Retro Gamer

I think I’d have to go for Iori as he has a cool dress sense and an equally cool laugh. Expertise: Juggling a gorgeous wife, two beautiful girls, a SNES-loving cousin and an award-winning magazine, all under one roof! Currently playing: Lost Kingdoms

SEPTEMBER 2004 – News about new hardware might be thin on the ground this month, but we’ve got Vin Diesel and psychics to tide you over. Oh, and the return of a little-known game called Doom. Nick Thorpe hops in the time machine to tell you all about

1 – Spider-Man 2 (Activision)2 – Driv 3r (Atari)3 – Athens 2004 (Sony)4 – Shrek 2 (Activision)5 – Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Ubisoft) 1 – Spider-Man 2 (Activision)2 – Driv 3r (Atari)3 – Full Spectrum Warrior (THQ)4 – Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomo

Big Bear’s background is located in the outskirts of Southtown, and shows the town as being located near Monument Valley. Bikers and truckers have come to see the fight, suggesting a rowdy crowd. A similar town-outskirts background now has a rundown

With the level of competition in the fighting game scene of the mid-Nineties, fighting game developers were constantly adopting ideas from one another in a bid to ensure that their games continued to meet the evolving expectations of players. With th

Fighters 2001, Igniz is distinguished by his impressively animated coat and a super move that sends a wave of screen-filling beams across the playfield. Then there’s Magaki in The King Of Fighters XI – a character designed to be despised, whose attac

The King Of Fighters series has long been popular with competitive fighting gamers – just dive into the world of online video sites to find ancient VHS rips of Japanese events. Gamers are responsible for the success of The King Of Fighters, but the s

Shun’ei Meitenkun Benimaru Nikaido Kyo Kusanagi Iori Yagami Chizuru Kagura Terry Bogard Andy Bogard Joe Higashi Yashiro Nanakase Shermie Chris Ryo Sakazaki Robert Garcia King Ralf Jones Clark Still Leona Mai Shiranui Yuri Sakazaki Blue Mary K’ ■

So often the most popular games are refinements of existing ideas rather than entirely original works, and this was certainly the case with the Epyx Olympics-based hit Summer Games. That being said, the title that it improved on was a rival’s cancell

» PUBLISHER: ATARI INC» DEVELOPER: ATARI INC» RELEASED: 1978» PLATFORM: ARCADE» GENRE: VIDEO PINBALL ASTEROIDS SYSTEM: ARCADE YEAR: 1976 GAUNTLET (PICTURED) SYSTEM: ARCADE YEAR: 1985 WAYNE GRETSKY’S 3D HOCKEY SYSTEM: N64 YEAR: 1996 In the late-Sevent

Released a year after the runaway success of Xevious, Super Xevious may appear similar to fans which is because… it is. Offering the same South American jungle backgrounds and gameplay, the main difference is more aggressive enemies and Galaxian-styl

The Solvalou nimbly darts across the screen in the NES/Famicom version of Xevious, and the console adeptly replicates much of the arcade game despite a lack of graphical finesse in certain areas. The same game was released on the Game Boy Advance as

Voiced by: LEWIS ARQUETTE ■ Josh says, “Whittlin’ Willy was definitely one of my favourites… he could be involved in the game action, or he could break the fourth wall and comment on it. I also enjoyed giving him just a touch of the dirty old man, wh

It’ll be tough for most opponents to score much against the War Slammers. Their defence is one of the strongest in the game, and with some great running backs and a solid quarterback in Warhog, they’re also no slouches when it comes to scoring points

» PUBLISHER: MIDWAY GAMES» DEVELOPER: SURREAL SOFTWARE» RELEASED: 2004, 2005» PLATFORM: PS2, XBOX, PC» GENRE: ACTION HORROR Prison is hell. This was an idea taken literally in The Suffering series, a pair of games released in the early Noughties for

■ An evergreen classic now remastered in HD, Super Mario 64 stands out for the transition to 3D platforming and Charles’ fantastic vocalisation. The face on the title screen mimics Mario In Real Time with Silicon Graphics’ power, while Mario lying do

Raiden IV X Mikado Remix It’s already been released countless times, but this latest version of Raiden IV features some banging tunes and new modes. I love it. Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown I celebrated the return of my favourite 3D fighting ser

“Will Revolution be as different from PS3 and Xbox 2 as DS is from PSP?” That’s the question NGC is asking, as it ponders whether Nintendo is withdrawing from the hardware arms race. “Maybe Revolution will be so different from their machines that por

Throughout the landscape of Xevious there are four secret flags, ripped from the narrow lanes of another Namco hit, Rally-X. The secret locations of these flags can only be divulged by a random bomb, although they always appears in the same place. Wi

Editor Darran ‘Iori Yagami’ Jones darran.jones@futurenet.com 0330 3906443 Art Editor Andy ‘Andy Bogard’ Salter Production Editor Tim ‘Ryo Sakazaki’ Empey Features Editor Nick ‘King’ Thorpe Photographer Phil ‘Goro Daimon’ Barker Group Art Director Woz

Ocarina Of Time is very special to me. I resonated with Link when I was a kid because I always felt no one wanted me around, I was depressed and had lots of emotions I can’t describe, but kid Link was incredible and was doing amazing things so I felt

Every month, one lucky writer-in will receive a spanking copy of either our NES/Master System or SNES/Mega Drive books Don’t forget to follow us online for all the latest retro updates RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag Retro Gamer Magazine @RetroGamerMag

■ POLICE QUEST: OPEN SEASON [1993] WINDOWS, MS-DOS, MACINTOSH - BILLY BOB, JANITOR■ SUPER PUNCH-OUT!! [1994] SNES – ANNOUNCER, REFEREE, BOXERS■ MARIO’S GAME GALLERY [1995] MS-DOS – MARIO■ MARIO TEACHES TYPING [1995] MS-DOS, WINDOWS (CD-ROM VERSION) –

Of all the characters in The King Of Fighters, it’s fair to say that Athena receives the most design attention. Every game sees the popular face of the Psycho Soldier team redesigned, whether it’s a simple shortening of her sleeves or a radical hairc

Also known as World Trophy Soccer (US) and J-League Champion Soccer (Japan), this 1992 game utilises the common side-on view first popularised in the Commodore 64’s International Soccer from almost ten years earlier. Curiously, the game only uses two

Readers can get involved at www.retrogamer.net/forum DRS: If Nintendo ever decided to produce a Mario game aimed at a more mature audience, would you be comfortable making Mario swear? Oh, that’s so funny. You know, for me, it’s the purity, the joy,

What’s your favourite character or game from The King Of Fighters series? Joe in KOF ’95. He was the only fighter I could win with as a child… My boy Sie Kensou, lover of meat buns and Athena. That’s a hard one. If I had to choose only one, Whip woul

The Saturn has so many amazing fighting games. Street Fighter Zero 3, Samurai Shodown IV and X-Men Vs Street Fighter. That Ryu and Cyclops handshake gets me every time! I love collecting the RAM cart boxsets, they’re so unique. I’ve got a factory sea

G&W title Mickey & Donald was actually added to Release 0.164 in July 2015, as a non-working game. Here it is finally promoted to working, and included alongside Boxing, Donkey Kong II and Mario’s Cement Factory. Several Konami handhelds are also add

It’s no exaggeration to say that characters are at the heart of The King Of Fighters series. Well before the first game in the series had its name, even before it was a team-based fighting game, it had its character concepts. The series has its roots

Fancy a go on one of SNK’s best fighters? If you want the authenticity of a Neo Geo AES cartridge, a complete Japanese copy starts at a surprisingly affordable £140. A Neo Geo CD copy can run you as little as £13, though it often goes for more, and t