retro GAMER

Future PLC Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, Somerset,

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T his month marks something of a departure

A TRULY HYPER SEQUEL

Jonathan Port on his follow-up game that crosses Uridium with Paradroid

HEART EXPOSED

Fans of Jeff Minter will be pleased to

ZZAP! LIVE LEVELS UP

The annual Zzap! Live was so popular this

The American crash diet

I t was 1983 and the country was

A PLAN FOR MORE TOAPLAN

TWO MORE TOAPLAN COLLECTIONS ARE ON THE WAY

EASTERN DELIGHTS

BLAZE ANNOUNCES A HUGE NUMBER OF NEW JAPANESE CARTRIDGES

PATAPON REIMAGINED

After a hugely successful Kickstarter in 2023, where

EMEL AKIAH PASSES

Shaun McClure recently notified us that his friend

Do you like Worms?

I haven’t been on the telly for about

21 years later

G etting older, time feels increasingly erratic.

Andrew Braybrook

The creator of Paradroid and Uridium tells Rory Milne about his new games

THE LATEST NEWS FROM JANUARY 2009

JANUARY 2009 – Valve wants to kill you,

Tutankham

ANCIENT ARCADE TREASURE

Ghostbusters

JUST DRIVE

Konami Antiques MSX Collection Ultra Pack

SAVING A SMALL FORTUNE

Power Stone

MORE POWER, MORE POSSIBILITIES

The Orange Box

TWISTING THE RULES

TERMINATOR NO FATE 2D

TARGET: TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. MISSION PARAMETERS: CREATE THE VIDEOGAME TIE-IN THIS DEFINING ACTION MOVIE TRULY DESERVES, IN AUTHENTIC NINETIES FASHION. DEVELOPER: BITMAP BUREAU. WE SPEAK TO THE TEAM TO FIND OUT HOW THEY HAVE TACKLED A MISSION WORTHY OF A TERMINATOR\

YOUR SINCLAIR #64

The best way to spend your pocket money

THE MAKING OF ROUARDED Pinball

IT PROMISED BUMPER-TO-BUMPER ACTION AND ALL THE THRILLS OF A REAL-LIFE TABLE BUT ADVANCED PINBALL SIMULATOR DIDN’T EXACTLY TILT IN THAT DIRECTION. EVEN SO, IF YOU GO WITH THE FLOW, THIS GAME BY THE OLIVER TWINS IS STILL WORTH A SHOT. LET’S DISCOVER HOW IT WAS DEVELOPED

NICK ROBERTS

A true unsung legend of the publishing industry, Nick Roberts started out poking around on Crash before launching, editing and even designing some of the UK’s most iconic gaming mags. Given his clear plate-spinning talents, perhaps it’s somewhat ironic then that the first videogame he ever played was Wacky Waiters!

Thunder Force IV

BIO Technosoft’s sequel was the third and

SPLATTERHOUSE

IN A GAME FILLED WITH HORROR CLICHÉS, THIS ONE NATURALLY BEGINS ON A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT, WHEN A COUPLE OF KIDS ENTER AN ABANDONED MANSION. JOIN US AS WE TOO STEP INSIDE THE SPLATTERHOUSE – AND IF YOU’RE FEELING FAINT, JUST KEEP REPEATING, “IT’S ONLY A VIDEOGAME… ONLY A VIDEOGAME…”

DEMONWARE

ACTION & EURODANCE: LOOKING BACK AT

GAMES TO DISCOVER

EVIL-GARDEN AMIGA, 1988 ■ The first

WHERE ARE THEY NOW

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

MORTAL KOMBAT

THE CHEATS, GLITCHES AND HIDDEN BITS OF THE CLASSICS

JUNGLE STRIKR

THE SEQUEL TO DESERT STRIKE

Suikoden

A VANGUARD FOR THE FIRST ERA OF 32-BIT RPGS, YOSHITAKA MURAYAMA AND JUNKO KAWANO’S SUIKODEN PROVED THE STRONG FOUNDATION ESTABLISHED BY POPULAR 16-BIT CONSOLE RPGS AND BOLSTERED IT WITH NEW METHODS OF COMBAT, A STRIKING POLITICALLY DRIVEN NARRATIVE, AND AN ARMY’S WORTH OF RECRUITABLE CHARACTERS

Fierce Fighting

UNLIKE MANY RPGS AT THE TIME, SUIKODEN HAD THREE MODES OF COMBAT

Meet the Cast

KEY MOVERS AND SHAKERS IN SUIKODEN’S EPIC CAST

SUIKODEN, REMASTERED

KONAMI'S GAME RETURNED WITH A FRESH COAT OF PAINT IN 2025

SWEET SUIKODEN SEQUELS:

SUIKODEN LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR AN EXPANSIVE SERIES

Music Memories

Behind the scenes of your favourite soundtracks

RARE’S STOP ‘N’ SWOP FEATURE

The ambitious, scrapped multi-game save system for the N64

THE MAKING OF Katamari Damacy

KEITA TAKAHASHI TALKS US THROUGH HIS JOURNEY FROM ART-SCHOOL ODDBALL TO WORLDWIDE ACCLAIM AS THE CREATOR OF THE PS2 CLASSIC KATAMARI DAMACY. ALONG THE WAY WE DISCUSS GOAT-SHAPED FLOWERPOTS, DESIGNING PLAYGROUNDS, HIS ENDLESS WISH TO MAKE PEOPLE SMILE AND HIS NEW GAME, TO A T

TAKAHASHI HIGHLIGHTS

“THIS IS WHAT I WANT. TO MAKE PEOPLE SMILE”

IT’S ALL KATAMARI-ESQUE

SIMILAR GAMES TO TAKAHASHI’S ROLL-’EM-UP

TAKAHASHI’S LATEST

KEITA TELLS A MORE INTIMATE TALE ■ In

SwanCrystal

Hardware Heaven

THE MAKING OF: OSU! TATAKE! OUENDAN

OUENDAN WAS ONE OF THE EARLY IMPORT CULT HITS THAT SHOWCASED THE NINTENDO DS’ TECH WITH ITS OWN DUAL FUNCTION OF RHYTHM GAMEPLAY AND STORYTELLING WITH HOT-BLOODED EMOTIONS. WE SPEAK WITH FORMER TEAM MEMBERS OF INIS ON HOW THEY MADE THIS UNIQUE MANGA-INSPIRED CHEERLEADING GAME

MUSIC MAESTROS

MORE MUSIC GAMES FROM INIS

Mario Kart World

DOES NINTENDO’S LAUNCH GAME OFFER YOU THE WORLD?

Arcade Archives 2: Ridge Racer

DOES THE KING OF DRIFT STILL HAVE IT?

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

» System: Nintendo Switch 2 » Buy it for: £7.99 (upgrade for Switch), £66.99 (physical Switch 2)

THE HOMEBREWER'S KIT

< Your monthly guide to everything happening in the homebrew scene />

MATTHEW BEGG

Matthew returned to Spectrum BASIC, 40 years after writing programs with his cousin Richard

DIRTY CHEATS

If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying

A MEGA JAPANESE COLLECTION

From small acorns mighty collections grow

BUDGET BRILLIANCE

How PC gaming is turning Darran to digital releases

MAIL BAG

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

ENDGAME

PUYO PUYO 2 In a land where the