THE RETROBATES

WHAT’S THE MOST TECHNICALLY IMPRESSIVE SNES GAME YOU’VE PLAYED?

PIONEERS PASS AWAY

Gaming loses more talented individuals that shaped the business

ANTSTREAM POWERS UP

STEVE COTTAM ON UPGRADING THE CLOUD-BASED STREAMING SERVICE

Right said Fred

Who is Iain Lee? Iain Lee is a

A new strategy

Who is Paul Rose? Paul is probably better

The Retro Hunter

Retro Gamer pops to Leigh-On-Sea, Essex, to chat with Ally Hogg, owner of The Retro Hunter store and co-owner of the Neon Knights arcade

THE LATEST NEWS FROM APRIL 2005

APRIL 2005 – Between the excitement of the

BB4CPC

VIN-DI-CA-TION!

SUPER-POWERED 30 GAMES THAT PUSHED THE LIMITS OF THE SNES

THE SNES IS UNDENIABLY A SUPERB CONSOLE, AND WITH HUNDREDS OF GAMES AVAILABLE THERE ARE PLENTY OF CLASSICS TO CHOOSE FROM. BUT WHICH GAMES REALLY MADE THE MOST OF THE HARDWARE AVAILABLE, AND HOW DID THEY DO IT? WE TAKE A LOOK AND FIND OUT

Contra

THE CHIPS CAN WAIT

Road Avenger

“I KNOW I’M GONNA REVIVE”

SPECTRUM NEXT

Ahead of the return of our regular Homebrew section, we highlight the best games available for the Spectrum Next, and speak to the coding heroes who are developing new software for this wonderful system

No One Can Stop Mr Domino

WHO WOULD BE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO TRY?

Super Mario 64 DS

COME FOR MARIO, STAY FOR THE MINIGAMES

Excite Truck

“SOMEBODY BETTER COME AND DRIVE ME”

ULTIMATE GUIDE Pilotwings

THE ORIGINAL PILOTWINGS IS AN ANACHRONISM; IT REPRESENTS PEAK EIGHTIES TECH, YET IT HELPED DEFINE THE VIDEOGAME ERA OF THE NINETIES. WHAT WE ULTIMATELY RECEIVED IS ALSO VERY DIFFERENT TO THE GAME ORIGINALLY ENVISIONED. NINTENDO HAS SEEMINGLY FORGOTTEN THE SERIES, BUT WE CERTAINLY HAVEN’T!

DOWNERS AND DISAPPOINTMENTS

We discuss the games that built us up and let us down

BOXING CLEVER

Here’s a collector who wants to get physical

X MARKS THE SPOT

Why Darran loves Microsoft’s first console

MAILBAG

HAVE YOUR SAY… SEND US A LETTER OR MAKE YOURSELF HEARD ON THE ONLINE FORUM – WWW.RETROGAMER.NET

ENDGAME

THUNDER FORCE III

THE EVOLUTION OF BATTLETOADS

In order to take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, artist Kevin Bayliss created the Battletoads, and their NES debut went on to spawn a series. Kevin and Rare’s Paul Machacek join reboot director AJ Grand-Scrutton to discuss the franchise’s evolution

SG-1000

» MANUFACTURER: Sega » YEAR: 1983 » COST:

THE RETRO GAMER GUIDE TO commodore 64

It may not have been designed as a games machine, but games dominated the C64 and turned it into a fertile breeding ground for modern developers. 40 years on, we revisit its greatest hits

THE MAKING OF GRAVITY

ROSS GOODLEY’S GRAVITY TOOK PRINCIPLES FROM EINSTEIN’S GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY, ADDED A RAMPANT ALIEN INVASION FLEET AND BASED THE ENTIRE CONCEPT AROUND GRAVITY, BLACK HOLE SINGULARITIES AND INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL, ALL PRESENTED ON A 3D GRID REPRESENTING THE MINKOWSKI SPACETIME CONCEPT

Head Over Heels

» PLATFORM: AMSTRAD CPC » RELEASED: 1987

THE MAKING OF GREMLIN’S TOP GEAR GAMES

Inspired by Out Run, influenced by Lotus and with no thought given to upsetting the BBC, Top Gear pulled up on the SNES in 1992 and heralded the start of an acclaimed series of racing games for publisher KEMCO. Here we look at how Gremlin Graphics got things moving

CLOCK WORK AQUARIO

New games that wish they were old

THE MAKING OF GARGOYLES

IMAGINE AN OUTSTANDING GAME WITH NEW 3D TECHNOLOGY, BASED ON A DISNEY IP, DEVELOPED IN-HOUSE AND NOT HAVING A SINGLE REFERENCE TO DISNEY. WE SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE HISTORY OF ONE OF THE DEVELOPER’S MOST UNUSUAL TITLES

SO YOU WANT TO COLLECT… GAME BOY ADVANCE GAMES

With over 1,500 games available, Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance has something for all tastes, and retro gamers are especially well catered for with dazzling remakes of the classics, original titles with gobsmacking pixel art and a host of inventive curios

LCD Screen

» PLATFORM: PSone » RELEASED: 2001 » COST:

THE MAKING OF THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE RETURN OF THE KING

WITH ONE SUCCESSFUL VIDEOGAME TIE-IN UNDER ITS BELT, EA QUICKLY GOT TO WORK ADAPTING THE CONCLUSION OF PETER JACKSON’S EPIC FILM TRILOGY IN STYLE WITH A SEQUEL. WITH THE PUBLISHER’S OWN REDWOOD SHORES IN THE SADDLE, HERE’S HOW IT WAS ACHIEVED

Analogue Pocket

A MONSTER IN YOUR POCKET

Evercade Multi Game Cartridges

» System: Evercade » Buy it from :