Retro Gamer

Breath Of The Wild proved that Nintendo’s decades-old franchise could still turn heads. I’m currently playing the Japanese reissue with built-in DLC ahead of Tears Of The Kingdom’s launch. Expertise: Juggling a gorgeous wife, two beautiful girls and

For me, few videogame franchises feel as consistent as Nintendo’s Zelda series. Sure, you can make the argument that it has suffered from some weak spin-offs over the years and it relies heavily on largely retelling the same story (albeit in new ways

The 2023 edition of E3 has been cancelled following the confirmation that several major companies would not be attending the event, leaving the future of the exhibition in doubt. Originally established in 1995 by the Entertainment Software Associatio

Famed musician Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away on 28 March, at the age of 71. Best-known for his work as both a solo artist and a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Sakamoto was also a prolific soundtrack composer, earning an Oscar, a Grammy, a BAFTA and

SEPTEMBER 2006 – It’s a big month for PSP owners and a dry month for pretty much everybody else, as the software drought continues. Nick Thorpe takes time out from revisiting his first-year student flat to check out the hottest games of the past On 4

1 – Over The Hedge (Activision) 2 – Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Legend Of Jack Sparrow (Ubisoft) 3 – 2006 FIFA World Cup (EA) 4 – Hitman: Blood Money (Eidos) 5 – Tomb Raider: Legend (Eidos) 1 – Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Buena Vist

“The future has arrived,” proclaims the cover of the UK’s first PS3 magazine. The only problem is, it hasn’t – the magazine has launched so far ahead of the console that the first import game reviews are in issue six. “There’s something profoundly wr

In the grand pantheon of Nintendo series, there’s no question that The Legend Of Zelda ranks as one of the elite. While Mario has the bigger sales overall, Link’s adventures have proven just as dependable for the Japanese giant – the series has made

Having first encountered videogames while running a nightclub in the US, Ocean cofounder David Ward returned to the UK in 1981, immediately noticing the green shoots of the industry across the country. But the lack of a real bricks-and-mortar retail

■ Essex-based Sensible Software had already released shoot-’em-up Parallax with Ocean before 1987 brought this weird yet brilliant follow-up. Wizball is the story of Wiz and his magical cat, living happily in the vivid Wizworld until an evil wizard a

■ This is how you do a home conversion. It emulates the arcade game within the limits of the hardware and adds enough new features (like a simple shop system) to keep you pushing on, despite the difficulty. There are fewer stages than the coin-op, bu

Super Joe must rush eight areas swarming with enemy soldiers and vehicles, armed only with a machine gun, a handful of grenades and a never say die attitude. For many this is the original one-man army game. The game that introduced us to the brave kn

How did you land the job of converting Gun Smoke to the Commodore 64? My company at the time was Lyndon And Associates. In early 1987 we signed a 15-title deal with Capcom USA to convert its many coin-op games to the PC and C64. Gun Smoke was one of

Reward: $10,000 Master waits for you at the edge of town and will open fire with his Winchester rifle. When you hit him he’ll go prone for a few seconds, then pop up and continue firing. How To Beat Them: You can’t hurt him when he’s prone so use thi

Do you want to look like a cyborg hacker living life on the edge? If so, the Power Glove is for you – the deliberately cyberpunk look has ostentatious wires connecting the hand sensor to an arm-mounted keypad, all with a grey and black colour scheme.

■ The AI might not be too smart, but the basic gameplay from the arcade original is here and the backgrounds are bright and detailed. The performance lags in two-player mode, and the controls are a bit cumbersome too. ■ Greyscale graphics and a sound

ATARI ST, 1988 ■ Not quite as smooth as the coin-op but just as playable, Image’s conversion was our type of game. AMIGA, 1988 ■ Considering the short development, Image’s Flying Shark conversions were impressive. AMIGA, 1989 ■ This fun sequel is a g

Karl was managing director and chief executive officer of the Climax Group until 2007, and he then became chairman of Climax Studios and Hyperion Ventures Limited. Karl also became founder and chief executive officer of Arooga a few years later. He r

Cruis’n USA’s stunts are limited to launching off hills and aerial flips following collisions. Stunts really become an option in Cruis’n World, where you have boosts, wheelies and two-wheelers. Then Cruis’n Blast takes things to another level, with c

Don’t let its generic name fool you, Cruis’n USA’s Italia P69 is a dead ringer for Out Run’s Ferrari Testarossa. Like its inspiration, the Italia has a decent top speed, but it suffers from sluggish acceleration. In terms of handling, it takes corner

The opening tracks of Cruis’n USA’s road trip across the States include a run over the Golden Gate Bridge and a drive through the streets of San Francisco. After squeezing through narrow avenues, you fly over the city’s famously steep hills at speeds

Let’s take you back exactly 50 years, Alistair, to May 1973 and the night you installed the first official Atari Pong machine in the UK. I think it was a Friday. We put the machine in the Strathdon Hotel in Nottingham about 3 o’clock in the afternoon

Can you recall when you first met Alistair? He and his business partner [Phil Smith] came to visit Atari in the very early days when we were in a small office in Santa Clara. They were one of the first people to really see the potential of Pong and s

■ The videogame that introduced arcade videogames to the general public and the title that Atari UK launched with. It had no difficulty selling it to eager operators… but other British companies were starting to put out Pong clones and Alistair neede

■ Atari UK may have closed in October 1974 after barely 18 months in operation, but in 1978, Atari returned to Britain, establishing a manufacturing plant in Tipperary, Ireland. The Irish government was keen to attract foreign investment and its offe

Alistair vividly recalls the initial meeting he and Phil Smith had with you which led to the formation of Atari UK. What were your first impressions of these two Englishmen? I thought they were an odd couple but they seemed enthusiastic and capable.

Despite debuting in the West in 2001, Intelligent Systems’ Advance Wars never really took off in the same way its Fire Emblem series did. Here’s hoping then that WayForward Technologies’ Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, an update of the GBA classics A

(Amstrad CPC) < The bold tiles, multiple dictionaries and fast word checking on this version are highly impressive – although it is prone to picking obscure words. /> (Atari 2600) < “The Atari 2600 version looked amazing,” says Antoine and we agree.

HOW DID YOU START MAKING GAMES?

Funded by Kickstarter, this pays homage to the classic puzzle game Sokoban. Your robot must collect a floppy disk from each level – but in his way are lots of crates. Some levels are just about reaching the disk, while others require you to pu

No one game in particular but the Ocean Loader music, especially Ocean Loader 2, that time signature change around 45 seconds is amazing! The one that first springs to mind is Daley Thompson’s Decathlon. I wrecked many a joystick playing that! Cabal

THE COVER STAR Link’s first 3D adventure remains a true classic and thankfully PAL versions are plentiful. You can get a complete copy for £67 while cartridges are a third of that price. It’s a different matter for the US release though, as high dema

Dishonored blew me away on PS3. I loved it from day one and it’s still one of my favourite games! Siren: Blood Curse. Still a great horror game and a brilliant addition to the Forbidden Siren series. As far as exclusives go, before the remasters, it

What’s your favourite The Legend Of Zelda game? Breath Of The Wild unseated my long-time favourite The Wind Waker in 2017. It’s the Zelda game which actually looks like what nostalgia tells me all the others looked like. Legend Of Zelda: A Link To Th

Editor Darran ‘Hinox’ Jones darran.jones@futurenet.com 0330 3906443 Art Editor Andy ‘Bokoblin’ Salter Production Editor Tim ‘Curse’ Empey Features Editor Nick ‘Stalfos’ Thorpe Photographer Phil ‘Tektite’ Barker Group Art Director Woz ‘Skulltula’ Brow