasure compilation…? Sonic Gems Collection will also contain a number of Game Gear titles, including Sonic Spinball, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic The Hedgehog Triple Alicia Ashby reports back from Trouble, Sonic Drift 2, Tails’ Diary Skypatrol and Tails Adventures. world’s biggest gaming show, and The video preview we watched reveals the latest retro products suggests that the emulation for all games is absolutely spot on. In related news, it was What’s it like to attend E3? Well, both Namco’s and Nintendo’s Space Invaders, while in the revealed that Sega is in the the best description I can come booths, their demo stations were bottom screen is a very modern- process of updating several of its up with offhand is this: it’s like showing off new iterations of the looking mock-up of what the most popular franchises being hit in the head, repeatedly, Namco Museum for the controls for the little tank you exclusively for the new wave of by a blaring neon brick. Once GameCube. The Cube version is pilot might ‘really’ look like. consoles. Titles mentioned you step into one of the big remarkable in how precisely it included After Burner, Virtua convention halls, you’re mimics the look and feel of the Sonic spoils Fighter, House of the Dead and, assaulted from all sides by original versions, right down to of course, Sonic… flashing lights, roaring sounds, blurry pixels, stiff controls, and Sonic seems to be making and gameplay footage blazing arcade-authentic sounds. We something of a resurgence lately, CGE lite across dozens and dozens of aren’t too happy with the way the and this was in clear evidence on jumbotron monitors. control buttons have been Sega’s stand. In addition to Aside from the new products, the At this year’s E3, the emphasis remapped for each game, but Shadow the Hedgehog (the follow- biggest slice of retro action was was often on the biggest, best that’s just an unfortunate up to Sonic Heroes for home waiting in E3’s ‘basement’, Kentia and brightest new games – limitation of modern controllers. consoles) and Sonic Rush (a new Hall. This area is smaller, quieter, especially with the Xbox 360 and The version of the Namco 2D title for the Nintendo DS), and much weirder than the floors the PlayStation 3 being teased – Museum we played over at there was Sonic Gems Collection above. While the main halls are but there was also plenty of retro Nintendo’s booth featured about for the GameCube. Remember dominated by giant displays from action on show, if you knew six games, including Dig Dug, those old Sonic games they left massive companies like Sony and where to look. Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and out of the recent Sonic Mega EA, Kentia is where a lot of Nintendo, Namco, and Sega all Mappy. We can’t emphasize how Collection? Well, they’re all here, independent developers and had displays that were good the ports of Pac-Man and including rarer titles such as Sonic small manufacturers make their particularly friendly to the retro Dig Dug we played were, dodgy CD, Sonic The Fighters and Sonic home. In the midst of bizarre gamer. Namco and Sega’s new control set-up aside. R. It’s great to see Sonic The offerings like the ‘Gamer Chair’, mobile game lines were rife with Elsewhere at Nintendo’s booth Fighters resurrected, as it was and more disc-repair services ports of classic titles for phones, you could play Space Invaders previously only available in the than I could count, was a long including Sonic the Hedgehog. Revolution, the DS port of the arcades, but we’re especially thoroughfare dedicated to the Namco’s booth was dominated by arcade classic reviewed in last buzzed about Sonic R – not Classic Gaming Expo. Labelled the a giant rotating Pac-Man, and month’s Retro Gamer. The upper particularly because of the game ‘History of Video Games’, this they were giving away Dig Dug T- screen of the DS shows an itself, but because it means Sega exhibit of retro systems ranging shirts with the classic logo. At arcade-authentic display of classic has finally cracked Saturn from Sega’s 32X to the Odyssey
Classic game characters in attendance at this year’s E3, including Pac-Man, Link, Frogger and Shadow the Hedgehog
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Sonic The Fighters and Sonic R will be part of Sega’s upcoming Sonic Gems Collection
were on display for the general You could also find an Atari giant ‘arcade’ selections, with public to reminisce over, and in and an Intellivision, along with a working versions of all the old >Micro power some cases, play on. Even with large selection of cartridges, greats ready to be played, for Madden 2006 being displayed in ready for playing in areas that free, by any visitor. Finding any While not exactly a retro item South Hall, it wasn’t hard to find were designed to resemble living of the machines unoccupied was itself, retro fans might want to people playing NES Football or rooms of yesteryear – TVs a rare occurrence, particularly keep an eye out for the listening to the Atari Music housed in wood paneling, lumpy with super-popular titles like upcoming GameBoy Micro from Visualization System, the centre- old couches, that sort of thing. Pac-Man. As if this wasn’t Nintendo. This is a new facelift piece of the display. Behind these two displays were enough, the History exhibit also for the disturbingly long-lived featured a dealer and a GameBoy Advance platform collection of rare old that shrinks it down to even merchandise. It was fun, and tinier dimensions – a little bit humbling, to boggle over old smaller than an iPod. Much offerings like the Yar’s Revenge like the iPod, it also comes in flyspray and the original a wild variety of differently advertising materials for games designed skins. All the controls like Pitfall. Capping off the whole were in place, though we experience were twice-daily couldn’t figure out where the performances by remix artist 8- right and left trigger buttons Bit Weapon, followed by give- would be from Nintendo’s aways of his CDs. As impressive admittedly stylish display. as the CGE exhibit was, it was Still, the screen display was actually a last-minute addition. roughly the size of an iPod’s, CGE puts on a fuller show once perhaps a bit smaller, and a year, with the 2005 event delivered an amazingly clear taking place in San Francisco and sharp image. this August. We didn’t get to go hands- on with the Micro, but the One to remember advertisements were claiming a battery life of about 40 to 60 The next 12 months will see a lot hours – a figure amusingly of incredibly powerful new phrased as “over ten times systems hit the market, but it’ll longer than those other guys.” also be a year where people If you bought the recent NES keep playing Pac-Man and Classics re-releases for the jumping at the chance to check GBA, you’ll now be able to fit out Donkey Kong arcade the system that runs them in machines. E3 never ends so your trouser pocket. The Micro much as temporarily fades away, will also keep alive the vast since preparing for the show library of GameBoy and takes many companies the better GameBoy Color games. part of a year. Similarly, classic games never really disappear – they just wait for the next version to come along.
Convention-goers enjoying retro games in the Photographs kindly provided by relative peace and quiet of Kentia Hall Jon Jordan.
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We’re going back 20 years to June 1985, when the dark clouds of financial uncertainty were starting to gather around the top of Sir Clive’s shiny bald head, whilst Acorn was left scratching its own… yet again…
he first signs of highly probable. With the name financial instability of Robert Maxwell being bandied within Sinclair about as a prospective suitor, Research started to things were taking a turn for the T surface with the worse. More on this saga over news that it needed £15 million the coming months… to haul itself out of trouble. With Another company that had Melbourne House expected all its new releases to be rumours circulating about the already collapsed then been available in the shops some time in autumn possibility of Sir Clive selling off partially revived with a dose of his ailing C5 subsidiary, Sinclair French smelling salts was Oric. Oric’s final project, the Stratos, as It’s show time! Vehicles, things were beginning The new owners, Eureka well as the Oric Atmos. Nice to look ominous for Sinclair. Informatique, finally acquired the keyboard, shame about the It wasn’t all doom and gloom, Reports suggested that company from the receivers after software base. though, on the hardware front. several companies had already a couple of months of And there was yet more woe With two major computer shows been approached as potential negotiations. Eureka attained the for the Acorn Group, as the opening on either side of the investors in Sinclair Research, so rights to all Oric names and rescue package from Olivetti Atlantic, there was no shortage of the likelihood of Sir Clive products as well as the remaining didn’t seem to have stopped the new machines being introduced ultimately losing overall control stock. They also indicated they company haemorrhaging cash to the public. of his own company looked to be would be resuming production of from every orifice. Olivetti bought The Sixth Official Commodore a 49% share of Acorn Group, and Computer Show at the Novotel in it was hoped this would be Hammersmith, London marked sufficient to stave off the the first UK appearance of company’s financial problems – Commodore’s new C128 machine. problems that seemed to be rife With the computer attracting amongst the computer producers much press and fan interest, the of the day. long-awaited release would Unfortunately, the cash crisis surely prove popular and was not getting any better and, profitable for the company. That as with Sinclair, selling several said, no price structure had been of the company’s subsidiaries set at the show nor even an was becoming a distinct official UK release date for the Following possibility. To add further to its machine, though Commodore did the buy-out by woes, later in June Acorn had to let slip that the C128 would Eureka Informatique, the planned Oric Stratos suspend its shares for the launch around September. computer was replaced second time in five months. The Over in Chicago at the by the Telestrat outlook wasn’t rosy. Summer Consumer Electronics
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Show, Amstrad quietly sneaked out a preview of its new machine, the CPC6128. With the >Games watch release of the CPC664 just a couple of months before, it was greeted with surprise that the The computer manufacturers may have been in a constant state of CPC6128 should supersede the torment and anguish, but the software houses were a rather perkier lot, ‘new’ machine so quickly. It was producing some quality gaming fodder with a nice sprinkling of revealed though that, initially at diversity thrown in for good measure. least, the CPC6128 would go on Knight Lore, Ultimate’s all- In Crash magazine five games received Crash Smash status, and sale only in the US and conquering isometric adventure, they were spread over an array of gaming genres. Shadowfire exclusively through Sears stores. was voted Game of the Year by (Beyond), the Sega arcade conversion Tapper (US Gold), Witch’s Apparently it would be available C&VG readers Cauldron (Mikro Gen), Runestone (Games Workshop), and Arnhem (CSS) sometime in the autumn. Shortly made up the fantastic five. after, Sir Alan Sugar was classic and a firm favourite with Over in Zzap-land, and still buzzing from its premiere issue last quoted as saying: “The 6128 will gamers over several formats, month, the C64 magazine also had an agreeable gathering of top-rated more than likely come to Britain anticipation for these forthcoming games. The hot and throbbing Zzap Sizzlers in June’s issue included early next year, as there is no adventures was starting to MULE (Ariolasoft), Super Pipeline 2 (Tasket), Pitstop 2 (Epyx), need to add to Amstrad’s range bubble quite nicely. The new Everyone’s A Wally (Mikro Gen), Gremlins (Adventure International) and at present.” adventures would initially be Lode Runner (Ariolasoft/Broderbund). Finally, two sporting offerings, Staying at the SCE Show, released on C64 and Spectrum International Basketball (Commodore) and World Series Baseball software companies were pulling with further conversions to follow. (Imagine) chipped in with the last two Sizzlers of the issue. out some of the big guns for the And not one for sitting on its But the ultimate prize of the Zzap Gold Medal was awarded to an remainder of the year. Epyx, hands, Melbourne House also unlikely candidate. Theatre Europe (PSS) was a modern-day war responsible for the highly rated revealed news of another old simulation in which you could ultimately launch a chemical or nuclear Summer Games, revealed its two favourite making a welcome missile strike on your enemy. To add to the atmosphere and excitement biggest offerings, Winter Games comeback in the form of Mugsy’s of the game, if you wanted to initiate a nuclear missile launch (which and Summer Games 2. Featuring Revenge. The follow-up to the you always did), you had to make a real telephone call to a 24-hour different sports but with the original Mugsy would feature the phone line run by PSS which provided you with the authorisation code same formula, Epyx seemed to be same distinctive graphical style needed to deploy your weapons and nuke the world. playing it safe by giving the and similar gameplay. So, more Finally, this month saw the release of a game with possibly the consumers more of what they of the same then. daftest title ever. Ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for wanted. Well, if it ain’t broke… Nonterraqueous by Mastertronic. Great name, average game. A new game from David Pure gold Crane, creator of Pitfall and Ghostbusters, was previewed to Computer & Video Games the unsuspecting public under its magazine ran the annual Golden working title, There’s Someone Joystick Awards as voted for by Living Inside My Computer. its not-unsubstantial readership. Granted, not the catchiest title in Again, no big surprises when the the world – which may explain joysticks were handed out at an why it was later renamed Little awards ceremony in London, with Computer People (look for a Ultimate triumphant in three feature on this classic Sims major categories. Not only did it forerunner in an upcoming RG). have Software House and We agree with the mighty Zzap. Game of the month Away from the shows and Programmer of the Year awards has to be PSS’s Theatre Europe back in the UK, Melbourne House bagged, but also Game of the announced the long-awaited Year for Knight Lore. And, for Other winners included Elite (Adventure International) for Best news that it would be releasing once, Ultimate shed its air of (Acornsoft) for Best Original Adventure Game and Daley the first part of its Lord Of The mystery and sent along Louise Game, Lords Of Midnight Thompson’s Decathlon (Ocean) for Rings adventure trilogy. Having Stamper to pick up its well (Beyond) for Best Strategy Game, Best Arcade Game. produced The Hobbit, already a deserved awards. Sorcerer Of Claymorgue Castle And that was June 1985. e >Top Five Charts (June 1985)
Spectrum Commodore 64 BBC Micro UK singles chart 1 Shadowfire 1 Shadowfire 1 Revs 1 Kayleigh Beyond Beyond Acornsoft Marillion 2 Soft Aid 2 Dambusters 2 Alien 8 2 You’ll Never Walk Alone Quicksilva US Gold Ultimate The Crowd 3 Starion 3 Pitstop II 3 Atic Atac 3 19 Melbourne House Epyx/US Gold Ultimate Paul Hardcastle 4 Tapper 4 Soft Aid 4 Knight Lore 4 A View To A Kill Sega/US Gold Quicksilva Ultimate Duran Duran 5 Dun Darach 5 Theatre Europe 5 Magic Mushrooms 5 Suddenly Gargoyle Games PSS Acornsoft Billy Ocean
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p Retro
Welcome to the Retro Gamer reviews section. Read on to discover the Ratedteam’s opinion on the latest commercial releases... p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p Mortal Kombat
Back in 1992 a right royal fistfight TV Game started in the videogame industry, with the king of all beat-em-ups, Street Fighter II, coming under more appealing thanks to its now Midway’s gore-stained monster returns to rip the bloody attack from a young pretender to infamous blood, gore and spine out of the plug ‘n’ play market the throne. Midway’s Mortal fatalities. And, rather than using Kombat was let loose to cash in sprites to portray the action, MK Developer: Jakks Pacific p Format: n/a p Price: £24.99 p Players: One-Two on the hugely lucrative one-on- instead opted for a Pitfighter-style one combat craze that SFII had digitised approach. Real people started, and it wasn’t long before were filmed performing various the masses were firmly martial arts moves, and the entrenched in their camps. developers captured their actions While Capcom’s fighter was then squeezed them into the the better of the two games, game. The result was an boasting tons of moves, silky- impressive-looking title with dark, smooth play and unrivalled gritty environments and realistic tactics, MK was made all the fighters spilling blood and gore
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very promising. Looking like a >Reptile! sort of mocked-up arcade unit, the game controller features a The green- >Finish him! specially designed D-pad clad ninja (complete with jump, back flip can be and crouch labels) and nicely Of course, no game of MK is complete without the usual collection found alive and spaced-out attack and block of over-the-top fatalities, and these mad finishing moves are the kicking in the buttons. The unit is powered by 4 main reason why the game did so well in the first place. As you’d first Mortal AA batteries (not included), and expect, this version of the game does have all of the gore and guts Kombat, but another watch-style battery in place, including each character’s trademark fatality. Here are four doing so isn’t (included) for high-score saving. of our favourites, along with their button combinations: easy. When One of the most interesting you reach features, though, of the the Pit MK TV Game is the two-player stage (with option. By using the supplied the long drop onto the spiked connection cable, you can plug in ground), watch for silhouettes another MK unit for some two- flying past the moon. If you player brutality. see them, you then need to manage a double flawless Fight! victory (don’t take any damage), perform a fatality The unit certainly looks the part, Johnny Cage’s head-lopping Raiden delivers a high-voltage and never hit block during the uppercut is the perfect cure for power surge to the cranium. F, but is it any good? Well… yes, any hangover. F, F, F, HP (close) B, B, B, HP (sweep) whole fight (Scorpion and and no. From a purely impartial Sonya can’t fight Reptile as point of view, and not sitting in their fatalities require use of either the SFII or MK camp (we’re the block button). If you do reviewing the unit, not the this correctly you’ll be able to original game), we found it a fight Reptile at the bottom of little disappointing. First and the pit. He’s a very tough foremost is the actual game opponent, possessing the included on the unit. A quick moves of both Sub Zero and glance at the packaging reveals Scorpion as well as more true arcade-perfect screens, with speed, but if you beat him the original high-quality sprites Kano always wanted to be a Sub Zero gives a very you’ll get a massive and detailed backgrounds. So we heart surgeon in his younger thorough neck massage. F, D, days… B, D, F, LP (close) F, HP (close) 10,000,000 points! were quite excited at the chance to play the arcade original on TV all over the shop. And, when after all this time. Sadly though, the game onto to the hardware, Flawless victory? you’re a 13-year-old kid, this sort upon powering up the game we but at least show us this version of blatant frosting is just the weren’t rewarded with the arcade on the box, Jakks! That said, it’s So you may be under the thing to make you pile in the 20p version of the game, but rather not a bad version of MK by all impression that we really don’t pieces. Now, thanks to Jakks what appears to be a cut-down means, and sound aside, it’s like Jakks Pacific’s latest plug ‘n’ Pacific, fans of MK can now relive approximation of the original. better than the SNES and Mega play game, but that’s not strictly those heady days with this new Graphics are poorer quality, Drive home versions. true. The actual game is fine, if in plug ‘n’ play release. backgrounds are missing detail The game plays quite well, a rather limited, cut-down way, Jakks has created this and animation, characters are and the control system is and the controls are also attractive-looking MK unit to lower resolution, sound is tinny effective enough. The main D- passable. If you’re a MK fan we’re accurately reproduce Midway’s and you can’t help but feel pad feels a little clunky, but it’s in no doubt that you’ll love this arcade classic on your home TV, slightly robbed. Presumably, these fairly responsive and pulling off release, and it certainly saves and at first glance the results are changes have been made to fit your favourite moves is easy. having to drag out your old The battery compartment is system to play it again. located in the big red box But the lack of a real mounted on the top of the unit, arcade version and mains power making the pad top-heavy. And is irritating, and the two- once again this brings us onto player implementation could the subject of batteries. Why oh have been more generous. Retro why do companies insist on Gamer’s recommendation? Go doing this? It’s a TV game, not a for Radica’s Street Fighter II handheld, so why not give us a game instead. mains power option, instead of Rating: pppppppppp forcing us to use expensive batteries? And, while we’re seemingly on the rampage, having to pay for a whole extra unit for two-player games is a bit much, especially as the likes of Radica’s recent releases have included two controllers in the one box.
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p Sensible Soccer Plus
Radica resurrects the football legend, along with two of its Sensible stablemates
Developer: Radica p Format: n/a p Price: £29.99 p Players: One-Two
classic Sensible games, surely this is a must-have? Well, yes it is, but >The World in in truth it’s not totally perfect, and your hands there are some small problems – most notably with Sensi. In the The version of Sensible game you can edit team and Soccer featured on the Radica player names, create you own cups unit is the original Mega Drive and leagues, even save your incarnation. This is great, and progress during a season, just as is truly one of the best footy Long before the FIFAs and Pro Evos thankfully this TV game in the original version. Sounds games ever created, but of the world were doing battle on incarnation (a direct port of the great, expect that there’s no actual (there’s always a but, isn’t the digital pitch for fan loyalty, Kick Mega Drive version) is excellent. battery backup in the unit, so once there?) it would have been Off and Sensible Soccer were the Although Amiga and ST purists you turn the power off, all your even better if Radica had two footballing giants kicking may argue that the only way to progress and edits are lost. This opted for the improved lumps out of each other. While the properly play the game is via makes the long-term season play Sensible Soccer European debate as to which was the better joystick, the Mega Drive version so loved in Sensi pretty much Champions. This enhanced game still rages on, there’s no is still great, with all the speed impossible. If only Radica had version of Sensi was based denying that Sensi was the winner and playability of the original. supplied a save option (like Jakks on the Amiga/PC Sensible at the time, and its lighting-fast Even better is that the Radica have with its Mortal Kombat World of Soccer and boasted play and masses of teams, custom unit comes with two controllers, game). The other games aren’t more teams (a massive 168 cups, leagues and players – as so two-player matches are affected by this due to the use of teams across 40 nations), well as that all-important after- possible (and essential). As an passwords, so no problems there. extra options (including touch – made it a class performer added bonus, two other Sensible In fact, the only other real problem updated cups like the 1992 in all areas. classics also make an appearance we have is with Cannon Fodder. European Championship), and OK, so Sensi was never really – the entertaining war game Basically, the game never really the excellent star-player about realism, as today’s games Cannon Fodder and the wacky worked on the Mega Drive, and feature that allowed you to are, but the speed of the game god sim Mega Lo Mania. the lack of mouse control makes bestow three of your team meant that each match was a the later levels hair-rippingly members with superior skills. truly testing bout, demanding fast Own goal difficult – you just can’t perform Names were still amusingly reflexes, tactics and mastery of actions fast enough with a pad. altered, though, with such the game’s super-responsive With the unit offering console- Overall, however, we really footballing greats as Eiric controls. Yes, it was great, and perfect reproductions of three liked this new Radica outing and Centona, Raan Goggs and there’s no denying just how good Devid Siaman kicking the Sensible Soccer still is. FIFA and leather around the pitch. Pro Evo may be the kings of football today, but Sensi is an amazing sporting gem that still raises a familiar smile from anyone who picks up a pad (usually followed by howls of disbelief as an impossible banana shot from 30 yards out pings into the back of the net). Cannon Fodder and Mega Lo Mania are great little games too, making this an essential purchase for fans of either title, or just those who want timeless two-player Sensi matches. Rating: pppppppppp
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With fresh news that that the long-awaited Duke Nukem Forever is finally creeping towards a release, we take a look at the history behind gaming’s all-time cheesiest action hero. Hail to the king, baby…
uke’s origins are a name were different, Duke was Although a good game at the audio causes far less far cry from his still the blond beefcake he is heart, there’s no denying that earache. The actual gameplay is better-known today – albeit in more sci-fi, Duke Nukum looks awful, even pretty much the same, though, Doom-esque Buck Rogers style. for its time. The EGA visuals are and the old platforming and D blasting antics. In In his first adventure, Duke is very poor and the sound is truly shooting action is the order of 1991, Duke first appeared on our up against the evil Dr Proton, an ear-scraping. But the seeds were the day. screens in a shareware 2D evil genius – aren’t they all? – sown, and Duke would be back… Things were looking up for platformer, and a rather cutesy hell-bent on taking over the After some digging around, Duke, and people were one at that. Even more world. It’s a simple story for a Apogee discovered that the name beginning to warm to his surprising is that his name was simple game. Controlling Duke, Duke Nukem wasn’t part of a carnage-filled adventures, but no actually Duke Nukum, not Nukem you have to jump and shoot your legal minefield, so Duke was one could have predicated how as it is now. This name change way through the various levels bestowed his soon-to-be the third game in the series was down to legal reasons as a (seen in full EGA, folks!). The household name. would completely blow the Japanese character also bore the environments are interactive, and In 1993’s Duke Nukem II, originals away. name Nukem, so Apogee decided you’re able to destroy security Duke’s success at saving the to play it safe and opt for the cameras and smash open world from Dr Proton attracts the Suck it down alternative surname. But, containers for ammo and energy attention of the Rigilatins, an although the game and the (in the form of fizzy drinks). evil race who … wait for it … By 1996, the gaming world was want to take over the world. The presided over by a single genre – Rigilatins decide that the best the First Person Shooter. In this way to accomplish their goal is post-Doom era, game developers to capture Duke and copy his were frantically looking for their brainwaves using the dreaded own Doom-killer, with only id Super Mega Encephalosucker (!) itself really managing it with the device. Obviously, Duke is none release of Quake. But simmering too happy about this, and by within 3D Realms’ HQ was a new using an explosive charge title – a title that would take the hidden in one of his teeth (as world by storm. This game was you do), he blasts out of his Duke Nukem 3D. cell and proceeds to punish the A direct contrast to id’s dark alien threat. and demonic Quake, Duke 3D Duke Nukem II is a marked came along and delivered improvement over the original bubblegum comic-book action in game, looking much better than real world locations such as Los before. The levels are also Angeles. Quake may have had You could be forgiven for forgetting all about Duke’s initial bigger, with the whole game four the technical upper hand thanks outing, a simple side-scrolling run ‘n’ gun game times larger than the first, and to its impressive 3D visuals, but
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The sequel is a straightforward extension of the original, with better sound and graphics, and larger playing areas
Duke had far more character, and offer are fantastic, including Always bet on Duke, but don’t bet on him being on time. people loved it. rocket launchers, ‘freezethrowers’ Will Duke Nukem Forever be worth the wait? Shot down over the streets of and the excellent shrink ray. And LA by an alien race invading the who could forget the genius of weapons like water pistols and We were promised some brand planet, Duke is thrust into yet the laser trip bomb in coconut launchers! There was new info at this year’s E3 show, another world-saving epic filled multiplayer Dukematches? even Duke: Nuclear Winter, an but besides assurances that 3D with guns, guts, gore and There’s even a co-op mode in official expansion by 3D Realms Realms is still actively working strippers. Yes, Duke 3D is no which two players can take on that sees Duke battling to save on the project, nothing of note kid’s game, and the seedy the alien menace together. Santa’s elves from the clutches of emerged. Whenever Duke Nukem content, including the ability to Duke 3D is a stunning title, the alien baddies. Forever finally arrives, let’s hand out dollar bills to even more so considering the 3D realms had a winning hope that the game serves up scantily-clad strumpets, caused simple platformers it evolved franchise and a veritable licence the same comic-book action quite a stir – so much so that from. It came out of nowhere and to print money on its hands. It and adventure that Duke fans the game was criticised by shook the gaming world. was time for Duke to expand, have been craving for nearly various government do-gooders and consoles were the obvious a decade. e and came under attack from Come get some more choice. Duke 3D appeared on the the media. N64 and the Sega Saturn first, Scandal aside, Duke 3D is an Duke was a big success, and it with the Sega offering beating >Mini Duke amazing FPS which uses a wasn’t long before fans were the predictably toned-down sprite-based approach to deliver creating their own maps for use Nintendo version. Sony’s In addition to his computer a rich and interactive world. You in multiplayer matches. But PlayStation eventually muscled and console adventures, Duke can smash glass, see yourself in people wanted more Duke, and in on the action, although the has also appeared on a mirrors, leave bullet holes in several expansion packs were game the fans got was ill- number of handhelds. A walls, and utilise a range of released. Official packs included received, being a shoddy homage to the early 2D equipment, including trains and Atomic Edition and the Plutonium version plagued by poor platform games appeared on security monitors. Pack, and others came in more graphics and nasty controls. the GameBoy Colour in 1999, The game also boasts several outlandish guises, such as Duke Duke then appeared in further and Duke even starred in his technological breakthroughs for Xtreme, Duke It Out In D.C. and console titles, including the own handheld game systems its time, such as being able to the bizarre Duke Caribbean: Life’s third-person Time to Kill and the from Tiger Electronics. (He create levels with rooms on top a Beach, which features Hawaiian awful Land of the Babes. Zero appeared in an LCD shooting of rooms. Plus, the weapons on shirt-wearing pig cops, and Hour on the N64 was a little gallery game in 1996, while better, but the PC title Tiger’s Pocket Pro Portable Manhattan Project was terrible. gaming system received its own version of Duke 3D in Forever and a day 1998.) More recently in 2002 Duke appeared on the GBA in Duke Nukem Forever is the next Duke Nukem Advance, a 3D game in the core Duke series, FPS, and he’s also made and was originally announced appearances in various mobile way back in 1997. Videos since titles for phones and PDAs. then have showed incredible scenes on a par with Half Life 2, but delay after delay has led many to believe that the game was in fact made up. Well, thankfully the game has resurfaced of late and looks set to finally arrive some time this year (but don’t hold your breath), Duking it out on the Tapwave Zodiac PDA… Duke Nukem 3D delivers good wholesome family fun courtesy of Take Two Interactive.
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This month Jonti Davies spends some time with Taito’s newItadakimasu! Space Invaders compilation. He also looks back at one of Nintendo’s finest puzzle games and ventures into Japan’s distant past. >Legends reborn Cultural heritage and folklore play a major role in Japanese game design. We caught up with Goemon and pals to find out more about the historical roots of Konami’s old Japanese games
oemon isn’t a many tales and Konami games – Konami character. is that he was eventually executed No, our friend with by a rather nasty method: being the dyed blue hair, thrown, along with his son, into a G who appears in bath of boiling oil. In Japan today, Left, Konami’s version of Goemon, and right, the character from Konami adventures on formats the term Goemon-buro is used for Japanese history on which the games are based from the MSX and Famicom to the a large iron bath such as that Super Famicom and PlayStation, is used to kill the Edo period’s the Super Famicom for the craziest Lupin anime series. Konami’s rendering of a real number one renegade samurai. of all the games in the series. The The greatest thing about Japanese legend. Yes, Goemon Some of the best Goemon 8-bit Famicom and MSX originals Konami’s Ganbare Goemon is its actually existed – and spent much games have been released in the are also well worth tracking down. wonderfully Japanese sense of of his time in Kyoto! West under the Mystical Ninja There’s cross-pollination, too, with humour. Most of the time, for Ishikawa Goemon, to give him title, the original SNES game Goemon appearing in countless instance, Goemon’s companion is his full name, was a notorious being the high point. But there novels, fables, TV dramas, and more of a comical sidekick than a thief who lived from 1558 to 1594. are many Goemon releases that kabuki theatre plays. A supposed helpful aide. His name in The reason his life was cut short – remain Japan-only productions – descendant of Ishikawa, Goemon Konami’s games is given as and became the catalyst for so check out Ganbare Goemon 4 on XIII, also appears in the excellent Ebisumaru, but it seems likely
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REGULAR | JAPAN HAPPY PLAY NOISE >Daihitto! >Space Invaders Award on PSP This month’s Daihitto! award goes to We picked up a copy of Taito’s new Nintendo’s supreme Panel De Pon for Japan-only Space Invaders compendium the Super Famicom for the PSP. And it’s rather good
If it’s an unwritten law that block- based puzzle games should drop their blocks from above, then most games in the genre are law- abiding citizens. One unruly girl from Kyoto, however, insists that her blocks rise from the bottom of the screen. This is the upside- down, super-entertaining citizen named Panel De Pon. The logic behind Panel De Pon is simple. You control a cursor which can swap blocks one by one on a horizontal level: match three or more blocks of the same colour and they disappear, postponing that Game Over screen. Clever use of the cursor makes it possible to It all started more than 25 years ago, but that hasn’t deterred Taito remove five blocks at a time – connected horizontally – and chain from porting Space Invaders to Sony’s newest gadget. On the PSP- combos that bring mucho bonus points. exclusive Space Invaders Pocket, almost every Taito Invaders release The two-player versus game is as compelling as any other is here and presented immaculately. multiplayer puzzler you’d care to mention. The screen is split vertically For Y3,980 (about £20), Space Invaders Pocket collates perfect and good play sends bad blocks to the opposing player. It’s the kind of replicas of some true classics – Space Invaders (mono and colour- two-player game you can play on an infinite loop – it never grows old. overlay versions), Space Invaders Part II, Return Of The Invaders, But it’s the little things that really confirm Panel De Pon as a puzzle Majestic Twelve: Space Invaders Part IV (aka Super Space Invaders), great: the backdrops and animated characters, the character selection and Space Invaders ‘95. screen, the password system revealing new players and stages, and Of these, the original is in a league of its own. The PSP is hardly a the mad catchy music. Only the soundtrack remains unchanged in natural environment for any 1978 release, but it actually looks very Nintendo of America’s Tetris Attack adaptation of this NCL classic. For impressive on the PSP’s amazing display. And the play patterns remain our Yen, we’d recommend the Super Famicom original. intact so there’s no need to realign your Invader shooting habit. But going back to Return Of The Invaders, and especially Space Invaders ‘95, is a revelatory experience. There are some crazy enemy wave dances in Return, and its difficulty curve is spot on. Plus it looks very nice to boot – not quite as pretty as Space Invaders ‘95, though. SI’95, released in Western arcades as The Attack Of Lunar Loonies, originally ran on Taito’s F3 hardware. This is a game from the same era as Bubble Memories and Elevator Action Returns, and it shows: it’s the videogame equivalent of a packet of Starburst! The gameplay is intriguing – melding the original’s design with updated vertically-scrolling progression, formidable bosses and lots of weird and cute characters, ‘95 is Space Invaders after a complete change of personality. Ganbare Goemon 4 on the SNES (left), and Ganbare Goemon 5 For all the quality of these games, though, we must air a few – aka Mystical Ninja – on the Nintendo 64 (right) minor complaints. There’s no multiplayer on this compilation, for one thing, and the only extra material is a brief screen of history text that he too is based on a – and this oddness is translated which accompanies each title. But the options menus are welcome, legendary Japanese character: across to Ganbare Goemon where and the games (for the most part) are timeless. Nezumi Kozo. Ebisumaru appears as a camp yet Like Ishikawa Goemon, Nezumi likeable fellow with some very Kozo was something of a peculiar habits (witness his Japanese Robin Hood, robbing the almost-naked hula dancing at the overlords to help the underpaid. start of Ganbare Goemon 5). He lived a couple of centuries OK, history lesson over. Now later than Goemon – being go and find some Goemon titles beheaded in 1832 – though, from for your Nintendo consoles – a Japanese perspective of time, there’s no other series which so the two characters’ lives are magically captures historical covered by the single Edo period. Japanese elements together Nezumi was, for some reason, with great gameplay and affectionately known as ‘Rat Boy’ wacky humour. e
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Desert Island
Paul Drury chats to programmer Paul Carruthers. You may not Disksrecognise the name, but you’ve almost certainly played his games
a sprite of a teacup and a Kit Kat make the cut – and the game you could drop into it. It wasn’t was christened Xor. Released on exactly a game, but it was kind of the BBC Micro in 1987, and later fun. We started adding other appearing on the Electron, bits… I noticed a student had Spectrum, C64, Amstrad, Amiga written that some senior lecturer and ST, it was very well received, “fucks chickens” on the back of a chair, so chickens went in. Michael Hayward and Ian Saunter, bosses from our publisher Logotron, dropped in one day, saw it and said the company was moving into entertainment software – and if it ever became a game to ring them.” Encouraged, Paul and another of the group, Ian Downend, completed the game in their spare time between tutorials – the Kit Kats had to go for legal Freelance programmer and all-round nice guy, Paul Carruthers reasons, but happily the chickens
“ got into games throw it from your seat and try programming and make it land in someone’s through plonking,” tea. With a plonk.” smiles Paul OK. Still sounds bizarre, though I Carruthers. less painful than the scene we’d There’s a pause while we imagined, and we’re struggling to start to worry that this is street see the connection with a career in slang for some bizarre sexual the games industry spanning practice – and wonder how that almost 20 years. could possibly have led to him “I was working at setting up his own software Loughborough University as a house, programming Mortal demonstrator on the Maths Kombat for the Mega Drive and Undergraduate course,” Paul heading up the Warhammer continues, “which also involved Online team. Thankfully, Paul producing educational software puts it all in perspective. for the BBC Micro. It was a nice “With plonking, you fold a office, everyone clicked, and one Xor, Astral’s first game, was released on a number of platforms, and Kit Kat wrapper into a ball, bloke did a bit of animation with an updated mobile-phone version is currently in the offing
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“We quit our posts at university and set up Astral Software… I remember my dad couldn’t believe I was leaving teaching to write stupid games”
scoring an impressive 910 out of confesses. “Now we were part of 1000 in ACE magazine. It has a publisher and it was sticking since spawned a number of its oar in. It said the game had to remakes, including one by have shooting in and had to be Ovine by Design which has in space, because that sells. It graced the coverdisc of Retro ended up a mixture of the puzzle Gamer (issue 4). game we wanted to make and “We decided that, yes, this what the publisher wanted – a was our kind of job, so we quit hideous mish-mash and no fun at our posts at the university and all. It was my first experience of set up Astral Software – without marketing being seen as more any real idea of what we were important than anything else.” doing. I remember my dad It wasn’t to be his last couldn’t believe I was leaving experience, either. We wonder teaching to write stupid games.” whether the environmentally- friendly theme of his next game, Astral plane the fondly remembered Archipelagos (appearing on the It must have come as quite a ST, Amiga and PC in 1989), was surprise to the Carruthers family actually his ode to Greenpeace? – none more so than to Paul “No, that too was down to himself, who was rather late to marketing. Though to be fair, we games design. Yes, he could had invented a very abstract program in ALGOL 60, a language game and you can’t put those for mainframes – but this seemed out, so the publisher made it into to primarily involve bashing out a story to bring the elements punch-cards via a huge clunky together.” So are you saying that keyboard, then handing over a the follow-up, Resolution 101 bagful only to receive a message (entitled Hoverforce in the reading “Syntax Error Line 45” States), which challenged you to two days later. He didn’t get his stop the distribution of mind- fingers onto the rather smaller altering drugs, was not a rubber keys of a Spectrum until personal comment on late 80s he was studying for his degree. rave culture? “Owning a Spectrum was Paul chokes on his pint. “God, magical, but programming a no. Marketing again. I always whole game seemed too operated from the game point of complicated. I spent all my time view, which was at odds with doing arty animations. In fact, I marketing, and still is today with did this visual sequence along to story-driven games. We had a music, where sounds triggered good 3D engine for those games changes in the graphics, and it – well, a clever 2-and-a-half-D won a competition in Personal engine, which worked when Computer World. My prize was a others struggled – and again the Commodore 64 – presented to me publisher added the storylines. by Barry Norman!” But Logotron was an interesting Developing this primitive light company and we stuck with it.” Following early success with Xor, and the misfire that was Quadralien, synthesizer – and the talent he Logotron was indeed an Astral garnered great reviews with Archipelagos (top) and Resolution 101 had for computer animation – unusual publisher, prepared to had helped Paul land the job at take risks, and subsequently small one of them would have to split, but I realised it wouldn’t Loughborough, where he’d evolving into Millennium – which leave the room if the other always be possible to just produced animations to help in turn split into Creaturelabs and needed the toilet. Paul felt the phone up a publisher and say, ‘I illustrate experiments. They also Sony Cambridge. But Astral need to move on, on many levels. did Archipelagos and I have a proved useful skills when writing Software, despite going on to “Astral kind of fell apart. We great idea!’” a game. With enough money produce Horror Zombies from the were just on different paths. I from Xor to pay themselves a Crypt and Stormball in 1990, wrote Stormball at home and it Probing around salary, the two partners wasn’t evolving. Paul and Ian shows. I think the best games confidently set to work on were still working out of an office are when you have two or three By 1991, Paul was back on Quadralien. The confidence at the back of a toy warehouse people tuned in to each other his own and so was turned out to be misplaced. on an industrial estate in and you can bounce ideas especially pleased to receive “It was a terrible game,” he Loughborough, which was so around. It was a shame Ian and I a call from Tony Beckwith –
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Other games by Paul include (clockwise from top left) Quadralien, Stormball, Terminator 2: The Arcade Game and Horror Zombies from the Crypt
producer of Archipelagos product on a conveyor belt. on advertising and it paid off big LA story and Resolution 101 – who was There was no time to craft or time – it sold six million units. now at developer Probe and finely tune a game – you were That’s fucking good!” Paul’s time at Probe also saw looking for programmers. chucking them out. Be paid, We can’t help but wonder if him complete Bubble Bobble for “He was offering me twice as chuck out another!’ Paul ever saw much of the huge the PC and the Mega-CD version much money as I’d been on, plus So the Probe production line profits it must have created. He of Mortal Kombat (he grimaces it was Terminator 2: The Arcade rolled on, and Paul was mighty mumbles sheepishly. “Well, it did when he recalls how the action Game. You couldn’t say no. I had fortunate to be handed the Mega pay for my house…” froze and the drive clicked and the chance to play the arcade Drive conversion of the first Maybe he’d now own most of whirred as character graphics game, then they sent me the Mortal Kombat, this time with the his street if he hadn’t turned were dragged from the CD into graphics and I programmed it original source code – allowing down the conversion of Mortal the unit’s tiny memory). But by up… quite badly, I have to say. him to use algorithms from the Kombat 2 and instead opted to the mid-90s, things were There were some bugs in there arcade game to create a console work on – wait for it – changing. The launch of the later on in the game that really version that compared favourably Pagemaster for the Mega Drive. PlayStation led to the bubble pissed people off.” with its big brother. He sensed “That was very, very stupid. I bursting for Mega Drive Paul then proceeds to this was going to be big, but thought all the hype around conversion work, and Paul apologise for the ‘lost variable’ failed to convince his friends, Mortal Kombat would mean the decided to join the growing that prevented you shooting the until they all went to see the film sequel would be banned and I number of British programmers head off one unintentionally Jurassic Park… thought it was time to move into who’d moved to Virgin Interactive indestructible robot. He talks with “Before the film started, there movie licenses. Looking back, in Los Angeles – among them a refreshing honesty about the was an advert for Mortal Kombat that was pretty stupid too. Dave Perry and Doug Hare – for projects he’s worked on that were and my game was up on the Marketing people get involved. a new challenge and hopefully duds, though this was invariably screen. I looked over and the Like with Batman Forever, they some fun. due to external pressures, rather whole row of my mates were wanted a beat-em-up because “Everyone was in the office than a lack of commitment on his pointing at the screen, then at they sold, but platform games do from 8am till 6pm. It was this part to do a decent job. me, going ‘But isn’t… that…’ and well, so we should make a two- big, dark, hot building with “I had five months to do I’m nodding, saying, ‘I told you it player, platform beat-em-up – silver windows, and you were in Terminator 2, so it wasn’t a bad was going to be massive!’ that’ll be fantastic! You mix all there all fucking day! By the feat. Probe was the kind of Acclaim had spent an that up and you just get mud. time you were out, it was dark. I company where you produced a unprecedented amount of money Nice graphics, shit game.” ended up thinking, ‘Hold on, I’m
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in a tropical paradise, but spend We assume revisiting all my time in an office with a Archipelagos allowed him to load of Brits – I might as well explore and develop the ideas be at home.’ That world just he had back on the Amiga and wasn’t right for me – hot, ST, the modern hardware giving but dull.” more power to his imagination… How apt, then, that the film- “Did it hell,” he laughs, this licensed game he was working time actually spitting out his on, which was never released beer. “It was done for Sold Out, due to the movie flopping the budget label, and I had to spectacularly at the box office, do it in three months or lose was Escape From LA. Paul did money. I just broke even. But it exactly that. was a full 3D version of the “I came back and sat in a original at a cheap price.” pub with a pint, a freelancer With Anthill essentially a one- again, and just thought, ‘This is man band, Paul was starting to a lot better.’” Paul did manage feel the strain. “I wanted to do to leave the pub eventually and the work, but not the set up Anthill Studios, initially accountancy, the sales, the Paul hit the big time with the with old Probe colleague David employing people. I just wanted Mega Drive version of Mortal Leitch, who’d been sensible to be handed a game and get on Kombat, then delivered a high enough to take on the Mortal with it.” kick to his own head by passing on the sequel Kombat 2 project. But whilst So a call from developer they had an excellent combined Climax, who was looking to portfolio, they found the industry expand its single-studio pour a quart into a pint pot. I had changed and publishers operation in response to a prefer to think of it as all in were very careful who they growing workload, was certainly the past.” handed out work to. The welcome. Initially, there were The whole experience clearly partners disagreed on how to talks about Paul handling a left a nasty taste in Paul’s move forward and David left, but Dreamcast conversion of Turok, mouth, which he now attempts Paul continued with Anthill and, but this developed into the to dispel through a large swig of between 1998 and 2000, suggestion that Anthill became a bitter. But this story has a produced two PC titles – Rat Climax Studio, and with friends happy ending, and one with a Attack and Archipelagos 2000. around, many from Probe days, delicious retro flavour. A former it was a very tempting offer. The boss at Probe, Fergus McGovern, icing on the cake was the big called with an offer of work, unannounced project with project they were to work on – which he assured Paul he would Nokia. As we walk back towards Warhammer Online, a highly enjoy. It was to produce ‘Mortal Kombat Kottage’, ambitious attempt to make a conversions of 1942, a game he located in a particularly leafy Massive Multiplayer Online game liked playing in the local chippy part of Nottingham – the city from a much-loved and back in the day, and Fire ‘N Ice, Paul’s called home since he was internationally recognised just the sort of puzzle-cum- ten – he starts to enthuse franchise. What could possibly action title Paul revels in, about the potential of mobile- go wrong? The fact we aren’t for the Jakks TV Game Plug and phone gaming. playing it and the way Paul is Play joysticks. “It’s a new market, you can staring miserably into his pint “To come back to bedroom have really small teams and speaks volumes. coding was wonderful. After all budgets are tiny, so people are “I don’t really want to delve the stress at Climax – managing taking risks and that’s when into all the stuff that happened. a team of 50 people, doing interesting things happen. I firmly There were a lot of, erm, spreadsheets, entertaining believe the 2D era of games was shenanigans… I left before the people who weren’t interested in brutally cut short by the project was cancelled and I do the game, having that constant PlayStation and there’s a whole take some responsibility for Monday morning feeling and swathe of games that weren’t what went wrong, but there were nothing to show after three made because of the advent of so many people involved, each years – now I wanted to get up 3D. So many people own phones, pulling it a different way and all every day and make something. there’s a real market for not retro trying to make something out of And in three months, I had. It games as such, but games with a it the others weren’t. I was in made me realise, at heart, I’m a retro feel – simple, fun, the middle, without any power, creative person. I need that in interesting 2D games. Whole new being blamed for something I my job.” genres, perhaps.” didn’t really have control of. And With a pedigree that stretches people forget how difficult and 2D roots back to the 80s, a profound expensive producing an online understanding of the game is. The first year was Despite not having programmed machinations of the industry Prior to his work with Climax, spent getting the contract done, for three years, and confessing and a clear belief that ‘the Paul put out Archipelagos 2000, which ended up a foot high – to a few nerves, Paul is pleased game’s the thing’, Paul might an updated version of the 16-bit literally. The tech team were with how the conversions have just be the man to deliver original, and Rat Attack, a fantastic and the demos looked turned out and is currently something truly special. And all console puzzler superb, but we were trying to working on mini-games for an thanks to plonking. e
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>Paul Carruthers’ Desert Island Disks
Arcadia Super Mario 64 Imagine, 1982, Spectrum Nintendo, 1996, N64 I was living in a student house For me, it encapsulated what a 3D and we played this game night game should be. I hadn’t believed you’d and day on the Spectrum. My be able to control a figure properly and fingers ended up all gnarled make a playable game, but this is and pained. I was fascinated corking – everything about it is right. by how they could make a You look at the whole of the Mario game like this, as I was still series and there’s not much wrong, but programming in BASIC. I kept thinking, “How this just said that 3D games were in. can they do that – it’s not in the manual!’ And I thought that if people could make Then I found out about this thing called something as enjoyable as this, they machine code… were here to stay.
Phoenix Deus Ex Amstar, 1980, Arcade Eidos, 2000, PC The first proper game I played a lot. I hate First Person At uni, there were two machines in the Shooter games, but Student Union – an original Puckman still play them. And I’m and a Phoenix. I’d watch people not very good. I’ve playing over my pint and learn tried multiplayer and techniques – like how to defeat that people at Climax will mothership, which had been killing confirm that I’m me every time. It was my first rubbish. But this I love experience of really being drawn to a because it did other things – it game – the visuals, the animation, the sound… experimented and it worked. A great it just held all my interest. storyline and just wonderful throughout.
Little Big Adventure Fire ‘N Ice EA, 1995, PC Tecmo, 1993, NES This really grabbed me. I was struck by I hadn’t even heard of this before I was how big it is and the attention to detail. offered the conversion, and as I started It was obviously made by someone who playing I realised it was the perfect cared about it. Even the bits that are puzzle game. It’s so simple, with hardly seen are still good. I love the maybe four or five elements in there, graphic style, which is just gorgeous, but they’ve made 150 levels from those and it has a great soundtrack – components… plus gravity. The difficulty ramp is just unusual, very French and a bit haunting. The perfect, starting easy and bringing in other elements, emerging story is just so integral to the game until halfway through it gets really challenging. and I felt depressed when I finished it. I just You’re staring at the screen thinking it can’t be done, didn’t want it to end. then you try some combination… fantastic!
Zelda: Link’s Awakening Zoo Keeper Nintendo, 1993, GameBoy Ignition, 2004, Nintendo DS I fell in love straight away. I don’t care I can’t stop playing it at the moment. if people call it an RPG – it’s a puzzle It’s a retro game, in that it has all game, with such wonderful, dynamic, those elements I think interest people interesting puzzles. I hadn’t seen them in retro games – simple, perfect for five hidden in a storyline before – the way minutes before the bus arrives, and it you move through the world by solving has a certain abstractness them and how the tools you find allow about it… yes, they’re animals, you access to places you’ve already seen, but couldn’t quite reach.. It but they could be anything. took me ages to finish the first dungeon and then I found out there You just have to place them were 10 more or something. I thought, “God, I’m going to be playing next to each other. I could play this for the rest of my life!” it for hours. And have done.
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FEATURE: HARDWARE | SEGA GAME GEAR
hen Nintendo first major limitations, the most ports could be accomplished by more comfortable to use than released the now- obvious being the unlit yellowy- putting an unaltered Master the GameBoy. legendary green screen. Given the System game into the physically GameBoy, Sega GameBoy’s less-than-dazzling smaller cartridges designed for Mercury rising W found itself monochrome palette, and a Project Mercury. Any major suddenly lagging behind the screen almost impossible to see porting work would be limited to On 6 October 1990, Sega redoubtable competition. Without except in direct light, Sega updating the graphics to take unveiled Project Mercury in a portable system, and with the assumed that a portable that advantage of the new system’s Japan as the Game Gear. Mega Drive struggling to fixed these issues would be expanded colour palette, and Imitating one of the GameBoy’s overthrow the technically inferior almost certain to succeed. potentially enlarging sprites to strengths, Sega made the Game Famicom, Sega was losing Sega was also packing a compensate for the smaller Gear’s first release and pack-in sales, and, more importantly, second silver bullet into what display area. title a falling-block puzzle game, recognition. This was an they internally referred to as Learning another lesson from similar to Tetris, called Columns. intolerable situation for a ‘Project Mercury’ – the new Nintendo’s brick-shaped and It had already been released as company already having to portable console would be moderately awkward Game Boy, an arcade cabinet earlier in put up with the fact that essentially a miniaturised Master Sega designed Project Mercury 1990, but after the Game Gear Nintendo had become a house- System with a more powerful to be shaped similarly to a release, Columns would become hold word, almost synonymous video processor. The intention Mega Drive controller, with the so popular it would be ported to with videogames. was not to make Project Mercury display in the centre. In theory, every system Sega ever But it seemed that making a backwards compatible with the the curved sides and wider released. It would also system to compete with and even Master System, but to make it spacing between the left and eventually find its way onto crush the GameBoy wouldn’t be very easy to port Master System right control surfaces would almost every other major difficult – the GameBoy had some games to the new system. Basic make Project Mercury much console, up to and including the
Early hits on the Game Gear included (clockwise from top left) Columns, Super Monaco GP,GG Shinobi and Ax Battler
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Sony PlayStation 2, and would off the system. But for the Game “The most important tradeoff was inspire innumerable PC clones in Gear’s overseas release in 91/92, the shareware and freeware Sega would begin using what battery life. The Game Boy was arena. The second game would prove to be the most capable of running for over 30 hours released simultaneously with the successful ad campaign the Game Gear was much less company ever devised. The on four AA batteries. With the inspiring, a port of the now earliest overseas commercials backlight, full-colour, 3.2in display, largely forgotten Sega arcade were the sort of unobjectionable title Pengo. ‘hip for 12-year-olds’ adverts that the Game Gear’s power consumption Prior to 1990, Sega had seen had sold the Master System, but some success marketing the these were quickly supplanted skyrocketed, with the system Mega Drive as a more ‘mature’ by a new campaign designed to requiring six AA batteries to provide system than the NES. The go for the public’s throat with a system’s pack-in, Altered Beast, tone of calculated cool. In the just three to five hours of play” was held as a stark contrast to UK, Sega used the brash slogan the cartoonish Super Mario Bros., “To Be This Good Takes Sega.” wouldn’t care which portable you effective enough that the Mega and the company had launched a The American campaign was had.” This would dictate the Drive finally moved into first long string of adverts of varying equally brash, though more tone of Sega’s advertising for the place in the worldwide console levels of viciousness attacking immediate (and, some would say, Game Gear for quite some time. market. However, the Game Gear the NES. This would cement the more cringeworthy), using a The adverts that weren’t direct had problems serious enough company’s reputation as the bad simple staccato cry of “Sega!” to attacks were more cool and that not even a compelling boy on the block, and it was only punctuate each advert. irreverent, like the infamous advertising campaign could make logical for Sega to use the same This new campaign was ‘How’d He Do That?’ commercial, it the success Sega wanted and techniques to market the Game anchored by surprisingly vicious featuring a tough, leather-clad expected it to be. Gear, which they were already attacks on the GameBoy, attacks biker in a vaguely Australian positioning as the ‘grown-up’ largely focusing on the graphical setting and his TV Tuner- Bigger and better? alternative to the GameBoy. deficiencies of the system. One equipped Game Gear. The Japanese advertisements declared the Game Boy’s The scorched-earth advertising The development of the Game for the Game Gear were typically graphics to have “green spinach campaign was markedly effective Gear had focused on making a inoffensive Japanese commercials colour,” while another said, “If at grabbing attention, and, handheld system that was featuring typically inoffensive you were colour-blind and had coupled with the runaway hit technically superior to the young Japanese ladies showing an IQ less than 12, then you Sonic the Hedgehog, was GameBoy in every way possible.
“If you’re still playing with GameBoy, it’s time to grow up.” Sega didn’t pull any punches when it came to advertising the Game Gear
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FEATURE: HARDWARE | SEGA GAME GEAR >Master of disguise
A popular misconception was that the Game Gear was intended to be a portable Mega Drive. In fact, it was almost a part-by-part copy of Sega’s modestly popular 8-bit Master System console. The most significant difference between the two systems was in their graphical capabilities. The Master System was capable of displaying screen resolutions of 256x192, 256x224, or 256x240, and could display up to 32 colours on screen simultaneously, from a palette of 64. The Game Gear had a lower display resolution, 160x144, but could display 32 simultaneous colours from a palette of 4,096. The two systems had other minor differences, the most obvious being that the Game Gear lacked a port for card-style games and could only play cartridges. It also didn’t have the Yamaha FM chip for sound synthesis, but most Master Systems released outside of Japan didn’t have it, either, so few games were ever made that supported it.
Sonic made a very decent debut on the Gear Gear with a scaled- down version of the 16-bit classic. Sequels and exclusive spin-offs duly followed…
Sega had addressed the graphics and physical shape of the console, and, in that respect, the system’s design was a success. But there were several tradeoffs in that design to support the technical improvements Sega had incorporated. The most important of these tradeoffs was battery life. The GameBoy had very low power consumption and was capable of power. With the backlit, full- tethered to an optional AC mitigated the cost of feeding the running for over 30 hours on colour, 3.2in display Sega adaptor, defeating the purpose of Game Gear’s voracious appetite four AA batteries. This was incorporated into the Game Gear, a portable system entirely. for AA batteries. largely due to what Sega pointed power consumption skyrocketed: Aftermarket rechargeable battery There was a second, less out as the GameBoy’s biggest the system required six AA packs quickly became a popular glaring but more insidious weakness – its display. The batteries to provide just three to add-on. These typically required problem with the new system, GameBoy’s screen had no five hours of play. For all upward of eight hours’ charging one Sega’s engineers had backlight, and the four-tone practical purposes, the Game while not providing any additional seemingly overlooked. With the display itself required little Gear required the player to be playing time, but at least larger battery bay, bigger screen,
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and generally ‘better’ but less The GameBoy, for its entire the GameBoy succeeded despite create large ‘event’ titles for the miniaturised components, the life-span, sold itself on the basis its large but comparatively system, the company assured Game Gear was significantly of an enormous library of simple, shallow software support rather that the Game Gear’s library bulkier and heavier than the inexpensive, pick-up-and-play than because of it, Sega began a would never exceed 300 titles GameBoy, making it awkward for games. While Nintendo had campaign of porting popular compared to the GameBoy’s children or people with smaller produced a few of these, most arcade and console titles to the library of over 1,000. hands to use. It certainly couldn’t notably the runaway smash Game Gear. Games like Sonic the be carried around in a coat Tetris, the vast majority of games Hedgehog, Ecco the Dolphin, and Sunset of the empire pocket either. came from third-party developers. Mortal Kombat soon formed the But in the end, the system’s Nintendo did not produce a truly cream of the Game Gear’s By 1996, the struggling system greatest problem would prove not defining title, one that would library; unlike the GameBoy’s was still looking to make an to be a technical issue but a cause players to gravitate to the titles, the Game Gear’s attempted impact in the GameBoy’s market, fundamental misunderstanding of system just for the sake of to have gameplay as involved as and still hadn’t attracted the market on Sega’s part. Sega playing that specific game, until their large-system cousins. This significant software support. The had never paid much attention to 1997’s Pokémon. Before 1997, goal was hampered by the fact Game Gear’s sleek black lines third-party developers, preferring even the franchise GameBoy that the Game Gear’s technical and full-colour display, once the to keep development in-house as titles such as Castlevania specifications, while superior to system’s major selling points, much as possible, under the Adventure and Super Mario Land the GameBoy’s, were still not were looking hopelessly dated – control of the various numbered tended to be simplified versions sufficient to run a Mega Drive or a problem that never plagued ‘AM’ divisions of the company. of their home console brothers, arcade title without sacrificing the GameBoy, which hadn’t tried Although all Sega systems had suitable for brief and relatively graphical and audio quality. to sell itself on ‘cool’. Sega was third-party developers, their uninvolved play. Because of Sega’s failure to turning its attention away from numbers were limited, and Sega Misreading the GameBoy’s recruit third-party developers, the 2D games market entirely, did little to recruit them. success entirely, and deciding that and the company’s drive to already preparing to shelve the >Peripheral gain
The Game Gear had quite a few peripherals of varying types – most fell into the category either of power supplies or screen enhancers (such as magnifying lenses). Two of the more interesting peripherals, however, were neithe
TV Tuner Master Gear Converter
The TV Tuner resembled an enormous cartridge with an aerial As the Game Gear was little more than a portable Master System, a curious and a channel selector, and, as the name implied, let the user contraption was released allowing Master System cartridges to be played watch television on the Game Gear. This was made possible by on it. Called the Master Gear Converter, this device was very inexpensive the fact that the Game Gear’s display was essentially a owing to the fact that it had nothing in it but some crossed wires to map miniaturised television. It was available in North America and the pins on the Master System cartridge to the Game Gear’s connector. It Europe, but never became terribly popular, largely because it had no card slot, and so could only play cartridge games. Furthermore, cost nearly as much as the system itself. Unfortunately, later some 4MB cartridges, like Sonic the Hedgehog, suffered graphical glitches versions of the Game Gear, as well as the Majesco re-release, on the Game Gear. Nonetheless, it was very well-received as it instantly weren’t compatible with the TV Tuner. expanded the Game Gear’s somewhat diminutive library.
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FEATURE: HARDWARE | SEGA GAME GEAR >Sega Nomad
The Game Gear was Sega’s first and most successful attempt at a portable system, but not its only one. The company attempted to replicate the Game Gear’s dubious success in 1995, with the release of the Sega Nomad. The design philosophy of the Nomad was similar to the Game Gear’s – it was essentially a miniaturised Mega Drive, based on the display-less Mega Jet miniature console Sega devised for Japan Airlines. It was designed with a comparatively advanced LCD display, one much sharper than the display on either the GameBoy or Game Gear. The Nomad was very expensive, costing US$180.00 at launch, and had battery life just as poor as the Game Gear’s. It was never popular, and although it went on sale in Japan and North America, Sega halted production of the Nomad before the rumoured European release. A PAL version never saw the light of day.
The Game Gear software library built up quickly, thanks to a constant stream of Master System ports
Mega Drive in favour of the In the midst of a frenzy of return to the grave. Engineering mistakes and poor newer Saturn. The Game Gear’s losses resulting from declining Though roundly regarded as a marketing kept it from the days were numbered. Mega Drive sales, poor Saturn failure, the Sega Game Gear was greater level of success it might The same year, Nintendo performance, and the lack of by far the most successful otherwise have seen. In the end, made a coup that would finally acceptance of the short-lived contender to the GameBoy’s though, you should never kill off the ailing Game Gear, in Sega Channel, Sega quietly throne, with a 10-year lifespan underestimate the power of sheer the form of the GameBoy Pocket. terminated support in Japan for and over 8.5 million units sold. bloody-minded persistence. e A direct successor to the original the Game Gear in late 1996. GameBoy, the GameBoy Pocket Overseas support continued until was little more than a re- 1997, but was soon stopped engineered, miniaturised there as well, with the last few GameBoy with a true black and games trickling out early that white display, rather than the year. The last Game Gear Sonic “green spinach colour.” The title, Sonic Blast, was released in GameBoy Pocket was wildly November 1996. successful, breathing new life In 1999, Majesco bought the into Nintendo’s system and production rights to the defunct simultaneously throwing the Game Gear from Sega, and in Game Gear’s ungainly design February 2001 began releasing a into sharp relief. The Sega slightly modified ‘Core’ version system went from seeming of the old system through Toys merely large, to being enormous R Us outlets in the US, at the and unwieldy compared to the bargain price of US$29.99. diminutive GameBoy Pocket. However, the re-release failed to Further, compared to the two AAA make an impact, and only two cells the GameBoy Pocket needed games were released before to run, feeding the Game Gear Majesco stopped production and The Game Gear made its last stand with the ‘Core’ version, but again six AA cells was ludicrous. the Game Gear was allowed to buyers kept faith with Nintendo’s GB line
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>Ten of the best The Game Gear may have lived in the shadow of the GameBoy, but it was still home to a number of great games spanning several genres. Here, in no particular order, are ten standout titles we feel deserve special mention
Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine Ax Battler is not just a port of Golden Axe, but an unusual and The title notwithstanding, this isn’t a Sonic game in any meaningful engrossing action RPG in the vein of Zelda 2 and Gargoyle’s Quest. way. Rather, Sega applied some graphical changes to its famous Rewriting the Golden Axe storyline, Ax Battler follows the Puyo Pop puzzle game and released it with a new name to cash in adventures of eponymous protagonist Ax Battler (really his name!) to on the Sonic craze sweeping the world. recover the mythical Golden Axe from the clutches of Death Adder. Mean Bean Machine, like Puyo Pop, has a competitive aspect to it Instead of a parallax- that many falling-block games scrolling world, Ax Battler lack. Rather than simply presents an overhead view building groups of beans, your of the action, switching to objective is to chain together side-view combat during enough combinations to bury random encounters and in your opponent under a heap of dungeons. The combat the things. The game’s sequences are wonderfully competitive nature gives it a simple, and play much like different feel to Tetris or the classic Golden Axe, Columns, but makes it just as albeit with a flat playfield. addictive in its own way.
Shining Force II: The Sword of Hajya The original Shining Force, released in 1993, was one of the earliest strategy RPGs and a fine addition to the Mega Drive’s library. Shining Force II: The Sword of Hajya, released a year later for the Game Gear, was a stripped- down but still excellent addition to the series. The major difference between The Sword of Hajya and the home console Shining Force games is the simplified gameplay. The exploration elements have been removed, turning the game into pure strategy combat. The combat engine is simple and engaging, while the large, colourful sprites make the game far more playable than most portable strategy combat games, even recent ones.
Panzer Dragoon Mini Powerstrike II Despite the name, Panzer Dragoon Powerstrike II is one of many Mini more closely resembles Sega’s extremely fast-paced and highly classic Space Harrier than its popular playable overhead shooters Panzer Dragoon series. In fact, it plays from Compile, who also created similarly to a hybrid of Space Harrier the infamous The Guardian and Afterburner, with some visual Legend and Blazing Lazers touches taken from Panzer Dragoon. among others. These elements all add up to an Powerstrike II is not atypical addictive little shooter. of Compile’s shooters. The The player controls the action from gameplay is gripping from the a third-person perspective behind the beginning, with bullets flying thick and fast. The player’s fighter is Dragoon. The Dragoon’s life bar and upgradeable to include numerous powerful weapons systems, such lock-on ability are the most prominent as rotating shield pods and heat-seeking missiles. The boss ships elements taken from the home console are impressively huge and show off what the Game Gear is capable Panzer Dragoon titles, and add a of graphically. Compile’s overhead shooters are almost universally depth of play that Space Harrier lacks. excellent, and Powerstrike II is no exception.
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FEATURE: HARDWARE | SEGA GAME GEAR
Shinobi Sonic Triple Trouble Shinobi has always been one of Sega’s most identifiable properties, Sonic Triple Trouble was one of the and it was inevitable that the Game Gear would play host to a last Game Gear Sonic titles, and scaled-down version. While Shinobi is essentially a port of the Mega widely regarded as the best. It took Drive title, it has some unique gameplay elements that make it a good advantage of the handheld’s worthy part of the Game Gear’s library. capabilities, as well as introducing one Shinobi was always a fairly standard sidescroller, and that of Sonic’s more notorious enemies – remains unchanged in the Game Gear version. But from the first Nack the Weasel. level, which has the ninja protagonist leaping along the tops of Sonic Triple Trouble is, in many moving automobiles over a busy highway, the Game Gear Shinobi ways, merely a refinement of Chaos. places a greater emphasis on dynamic and immediate gameplay Tails is once again playable, and his than the slower-paced console versions. flight abilities are usable in new places. The gameplay is faster and has greater depth, introducing new moves such as the midair spin. Most interestingly, the game itself is much more expansive. Triple Trouble has huge stages to explore, as well as novel high-speed bonus rounds, each culminating in a fight with Nack.
Sonic Chaos A huge number of Sonic the Hedgehog titles were released for the Game Gear, most of which were poor cousins to the Mega Drive games. Sonic Chaos was one of the few that were worthy entries in the series. Most noticeably, Sonic Chaos is one of the only Game Gear Sonic titles to feel as fast as the Mega Drive originals. It also introduces new gameplay elements, such as rocket shoes that, instead of merely boosting Sonic’s speed, actually let him fly for a brief period. It also features Tails as a playable character with his own innate flying ability.
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition Super Columns NBA Jam was always unusual as sports titles go, emphasising fast The original Columns was one of the and furious action and over-the-top comedy rather than any attempt Game Gear’s few signature titles. Even at realism. NBA Jam: Tournament Edition for the Game Gear was no though the oft-imitated falling jewel exception, and the simple and fun gameplay made it ideal for a game was eventually released on every portable system. platform under the sun, it was long Tournament Edition is very much like other NBA Jam titles. It identified as a Game Gear game, much features two-on-two play and straightforward, intuitive rules. The as Tetris belonged to the GameBoy. simple controls allow it to be picked up and played with a minimum Super Columns is an impressive of fuss. The immediacy of play and the pick-up-and-go style, along update of the original launch title, with the large, cartoon-style graphics, make it one of the most fun introducing some interesting new Game Gear titles of any genre. gameplay mechanics. Fire gems eliminate whole rows of jewels at once, while arrow gems reorient the entire playfield, rearranging every gem on screen. The updated – though still simple – play makes Super Columns one of the best falling-block games ever made, and an essential part of any self-respecting Game Gear collection.
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Next Level Gaming:
15 years ago, Sega rolled out its 16-bit powerhouse, the Mega Drive. The system sold like the proverbial heated desserts and took a decent share of the console market from Nintendo. Sega raked in the profits. But when sales started to fall, Sega needed a little more muscle. And so, the Mega-CD was born. Aaron Birch takes a look at the highs and lows of the oft-ridiculed CD system
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FEATURE: SOFTWARE | NEXT LEVEL GAMING
een by most as Sega’s greatest success, the Mega Drive sold very well S indeed, but still failed to really challenge the might of Nintendo in the massive Japanese and American gaming markets. Nintendo’s consoles ruled the store shelves in both countries, whereas Sega was suffering falling growth in storage was 200 times sales. Even as early as 1990 (the that of a standard cart, causing system was originally launched in people to imagine games so big 1989 in Japan), Sega was already that you’d still be playing them thinking of ways to bolster the when you were collecting your product and beef up sales. Luckily pension. The advent of real for the games giant, CD-ROM video in games also had players technology was beginning to make drooling with anticipation. its way into the public domain. In The actual system specs of 1990, the first batch of CD-ROM the Mega-CD were very drives was rolled out to the impressive at the time. At the general public (courtesy of Sony heart of the unit was a 12.5MHz and Phillips) and it was Motorola 68000 16-bit CPU, which The Lunar RPG series, which has since graced the Saturn and immediately apparent just how synchronised with the Mega PlayStation, memorably began life on the Mega-CD powerful the new medium was. Drive’s own 68000 CPU. The The CD’s massive capacity meant graphics hardware was made up out the system in Japan on 1st people could store huge amounts of a custom Sega ASIC processor December 1991. Though it was >WonderMega of data on a single disc – much (used for rotation, scaling and so expected to take the market by more than could be fitted onto the on). The HAM (Hold And Modify) storm, the product didn’t exactly The technology of the Mega- meagre PC hard drives of the time. system boasted a 128-colour shine and only sold a CD may not have been This great leap in storage palette, and there were 256 disappointing 100,000 units in its demonstrated particularly technology didn’t pass Sega by – colours available to the CinePak first year. Two main factors well on the system’s launch, the developer quickly and and TruVideo FMV capabilities. contributed to this less than but its potential didn’t pass correctly decided that the future Memory-wise the system had impressive figure – the price and everyone by. A year after its of gaming was disc-based. Given 768KB RAM built-in, which the games. At around Y50,000 launch in Japan, electronics that the medium of the time was supplemented the Mega Drive’s (US$400), many considered the company JVC licensed the the static cartridge, this was a existing RAM, doubling the Mega-CD to be far too pricey, technology and came up bold step. And when you available memory. There was also especially for an add-on. The two with the WonderMega. This consider that Sega put its next- an extra 128KB RAM allocated to Japanese launch titles – Sol-Feace was essentially a Mega Drive generation console on hold to the CD-ROM drive, plus 64KB and Heavy Nova – were also well and a Mega-CD squeezed fully concentrate on the Mega backup RAM (for saving games). below par. Sol-Feace was actually into a single, attractive unit. Drive addition, it’s clear that the But, as this was a CD system, an old Mega Drive shooter with But as well as doing company was taking a big risk. storage capacity was the main some CD-quality audio tacked on, everything the Mega-CD Sega wasn’t far into the selling point. The unit was fitted and Heavy Nova was a shockingly could, the WonderMega development of the Mega-CD with an ISO-9660 Mode 1 poor game that completely failed also boasted many extra before problems started to arise. compliant 1x CD-ROM drive. Discs to demonstrate the power or and improved features. It Rather than simply offer a CD could hold up to 500MB of data. possibilities of the system. Not was faster and improved on drive, Sega also wanted the Impressive specs indeed, but exactly the best start then… CD access times, offered module to boost the hardware it didn’t take a rocket scientist to Luckily for Sega, a winning better audio playback, and capabilities of the Mega Drive. see that some of the Mega title eventually hit the market in included S-VHS and MIDI After all, the SNES had now been Drive’s shortcomings were still 1992 courtesy of Game Arts. connectors, two microphone released and its longer present, including the rather Lunar: The Silver Star was a jacks and echo effects (for development (due to its late limited colour palette and the mammoth RPG that took gamers karaoke). It was even arrival) meant that the Mega ageing sound chip. But even with by storm. It sold in excess of compatible with other CD Drive was no longer the most its limitations, the Mega-CD was 100,000 copies and was directly formats, such as CD+MIDI. powerful console available. Sega set to be the most powerful linked to the Mega-CD’s growth Selling for around saw the creation of the CD unit console ever. Indeed, when it was in sales. Thanks to its success Y80,000 (US$600), the as a way of addressing first shown to the public at the other companies and potential WonderMega wasn’t cheap, shortcomings, and the project 1991 Tokyo Toy Show it received supporters started to take note of but it came with a games became more complex and plenty of interest. It was going to the new platform – the future of compilation (the difficult as time went on. be big, and with Sega behind it, Sega’s risky endeavour was WonderMega collection) and Amongst the new additions how could it possibly fail? finally looking up. a karaoke disc. planned for the system were But there was trouble brewing powerful graphics scaling, All systems go in Sega’s ranks. Poor biaxial sprite rotation (think communication between Sega SNES mode 7), CD-quality sound, With the new hardware in Japan and Sega US, and secretive FMV (Full Motion Video) and, of position and expensive cover-ups on the part of the course, massive storage for advertising campaigns building Japanese creator made things games. Sega boasted that this the public’s interest, Sega rolled difficult for the Western offices.
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Both Night Trap (left) and Sewer Shark introduced Mega-CD owners to the dubious delight of FMV gaming
Eventually though, Sega US worth upgrading? morning? Smells like victory!” on a single CD.) Road Avenger announced the Sega CD (the unit’s The launch titles for the US Cobra Command was another was little more than Dragon’s Lair name in the States) to its awaiting market were Black Hole Assault, FMV shooting gallery game with in cars, and was every bit as audience, although some believed Cobra Command, Chuck Rock, the look of an anime cartoon. rubbish as it sounds, while the new product to be an entirely Night Trap and Sewer Shark (plus Much better was Night Trap, in Prince of Persia was a simple new system and not an add-on. a couple of Make My Video titles which you took control of a port with improved sound and Even Sega’s own PR was pushing that we’ll thankfully ignore here.) number of real-time cameras in a additional cutscenes. Wonderdog, the Mega-CD as a new console. Black Hole Assault was a very house and were tasked with however, was a great platformer Things were finally ironed out in poor Street Fighter II clone and protecting a group of fun-lovin’ that was well worth a shot, and 1992 when the system was Chuck Rock was a straight port of young girls from evil-doers by Sherlock Holmes made excellent launched, rather grandly billed as the cartridge game with added using bizarre traps. The idea was use of the Mega-CDs capabilities, the “console of the future”. CD audio, but the other releases undeniably clever – all the video featuring tons of speech, FMV European gamers had to wait even showed more promise. After tracks ran in parallel so you saw and clever puzzles. longer for the system, until 1993. teaming up with a new movie different scenes with each play, But, even with a few good house, Digital Pictures, Sega creating a truly interactive movie. games in the launch package, Gimme games! braved new ground and produced Night Trap was a success and the the titles on offer didn’t really its first FMV games. Using the massive controversy generated urge you to upgrade your Mega When the Mega-CD was released, Mega-CD’s fancy FMV capabilities, over the content (scantily clad Drive. This would change though, it was ahead of everything else these really did demonstrate the girls plus violence equalled mass and a number of great games in terms of technology, including power of the system. Sewer media panic) no doubt helped would eventually arrive. Some its main target, the SNES. But as Shark was admittedly little more sales as people bought it to see would be Mega-CD exclusives we all know, a platform is only than a shooting gallery on rails, what was really behind the but, as we would find out, many as good as its games. The but the FMV was impressive and salacious headlines. would simply be remixed Mega Japanese launch had sported the atmosphere was great. And The UK launch was a little Drive ports. some dire titles, so would the who could forget the Apocalypse more generous with games – device fare better overseas? And Now ‘homage’? “Don’t you just there were more actual titles than Lights, camera, action! would gamers feel it was love the smell of sewers in the showcases for the system. Besides the bundled titles (Sol- As we’ve said, both Sewer Shark Feace and Cobra Command), the and Night Trap were impressive line-up consisted of Hook, Prince games in their own ways, but of Persia, Road Avenger, there were many more FMV titles Wonderdog, Sherlock Holmes around. The Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective and Sega games were amongst the best, Classics (crusty old Mega Drive as they used the technology well versions of Columns, Streets of to present some great mysteries. Rage, Super Monaco GP, Golden Ground Zero Texas was also Axe and The Revenge of Shinobi worth a dabble – admittedly, it was just another shooting gallery game, but the ability to switch cameras Night Trap-style and the tactical use of the camera guns increased its limited appeal. Then there was Double Switch, starring none other than Corey ‘Where are you now?’ Haim and 80s pop diva Debbie Harry. Double Switch was essentially Sonic CD was the blue one’s biggest adventure to date, with an amazing 63 levels to explore Night Trap 2 (it featured the
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FEATURE: SOFTWARE | NEXT LEVEL GAMING
same style of gameplay) but with was a fantastic game in its own a bigger production budget. It right. Using the Mega-CD’s was a decent title but it was powerful sprite-scaling clear that Sega was relying on techniques, the Batmobile scenes the awe factor of FMV rather featured incredible visuals that than in-depth gameplay. Other were up there with the arcade FMV titles included Fahrenheit, driving games of the day. In fact, Wirehead, Midnight Raiders and it was so good that Sega Loadstar: The Legend of Tully included the option of playing Bodine. All of these games were only the new driving sections in pretty poor, but thankfully there the game, ditching the relatively were plenty other, more poor platform sections. traditional titles around, many of Another game that, to all which were based on existing intents and purposes, seemed to Mega Drive games. be a direct Mega Drive port was Sonic’s expected Mega-CD Terminator. Expecting a simple outing came in the form of Sonic update of the Mega Drive game, CD, which introduced the speedy Mega-CD owners were instead hedgehog to the perils of time rewarded with a totally different travel. The graphics weren’t great game. Terminator was a platform The Mega-CD version of Batman (they were actually less shooter based on the first movie, Returns benefited from a series impressive than those in Sonic 2 but that’s where the similarities of excellent driving sections and were more akin to the first between the Mega Drive and Sonic game), but the game used Mega-CD versions ended. While game) and CD-quality music. the power of the Mega-CD to the Mega Drive game was fairly Sadly, the elements in-between provide awesome music and an short and simple, the Mega-CD battles, like wandering around amazing cartoon intro to impress game had expansive levels (and towns and talking to people, your mates with. Each level in the plenty of them), much better were stripped out of the CD game also had three versions graphics, smooth controls, great version. Nevertheless, fans still (past, present and future), making music, FMV video clips from the consider it to be one of the best this the biggest Sonic game ever. film and much more. The result in the series. Sonic CD simply couldn’t have was a totally unique and In the wake of the one-on-one been produced on the Mega Drive improved game. combat madness brought about and was perhaps the first by the release of Street Fighter essential Mega-CD purchase. Shine on II, Sega created its own SFII Movie tie-ins are usually dire, killer in the form of Eternal but the Mega-CD version of One of the best-loved Mega Champions. A vastly underrated One of the best Mega Drive Batman Returns was a clear Drive games was Shining Force. gem, the Mega Drive version was games ever released has to be exception to the rule. It was a Realising this, Sega released the great, with huge characters EA’s Road Rash, and, accordingly, conversion of the existing Mega Shining Force CD. Although the packing in masses of moves the Mega-CD also managed to Drive platform game, but the CD game was as good as ever and (including hidden Mortal Kombat- get in on the tarmac-scraping, incarnation wasn’t a direct port. you couldn’t really find fault style fatalities), and yet the knee-shredding action. Road Rash Batman Returns was one of the with it, few enhancements had Mega-CD version managed to on the Mega-CD was a faithful best games for the platform been made to the title, aside improve on it. Eternal port of the Mega Drive version thanks to the addition of an from the size of the quests (four Champions: Challenge from the (bearing more of a resemblance amazing driving section. This whole adventures on one CD), Dark Side introduced extra to Road Rash 3: Tour De Force) wasn’t simply bolted onto the the obligatory addition of characters, more speed, tweaked and came with a slew of extras, platformer as an extra either – it speech (in the intro, not in- visuals and yes, CD audio. including more tracks and bikes,
Terminator on the Mega Drive (left), and the vastly improved Mega-CD version
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Flashback on the Mega-CD (left) introduced each level with FMV movies instead of the static cutscenes seen on the Mega Drive version
and a CD soundtrack featuring a sound purchase. But there were that was only enhanced by an weren’t enough good games axe-merchants such as also games that fell flat. Some improved CD soundtrack. released on a steady basis to Soundgarden, Therapy? and simply didn’t cut it on CD and Perhaps the biggest wasted support it. Instead, loyal fans got Monster Magnet. The campaign many were nothing more than opportunities were Ecco CD and the occasional classic with some was more involved too – you basic ports. Take Sol-Feace for its sequel, Tides of Time. Rather terrible titles thrown in to make could talk to other riders, pick example, both the Japanese than taking the excellent puzzle- up the numbers. This can be races and more. launch title and the bundled solving formula forward with directly attributed to a lack of Spider-Man also swung over game in the UK. Originally better graphics and the addition planning on Sega’s part and the to the Mega-CD in Spider-Man released for the Mega Drive as of proper 3D elements to the mix, fact that it took the company far versus the Kingpin, a great port Sol-Deace, the Mega-CD version the games were little more than too long to release the console’s of the Mega Drive classic. Like didn’t feature anything extra other ports of the Mega Drive versions SDK (Software Development Kit), the Terminator, this was much than an improved soundtrack and that came with the usual CD effectively choking third- more than a simple conversion – voiceover intro. That’s it. The soundtrack, FMV clips and party support. it had better graphics, more game itself was identical to the slightly smoother gameplay. They But perhaps the single levels, CD-quality music and cartridge version and there wasn’t were good games, but they just biggest cause of the Mega-CD’s impressive cutscenes. even any extra graphical trickery didn’t push the system. failure was the console itself. Even Disney decided to have on show. When the system came out, CD- a go at CD games and produced The excellent Flashback also A format for the future ROM technology was still in its Mickey Mania. This was made it onto the Mega-CD, but, infancy and companies had yet to essentially a direct port of the like Sol-Feace, aside from the The Mega-CD was home to a get to grips with the possibilities Mega Drive version, which usual improved soundtrack, a few handful of great games, but it it offered. Game developer’s featured CD audio and full FMV movies (replacing the certainly didn’t serve as the SNES simply resorted to releasing lazy speech throughout. A brand graphical cutscenes) and some beater Sega clearly wanted it to Mega Drive ports with CD-audio new level was also added to the speech, the game was identical be. So where did it all go wrong? tracks, or tried to base games CD version. to the original. In fact, it wasn’t The failure of the Mega-CD around the system’s slightly flaky even as enjoyable as the cart has to be levelled at Sega itself. FMV capabilities. Very few Barrel scrapers version because the Mega-CD The platform wasn’t launched developers made full use of the constantly had to pause to load with its own killer app, so it technology because, quite simply, So, there were a fair few titles up the speech samples from the suffered very early on. Then, as the Mega-CD was a console that made the Mega-CD seem like CD. Puggsy was another rehash time went by, there simply ahead of its time. >>>
The Mega-CD versions of Eternal Champions and Road Rash introduced new features not seen in the Mega Drive originals
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FEATURE: SOFTWARE | NEXT LEVEL GAMING
While many Mega-CD games were ports, there were a number of exclusive titles released for the system. >Select CDs Here are six of the very best
Snatcher Silpheed Although Konami didn’t really For the more action-oriented gamers who wanted a title that really push the Mega-CD due to the got the adrenaline pumping, there was Game Arts’ Silpheed. A fact that it was solidly tied up conversion of the classic arcade shooter, Silpheed was totally jaw- with the SNES, the company did dropping. It didn’t feature FMV or groundbreaking gameplay, but it release one of the best Mega- did manage to throw around more polygons than Mega Drive owners CD games available. Snatcher, ever thought possible. This was 3D gaming like no other, and the by Metal Gear creator Hideo in-game graphics Kojima, was an anime-inspired were almost as adventure with more than a hint impressive as the of Blade Runner thrown in. amazing polygonal Using excellent comic book visuals to depict the characters and intro. While environments, the game cast you as Gillian Seed, a Junker (read: zipping between ‘Blade Runner’) who had to track down and kill Snatchers – asteroids and disguised androids who kidnapped people and assumed their dodging laser fire identities. The game had a fully voiced script, was filled with solid you could hear the puzzles, and featured an intriguing story crammed with radio chatter of atmosphere. Interestingly, although Snatcher was released on many your wingmen, systems (starting life on the MSX), the Mega-CD version was, and and the scripted still is, the only one released in English, making this a very events were desirable title for many collectors. simply stunning.
Jurassic Park Heart of the Alien Based on the blockbuster film, this surprisingly sedate Mega-CD This Mega-CD double-bill featured an enhanced version of game cast you as an In-Gen agent sent to the island after the Dephine’s Another World (aka Out of this World), but also the events seen in the movie. Your mission: to find and save eggs often-overlooked sequel, Heart of the Alien. The sequel was from each dinosaur species and get them off the island. Using a something of an anomaly, as it only appeared on the Mega-CD and panoramic Myst-style view system, you had to navigate the highly put the player in the shoes of Buddy, Lester’s friend from the first detailed locations, find objects, solve puzzles and combat game. As Buddy you had to try to fight against the evil rulers seen dinosaurs and other threats. FMV sequences were crowbarred in to in the original game in order to restore peace to your village. The show travel between game was very similar to the locations and the audio first, with the same artistic was very impressive style, puzzle-oriented play, throughout, with and frustrating instant-death realistic wildlife sounds scenarios. It wasn’t quite up and even FMV lessons to the standard of Another on dinosaurs (the World though, perhaps perfect excuse to get because original author Eric your parents to buy it Chahi wasn’t directly involved for you). in the sequel.
Heimdall Shadowrun Atari ST and Amiga owners will be familiar with Nordic RPG Heimdall. We looked at this system-spanning title last issue, and the cyberpunk This isometric adventure was stunning on its home computer release, adventure’s tour of duty on the Mega-CD was certainly a great game. and the Mega-CD version was no different. The CD version was an Sadly, it was only ever made available in Japanese (although fans are excellent game that currently translating featured the it into English), but original with bolted it was well received on speech, by fans of the excellent music and series. It was also much faster loading the last official times. Where game ever released else could you for the Mega-CD, catch slippery pigs making it a true and give busty landmark game and wenches haircuts one for the by throwing axes collection. If you at them? can find it…
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>Emulating the Mega-CD
There are a number of Mega from dodgy websites) and, for detected, particularly on reasons. You can, however, grab Drive/Genesis emulators the less crooked amongst you, Windows NT/2000/XP machines. BIOS files from www.eidolons- available for the PC, and several original Mega-CD disks. Mega- Don’t worry though – we’ve inn.net/old/sega/segacd_dev. include support for the Mega- CD games are stored on provided a fix below. html. You’ll need the right file CD. AGES was the first emulator standard ISO CD-ROMs, so you You’ll find the latest version for your region (Europe, America to run Mega-CD software, but can drop a disk into your PC’s of Gens on this month’s or Japan), and for the best this has been superseded by drive and Gens should run the coverdisc, but you may want to compatibility, you should Gens, easily the best all-round game from the original media. check www.gens.ws to find out download Model 1 BIOS rather Mega Drive emulator available, We say should because a whether an update has been than Model 2. And, of course, with a compatibility rate of 93%. problem with your OS’s installed released. You’ll also need a you’ll need a Mega-CD game Gens accepts both ISO image ASPI layer may prevent your Mega-CD BIOS file, which we (either as a CD image or an files (available for download CD/DVD drives from being sadly can’t provide for legal original disc).
1 2
Copy the Gens files into an empty folder on your Desktop, then If you want to run CD images, simply select Open ROM from the File download the correct BIOS file for your region and place it in the menu and choose a game. Click Open and the game will run. The same folder. Run the emulator and select Bios/Misc Files from the default keyboard controls are listed in the gens.txt file, but you can Option menu. Click the Change button next to your region and point redefine the keys by selecting Option/ Joypads. Press Alt+Enter to the emulator at the BIOS file. toggle full-screen mode on and off.
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To boot an original Mega-CD, insert the disc and select Option/ If you select Option/ Current CD Drive and a message reads no drives Current CD Drive. If you have multiple drives, choose the one detected, you need to run ForceASPI from our coverdisc. Unzip the containing the disc. Now select Boot CD from the File menu and Gens files and run DUMPASPI.BAT to back up your existing ASPI layer, then will play the game. Congratulations – you’ve turned your expensive PC run INSTASPI.BAT to update the ASPI layer. Reboot your PC and the into a fully functional Mega-CD player! drives should now be detected.
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In a Retro Gamer poll, readers ranked Microsphere’s Skool Daze as the 10th best 8-bit game of all time. But for over 20 years the full story behind the game’s creation has remained untold. Until now. Mark Green talks to the game’s creators, Dave Reidy and Keith Warrington, and finds out how one of the best-loved Spectrum games was made
ave Reidy can’t perform, but if you wanted to memories of thousands of little recall much about spend all your time beating people Erics. We’ll come to Skool Daze in what he learned at up, you could. Just like school.” a minute, but there’s a history school. “What I Dave lives in rural Shropshire, lesson to get through first. Pay D remember best are with the same woman who attention at the back! the things between lessons. helped him run Microsphere over Kicking balls around corridors, 20 years ago. His own school Early learning A rare photograph of the playing conkers, firing a catapult, days are a fading memory – but camera-shy Dave Reidy, his Skool Daze, the raucous, taken for a 1986 feature in making fun of teachers, making Decent home micros were a distant Crash magazine fun of other kids. And that was screeching, category-defying dream when Dave was at school. basically how I wanted Skool Daze classic that Microsphere He didn’t come across his first to be. There’d be a major task to unleashed in 1984, lives on in the computer until his university days
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FEATURE: SOFTWARE | THE OLD SKOOL
in the early 70s – a laboratory Microsphere Computer Services mainframe that gobbled up Limited was actually born in punchcards and spat out the November 1982 as a way for complex equation proofs Dave Dave to earn money arranging needed for his neurophysiology subcontracts for computer degree. By 1981, though, when manufacturers. But as Speccy Dave was working as a systems fever began to grip the UK, he analyst for an engineering saw an opportunity to publish his company, Sinclairs and own software – and games. Commodores were taking off – By mid-1983, Microsphere was and a ZX81 was borne into the up and running in the Reidy’s Reidy household. living room at Rosebury Road, “Initially, I wrote a couple of London. You could phone Dave business programs for the ZX81 up or write him a letter, and that were published by other he’d send you a cassette people,” remembers Dave (he decorated with that LED-like retains that quaint 80s way of Microsphere logo. Two of the first referring to games and three products were utilities – applications as ‘programs’). ZX-Sideprint and the acclaimed Prior to the release of the skool games, Microsphere scored “There was PPP, which stood for spreadsheet Omnicalc. So while an early hit with the bizarre but brilliant Wheelie Project Planning Package, and a Crevasse/Hotfoot, the sole games spreadsheet program that came tape, scored a rave write-up in put Microsphere firmly on the Extra curricular activity on a plug-in RAM pack because it Sinclair User and hinted at map and remained the company’s was just too big to fit into the Dave’s special way with the best-selling game thanks to Helen Reidy was, and is, a ZX81’s memory.” rubber keys, you’d be forgiven for glowing reviews (“I spent about teacher, so it seems entirely Then the Spectrum arrived, thinking Microsphere would be three hours playing before I natural that Dave would turn his lugging a monstrous 32KB of specialising in business software remembered I was supposed to wife’s experiences into a usable game space along with it, from thereon in. write something about it!” videogame. But, as Dave and there was no longer any But then Wheelie roared in. confessed a startled Crash writer). explains, Skool Daze was more need for bolt-on blobs of RAM. An impressive little platformer, it Wheelie also introduced Dave’s about taking the long English trademark border-flashing sound tradition of comics and books effects, which we would hear a about naughty schoolboys – Just whole lot more from later. William, St Custard’s, The Bash And that’s Microsphere’s early Street Kids – and making you the history in a nutshell. Dave’s a short-trousered hero. quiet man, not too keen to “All the characters are those dredge up the past, and this is comic book stereotypes, because only the second time in two by and large all schools are the decades he’s resurfaced to talk same,” says Dave. “There’s always briefly about Microsphere (“I only you. There’s always the popular give one interview every 20 people – who you hate, of course. years!” he jokes, having already There’s always a bully. There’s forgotten one he gave in 1999). always a swot. Skool Daze was So, rather than waste time about giving people characters pestering Dave for details on the they would recognise, and making making of ZX-Sideprint, we ring it funny and enjoyable to play. the bell for Skool Daze. Which, of course, meant making it a little bit evil.” Skool Daze is, simply, genius. Unlike most 80s games, the main quest – to bash shields to hypnotise teachers into revealing the combination to the school safe – was little more than a distraction. The freedom you had to wreak schoolboy havoc was breathtaking. You could catapult teachers, sneak into classrooms at breaktime, sit on stairs, write on blackboards… If you play the game today, it’s still thrilling to skip a lesson and wander the empty corridors – especially if you manage to dodge your livid teacher until you’re literally saved by the bell. The play mechanics were to come later, though. With comics as his inspiration, Dave’s initial Education standards slip as Eric and pals run riot in the original Skool Daze brainwave was entirely visual: a
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just after Keith had polished off width of three tellies and the artwork for The Train Game populated by four teachers, three and Wheelie, by which time he’d other ‘big boys’ and 11 titchy given up on his professional first-formers, all busily getting on illustrating aspirations and begun with things with or without your training as a teacher himself. intervention. “I remember Dave saying that In an earlier interview, Dave he’d got this new game idea,” recalled that everything in Skool Keith remembers. “The graphics Daze – the nursery rhyme music, were going to be a bit… more the clickety-click walking, the than the other games. So he school’s timetable, the mini- asked if I’d be interested in doing missions, like avoiding Angelface them. I was game for anything. I and his unique recurring case of was mostly unemployed and I the mumps – emerged almost had the time. So I thought I’d fully formed. give it a bash. I sat down with “It was just a case of adding Dave and basically learnt the characters, scripting them to everything – what pixels were, all a certain extent, giving them that – from him.” ways they could interact with Back home, with the living each other – which was pretty room floor of that shared house unusual in those days – then as his working space, Keith finding a suitably bizarre storyline created some of the best-looking as I went along. The difficult bit graphics Spectrum owners had was working out how the ever witnessed… on graph paper. characters would interrelate – “I didn’t have a Spectrum to how and where they’d all go start with,” he says. “It was during the course of a school easiest to do line drawings over day. All that was based on my squared paper, then block in the admittedly shaky and very squares to make it pixelated. I shadowy recollections of school.” just kept blocking in and rubbing out until I had something that Building blocks looked decent when I stuck it on the wall at the far end of the Skool Daze was more than living room. For the animations, I used up to Dave’s dreams of an tracing paper to draw ‘moving’ animated comic book, due largely A version of Skool Daze was later released for the C64, but despite a legs and arms. Then I’d hand the to the fact that Keith packed few more on-screen colours, it was a direct port of the Speccy original whole lot over to Dave. After a each teacher and schoolboy with while, though, I just thought, a remarkable amount of character bustling school, alive with illustrated the ads and packaging ‘This is ridiculous’. So I bought a for their 500-or-so dots. wandering kids and teachers, in for all of Microsphere’s games Spectrum to do it all properly. “I just left Keith to it,” recalls which “each of the rooms would since Crevasse/Hotfoot. But I still often found it easier to look like a frame in a comic.” The Keith was a struggling return to the graph paper.” >Brush with fame graphics in everything up to illustrator at the time, a 23-year- Over at 72 Rosebury Road, Wheelie were Dave’s own work old sharing a house with six Dave was cracking on with Keith still works four days a (“as you can probably tell”), but other art graduates, just down getting Eric, Angelface, Mr Creak, week as a teacher, at the it was clear that the ambitious the road from Dave. Now 45, he’s Mr Wacker and the rest up and same school in Peterborough plans for building a complete married, living in Peterborough, a running on a Spectrum. Like that he started at just after school on the Spectrum meant teacher, and exclaims “Crikey!” Keith, he was working low-tech – Skool Daze. But he has getting a proper artist in. Luckily, when we finally track him down actually writing the code on continued to paint. In 2003, he had one handy – Keith and remind him about Skool paper and using the raw numbers he was one of twelve Warrington, who’d already Daze. Fishing around in his of machine code rather than the finalists in the Daily Mail’s memory, he recalls that he had a friendlier assembler language. ‘Not The Turner Prize’ art very special lady to thank for the When the pages of code were competition. He entered Microsphere gig: his mum. ready, it was Helen’s job to type again in 2004 and was one As a boy, Keith grew up next- them in, digit by digit. of the runners-up, which is door to a girl called Helen Korol. Keith, regularly gathering up how we tracked him down – When Helen’s family moved to his graph paper masterpieces and the style of his seaside Muswell Hill, Keith and Helen’s “walking over a couple of fields” scene, When Gran Nips In To mothers kept in touch via to get to Dave’s house, The Pick ‘n’ Mix, was just too Christmas cards. Years passed. remembers watching Skool Daze much like the Back To Skool Keith left home, and Helen come together very quickly. “It ad to be a coincidence. became Mrs Reidy. And when Mr was encouraging. I’d finish the Keith’s ‘third time unlucky’ Reidy needed an artist to create kids and the next time he’d have curse struck this year though, the promotional artwork for a version with the kids running as the Daily Mail cancelled Microsphere’s games, mum got in around – but no teachers yet.” 2005’s competition when he touch with mum, and Keith got in Lucky kids. But it wouldn’t was halfway through painting touch with Dave. last. Gradually, a fully functioning his entry. The Skool Daze project came school took shape – it was the
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FEATURE: SOFTWARE | THE OLD SKOOL
Dave. “What he came up with everything.” Similarly, everyone’s was really very good. The swot been ‘told on’ at one point or had an egghead, the bully was another, which is why Einstein broad shouldered and butch, boy the swot got one of Dave’s wonder was blonde and attractive favourite lines – “Please Sir, I and floated around the place – cannot tell a lie…”, delivered just don’t you just hate people like before a teeth-gnashing that? Where Keith got his confession that you’d punched inspiration from, I don’t know. He him in the face at lunchtime. was heading off to be a teacher Still, if Einstein’s tale-telling is then, so he probably modelled it burned in all our memories, our on people he knew.” ears are permanently singed by That’s half right. Keith did take the screech that came with being inspiration from teachers – but reminded by a teacher that “You the ones from his own childhood are not a kangaroo!” Dave rather than any he was working doesn’t think that he created a alongside as an adult. “I had my noise that could wake the dead. own little names for the teachers “I wouldn’t exactly call it ear- while I designed them,” Keith splitting,” he says. “I never recalls. “The Prof, The Duffer… I meant to be cruel.” Eric continued his ‘studies’ in the particularly remember the one I Despite the anarchy going on equally enjoyable Back to Skool, called Walker [Mr Withit in the behind the virtual headmaster’s although the proposed third game sadly never materialised final game]. He was partly based back, Dave couldn’t help but side on a guy who used to teach me with the teachers from time to time. at Junior School, called Mr Sykes. Skool Daze turned into a real brass Dave off with my relaxed My all-time favourite teacher. He history lesson when you were attitude,” admits Keith. “I’d go was a real cool dude. He drove an forced to cough up the date of round to his house and we’d sit old Rover, miles older than ancient battles, in order to unlock down and he’d tell me what he anything else on the road and in the code letter ‘hypnotically liked, and ask me to change things here and there. I’d say, ‘Fine, I can have it done in a “Skool Daze was about giving people week.’ And he’d go, ‘Can’t you do it now?’ After all, it was his characters they would recognise. And money. His commitment. He’s got making it funny and enjoyable to play. a real head on his shoulders, that bloke. A real brain box.” Which, of course, meant making it a But Dave still isn’t sure where have to get closer and closer little bit evil” the central goal of Skool Daze, each time. Skool Daze – like Back and the idea of racking up lines to Skool and Wheelie – just until the game ended at 10,000, seemed to get it right.” good nick. He taught football, and embedded’ in the mind of history came from. “The pacing of a Of course, that’s probably news he was smooth and good-looking teacher Mr Creak. In an era well game is always quite difficult,” he to Spectrum owners who wandered – he had this slim moustache like before Wikipedia, more than one says. “You have to make people around bouncing on people’s Clark Gable out of Gone with the Spectrum fan dug around in the want to play it, and play it again heads and scribbling rude words Wind. A real character.” local library to find dates for and again. Which means it can’t on blackboards without the Being shackled by the preposterously obscure conflicts be too easy to achieve the slightest idea of what they were limitations of two-colour 8x8 like the Battle of Clontarf. objective, nor too difficult. They meant to be doing. Back in 1985, squares of pixels also had its In fact, Dave told Sinclair User benefits. “You couldn’t do a magazine at the time that the normal person because they only reason he wrote Skool Daze would have all looked the same,” was to get lists of ancient battles says Keith. “There had to be a in the hints-and-tips pages of little bald round-headed teacher Spectrum magazines. He still with specs. One needed to be a chuckles about it. “I remember smarmy bloke with a moustache. thinking that it was probably Another was bound to be an going to teach people a few Open University guy, all beard. strange dates. I bet most people Just so you could tell them all had never heard of the Battle of apart, really.” Lepanto until they’d played my Spectrum owners could take game.” (If you’re interested, Keith’s throwaway nicknames a Lepanto was a 1571 clash step further and officially rename between the Ottoman Empire and the teachers and pupils for the ‘Holy League’ of Pope Pius V. themselves. That was an inspired The Holy League won). touch – as Dave says, anyone As Skool Daze approached who’s suffered school could completion, the relationship borrow the name of a real-life between Dave and Keith wasn’t “crazy chemical teacher or a mad entirely unlike that of teacher and history teacher who forgets pupil. “I think sometimes I did
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Dave told Sinclair User that “a game “We sold around 50,000 girls – and in 1986 the clever but program” in 1990, and a couple should not depend on the desire to copies of Skool Daze,” says Dave. frustrating Contact Sam Cruise of games for other publishers achieve a single aim. In Skool Daze, “Ten years later, we were thinking used the same engine, and which were apparently never you don’t have to know what to do that we could have made a lot remains the only game to star a released – but those were the to enjoy it.” We put it to the author more money at the time, if we’d private eye who had to last games to emerge from Dave’s that the school he created, operating been clued up and actually done somersault onto dollar bills in fingers (or, more accurately, almost independently of the player, some proper marketing and order to stay out of prison. But Helen’s). He now runs his own was years ahead of its time. It was merchandising. But I’m not going then, despite hints from Dave electrical engineering company. a sandbox-style game, decades to cry at the opportunities we about a third school-based game Keith recalls the sudden early. Grand Theft Education. lost. We made a decent living out in two separate magazine change of plans. “Helen and Dave Dave is a bit lost by all this. of Skool Daze. It paid for its interviews, it all went quiet. And went away for three months on “Um… I never really played development a few times over.” that’s largely for the same reason some kind of round-the-world tour, anyone else’s games and I still Keith bought a second-hand that Dave estimates 350,000 more a big holiday they’d wanted to do don’t. So I’m not really sure what motorbike from the proceeds. people played Skool Daze than for years,” he recalls. “When they you’re talking about,” he admits. Fan mail (and fan phone calls) actually bought it – home taping. came back, they wrote with a “It just seemed to make sense to poured in, and Helen gave up “Going into 1984, people present – a little Chinese me – the characters, the school, full-time teaching to concentrate were copying so much,” says paintbrush. Next thing I know, I’ve and in particular the day being on the day-to-day running of Dave. “Somebody at the time got a letter saying they’d moved divided into things that you do.” Microsphere. “We used to get estimated that for every game to Shropshire. And I’ve not really together and write reports for actually sold, there were seven heard from them since.” Skool’s out people who sent us mail,” recalls copies made. That’s probably Dave. “Helen went through a about right. We used to get Decathlon Daze On its release at the tail end of phase where she read through games returned as faulty from 1984, Skool Daze was instantly letters, corrected the spelling, WHSmiths and Boots. Most of So what became of turning Skool loved – at least by those who and sent them back.” them played fine, they’d just Daze into a trilogy? Dave is could get its extraordinarily fast, Back to Skool followed – been bought, copied, and taken sparing with the details, but the homebrewed tape-loading basically the same game with back. Some of them had even working title of the third game routine working. added frogs, bikes, conkers and been tampered with so people gives plenty of clues: Eric and could ‘prove’ the game wouldn’t Hayley’s Decathlon. load – recording a few seconds “It may not have even gone of silence, say. But there was out under that title, but a few nothing we could do about it.” things were planned. It involved a As full-price games were shoved lot of sheep. Helen and I had aside by the budget market, and moved to the country by then, so the shadow of 16-bit systems fell after the mice and frogs in Back over 8-bit gaming in general, to Skool, we had to have sheep Microsphere disappeared. being let loose and running in and “The Spectrum was dying on out of the school. But generally it its feet,” says Dave. “Sales was going to be a pastiche of volume declined rapidly from Daley Thompson’s Decathlon, with 1985. By Christmas 1986, it was 10 ‘sporting’ events and various about 30% of what it was before. scenes holding it together. Events I don’t think we made any money like Throwing the Hibiscus [a type out of Contact Sam Cruise at all, of tropical plant].” so we thought it would be best Keith remembers Eric and to stop. It was time to get proper Hayley’s Decathlon too – he did jobs.” He wrote a “3D crossword the artwork for it. “I was told to make it vaguely sports-related. I remember the picture of Eric and Hayley in the foreground, hurdling over the school fence or something like that. It was the classic hurdling pose, one leg out the front and one bent under. The school was in the background – it wasn’t unlike the Back to Skool painting in that respect, just more polished and with a few speed lines added on. But that’s honestly all I can remember.” Indeed, neither Dave nor Keith has much left from the Microsphere days. Dave threw out most of the materials 10 years ago (“We tend not to keep things”). When we spoke to him, Eric and Hayley may have missed out on a third term, but there are a Keith initially thought he might couple of modern remakes in the form of Klass of ‘99 have the Eric and Hayley’s (http://retrospec.sgn.net ) and Skools Out (www.muckybaby.com) Decathlon artwork in the garage
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FEATURE: SOFTWARE | THE OLD SKOOL
somewhere – but then realised he’d binned it during a move. Today, Keith is ‘an FPS fan’ and >The Cassetteography has his Spectrum, still working to this day, lying around somewhere. Dave, though, doesn’t play many games, and isn’t a big fan of The complete history of Dave and Helen’s living room outfit. today’s interactive fare. “In terms Minus the obscure ZX81 stuff. And the hand-typed book of hours per pound, the games in those days were probably far about Spectrum ROM routines better value than the games you get now,” he says. “Do people Crevasse/Hotfoot (1983) Wheelie (1984) really play a £50 game more than Impressive but oh-so-basic machine code ‘action’. Microsphere’s most successful game. Despite they used to play a £5 game? I’m In Crevasse you guide a crosshair (ie buggy) Dave’s modesty, the animation in this strange not sure that they do.” across a splintering icefield, while Hotfoot is a platformer – in which the motorbike-riding hero It’s a shame Dave isn’t keeping near-psychedelic puzzler with a rabbit and a whole dodges hedgehogs and leaps underground buses – tabs on the gaming scene. lot of coloured squares. “Both games are is pretty good. Sinclair User, though, found the Because he’d probably be amazed enjoyable,” gushed Sinclair User. rider flipping over his handlebars “tasteless”. to learn that, 20 years after the bell first rang for playtime in Skool Daze, everything’s coming full Skool Daze (1984) circle. Genius publisher of Grand “We used to get 40% of the £5.95 that each game Theft Auto, Rockstar has just cost,” recalls Dave. “The rest used to go to the announced Bully – which, despite distributor and the retailer. From that 40% we had the fact that it’s unlikely to feature to produce all the artwork, the tape, everything. catapults and short trousers, looks There wasn’t that great a margin. But with Skool like doing for today’s consoles Daze, it was enough.” what Skool Daze did for the Spectrum and C64. In truth though, Dave probably Sky Ranger (1985) wouldn’t be too interested. Even Microsphere’s only misfire. Sky Ranger made an with the cult of Skool Daze ambitious and largely successful stab at proper 3D. firmly established, he finds it But Dave – like other coders who spent too much odd that people are still playing time fiddling around with show-off graphics and talking about something that Onmicalc Series (1983) routines on underpowered home micros – forgot to he conjured up two decades ago This award-nominated spreadsheet software was put a decent game in. as a kind of hobby. “I thought aimed at the ‘business market’ that Sir Clive Skool Daze was an interesting thought would be all over his Spectrum. For idea,” he says. “The people determined to run a business with rubber Back to Skool (1985) characterisation and personality keys, an expansion kit enhanced Omnicalc’s The school got a facelift – and a new building next appealed to me. It was like a printing power. door – for the worthy sequel to Skool Daze that puzzle to perform – a case of added more depth to the game. The ad was making it work, and getting the gorgeous. “You can see an Ena Sharples type look and feel that I’d imagined to ZX-Sideprint (1983) wielding a wooden spoon,” says Keith. “That’s come out on the screen. I never Yep – sideways printing on your ZX Printer. This what I used to get at home.” really thought about how to one’s shrouded in the mists of time, but Keith has make it unique or special. It was fond memories of the inlay artwork. “Technically just a game.” e speaking, it was photographic. Not an exciting Contact Sam Cruise (1986) program and not an exciting cover – but I was A nod to 40s private eye novels, this was really pleased with it.” essentially Skool Daze Plus, with the engine upgraded to allow Sam in and out of buildings (but not to let you see exactly where he was Evolution (1983) inside, annoyingly). It sold “as well as the other “The Spectrum took off in 83,” recalls Dave. big games of the time,” according to Dave. “Every boy between the age of 10 and 14 got one as a Christmas present.” Evolution was his brave attempt to get them interested in 570 million years of natural selection – before he gave up and let them fire catapults at teachers instead.
The Train Game (1983) An inspired puzzle game that’s still great fun. As trains with dozing drivers make their way around the track, you press the keys to fiddle with switch points and avert disaster. Level one is tough – at level seven, you’ll feel your brain actually tearing at the seams.
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>Skool Tour Skool Daze artist Keith Warrington guides us around the school he built with his own two hands
1. Head’s office 2. The staffroom “I tried to get an armchair in “I had no real reference for this. here, but I don’t think it When I was at school, all you comes across very well. Our saw of the staff room was the gaffer used to have an old bottoms of people’s legs and a lot 3. Stairs leather chair in his office, so of smoke. So this was based on “The steps never really worked how I visualised. People the room as a whole is a staff rooms on the TV, and all the effectively walk on the white blocks, so the gap at the top cross between that and the different odds and ends of should be on the near side – but then they’d appear to be kind of staffroom you got in furniture they had. I’ve since walking over a big hole when they turned right at the top. I Please, Sir!.” found out that’s pretty accurate.” got away with as much as I could.”
1
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2 5 3
4 6
4. The paint job “Nearly all schools are magnolia or pale blue, top to bottom. There was nothing like that on the Spectrum, 6. The Canteen so we ended up with that mustard colour. All the “I don’t like this. There’s other colours were either too bright or just not right 5. The white room something naff about it. for an institution like this. It’s not the colour I’d have “I thought I’d modelled the The amount of space picked if there’d been more choice.” desks on the ones at my there… I should have secondary school, but put some more tables actually they’re junior school behind that long one. And desks – where the table there’s nowhere to get folds up and out of the chair your dinner.” itself. The funny thing is the boards are on the sides of the room, and all the desks are facing the front.”
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FEATURE: SOFTWARE | THE OLD SKOOL
12. Mr Wacker “There's one missing pixel on the character's faces – the only way to avoid giving them huge noses. You actually imagine an incredibly thin line there. Your brain makes it complete. Look at the headmaster: his cane doesn't really exist and his face is just a white cross.”
11. The map room 10. The balcony “This room looks rubbish. Look at the windows – “I’m not sure many schools it just looks like two rooms have been chopped would let their kids run together – a cut and shut job. That map, too – around unsupervised on a there’s a mystery country in the Atlantic. It’s third floor balcony. Not supposed to be the UK. South America seems to best practice.” be going a bit the wrong way, too.”
11 10
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7. Mr Rockitt “He’s just a pair of glasses on a rectangle. That’s it. He’s got no forehead. Once you’ve done 9. The perspective a pair of glasses on something “Isometric would have been that small, you’ve got no room ideal to save memory. But I for anything else.” hate isometric, so I went with a perspective that means you’re looking up at the top 8. The gym floor, straight at the middle “I like this. It’s just like my old school gym – floor, and down at the bottom wallbars that folded out, ropes on roof tracks, all floor. I like it, but every game that stuff. This area was never really used in before or since has decided Skool Daze, because the only time we used ours that it’s a crap idea.” was when the P.E. teacher would let us play Pirates at Christmas.”
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>Regional facts
Name: The Netherlands Population: 16.3 million Official language(s): Dutch, Frisian >Global Time zones: GMT+1 to GMT+2 TV type: PAL 50Hz Voltage: 220V Currency: Euro (previously the Guilder)
RetroGaming Gamer is on the road again, shining a light on often-overlooked console and computer scenes from around the globe. This month, John Szczepaniak goes Dutch to show that there’s more to Holland than just tulips, clogs and windmills
he countries of several significant hardware Western Europe, releases, but to this day has a with regards to thriving retro community. videogames at One of the key figures in the T least, are often history of Dutch games is Philips. concealed behind the UK. One The electronics giant is well over of the most unfairly ignored 100 years old, having been countries has to be Holland, founded in 1891 by the Dutch since not only did it receive brothers Gerard and Anton Philips in the city of Eindhoven. Philips initially started out making light bulbs before moving onto other electrical equipment, including the infamous V2000 video The Videopac G7400, manufactured in Holland by Philips, recorders which were soundly and seen here with its Home Computer Module trampled by the more popular Betamax and VHS standards. In market with the release of the keyboard. The controllers, 1978, Philips entered the games Philips Videopac G7000 meanwhile, were regarded as videogame system (later renamed being lighter and of higher the Magnavox Odyssey 2 for the quality than the Atari ones. US market). Philips had other Many games were released for companies manufacture the the machine, mostly developed machine for overseas markets, by Philips or Magnavox but and so there are variety of some also made by outside different names across Europe groups such as Parker and (such as the Philips C52 in Imagic. Ed Averett was the man France), while in Brazil it’s simply behind many of the more well known as the Odyssey, where loved classics, including the apparently it sold very well. famous Pac-Man clone, (Look out for a full examination Munchkin. However, what of the Brazilian game scene in a exemplifies Videopac games the future issue.) most is their absurdly high As a throwback to the difficulty levels, with nearly all company’s origins, the early games offering only one life. Videopac games bore the name This would prove to be no bad Philips Bulb Factory. The system thing since, as the world would The Videopac was home to many unique titles, including is perhaps comparable to the later discover, Dutch games some like Quest for the Rings that introduced a real Atari VCS, though it did come players really are built tougher board game to the proceedings with a seldom used, built-in than most.
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FEATURE:PROFILE | GLOBAL GAMING
hacking skills were >Off the radar unmatched. An interesting side effect of copying these The full extent of the Dutch disk-based games was that MSX scene goes beyond the the only way to bypass the scope of this article, but on copy protection (besides this month’s coverdisc you’ll waiting for a crack) was to find some extra reading copy them on an Amiga, a material along with photos of machine perceived almost as a past conventions and links to rival to the MSX2. further sources. Cas Cremers Regardless of the methods and Patrick Smeets of Parallax used, there was always a steady have also kindly donated their supply of games coming in from excellent MSX game Blade Japan. Notable titles included Lords, which can be played with Xak, Ys, SD-Snatcher, the MSX emulator provided. Dragonslayer 6 and the famous Burai. Unusually the whole scene consisted of everyone playing A Dutch-made Emerson Arcadia 2001 clone named these games in Japanese Ormatu Video Spelcomputer 2001 (resulting in much adoration for the culture), which perturbed no Generation MSX and with the Netherlands being one and is something nearly the small country that it is, the unheard of in other Western In the early 80s, Philips was system spread very quickly. The countries of the time. It also also one of the licensees for the only real competition in terms of fostered a very strong A two-player screenshot from MSX format, and the scene that home computers was Commodore community spirit, as told by Blade Lords, this month’s grew up around the system was with its C64. In contrast, the Patrick Smeets who was a free MSX game! the largest outside Japan. Philips Sinclair and Amstrad machines went on to manufacture a large didn’t do as well. variety of affordable systems, The MSX spawned a fan scene that’s very much alive >Off the radar today. There was a huge installed user-base for the system, so Despite the popularity of the when local software releases MSX, the Commodore 64 stopped flowing in the early 90s played host to some of the (around the time Nemesis 3 best Dutch games, courtesy came out), anyone who wanted of Radarsoft. Most Radarsoft fresh software for their MSX had titles seem to have been the to either import it from Japan or creation of just one man, create it themselves. John ‘DRJ’ Vanderaart, a Two MSX magazines – MSX legendary Dutch programmer. Computer Magazine from the One of his more unique titles Netherlands and MSX Club was Hollanditis (1985): Magazine from Belgium – played described as a game about a key role in the continuation of the spirit of the Dutch MSX hobbyist activities. Another people, it involves their factor that kept the scene alive refusal to let America place were large MSX clubs and fairs, BombaMan, a Dutch-developed Bomberman clone by Team Bomba nuclear bombs in the sometimes visited by thousands Netherlands. Some of his of fans. The weekend club other interesting titles meetings allowed people to keep include Topografie (a up to date with the latest releases learning tool), Eindeloos (a and sell their own creations. helicopter shooter) and From such meetings, and with The Big Deal, which was the advance of disk drives for about a robot trying to the MSX2, copied games began run a restaurant. to proliferate. Early on, there were those resourceful individuals who’d dump ROM cartridges and make them bootable from disk, after which they’d spread like wildfire. Some of the best dumped games even originated in other countries such as Spain. And this underground scene had its own Hollanditis was a champions, including one controversial Dutch game legendary figure known only as with a political motive Martos whose Konami cartridge CoreDump, an unfinished game by Parallax, the team behind Blade Lords
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Philips released a number of MSX 1/2 computers that are still popular today. From left to right, the NMS 801, VG 8000 and the NMS 8220
member of the legendary Oasis) and started working on there are several annual retro the tournament titles being developer Parallax: “Sure, translations, with some of the conventions covering the whole played, over half of them were people got stuck, but there was best MSX game translations spectrum of classic gaming. It’s ultimately won by gamers from always some guide or friend originating in Holland, for easy to focus on the MSX Holland. This clearly goes to who’d heard through the example SD-Snatcher. The homebrew scene due to its vast show that those early years grapevine what the solution was. continuing popularity of the MSX size, but console gaming and spent playing mega-difficult At some point it became a sport has allowed there to be importing were also popular over Videopac games did them no of sorts to finish a game that something of a revival in Holland the years. No matter how you harm. The rest of the world has nobody else could, because no thanks to the efforts of Bazix look at it, the history of gaming now been forced to sit up and one knew what the hell was (www.bazix.nl). in Holland has been very take notice of this small nation going on in them. Helping different to the history of as they take their rightful place others became a sign of having Dutch courage gaming in the UK or the USA, in the global gaming spotlight. good skills.” with dynamic elements and a Games and gamers can never The scene moved ever Just like the UK, the Netherlands unique flavour. be narrowly regarded as being onwards, and when the Japanese loves its retro games. Each Along with the past, the comprised of only three main releases started drying up (with month a sizeable volume of Dutch also look to the future. In regions. Every nation has its own Illusion City on the Turbo-R Retro Gamer magazines are sold recent years they’ve had several gaming history to tell and being one of the last), a few of there. And just like the UK, there large and successful companies awards to win, and will make those coders started making are many retro-themed creating games for a variety of itself heard. e their own games. Later on, gatherings. As well as the systems from the SNES right people formed groups (such as standard MSX-based events, through to the PSP. A more Special thanks must go to detailed look at a few companies, Patrick Smeets who provided as told to us by Mr Ruud van de lots of local information and also Moosdijk of Engine Software, can arranged for Blade Lords to be be found on the coverdisc. included on the coverdisc. >Philips CDI As well as creating games for Thanks also go to Rene Lips, the modern world, the Dutch Ruud van de Moosdijk, Tobias have shown they are good at Keizer, Sander Zuidema, and In 1991 Philips released its third winning them. In the same way everyone at www.msx.org. If hardware format: the ill-fated and that South Korea, and to a much there’s a country you’d like fairly unpopular CDI. Developed by greater extent Russia, have examined, or you have an Philips, and to a lesser extent Sony, dominated various years of the interesting story to tell about it played a variety of different CD World Cyber Games Tournament, any other global gaming region, formats, at one point even it was the Netherlands that held send an email to globalgaming@ unsuccessfully attempting to gain a the top position in 2004. Of all retrogamer.net. foothold in the games market (rumour has it that the CDI was actually a spin-off project from the MSX CD-ROM interface, of which only prototypes exist). Its failure as a games machine was due to pricing, marketing and a general lack of decent games (despite Burn:Cycle being released for it). What makes it such a landmark system, though, is that Philips is one of the few non-Japanese companies to acquire the usage of a Nintendo licence. Nintendo at one time planned to make a CD add-on for the SNES in conjunction with Philips, but the deal fell through and somewhere along the lines Philips acquired the rights to develop CDI games based on Nintendo characters. From this series of events Mario Hotel was born, along with the three infamous lost Zelda titles for the CDI, which the jury Retro conventions are huge in Holland, always attracting is still out on regarding quality. large crowds of classic gaming fans
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Back in the 8-bit era, cyber-athletes and professional game-players were unheard of, and the only people to make any serious money from games were the publishers and the developers who worked on them. But if you happened to be good at the right games, there were sometimes fabulous prizes to be won. Adam Dawes lifts the lid on the many gifts that were up for grabs, and reveals the winners who reaped the rewards
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FEATURE I PLAY TO WIN PiMania Automata, 1982
game PiMania. Advertising itself such as pausing for no apparent disappointed on his journey as “an investment”, the game no reason if you entered an home empty-handed. doubt stirred up lots of unrecognised command. It took nearly three years, but excitement over the possible To claim the prize, players perseverance eventually paid off riches to be won, but the needed to progress through the for two lucky winners, as Sue developers certainly knew how to game revealing clues to the Cooper and Lizi Newman from make people work for them. location of the sundial in the real Yorkshire claimed the prize. It Released for the ZX81, world, plus the exact date on was won on 22 July 1985 in the Kicking off the trend of game Spectrum, BBC Micro and Dragon, which it could be claimed. There mouth of the White Horse, a prizes in grand style, Automata the game was a terse and rather was no shortage of ideas about chalk figure carved into the side strode boldly onto the scene in bizarre text adventure based where and when the prize would of Hindover Hill near Eastbourne 1982 and offered ‘The Golden around the Pi Man, an odd-looking be found, including one from a in East Sussex. For the bizarre Sundial of Pi’, a De Beers award- creature obsessed with the Greek man who apparently travelled to solution to the Pi Man’s puzzle, winning trophy worth £6,000, in symbol Pi. It went out of its way Bethlehem on Christmas Day – see www.worldofspectrum.org/ a competition based around its to be difficult, with delightful tricks and must have been very hardware/answer.htm.
was perhaps slightly easier to New York for a stay in the only chance to enter so it was Groucho figure out what on earth was Waldorf Astoria. Throw in £500 important to be sure the answer going on than in PiMania, but spending cash and a cruise home was correct before the card was you were still dropped in at the on the QEII, and you certainly dropped in the postbox. Automata, 1983 deep end and left to fend for weren’t looking at a holiday in an The prize was eventually yourself with very little in the empty bucket. claimed the following year by way of instructions or clues as This time the player’s task Phil Daley from Stoke-on-Trent. to what the hell was happening. was to uncover a mystery He identified Mickey Mouse as As with Automata’s previous celebrity, clues to the identity of the hidden celebrity, and game, it may have been the lure which were scattered throughout provided the slogan, “There’s no of the prize that kept people the game. When you thought you blood in our games, it’s all playing. It was certainly worth had the answer you filled in the tomata (sic) sauce.” playing for, with the winner entry coupon that came with the Sadly that was to be the last whisked off to New York on game and posted it back, along prize offered by Automata, but Concorde, then jetted over to with a tie-breaker slogan for there were plenty of other Hollywood before returning to Automata. That was the one and companies ready to try the idea.
The Pi Man returned the following year to guest-star in an equally bizarre Spectrum game from Automata. Back to prove that it had the best prizes and the weirdest games, the player was put in pursuit of Groucho Marx as he toured across the US. If things couldn’t get any stranger, the game’s full title was ‘My Name is Uncle Groucho, You Win a Fat Cigar’. It
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Splat! The Mountains Incentive Software, 1983 of Ket Trilogy After the extravagance of Automata’s glittering prizes, the competitions that immediately Incentive Software, 1983 followed were rather more modest. Incentive Software Vran and The Final Mission, which offered the next challenge with together formed a fairly sizeable what was to be the first of many 8-bit text adventure in which your prizes for its games: £500 character tried to escape a death awarded to the player that sentence for a crime he hadn’t achieved the highest score. commited. The game was Splat! was an arcade game enjoyable in its day, even without released for the Spectrum, the promise of real riches at the Commodore 64 and Amstrad in end, though it did have some which the player ran around rather unfair combat scenes and a picking up grass and plums from few random encounters that could a scrolling maze. But the render the game unwinnable. scrolling was controlled by the The trilogy was finally computer, so you never knew completed by 47-year-old Tom which way it would turn next. Frost from Montrose, Scotland at Crashing into any of the walls or the beginning of 1985. He was other obstacles resulted in a presented with his video recorder lost life. at Incentive’s head office in Incentive built a clever score- With its Splat! competition well Reading. Britain’s Best Adventurer verification system into the game underway and obviously proving later went on to form Tartan to stop people cheating, and popular, Incentive quickly launched Software, releasing a string of text the highest score was submitted the second of its challenges. This adventures for the Spectrum. by 17-year-old James Tant, time the prize was £400-worth of amassing an amazing 112,930 video-recording equipment and the points. He claimed his secret was lofty title of ‘Britain’s Best practising for between five and Adventurer’ awarded to the first seven hours every day for person to get a score of 100% on several months. A bit excessive, all three games. some might say, but at least his The trilogy consisted of The effort was rewarded. Mountains of Ket, The Temple of The Staff of Karnath Ultimate, 1984
the words “The Staff of Karnath – Ultimate Play The Game”, was waiting for whoever first submitted a complete solution Just like Ultimate’s later for the game. Entombed, many players found Several months themselves wandering aimlessly later, the around the game’s dungeons, competition was revelling in the ambience but not won by schoolboys really sure what they were Lee Goldstone and supposed to be doing. Matthew Porter from Kent. By the the very first issue (right). Ultimate clubbed together time they claimed it, Personal We managed to track down with Personal Computer Games Computer Games had bitten the Lee Goldstone and he still has Ultimate’s debut Commodore 64 magazine and launched its own dust, but the newly-launched the trophy on his mantelpiece at game was particularly memorable competition, challenging players Zzap!64 picked up from where it home (above). Wonder how for its pseudo-3D graphics and to finish the game. A unique- left off, and featured the boys’ much that would be worth now its devilishly difficult gameplay. looking trophy, inscribed with complete illustrated solution in to an Ultimate collector?
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FEATURE I PLAY TO WIN Psytron Beyond Software, 1984
To promote the Spectrum and C64 release of Psytron, Beyond offered a brand new Sinclair QL to the game’s best player. Psytron was an attractive and five, before the game eventually stylish-looking strategy/shoot- started for real in level ‘F’. em-up which increased in Players looking to win the difficulty as it continued, prize were expected to last a full requiring the player to perform to hour in level F, which really was a certain standard on each level quite a challenge. A winner was before the next could be eventually found though – Michael accessed. Additional complexity Wood from Exeter collected his QL was added during levels one to at the end of 1984.
Jet Set Willy Software Projects, 1984
One of the best-known prizes up In the end the winners were for grabs was the one offered for Ross Holman and Cameron Else the first person to complete Jet from London, who pointed out Set Willy and reveal the total that there were 83 objects to find number of items to be collected (although one couldn’t be in Willy’s mansion. The story collected because of the famous behind this is legend and has First Landing bug). Apparently been told many times before. In unimpressed by the promise of case you’ve had your head stuck posh plonk and rotor blades, the in a toilet for the last 20 years, pair ultimately decided to take the original release was bugged the cash equivalent instead to and as a result the game was spend on new computers. Out of impossible to finish without the interest, Else developed a help of a POKE or two. relationship with Software The prize on offer was six Projects and later ported Jet Set champagne glasses, a crate of Willy to the MSX for the Don Perignon champagne, Liverpool-based publisher. and a flight over the winner’s home town in a Jet Ranger helicopter with Matthew Smith. Not a bad prize at all, and with the popularity of the game, the competition must have been fierce!
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Hareraiser Eureka! Haresoft, 1984 Domark, 1984
Written by Ian Livingstone for the Spectrum and C64, Eureka! consisted of a series of related graphic adventure games set throughout various points in history. The game had you hunting for pieces of a talisman in Roman Italy, Arthurian Britain, Colditz during the Second World War, and the present-day Caribbean. Each adventure was also preceded by a short arcade associated with it, and once all game in which you could these had been solved they increase your ‘vigour’ level for could be put together to the forthcoming adventure reveal a hidden code and a section. Altogether the games telephone number. made quite a memorable package The prize was won in 1985 – though certainly not an easy by 15-year-old Matthew one to beat. Woodley. Matthew had to call Of course, there are no new hare was re-hidden somewhere Domark had enough the telephone number three ideas, only fresh interpretations. in the UK, and Haresoft released confidence in the release to times before finally finding the Predating all the competitions a two-part game to challenge offer an enormous reward of courage to leave a message on in computer games was a book players to work out its location, £25,000 to the first person to the answering machine at the called Masquerade by British just as in Masquerade before it. complete the challenge that other end. No doubt he was artist and author Kit Williams. Unfortunately, the location of came with the game. Each very glad he did when he With the help of a series of the hare was never discovered. section of the game had a clue received his cheque. riddles and intricately detailed The game received particularly paintings, the book hinted as bad reviews, and Haresoft went to the secret location of a into liquidation. The hare was jewelled golden hare, created later auctioned at Sotheby’s in by Williams from 18-carat gold an attempt to pay the Kokotoni Wilf and inset with numerous company’s creditors, selling for precious stones. The book £31,900. Kit Williams himself Elite, 1984 proved to be extremely popular, was present at the auction, and in 1982 the hare was found bidding £6,000 in an attempt to Elite was another UK software the competition. Players were by Ken Thomas in the get his creation back, but was house that decided to jump on informed upon entering of a Bedfordshire countryside. unable to bid any further. The the prize-giving bandwagon. somewhat cheeky extra After storing the hare in a hare has appeared once more Unfortunately it eschewed the condition they were required to bank vault for a couple of years, since then, being auctioned for prizes of vast value that the meet in order to stand a chance Thomas presumably decided a second time in the late 1990s. likes of Domark and Haresoft of winning the star prize – it that the hare had the potential It was bought by an anonymous were offering, deciding instead would only be awarded to the to make more money than its bidder, and since then its to give the first people to finish first five winners who had face value, so he set up a location has become a mystery Wilf a copy of its next game letters published in the company called Haresoft. The once again. (The Fall Guy) and a chance to computer press praising meet the mighty Lee Majors, Kokotoni Wilf. actor and star of the TV series Whether any such letters were on which it was based. published we’ve been unable to Kokotoni Wilf was a determine, but Elite boss Steve moderately enjoyable (though in Wilcox recalls that there were places frustrating) platform definitely a couple of tickets to game in which you guided a the US up for grabs, and, with winged character through a more than a slight hint of series of baddie-filled screens suspicion, they were ‘won’ by a based on different time zones. In Your Computer journo. each section a fragment of an amulet was to be found. Sounds familiar – though this is presumably coincidence as Wilf was released at about the same time as Eureka!. When completed, a special message was displayed which could be used to participate in
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FEATURE I PLAY TO WIN Doomdark’s Revenge Moon Beyond Software, 1984 Cresta be completed individually, but to fully complete the game and Incentive, 1985 reveal the mysterious Watchwords of Midnight, both objectives needed to be As a new year dawned, fresh completed together. Beyond competitions were gearing up to offered a model of Icemark and a find more winning gamers, but as set of lead figures of the major the era of the Multiface and Action characters in the game to the Replay cartridges approached with first player to call them with the their built-in cheat functions, these details of the Watchwords. were revealed. Richard had to competitions were to be among 15-year-old Richard Harris run for school, but the fear of the last of their breed. from Lowestoft was playing the someone else claiming the prize Incentive returned with another game before leaving for school evidently got the better of him, contest, though, following on from one morning in November 1984, and later in the day he was the successful challenges set shortly after the game’s release. given permission to call Beyond during the previous years. He had sent his troops to rescue from his headmaster’s office. Offering its biggest prize so far, a The long-awaited sequel to The Morkin from where he believed But it took slightly longer to genuine Nichibutsu Moon Cresta Lords of Midnight continued the he was being held, then receive the prize than to complete arcade machine was the item epic story set in the Land of continued onwards towards the game. The models finally luring players to send in their Icemark. Luxor the Moonprince Empress Shareth. Much to arrived a full 14 months later in high-score details this time. found himself struggling against Richard’s amusement, a random January 1986. Beyond claimed The conversion itself was all odds to rescue his captured dwarf finished the job before he they hadn’t expected anyone to greeted with a lukewarm son Morkin and destroy the evil got there. After a valiant finish the game so quickly and it reception from the computer Empress Shareth. struggle home, the game was had taken them this long to get press. The game required the Each of these two goals could finished and the Watchwords the models ready. player to guide their three-part ship through a series of attack waves. Skilful players could dock was viewed from a the segments of the ship together smoothly animated first- to increase its firepower, though it Gyron person perspective that also created a much bigger target played very nicely, for the invading forces to attack. Firebird, 1985 though the game was Anyone with a high score of undoubtedly very 30,000 points or more was difficult to master. eligible to enter, the final winner There were reputed to being drawn at random from all be only four ways to the scores submitted. Over 4,000 solve the game, and it entries were received, and the was also billed as coin-op was eventually awarded to being poke-proof. Ian Clark from Newcastle. 33 players who managed to complete the game eventually played together in an international head-to- head, held simult- aneously in the UK, Spain and Denmark, to find who could complete a specially constructed Finishing off this round-up in level of the game the quickest. style, a fantastic Porsche 924 The winner was 16-year-old Juan Lux sports car was an amazing Manuel Perez Vazquez from >Come on down! incentive for players of Gyron on Malaga in Spain, who completed the Spectrum. This was never the level in a lightning-fast 18 Did you, or someone you going to be an easy prize to minutes. (The creator of the know, win one of these prizes? win, though… level claimed that it was Or maybe you won an equally The game revolved around a possible to finish in 15 minutes, amazing prize in a computer virtual journey though a high- so Juan was only just outside magazine competition? If so, tech computer system with the this target – the next competitor decided to take cash instead of send the details to feedback@ player attempting to shut down to finish took one hour and the car and pocketed a tasty retrogamer.net and we’ll the defence systems and 37 minutes!) £12,800 for his superhuman rejoice your good fortune in a destroy the computer itself. It Being too young to drive, Juan Gyron skills. future issue. e
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A Brief History
of VideogamesPart2 1975 was a pivotal year in the life of the videogame industry we know today. The trifling drama of its two founding companies, Magnavox and Atari, would pale in comparison to the avarice of this new and mysterious business. Corporations deviously competing against themselves, rogue engineers reminiscent of hired guns, Yakuza bootlegging arcade games and… the rise and rise of a certain Japanese company called Nintendo. Spanner Spencer picks up the story
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FEATURE: HARDWARE | A BRIEF HISTORY OF VIDEOGAMES
s the Odyssey’s royalties on every chip sold, sales peaked after keeping both Magnavox and three years and Sanders Associates in fine supply 100,000 units, Atari of champagne and caviar. A was waiting in the wings with Home Pong. This was Coleco vision identical in concept to Magnavox’s console, except it General Instruments’ first and played nothing but the popular favoured customer for the AY-3- tennis game. What made it 8500 chip was the Connecticut distinctive was the custom digital Leather Company, more microchip at its centre (rather commonly known as Coleco. than the discrete analogue Coleco had branched into the technology used by the toy market some years before Odyssey), making for a better- (having previously manufactured looking TV image, onscreen leather craft products then scoring and the trademark ‘pong’ becoming the largest supplier of sound effect. plastic swimming pools), and After the steady decline in wanted a piece of the videogame interest over the Magnavox pie. To this end, it developed the Odyssey, most retailers were Telstar console using General apprehensive about shelling out Instruments’ chip after the for a machine that only played leading executives of the two one game, and the majority of companies were introduced by the commercial world had yet to none other than Ralph Baer. be persuaded that videogames The word was out on the were here to stay. Sears Roebuck, radical new chip and demand far the largest chain of department exceeded General Instruments’ stores in America, was finally ability to supply. Having shown convinced to carry the new an early interest in the piece, system under its Tele-Games Coleco was the only company label and sold a staggering to receive a complete order, 150,000 units in a single season – giving it a clear advantage in the Christmas of 1975. the upcoming commercial The successful concept of feud. The Telstar was then ‘Pong-in-a-chip’ had a substantial sent for the rigorous Federal impact on the industry. General Communications Commission’s Instruments had already begun radio interference tests. It development of its own failed, and US$30 million of integrated chip at Glenrothes in inventory was suddenly Scotland, the AY-3-8500, which rendered unsaleable. But the would become the foundation for FCC was not without mercy, over 500 different Pong systems. graciously giving Coleco until Of course, due to the previous the end of the week to come legal entanglement with Atari, the back with a renovated unit or Odyssey owners were due be put to the back of the
Atari’s Home Pong shifted Coleco’s first Telstar console made it to the market thanks to the help massive numbers in Sears of gaming godfather Ralph Baer stores, but buyers soon wanted more than simple bat ‘n’ ball games queue behind the gathering relatively pioneering solution legions of rabid Pong developers. back then), and the machine In desperation, Coleco made it to the FCC by Friday. It approached the company with the passed the test and went on to largest RFI test lab for help – take over US$100 million, Sanders Associates. At the time, knocking Atari from the top in the two companies were one stroke. negotiating the infamous TV From that point on, the world Game licence required by third was inundated with Pong parties wanting to produce a variants. The ferocity of the Pong clone, and on the condition competition drove developers to Coleco signed up immediately create every possible application and unquestioningly, Ralph Baer of the Pong concept, flogging the was made available to help out genre to within an inch of its with the Telstar’s shielding limited life. problem. The old campaigner Magnavox slimmed down its solved the noise issue using Odyssey system to release a ferrite cores as RF chokes (a Pong-only version (the Odyssey
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100), Atari churned out clone RCA (still kicking itself for turning after clone of its original down Sanders Associates on the machine, Heathkit came up with Odyssey licence) saw its chance >RCA Studio II the GD1380 that required people to get on the ride. The RCA to open up their TV and tamper Studio II was the second with it to view the game picture, cartridge-based games system In the short gap between the release of the and the first English videogame available, but clumsily missed console manufacturer, the lucrative Christmas sales to VES and VCS consoles, RCA entered the fray Videomaster, released 15 different appear in January of 1977. with its own cartridge-based offering systems before 1977 (several of Reminiscent of the old Pong which came in kit form). The games in design, the Studio II market was saturated; swollen featured only monochrome and unhealthy, it prepared for its graphics and had numeric keypad first heart attack. controllers built into the base unit, rather than the popular The Fairchild handheld paddles. Only nine phenomenon games were made and it quickly went the way of the VES. Signs that the industry was in 1977 was also the year that trouble were masked by the apprentices to the videogame sudden appearance of next- industry, Nintendo (in co- generation home consoles, which operation with Mitsubishi), RCA, a was both a necessary entered the home console market TV manufacturer and evolutionary step and a near in Japan. This was with its series rival of Magnavox, was decidedly fatality for the faltering market. of five dedicated hardware annoyed at itself for turning down the chance to license In 1976, the Alpex Computer systems (akin to the early home the original Odyssey system from Sanders Associates. Its only Corporation filed for protection of Pong units), beginning with the attempt to get into the videogame business came with 1977’s Studio its 1974 patent for inter- Color TV Game 6, Nintendo’s first- II, a system based on its COSMAC 1802 processor which was only changeable videogame ROM ever games console. just beaten to the market by the Fairchild VES. technologies: this would become Atari, meanwhile, had a plan Although the original American system displayed games in black known as the notorious ‘555’ ready to take the next generation and white, this was apparently only due to the cheap video patent. In August of the same by storm, but didn’t have the modulator used, and the games all contained colour graphics. A year, Fairchild Camera & money to see it through. The compatible system released in the UK called the Sheen M1200 Instrument took up the Alpex controversial decision was made played Studio II games with the colour component intact. A total of licence and changed the to sell Atari to Warner 13 games were available if you include the console’s five built-in direction of home videogames Communications, which Pong variants – which we don’t. with the release of the VES subsequently poured over An interesting (if irrelevant) fact about the Studio II is the (Video Entertainment System), $US100 million of development microprocessor it was built around. Designed by RCA, the COSMAC the first-ever games console to money into ‘Project Stella’. chip was also used in the Voyager spacecrafts, and is now one of have programmable, the furthest man-made objects from the sun at over 14 billion interchangeable ROM cartridges, Atari assault kilometres away. Even after almost 30 years in space, the craft (and which Fairchild built around its therefore the processor) is still working just fine. 8-bit F8 microprocessor. For its launch in October 1977, Assuming it isn’t hijacked by aliens wanting to play a rubbish Being a triumph of design Project Stella was re-christened version of Pong, Voyager is expected to continue operation until at over practicality, the VES failed to the Atari VCS, or Video Computer least 2020. reignite the market and soon fell System, in keeping with the on its face. The innovative new acronymous style of name best. After a year, Nolan Bushnell, Atari was rapidly becoming a concept, however, caused established by Fairchild. who reportedly lost interest in company run by marketing Magnavox and Atari to have Despite a similar arrangement the company when he no longer executives rather than the ‘work synchronised anxiety attacks and to Home Pong – Sears Roebuck owned it, advised Atari’s board to smart, not hard’ engineers that set off running for their labs at re-branding the VCS under its drop the VCS (or at least reduce used to live the hacker’s lifestyle. full speed. Before either of them own label as the Sears Video the price to clear out the The times they were a-changin’. answered Fairchild’s challenge, Arcade – sales were mediocre at warehouses) and begin work on Not wanting to be left out of the next-generation console. the industry it had pioneered, Ray Kassar, Atari President at Magnavox scrapped plans to the time, insisted the company make the Odyssey2 a four-player poured its efforts into pushing console with 24 built-in games, existing products before and redeveloped it as a cartridge- developing new ones, causing a based system with one significant rift between himself and difference. The base unit sported Bushnell. Later that year, a 49-key membrane keyboard. Bushnell would arrange a In retrospect, the keyboard board meeting excluding was obviously a marketing ploy Warners’ representatives and to grab the interest of any was consequently given his punters who would otherwise marching orders, though his have been drawn toward the contract secured him a golden escalating home-computer Nintendo’s very first videogame console, seen parachute and a continued stake market, and although one or here in all its garish orange glory in the company’s bonus awards. two good uses were invented for
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FEATURE: HARDWARE | A BRIEF HISTORY OF VIDEOGAMES
The original Atari VCS with its six control switches (later models moved the difficulty switches to the rear of the console)
it over the Arcade action years, the keyboard didn’t serve While the home market a particularly practical greedily devoured itself, the purpose. The system was commercial arcade scene considerably more successful in contrived troubles of its own. Europe and South America than In 1973 Atari had filed for a it ever was in the US. patent to its original solid-state By this time, it was 1978 and design of the Pong arcade board, there were enough cartridge- but not before duplicates were based consoles appearing to spreading like Egyptian locusts. make the dedicated systems When the papers finally came worthless. Shops, suppliers and through, they no longer had any manufacturers were desperate to teeth. Because of this, Nolan clear the backlog of old machines Bushnell decided the only way to and began drastically reducing maintain Atari’s lead was by the price. Inadvertently, this producing a constant stream of caused the public to bypass the new and different games, while shelves full of new games the countless companies that machines, which they knew very inevitably churned out copies little about, and head straight for became faceless in the white the bargain bins full of Pong noise of mass duplication. games being pawned off at Atari had bought an a loss. electronics consultancy in Everyone with half an interest California run by two former in a games console at the end of colleagues of Bushnell’s, Larry the 70s bought a cheap Emmons and Steve Mayer. Due to dedicated system that would its estimable creative reputation, hold their attention for a couple it handled all the research and of months at best, leading them development of Atari’s next to conclude that videogames generation products, as well as The home videogame scene was gathering pace, but this was eclipsed by developments in the arcades, with games like Tank and Gun Fight offered a very limited period of being a brainstorming retreat for pulling in the quarters interest. Consumers had no management and engineers. intention of buying these new, Rumours about their wet ‘n’ wild, expensive systems. booze- and pot-fuelled hot-tub other, effectively granting defences immediately defected Unable to cope with the glut board meetings at the aptly themselves exclusive rights to a to Kee Games: Gill Williams from of over-investment, fierce named Grass Valley sanctuary are company’s products. This dated manufacturing and Steve Bristow competition and consumer completely true. back to the early days of from engineering. Atari and its apathy, the market crashed – Distribution and market jukebox suppliers, primarily the high ranks were publicly clearing out all but Atari and saturation of its new line of domain of the Mafia. During outraged by the depth of this Magnavox. In light of the games was the key to Atari’s 1974 and 1975, several other treachery and the two severely contracted market, it continued success, but was coin-op game developers began companies regularly engaged in would take something hindered by an unusual method to infiltrate the arcades, mutual slander, libel and even spectacular to recapture the of business from within the exacerbating Atari’s circulation industrial espionage. attention of the indifferent public. amusement and music industry. woes. One such company, Kee Kee Games’ initial venture, As fate would have it, there was Rival distributors had an Games, was headed up by Tank, took a bold stance by about to be an invasion in the unspoken policy of not Joseph Keenan, Nolan Bushnell’s becoming the first machine to arcades that would change the supplying equipment from the next-door neighbour! store its graphics on ROM chips, fortunes of all involved. same manufacturers as each Two major guns in the Atari granting it more detailed
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imagery than had been seen become the sole licensee of before. By December 1974 it was Atari’s products. the hottest game on the arcade The Nakamura Trading floor. Close on its heels was Gun Company (better known as Fight, the first Japanese title to Namco) had developed an be licensed to America. interest in the amusement Developed by amusement giant industry when its ex-Naval Taito (meaning ‘Far East’ – the engineer founder, Nakamura company had been established Masaya, started his business by by a Russian to brew the first purchasing two mechanical domestic Japanese vodka), Gun children’s rides and installing Fight was also the first game to them on the roof of a department incorporate a microprocessor. store in Yokohama. There he Midway, who imported the personally refurbished, game, hired Dave Nutting (brother maintained, operated and cleaned of Bill Nutting of the now-defunct the machines, graciously Nutting Associates, who’d welcoming his patrons as only a published Bushnell’s 1971 failed Japanese entrepreneur would coin-op Computer Space) to know how. revamp Gun Fight into a more Atari’s Breakout coin-op was dynamic playing experience. He rapidly tearing up the popularity added obstacles to the play area scale in America, and Nakamura such as cacti and a slow-moving recognised it as a sure wagon train, and improved the opportunity for success in his computer-controlled player’s homeland. Regardless of his intelligence and difficulty levels. assurances that it would be After Nutting’s overhaul, Gun spectacularly popular with Fight became a tremendous hit – Japanese players, Atari refused to and, for the first time, Atari saw grant him any manufacturing its arcade dominance slipping. rights, so he imported as many units as possible. Then all of a Eastern influence sudden, replicas of the game began appearing throughout the Midway wasn’t the only one to Japanese arcades. After a bit of recognise the importance of the sleuthing, Namco discovered the Japanese contribution to the duplicates were coming from a flourishing videogame industry. Yakuza clan. Knowing how Atari had been attempting to Yakuza involvement with rivals break into Japan since 1973 with Konami had sparked off a mob limited success, mainly due to war and forced its owner into the epic cultural contrast. hiding, Nakamura decided not to Auspiciously, Atari Japan had get involved, despite their offer dealings with a prominent to ‘suppress’ his competition. newcomer to the electronic Instead, he approached Atari games market, Nakamura Trading, once more to ask for which soon bought out the manufacturing rights in person, Japanese wing of the company to but was met by an uninterested (and allegedly colossally hung- over) Nolan Bushnell, whose The Mattel Intellivision, the world’s first 16-bit console, arrived in 1980 as a powerful alternative to the early 8-bit machines
Taking different tacks… Breakout showing that it was great fun to play games with other people, and Death Race demonstrating that it was even more fun running other people over
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FEATURE: HARDWARE | A BRIEF HISTORY OF VIDEOGAMES >Fairchild VES
Released in 1976, the VES was the first- ever programmable cartridge-based games console…
Despite being ahead of its time, Fairchild’s VES (Video Entertainment System) is generally remembered with scorn – its most commonly quoted epitaph was written by an anonymous reviewer who said that playing its racing game was “comparable to losing a toe in an industrial accident.” But in all fairness, Fairchild was treading virgin earth and had to grab the interest of a customer base who’d previously only known Pong. The designer was Robert Noyce, inventor of the silicon-based integrated circuit. This was ultimately crossbred with the germanium-based miniaturised-circuit technology invented by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments to form the modern microchip. Noyce then went on to co-found a little company called Intel. The VES’s games had the distinct look and feel of the dedicated hardware systems that had come before (and even had a Pong derivative built into the console). But the VES deviated from tradition somewhat with its unique controllers. Shaped like TNT detonators, the user held a stick-like hand grip, on top of which was mounted a stubby, triangular four-way joystick that also swivelled to work like a paddle controller. Pushing down on the triangular actuator worked like a fire button. After the launch of the Atari VCS, Fairchild renamed its VES console the Channel F to differentiate itself from Atari. With its frantic shoot-em-up In 1979, over a year after the Channel F was discontinued, a play, Space Invaders single- company called Zircon bought the rights to the machine and set handedly re-ignited the fortunes about re-releasing it across the world. Among other names, it of both the arcade and home videogame businesses retailed as the Grandstand in the UK. Zircon put out an extra five unreleased games, bringing the Channel F’s catalogue to a total of 23 games before its final departure in 1983. casual demeanour inadvertently insulted the traditional Japanese man. Nakamura returned home incensed and began producing his own Breakout clones with which he established his company as a prodigious force in the Japanese games industry. 1976 also saw the beginnings of the perpetual controversy over videogame greenhorns springing up and violence, with parental groups swallowing the coins, Atari desperately looking anywhere began to feel the pinch. It but at themselves for reasons needed a fresh injection of cash for their children’s unruliness, to get on top of its new after Exidy followed up its Pong developments or risk falling clones with a game based on behind. To this end, it the 1975 film Death Race 2000. announced it would be re- Both movie and game carried merging with its subsidiary the slogan: “In the year 2000, company, Kee Games! hit and run driving is no longer All the bitterness, mud- picture, there was a world full of multitudes of identical games. a felony. It’s the national sport!” slinging and espionage had been consumers desperate to throw They wanted something new, and This was a redevelopment of a a ruse to convince distributors their small change at whoever didn’t mind paying for it. game Exidy had licensed to they were rival manufacturers, so could offer them the same thrills Chicago Coin, who then refused Atari could effectively circumvent Atari’s flagship had done only a Invasion day to pay any royalties. As fortune the closed distribution network. short while ago. This period in would have it, the redesign Joe Keenan had proven himself to arcade videogame history bred a In mid-1978, the Japanese kept stirring up angered possess excellent managerial healthy diversity into the nascent economy suffered an unexpected debates, and every time it did, skills and came in as the new culture, and the game-playing problem – a severe shortage of sales increased exponentially. CEO of Atari. public were now informed enough the 100 Yen coin. Production of the With all these thriving With Pong firmly out of the to refuse to pour their money into coin had to be quadrupled to
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with row upon row of Space console was still in development Invaders, every public space at the time. When the Intellivision with a few feet of empty floor was released in 1980, Space bought a machine, and all Invaders had re-ignited the manner of small shops ditched public’s enthusiasm and the their old inventory (whether market had plenty of room for a vegetables, clothes or garden quality machine. furniture) for regiments of the Intellivision incorporated the new gaming craze. It’s no small first 16-bit microprocessor and irony that the world was was technically the most actually being invaded by these advanced games machine alien machines! available. Although considerably In total, it’s estimated that more expensive than the VCS or around 500,000 Space Invader the Odyssey, it was well received coin-ops were sold throughout and by the end of 1981 had sold the world, with a substantial over 850,000 units. number of bootlegs circulating But one of its major sales as well. These line-dancing promotions never came to aliens would also turn out to be fruition, despite the US the white knights of home government insisting Mattel make videogame systems. good on it. When the Intellivision Atari had the genius idea of was released, it was touted as licensing Space Invaders to make the heart of a home system that a cartridge for its VCS console, would allow people to “play the first licence of its kind. Taito games and balance their agreed, and Atari spent the chequebook” with the planned majority of its US$5 million addition of a keyboard and other publicity budget on this one various home computer-style game. The gambit paid off and components. But Mattel’s failure Space Invaders quickly became to deliver these goodies didn’t the best-selling game of 1980, halt its game sales, and for many fanning the embers of the years it snapped at the heels of Asteroids steamrolled into arcades in 1980, showcasing Atari’s collapsed industry and renewing the VCS, with support continuing amazing vector-graphics technology Archibald Q Public’s interest. as far as 1990. Many people were buying a VCS Atari’s coin-op division hadn’t alleviate the situation. The reason want to suggest it was happy to solely for the purpose of playing been sitting on its hands either. for this shortage was the openly show people being this one game. Although the home market had unprecedented success of Taito’s gunned down, he redesigned the diminished, the arcades noticed new arcade game, Space Invaders. assailants as aliens based on Bring it on home only a marginal drop in takings. Toshiro Nishikado had octopus-type creatures from HG Using the vector-graphics originally come up with the idea Wells’ novels. Mattel had been fortunate technology developed for its of shooting advancing soldiers in Japanese arcades began to enough to sidestep the market moderately unsuccessful Lunar his new game, but as Taito didn’t replace all their old machines crash in 1978 as its home Lander game (known as the >Philips G7000 Videopac The Dutch electronics giant Philips developed the successor to the pioneering Magnavox Odyssey…
Released in 1979 in the UK, this equipped with 64 pre-defined delightful gaming grandparent letters and symbols built into its was also known as the internal ROM code which made Magnavox Odyssey2, Siera up the majority of its early G7000, Schneider G7000, games’ graphics. Philips C52, Radiola JET 25 and A screen resolution of 154x100 the Odyssey (in Brazil). was capable of displaying 12 Initial plans were for an colours and four different types expandable four-player console of graphics: background, sprites, with 24 built-in games, but as single character and quad- the trend turned toward game character (made up of four single cartridges, the unit was characters). Up to four of the Philips tried to differentiate its idea was as much a sales redeveloped as the G7000. monochrome 8x8 sprites could be new machine from the Atari VCS gimmick and an attempt to Becoming the first system to be on screen at any one time with and other competitors with a 49- pacify parents with educational powered by Intel’s 8048 12 single foreground symbols key alphanumeric membrane software as it was a necessary microprocessor, the G7000 was from its internal character set. keyboard on the base unit. This part of the system.
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FEATURE: HARDWARE | A BRIEF HISTORY OF VIDEOGAMES
‘tooth-chipper’ due to the strong springs on the large controller handles snapping back into place and smacking shorter players in the mouth), Ed Logg created his magnificent realisation of Lyle Rains’ outer- space vision, Asteroids. The first game to incorporate an initialled high-score table, it came out at exactly the right time to pick up where Space Invaders left off. Demand was so high, production of Lunar Lander was dropped so extra Asteroids units could be turned out. Connoisseurs The popular Adventure game and its hidden screen, thought to be the first videogame secret may occasionally notice an Asteroids game in a Lunar Lander cabinet due to this change in This attitude led Warren From then on, almost all Atari Wokka Wokka Wokka mid-production. Robinett to install a secret screen games included Easter eggs, Extra-large money boxes in his VCS game Adventure (a whether management liked it Toru Iwatani of Namco was a were fitted retrospectively to graphical version of the or not. pacifist at heart, and had become cope with the sheer weight of pioneering Colossal Caves In 1979, four disgruntled VCS fed up with the excess of shooting coinage the game was subjected Adventure text game created by programmers at Atari (Alan games. It was his aspiration to to. To mark the 50,000th unit, a Bill Crowther and Don Woods at Miller, David Crane, Bob develop a non-violent title that golden cabinet was made, which MIT). Once players found their Whitehead and Larry Kaplan) would appeal to female players, now resides at Ed Logg’s house. way in, the screen displayed the could take no more of then-CEO and devised a maze game with a Who wouldn’t sell a kidney to words “Created by Warren Ray Kassar’s tyranny and left to yellow character based on a half- own that little piece of Robinett” in every available create Activision – the first eaten pizza. videogame history? palette colour. This secret code independent, third-party software Pac-Man was originally took about 5% of the limited developer. Their intention was to optioned to Atari (competition for Mass exodus cartridge space, and if it had produce games for the Atari VCS, import licences was becoming been discovered during and despite constant lawsuits fierce and Atari were known to In light of the now-successful development, he would have from Atari which said they had pay top dollar), but it turned the VCS, the programmers in Atari’s been sacked. no right to create games for its title down, saying it was too consumer division thought they In 1980, after Robinett had left hardware, Activision was an easy. Midway was next on the deserved more for their efforts – the company, a 12-year-old boy overnight success. list, and although they took the primarily financial benefits, but from Salt Lake City wrote to Atari Shortly afterwards, Bill Grubb licence, enthusiasm was minimal also recognition. They felt stifled asking them about this (Atari Vice President of Marketing) as most executives favoured by the CEO’s policy of denying peculiarity in Adventure. A broke away to form Imagic, another Namco title, Rally X. them credit for their games magazine called Electronic Games taking several top programmers Originally called Puck-Man (presumably so they weren’t caught hold of the story and with him. Much to Atari’s fury, due to the character’s disc-like poached by other developers). coined the term ‘Easter egg’. Imagic was also a sensation. architecture, Namco was
In 1982, Philips attempted of the basic G7000 system By the time it was scheduled for came to fruition. to reintroduce the G7000 offering higher-resolution an American release, it was Other than trying to make series with the G7200, a unit graphics and a larger display already outdated and Philips was the G7000 swear like a identical in operation but with (256x192), thanks to the addition suffering from the collapsed drunken Liverpudlian, its uses a built-in 9in black and white of extra memory (now up to an industry. One or two prototypes were far less than its retro monitor. Released only in amazing 16KB!). of the Command Center have collectability would suggest. Europe and to very poor sales, Backwards compatible with surfaced over the years, as well One or two games used the the G7200 was touted as the G7000 games, two alternative as a 300-baud modem and plans Voice Module (for SFX as much being a portable system, types of cartridge were also for a laserdisc attachment. as speech), including Sid the despite it weighing half a ton. released in very limited Spellbinder, Smithereens and The concept was it enabled quantities. The Videopac+ Module maker K.C.’s Krazy Chase. the kids to play their beloved cartridges worked on the old The C7010 Chess Module Videopac games while the system as normal, but displayed The Videopac range was blessed was also made available. parents were watching higher-resolution background with a number of fascinating add- Since the main console lacked Crossroads, then afterwards graphics when used on the ons. Certainly the neatest was the memory and CPU power plug it into the family TV and G7400. There were also a couple the Voice Module that moulded for chess capabilities, this play as normal. Genius – in a of G7400-only games also itself nicely to the top on the ancillary module interfaced via hopeless sort of way. The sporting higher resolution sprites. base unit and allowed quasi- a game cartridge, providing G7200 is the rarest of the Although demonstrated at the realistic speech and sound effects the extra oomph necessary for Videopac family, cropping up 1983 CES show in America, to be outputted through its the classic game of strategy, only very occasionally on the renamed as the Odyssey3 internal speaker. The module was intelligence, and tooth- European eBay listings. Command Center, the G7400 was only released in America, splintering boredom. The Philips released the G7400 only released in Europe where although plans were in place for cartridge contained an 8422 in 1983. This was an update Videopac sales had been highest. a Brazilian version that never EPROM that held the game
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25 years on and still going strong. Namco’s Pac-Man is perhaps the most popular videogame character of all time
concerned the cabinet graphics all time. It also proved to the partnership with Midway and No matter what he tried, he would be subjected to creative Japanese they were able to break opened its own branch in only met with failure – sure-fire vandalism (Luck-Man? Duck- into the Western market, despite America. Following suit, Nintendo games that had done well in Man?) and changed it to Pac- previous disappointments. decided its only way to break Japan just wouldn’t take off Man, a name suggestive of the into the West was with an active anywhere else. As a result, Japanese folk legend, Paku, It’s Mario! American operation. Minoru Yamauchi tried out some new known for his voracious appetite. Arakawa, son-in-law of Nintendo development blood over in Japan, Pac-Man quickly became the Following the success of Space President Hiroshi Yamauchi, was in the shape of toy enthusiast, most successful arcade game of Invaders, Taito had abandoned its assigned to the task. Shigeru Miyamoto. As this would
code while the module itself connection to a cassette contained an NSC800 8-bit recorder for the loading and CMOS processor running at saving of programs. 4.43 MHz (whereas the G7000’s If anyone ever made practical Intel 8084 ran at 1.7MHz). The use of this inelegant peripheral, C7010 was also equipped with they covered their tracks very 2KB of RAM and 8KB of ROM. well. This module is as rare as Prohibitively expensive the G7200, due to meagre sales (especially compared to the during its short life. available chess game for the Atari VCS), and despite the fact Munchkin madness the unit worked on any of the Videopac series of machines, it It had been Philips’ plan from was still just an attempt to the beginning to use revive a dying species. The videogames to sell TVs. When module appears to have had Computer Module was a Microsoft Z80 BASIC, occupying this strategy appeared to be the capacity for additional hardware expansion in the same approximately 10KB of the ineffective, it pulled the plug on gaming potential, judging by mould as the Chess Module internal ROM. The C7420 had a its programming team. Ed the chip listing and unused which was designed to bring the graphics resolution of 320x240 Averett was a sales rep from sockets on the PCB. The manual G7400 console up to home- with up to eight colours on Intel who’d originally sold also makes mention of computing specs. The peripheral screen at any one time. Access to Philips the chips for the G7000 alternative module codes, but contained a Zilog Z80 processor the sound generator was also and believed that videogames nothing ever materialised. with 18KB ROM and 16KB RAM, made available. In addition, there had the potential to become a Finally, the C7420 Home and granted the G7400 use of were two 3.5mm jacks for very lucrative business. He then
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FEATURE: HARDWARE | A BRIEF HISTORY OF VIDEOGAMES
>Next month
The great videogame crash of 1983 rocks the industry to its very core. Companies not directly involved in the crash, such as Nintendo and Sega, quickly fill the void and take over the gaming world. Atari attempts to keep up, but handles things badly. Tetris is invented and companies fight to own it with scandal and law suits. Ultimately, Tetris makes the GameBoy massively successful and the handheld battles begin. Atari Nintendo of America’s last throw begins to fail on all fronts, of the dice turned up the ‘16-bit’ becomes the next phenomenally successful Donkey Kong, saving the buzz word, and a new company from imminent generation of players takes bankruptcy up the market…
‘donkey’ instead of stubborn, and Shakeout ‘kong’ instead of gorilla. Through this mistranslation, Donkey Kong By 1982, the videogame world was born. In a Japanese was well and truly wallowing in be Miyamoto’s first encounter on their warehouse rent. apologetic gesture, Arakawa later the profligate riches it had with arcade games (other than Yamauchi told his son-in-law to renamed Jumpman after Mario earned itself, with executives and designing side art), chief hold in there as it had a game Segale, the warehouse landlord programmers alike going home to engineer Gumpei Yokoi was ready that would be a massive who he’d previously been unable their mansions in solid-gold assigned to help him out. success. The intention was to to pay. limousines to have their butlers The game they designed build this new game into the The two (and only) rub money on their faces. It was (primarily for the American stockpiles of unsold cabinets employees of Nintendo of inconceivable that anything like market) featured an escaped that filled their warehouse. America, who’d worked on a the crash in 1978 could ever gorilla who kidnapped the As Miyamoto didn’t speak commission-only basis and were happen again. girlfriend of ‘Jumpman’, and then English, he thumbed through a preparing to file for bankruptcy, But there was a long way to tried to hinder his rescue translation dictionary for a name were made overnight millionaires fall from the top, and it would attempts by throwing barrels for his new game. He meant to in the wake of Donkey Kong’s only take one or two bad at him. name it Stubborn Gorilla, after immense success, firmly decisions from a small number of Nintendo of America was in the escaped ape character, but establishing Nintendo as a world high-level players to bring the dire straits, already defaulting wound up choosing the word coin-op power. entire industry crashing down. e
began developing Videopac shelves (and was a superior assuming it to be Pac-Man, and top game. This was a games on a freelance basis. By game to the hasty Atari port), a the game went on to sell more in significant blow to the marginal the time the system was pulled court case ensued. two months than any other headway the G7000 has been from the market, Ed was Chicago’s Federal Court Videopac title had in a year. Atari making in the competitive responsible for designing and decided there were sufficient took the case to appeal and the videogame market, and a coding almost half the differences to ensure people original ruling was overturned, distinct contributing factor to its Videopac’s entire catalogue of wouldn’t buy K.C. Munchkin forcing Philips to stop selling its imminent demise. games, including the infamous K.C. Munchkin. K.C. Munchkin was a game inspired by the popular arcade game, Pac-Man. Ed Averett made a few changes to the gameplay (antennae on the character, shifting maze walls, floating dots etc) in order to differentiate it from Pac-Man and avoid any unpleasant litigation. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Atari had already procured the rights to bring Pac-Man into people’s homes, and although Munchkin beat the VCS version to the
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Frank Gasking turns detective once again, tracking down those long-lost games that were presumed dead and buried
games that weren t Combat Two ’ Atari, 1982, 2600
bridges. Two game modes were planned, the first with forest scenery the tanks could use to gain cover from shots, the second with brick walls they could either drive around or shoot through. Retaining the two-player-only mode, the tanks now moved forward by themselves, the players controlling speed and rotation. particularly spectacularly. longevity slightly but not much. Each player started in their own The finer details of the game While the game isn’t complete, base in separate corners of the are known thanks to a prototype Retrodesign still issued a special screen, where they could now which turned up in 2001 and had cartridge release of the game, charge up a cruise missile to a special release at the US limited to 260 copies, in proper lock onto the opponent. And Classic Gaming Expo in 2001. The Atari-style packaging with whilst the original allowed the prototype shows early stages of accompanying manual. AtariAge If you ever had an Atari 2600 tanks to shoot each other until development – there are no (www.atariage.com) provides a then you probably owned the time ran out, the sequel helicopters, ships or aeroplanes, home to the prototype ROM so Combat, its bundled game. You would have a status panel with just tanks. There is, however, a you can see what you’re missing may have been sick of the sight three lives – sustain three built-in level editor that allows – but maybe we’re missing more, of it and tried to swap it for a shots and a life was lost. This forest or wall terrain to be and a complete version is out copy of The Smurfs, but the was a very different game to plotted, expanding the game’s there somewhere… game was extremely popular the original. nonetheless. A sequel was Graphically the game eagerly anticipated, and Atari improved slightly over the announced just that in 1982. original, though the main tank Moving on from the original, looked slightly squashed. Sounds Combat Two was to include a were as you might expect, with clearly defined playing arena, the 2600 burping and farting in with a river spanned by two its usual manner. The action itself was a lot slower-paced than its frantic predecessor. Atari ultimately decided to scrap Combat Two, possibly a decision made at the time of the videogame crash. To be honest, for a sequel that had a lot to live up to, it wasn’t looking or playing
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FEATURE:REGULAR | GAMES THAT WEREN’T Putty Squad Pac-In-Time Studio 3/Thalamus, 1992, GameBoy Color Namco, 1994, Game Gear
Putty first hit Amiga screens back tentative budget was allocated. in 1991. Featuring jaw-dropping But putting it together with the visuals and strong playability, the time and monetary constraints title was an immediate success proved impossible and the and was quickly ported to other conversion was sadly scrapped. platforms. The player controlled a Andy Roberts reflected, “Even blue blob that moulded itself into though the Putty brand was a different shapes, stretching strong one, it probably wasn’t Once a popular character emerges, it’s only a matter of time before around platforms and absorbing strong enough.” the gaming world is flooded with their continuing adventures. Pac- strange creatures in an attempt to All was not lost, though, as Man fits into this category, and after phenomenal beginnings in defeat the evil Dazzledaze. Thalamus was given various other 1980, Pac was back in 1994 in a new Game Gear title called Pac-In- Eight years on, newly revived gaming jobs by Studio 3. And of Time. In the story, our hungry hero has a spell cast upon him by Thalamus Interactive began course, the promising Putty an evil ghost-witch, making him younger and sending him back to focusing on the GameBoy Color Squad demo still exists, showing 1975 – before he was even born. Pac has to make his way to the as its development platform of what could have been. To take a ghost-witch’s castle and find the time portal to travel home. choice. As a first pitch to Studio 3 look for yourself, see the video The rather cheeky thing about this game is that it’s an obvious (formally System 3), a demo of clip on this month’s coverdisc. rehash of the Amiga classic Fury Of The Furries, with Pac taking the Putty Squad was written in a place of Tiny. Namco licensed the game’s engine from Mindscape. two- to three-week period. Jon Just like Tiny, Pac has a range of actions and the player can Wells, famous for his C64 work, make him jump, swim, swing and shoot by selecting a specific coded and provided all the audio, mode during the game. This variety provides the perfect balance of while Michael Smith provided platform and puzzling over 50 well thought-out levels. Each level impressive graphics matching the has Pac collecting a number of pills in hard-to-reach areas and original 16-bit versions. Andy attempting to find the level’s exit point. Roberts contributed to the design The game was released for various home systems, but for some and managed the project. reason the Game Gear version (developed by Gil Espeche) didn’t see A limited preview was the light of day, despite being complete. It was soon forgotten developed and it was enough to about, until the fantastic SMS Power (www.smspower.org) surprised grab Studio 3’s interest, so a everyone by recently releasing a prototype of the complete game to the world. SMS Power had been in touch with Gil Espeche, who kindly donated a ROM of the unreleased game. Graphically, the game does the Game Gear justice with a well- animated Pac and detailed level designs. Levels are large (especially later on) and each one is that little bit more taxing than the last. A gradual build-up of difficulty and a good learning curve ensures that the game pulls you back for more. A variety of catchy tunes based on the original Pac-Man themes also accompanies the action. Pac-In-Time is one of the best games on the Game Gear, but it’s still unclear why it was never released. Was it possibly a licensing issue? GTWs are always full of mystery, but at least this gem has been recovered…
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Edutainment is a rickety bridge. Once children figure out they’re being preached to during their fun time, their defences will pop up like jack-in-the-boxes in full plate armour. Still, there were some brave enough to attempt to teach the younglings about medical conditions through the Super Nintendo. Per Arne Sandvik joins the frontline defence against disease
ne of the much of a need for that game engine. This time, you pack of rats steal the happy developers willing considering there’s a grocer on assume the role of a pair of campers’ insulin rations. to give it a go was every corner. diabetic elephants in a bit of a There are some elements that Wavequest. In its The enemies don’t provide fix. During their holiday trip to separate Packy and Marlon from O platformer Bronkie, much of a challenge, though. The Camp Wa-Kee (Native American Bronkie besides the swap to you control a young dinosaur in asthma aspect is what you’ll for ‘stupid-white-man pun’), a elephants. The weapons, for his quest for clean air. Some want to stay focused on, since years ago the world was hit by a the screen grows darker as your meteor, and the dinosaurs defied respiration grows worse. This their lack of opposable thumbs to strongly affects the playability of build a machine capable of the game, which – to some blowing all the resulting dust extent – is an appropriate way to away. But the bliss was not to transfer a real-life asthma last, as the evil Mr Rexo problem to a platformer, but at disassembled the apparatus and the same time is one of the scattered the pieces across aspects making Bronkie a less- Pangaea. Why he felt the need than-average SNES game. to do so is not explained anywhere – but then again, he is Insulin insurrection a tyrannosaurus. Not surprisingly, your job is to If you take Bronkie and replace reassemble the contraption. But ‘asthma’ with ‘diabetes’, you’ll that’s only half the challenge. pretty much end up with Packy You see, Bronkie suffers from and Marlon, another release from asthma, and throughout his quest Wavequest based on the same it’s vital you manage his condition by keeping him away from cigarette smoke, cement bags, furry creatures and other asthma triggers. To make matters worse, every single citizen of the city San Sauran is out to kill him. Why this is remains an enigma. You’d think they were simply out to eat him so they could survive, thrive and procreate like dinosaurs do, but there isn’t Help Bronkie dispel the nasty dust, but don’t forget to deal with the little fella’s asthma!
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REGULAR | STRANGE GAMES
difficult to defeat him. He’ll try to shock you by sending lightning through the metallic floor, but unluckily for him there’s a giant lever reversing the electrical current right in front of you. Another poor choice was sitting on a metallic platform, but the poorest choice of all was waking up that morning and pulling on a As with Bronkie, Packy and Marlon was a platformer pair of metal pants. with a serious message to spread A fantastic voyage example: while Bronkie defends My one weakness! himself with a bicycle pump, the The oddest of the bunch has to thick-skinned duo have their Although Captain Novolin from be another product from trunks to keep the rats at bay. Sculptured Software is in a Sculptured Software – Rex Ronan: Your standard projectile is water, similar vein to Packy and Marlon, Experimental Surgeon. This action which can be upgraded to it differs on several levels. Most platformer tells the story of peanuts. And curiously, the third importantly, Captain Novolin is a tobacco salesman Jake Westboro. and most powerful upgrade is superhero. Well, that’s a bit of a He’s been smoking since the age blood. Squirting nose blood at stretch. He doesn’t have any of 15, and is now dying from your opponent can certainly be powers. In fact, he can’t attack cancer. But he’s not the main humiliating for them (and and he’s rubbish at avoiding character: he’s where the game is yourself, for that matter), but that enemies. On top of this, he’ll eat taking place. You assume the role doesn’t make gunning down any food he finds on the street of Doctor Rex Ronan, who shrinks insulin-pilfering rodents with it until he collapses from diabetic himself and his vessel to any less unsettling. shock. He does have a mask and microscopic size to travel inside Of course, make sure you a tight suit, though. And while the dying man’s body to save don’t pick up too many of the the good captain is no match for him from within. Unfortunately, food power-ups along your path, a bowl of cornflakes, apparently Blackburn Tobacco is afraid this or your blood sugar will shoot he’s the only man willing to help will generate negative publicity through the roof and you’ll have when the mayor of Pineville is and injects Westboro with to restart. On top of this, don’t kidnapped by deliciously evil dangerous microbots. forget to check your medical snack aliens. To up the ante, the As you travel through the logs and inject the right amount mayor is also a diabetic and only salesman’s mouth, lungs, heart of insulin. has enough insulin for 48 hours. and brain, you not only have to As with all the other games fight these microbots off, but also covered here, the controls are remove dental tar deposits, pre- abysmal. At times, it feels like cancerous cells and plaque using the only way to obtain quick a back-mounted ray gun similar enough reflexes to avoid enemies to those in Ghostbusters. The is to down a pound of sugar and gameplay is reminiscent of Super From top to bottom: Rex purges ride the rush, sort of defeating Mario Sunshine and Pilotwings, the mouth, lungs, heart the purpose of the game. But if except that Isle Delphino was and brain of the stricken you make it through the absurdly never covered in cancer and very tobacco salesman relentless stages leading up to few aspiring pilots have ever the final boss it shouldn’t be too had to manoeuvre through novel not to be amusing. For those clogged veins. of us who didn’t have to play Rex Ronan is not a very good these games as children, that is. game. Its biggest problem is it Because it’s obvious there had disregards the rule of having two to be a number of children who thirds of the screen in front of the were frustrated to tears by these main character. Most of the time, games. They already dealt with you’re lucky to see more than a glucose levels and inhalers foot ahead of you, and at times it every day, and giving them feels like you actually push the unresponsive and cruel platformers screen along with your forehead. which made them manage their Plus, there are times when you medical disorders all over again have to lose all your lives on just seems unnecessary. But purpose because you don’t have perhaps some children with the weapon you need to proceed. catlike reflexes and the patience of But come on, how many games angels played through these have you played where you find games and felt better about bonus items inside cancer? And themselves. In that case, it’s a how many times have you shame AIDS Avenger for the PC is encountered mini-bosses assuming so hard to track down, as it would The clock’s ticking – you have 48 hours to save the form of a blood clot at the core doubtless make thousands of lives the major before he runs out of insulin! of a smoker’s heart? It’s all too a little bit better. e
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1UP HIGH SCORE THE STORIES BEHIND THE SCORES
This month Paul Drury talks turtle shells with high-scoring hero Perry Rodgers, holder of the Mario Bros. world record
fair few of the nuances of the Perry then gives a Mario Bros. game. After winning his own master class. He explains the machine in 1983 by playing finesse required to walk under Centipede for 19 hours in a fireflies, the location of the few competition sponsored by the spots where you can jump now defunct Video Games Player fireballs and how you can fool magazine, he spent years honing them into believing you’re on a his skills, until on 2nd July 1985, different level. He sagely he amassed a staggering discusses the use of the POW 3,481,550 in a 3 hour 45 minute feature, which causes all on- ometimes it’s hard game. Completing over 300 levels screen characters to lie flat to be a high scorer. with only three starting lives (and (“don’t be scared – use it when First the Galaxian the extra one awarded at 20,000) you feel you need it”), advises record you’ve held requires not only a deep against gold coin greed, and S for over two understanding of the gameplay stresses the importance of using decades is snatched from you by mechanics, but a great deal of the Bonus Stage to breath deeply Perry in his games room. “My a cheeky Mancunian. Then the patience too, as you seek the and mentally prepare yourself for machines are fading away, just modern era Space Invaders high calm in the eye of the storm. the next set of six levels. like my records,” he says score you set at the 2002 “You do have to use your It’s like listening to a Zen Funspot Tournament is beaten peripheral vision – really take it Master instruct a young pupil on guy isn’t just sitting there… but I during the following year’s all in and plan your next move. I The Way of the Joystick as he do find things get a bit crowded competition. Fortunately for Perry kind of feel I’m playing five or reveals the intricacies of the with two players on screen and Rodgers though, he didn’t give all ten seconds ahead, working out single-player experience, which that’s why people tend to play his love to just one game. what’s going to happen next, many of us have rather competitively, not co-operatively.” “Mario Bros. is definitely my planning for it, and making my overlooked in favour of chucking favourite,” says Perry, “the one move. You see, for a high score, shells at a mate. We wonder if Head to head I’d take to a desert island. you need to be conservative, but Perry has equal mastery of the There’s something about that not too conservative. You only two-player game? Whilst battling fellow high scorers game – it has this subtlety and have four lives and that makes “I always thought it’d be fun isn’t the norm, Perry did go up challenge. I still get drawn them precious. You don’t want to to go for a co-op world record,” against none other than Eric back to it. I know there’s still be risk losing them by going muses Perry. “You’d have to have Ginner (featured in Retro Gamer more to learn…” after a coin – it’s always better to some rules, like when one player issue 15), at the Guinness Book Perry has certainly learned a live and see another level.” dies, the whole game is over and Contest of World Records in 1985. maybe the scores have to be “I played in San Jose and within a certain range, so one knew Eric was going to be there.
Perry playing his beloved Mario Bros., no doubt using his ‘peripheral vision’
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REGULAR | HIGH SCORE
I didn’t know him, but when I location of ‘Mario and Luigi’s’ frequented arcades in the Bay Pizza Restaurant, which, legend Area, I’d see his initials on the has it, was the reason why high score tables and knew he Mario’s slimmer brother was was my main challenger. At the so christened? tournament, I put up a score of “No, it’s just a coincidence, 1.7 million. It came to the last but games have always been part night and Eric sat down to play. of my life. Even before I went to He was having a pretty good college, I just knew I wanted to game, but at 800,000 he died make games. I enjoy them so and I just breathed a huge sigh much, I wanted to make games of relief. That was probably my others would enjoy. That’s my proudest moment, more than motivation. I went to college for getting the world record, because that and have been in the it was head-to-head competition industry ever since.” – everything was on the line to The Mario Bros. machine that Perry won during get your name in the book.” Activate a videogame tournament victory in 1983 And there Perry’s name stayed until 1987, after which high Perry’s programming career His next post took him to Sony, was finally overhauled? Perry scores were no longer included. began at Activision, where he just before the release of the replies with typical magnanimity. He still plays today on that same worked on the port of Double PlayStation. Was the company full “I wasn’t surprised when I machine, which sits in his games Dragon for the Atari 2600 and of optimism, confident it was knew Gary Whelan was up for room, alongside Space Invaders, 7800, amongst other projects. He about to conquer and redefine the challenge – I knew he was Galaxian, Carnival, Food Fight and then moved to Sculptured the console market? really determined. I was kind of several pinball tables. We wonder Software in Utah, where he “Not at all. Sony really wasn’t surprised someone out there was whether his love for Mario Bros. designed and produced Roger sure about it and didn’t know dedicated enough to get their is why three years ago he moved Clemens’ Baseball for the NES the games market well at the own machine and put the practice up to Redmond, WA, the home of and Boxing Legends of the Ring time, but it obviously made in. It’s a real testament to Gary Nintendo HQ and formerly the for the SNES and Sega Genesis. some really good moves – and his efforts. He’s a good guy fantastic marketing that really and I appreciate his interest in appealed to players.” the game. In January of this year Perry’s six years with Sony I managed to get within 10,000 saw him work with many of the of the record – I missed out on big players, including Midway on my own personal best by 1,000 Mortal Kombat and Naughty Dog points, which kind of left me in on the Crash Bandicoot series of agony, but that was my best games. He now works for Wild score for 20 years and it Tangent (www.wildgames.com), convinced me I could get the producing Internet games, such record back. I’ll be playing at this as Championship Run 2005, a year’s Funspot Tournament in basketball game made in June and hope to come over to conjunction with Coca-Cola, and London in August for the Classic has some intriguing current Gaming Expo and play Gary projects, which, in classic there. A bit of friendly rivalry industry-speak, he “can’t divulge could be fun.” right now.” Be warned – if they start a We decide to risk opening old doubles game, don’t put your The 1986 US National Video Game Team. Pictured left to right are Steve wounds and ask if he was money down. You could be in for Harris, Perry, and Jeff Peters, presumably during a visit to the Top Gun set surprised that his Galaxian record a long wait… e
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Retro Find out what’s new in the busy retro scene. Plus, we review the latest game releases Scene ZZap! to the Future Classic gaming magazine rides again
Zzap!64 (1985–2005), probably the best computer games magazine ever published,” says Rob de Voogd, Editor of the tribute. “After being part of the team that created Zzap!64’s last issue (#107, March 2002), I couldn’t let the magazine’s 20th anniversary pass just like that. I Zzap!64, one of the most fondly decided to pick a number of often- remembered gaming magazines overlooked but innovative classic of yesteryear, is being brought C64 games (such as Raging back to life in a 64-page tribute Beast, Skool Daze, The Great magazine. The project, which is a Escape, TRAZ and six others), collaboration between redesign the original Zzap!64 www.zzapback.com and reviews, blowing them up to two- www.zzap64.co.uk, will fondly page full colour spreads (some of look back at the C64 title that them were originally half a page was first published in May 1985. and black and white), and give “The DEF Tribute to Zzap!64 is them the Zzap!back treatment.” a celebration of 20 years of The tribute will feature all
Editor Rob de Voogd worked on Zzap!64’s issue 107. The DEF Tribute replaces the proposed issue 108
sorts of Zzap!-themed content, never been previously published. such as new retro-style game The DEF Tribute to Zzap!64 is reviews, interviews, tips, and in production now, and will be articles on retro gaming in available as a PDF download in general, such as overrated and the next few months. Rob is also underrated titles. The Shadow looking at ways of getting the and the White Wizard will even magazine professionally printed, make an appearance. The so there’s a very real possibility magazine will also include a that you’ll soon be holding the Relive the glory days of Zzap!64 with the double-sided A3 poster and 20 tribute in your hands. More on 20th anniversary tribute magazine rare Oli Frey drawings that have this next month…
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REGULAR | RETRO SCENE CGEUK Battle Royal Frogger High-score heavyweights scrap it out
and an entourage of American Bounces and Canadian gamers will be invading CGEUK in a bid to prove that they are the best arcade Back gamers in the world. New homebrew game in Amongst the throng of world the offing record holders will be Todd Rogers As if there weren’t already and Dwayne Richards. Todd has held Frogger is heading to the Atari 7800 thanks enough reasons for you to attend a collection of world records over to Matthias Luedtke. He recently announced this year’s Classic Gaming Expo, the past 25 years, while Dwayne that he was developing a new version of the the event has now joined forces was America’s classic gaming Gary Whelan will be attempting classic title and posted a downloadable with Twin Galaxies (“the official champion in 1989, 2000 and 2002. to beat his own Galaxian world version online. To get it, visit the AtariAge scoreboard for videogame and “This could be an historic record at CGEUK 2005 forums at www.atariage.com/forums/ pinball high scores”) to offer up moment in classic gaming,” Todd index.php?showtopic=69060 and make sure one almighty challenge to us told us. “The European and North Twin Galaxies founder Walter Day, you check for the latest version later on in Euro gamers. The gauntlet has American communities have never and current Galaxian record holder the topic. The current version is still at an been well and truly thrown down, competed face to face before, Gary Whelan. Gary will also try to early stage, with a single level and plenty of and the European players feel its top his own world record, so you bugs, but Matthias is keen for people to post time for America to be put in its could witness a new world record feedback, and he’s always on the forum place. So, we’ll see how we do.” live at the show. We also have it updating fans on his progress. Despite the Besides defending their long- on good authority that Tony ‘TT’ limited play at the moment, this is already standing high scores, the visiting Temple (see last month’s Retro looking like an impressive port, although champs will also hold discussions Gamer) will attempt to beat Roy there are no plans for a cart release yet. about the growth of classic Shildt’s Missile Command record gaming and retro matters in at the show. general. The challenges will take Classic Gaming Expo UK takes place during the course of the place on Saturday 13th August at CGEUK event, with the winners Twin Galaxies’ founder Fairfield Halls, Croydon. The show Walter Day will be visiting collecting their prizes at 6.00pm. runs from 10.00am to 7.00pm, the show in his role as The discussion is set to kick-off at and the latest information is official high-score referee 2.00pm and will be headed up by available from www.cgeuk.com. The Bells! Joe Blade Returns! Hunchback swings onto New Speccy games from Retro-Soft the 2600 More 2600 homebrew is being served up, A raft of new Spectrum software in order to resurrect his classic with a version of arcade classic Hunchback is on its way courtesy of Retro- collection of Spectrum games. In in the works. Developed by Chris Walton, Soft (www.retro-soft.co.uk). his new role as Lead Coder, he the new game will be titled Hunchy and Programmer Paul Griffiths has plans to release classic titles will be heavily based on the original recently signed up with Retro-Soft such as Saracen, HawkStorm, Hunchback coin-op released in 1982. Dominion and the As in the previous version, you take on previously unreleased Joe the role of hump-backed Quasimodo on his Blade 4! All of these will quest to rescue his beloved Esmarelda be compatible with any Freddy Mercury lookalike Joe from Notre-Dame cathedral. This means decent Spectrum emulator, Blade returns to control plenty of running, jumping and swinging, Britain’s yob culture and Paul is also working while avoiding arrows, guards and spiky on porting many of the announcement once we have pits. There are currently 15 playable levels titles to other platforms, everything in place,” said Paul and you can download the latest version such as PalmOS. Andrews of Retro-Soft. from www.atariage.com/forums/ “Apart from our PalmOS Retro-Soft is currently in the index.php?showtopic=67953. and Pocket Windows process of adding a huge developments, we are collection of new releases to sister currently considering site www.download-trader.com, developing for other including emulator images of portable platforms and for Jonathan Cauldwell’s popular the Microsoft Windows Spectrum titles. Prices for environment. We’re the games start at a bargain planning a big £1.20 each.
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Astro Nell Developer: www.cronosoft.co.uk p Format: Unexpanded VIC-20 p Price: £1.99 (tape), £0.99 (image) p Players: One
author failed to port Manic Miner to the machine – and it required a 16KB expanded VIC. Fast forward 20 years and we have Astro Nell from Cronosoft. Like most games of this type, Willy, exploring each room is part Author Matt Simmonds has your aim is to grab a certain of the fun, and there are plenty somehow managed to squeeze a number of items in the allotted of locations to visit. Completing delightful Jet Set Willy clone into time. In Astro Nell, this amounts the game is probably beyond an unexpanded VIC. It really is an to grabbing 88 fuel cells which most mere mortals, but you’re impressive programming feat, are required to power up your sure to have plenty of fun trying. with loads of colourful screens stricken ship and escape the Who needs Miner Willy anyway? packed with roving baddies. strange alien planet. As in Jet Set Rating: pppppppppp Sound is minimal, as you’d expect, but the graphics are great and the challenge is solid throughout. Having said that, the Back in the day, VIC-20 owners game thankfully doesn’t rely too must have felt pretty lonely, as heavily on pixel-perfect jumping their beloved beige box was skills that were the mainstay of perhaps the only popular the Miner Willy games, although computer not to receive a version the annoying infinite death loop of either Manic Miner or Jet Set bug raises its ugly head. We’re Willy. Yes, there was Perils of guessing that it’s not included as Willy, but it’s now well known that a tribute to the genius of this came about after the original Matthew Smith…
around (you can only carry one at a time) wares thin after a short while. Visually, the game is nothing short of stunning, with Higgledy Piggledy smooth, four-way scrolling and some devilishly clever coding that somehow eliminates the Developer: www.cronosoft.co.uk p Format: Spectrum 48K p Price: £2.99 (tape) p Players: One dreaded colour clash. know that a completely bizarre them to the processing plant. As a technical demo, Higgledy back story comes as standard. Higgledy Piggledy cleverly Piggledy is amazing, proving that Playing as Eadwig Addlethorpe, combines platform and puzzle Jonathan is easily one of the interplanetary pig farmer by elements, although the mix is not most talented programmers trade, you must round up your as heady as we’d hoped. The pace working in the scene. But as a heard and ship them off to the of the game is quite pedestrian, game sadly it’s a little lacking. pig processing plant. Sounds and continually moving blocks Rating: pppppppppp simple, expect that your pigs have evolved somewhat (must be the radioactive atmosphere) and have developed hollow bones and powerful wings. As a result, these pesky flying pigs are very difficult to catch. Luckily, the resourceful Eadwig can move blocks from place to place. This allows you to reach Jonathan Cauldwell deserves a parts of the farm that would be medal, for services to the otherwise inaccessible and to Spectrum scene. The prolific control the movement of the pigs. programmer returns with another You see, the pigs fly in a straight title that completely confounds line until they hit a solid object, anybody who thinks the Speccy at which point they turn 90 is dead. degrees to the right and If you’ve played any of continue. So by carefully Jonathan’s earlier titles then you’ll positioning blocks, you can guide
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REGULAR | RETRO SCENE REVIEWS Platform Tanks 3000 Developer: www.protovision-online.de p Format: Commodore 64 p Game Designer Price: TBA p Players: Two-Four
Developer: www.cronosoft.co.uk p Format: Spectrum 48K p Price: £4.99 (tape), £3.49 (image) p Players: n/a
Spectrum (CRL’s 2D Game Maker springs rather painfully to mind), but none of them really allowed you to create a commercial-quality game. However, Space Hopper is up there with the platformers of the day. It’s fast, challenging and looks great, successfully showcasing the power of PDG. And with no programming knowledge whatsoever, you can Fresh from the Protovision stable environments and some well- create games of similar quality. comes this C64 multiplayer presented menus and title The tools are laid out in front of combat title. Based on such screens. The tanks themselves are you, including sprite, background, classic games as Combat and Tiger a little underwhelming, but this sound and various other editors, Tanks, Tanks 3000 is a brand new doesn’t affect the gameplay. and all the information you need update for C64 owners, pushing Sound is also great, and the to build your own unique the machine into fairly uncharted music accompanying the platformer is supplied in the territory when it comes to offering proceedings is pleasing to the ear. Surely Cronosoft’s most ambitious accompanying manual. As the true multiplayer action. Actually playing the game is release to date, Platform Game loading screen states, all you The game plays very much very enjoyable overall, but the Designer really does exactly what need is a good idea. like its ancestors, in that each experience is slightly marred by a it says on the tin. The program is This package is going to be big. player controls a tank and has to couple of faults. Firstly, there’s split into two parts – there’s PDG Games created using PGD have eliminate all comers to win the the tank control. When you Linear, which lets you design already started arriving at our current round. These battles take attempt to steer while moving Manic Miner style games (ie office for inclusion on our place over several themed maps, forward, the tanks stop and successive single-screen levels coverdisc, and it’s only been out including swamp, desert and pause for a second, making the that are completed in turn), and a few weeks! Cronosoft has also snow, and the tank’s projectiles controls feel clunky and PDG Explorer, which you can use set up a competition to find the can be controlled after they’ve unresponsive. Also, there’s no to create Jet Set Willy clones, most original game created using been fired, just like a guided single-player support, so you with an expansive multi-screen PDG Linear, with the possibility of missile. But, and here’s the real need at least two to tango. game map that can be explored the winner getting their game clincher, Tanks 3000 supports up Tanks 3000 is a great little at leisure. As an added bonus published. If you’re a Speccy fan to four players (providing you game and is certainly worth there’s an example of a PDG and you’ve always wanted to have Protovision’s own four-player any C64 fan’s time and money, Linear game called Space Hopper. create rather than merely play, adaptor, of course). especially if you can get a load Over time there have been Platform Game Designer is what Visually Tanks 3000 is very of your mates round to make several similar game design you’ve been waiting for. good, with the C64’s palette the most of it. programs released for the Rating: pppppppppp producing some nice-looking Rating: pppppppppp
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The
RetroHave your say on all things retro and send us Forum your letters, or stop by our busy online forum
us old users. For example, did best solution would be to run a for Superscape, the 3D technology Freescape’s successor, native version. did eventually arrive and is still Superscape, ever materialise? Barry Metcalfe, via email going today. It’s been used in a I remember fondly the sense wide range of applications, from of community I had from being a RG: Funny you should mention the 3D garden and interior design member of the 3DCK user group, Freescape series, Barry, as we software to websites and mobile and I still own every issue of its were recently granted permission games. Visit www.superscape.com newsletter. Can I suggest an to interview the guys behind for more details. interview with the group’s Incentive Software and the chairperson, Mandy Rodrigues, as Freescape games such as Driller, I feel she deserves recognition for Dark Side and Total Eclipse. It’s a Retro TV the effort she put into everything, feature we’re currently in the as well as her willingness to stages of planning so should be in I’ve been enjoying Retro Gamer engage with strangers phoning the magazine some time soon. As so much I felt I had to get in on her at all hours with queries on the act, and have enclosed a few the most arcane and obscure discs that may be of some use or The great Freescape aspects of the software with nary amusement to you. Two are DVD- a grumble. Rs of some retro stuff I’ve culled Hi there. First of all, I have to give Of course, it would be great if from my collection – the disc the customary congratulations on you could actually wangle copies titled ‘1984’ contains a video a great magazine – I’ve never of the kit (preferably both starring a barely post-Tiswas missed an issue and don’t intend incarnations) for your coverdisc, Chris Tarrant, his grip on to start now! as I was an Amiga user back in videogames extending almost I was wondering if you had the good old days and don’t have exclusively to hysterically any plans for a feature on the a PC version. I suppose I could parroting the blurb on the box, Freescape games and especially run the Amiga versions through which makes games sound a lot Domark’s 3D Construction Kit, emulation but the kit tended to more dramatic than they deserve. maybe following its history and strain the old machine’s resources Little has changed! The disc is filling in some of the blanks for at the best of times – I think the padded out with the BBC2 http://from.the.retro.forums This month we asked you which items in your retro collection you’d save if your bedroom was ablaze and you only had time to save three things from the raging fire. Here are your posts…
ID:
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Commercial Breaks documentary, The Battle for Santa’s Software, CONTACTUS which I’m sure you all have anyway – but there you go. The second DVD is the result email: of something you may want to encourage your readers to feedback@ repeat: I went through many of retrogamer.net my old videotapes looking for ad breaks, particularly from material recorded in the Christmas period, snailmail: and came up with a few bits and Retro Gamer pieces. There are probably Live Publishing hundreds of old recordings out Europa House there whose owners don’t realise Adlington Park there’s a classic games controversial airing of the Sega shortage, the US N64 launch and Macclesfield commercial sandwiched in the Saturn Daytona USA ad. The the unveiling of Sega’s Virtua middle. I can recall ads for driver’s ‘crown of thorns’ martyr Racing arcade machine. There’s SK10 4NP Spectrum software on Saturday imagery got the God squad in a another Cybernet clip on failed morning TV… it’d be great to lather, but the real controversy systems (such as the Jaguar and Maybe you can help me on find as many of these ‘lost’ was the glitzy ad with hardly any 3DO) chased up by the Sega something. My Jet Set Willy map works as possible. actual Daytona footage, most Nights ad (cunning stunts!). in the June 84 issue is, to my Remember the 7UP ads from likely because it was, well, pants. Finally on this disc there’s a copy knowledge, the first videogame the early 80s that featured a 7UP Following this is an overly- of the promo video that dealers map in print. Can anyone burst Pac-Man machine? The music was optimistic Philips CD-I ad, a NES were provided with for the SNES my bubble, or is this the Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes ad from just before the SNES Mario All-Stars bundles, presented case? My Sabre Wulf map is (with reworked 7UP lyrics) and eclipsed it, the Sega ‘cyber razor by none other than Craig Charles. in the September 1984 issue. the power-ups were 7UP bottles. I cut’ ad, one of the original Check out the *cough* unbiased They always spelled my name loved those ads, and thought GameBoy ads, a Saturn chart review scores for Nintendo’s own slightly wrong (Aonghas should they’d be a fantastic addition to a from an old Cybernet show, then games, and a few mulleted heads be Aonghus). Retro Gamer coverdisc. a piece on games and movies still famous in gaming circles. In the Nintendo folder there’s a Unfortunately, none turned up on (such innocent days eh?) from The CD-Rs contain scans of sugary blast from the past – a my tapes so I contacted 7UP via The Late Show. my own retro memorabilia. Disc perfectly preserved Mario Cola can. its US HQ and the company Next up is GamesMaster with one has some of the payslips and The drink is long gone, but wasn’t responded that as no transcript the less crude, but less Christmas cards I received from as memorable as the games. Sadly, of these ads existed in its convincing, Dexter Fletcher at the C&VG during the golden years, preserving a Mario ice cream records, none could be provided. helm, and a notable guest plus a map special which I have would have been too messy. I wonder if perhaps this is appearance from Danni Behr. several mentions in, and some In the Sony folder there’s the because they no longer hold Then another Gamesmaster, with communications with Tim Metcalfe original PlayStation launch permission for the use of Pac- a pretty ludicrous two-player and Claire Edgeley. On disc two material, promo gifts, and a Man imagery? It’s a shame, and Tomb Raider 2 play-off. This was there are scans of C&VG issues, a Psygnosis software brochure – maybe a reader could help? the first episode of the last-ever couple of which contain some of notable mainly for Destruction Someone needs to dig these up series, complete with nice beach- my work (a feat I’ve been dining Derby being listed as ‘Demolish- for your coverdisc! effect set. Following this are out on ever since!), though I’ve em Derby’. The Sony watch was The other DVD (‘Retroclips’) some stories from Sky News, yet to scan all the issues I had a sent out after the first year of features the first, full-length, such as the Christmas PlayStation piece in. the PlayStation – it’s a bit nicer
many other PlayStation games. Special on the Mega-CD. copy of Goldeneye for the N64. It 2. My minty-fresh copy of 2. My PAL copy of Shining Force cost me 80 quid to get it before Castlevania Symphony of on the Mega-CD. the PAL release… so many good the Night. 3. My limited-edition Tomcat Alley times… God bless the little fella. 3. An early issue of Crash, to package Mega-CD 2 machine. 4. LOOK, I REALLY WILL FIGHT re-read whilst waiting for the ANYONE THAT TRIES TO STOP Fire Brigade. ID:
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than the Sonic watch (in the prevented this issue from going Sega folder), but in the interests out the door on time, so thanks for of preservation and in Comic that! We’d love to include some of Book Guy style, these have never this material on the coverdisc, but been worn. we’d need to have a lot of it Ultimate, during its heyday, cleared, especially the video was very generous with its footage, which would require a fair freebies, and I’ve scanned some amount of time and money. We’re of the posters and Christmas certainly looking into it, though, cards (signed by the famous and plan to show some of your team) sent to me, along with clips at this year’s CGE UK. many of their complimentary Hopefully we’ll see you there. slips and release notifications. I still have the T-shirt and cap, too. I’ve recently provided these Puzzling… scans to World of Spectrum, and they are amongst the most I’ve been a huge fan of puzzle evocative images of the Spectrum games for many years now, and I period. I only realised while was wondering if you’d ever scanning them that the robot in considered doing a feature on Pssst is one of the robots from them or maybe a brief history of puzzle game at some point, but to lack of funds. I’d be interested the film Silent Running. Tsk, the genre. With the help of given the sheer amount of in finding any games written piracy everywhere, eh? members of the Retro Gamer puzzlers and the masses of using that package to see what Remember game ads in Viz? forum, I’ve compiled a list of 269 clones out there we’re talking a was possible with it. No? Well, I’ve scanned a few. See puzzle games so far, covering mammoth feature spanning more Ryan Summers, via email how Sega and Nintendo’s formats such as the C64, than one part. Perhaps one day different approaches to marketing Spectrum and GameBoy. It’s an we’ll be able to use your website RG: The Quill was unique separated the two early on. ongoing project and one day I’d as a handy reference guide! because it was used to create Nintendo doesn’t do toilet like to create a website dedicated literally thousands of text humour, but if it did, who knows to the puzzle genre. Some of my adventure games, some of which where it’d be today. Probably favourite puzzlers are Tetris DX The Quill is mightier… were released commercially – stuck in the U-bend. (obviously), Mr Driller and Puyo and a select handful were I’ve only scratched the Pop, though I’m continually I don’t know how you’re doing it, actually published by big surface of my retro pile, which discovering classic games due to but Volume 2 Issue 4 was one of software houses such as stretches from the Atari VCS to helpful members of the forum. your best issues to date. I loved Melbourne House and CRL. Few today’s systems, but I hope There’s an abundance of them on the piece on Digitiser, which I would disagree, though, that some of the enclosed material is the handhelds, particularly the read every day throughout its Delta 4 were the kings of The of some use if not amusement GameBoy, which seems perfectly time on Channel 4. It was to all at Retro Gamer. suited to the genre. All I need to fascinating to read about the Aonghus de Barra, Dublin do now is to find mint copies of people behind it and also their them. I have a feeling it might desert island disk choices. RG: As long-time Digitiser readers take me some time! The feature on Gilsoft was we’re familiar with your name, Nick C, via email also a real eye-opener, as I’d Aonghus, though we had no idea been tempted to buy The Quill your work was printed in C&VG RG: We’d certainly like to do a for the ZX Spectrum, but never too. The discs you sent nearly feature on the evolution of the got around to purchasing it due
I was three years old. The second mint condition. 3. Radiant Silvergun – Sega thing would be my copy of 3. Finally, the original Tomb Saturn. Though I’m tempted to Streets of Rage for the Sega Raider for the PlayStation. It may say Super Metroid (SNES), Mega Drive, because it was one not look that good any more but Blast Corps (N64) and Vib of my favourites. Third would plays like a dream and I still Ribbon (PS1), just because I’ve be my collection of Sonic believe it to be the best. already lost and re-bought them figurines and plushies that I’ve once, and would be loathe to had for ages! ID:
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REGULAR | FORUM Star Letter
Want to grab yourself a quality piece of retro- gaming merchandise? Each month we’ll select our favourite letter – one that makes us smile or think – and the winner can select one of our retro-themed T-shirts for free…
So, if you haven’t joined, why talk about all things retro, and Forum not? You’re missing out on a lot we’re lucky to have such an Being a new reader to your anyone out there who reads the of what the magazine has to offer excellent roster of members ever magazine (from Issue 13), I’ve magazine but hasn’t joined the (other than the printed articles). eager to chat or help people out. missed out on a lot of what has forum, to do so now! This has To the forum members, I’d just It’s also a very welcoming passed (although I did also buy been one of the best things I’ve like to say thanks. environment, and you can’t the Retro Gamer Anthology). But, ever done (apart from buying the Retronic, via email always say that about retro one of the first things I did after magazine in the first place). I’ve forums – especially some of the reading your magazine was to found the forum members to be RG: We won’t take any credit for edgier ones on the Web. join the forum. friendly and helpful, while some the quality of the forum as it’s If you’ve yet to visit the Retro Now, I was also a forum virgin of the items discussed have been the members who make it what it Gamer forum, then why not go and not sure as to what lay informative and just downright is. We’d have to agree, though, along to www.retrogamer.net and ahead. I’d just like to say to ridiculously funny. that our forum is a great place to sign up?
Quill, pushing it in ways that playing the likes of Yie Ar Kung for day trips. After reading your RG: Well, that’s what we like to even Gilsoft didn’t think were Fu and Green Beret (I’m 28 now!). article, I couldn’t agree more! hear – stories of people possible. Personally, we’d Having just returned from a Steve, via email enjoying these old coin-ops, recommend The Colour of Magic short break with my wife and son rather than tales of (pictured) or The Big Sleaze. in Towyn, North Wales, imagine commercial enterprises snapping my surprise when I bought the them up for profit. Enjoy your latest issue of Retro Gamer and return trip to Towyn, Steve – Towyn treasures read your article Son of Arcade and while you’re around that Hunt! Every day we passed the neck of the woods, why not visit Thank you for your fantastic arcades in your article, unaware some of the other resorts dotted magazine – I’ve been collecting of the treasures they held. Luckily along the North Wales coastline. Retro Gamer since Issue 3. Your living in Chester we’re only down If you find any interesting magazine brings back many fond the road from Towyn, and since arcades, let us know and memories, especially of scouring returning from our short break my we’ll feature them in a future the arcades in the mid-80s wife suggested we could return Arcade Hunt.
insurance wing-wangs to it would have to be the original models, so is a little harder to ID:
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REGULAR | AUCTION WATCH
Richard Burton returns to the wonderful world of eBay to track down unusual, rare and downright rude online auctions
ould you pay £40 for a computer >Twisted Sisters magazine (cough, The Great Giana Sisters are Retro Gamer issue 1, doing it for themselves again W cough)? Well, this month, with both that’s exactly what eBayer and Commodore 64 and Amiga supreme scanmeister Mort did versions of the infamous Super when he bought up a very rare Mario clone turning up on copy of Commodore User. This eBay. The C64 version ended June 1983 release was actually a the day at a pleasing £46.10, pilot magazine specially put whilst the Amiga conversion, together for the 4th International after a late Italian bid Commodore Show, and so only (Mario?), pulled in a superb available in extremely limited £79.99. Nice one, girls. numbers. The official first issue of CU didn’t hit the news-stands until October. Willy worship Pure filth
One of the most interesting and After covering a few, shall we say, unique offshoots of the Jet Set less than wholesome games on Willy phenomenon were the the NES format in previous various small software houses months, the last place you think (one teenager in a bedroom) who you’d find games of an adult set about producing JSW editors. nature would be on a family- around the red-light district of These nifty bits of code enabled friendly Spectrum. Oh yes, your eBay UK. The games in question you to alter the screens, sprites hot rubberised box of were Fantasy: An Adult Game, and backgrounds to create your wonderment has had its fair Cover Up! and Peep Show. After a own personalised versions of the share of seedy software too. slow, steady start the auction game without any programming With the offer of colour- action culminated in a frenzied experience at all. Being produced clashing cheap thrills just a few bidding climax which ending with in small numbers and sold minutes’ loading time away, the a satisfyingly expensive pay-out Another month and another through the small ads section of bait was just too much to take of £89.90. Amiga CD32 game features in the computer magazines, it’s safe to for one eBayer when a rare set Also available on eBay: one Auction Watch. The Lotus Classic say that these programs didn’t of three games from filthmongers box of Men’s Kingsize Kleenex Trilogy is a suite of Gremlin’s three sell in huge quantities. This is to the Sinclair world, R&H tissues (unused), available for Turbo Esprit racing games. Usually precisely why they are so sought Microtec, was seen loitering just 87p excluding postage… e this title wouldn’t command a after amongst software collectors second glance – in April the same and JSW fans alike. game on eBay France managed to Probably the most well known make a measly £11 for the seller. ‘company’ was Softricks who This time around, though, the price produced two versions of its jump was like a mini earthquake, editor, unsurprisingly named Mk1 causing a substantial £97 and Mk2. A copy of the first shockwave on the eBay scale. With version made an ultra-rare CD32 games seemingly becoming appearance on eBay UK – the more and more sought after, it first in over two years – and might be worth keeping those promptly whipped up eyes peeled at the local car boot considerable interest, pushing the sale for discarded CD32 games. final auction price to £30.
q 91 q RG17 Coverdisc:RG17 Coverdisc 20/9/06 16:10 Page 92 RetroCoverdisc It’s a high-octane bullet-fest of a month on the Retro Gamer coverdisc as we’ve gathered together some of the very best homebrew 2D shooters around for your blasting pleasure. We have speedy vertical shooters aplenty and more side-
scrolling eye scorchers Place the coverdisc into your CD/DVD drive and Some of the games/programs are provided as step it should start automatically. If not, select Run step executable files and these will run or install than your retinas from the Start menu and enter D:\browser.exe straight from the disc. If an setup wizard should be exposed to. (assuming that D: is the letter of your CD/DVD appears, simply follow the onscreen prompts 1 drive). When the browser appears, click OK to 2 and then wait while the files are copied to No matter what your accept the declaration. your hard drive. shoot-em-up preference, be it R-Type, Galaxian, Thunderforce or even Space Invaders, we have something for you. There are even some titles that dare to be different, infusing the classic formula with innovative gameplay. So, scratch that itch on your trigger finger and give them all a blast Many games/programs are stored in zipped If you’re looking for a particular program, click step archives, so you might need an archive step the Search button and enter a keyword. The manager like WinZip, which is under the Utilities browser program will search the disc and browser tab. Extract all the files from the place all the relevant results under the left 3 archive using the Extract feature and place them 4 most browser tab. They can now be accessed in an empty folder, then run the executable file. directly from here.
Coverdisc helpline Problem solving 01625 855051 If you’re having a problem with a particular program on our coverdisc, please view the help file in the program for assistance. You might also consider [email protected] visiting the website of the program author for further help. Otherwise, email (Monday-Friday 10am-4pm) [email protected]. Helpline for coverdisc problems only If you are having problems with the CD, first check that it is not dirty or scratched. CDs can be cleaned by holding them under the cold water tap and DISCLAIMER gently rubbing the silver side with a tissue. Dry it carefully with another tissue. Some of the programs on the Retro Gamer disc interact with your PC on a If the disc still doesn’t work, then it may be faulty. Faulty discs should be fundamental level. We strongly advise you back up your personal data before using returned to Retro Gamer, Live Publishing International Ltd, Europa House, the disc. Due to the way the Retro Gamer disc is compiled, Retro Gamer, Live Publishing International Limited and/or any associated company and/or individual Adlington Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire, UK, SK10 4NP. We will replace all cannot take responsibility for damage to your PC or otherwise arising from use of the coverdisc. You use the programs on the disc at your own risk. genuinely faulty discs.
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REGULAR | COVERDISC
Thunder Slash Cloudphobia
TechnoSoft fans rejoice! This homage to all things Thunderforce delivers some As a flying mech, you’re equipped with a heavy blaster and a number of excellent 2D blasting, and borrows elements from ThunderForce III and IV. Just homing missiles to lock onto those waves of foes with. Warning as in the originals, your ship boasts multiple speeds and a wide range of indicators give you a head-up on incoming craft and you can use your selectable weaponry. Of course, there are also waves of devious enemies and boosters to zip through the level like lightning. But at this speed, staying plenty of massive bosses to tackle. alive isn’t easy…
G-Type Noiz2sa
R-Type and Gradius are two of the most popular retro blasting titles, A strange one. Noiz2sa is a visually striking vertical shooter that incorporates and with good reason. Any fan of these classic shooters should basic move-and shoot play (no power-ups or extras) with artistic and stylised definitely give this fusion of the two giants a go, as it takes the best visuals. Taking place over a number of levels, you guide your ship through elements of both games and mixes them up to create a truly wave after wave of bullet-spewing foes while dodging projectiles and collecting impressive blaster. precious score-boosting pick-ups.
Galax Takatis
This is an inventive vertical scroller that includes all the usual high-speed Don’t be put off by the apparent sluggishness of this side scroller. Make blasting and bullet dodging you’d expect, but also features a clever move it through the first couple of levels and things soon pick up speed, then system. Lock onto enemies, press the correct move sequence, and you’ll unleash before you know it you’re zipping along, dodging asteroids, avoiding a powerful attack. This system can take a little time to master, but there’s a traps and using your power-ups tactically to survive. A slow-burning but training mode included to help you on your way. solid blaster.
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>>>Endgame<<<
After braving the perils of Robotnik’s latest scheme, and traversing the planet the Eggman has taken over, Sonic finally puts an end to the evil genius’ plans
Robotnik may be cracked, but the planet’s shackles start to collapse. Sonic, ever the good guy and ladies’ man, promptly swoops in and saves Amy
Meanwhile, now that Robotinik’s machinery is destroyed, the strange planet breaks its chains and ascends into the clear blue sky
Sonic CD comes to a climactic In a final show of gratitude to the mighty hedgehog, the planet launches a huge fireworks display culminating in the smiling face of our hero! close as the heroic hedgehog puts a stopper in Robotnik’s plans (again) and gets the girl in one fell swoop…
After saving Amy, the world, and even time itself, summer arrives and flowers suddenly spring from the ground. You’re too cool, Sonic. Too cool… q 98 q