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T he Total War series first

A SNESATIONAL PORT

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

SYSTEM 3 ENHANCED

The new website for System 3 is now

A MINI VECTREX?

One of gaming’s coolest consoles is due to

Green Yamo and me

US GOLD FEATURING MIKE MIKA

EVERCADE EXCESS

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONTLINE OF RETRO GAMING

BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL!

HE-MAN AND FRIENDS IN BEAT-’EM-UP REVIVAL

LASERACTIVE REACTIVATED

You’ve heard of Mega-CD, but how about Mega-LD?

BLUE BOMBER GOES BLU

Discotek Media has announced a Blu-Ray release of

Simple games for simple people

FEATURING IAIN LEE

Shooting sacred cows

FEATURING DIGITISER’S MR BIFFO

Kevin Toms

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

THE LATEST NEWS FROM APRIL 2009

» [Xbox 360] Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar

TOTAL WAR

THE FIRST TOTAL WAR GAME WAS THE BREAKOUT HIT THAT CREATIVE ASSEMBLY NEEDED TO FREE ITSELF FROM ITS WORK-FOR-HIRE SITUATIONSHIP WITH ELECTRONIC ARTS. SINCE THEN THE SERIES HAS GONE FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH, COVERING EVERYTHING FROM THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE NAPOLEONIC WARS TO SKAVEN AND UNDEAD LORDS

WORLD SERIES BASEBALL

THE MAKING OF

SWINGING FOR GLORY

IMAGINE’S GAME DID ACTUALLY MAKE IT ACROSS THE POND

SYSTEMS

WITH OVER FOUR DECADES IN THE INDUSTRY ELITE HAS MADE AN IMPRESSIVE NUMBER OF GAMES. HERE’S THE HITS AND MISSES THAT SHAPED THE CLASSIC PUBLISHER

MUCH SCOOBY-DOO ABOUT NOTHING

RICHARD WILCOX ON THE MISSING SCOOBY-DOO GAME

GOING BATTY

JASON BENHAM ON HIS POPULAR ARKANOID CLONE

THE MAKING OF THE CHAOS ENGINE 2

ALTHOUGH ITS SALES WERE DECIMATED BY THE DISCONTINUATION OF THE AMIGA, THE CHAOS ENGINE 2 SERVED AS A WORTHY SWAN SONG FOR THE 16-BIT SYSTEM. THE BITMAP BROTHERS FOUNDER MIKE MONTGOMERY RECALLS HOW THE STUDIO CREATED ITS INVENTIVE SEQUEL

ST FORMAT #30

The best way to spend your pocket money

JUSTIN LEEPER

American gaming publications don’t get any bigger than Game Informer, and Justin Leeper was there at the turn of the millennium as its online ambitions grew and print circulation soared. Together, we look back at his career in games media, and how it led to a development career that has seen him work with wrestling stars, Hideo Kojima and even Transformers

ALESTE

VISITING A JAPANESE GAME CENTER IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA. NOT ONLY FOR THE CLASSICS, BUT ALSO FOR MODERN RELEASES LIKE M2‘S SENXIN ALESTE – A GAME THAT FEELS LIKE A WONDERFUL HYBRID OF CLASSIC ALESTE AND CAVE-STYLE BULLET HELL SHOOTING!

MORTAL & KOMBAT

ULTIMATE GUIDE

Game Boy Pocket »

MANUFACTURER: Nintendo » YEAR: 1996 » COST: £49.99

THE HISTORY OF HERETIC HEXEN

AS THE DUST SETTLED ON MARS, ID TURNED ITS ATTENTION TO A NEW MAGNIFICENT ENGINE. MEANWHILE, CAPITALISING ON THE SUCCESS OF DOOM WAS PARAMOUNT – OVER TO DUNGEONS & DRAGONS FANS, RAVEN SOFTWARE

AN EPIC TALE

RETRO GAMER’S GUIDED TOUR OF THE WORLDS OF HERETIC AND HEXEN

THE HERETIC AND HEXEN BESTIARY

RETRO GAMER’S FAVOURITE SEVEN BEASTIES FROM HERETIC AND HEXEN

HERETIC AND HEXEN RISE – AGAIN

NIGHTDIVE’S STEPHEN KICK ON ITS HERETIC AND HEXEN REMASTERS.

THE REFRIGERATOR STORY

“YOU GUYS DON’T HAVE A FRIDGE?”

THE MAKING OF STAR WARS EPISODE 1 THE PHANTOM MENACE

THE FIRST PREQUEL FILM REMAINS A MIXED BAG: THERE’S THE POD RACE AND DUEL OF THE FATES, BUT IT ALSO INTRODUCES JAR JAR BINKS. SO HOW DOES THE OFFICIAL GAME FOR THE FILM COMPARE?

MAY THESE FOUR BE WITH YOU

THE HEROES YOU PLAY IN THE GAME

THE FANDOM MENACE

MORE GAMES SET DURING EPISODE 1

MSTR METROPOLIS STREET RACER

Behind the scenes of your favourite soundtracks

BEYOND THE MUSIC

How Metropolis Street Racer upped its realism by adding radio ads

THE MAKING OF BULLY

ORIGINALLY RELEASED AS CANIS CANEM EDIT, BULLY TELLS A STORY OF AUTHORITY, ORDER AND DEFIANCE. BEHIND THE SCENES, SIMILAR TENSIONS WERE PLAYING OUT BETWEEN THE INTENSELY DEMANDING ROCKSTAR GAMES HEADQUARTERS IN NEW YORK AND THEIR OVERWORKED DEVELOPMENT TEAM IN VANCOUVER, WHO WERE PUSHED TO BREAKING POINT

COMPOSING A CLASSIC

HOW SHAWN LEE CREATED BULLY’S HAUNTINGLY INFECTIOUS THEME MUSIC

WELCOME TO BULLWORTH

MEET JIMMY, HIS KEY ALLIES AND ENEMIES

POINTS AND PRIZES

BULLY’S ASSORTED MINIGAMES ADD DEPTH AND A FUN CHANGE OF PACE

Power Drift

A TRULY IMPOSSIBLE PORT

Virtual Boy Wario Land

CAVE STORY

Stonekeep

FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT

Space Invaders Extreme

MAKING SPACE FOR THE CLASSICS

Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance

JOE MUSASHI’S LATEST ADVENTURE IS HIS BEST YET

Gradius Origins

» System: PC (version tested), PS5, Xbox Series S/X, Switch » Buy it for: £32.98+ » Buy it from: Online, retail

DREAMCAST DESIRES

INCOMING ICONS

key features of five conversions heading to Sega’s console

NEWS BYTES

NOW ORGANISED BY FORMAT, HERE ARE THE LATEST NEWS BYTES TO ENJOY

ÓSCAR TOLEDO GUTIÉRREZ (NANOCHESS)

Don’t forget to follow us online for all

PROCESSING

IT’S TOTALLY WAR!

The team get schooled on the epic Total War series

READERS REACT

What’s your favourite Total War game?

HORROR HAUL

READERS TAKE US THROUGH THE RETRO KEYHOLE

BARGAIN HUNT

Your guide to the rising world of retro prices

RAPID RELOAD

EXAMINING OUR HOBBY’S BIGGEST HITTERS

I’VE GOT IT!

These readers were on target

PHOTO MODE

Delving through the family album has rekindled fond memories for Nick

MISSED SHOTS

Readers share the moments they wish they’d caught on camera

MAILBAG

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

What’s your favourite Elite Systems game?

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

THE MAKING OF OPERATION WOLF

ON SALE 23RD OCTOBER 2025

END GAME

» In the early Nineties, Nintendo pulled together