LOADING

We all have moments when we feel old

SMELLS GOOD

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

Among all of us

Who is Iain Lee? Iain Lee is a

Tribes within tribes

Who is Paul Rose? Paul is probably better

Tim Lapetino

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

THE LATEST NEWS FROM DECEMBER 2004

DECEMBER 2004 – Nobody is taking any chances

THIS MONTH IN…

Official Xbox Mag Darren Forman, winner of the

CHARTS DECEMBER 2004

PLAYSTATION 2 1 – Grand Theft Auto: San

ULTIMATE GUIDE SUPER MONKEY BALL

AS SUPER MONKEY BALL CELEBRATES ITS 2OTH ANNIVERSARY, WE TURN THE CLOCK BACK TO 2OO1 WHEN AIAI AND HIS PALS SPUN ONTO THE GAMECUBE AND CAPTURED GAMERS’ HEARTS WITH THEIR PUZZLING PLATFORMS AND PARTY GAMES. LET’S ROLL!

MINIGAME MAYHEM

THE BEST MINIGAMES FROM ACROSS THE SERIES

■ PLAIN OL’ BALL MONKEY BALL BALL

A LOOK AT THE GAME’S ARCADE ORIGINS

MINIATURE MONKEYS

A LOOK AT THE HANDHELD VERSIONS OF SUPER MONKEY BALL

IT’S A BIT TRICKY!

THE SUPER MONKEY BALL FLOORS THAT WILL MAKE YOU BAWL

THE MINI MAKING OF: SUPER MONKEY BALL ADVENTURE

CREATIVE DIRECTOR PAUL GARDNER REVEALS THE STORY BEHIND THE BLACK SHEEP OF THE SERIES

SIMIAN SEQUELS

WHERE THE MONKEYS ROLLED TO NEXT

SUPER MONKEY BALL BANANA MANIA

HOW DO YOU UPDATE A CLASSIC LIKE SUPER MONKEY BALL? ONE MAN WHO KNOWS IS MASAO SHIROSAKI, PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF BANANA MANIA . HERE HE TELLS US HOW HE AP PROACHED THE NEW REMAKE

MORE THAN MONKEYS

WHICH CHARACTERS ARE GUEST STARRING IN THE NEW GAME?

Nitro Ball

ALL HAIL THE PINBALL WARRIORS

CHUCKIE EGG

CHUCKIE EGG IS ONE OF 8-BIT COMPUTING’S MOST RENOWNED PLATFORM GAMES, ESPECIALLY ON THE ZX SPECTRUM AND BBC MICRO. JOIN RETRO GAMER AS WE CELEBRATE THIS EGG-SHELL-ENT GAME FROM THE SCRAMBLED MIND OF TEENAGE CODER NIGEL ALDERTON. [THAT’S ENOUGH EGG PUNS, THANKS – ED]

DEVELOPER INTERVIEW

RETRO GAMER TALKS TO THE MAN BEHIND BOTH THE COMMODORE 64 AND ATARI 800 CONVERSIONS OF CHUCKIE EGG, SEAN TOWNSEND

LOST IN TRANSLATION

How the rest of the world experienced your favourite games

THE EVOLUTION OF NODES OF YESOD

Odin’s launch title Nodes Of Yesod put the firm on the map, and it influenced its subsequent arcade adventures Robin Of The Wood, Arc Of Yesod and Heartland. Odin co-designer Stuart Fotheringham looks back at the series’ evolution

EXPANSION MODULE #2

Peripheral Vision Expansion Module #2 fact ■ Unlike

BOOBY KIDS

INTERESTING GAMES YOU'VE NEVER PLAYED

CRISIS FORCE

■ Japanese Famicom owners didn’t have the famous

MORE GAMES TO PLAY

» JONGBOU ■ DEV: MICRONICS/SNK ■ YEAR: 1987

COSMIC EPSILON

■ The success of Space Harrier in

Metal Slug 3

How this classic run-and-gun showed that decade-old technology could still handle hardcore action

THE MAKING OF theme PARK

AT A TIME WHEN BULLFROG WAS ALREADY MAKING A NAME FOR ITSELF AS ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE DEVELOPERS IN THE INDUSTRY, THEME PARK CAME AROUND TO PROVE THAT SIMULATIONS COULD BE MORE REALISTIC, MORE HUMAN AND MORE FUN. WE SPEAK TO DEMIS HASSABIS ABOUT LITTLE PEOPLE, SALTY CHIPS AND BUILDING AN AMUSEMENT PARK SIMULATION

EXPANDING THEME PARK

GOING RIDE FOR ON MODERN ANOTHER HARDWARE…

CONVERSION CAPERS

PORTING A PARK…

Nomad

» MANUFACTURER: Sega » YEAR: 1995 » COST:

MEGA-CD GAMES

The Mega Drive’s CD-ROM add-on may not have been a huge success but in its short life it still enjoyed a small selection of excellent exclusives and enhanced ports that make it highly collectible with Sega fans today

Mortal Kombat II

“YOU WANT A FAIR FIGHT? DREAM ON”

THE MAKING OF MAUI MALLARD

DISNEY INTERACTIVE’S DEBUT PROJECT, MAUI MALLARD WAS CREATED BY A US STUDIO, BUT THE ORIGINAL GAME NEVER RECEIVED A RELEASE THERE. EVEN NOW, THE FATE OF THIS GAME REMAINS HIDDEN BY A THICK AND COLD SHADOW. IT’S TIME TO FIND OUT HOW DONALD CHANGED A SAILOR SHIRT FOR A NINJA SUIT

Power Diggerz

» PLATFORM: PLAYSTATION » RELEASED: 2000 » DEVELOPER:

FROM THE STRICTLY LIMITED

Physical production of games has become a choice rather than a necessity on modern consoles and Strictly Limited Games is one of the companies offering those hard copies, but it also has goals in the retro realm and they’re already being achieved

Super Smash Bros

NOT THE HELPING HAND I NEEDED

BLUFFER’S GUIDE TO RHYTHM ACTION GAMES

BEAT BY BEAT, WE GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE HISTORY OF A GENRE THAT MAKES YOU FEEL THE FLOW OF MUSIC LIKE NO OTHER

CARVE SNOWBOARDING

Over two decades after creating the N64 classic 1080º Snowboarding, Giles Goddard has returned with Chuhai Labs to take on the extreme sports genre once again – and with VR technology employed this time, you’ll really feel the rush

Yakuza

GAMES GREW UP IN THE NOUGHTIES IN FAVOUR OF GUNS, GANGSTERS AND GORE. SEGA WOULD FOLLOW THIS TREND, EXCEPT SQUARELY AIMED AT A JAPANESE AUDIENCE. JOIN US ON THE STREETS OF KAMUROCHO TO REVISIT THE BIRTH OF A YAKUZA LEGEND

Street Fighter Alpha 3

IT’S IK+ ON STEROIDS » DREAMCAST » 1999

Intrepid Izzy

BOLDLY EXPLORING UNCHARTED DREAMCAST TERRITORY

RETRO ROUNDUP

WE LOOK AT THE LATEST RETRO-RELATED RELEASES

PLUG IN THE MULTITAP

What are the team’s favourite multiplayer games?

BUSMAN’S HOLIDAY

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

MAILBAG

HAVE YOUR SAY… SEND US A LETTER OR

END GAME

HOT CHASE » For centuries, scholars have wondered