THE RETROBATES

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE SPECTRUM ARCADE CONVERSION?

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The ZX Spectrum is arguably the most iconic

EVERCADE EXPANDS

We go hands-on with Blaze’s upcoming releases

IN MEMORIAM: BRETT JONES

Videogame artist Brett Jones, who worked on GoldenEye

Not my cup of tea

FEATURING IAIN LEE Who is Iain Lee? Iain

Back to the Eighties

FEATURING DIGITISER’S MR BIFFO Who is Paul Rose?

Sunsoft

Yuichi Ochi on the return of Ufouria and more Sunsoft IP

THE LATEST NEWS FROM FEBRUARY 2008

FEBRUARY 2008 – When all your heroes are

Donkey Kong

ABRIDGED TOO FAR?

THE SPECTRUM

IT’S ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC HOME COMPUTERS EVER MADE, AND IT’S BACK IN PLUG-AND-PLAY FORM. WE SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE BEHIND IT TO FIND OUT WHY IT’S TAKEN SO LONG, AND GET A CHANCE TO GIVE OUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS AHEAD OF LAUNCH

ROADTO RUBBER

OTHER COMPANIES’ ATTEMPTS AT HONOURING THE ZX SPECTRUM’S HARDWARE LEGACY

HAND ON WITH THE SPECTRUM

WHAT KIND OF FIRST IMPRESSION DOES THIS NEW MACHINE MAKE?

Zaxxon

SUPER-CHARGED SCRAMBLE

PARKER BROS

BY USING ITS CONTACTS IN THE ENTERTAINMENT SECTOR AND FORMIDABLE MARKETING CLOUT, PARKER BROTHERS BROUGHT TITLES LIKE STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, SPIDER-MAN AND FROGGER TO THE ATARI 2600 AND ITS RIVALS. RETRO GAMER HIGHLIGHTS THE FIRM’S BEST RELEASES

Factory Panic

PERESTROIKA, PLAYED DOWN

Warpath: Jurassic Park

GUILTY PLEASURES

THE HISTORY OF EVERQUEST

WITH THE ORIGINAL EVERQUEST HAVING RECENTLY HIT ITS 25TH BIRTHDAY, WE LOOK BACK AT THE GAME THAT POPULARISED THE MMORPG AND SET THE TEMPLATE FOR THE GENRE THAT HASN’T VEERED MUCH FROM EVERQUEST’S DESIGN ALL THESE YEARS LATER

Demolition Racer: No Exit

A RACING WRECKTACLE

CLASSIC MOMENTS

Mr Do! » PLATFORM: ARCADE » RELEASED: 1982

THE MAKING OF Trivial Pursuit

IN 1986, A SMALL SOFTWARE HOUSE ON THE VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY LICENSED THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BOARD GAME FOR HOME COMPUTERS. IT CHANGED DOMARK – AND THE UK GAMES INDUSTRY – FOREVER

QUESTION:WHICH FAMOUS 16-BIT DEVELOPER-TO-BE FIRST FREELANCED ON TRIVIAL PURSUIT?

ANSWER: JON HARE. DID YOU GET IT RIGHT?

Hardware Heaven

ESSENTIAL GAME Night Stalker The Aquarius wasn’t a

TARGET RENEGADE

THE CITY STREETS ARE NEVER SAFE FOR LONG, ESPECIALLY IN THE DELIGHTFUL-SOUNDING SCUMVILLE, WHERE IT’S KILL OR BE KILLED. JOIN US AS WE REVEAL HOW WITH TARGET: RENEGADE, OCEAN SOFTWARE RETOLD THE STORY OF A VENGEFUL VIGILANTE AND CREATED ONE OF THE BEST EVER 8-BIT BRAWLERS

THE MAKING OF Ambermoon

WITH A VAST WORLD TO EXPLORE AND MYRIAD WAYS TO APPROACH YOUR ADVENTURE, AMBERMOON TOOK FANTASY ROLE-PLAYING TO ANOTHER LEVEL ON THE AMIGA. WE CAUGHT UP WITH KEY FIGURES BEHIND THE GAME TO LEARN ABOUT THE CREATIVE AND TECHNICAL WIZARDRY THAT SHAPED AN RPG CLASSIC

THE MAKING OF MICKEY MANIA

THERE WERE SEVERAL GAMES ON THE MEGA DRIVE FEATURING THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS MOUSE, SOME VERY GOOD (CASTLE OF ILLUSION), SOME VERY BAD (FANTASIA). AND THEN THERE WAS MICKEY MANIA, AN IMPRESSIVE TECHNICAL SHOWCASE FROM TRAVELLER’S TALES

Game Genie

» PLATFORM: NES » YEAR: 1990 » COST: £40 (launch), £20+ (today, boxed), £12+ (today, unboxed)

ULTIMATE GUIDE SNATCHER

AS HIDEO KOJIMA HAS BECOME A RARE CELEBRITY IN THE GAMING WORLD, SO HIS OLDER WORKS ARE INCREASINGLY REVISITED. BUT HIS 1988 CYBERPUNK ADVENTURE SNATCHER IS ALMOST UNPLAYABLE TODAY, LEGALLY, AND ONLY RECEIVED ONE ENGLISH PORT – WHICH HAS ONLY INCREASED ITS CULT APPEAL, AND COST

DS ACRONYMS

When the SNES came out, many games were released with the prefix Super. A similar stunt was pulled on the DS with many developers finding a way to shoehorn the acronym DS into the titles of their games. Check these examples out

DOUG MACRAE

He put a bow in Pac-Man’s hair and made nuclear war even more deadly. Doug Macrae, founder of General Computer Corporation, concludes that being a college dropout has its perks

Super Woden GP II

AN EPIC OLD-SCHOOL RACER

Retro Revengers

» System: PS4 (version tested), PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC » Buy it for: £7.99 » Buy it from: Online

THE HOMEBREWER'S KIT

ACROSS THE SPECTRUM

The team reminisces about a cultural icon

X MARKS THE SPOT

Our latest collector has a thing for Xbox games and RPGs

VIRTUA VIRTUOSO

Nick shares his love for Sega’s top 3D fighting series

MAL BAG

HAVE YOUR SAY… SEND US A LETTER OR

Rock Band Unplugged

WHO NEEDS PLASTIC PERIPHERALS?

ENDGAME

SHADOW DANCER » The funny thing about Shinobi’s