THE RETROBATES

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE RARE GAME?

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So here we are. It’s issue 250, which

SUPER POCKET SURPRISE

Blaze walks a fine line with its new handhelds

Up, up and away

Ihave been lucky enough to go to Japan

Elite memories

When I was growing up, you kind of

FPS: First-Person Shooter

Faith Johnson quizzes David L Craddock about his new FPS documentary

THE LATEST NEWS FROM JANUARY 2007

» [PS3] Hey look, it’s a brown-hued shooter.

HERO

HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO

A RARE CELEBRATION

FROM ITS EARLY DAYS AS ULTIMATE TO AMBITIOUS HITS LIKE SEA OF THIEVES – RARE HAS ALWAYS MANAGED TO BLEND CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY WITH GREAT GAMEPLAY. JOIN US THEN AS WE LOOK BACK AT EVERY ERA OF RARE’S HISTORY AND SPEAK TO THE MANY CREATORS, BOTH PAST AND PRESENT, THAT ARE BEHIND ITS MANY MEMORABLE GAMES

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

NOT QUITE SO ULTIMATE AFTER ALL

THE HISTORY OF: Sensible Soccer

THE JOYS OF SENSIBLE SOCCER CAN BE TRACKED ACROSS FOUR DECADES AND MORE THAN 10 RELEASES. RETRO GAMER JOINS JON HARE IN THE COMMENTARY BOX TO TRACE THE EVOLUTION OF THE SERIES, FROM FORERUNNER TO SPIRITUAL SUCCESSOR

» RETROREVIVAL

QUAKING WITH RAGE

ULTIMATE GUIDE GRAN TURISMO

POLYPHONY’S GRAN TURISMO USHERED IN A NEW ERA OF DRIVING GAMES, OFFERING UNPRECEDENTED REALISM AND AN ENORMOUS ROSTER OF CARS TO UNLOCK. IT WENT ON TO SELL WELL OVER TEN MILLION COPIES, MAKING IT ONE OF THE PLAYSTATION’S BIGGEST HITS, AND IT’S BEEN A MARQUEE FRANCHISE ON SONY SYSTEMS EVER SINCE

THE MAKING OF GRAND THEFT AUTO VICE CITY

WITH ITS EIGHTIES SOUNDTRACK, CLASSIC MOBSTER-MOVIE FEEL AND THE SANDY BEACHES AND ART DECO BUILDINGS OF ITS MIAMI-INSPIRED LOCALE, VICE CITY IS A TRUE HALL OF FAMER THAT LIVES IN THE HEART OF PRACTICALLY EVERY GAMER. RETRO GAMER EXPLORES HOW THIS ICONIC ROCKSTAR GAME WENT FROM A RESKIN TO A REVOLUTION

» RETROREVIVAL

“WITH OUR POWERS COMBINED…”

Dead Space

IN SPACE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM… THAT’S NOT RETRO!

ULTIMATE GUIDE JET SET WILLY

YES, HE’S FEATURED MANY TIMES BEFORE IN RETRO GAMER – BUT THERE’S NEVER TOO MANY TIMES FOR THIS ZX SPECTRUM LEGEND, APOCRYPHALLY CALLED ‘JET SET F**KING WILLY’ BY SIR CLIVE SINCLAIR HIMSELF. WELCOME ONCE MORE TO GAMING’S STRANGEST MANSION FOR THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO JET SET WILLY

THE MAKING OF A PIG QUEST

Alain Jansen and Antonia Savona on the origins of the acclaimed C64 game

ANTONIO SAVONA

our latest interviewee discusses his work on A Pig Quest with help from musician Aldo Chiummo

HOT TOPIC

RETROBATES MULL OVER THE SCENE’S MOST INTRIGUING ISSUES

COLLECTOR’S CORNER

READERS TAKE US THROUGH THE RETRO KEYHOLE

MY RETRO LIFE

PERSONAL STORIES ABOUT OUR SHARED PASSION

MAIL BAG

HAVE YOUR SAY… SEND US A LETTER OR MAKE YOURSELF HEARD ON SOCIAL MEDIA – TWITTER.COM/RETROGAMER_MAG

THE MAKING OF THE NEWZEALAND STORY

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A KIWI WHOSE FRIENDS HAD BEEN KIDNAPPED BY A LEOPARD SEAL. ARMED WITH A BOW AND ARROW, THE FLIGHTLESS BIRD TRIED VERY HARD TO FREE HIS PALS BUT WHETHER OR NOT HE SUCCEEDED WOULD DEPEND ON HUMAN HELP AND A FISTFUL OF COINS

Game Boy

» MANUFACTURER: Nintendo » YEAR: 1989 » COST:

THE MAKING OF JURASSIC PARK

WHEN OCEAN GOT THE RIGHTS TO CREATE JURASSIC PARK GAMES ON NINTENDO SYSTEMS, IT MADE IT PARTICULARLY SPECIAL FOR THE SNES. COMBINING TOP-DOWN AND FIRST-PERSON PERSPECTIVES, PLUS A HUGE MAP TO EXPLORE, IT’S FAIR TO SAY OCEAN SPARED NO EXPENSE

LOST IN TRANSLATION

How the rest of the world experienced your favourite games

THE MAKING OF Castle of Shikigami 1 & 2

ALFASYSTEM’S VIBRANT ARCADE SHOOTERS HAVE LONG DELIGHTED GENRE DEVOTEES. BUT THEY ALWAYS DESERVED A WIDER AUDIENCE. WITH A PHYSICAL SWITCH VERSION OF THE SEQUEL JUST AROUND THE CORNER, THOSE INVOLVED WITH THE FIRST TWO GAMES AND THE NEW PORT RECALL THEIR CREATION

Evercade Multi Game Cartridges

>> There’s lots to get through this month,

Antstream Arcade

PICK OF THE MONTH