THE RETROBATES

WHAT GAME DEFINED THE NINETIES FOR YOU? I

LOADING...

W ell this is rather lovely. It’s

TWO RARE DISCOVERIES

Rare’s GoldeneEye remaster and Dinosaur Planet appear online

20 GOTO 10

Igive up. Ever since I started writing for

A force for good

D id… did videogames sort of save

A MOMENTWALLWITH...

Restoring  the past

BACK TO THE NOUGHTIES

THE LATEST NEWS  FROM MAY 2004

Double Dragon II: The Revenge

SECOND CHANCE SUCCESS

MAGNIFICENT MAGAZINES!

THE NINETIES SAW A DELUGE OF NEW GAMING MAGAZINES COVERING EVERY FORMAT –  AND A BRAND OF ANARCHIC JOURNALISM WE WON’T SEE THE LIKES OF AGAIN

THE REVOLUTION IS TELEVISED!

THE NINETIES SAW A GOLDEN AGE OF GAMING TV, AS VIDEOGAMES FOUGHT THEIR WAY INTO THE TV SCHEDULES. YET FEW SUCH SHOWS WOULD REMAIN BY THE DECADE’S END

The New Zealand Story

AND YOU THOUGHT BUBBLE BOBBLE WAS CUTE…

BMX simulaton

THE DARLING BROTHERS WERE ARGUABLY RIDING THEIR LUCK WHEN THEY SOUGHT TO REPLICATE THE THRILL OF BMX RACING ON HOME COMPUTERS BUT IT BECAME A HUGE HIT AND HERALDED THE START OF CODEMASTERS’ LONG AND SUCCESSFUL JOURNEY 

Contra Spirits

» RETROREVIVAL

Final Fantasy VII

NEVER SAY NEVER

Back To The 90’s

FEW ERAS OF GAMING EXCITED LIKE THE NINETIES DID. THE DECADE SPANNED SEVERAL GENERATIONS OF HARDWARE, INTRODUCED A COLOURFUL RANGE OF CHARACTERS AND SAW GAMES GO TRULY MAINSTREAM. JOIN US THEN, AS WE COVER TEN YEARS OF GAMING EXCELLENCE

FROM BEDROOMS TO FRONT ROOMS!

OVER THE COURSE OF THE NINETIES, THE RISE OF THE CONSOLES MADE VIDEOGAMES INTO A BIGGER PHENOMENON THAN THEY’D EVER BEEN BEFORE, WITH PLAYGROUND RIVALRIES GIVING WAY TO UNPRECEDENTED MAINSTREAM CREDIBILITY

SPECTACULAR SUPERSTARS!

AT ONE TIME IT SEEMED THAT EVERYTHING NEEDED A MASCOT, AND PREFERABLY ONE BASED ON A REASONABLY OBSCURE MAMMAL. BUT AS WELL AS EMBRACING THAT TREND, THE NINETIES REDEFINED WHAT A VIDEOGAME MASCOT COULD BE

MASCOT MANIAC

DALEY EVE JOHNSON LOOKS BACK AT THE MASCOTS THAT INSPIRED HER TO BECOME A GAME DESIGNER AT YOOKA-LAYLEE DEVELOPER PLAYTONIC GAMES

Peripheral Vision

Sun Visor/  Screen Guard

THE EVOLUTION OF PITFALL!

As well as inspiring its developer David Crane to make a sequel, the phenomenally successful Pitfall! also influenced his subsequent platform games. David explains how they evolved and distinguished themselves from his classic Atari 2600 adventure

Desert Island Disks Darran Jones

What cherished games would  you take to the island?

Darran’s Desert Island Disks

The games that Darran simply couldn’t live without

THE MAKING OF STARLORD

DISCOVER THE ORIGINS OF STARLORD, MIKE SINGLETON’S EPIC STRATEGY GAME THAT WAS OVER TEN YEARS IN THE MAKING. STARTING AS A PLAY-BY- MAIL (PBM) WARGAME, THEN REINVENTED ON THE DIAL-UP MICRONET SERVICE, BEFORE FINALLY BECOMING A COMPUTER GAME PUBLISHED BY MICROPROSE

THE UNCONVERTER

Arcade games that never made it home 

PREMIER SOCCER

DEVELOPER: KONAMI YEAR: 1993 GENRE: SPORTS ■ Konami’s

BEST LEFT IN THE ARCADE

NAME THAT TUNE DEVELOPER: BALLY SENTE YEAR: 1986

CONVERTEDALTERNATIVE

BUST-A-MOVE 3DX 1997 ■ As we noted, Bust-A-Move

BUCK ROGERS

COUNTDOWN TO DOOMSDAY

Future Classic

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

GHOSTS'N GOBLINS

Resurrection

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike

» RETROREVIVAL

HANDHELD HEAVEN!

TAKING YOUR FAVOURITE GAMES OUT ON THE ROAD WAS A BIG PART OF PLAYING IN THE NINETIES, AS THE MAJOR MANUFACTURERS TOOK TO MAKING HANDHELD CONSOLES. IT DIDN’T ALWAYS GO WELL FOR THEM, BUT THEIR EFFORTS LEFT AN UNFORGETTABLE LEGACY FOR GAMERS

CALLING CARDS

THE SIGNATURE GAMES THAT WERE EMBLEMATIC OF THE DECADE’S BEST HANDHELDS

RETRO FUTURISM

ELLIOT COLL MODS AND REPAIRS NINETIES HANDHELDS ON THE RETRO FUTURE YOUTUBE CHANNEL, AND HERE HE EXPLAINS WHY HE’S SO FASCINATED WITH THEM

RISE OF THE PC!

INNOVATIVE GAMES, BLEEDING EDGE TECHNOLOGY AND NEW WAYS TO PLAY WITH OR AGAINST OTHER PLAYERS DEFINED WHAT IT MEANT TO BE A PC GAMER IN THE NINETIES, BUT WHAT WAS IT THAT MADE PERSONAL COMPUTERS – AND OF COURSE WINDOWS – THE LEADING PLATFORM?

PUSHING THE BOUNDARISE

THE BIG-NAME 3D CARDS THAT POWERED THE NINETIES ON PC

I GOT 95 PROBLEMS, BUT WINDOWS AIN'T ONE

HOW MICROSOFT’S WINDOWS 95 CHANGED THE FACE OF PC GAMING

THE MAKING OF CLOCK TOWER

A JAPANESE CLASSIC STEEPED IN ALL THE EXCESS OF CULT ITALIAN HORROR, CLOCK TOWER HAS SPAWNED MULTIPLE SEQUELS, SUCCESSORS AND AN EERIE SURVIVAL HORROR LEGACY. CREATOR HIFUMI KONO TALKS US THROUGH ITS DEVELOPMENT AND THE CRAFTING OF ITS UNFORGETTABLE TERRORS

TOWERING VERSIONS

THE MANY FACES OF HIFUMI KONO’S CLASSIC

A LOOMING LEGACY

A HOST OF SEQUELS AND SUCCESSORS – FOR BETTER OR WORSE

THE CLOCK TOWER CAST

MEET THE CURSED INHABITANTS OF THE CLOCK TOWER MANSION

MEGA DRIVE RPGs

Although often overshadowed by the Super Nintendo’s legendary RPG catalogue, Sega’s Mega Drive still has plenty to offer (more so if you can understand Japanese). The following 20 gems are worthy of both your time and your collection

SUPER SPELL-CIAL SURGING AURA

DEVELOPER: JAPAN MEDIA PROGRAMMING RELEASE: 1995 EX

COLLECTING TIPS!

Mod your Mega Drive ■ Some careful soldering

A THOR WALLET THE STORY OF THOR: A SUCCESSOR OF THE LIGHT

DEVELOPER: ANCIENT RELEASE: 1994 EXPECT TO PAY £50+ EUROPE

TRIPLE TROUBLE MADOU MONOGATARI

EXPECT TO PAY £120+ JAPAN DEVELOPER: COMPILE RELEASE:

MORE GAMES TO CONSIDER

A BRIGHT LIGHT SHINING IN THE DARKNESS

DEVELOPER: CLIMAX ENTERTAINMENT RELEASE: 1991 EX PECT TO

NOT THAT SONIC SHINING FORCE II

» [Mega Drive] Shining Force II’s animated battle

MECHTACULAR VIXEN 357

DEVELOPER: NCS CORP RELEASE: 1992 ■ ‘Langrisser with

ULTIMATE GUIDE  FIGHTERS MEGAMiX

NOT CONTENT WITH MAKING TWO OF THE BEST 3D FIGHTERS OF THE MID-NINETIES, AM2  SMASHED THEM TOGETHER AND SPRINKLED IN OTHER GAMES TO CREATE A CROSSOVER CLASSIC FOR SATURN FANS EVERYWHERE. WE EXPLAIN WHY IT’S STILL WORTH JOINING THE FIGHT

WHO’S WHO

HERE ARE THE 22 STANDARD CHARACTERS, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT HAVE YET TO MEET THEM

CONVERSiON CAPERS

SEGA’S CROSSOVER SPECTACULAR ALSO MADE ITS WAY TO TIGER’S GAME.COM HANDHELD, AND IT’S EXACTLY AS BAD AS YOU FEARED

GUESTS OF HONOUR

WHO ARE THE TEN UNLOCKABLE FIGHTERS, AND WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?

Q&A: SEGA LORD X

THE POPULAR SEGA YOUTUBER EXPLAINS WHY HE LOVES THIS CROSSOVER CLASSIC

THE HISTORY OF TIME SPLITTERS

Humour, fast -action gunplay and plenty of unlikely time-travelling antics. We look back (or forward?) at the cult FPS from the team that once reinvented the genre on console

Capcom Arcade Stadium

CLASSIC GAMES GET GIVEN A NEW LEASE OF LIFE

PICK OF THE MONTH

Cyber Shadow

KEEPING COLLECTIONS

The team discuss collecting games

THE RETRO RESTORATIVE

Elin Eriksson discusses her love for RPGs

DOUBLE THE FUN

Darran champions Nintendo’s best-selling handheld

MAIL BAG

HAVE YOUR SAY… SEND US A LETTER OR MAKE YOURSELF HEARD ON THE ONLINE FORUM – WWW.RETROGAMER.NET

Your say

Every month, Retro Gamer asks a question on social media and prints the best replies. This month we wanted to know…

ENDGAME

POWER STONE: ROUGE’S ENDING