MAIL BAG

LOADING...

I can still remember the excitement around The

THE STORY OF PRINCE OF PERSIA THE SANDS OF TIME

It was the 2003 reboot of the franchise which began in 1989 and it had gamers leaping for joy – as well as running along walls and rewinding time. Fast forward to today, and it’s about to get another outing thanks to a full official remake

BEYOND THE SANDS OF TIME

PRINCE OF PERSIA HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE

TURNING BACK TIME

Pierre-Sylvain Gires discusses the upcoming Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time Remake

THE EVOLUTION OF Gribbly's Dat Out

Andrew Braybrook’s first and last original games for Graftgold combined platforming with projectiles. Andrew reveals the inspirations for Gribbly’s Day Out and how it influenced a series of platformers, including Fire & Ice

ARCADE HEAVEN

FOR MANY COMPANIES, THE MANTRA FOR SUCCESS IS TO USUALLY GO BIG, BUT NUMSKULL DESIGNS WENT SMALL AND IN DOING SO IT CREATED A RANGE OF CLASSIC ARCADE MACHINES THAT CONTINUE TO GROW IN POPULARITY TODAY 

THE MAKING OF PARAPPA THE RAPPER

Come on now, why don’tcha follow these words? PaRappa The Rapper is here and it could be much worse. Masaya Matsuura and Rodney Greenblat thought they’d have a nice chat. One of them  was chattier, so let’s hear more about that…

HOW MUCH?!

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

INTO THE WONDERFUL

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONTLINE OF RETRO GAMING

Anyone remember these?

Who is Iain Lee? Iain Lee is a

The party’s over

Who is Paul Rose? Paul is probably better

Can I get a replay?

SHOWING OFF COOL RETRO-THEMED STUFF THAT’S GOING ON

THE LATEST NEWS FROM DECEMBER 2003

[PS2] EA’s racer didn’t just dominate Christmas 2003,

COMING FULL CIRCLE

Prince Of Persia’s crowning glory is its influence

RealSports Boxing

WAY TOO BUSY POWER TRIPPIN’

Ballz 3D

AND MAMA BEAR SAID “GIT GUD”

Streets Of Rage 2

SPOILING FOR A GOOD FIGHT

G-Darius

A 3D JUMP WORTH MAKING

Hardware Heaven

Gemini » MANUFACTURER: Coleco » YEAR: 1983 »

LICENCE TO THRILL NOW SHOWING: THE EVIL DEAD

Released in 1981, Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead is the original video nasty, a cult horror hunted down by puritans such as Mary Whitehouse, especially following its home video debut. Almost 40 years later, we take a look back at the videogame the movie inspired. Groovy!

THE MAKING OF GRAND PRIX Simulator 2

The Oliver twins’ sequel to Grand Prix Simulator was their final contribution to the popular Codemasters simulator series. Philip Oliver explains how regrets over their original game inspired its much‐improved sequel

THE HISTORY OF GREEN BERET

WHEN IT COMES TO ONE‐MAN‐ARMY GAMES  FEW CAN OUTDO KONAMI’S GREEN BERET, WHERE  OUR HERO EFFECTIVELY DEFEATS COMMUNISM WITH JUST A KNIFE. WE LOOK  BACK AT THE ORIGINAL ARCADE HIT AND THE  GAMES THAT FOLLOWED IN ITS BLOODY FOOTSTEPS

Psycho Pinball

» PLATFORM: MEGA DRIVE  »  RELEASED: 1994  »  DEVELOPER: CODEMASTERS

THE MYSTERY OF ST BRIDE’S

How did an old house offering a 1920s girls’ boarding school experience become an outlet for some of the most creatively enterprising text adventures of the 8-bit era? Welcome to St Bride’s…

THE MAKING OF PHARAOH

WITH A REMAKE SET FOR NEXT YEAR, WE TAKE A LOOK AT HOW IMPRESSIONS GAMES’ FIRST CITY-BUILDER SET OUTSIDE ROME BECAME ONE OF THE MOST BELOVED OF ALL TIME

PERIPHERAL VISION

Doctor V64 » PLATFORM: NINTENDO 64 » RELEASED:

DIY GAMING THE ROM-HACKING SCENE

Companies hate it, amateur game designers love it, and most of us don’t have half a clue of how to do it. We take a look at the art of console ROM hacking, and how it has transcended its murky beginnings to fulfil gaming desires that can’t be satisfied elsewhere

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO... THRILL KILL 

GAMES THAT NEVER SAW TH E LIGHT OF DAY

THE MAKING OF MOON REMIX RPG ADVENTURE

As Japanese RPGs were breaking into the mainstream in the PlayStation era, one of the genre’s most influential and subversive titles never left Japan, until now. Yoshiro Kimura joins us to discuss the influences and impact of making an unheroic ‘anti-RPG’

FUTURE CLASSIC

Modern games you’ll still be playing in years to come

REG SEVENS

If you grew up with a VIC-20, you may recognise the name RW Stevens from the title screen of many a game. It’s time to meet Reg in person…

Polymega

‘POLY’ MEANS ‘MANY’, AND ‘MEGA’ MEANS ‘MEGABUC KS’

Acorn – A World In Pixels

» Buy it from: idesine.com » Buy it

Super Mario Bros 35

» System: Switch » Buy it from: Online

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

»[PS4] » Thankfully, bosses have automatic checkpoints –

Serious Sam 4

» System: PC (tested), Stadia » Buy it

HOT TOPIC

RETROBATES MULL OVER THE SCENE’S MOST INTRIGUING ISSUES

COLLECTOR’S CORNER

READERS TAKE US THROUGH THE RETRO KEYHOLE

BARGAIN HUNT

Your guide to the rising world of retro prices

MY RETRO LIFE

PERSONAL STORIES ABOUT OUR SHARED PASSION

END GAME

PHANTASY STAR II » You know Phantasy Star,