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EVERYTHING YOU
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DEVELOPERS REVEAL
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THEIR CHARMING 8BIT ADVENTURE MOST ICONIC VIDEOGAME SERIES RETRO GAMING HOTSPOT
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 LOADING...

THE RETROBATES WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE

PLAYSTATION GAME?

eing a staunch supporter of the

DARRAN JONES
Castlevania: Symphony Of The
Night. I have lost count of the
times I have completed it over
the years. I’m also rather partial
DREW SLEEP
Well, it’s my favourite game
of all time: Final Fantasy VIII!
Even today, playing it gives
me butterflies.
NICK THORPE
Just one? That’s tough.
WipEout 3 :Special Edition
brings together the best bits of
the original three games, and I
B Mega Drive and the Saturn, it
took me a little while to warm to
Sony’s first console and I didn’t
pick one up until 1997, two years after
the system’s UK launch. Our relationship
to Strider 2 (it includes Strider). Expertise: love them all, so I’ll go with that. didn’t have the greatest of starts, possibly
Expertise: Breaking the spindle on my Expertise:
Juggling a gorgeous wife, two original PlayStation Owning five Master Systems due to the fact that the bundle I purchased
beautiful girls and an Currently playing: (I sold two)
award-winning magazine Red Dead Redemption II Currently playing: from Currys included Fade To Black, Porsche
Favourite game of all time: SNK 40th Anniversary
Currently playing:
Dark Souls Remastered Final Fantasy VIII Collection
Challenge, Rayman and Croc: Legend Of The
Favourite game of all time: Favourite game of all time: Gobbos – all releases which didn’t live up to
Strider Sonic The Hedgehog
the hype promised by my friends and the
gaming press. The only game I really loved on
my PlayStation was Castlevania: Symphony
Of The Night (in fact, it was one of the main
reasons I eventually decided to buy Sony’s
console). If I’m honest, I just wasn’t in a rush
to embrace 3D gaming.
Eventually, though, my thoughts began
to change, and while I aligned myself with
the N64 for a good part of that exciting
generation I eventually picked up more and
SAM RIBBITS GRAEME MASON JASON KELK more PlayStation games, after being wowed
I’m a big fan of a lot of the Tough choice but I’m going to I enjoyed spending huge
Playstation’s games, but go for Tenchu. Atmospheric amounts of time playing R-Type
by the likes of Tekken 3, Resident Evil 2 and
you know by now that my
favourite is Croc.
sneaky slaughter at its best!
Expertise:
Delta... but not very well. Gran Turismo. The sheer diversity of Sony’s
Expertise:
Expertise: Adjusting the tape azimuth with Jason Kelk console was bonkers and it’s easy to see
Polygons a screwdriver Currently playing:
Currently playing: Currently playing: Warhawk why so many of us did fall in love with Sony’s
Undertale Eternal Darkness: Favourite game of all time:
Favourite game of all time: Sanity’s Requiem Io
32-bit powerhouse. It’s equally easy to see
Croc: Legend Of The Gobbos Favourite game of all time:
Resident Evil 4
why there’s so much excitement for the
PlayStation Classic at the moment (you can
read our early hands-on on page 28). With
that in mind our 16-page PlayStation
y
special report examines
both the tech powering
Sony’s console, as well as
Spyro The Dragon.
Enjoy the magazine!

DAVID CROOKES PAUL DRURY ANDREW FISHER IV E

E XC L USIB R
SUBSC R R E
Ridge Racer. I played it for hours Can’t decide between Vib Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, I spent
and hours and it blew me away Ribbon and Bishi Bashi Special - so many hours playing it
when I first got my PlayStation both brilliantly inspired pieces of Expertise: C OV E
Expertise: Japanese lunacy. Over 35 years of gaming, from
Amstrad, Lynx, adventures, Expertise: Commodore 64 to Wii U
Dizzy and PlayStation (but is it Vampire slaying Currently playing:
retro? Debate!) Currently playing: Dicey Dungeons Alpha
Currently playing: Red Dead Redemption II Favourite game of all time:
Fortnite Favourite game of all time: Paradroid
Favourite game of all time: Sheep in Space
Broken Sword
CONTENTS
>> Load 188 Breathing new life into classicc games
g

FEATURED
RED
36 Arcade Perfect:
fect:
Pac-Man
Midway’s stunning cabinet
net for Namco’s
arcade classic remains a thing of beauty

RETRO RADAR
06 Kings Of The Castle
We take to the show floor of Play Expo’s
one-off Blackpool retro show

08 News walls
Armin Hierstetter tells us about retroplace, his ide: Toki
38 Ultimate Guide:
new one-stop community for retro gaming We revisit Tad Corporation’s
ion’s unique
buyers and collectors platformer and find out what’s planned for
the Switch remake
10 The Vault
Christmas is just around the corner, so we 44 Pushing Thee Limits:
take a look at some of the latest stocking Teenage Mutant
utant Hero
filler ideas Turtles
Learn how Probe Soware
ware squeezed
12 Mr Biffo nto the Spectrum
Konami’s NES game onto
This month Mr Biffo wants to tell you about
his new TV show 52 The Making Of:
The Count
14 A Moment With… Scott Adams reveals thee creation of his
Steven Gauntley discusses his fascinating popular text adventure
3D retro projects
56 Classic Moments:
ments:
16 Back To The Noughties h MD
Devil Crash
Nick’s time machine stops off in December All the coolest bits from
m Technoso’s superb
2001. Care to join him? Mega Drive conversion 20
58 From The Archives:
Bits Studioss
We take a look at the British
ritish developer that
Inside The
loved the Game Boy andd licences
PlayStation
Industry veterans, including Mark Cerny, Mike Daily and Chris Roberts
explain how Sony’s debut console pushed the industry forward

REVIVALS 32
18 Double Dragon
Some Atari 2600 conversions weren’t worth
bothering with, as Nick discovers 62 Minority Report:
Gamate
66 Splatterhouse 3 Nick has not heard of any of these games so
Darran’s been getting to grips with Namco’s you know they’re going to be super obscure
brutal Mega Drive exclusive
76 Peripheral Vision:
96 Final Fantasy Tactics NeGcon
Advance We take a brief look at Namco’s super twisty
Who would have thought Square’s strategy PlayStation controller
RPG would be an effective painkiller?
90 In The Chair: The Making of:
Kevin Edwards
The 8-bit coding whiz looks back at his Fantasy World Dizzy
illustrious career The Oliver twins revisit their most popular
game in the Dizzy series

4 | RETRO GAMER
Don’tt forget
Don g to follow us online for all your
y latest retro updates
p
RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer
@RetroGamer_Mag
Mag

R
Retro Gamer
G Magazine
M i @RetroGamerMag
@R
@ G M g [email protected]
retrogamer@futurenet
@f com

68 78

The History Of Ultimate Guide:

Baldur’s Gate Spyro The Dragon

84
4 84

The Making Of: Trespasser

Seamus Blackley explains how his Jurassic
Park game pushed PCs a little too far

REVIEWS
RE ESSENTIALS
98 Neo
Neo-Geo Mini 102 Homebrew
Jason Kelk returns with the latest hobbyist
retro goodness

106 How To
This month, Doctor Nick is going to tell you
how to spot dodgy counterfeits
46
110 Mailbag
g
Earn our star letter award and win yourself
okazine
a neat bookazine
100 SNK 40th Anniversary
Collection 113 Next
ext Month
Your guidee to issue 189 (Hint: it will feature
100 Soulcalibur VI retro stuff))

100 Luigi’s Mansion 114 Endgame

dgame
Nick ends up in a bit of bother with
100 Castlevania Requiem es
the colonies
Symphony of the Night &
Rondo of Blood
The Making Of:
Arcade Club
Andy Palmer on creating Europe’s largest
arcade and completing a lifelong ambition

RETRO GAMER | 5
GIVE US TWO MINUTES AND WE'LL GIVE YOU THE RETRO WORLD

KINGS OF THE CASTLE

Play Expo returns to Blackpool for a one-off retro special
hen Replay Events superb selection of home systems

CONTENTS
6 KINGS OF
THE CASTLE
We head to the show floor of Play Expo
W announced that this
year’s Play Expo
Manchester had
been cancelled, there was much
disappointment. But these frowns
to play on, too, which included some
incredibly rare machines, such as the
FM Towns Marty, Panasonic Q, Pioneer
LaserActive and Sharp X68000. On the
stage there were various competitions
Blackpool’s retro-focused event soon turned upside down when it and tournaments being run all day, with
was announced that a second event some fantastic prizes, alongside the
8 REINVENTING at the Norbreck Castle in Blackpool ever-popular cosplay parade.
RETRO would take place instead. Not only that, As well as all this, a historic ballroom » Arcade games and pinball machines were set to free
Armin Hierstetter on his plans to though: this event would be very much played home to a host of varied stalls, play, enabling everyone to rock up and have a go.
revitalise the retro marketplace a retro-focused affair with the promise selling everything from hand-etched
of more arcade machines and pinball coasters to bartop arcade machines. A because of the controller and the type
10 THE VAULT than ever seen at a UK event before. large part of this room had also been of display they use. I already set the
Need some ideas for your Christmas
shopping? We’ll help you out The Replay team certainly didn’t let granted to indie game developers, high score on sit-down Star Wars and
us down; as soon as you walked into including retro gaming legend Jeff I’ll be going to back to see if anyone’s
12 MR BIFFO the main hall you didn’t know where Minter, who was showing off the beaten it later.”
Our columnist takes a look at the eclectic to look. The room was dominated by new Gridrunner VR, and many of the Going back to the Spectrum Next
range of gaming-focused TV shows a huge arcade, and there was also a Spectrum Next crew, including Jim team, there was a great selection of
Bagley who was showing off the final games to play on the new retro-inspired
14 A MOMENT WITH box design as well as prototype of a home computer including the Manic
Meet the hobbyist creator that’s making
unique pieces of retro artwork Spectrum Next handheld. Miner-inspired Monkey McGee. The
“Apart from the fact this is very man responsible for the music on this
much my target audience, I always game is Paul ‘Sidman’ Hesso, who is
enjoy Blackpool because I get to play very well known in the Commodore 64
some classic arcade games in their community. “The best thing about
true form,” says Jim Bagley when Blackpool for me is meeting all
asked about what he likes about the fellow retro gaming fans and
Play Blackpool. “Stuff like the Star developers,” he says. “It’s all about the
» There was no shortage of classic systems to play
Wars arcade game, Power Drift and community and their feedback can only
on, most of which used authentic CRT TVs. Battlezone can’t be emulated properly help us make our games even better!”

6 | RETRO GAMER
 VISIT RETROGAMER.NET/FORUM TO HAVE YOUR SAY RETRORADAR: KINGS OF THE CASTLE

» The multiplayer area feature

d great games, such as
Mario Kart, Bomberman and
BattleSphere.

ATTENDEE
COMMENTS
Top top weekend, well done to all the
organisers! Was great to see a few
old faces and a few folk I’d never got
round to seeing before. I think I ended
up playing far more games than usual
too. Definitely the best event in years.
The_Hawk

» The ballroom hosted a large amount of different traders, and the prices were also quite reasonable.
For me the most recent Play Expo
Blackpool was the perfect mix of
“Well, we already knew there was arcade machines, pinball tables and
a gap in the calendar and really wanted indie developers, along with just
to keep our audience satisfied,” Replay the right amount of traders. Plus,
Events’ managing director Andy Brown I entered my first ever tournament
says on this year’s retro gaming- event – highest score on Dragons
focused event. “A lot of people had Lair – and won!
been coming up to me at last year’s @80sNostalgia
events telling me that they preferred it
when we were more retro-orientated, There were so many games I just
so I thought, ‘You know what? Let’s » Asobi.tech’s Rarity Zone features a wide range of » Retro Man Cave (left) and former Commodore UK
couldn’t decide what to play on next!
do it!’” But Andy does have a few obscure and hard-to-find system to play on. marketing manager David Pleasance (right). And there’s just so much amazing
reservations about returning to his stuff here that I couldn’t even tell
roots. “Our original shows were just What would make this event difficult large event, it still seems to keep that you my favourite moment, I just
retro but as they evolved to suit a wider to do is that most of the exhibitors, close community feel. “I think there are loved all of it!”
audience that changed,” he explains. especially the pinball guys, are a few reasons, firstly because it’s very Callum McDougall
“We were worried that after seven volunteers. So it’s unfair to ask them relaxed and enjoyable for all of us,” says
years would it still work and would to do several events a year, as it would Andy, speaking about the atmosphere For me it’s always about catching
we be able to stand out against all the be really difficult for some of them. I of the event. “All the crew know the up with friends from the gaming
other retro-based events going on, our think the best solution is we keep Play venue like the back of their hand, so it community and getting to meet new
own included. I am very pleased to say Blackpool as a more retro-orientated seems to very much run itself and that ones with a bit of gaming in-between.
though that my instincts were right, show, as that seems to be what people in turn allows us to enjoy ourselves. @SlopesGameRoom DJ-ing the
as this hasn’t just been a success, it’s want and it gives it a real point of Even I got to play on some machines afterparty was my favourite moment,
been the most popular show we have difference from Play Manchester.” and have some fun yesterday, and that huge tunes and perfect BGM whilst
ever done in Blackpool!” Andy speaks a lot about how almost never happens! you’re chatting to everyone!
With that feeling in mind, though, important feedback is to Replay, and “People also seem to love the @KingMonkey25
does Andy and the team have any we got a feeling that the community is Norbreck for some reason,” Andy
plans to do it again? “Hmm, the very important to him. Many people like continues. “I’m not really sure why but It was a fantastic weekend full of
honest answer is that I just don’t know. Play Blackpool because, although it’s a it very much has its own special charm retro goodness, many laughs with
– I think the Norbreck itself is retro! It’s a soothing relaxed vibe to it all. My

All the crew know the venue like always great to hear how much people
love Play Blackpool though, so maybe
personal highlights included the
madhouse that was the Digitiser

the back of their hand, so it seems we should do another one? You’ve got
this thought in my head now!”
panel, the impressive array of pinball
machines and Asobi.tech’s selection

to very much run itself Thanks to @escragger on Twitter

of gaming oddities. Loved it!
@OldDeanLeopard
Andy Brown for the photos.

RETRO GAMER | 7
DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONTLINE OF RETRO GAMING
NEWS WALL

Reinventing Retro
ARMIN HIERSTETTER DISCUSSES HIS NEW RETRO PROJECT WITH US
owadays, when people So, two years ago, we decided to take

N are looking at boosting

their retro collections,
they typically head to the
likes of eBay or use various groups
on social media. Armin Hierstetter
a much more retro community focused
approach that we call retroplace.”
As Armin notes, there are plenty
of places you can keep track of your
collection, but he’s confident that
is hoping to disrupt this with the retroplace is a good alternative. “It all
introduction of retroplace, a new starts with a very strong foundation, a
website that not only acts as a portal database of currently 110,000-plus retro
to buy and sell retro games, but also games.” But why is this impressive
allows you to track your own personal number so important and how will it
collection. “The story of [retroplace] attract gamers? “All other features
begins with a simple observation. build on it: managing your collection,
There is no international marketplace wishlist, buying and selling games
dedicated to retro games,” begins etc,” he continues. “Whatever you
Armin. “You would think there is, but want to do with a game – adding it to
there is none. Now, of course there your collection, selling it, buying it –
are eBay, Amazon and the likes, but the database makes it incredibly easy » Christian Corre came up with the idea of retroplace and
we felt that those are flawed in many because it does most of the donkey currently runs NipponDreams in Munich.
ways, starting with very high sales work for you.”
commissions that drives prices up. Data entry is incredibly important to impact on eBay’s success, so we
Also, the process of buying and selling for any project like this and retroplace were keen to know how retroplace
is far from ideal, but the major issue has some nice tricks that Armin hopes were going to break this stranglehold. programmer and
» Armin is retroplace’s
with the big guns is [that] they are not will separate it from similar sites. “It was not a lack of passion that has wo rke d in business for over ten years.
has
focused on what retro gamers want, “RetroScan is a barcode scanner that led to failures in the past. If – at all – it
apart from selling and buying games. allows you to scan the EAN code of was the lack of relevant advantages
a game,” Armin explains. “This is
extremely helpful when adding a lot of
compared to eBay and Amazon,”
suggests Armin. “It is very hard to
It is very hard
games to your collection. It also comes
in handy when you want to quickly
add a new platform on the user's
radar. Unless you offer a far greater
to add a new
check whether a game is in your experience than existing websites, platform on the
collection or when you want to sell a users simply don't see a reason as to
specific game. It works wonderfully on why they should even bother. user's radar
your desktop and on your phone.” "Even if you get that right: trust Armin Hierstetter
Armin is also confident that the fact is even more important and harder
retroplace has a built-in auction site to earn at the same time," Armin We combine a total of close to 30 years
will help boost its success, but it’s continues. "If you cannot build trust of entrepreneur experience.”
» Armin and Christian are well-versed in the selling of important to note that various other with your user base, you have a It’s going to be interesting to see it
videogames, as the success of NipponDreams proves. retro-themed auction sites have failed problem. Experience in running a retroplace can become a destination for
business also is needed in order to retro gamers, but it sounds like Armin
even stand a chance to be successful: and the rest of his team are certainly up
I’ve been in ebusiness for more than for the challenge.
a decade, while Christian Corre is the
owner of one of the most prestigious Make your way to retroplace.com/
independent game shops in Germany. en for more information

» The market section of retroplace allows you to filter by » User BluemanSL is leading the collection charts with an
system, region and condition. impression selection totalling more than 3,000 games.

8 | RETRO GAMER
THE COOL RETRO STUFF THAT WE’VE HAD OUR EYE ON THIS MONTH
THE VAULT

Galaga Mini Arcade

It’s sadly not the original arcade version of
the game, but this scaled-down rendition
of the popular arcade game still manages
to deliver the goods. The screen is nice and
sharp, there’s the option to use headphones
The Sega Arcade Revolution: while you play and it’s powered by either
A History In 62 Games four AA batteries or Micro-USB (which aren’t
While it doesn’t cover Sega’s entire history, Ken Horowitz’s book does
included). The joystick can also be removed,
do a very good job of focusing on its arcade success and failures. It
but we actually preferred using it. Part of the
offers a great examination of Sega’s early beginnings, including its
My Arcade range, the series also includes
relationship with companies such as Gremlin and delves deep into
recreations of Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaxian,
some of its most important and influential games, including Space
Mappy, Burger Time, Bad Dudes Vs Dragon
Harrier, OutRun and The House Of The Dead. Although there’s a focus
Ninja and Karate Champ.
on using existing interviews (including many from Retro Gamer)
Price: £29.99
it nevertheless does a fantastic job of painting a scene of just how
From: funstockretro.co.uk
successful Sega used to be in a challenging market. An essential read.
Price: £38.50 (£13.07 Kindle) From: amazon.co.uk

Zzap! 64 Annual
PICK Fans of last year’s Crash annual will
OF TH know exactly what to expect with the
MONTHE latest offering from Chris Wilkins. The
112-page tome is filled with love for
the Commodore 64 and new art from
Oliver Frey, as well as reviews for all
the latest Commodore 64 games.
Original Zzap! staff such as Julian
Rignall feature, and there’s even a
chance to win The C64 Mini. A great
nostalgic read.

Price: £15
From: fusionretrobooks.com

R t Gamer
Retro G
Subscription
Atari ‘Retro’ Handheld It’s still not too late to remind your
The latest Atari device arrives in handheld nearest and dearest that now is the
form and features 50 preloaded games perfect time of year to get a Retro
that range from the likes of Centipede and Gamer sub. It’s the cheapest way
Adventure to Video Chess and Miniature Golf. to buy the magazine and it features
The selection is a bit of a mixed bag, but the exclusive covers that can’t be found
emulation is decent and the screen looks nice. on the newsstand. Leave this page
We can imagine this being a popular stocking out with a big circle ringed round it so
filler with Christmas just around the corner. they get the hint.
Price: £34.99
From: funstockretro.co.uk Price: From £25
From: myfavouritemagazines.co.uk

12 | RETRO GAMER
FEATURING DIGITISER 2000’S MR BIFFO
COLUMN Here’s my bio… Paul Rose
Paul Rose is probably better known as Mr Biffo – the creator and chief writer of legendary teletext
games magazine Digitiser. These days, he mostly writes for kids TV, but can still be found rambling on
about games, old and new, for his daily website, Digitiser2000.com.

I miss the days when

we had GamesMaster,
Games World, Bits and
Bad Influence! on our
screens

hen you look at the size of the games

Retrovision
A proper gaming show is something that many of I hope you’ll forgive the infomercial-type nature of

W industry, it’s astonishing that television

rarely touches it. Currently, in the UK,
we’ve got one throwaway 15-minute show
on the BBC iPlayer, Channel 4 dabbled in it recently
with the god-awful Rob Beckett-fronted Playing For
us yearn for, but something which TV doesn’t seem
to want to touch. Given the scale of gaming – easily
comparable these days with the music and movie
industries – it baffles me why they’d not at least try.
I mean, if you want to make such a show accessible,
what I intend to tell you next, but I’m almost damp with
excitement, and I think Retro Gamer readers will get a
kick out of it. I’ve grown tired of broadcasters ignoring
our hobby, so earlier this year I ran a crowdfunding
campaign to bring back proper gaming TV.
Time, and Dave – at the time of writing this – has just there are decades of old games out there which would Inspired by the likes of GamesMaster and Bad
cancelled Dara O Briain’s Go 8-Bit and its spin-off tickle the nostalgia bone of many a casual viewer Influence!, I – and a group of passionate friends – have
Go 8-Bit DLC. Even Ginx TV – the only dedicated and lapsed gamer. Why has Channel 4 done a ‘100 made a show that’s the sort of games show I wish
esports gaming channel – seems to be under threat, greatest’ show on everything but videogames? we’d get on Channel 4 or BBC1. In short, a show
having terminated its contract with Virgin Media over I work in TV for a living, and contrary to what some that’s good enough to be on TV, and looks at all the old
assorted disputes. people seem to think – that TV is scared of gaming, games and systems we grew up playing, in a bid to
I dunno about you, but I miss the days when because it competes with broadcasters for potential prove that being a gamer doesn’t stop at the age of 18,
we had GamesMaster, Games World, Bits and screen time – I think it’s more that there aren’t many when you finally grow out of Fortnite. It’s informative,
Bad Influence! on our screens. All of those shows gamers working in television. It isn’t that they’re scared; anarchic, and inclusive; everyone is welcome.
tackled gaming in a way that was fun and authentic, they just don’t understand it, while also acknowledging Series 1 of Digitiser The Show is now up on YouTube
and passionate, and colourful… without alienating that they’re losing viewers to Minecraft and Fortnite as you read this, and I’m incredibly proud of it. Please
anyone. GamesMaster was, lest we forget, a massive videos on YouTube. Their response seems to be to bury give it a watch, if only to prove that retro gaming TV
hit for Channel 4 back in the Nineties. their heads in the sand and carry on regardless. can be massive.

Do you agree with Paul’s thoughts? Contact us at:

RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag [email protected]

12 | RETRO GAMER
 Presented by Hull College, C64Audio.com and the Hull Philharmonic Orchestra

A Symphonic Celebration of
Home Microcomputer Gaming

Hull City Hall, 15th June 2019

THEMES FROM: FIRELORD

TRAP DEMO
GREEN BERET
COMIC BAKERY
OCEAN LOADER
FLASH GORDON
THE LAST NINJA ®
MONTY ON THE RUN
FORBIDDEN FOREST
INTERNATIONAL KARATE AND MORE

The Last Ninja is a registered trademark of System 3 Software Ltd Proudly supporting the SpecialEffect and
All other trademarks are acknowledged as the property of the respective rights owner Macmillan Cancer Support charities

Tickets available at: hulltheatres.co.uk

Visit the concert website at: 8-bit-symphony.com
SHOWING OFF COOL RETRO-THEMED STUFF THAT’S GOING ON
NEWS
A MOMENT
WALLWITH...

Art With Depth

Steven Gauntley sells retro game art at 8bitboutique.co.uk
utique.co.uk – we find out how these items are made
egular readers of Retro What do you feel sets your work

R Gamer may have noticed

that we featured some
unique pieces of art from
8 Bit Boutique in our Vault section.
Keen to learn more, we grabbed the
apart from similar artists?
Well, in nine years I have self-taught
[myself], and through that process
spent some 10,000 hours learning
ght
ss have
g and
perfecting my craft. I feel I bring that
man behind the canvas, Steven Gauntley experience to the table, and from m that I
for a chat. can take commissions and pretty y much
create anything you can imagine you
How did you get started? tails.
might want. I pride myself on details.
After running a large company of my For example, my Super Mario World 3D
own many years ago I had started a nd-cut,
map has over 250 individually hand-cut,
corporate career, and after some huge hand-coloured elements that I assemble.
semble.
life-changing experiences, I felt I was Also, I have seen other art along these
at a tipping point. Some people are lines that is created using a cutting
ng
wired such that they can be cogs in a machine or automated process, and
machine, and I respect those people, I really promote the artisan aspectct of
but that’s not me and I would have what I do. Everything you see from om me
gone insane if I had stuck with that. I crafted
is completely 100 per cent hand-crafted
had to be creative, as if I don’t create I from the ground up.
die, so 8 Bit Boutique was born, which
combines my passion for art and design What game franchises tend to o be
and being creative with my lifelong love the most popular?
of videogames – specifically the games Zelda and Mario are by far the mostost
of my childhood in the Eighties. ustomer
popular, but I also have a huge customer
base for art based on the old arcade
ade
How long does each creation take games of the Eighties. I’m quite prolific,
to make? so I have created that many different
rent
I put a lot of love into this, so each piece, ideas and concepts that I have over
ver 500 Each piece, depending on
depending on complexity, can take many
hours to create. A private commission all-
designs on my site – plus the willingness
to be commissioned to create anything complexity, can take many hours
in can take four or five hours to create.
Put it this way – if I wanted to just make
at all, so my art really does span a lot of
characters, games and ideas. to create
money, there’s a million other more Steven Gauntley
effective ways, but I love this. When I’m What’s the most challenging
halfway through creating a piece, I really commission you’ve received from a entire dentist’s waiting room in the style deluxe merchandise coming from 8 Bit
go into the flow, and time seems to both customer and how did you solve it? of a retro arcade. This involved producing Boutique in the future.
stand still and pass quickly. I feel alive. The biggest and most challenging a series of 30 matching 3D artworks
commission I received was to design an based on classic arcade games, and What benefits would readers get if
th
then creating a 30-inch-by-30-inch they helped you out on Patreon?
» Steven hard at work creating a Track & d
diorama of a miniature arcade all in To those people I give my total loyalty,
Field 3D screenshot.
b
blacklight, all matching up to the wall art. and I go above and beyond to look after
them. You can subscribe from as little
H
How did the new licensing deal for as a few pounds, but the main tier is
California Games come about?
C the one that’s at £35, whereby I’ll send
I have been looking to expand my little you £100 worth of art and merchandise
c
company, and I have signed several every month. Subscribe if you want
lilicences to create deluxe merchandise something awesome!
a
and art based on retro games. This will
all be via the brand I recently launched
a What’s your favourite piece of art?
called Pixel Fiction, which has just
c Of my own? I love the 3D maps of the
launched its debut T-shirt that you can
la game worlds. There’s just something
buy now at my website! California
b cool about topographical style maps
Games
G is the first one I have been able brought to life this way. In the world at
to announce, and as with my art, I’ll large? I’m a big fan of William Blake,
be
b putting my all into designing some and I love the combined art and poetry
b
brilliant merchandise to celebrate this in his Songs Of Innocence And Of
awesome
a game. I hope to be able to Experience books. Not a very pop
announce
a the other licences I have culture-centric answer, I know, but I take
signed
s soon, but you can look out for my inspiration from philosophers and
a whole host of high-quality art and poets, and from nature!

14 | RETRO GAMER
 DECEMBER 2001 – The
seasonal blitz gives
everybody reasons to
cheer, from Bungie devs
to PS2 owners and even
Dreamcast devotees. Nick
Thorpe reminds us all how
the chaos of Christmas
2001 went down

NEWS
DECEMBER 2001
On 2 December, the energy
company Enron filed for [Xbox] Microsoft would have had a much harder time establishing Xbox without a game of Halo’s quality.

bankruptcy days after a

proposed buyout deal collapsed.
Under CEO Jeffrey Skilling, the
company had used loopholes to THE LATEST NEWS
FROM DECEMBER 2001
hide billions of dollars of debt, while
the CFO Andrew Fastow pressured
the auditor Arthur Andersen to
ignore major issues. With assets

W
of $63.4 billion, it was America’s ho’s bad? Microsoft’s early games fared well, too. Project game offered “those players of a more
largest ever bankruptcy. bad, where bad is Gotham Racing and Amped each got passive persuasion an alternative to
In Argentina, a financial crisis used in the colloquial 8/10 scores and Oddworld: Munch’s the spear and the stealth bomber”.
led to widespread rioting. At the sense meaning ‘jolly Oddysee received 7/10. Bringing up Science fiction fans may have been
beginning of the month, all bank good, actually’. The first batch of the rear was Fuzion Frenzy, which more enamoured with Star Wars:
accounts were subjected to a new Xbox reviews arrived in December received 3/10 and was described as Galactic Battlegrounds, which PC Zone
limit of $250 in cash withdrawals and the clear leader of the pack offering “no imagination, no innovation, awarded 84%. Reviewer Keith Pullin
per week, upsetting the middle was Bungie’s landmark first-person no impact, no fun”. felt that although it was just “Age Of
class. A general strike was called shooter, Halo. Edge elected to award If you liked Microsoft products Empires II with Star Wars graphics”,
on 13 December, and by 19 a full 10/10, an award previously but hadn’t been convinced by the the game was “a coup for Star Wars
December rioting had spread given out just three times. The game console, then you were in for a treat – anoraks” and “a fine RTS game”.
throughout the country, leading was praised for fine control, AI as long as you liked strategy games. He also liked space strategy game
the government to declare a state which “constantly creates situations Civilization III had arrived to claim the Conquest: Frontier Wars, awarding
of emergency. On 20 December, similar to Half-Life’s best setpieces” lives of anyone not already consumed it 82%, and Rhianna Pratchett was
having failed to convince the and multiplayer which surpassed by the previous game. Edge gave the enamoured with Command & Conquer
opposition to join the government GoldenEye as the standard for the game 9/10, praising it for its focus Red Alert 2 expansion pack Yuri’s
to quell the unrest, president genre on consoles. Most of the other on cultural creativity, noting that the Revenge, which she said “renewed my
Fernando De La Rúa resigned. zeal for the style and all-round gaming
On 22 December, passengers experience of playing a Westwood title”
subdued Richard Reid as he in an 80% review.
attempted to detonate a bomb PS2 owners were in for a delightful
aboard American Airlines flight 63 Christmas. Criterion’s arcade racer
from Paris to Miami. The British Burnout was hailed as a “much-needed
man had been radicalised after adrenaline-filled syringe passionately
converting to Islam in prison in the thrust into the exhausted heart of the
early Nineties, and had previously videogame racing community” in
spent time training at a terrorist Edge’s 8/10 review, and it scored 77%
camp in Afghanistan. Reid was in Play. Edge also awarded 8/10 to first-
immediately arrested upon arrival [PC] The problem with playing Civ games is that you [Dreamcast] The Williams sisters have had remarkable party offerings Jak & Daxter and Ico,
in the USA. don’t tend to stop – at least until the next one arrives. careers – and they’re going strong today. and 6/10 to Time Crisis II – something

16 | RETRO GAMER
 BACK TO THE NOUGHTIES: DECEMBER 2001

DECEMBER 2001
PLAYSTATION
1 The Italian Job (SCI)
2 The Weakest Link
(Activision)

[GBA] War shouldn’t really be this cute, should it?

3 Driver 2 (Infogrames)
These people are being blown up! 4 Simpsons Wrestling
(Fox Interactive)
“resoundingly replayable”. The magazine
also gave Worms World Party 8/10, 5 Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
despite the lack of online features (Activision)
seen on other systems, and Play was
PLAYSTATION 2
suitably pleased, too, giving it 78%.
Still, it was hard to ignore the 1 Time Crisis II (SCEE)
games on the newer platforms that 2 Spy Hunter (Midway)
[PS2] Darting between taxis at a crazy angle? Just a regular, everyday stunt for a Burnout player. would define the coming years. 3 This Is Football 02 (SCEE)
Nintendo’s lightweight strategy game
abstract on-rails synesthesia-inducing Pikmin proved to be another solid 4 Resident Evil: Code Veronica X
shooter Rez, which received a 9/10 addition to the GameCube’s early (Capcom)
review from Edge and was described lineup, scoring 7/10 from Edge and 5 Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
as “a creation with a demonstrable 87% from GamesMaster. Reviewing (Acclaim)
cultural significance”. the game for the latter, Mark Green
Rez was also available for the felt that the game’s simplicity worked PC
Dreamcast, and the system was in its favour, commenting that, “It’s 1 FA Premier League
clearly going down in a blaze of glory. not even a tenth as complicated as Manager 2002 (EA)
The system’s final Christmas offered StarCraft and the like, and that’s why 2 Max Payne (Take 2)
up the superb sports sequel Virtua we love it.” Strategic shenanigans
3 Myst III: Exile (Ubisoft)
Tennis 2, which got 8/10 from Edge were going on elsewhere in the
[GameCube] If only we could pluck out a disposable and 92% from GamesMaster, with the Nintendo universe, too, with the 4 Operation Flashpoint
earthy army to help take screenshots for the mag. latter praising the game for its “brilliant cutesy turn-based game Advance (Codemasters)
mix of minigames and tournament Wars receiving 9/10 from Edge. The 5 The Sims: House Party (EA)
Play disagreed with, offering 90% for options”. The long-awaited Shenmue II magazine was full of praise, describing
Namco’s lightgun game. Half-Life also also arrived and was awarded 90% by the battles as “tense, yet fascinating” MUSIC
arrived on the system to a 7/10 from GamesMaster and 8/10 by Edge, the and the game as a whole as “the 1 Somethin’ Stupid
Edge and 92% from GamesMaster. latter of which called Ryo Hazuki’s trip game the GBA was made for”. (Robbie Williams &
Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 was to Hong Kong “a vast and rewarding So much for 2001, then. What’s Nicole Kidman)
good but couldn’t live up to the high experience”. 17 years on, we’re still coming up in 2002? The Xbox and
2 How Wonderful You
standard of its predecessor, earning waiting for that sequel. Speaking of GameCube make their way to new
Are (Gordon Haskell)
76% from Play and 6/10 from Edge. formats in decline, PlayStation owners territories, Samus Aran returns, Disney
Play felt that Capcom Vs SNK 2 were treated to Syphon Filter 3, which meets the Final Fantasy universe and 3 Gotta Get Thru This
was worthy of a mighty 95% score, received 9/10 from Jamie Dolling Rockstar goes totally Eighties. Oh, (Daniel Bedingfield)
describing it as “the best 2D fighting in Official PlayStation Magazine. The and we finally get a new batch of 4 Murder On The Dancefloor
game ever released”, despite criticising stealth action sequel was lauded magazines to cover all this good stuff. (Sophie Ellis-Bextor)
the poor 50Hz PAL version. The oddity as “the best title to hit PlayStation See you next issue, where we’ll crack 5 Handbags And Gladrags
of the bunch this month was Sega’s for some time” and was reportedly on with January. (Stereophonics)

THIS MONTH IN…

Edge GamesMaster Play
Reader Dave Colls emails the team Reader Paul Tynan writes, “I saw “I’d like to point out that the quality
to ask about the magazine doing an article on Zelda for GameCube of the letters in Play issue 83 – yes,
something on the Amstrad CPC. and some screenshots, and I was this issue – has been abysmal. None
Edge felt this was not worthwhile appalled at the new 2D effect. of them seem to have anything to
as the CPC was a “port station”, Where are the great graphics that do with the PlayStation; in fact half
providing an image caption that Shigsy promised us at E3?” The of them don’t even seem to relate to
described it as “a fine machine if magazine asked if cel shading had videogames at all,” writes Graeme
all you wanted to play were hand- gone too far, wondering when an Nicholson, editor of Play. “I notice
me-downs from the Spectrum or Army Men game with the effect the quality of the replies is of a
Commodore 64.” Ouch. would arrive. Don’t scare us like that. substandard quality also.”

RETRO GAMER | 17
Double Dragon
LEARN TO PICK YOUR BATTLES
 ATARI 2600  1988  ACTIVISION
» RETROREVIVAL

There aren’t many shops that I remember opening as

a kid, but a few stuck out. Future Zone was a shop that
just sold games, so that excited me. Blockbuster Video was
bigger and further away than the local independent video
shop, but Lightning and Hunter from Gladiators were there for
opening day, which made it memorable. And then there was Toys R Us – no
explanation needed. It was during those early days, when I was looking at
the shop’s dwindling selection of Atari 2600 games, that I became aware that
there was an Atari 2600 version of Double Dragon.
I knew Double Dragon – not from the arcade, but from the Master System,
and even there it seemed too complex for the old system to handle. I was
curious about how it looked on the 2600, and still young enough not to
understand that a good version could be impossible. When I finally got to play
the game many years later, I finally understood that this was indeed the case
– while it just about passes as Double Dragon, this conversion isn’t much fun
compared to either the arcade game or other 2600 beat-’em-ups.
When I praised the virtues of playing games on so-called ‘lesser’ platforms
in an earlier issue, it struck a chord with some readers out there. But it’s always
worth remembering that there are two sides to that particular coin, because
while there are many good conversions out there (and some truly miraculous
ones), sometimes it’s possible to be just a bit too ambitious.
 Few consoles can claim to have success of Virtua Fighter in Japanese arcades.
revolutionised videogames in The simple fact that a company of Sony’s stature
the way that the PlayStation did. was taking an interest in the console market was
Sony’s brand power and marketing a noteworthy development in itself. “It was a big
clout widened the console market demographic part of us getting started,” says Lorne Lanning
and ended the dominance of its traditional of Oddworld Inhabitants. “Sony was a company
games-focused competitors. But it wasn’t just a that really made quality hardware, and it was an
marketplace revolution – the PlayStation was an entertainment company as well – it owned movie
exceptional piece of technology, coupled with studios and record labels. Sega and Nintendo
an approach to third-party development that weren’t that. The idea that a wide spectrum
supported a huge range of hit games. multimedia entertainment company was stepping
As many of you will know, Sony’s decision to in was really interesting, and it was happening right
enter the console market dates back to its work at that time when the industry was projected to
with Nintendo on the SNES. Sony created the have tremendous growth.”
sound chip for the console and then developed First impressions count, and PlayStation
the add-on Super Disc CD-ROM format for the developers remember the impact that the system
system. However, disagreements over CD software made when they first laid eyes on it. “It was in
licensing caused Nintendo to abandon Sony in Las Vegas at CES; Ken Kutaragi was personally
favour of Philips. The engineer central to all of doing developer PR for the new console,” says
this was Ken Kutaragi, who used this incident to Mark Cerny, then president of Universal Studios’
convince executives to back his work on a Sony videogames division. “He had a nifty demo of a
console. Rather than competing with the SNES and walking dinosaur, and it was absolutely clear that
other established machines, Sony would eventually this was the beginning of something very special
develop a 3D-capable console, inspired by the indeed.” Mark wasn’t the only person to be

“IT WAS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THAT THIS

WAS THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING
VERY SPECIAL INDEED...” M A R K C E R N Y

INSIDE THE

PLAYERS MIGHT HAVE LOVED SONY’S CONSOLE

DEBUT, BUT THANKS TO ITS REVOLUTIONARY
HARDWARE DESIGN, DEVELOPERS LOVED
C
FI la
IT JUST AS MUCH. WE SPEAK TO PLAYSTATION
DEVELOPERS TO FIND OUT WHAT MADE
RS s IT SUCH A JOY TO WORK WITH
T s
LO ic
Words by Nick Thorpe

OK T
p2urn t
! 8 o
INSIDE
NS DE THE PL
PLAYSTATION
AYSTATION
N

RETRO GAMER | 21
 YOU’VE BEEN WIREFRAMED Since the
PlayStation GPU
doesn’t have any hidden
The PlayStation’s graphical hardware was a major step change from previous surface removal functions,
generations – here’s how 2D and 3D scenes were constructed the console actually still draws
polygons that the player can’t
see. Note that you can see
the internals of the well
Here’s a scene from Croc: Legend Of The and what’s behind
Gobbos. Key elements to focus on in this the door.
scene are Croc, the collectable items,
the path on the ground and the objects
further in the distance.

Shading
and colour are
used to provide extra
environmental detail in the
background, around the lava
and on the crate, walls and
well. Gouraud shading is
utilised, giving a smoother
appearance than flat
shading.

The huge
white surfaces here The
show how heavily texture wireframe shows
us that the flat, repeating These flat
mapping is used to add boxes representing
environmental detail. Even in grass areas are made up
of regular polygons. The the items are always
arcades, this was a new form of facing the camera directly,
technology – the first textured Croc himself is irregularly shaped stone path
is achieved by distorting the as they’re 2D objects drawn
3D games had only largely intact, as his in a 3D space. As each object
appeared in 1993. cartoonish appearance polygons, altering the path
without needing extra is represented with minimal
allows for most of his detail polygon usage, this approach
to be conveyed in colour alone. textures.
allows extra detail
However, his backpack and elsewhere.
tail are missing their details,
which were added
with textures.

impressed by this particular demo. huge Ridge Racer fan (I even have the
“It would have been about 1994 arcade machine), I was blown away
and I received a phone call from that it was virtually identical to the
Phil Harrison, someone that I had arcade version, which only appeared
commissioned to write some game a year or so before! They also had a
designs in the late Eighties,” recalls T-rex demo controllable via a gamepad
MARK CERNY
Charles Cecil of Revolution Software. Lead architect, which also looked very cool. Such a
“Phil told me that he was working PlayStation 4 small machine, so much power – it
for Sony and they were planning to was an instant hit with me.” The
launch a new console, codenamed PSX – would famous dinosaur demo was an impressive display
I like to come down to their offices to take a look? of a detailed character that could be controlled in
Of course, I jumped at the opportunity. A few days real time, but Ridge Racer is arguably the more
later they showed a demo of a dinosaur moving in important indicator of the kind of leap PlayStation
3D and we were absolutely blown away.” offered. The arcade game, released in October
“I first saw the PSX at a Sony developer 1993, was revolutionary in its own right thanks to its
conference prior to launch in 1995, they had a few introduction of texture-mapped polygons. That the
demos running – and Ridge Racer,” remembers PlayStation came close to an arcade game running
Mike Dailly, then working at DMA Design. “Being a on considerably more costly hardware, just one
year and two months later, was a minor miracle.
This was all the more impressive considering
» [PlayStation] As well as what other 3D-capable consoles offered. “At the
providing amusing bonus time, the only remotely comparable hardware
games for demo discs, Net
Yaroze launched a fair few was the 3DO, but that was just too expensive
coding careers. from the get-go and outside of PCs with the newly
» [PlayStation] Even
fangled graphics cards the PlayStation was a game
subtle lighting can add a changer,” says Paul Hughes, who worked at EA
lot to scenery, as seen on and Warthog during the PlayStation years. “The
the fighters in Tekken 3’s
theme park stage. Sega Saturn was probably its closest rival but was
a real bugger to program – you really had to get
deep down and dirty to get close to PlayStation.”
This assessment is confirmed by Chris Roberts,
who worked on Sega’s console prior to moving

22 | RETRO GAMER
 It’s easy to mix
2D and 3D elements
on the PlayStation, and
you can see that the sea,
sky and clock tower in the INSIDE THE PLAYSTATION
background are all true
polygonal objects, albeit
simple ones.

In this scene from Castlevania: Symphony

Even Of The Night, the elements of the scene
though PlayStation that warrant attention are the sea and sky,
sprites are defined as the clock tower, the 2D foreground and
rectangular objects with Richter Belmont.
four points, the PlayStation PlayStation sprites
GPU can only draw triangular are basically just
polygons and thus internally rectangular objects with a
draws every sprite as texture mapped onto them, and
two polygons joined they can’t be shaded but are very
together. quick to draw. They can be 8x8,
16x16 like the foreground tiles
or free width and height
like Richter.

“PLAYSTATION, LIKE ALL CONSOLES TO

COME, HAD ITS OWN IDIOSYNCRASIES TO
DEAL WITH” P A U L H U G H E S
to Sony’s Liverpool studio. “First time I saw [the] Quake with a huge border to try and get the
PlayStation was while working at Silicon Dreams framerate acceptable.”
in Banbury – I’d been hired to work on Sega Saturn “Unlike other machines of its time, it was a
and was pretty jealous of the guys working on dedicated triangle renderer, using a constant delta
PlayStation,” remembers the coder. “The Saturn texturing system which allowed a high throughput
of polygons,” explains Mike. “Although it gave a
was technically challenging, but still cool in its own
way, but when I got chance to take a console home slightly coarser texture mapping, it didn’t matter
for the weekend I didn’t choose the Saturn.” once things were moving. Other systems like the
Sega Saturn and 3DO just couldn’t keep up, it was
The key to all of this was an amazing piece of work.” In fact, the PlayStation
the PlayStation’s custom didn’t just beat its counterparts. Though it didn’t
graphical hardware. The Geometry have quite the same raw polygon-pushing power
Transformation Engine was a dedicated of the likes of the Model 2 arcade board, it was
3D graphics coprocessor, residing within the easier to work with in other ways. For example, the
system’s CPU. “The big draw for the PlayStation PlayStation offered full colour texture mapping,
was the really quick turnaround to get something where the Model 2 board could only modify
up on screen and the raw 3D performance coloured polygons with greyscale textures.
compared to the Saturn and even PC “It was also able to blend textures and
games of the time,” explains Chris. featured true semi transparency
“This was the era of Quake and which even Sega’s arcade boards
Descent and very early PC GPUs couldn’t do at the time,” notes Martin
(along with the primitive versions of Edmondson, formerly of Reflections.
DirectX) so most developers were “It was truly cutting edge.”
still having to write custom triangle “PlayStation, like all consoles to
renderers on fairly expensive PCs to come, had its own idiosyncrasies
see any kind of useful performance. LORNE to deal with in order to get the
We had folks in the office running LANNING best performance,” Paul
Cofounder, Oddworld
Inhabitants

RETRO GAMER | 23
 » [PlayStation] The powerful 3D instructions
used to create Crash Bandicoot’s lush scenery
were initially kept from PlayStation developers.

» [PlayStation] Lorne feels that Tomb Raider

was the most visually impressive of the
PlayStation’s early real-time 3D games.

“THE REAL STEP CHANGE HERE this was that despite the PlayStation’s strengths, its
WAS THE SWITCH FROM real-time rendering capabilities paled in comparison
to what was possible in the VFX industry. “We had
ASSEMBLER TO C” C H R I S R O B E R T S extensive experience of 3D computer graphics.
What I knew, due to polygonal resolution, texture
mapping, memory footprint and all that stuff was
adds. “Nonetheless it was still a boon to be that overall the 3D quality of the PlayStation in the
able to offload texturing, lighting and blending scheme of computer graphics would be pretty lame
to the GTE and video to the MDEC processor.” looking,” says Lorne, and he’d know – both he and
For David Perryman of Attention To Detail, these Oddworld Inhabitants cofounder Sherry McKenna
idiosyncrasies had to be corrected by hand when had worked on visual effects in the film industry.
working on Rollcage. “I spent time stitching “To the gamer, it was a novelty to have 3D. On the
together polygons. The engine we’d developed PlayStation, the first Tomb Raider was the best
was unbelievably fast, but the nature of it meant usage of extremely limited computer graphics at
that a lot of design work was needed to ensure the the time. They really did a lot right to get the best
polygon meshes transitioned well between profiles. image quality you could get in those days.”
Otherwise there was a tendency for it to split as it
switched between levels of detail. This was visible However, Lorne and the team at
to the player as holes appearing ahead.” Oddworld Inhabitants wanted to make
Though the PlayStation’s graphics hardware something that looked good – not just
was revolutionary, it wasn’t perfect. “The lack good for a videogame. “For me it was
of perspective correction and Z-buffering on the like, ‘Our graphics can be much better than the
textured polygons (something which the later 3D rendering of the day, but it’s going to have to
Nintendo 64 featured in hardware) could make be played in 2D.’ When I told my partner that she
things visually very ugly with fighting polygons and was like, ‘What the hell are you talking about, it’s
warping textures,” says Martin, whose observation going to be a 2D game? We do 3D graphics,’ and
was common amongst our interviewees. “Solving I was like, ‘Trust me,’” recalls Lorne. Fortunately,
it in software was possible, to a certain extent, the market for such an approach was proven early
but [it was] extremely polygon expensive.” Chris on in development. “We were in production and
Roberts adds to that the unusual graphical memory already running on Abe’s Oddysee when Donkey
setup, which was split into texture pages. “The Kong Country came out, and it was like, ‘Oh,
VRAM was also a bit of a chore – when developing perfect – they just showed us a couple more tricks
the original WipEout, the team had opted to write that we could learn from.’ They made the same
a visual VRAM editor so that the artists could choice – they said, ‘If we prerender the characters
hand-place textures and colour palettes,” he and the backgrounds, we’ll get that really
explains. “The tool was nice enough but 3D look but it’ll just be being pushed as
it was a unnecessary job for the artists sprites.’ We could prebuild everything
so it wasn’t long before we knocked in Maya, we could render it out in
together an automatic allocator.” whatever resolution we wanted, and
Of course, the PlayStation still then we could scale it down to make
offered 2D games, and even some it fit.” Many devs would ultimately
devs working with 3D graphics use some amount of prerendering
chose to exploit the hardware’s 2D for their games, although often this
capabilities. The primary reason for PAUL HUGHES would be mixed with real-time 3D. This
Cofounder,
Warthog Games

24 | RETRO GAMER
 INSIDE THE PLAYSTATION
» [PlayStation]
Ridge Racer was an
incredible technical
feat in 1994 – a
cutting-edge arcade
game in the home.

» [PlayStation] Four
PLAYSTATION
years later, Namco
improved its shading
and texturing, while
doubling both the
WITHOUT PLAYSTATION
vertical resolution and How Connectix and Bleem almost liberated your
framerate. PlayStation games

The pace of technological progress during the late Nineties meant that
shortly before the turn of the century, it became possible for sufficiently
powerful computers to emulate the PlayStation – and two companies
actually released commercial emulators.
The first was Connectix, a big player in the Mac soware market which
had a major success with its Virtual PC emulation soware. The Virtual Game
Station was released in 1999 and boasted high compatibility and speed for its
time. Sony Computer Entertainment, unhappy with anything that could cause
it to lose control of its platform in such a fashion, sued Connectix and won
a temporary injunction halting Virtual Game Station sales. However, courts
increasingly found that Connectix’s behaviour had been legal and in 2000, Sony
bought Virtual Game Station and shut it down for good.
The other competitor was bleem!, a company with a flagship product
of the same name, which emulated the PlayStation on PCs and used 3D
graphics cards to enhance games with higher resolution graphics and texture
smoothing. The company also announced bleemcast!, a product which
would allow Sega’s competing Dreamcast to run PlayStation games. Sony
was similarly litigious regarding bleem!, suing for trademark and copyright
meant real-time 3D elements on top of prerendered infringement but losing on both counts, before launching a patent infringement
backgrounds, as seen in the Resident Evil and Final suit that bleem! was unable to financially defend itself from. The company
Fantasy series, though occasionally games like folded in November 2001, by which time it had released discs that enabled Gran
Klonoa used prerendered sprites on real-time 3D Turismo 2, Metal Gear Solid and Tekken 3 to run on the Dreamcast.
backgrounds as well.
Though few other parts of the PlayStation were
as revolutionary as its graphics hardware, the rest
of the console’s design was still driven by smart
choices. The MIPS CPU was generally well liked,
with Mike commenting that, “I still have the full
MIPS ROM I wrote somewhere, and MIPS remains
my favourite chip/assembler to this day!” Chris was
also a fan. “I was already pretty familiar with 32-bit
ARM assembler, so in some ways the MIPS and
Hitachi processors in the PlayStation and Saturn
were a small step backwards, but both of these
were fun processors.” However, he does note,
“The real step change here was the switch from
assembler to C which vastly improved development
in general.” The sound processor was much like the
SNES sound processor developed by Kutaragi. It
was capable of generating music from compressed
digital samples, but could play 24 channels

» [Dreamcast, above] This

preview image of Ridge
Racer Type 4 shows the
enhancements that Bleem
offered – sadly, this game’s
pack never saw a
retail release.

» [PlayStation, left] With

its unfiltered textures and
lower resolution, original
PlayStation hardware
suffered next to emulators.

» [PlayStation] The kinked lines here demonstrate the PlayStation’s lack of

perspective correction – they should all be straight.

RETRO GAMER | 25
“WITHOUT THE CD STORAGE, WE
WOULD HAVE HAD TO COMPRESS THE
ASSETS CONSIDERABLY” C H A R L E S C E C I L

of audio simultaneously and had technology. The benefits of CD-ROM

512KB memory, compared to the for games had long been known, as
eight channels and 64KB memory the medium offered huge capacity
of its predecessor. Though this was and cheap production costs as
of diminished importance due to the compared to cartridges. For Sony, it
ability to play audio from the game was an obvious move – not only had
CD, it was often used in games where CHARLES CECIL it codeveloped the CD with Philips, it
disc space was at a premium. Cofounder, was already ordering millions of them
David does point out one area Revolution Software through its music division. However,
in which the console was severely it wasn’t a move without risk. Though
limited: “Memory constraints were also a console manufacturers had been experimenting
challenge, trying to fit everything into what with CD-ROM add-ons since 1988 and most
PlayStation gave us. But I think all the constraints manufacturers of next-generation consoles had
honed the design, without them it would have adopted it, it was an expensive technology that
been easier to come up with a less tight design.” drove up the initial hardware cost. What’s more,
Mike confirms this, noting, “It could have done the industry giant Nintendo had chosen to stick
with a bit more RAM, but most developers made with ROM cartridges, citing their speed, durability
it work.” With 2MB main RAM, 1MB for video and and resistance to piracy.
512KB for sound, the PlayStation was comparable
to its primary competitors, the Saturn and N64. Choosing CD-ROM would prove
However, both of those machines received 4MB fruitful for both Sony and its
RAM expansions during their lifetimes. In both roster of developers. For Lorne,
cases the expansions were typically used for CD-ROM was essential to the creation
graphical improvements with the Saturn typically of the Oddworld games. “That was part of the
using the extra RAM for better animation in reason for choosing to get into games at that
2D games, and the N64 using it for greater 3D time, just that games were going to CD-ROM
performance. Only a small minority of games on storage devices. When CD-ROM came out, it was
either platform strictly required the use of these like, ‘Ooh, well that’ll hold enough memory that
expansions, which ultimately limited their impact you can have 500 screens for the game, 1,000
– and by not releasing such an upgrade, Sony did frames of animation for each character,’ you
avoid fracturing its customer base. weren’t looking at the limitations of a cartridge.”
The other main area in which the PlayStation Broken Sword was another game that reaped the
was a leap forward was in its adoption of CD-ROM benefits of CD-ROM. “The CD storage was very
important because the game had large assets
– multilayered backgrounds, huge amounts of
sprite animation, and hours of music and speech.
Without the CD storage, we would have had to
compress the assets considerably which would
have compromised the gameplay experience,”
recalls Charles, though he’s also frank about the
disadvantages of the medium. “Of course, CD
 » [PlayStation] According to
Chris, the processing time
needed for WipEout 2097’s
Akira-inspired engine trails
was gained by avoiding
Gouraud shading.

» [PlayStation] CD-ROM
storage allowed for the
detailed backgrounds, speech
and video sequences of
games like Broken Sword.

players in those days were slow at reading data,

so load times were quite high and videos really did
need to be compressed hard in order to stream in launch. “I remember showing the
real time.” Destruction Derby concept to them
There’s no doubt that CD-ROM helped Sony and they were thankfully excited so
to win victory in this generation. Developers we bagged a dev kit soon after that.
preferred it, most famously SquareSoft, which felt I remember those earliest dev kits
that the N64’s cartridges didn’t offer the capacity were almost [like a]photocopier in
necessary to realise its vision for Final Fantasy VII. size, but were soon replaced with
The cheap production costs also allowed for tactical more convenient units the size of an
discounting, such as when Sony introduced the old VHS recorder.”
Platinum range of games – older hit games at For all the revolutionary hardware, perhaps the
£19.99 – at the same time as the N64 hit the market. biggest step forward was Sony’s treatment of
However, CD-ROM was also one of PlayStation’s third-party developers, and this is what allowed
weaknesses. Part of the problem was that it caused Destruction Derby to hit a tight deadline. “It may
hardware reliability issues. The drive lens travelled have been considered ‘early’ by some but it still
along plastic rails in early models, which would be only left us with seven or eight months until the
worn away by friction until the lens began to dip, machine’s European launch so everything was
causing loading problems (often first experienced extremely tight,” Martin continues. “We worked
as stuttering FMV). The other problem was that fast and such was the well-designed hardware
as CD copiers became commonplace in the late and libraries that within a day we had a textured
Nineties, piracy became such a problem that the polygon spinning around on the screen, and not
standard copy protection was no longer enough, even a week later a circular track with a demo car
and developers had to include extra anti-piracy flying around it. Then the hard work began on the
measures in their games. physics for the crashes, AI and so on.” » [PlayStation] David’s time stitching polygons was well spent, as
With such exciting hardware, it’s unsurprising Martin isn’t the only one who enjoyed Sony’s Rollcage’s tracks look very solid by PlayStation standards.
that developers wanted to work on the PlayStation. approach. “Up until that point you got generally
In the early days, that meant competition. got a fat document with a couple of tersely
“Reflections had a long publishing history with documented examples and then it was pretty
Psygnosis (who had recently been purchased by much over to you until you submitted your
Sony) through our previous catalogue of project,” explains Paul. “Unless you were
games. But even though the dev kits a serious player in the industry with
were on the ground we still needed connections right to the top of the
a compelling design to secure one totem, developer support was pretty
for ourselves. In fact, we were in basic at best. Sony really led the
stiff competition for those early kits revolution; they realised that helping
with quite a few other studios, and (and listening to) the developers
Sony’s internal dev teams too of benefitted their platform.” In fact,
course.” explains Martin, who had Sony wasn’t just open to commercial
one of the few UK-developed games DAVID developers. While it certainly wasn’t
ready for the console’s European PERRYMAN cheap, the Net Yaroze scheme
Track designer, Rollcage;
producer, Attention To Detail

RETRO GAMER | 27
 NEVER OVERESTIMATE
THE SIZE OF PLAYSTATION
The PlayStation Classic is hitting shelves right now –
we go hands on with the mini console
We’ve been fascinated by Sony’s first allowed hobbyist coders to make their own
venture into the world of plug-and-play PlayStation games. Many of these appeared on the
retro consoles ever since its initial demo discs of Official PlayStation Magazine, and
announcement, as there’s a huge potential launched the careers of a number of developers.
market for the system, but the original Still, not everything was wholly transparent, as
hardware presents some unique challenges. Sony initially seemed reluctant to let developers
We were able to get a little bit of hands-on fully exploit the PlayStation’s graphics hardware.
time with the PlayStation Classic just before “The powerful 3D math engine was hidden behind
we went to press, and can present our first a library, which meant that anyone serious about
impressions here. creating virtual worlds needed to have the real
As a miniature representation of the documentation leaked to them,” says Mark. “Luckily
PlayStation, the PlayStation Classic is very that happened rather early on in the development of
accurate. The details of the original are carried Crash Bandicoot, and we were able to create some
across with great care – everything is sized amazing environments and characters!” The same
proportionately, and even the rarely-used Gran Turismo, WipEout or Tony Hawk’s Pro thing happened to Chris and his team in Liverpool.
expansion port is represented. In fact, the text- Skater, all of which would have been licensing “I remember a Sony conference in London that
based buttons suggest the system is fashioned nightmares, and we’d guess that Crash and happened while we were working on WipEout 2097,
aer the earliest models of the system. The Spyro didn’t make the cut due to the availability and one of the presenters was talking about the
controllers are authentic recreations of the of their remasters. However, the lack of any COP2 instructions (responsible for 3D vector maths)
PlayStation’s original digital controller – apart Tomb Raider representation is a surprise, and and how you shouldn’t call them directly. I recall
from their USB connectors, they’re externally we’d expected PaRappa The Rapper, too. shifting uncomfortably in my seat since we’d been
indistinguishable both in look and feel. The The PlayStation Classic includes a virtual using these pretty much non-stop from the outset,”
cables are of a good length, too. The boot memory card for each game in the library, he confirms. “I’ve no idea why this restriction was
screen includes the familiar booming bass of meaning that you won’t have to worry about there or where our COP2 instruction list came from,
the original machine’s boot screen, and the memory-hungry games like Final Fantasy VII but Sony did eventually make these public.”
system menu is fashioned aer the original crowding out your other saves. Each game can What’s more, eventually the machine was so
memory card/CD player interface (though it’s also store one suspend point, which is created well documented that it became possible to get
the colourful Japanese and later export version, by hitting the reset button. The system outputs by without the help of Sony. “By the time I got to
not the original grey export version). at 720p over HDMI, and each game is presented actually code a game on the PSX – and not just
The 20 games included in the collection in its original 4:3 ratio with what appears to be mess with a dev kit, I had moved to Visual Sciences
makes for a pretty eclectic mix. There’s solid a simple bilinear filter, providing a so image. and it had been out for a while, so you didn’t really
representation of the key third-party franchises There are no display options, so common need Sony for tech support. I got vast amounts of
from the PlayStation years, some of the better CRT-style effects such as scanlines are not info from the net,” recalls Mike. This enabled him
first-party games and then some surprise available, nor are enhancements such as the to take a very creative approach to increasing the
inclusions – most of which are welcome, such texture smoothing offered on PS2. It appears amount of development hardware available to his
as Mr Driller and Wild Arms. We’re surprised that there’s a mixture of PAL and NTSC versions colleagues. “I reprogrammed an Action Replay
that some of the games were chosen over their included, as some of the games showed into a dev kit, and even did a snapshot cart for it.
superior sequels (Destruction Derby and Twisted Sony Computer Entertainment Europe splash I was able to give all the artists ‘dev kits’ via a £10
Metal in particular), but almost every game screens upon start-up, and others showed Sony cart so they could see their art on the TV, and even
included is at least solid – the only game we’d Computer Entertainment America. QA were able to get one and used it when the
really single out as a bit of a stinker is Battle Our brief taste of the PlayStation Classic has
Arena Toshinden. There are some high-profile answered some questions, but we’ll hold off a
omissions, though. It’s no surprise not to see full verdict of the product until we can get an
extended look at the machine.

LOOK OUT
FOR A FULL
REVIEW IN
ISSUE 189

» [PlayStation] The reflection effect in Gran Turismo was impossible even on

contemporary arcade hardware.

28 | RETRO GAMER
 » [PlayStation] The PlayStation’s ease of use and
wide install base made experimental games such as
PaRappa The Rapper possible.

» [PlayStation] The impressive music in the

PlayStation’s Final Fantasy games was actually
generated via the sound chip to save CD space.

“THIS WASN’T JUST MOVING TO A

NEW PLATFORM, THIS WAS THE MOVE
FROM 2D TO 3D” M A R T I N E D M O N D S O N
game crashed, downloading the whole 3D. This was a seismic shift as artists
program onto the PC so a coder could and coders needed to learn a whole
then upload it and find out where it new set of tools and technology.
crashed. It was great fun!” Teams ballooned in size, and many
Of course, making the most of found themselves unable to keep
all of this new hardware meant up,” explains Mike. “DMA had to let
that game development changed several good 2D artists go as they
fundamentally, with more manpower MARTIN just couldn’t make the transition, and
required to get things done. “In the EDMONDSON coders had to learn to use proper
very earliest days our team size only Cofounder, 3D maths, from points, vectors and
increased from four (Commodore Reflections matrices, to 3D model formats and of the games community. Suddenly, anything
Amiga) to seven for PlayStation so it DMA pipelines. It was a brutal switch.” could be a game… Parappa The Rapper, or Devil
wasn’t a huge increase initially. This was partly due Dice, or Intelligent Qube – these are some of my
to the relatively pared-back design of Destruction Still, the PlayStation era’s teams favourite PlayStation memories.” Though the
Derby, there simply wasn’t time for hugely complex were smaller than those making PlayStation conquered the console industry with a
and deep games to make the launch window,” games today. “I miss the small combination of power and ease of programming,
Martin recalls. “This all changed rapidly for the team sizes it afforded – and from that, its successors did not follow the same path. The
next releases however, we had around 30 or so flexibility,” says David. “When we were building PS2 was considered difficult to work with, and the
working on Driver. ” But despite the increased the final ‘Alpha’ submission for Rollcage Stage II, PS3 even more so. “We’d hoped that PlayStation 4
overall labour demand, the PlayStation reduced the it was late at night and a few of us were there. I’d would make it a bit easier to make games,
need for some skillsets. “This wasn’t just moving been plagued by a design problem for months: particularly as it came after the PlayStation 3 which
to a new platform, this was the move from 2D to how to soften the blow when players were beaten was such a beast to tame,” says Mark. “What I
over the line after being out in front for a long time. didn’t foresee is that once games were easier to
Geoff Browitt was ready to make the final build and bring to the console, there would be a return to the
made the mistake of asking if there was anything variety of game experiences that made the early
else to go in. It was at that point the idea of the Total PlayStation years so remarkable.”
Racing points system was born – Geoff knew there Mark is right. The PlayStation was great to work
were hooks into all the game’s events and with with – and when life is easy for developers, there
Gavin Cooper we thrashed out the details and got a are fewer barriers to trying new things. It offered
new game mode in at the last minute.” something for everyone, whether that was arcade
That’s what makes the PlayStation era so conversions and Japanese oddities, the Harry
exciting – a combination of boundaries Potter and dancing games your younger
being pushed and teams that were sibling liked, or the football and racing
still small enough to be able to take games that were just realistic enough
risks. And as Mark reminds us, the to catch your dad’s attention. Without
result of all that is an extraordinarily the extraordinary technology, that
diverse library of games. “The diversity wouldn’t have been possible
technology was great, of course, – and we might’ve found ourselves
but I think what PlayStation did best still waiting for the first console to
was unleash the frustrated creativity MIKE DAILLY reach 100 million players.
Cofounder,
DMA Design

RETRO GAMER | 29
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 THE M A K IN G O F

Dizzy’s original outing was a slow-burn success, but the

fo
follow-up was an overnight sensation. The Oliver twins tell
Retro Gamer how they capped their trilogy with arguably
R
Dizzy’s greatest adventure – Fantasy World Dizzy
Words by Rory Milne

eleasing a sequel to a popular game egg-shaped hero in a junk food-themed Pac-Man

R
topping
to
by
original
o
p
good
g
was far from a given in the Eighties.
That’s not to say that developers
were adverse to following-up chart-
titles, but this approach was tempered
b the knowledge that sales of a well-reviewed
game would typically eclipse those of a
poorly-reviewed sequel. That said, a follow-up with
write-ups could potentially attain bestseller
clone, as Philip explains. “It was pretty obvious
from Treasure Island Dizzy being so successful
that we had a lot of Dizzy fans, but Fast Food was
a weird kind of accident,” the developer says of
the Dizzy spin-off. “We loved Pac-Man, and so
one Friday night, we just said, ‘We could knock
out a Pac-Man game really quickly, we can have
it finished by Monday morning if we just knuckle
status,
st and 8-bit coders Philip and Andrew Oliver’s down!’ And that’s what we did. But the reason
Treasure
T Island-set successor to Dizzy had done just Dizzy was popular was because of the adventures,
that.
th But as popular as their titular hero Dizzy’s first and we wanted to move Dizzy on. We wanted to do
tw adventures had been, the twins next put their
two the biggest, best Dizzy adventure that we could.”
The plan had to wait, however, as the twins’ next
IN THE
THE three games were non-Dizzy projects. But once they
had cleared their slate, they looked to a favourite
KNOW BBC Micro title for ideas on how to begin Dizzy’s
 PUBLISHER: third adventure – Fantasy World Dizzy. “Dizzy being
CODEMASTERS locked in a dungeon came from Castle Quest for
 DEVELOPER: the BBC,” Philip says. “It was an interesting game
THE OLIVER TWINS
where you started in a single
g room where y you had
 RELEASED:
1989 been imprisoned, and d you had to get out, and we
 PLATFORM: just thought that was a really nice intro. But we
AMSTRAD CPC, VARIOUS also needed to lock Dizzy in a single location to
 GENRE: teach players to pick an object up and take it where
ADVENTURE it needed to be used. If we had allowed
» [Amstrad CPC] Certain obstacles in Fantasy World Dizzy require precise
people to explore too much, they might
timing, such as this malfunctioning portcullis. not have realised whatat they had to do.”

32 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: FANTASY WORLD DIZZY

CONVERSION
CAPERS How the different versions of
Fantasy World Dizzy stack up
AMSTRAD CPC
QAs it was designed for the Amstrad,
it’s not surprising that the CPC original is
top-notch. Its environments are designed
around the chosen four-colour palette, so
they look great. Responsive controls make
the game’s platforming a joy, and its lively
tunes are never repetitive.

ZX SPECTRUM
QConverted by the Olivers, the Spectrum
iteration is as close to the original as you
could expect. On the downside, there’s a
little colour clash, but the game has more
» A more complicated plan for Fant
asy World Dizzy’s beanstalk is deta colours on the Sinclair systems than on the
the game’s design documents. iled in
CPC. The Spectrum 128K version also has a
spoken welcome message.
The Olivers wanted to encourage players to
explore, and so they designed a bigger world for COMMODORE 64
their latest Dizzy project. “Our belief was that if we QLike the first two Dizzy adventures, the
were going to improve on Dizzy and Treasure Island C64 Fantasy World was ported by Ian Gray.
Dizzy then we needed to be a little bit bigger, but This adaptation is a faithful one, although it
also a little bit richer in every aspect of the game,” turns the upside-down Australian stage the
Philip considers. “So everything had to be better, right way up. It adds a border graphic and
we had to improve every area. There had to be death animation that the original doesn’t
more interesting locations, more narrative and have, though, and it sounds great.
more characters.”
But rather than making these additional
characters opponents for Dizzy to overcome, the
AMIGA
QThe team that brought Fantasy World
twins instead decided to give him allies that could
Dizzy to the Amiga, ST and DOS delivered
help him solve puzzles. “While working on Treasure
everything you could hope for an upgraded
Island we were surprising ourselves, because by
conversion. All three versions have much-
being clever we could actually get a lot in, so we put
improved visuals, more collectibles and
in some enemies,” Andrew says of the characters
extra screens, but the Amiga port is the
in Fantasy World Dizzy’s predecessor. “But they
best thanks to its superior soundtrack.
were just things to kill, and we wanted a game that
was about puzzle-solving, not killing, so for Fantasy
World Dizzy we said, ‘We need to make characters ATARI ST
QIn-game music quality aside, the ST
that are obviously Dizzy’s friends,’ so we made
them look like Dizzy.” Fantasy World Dizzy is identical to the
As well as handing out advice and items, one Amiga version. As with the Commodore
of Dizzy’s friends – the eternally sleepy Dozy – also port, the new levels in the ST game contain
added a pinch of humour, which Philip insists pick-ups that net you points. There aren’t
wasn’t inspired by a deckchair related ‘accident’ that any new puzzles in them, either, but they do
Andrew had. “We had the idea that Dozy would test you with some tricky platforming.
be at the furthest edge of the map, and so we had
to make sure that there was something there that DOS
stopped players going any further,” Philip reasons. QThis is the poor cousin of the 16-bit
“So we decided to make it a pier. It was Dozy at the versions in terms of audio – there’s single-
seaside, so why not stick him in a deckchair? That channel chiptune music pregame and
made sense. Not that I’m referencing the fact that I sparse sound effects in-game. Otherwise,
did this to Andrew! I mean, I did h horrifically injure it replicates its Amiga and ST counterparts,
Andrew in a deckchair once, but tthat’s another including their cutscene interactions
story. So when we put Dozy on the th end of the pier, between Dizzy and his friends.
we just thought, ‘Hah! Wouldn’t it be funny if
you could kick him in?’ We didn’t have room for
more graphics, but it didn’t need any more, we
just moved the sprite to kick him off!”

RETRO GAMER | 33
 GUIDE TO FANTASY
CROSSING THE
WORLD
BROKEN BRIDGE
QFind a boulder and the bone, and then swap the
bone for the boulder next to the Armorog. Zoom past
the hawk, drop both boulders into the water under the
broken bridge to raise the floating platform, and then
use that to cross the water.

ESCAPING
DUNGEON THE CALMING THE DRAGONS
QGet the sleeping potion from Dozy – he’s three
QBribe the troll with the apple, and he’ll tell you to screens to the left of the broken bridge. Once you have
throw the jug of water on the fire to put it out. Next, done that, drop the potion next to the wide-eyed dragon
walk through the fireplace, give the stale bread to the in order to slip your way past him. Take the dragon egg
hungry rat and he will run off, leaving a clear path to from the Cloud Castle to the dragon’s lair to get past
the dungeon exit. the lair’s inhabitant.

This one act of amusing violence aside, the ideas for Fantasy World Dizzy’s puzzles. “We
Olivers wanted Dizzy to be a pacifist focused on wanted to make the puzzles relevant to a story,
puzzle-solving in order to avoid overcomplicating and the Looney Tunes cartoons set out very clear
his latest adventure. “Dizzy was not about combat,” objectives,” Philip recollects. “So in Tweety Pie,
Philip asserts. “We had done that in Super Robin Sylvester had to catch the bird. But the thing that
Hood and Ghost Hunters, and this was deliberately made the comedy was that what you thought
a non-combat game. We also wanted to have would happen didn’t, and Sylvester’s failure opened
the fewest number of buttons, because having up other opportunities.” Andrew agrees, and
another button would make the game twice as explains how these opportunities inspired the twins
complicated. The idea of somersaulting and landing to link their game’s puzzles together, “We thought,
on something’s head was not a concept that we ‘What we’ve got to do is link opportunities together
had thought of – we hadn’t seen Super Mario Bros so that when you do one thing it will enable
at that point.” something else.’ That was a chain, and it became far
» The Olivers are listed in 2019’s
Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition But while Philip and Andrew hadn’t yet more interesting when you had a chain of events.”
as the most prolific 8-bit developers. encountered Nintendo’s seminal platformer, the Many of Fantasy World Dizzy ’s chained puzzles
» The Olivers’ original map for Fantasy World brothers had been exposed to classics from a boiled down to unlocking access to more of the
Dizzy shows a right-way-up Aussie section. different medium, and these helped inform their game, but the Olivers decided to compliment these
with a core challenge that channelled a classic

34 | RETRO GAMER
 THE
TH
HE
E MAKING
MAKING OF: FANTASY WORLD DIZZY

How to beat Fantasy World Dizzy’s most memorable puzzles

GROWING THE
BEANSTALK
QCrowbar open the well and jump down, then trade the
cow with the shopkeeper for the magic bean. Jump back
up the well, get the bucket and fill it with water from
near the volcano. Lastly, plant the bean in the fertiliser
and water it.

RESCUING DAISY
QGet the rug from the dragon’s lair, then jump your
way up the beanstalk, and then from cloud to cloud
until you reach the lofty Cloud Castle. Throw the rug
over the daggers so that you can cross them, and
then finally pull the lever to lower the lift and free
your beloved Daisy.

fairytale. “Obviously the big chain of events in everything look interesting, but it also
Fantasy World Dizzy was Jack And The Beanstalk,” played differently because we changed the
Philip points out. “So you needed the cow and controls around so that ‘up’ was ‘down’. We
had to swap it for a magic bean, plant it, grow a were putting the market down there, so we
beanstalk and climb it to get into the Cloud Castle needed a shopkeeper. It was the other side
so that you could rescue Daisy and get out.” of the world, so we made him an Aussie
Andrew qualifies his brother’s summation, “But and put one of those hats on him with duing
elopment notes suggest sub
» Fantasy World Dizzy’s dev a drugged apple.
you would be thinking halfway through: ‘Why do corks on strings! It was a cheap trick, but it with
the game’s wide-eyed dragon
I need a bucket?’ You thought you had beaten the provided comical entertainment.”
puzzle by planting the magic bean, but that didn’t Perhaps less amusing was that the twins were
work. The bucket was empty, but there was water. under pressure to complete Fantasy World Dizzy
So very quickly we could make little stories out of in time for the festive sales period, and although
key-and-lock puzzles chained together.” it wasn’t reviewed until the new year, the quality
of Dizzy’s previous adventures ensured that this
iven that their game’s puzzles relied didn’t affect his latest game’s sales. “It was pretty

G on carrying objects to obstacles, the

twins realised that by putting a limit
on the items that Dizzy could carry
they could add tactics and additional platforming
to Fantasy World Dizzy’s challenge. “Players
had to think when they found a new object: ‘Do
I want to take it?’ So they had to use strategy,”
Philip argues. “It also allowed the player to think
important to hit the deadline and get it out quickly
because that was the last good Christmas for the
8-bit machines,” Philip says of gaming’s changing
landscape at the dawn of the Nineties. “The sales
were spectacular, as expected. Codemasters, the
distributors, retail and both of us knew that it would
be a bestseller.”
Decades after the release of their third – and likely
» [Amstrad CPC] We never knew Dizzy had a soft spot
that Dizzy’s pocket was only a certain size – even best – Dizzy adventure, the Oliver twins look back for hard boozing, no wonder he rolls everywhere.
if it could fit ladders and buckets in it, and a cow! on the puzzle-filled platformer with pride. Andrew
Although we did call it a Pygmy Cow, because views the game as an evolution that marked the
were you really going to fit a cow in your pocket? end of an era. “It moved Dizzy on significantly, and
So it was an attempt to make people think: ‘Do I it was pretty much all our work,” he says. “Beyond
need it now?’ And if they did pick it up what did that, we started getting more teams and we moved
they have to put down, plus the thought: ‘Am to an office, so we’re really proud that we did
I going to screw myself putting it down in the Fantasy World Dizzy at home in our bedrooms.”
wrong place?’” Philip gets the last word on Fantasy World Dizzy,
In addition to limiting Dizzy’s inventory, the Oliver and singles the game out as a career high. “I’m
twins also differentiated Fantasy World Dizzy from fond of and proud of what we managed to create.
its predecessors by turning some of the game It was one of our best,” the designer enthuses. “It
upside-down. “It was the right way up when we was a really enjoyable time where there were no
hand-drew it,” Philip recollects. “It was only later distractions. Our heads were down working long
that we said, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if the well was hours but loving it and loving the feedback and the
really deep, and then you fall out onto the other side praise. Everything was awesome; Fantasy World » [Amstrad CPC] Dizzy encounters a problem that we’ve all
of the world? We can do it upside-down!’ It made Dizzy just hit the sweet spot, really.” likely had, in some form or another.

RETRO GAMER | 35
Pac-Man
 DEVELOPER: Namco  YEAR: 1980
ere’s a truly iconic cabinet
net for a truly iconic
arcade game. The basic shape of the original
Japanese Puckman cabinet et has been retained
H for the game’s export release,
ease, but Midway’s total
artistic redesign made the machine e more striking. Yellow is
a colour that catches the eye pretty ty easily, especially when
contrasted with black, and the Pac-Man
c-Man n cabinet certainly
sticks out from across any crowded ed arcade. Bold, cartoonish
side art shows off Pac-Man and one of his ghostly pursuers,
albeit in forms that are a long wayy from the art we recognise
today. The bezel art plays off the in-game
n-game maze design,
and the simple control panel consisting
sisting of a single central
joystick and start buttons is inviting
ng to all players.
Pac-Man’s impact was such that hat the game and
character have become emblematic atic of the Eighties and
are now enduring pop-culture mainstays.
ainstays. Books were
published on how to succeed at the game, top players
gained fame for their achievements, nts, and the brand was
thoroughly merchandised with a tie-in cartoon, breakfast
cereal and even a novelty single. The cabinet itself is
part of that, too – over the years the Pac-Man n cabinet
has been recreated, miniaturised d and turned into toys,
alarm clocks and more.

Pac-Man fact
QPinky’s behaviour suffers from a bug – if
Pac-Man is facing in any direction other than up,
Pinky will attempt to reach the space ahead
of him. If Pac-Man is facing up, Pinky’s
target will still be ahead of Pac-Man,
but four tiles left of where it
should be.
STANDOUT MOMENT
Four to the floor
The relentless pursuit of the ghosts,
followed by the tide-turning moment as
you guide your hungry hero to a power
pellet, is the core thrill of Pac-Man. But
if becoming the hunter is an enjoyable
moment of empowerment, more
enjoyable still is the occasion in which
you not only scarf down a power pellet,
but manage to munch on Inky, Pinky,
Blinky and Clyde in quick succession. Not
only do you get a brief moment of respite,
but the last in the chain will earn you
1,600 points, vital for topping the high
score table and earning yourself some
significant bragging rights.

SYS
SYSTEM
Y TEM
SUPPLIED BY
ARCADE
CLUB
 ULTIMATE GUIDE:

Back in the late Eighties and early Nineties, platform games were all
the rage,
rag but they were mainly found on consoles, so when Toki arrived
in the arcades it really stood out from the crowd
Words by Kieren Hawken

D
eveloped in 1989 by Tokyo-based arcade In the game’s story, Toki was a once a tribal leader
developer TAD Corporation, Toki was who was living happily on an island somewhere in the
undoubtedly the company’s biggest hit. South Pacific. This all ends tragically when the beautiful
The game was originally known as JuJu Miho, a tribal princess who Toki is madly in love with,
Densetsu (meaning Legend Of JuJu) in Japan, and is kidnapped by the demonic witch doctor Vookimedlo.
the game was picked up in the west by US coin-op The wicked shaman takes Miho to a vast golden palace
distributors Fabtek which chose to rename the game on the top of a volcano where he keeps her captive. He
Toki. While the word JuJu has connotations related to then casts a spell to transform all the human inhabitants
African origins – notably as a spiritual belief system – of the island into various animals and beasts so they are
Toki can be attributed as a Maori word for axe. unable to defend themselves against him. Toki himself is
transformed into an ape, but Vookimedlo’s spell doesn’t
work as planned and Toki retains all the knowledge of
his former self. He also discovers that, as a result of the
transformation, he now has special powers that include
the ability to shoot projectiles from his mouth. Toki
then sets off on a quest to defeat Vookimeldo, rescue
princess Miho and undo the curse which has befallen
his beautiful island. The intro to the game even reveals
some of this story.
To reach Vookimedlo’s golden palace, Toki must
traverse six lethal levels that take in different parts of
the island, including the jungle, deep lakes, icy caves
and the lava spewing volcano itself. There’s nobody
who can help poor Toki, either, as Vookimedlo has
turned all of Toki’s former friends against him. There
are two ways that Toki can kill these enemies: either her
by shooting projectiles from his mouth or jumping on
HERBAMO
» [Arcade
[Arcade] The American football helmet acts like a shield, letting
their heads. Most of them require multiple hits and d will
you sustain
susta several hits before it disappears. fight back in different ways, such as launching

38 | RETRO GAMER
 SHARTOESI
ULTIMATE GUIDE: TOKI
WEBSTAMITE

CONVERSION CAPERS LYNX MEGA DRIVE

QArguably the best home port of the game, Lynx QSubtitled Going Ape Spit, Sega’s own Mega
Toki stays incredibly close to the arcade in almost Drive version is more like a sequel rather than
every regard. The graphics are excellent, the a straight conversion. While many of the main
soundtrack is among the best on the Lynx and themes are carried over here, Mega Drive Toki
it controls really well. It’s certainly not an easy has new level designs, a different power-up
game, though! system and more stages in total, too.

COMMODORE 64 NES
QThe only 8-bit computer version that ended QTaito’s 1991 NES port, like so many others on
up being released by Ocean, this C64 cartridge the system, makes quite a few changes from
isn’t particularly pretty but does a decent job of the original arcade game. The graphical style is
replicating the original. However, it is missing the quite different, some of the level maps have been
full intro sequence, only has one music track and modified and you now have a health bar making
is missing an entire level. it much easier.

AMIGA ATARI 7800

QYou’d expect the Amiga version to be pretty QUntil a few years ago it wasn’t even known that
similar to the ST, but actually it’s clear to see an Atari 7800 port had been developed, and then
that they were programmed independently. We suddenly this pretty much complete prototype
wouldn’t say this version is any better or any showed up. This conversion is surprisingly close
worse than the ST version, it just has a slightly to the original and it’s a real shame it never got a
different look and feel. commercial release.

ATARI ST IPHONE
QConverted by Ocean France the ST port is QPerhaps the most obscure port of all is this one
incredibly impressive indeed. In fact, it’s pretty released by Magic Team for the iPhone in 2009.
hard to find any fault with it at all as it features It’s a pretty faithful reproduction of the game that
excellent graphics, a cracking rendition of the rather unusually displays the game in portrait
soundtrack and gets the original gameplay mode with a large virtual controller in the bottom
almost perfect. third of the screen.

KILLER HARNAS

GARNIDARE

IVOR

TIMAGON
RETRO GAMER | 39
BOSS RUSH BOLORAGOG
QThis giant Easter Island-inspired character
acter
appears at the end of level one and throws
ws
small apes at you (named Geeshergam)
repeatedly until you manage to hit him
enough times to kill him.

GATE OF MOORNAH NEPTUNA

QThis is the bizarre mid-level QThe inspiration for this mid--
boss that you encounter on the level boss is pretty obvious, what
first stage, a giant golden machine n’t
isn’t so obvious is that you don’t
that takes up more than one ou time
have to actually beat him. If you
screen. Once you kill the monkeys it correctly you can simply swimim over
controlling it, you can move on. his head and get away.

ZORZAMOTH
QThere’s only one tactic that works
on level four’s antagonist and that’s
to crouch down and shoot his slow
moving feet. Stop him moving and
you’ll win pretty quickly, otherwise it’s
’s
almost immediate death for you.

MORGULVAR BASHTAR
alifornia
QLooking like a mutated California QIf you are going to beat stage five
Raisin, all you need to do to beat then you’ll need to give Bashtar a
level three’s final foe is stay on heart attack. Duck or jump to avoid
oot
the far left of the screen, shoot his flying limbs then get as close as
right at him and then jump when you can to that pulsing organ and
he swings his long limbs at you. blast away.

KALGATROBE
THORPEDO

PENGAFIN
40 | RETRO GAMER
 ULTIMATE GUIDE: TOKI

RAMBACHA
QThe level two boss is much harder than an
you’d expect, mainly due to the random m
element of where he appears, meaning
there is no set pattern. The trick here is to
FLYING SHARDU
just keep on moving from one side to the he
other, while avoiding its eyes.

» [Arcade] Apes love

their own projectiles or rushing towards our hero swinging on vines, but
there’s nothing fun about
at high speed. Thankfully for Toki, magical items can that deadly lava below.
VOOKIMEDLO be found strewn across the landscape that will aid
s an
QThe final boss first appears as him on his quest. Some of these improve his spitting
pitting
elderly wizard before transforming
ing capability, adding double or even triple streams of
into an ugly beast. Keep shootingg the projectiles, while others include footwear that letsts Toki
body while avoiding the projectiles
les jump higher, and an American football helmet that hat acts
and you’ll be transformed back into
nto like a limited shield. You are also able to pick up fruit
your human form. and coins, both of which improve your score, which hich
can ultimately reward you with extra lives.
To reach his final destination, Toki must jumpp
across crumbling platforms, swing on ropes, climb mb up
vines and swim through rivers. Before each level el
you are shown a map of the entire stage that
shows any potential hazards and tells you what to
look out for (a similar map had appeared in Capcom’s
com’s
Ghouls ‘N Ghosts the previous year). We do like e how
many things set Toki apart from similar titles of the
time, including the variations of gameplay, which
argue verges on a run-and-gun at times, and the
h some
e way
BELLZADOR
certain power-ups can only be obtained by performing i
a very specific series of actions.

G
iven how successful Toki was in
the arcades of the time, it was only
natural that home versions would start
springing up all over the place. It was UK
coin-op conversion specialist Ocean Software that got
in on the act first, and it started heavily advertising its
ts
home computer ports of the game in 1991. Handled d
by Ocean France, it was the impressive 16-bit Atari
ST and Amiga versions that were first out the door.
However, the three 8-bit versions suffered a range
of different fates, with only the Commodore 64
conversion making it out the door. First, there
BUNGATARAS

ARMOREL KEMIN

RETRO GAMER | 41
 RAKTURA

Q&A D SCOTT
WILLIAMSON was the 128K ZX Spectrum port, which was
previewed in the July 1991 issues of both Crash and
Your Sinclair. Coded by Special FX, it’s unclear why
this version was never finished, but it’s likely the
We sit down with the programming powerhouse to dwindling market for ZX Spectrum games is to blame
talk about converting Toki to Atari’s Lynx with all of Ocean’s last releases for the machine taking
place in that year. The Amstrad version, like the rival
How did you end up working for Why does Toki work so Commodore 64 port, was due to be a cartridge game
Atari and landing the job of porting well on the Lynx? to take advantage of the newly released GX4000
Toki to the Lynx? Coin-ops were huge console. Allegedly, the team completed one level of
Getting a programming job with Atari in in the late Eighties and the game and then ran out of ROM space, but it’s far
1987 was my dream job. I was originally arcade games like APB, Pac-Land, Hydra, more likely that the failure of the console put paid to
hired to work on the Atari-badged Sega Xenophobe, Road Blasters, STUN Runner thi
this port. The C64GS cartridge also had the advantage
Genesis, but aer that deal fell through I and, of course, Toki were real hot and of being compatible with the home computer, while
ended up writing White Water Madness on you couldn’t play anything like them at Am
Amstrad didn’t have the same luxury. The CPC+
the still in-development Atari STe. I also home. Well, until the Lynx came along ran
range of computers had also failed to set the world
wrote some digitised sound drivers and with its unlimited scalable full-colour alig
alight in the midst of more powerful competition and
tools for 2600, 7800 and Atari 8-bit then sprites, specialised scrolling hardware and the
these cartridges couldn’t played on the original, and
Atari and Epyx came to an agreement advanced sound. It was able to bring those tec
technically inferior, CPC models.
on the Lynx. Everything about the Lynx games home at a quality never seen before

T
was so new and amazing, I leaped at the – and it was a handheld, too. There were hen there are the console ports of
opportunity to work on it and dug in deep. some games on the Lynx that even the Toki, which again provide us with an
Atari gave me the title of head of developer Genesis and SNES couldn’t do and that was interesting set of stories. The first two
support for the Lynx so I pretty much got pretty exciting. The Lynx’s hardware was versions to arrive in 1991 were Taito’s NES
to pick my own projects. I loved arcade just really well suited to arcade games and I translation and Sega’s Mega Drive remix. The first of
games so it’s easy to see why I picked Road think Toki proves that. which tried to stay fairly close to the arcade game while
Blasters, STUN Runner and Toki! the second took a totally different route altogether by
The graphics in Lynx Toki are giving a completely different game that just followed
gorgeous, how did you get them the same themes. The 1992 Atari Lynx port came next,
looking so good? programmed by D Scott Williamson, who also did the
I employed another old CRT TV trick that I
had also used in Road Blasters and STUN
Runner called mid-screen palette switching.
Without this technique, the Lynx can only
display 16 colours on the screen at any
one time. But I soon found that with some
clever timer programming I could create
WOBALIN
an ‘HBlank’ interrupt that would allow me
to change palette colours partway down
the screen or on every scanline. I think
I managed to get 48 unique colours on
the screen at once, trebling the number
of colours allowed on the screen in one
frame. I’m rather proud of the fact that the
early Lynx emulators did not handle this
timing precisely and they were a glitchy
mess as a result!

» [Arcade] The most powerful power-up that you can find in the
game is the lethal fire breath.

CREEPAVORE

42 | RETRO GAMER
 » [Switch] Toki’s remade adventur
Expect a review in a future issue.
e should be on sale now. ULTIMATE GUIDE: TOKI

» [Arcade] The jungle level features some of the most annoying and
TOKI REMASTERED
Pierre Adane and Philippe Dessoly are part of the team at Microids
hard to kill enemies in the game. which is responsible for the new Nintendo Switch remake
highly impressive conversions of STUN Runner and Do you know what happened to What technical challenges during
Road Blasters, it stayed remarkably close to the original the Xbox 360 version that was first development have you encountered?
source material and maintained the Lynx’s reputation announced back in 2009? PA: Remain the most faithful to the original
as a handheld arcade machine. It later turned out this PA: Only part of the first level was as possible.
wasn’t the only version Atari had up its sleeve, however, completed. It was developed on Unreal PD: The most technical challenge is the
as Images Software were also coding an Atari 7800 blueprints and sadly there were some inner time spent! Making the design alone is
conversion, that was found and recovered from a hard struggles between the guys that led to a very long, time has changed and the way
drive in 2014. There are several things that are peculiar standby position. we make videogames has changed, too.
about this: first, the 1993 copyright date, when all 7800 I had to check that nothing was missing
production had ceased the previous year; it was also Why remake Toki? Were you fans of and completely recreate all the characters
PAL-only, despite the US being the system’s most » Pierre Adane (top) and
the original arcade game? and environments.
popular market; and finally, the port seems to be pretty Phillipe Dessoly PA: I was a big fan of Toki from the very
much complete. It’s been speculated that perhaps (bottom) are big fans of beginning. When the original game released Have you made any notable changes
Toki and both worked at
this was part of a planned 7800 relaunch as a budget Ocean France. in arcades I was working at Ocean France or revisions from the original for
console, a bit like the Atari 2600 Jr, along with other big where we met. By chance, Toki was one this remake?
name titles such as Rampart, Steel Talons, Pit-Fighter of the games adapted by us for the Atari PA: The visual aspect is the most important
and Road Riot 4WD. We might never know the truth, ST and Amiga. I was working on Pang, so evolution in this version.
but we should all get to purchase and play this highly I didn’t work directly on Toki but I had the PD: I wanted the game to look like a
impressive conversion very soon thanks to homebrew pleasure to follow its development. When cartoon, so I started to redesign all the
and prototype publishers Beta Phase Games. the opportunity of developing a new version characters in that way, then I created
Another lost version of the game is the one showed up, I was immediately thrilled by environments and then, of course, I
announced for the PC, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 back in the idea. Furthermore, working again with redesigned the animation as a cartoon.
2011. This remake of Toki was being programmed by Philippe was a great pleasure.
Golgoth Studios and after missing its release date it was PD: I also discovered Toki at Ocean France, Why choose to debut the game on
never heard of again. The reasons for this cancellation I was already a big fan of arcade games Nintendo Switch and are there any
are unknown. Fans eager for a Toki remake don’t need but I had never heard about Toki. I had just plans to release this remake on
to fret, though. Microids is the latest company to finished the game Ivanhoe when I started other platforms?
take up the mantle, and this much-awaited ed to convert arcade games. Starting with Toki PA: We naturally choose the Nintendo
remake should finally be out just as you was a great opportunity and I have spent Switch because it is perfect for this kind
get to read this very article. many hours playing this game! When I was of game. The ease of use of this device fits
offered the chance to work on Toki’s remake, perfectly with the game’s spirit.
I immediately said yes! I knew that I would PD: As Pierre said, the Switch appears is
be able to improve it with my own style, perfect for this kind of game. I really hope
especially working again with the Mr Nutz we are able to adapt Toki to other platforms
team (Pierre and Raphaële Guesqua). too, but it is up to Microids to decide.

KATYEROWS
CATECORMOS
SHOSHANU

RETRO GAMER | 43
» PUSHING THE LIMITS

Teenage Mutant
Hero Turtles
Given the popularity of the cartoon, could the
humble Spectrum handle this behemoth franchise?
 PLATFORM: ZX SPECTRUM  DEVELOPER: PROBE SOFTWARE/IMAGE WORKS  RELEASED: 1990

he short answer is ‘yes’; and the The game is split into two main parts: a

T challenge was taken on by the

hands of just two men. Not just any
old duo, of course: it was now game
industry legends David Perry (Earthworm Jim)
and Nick Bruty (MDK) who handled this version
top-down view where you navigate your way
around the area to find various sewers and
warehouses to enter, and then upon entering
each room or sewer, you have a side-on view
of the action. You’ll find a lot of goings on
of our green heroes’ first foray in the world of in the sewers as you take your first plunge
computer games. underground with many mutations to be
What these two coders have managed avoided, from giant eyeballs, oversized bees
to achieve here is incredible. Though it lacks and some angry looking giant frogs. You’ll need
a soundtrack, in terms of looks and size, this to be quick with your Ninja reflexes to avoid
is a game that mirrors that of even its NES getting caught.
counterpart. All of the levels you find from the This is an aesthetically pleasing game, with
other versions, from navigating the streets, to the its large sprites and scrolling animation. It really
action of the sewers and escapades underwater, is an achievement that its 48K limit somehow
are all here for you to enjoy. hasn’t restricted it and it proves the Spectrum
There are many missions for you to complete, can do amazing things in the right hands. And
including rescuing various kidnapped friends and don’t be mislead because of the kid-friendly
accomplices, namely news reporter April O’Neil subject matter here: Teenage Mutant Hero
and your master Splinter, along with undoing Turtles is as good-looking as it’s going to get
other attempts to take over the city. You’ll on the Spectrum, and it runs as smooth as the
probably guess that the Turtles’ main enemy underside of an amphibian. If you were lucky
Shredder is behind these, with his sidekicks enough to pick this game up in its original box
Bebop and Rocksteady on hand to do the dirty release, you will remember getting a set of
work, along with his Foot Clan. stickers, badge and poster for free, too.
HOW IT
PUSHED
THE LIMITS…

Goodbye colour clash

There’s no sign of any monochrome
graphics here, every element of the
game is full of colour and there is no
clash to be found. Quite how this was
avoided in such a colourful game we
don’t know, but it looks great.

Crisp large sprites

Having clashless colours on the
Spectrum is enough to win us over,
but with this game it doesn’t stop
there. Bold colours and large sprites
are plentiful here, with very high detail
and they’re a treat to look at.

Lag-free
Given that the Speccy is having to deal
with such impressive graphics, you’d
think this would slow the game down.
But not only do our Turtle heroes run
fast, the game keeps up the speed
even with a very busy screen.

Smooth 3D scrolling
The way the game moves as you
make your way from one side of
the screen to the other is a beauty.
Walled backgrounds slowly scroll as
you run, fight and jump around until
you reach your goal.
 M A K I N G O F
THE

r a ny f
fa n of re tro games
e is a n inc re d ib le place fo
Europe’s biggest ar
cad
erta k in g, too . W e speak to
n in g it is an in c re d ible und
to visit - and run x a ctly ho w it’s done
alm e r to find ou t e
found e r A ndy P
pe
Words by Nick Thor

46 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: ARCADE CLUB

he first time you visit Arcade Club,

T it almost feels like you’re making a

crazy discovery. That’s partially because
the building it’s housed in is nothing
exciting – Ela Mill was previously a factory making
handbags and other leather goods, so other than
some signage and a few players smoking outside,
there’s little to suggest that there’s an arcade
inside. But once you make your way inside, pay
Saturday. For that they got a free can of Coke and a
biscuit thrown in as well.”
The idea soon took off, necessitating increasingly
spacious venues. “BBC’s Collectaholics got involved
which kind of catapulted it into the stratosphere,
and we decided to move to the unit which was 100
machines. After that everything was going fine,
DETAILS
ADDRESS:
Ela Mill
Cork Street
Bury,
Greater Manchester
BL9 7BW
your entrance fee and head up a few flights of no problems. But there was a major problem with PHONE:
stairs, the magic hits you hard. As you pass the parking, we had no parking facilities around the 0161 464 9796
cocktail cabinets and head into the main arcade, a warehouse where we were, and that caused major
WEBSITE:
sit-down Ridge Racer greets you on the left. Beyond problems with the locals – it just wasn’t good. And www.arcadeclub.co.uk
that you’re flanked by rows of Electrocoin Goliath once we reached the capacity of 100 people it was
cabinets as you make your way towards the back one in, one out like a nightclub. People didn’t seem TWITTER:
@arcadeclubuk
of the room, each cabinet containing a classic like to mind it, and they quite liked the exclusivity.”
Golden Axe or 1942. In an adjacent room, there are Still, Arcade Club was growing and it needed a FACEBOOK:
PCs ready to go for Minecraft sessions. Downstairs, new home. “It’s very difficult finding the amount www.facebook.com/
arcadeclubuk/
you’ll find a variety of Japanese music games like of space required at a good rate that the business
Sound Voltex and Groove Coaster, as well as pinball model will actually sustain, because if you go into
tables, consoles and more retro arcade games. If a town centre you’ve got parking problems and
you’ve ever had any interest in videogames at all, you’ve also got massive business rates, you’ve got
Arcade Club is a thrilling place to visit. service charges – you’ve got a lot of stuff on top
Of course, a collection of cabinets spanning over which means you’d have to put your door prices
40 years doesn’t come together overnight. “We up. You’ve got to be very careful about the pricing
had a chain of computer shops and we noticed model.” Ela Mill was eventually picked as a suitable
there was a turning off in the industry,” says location, but it didn’t come without risk. “We threw
Andy Palmer, founder of Arcade Club. “We had caution to the wind a little bit, we didn’t have a lot
some arcade machines in the shop which I’d been of money when we came to Bury,” Andy admits.
collecting for a while, and I was wondering what to “We actually sold – which I regret now – an Out Run
do with them.” After toying with giving away tokens deluxe just to get the deposit together.”
to shop customers and a coffee shop idea, Andy With all of Andy’s prior knowledge, we wonder
hit upon the first version of the Arcade Club model. if there was anything he hadn’t factored in.
“We set up 30 machines in the shop to see how it “Electricity,” he says. “We’ve had to do so much
would go, and we charged £10 for four hours on a with the infrastructure of the mill. We’re

RETRO GAMER | 47
 Despite that, where there’s demand, Arcade Japanese games, VR, PCs, consoles – we cater to
Club adds capacity. “If say for instance Pac-Man what the audience wants.
or Space Invaders is particularly popular, even if Most of the newer arcade games found at
people can’t get past the first few levels, we’ll add Arcade Club are Japanese games, so you’re unlikely
more cabs. We did have three Defenders in here at to find anything that you could easily run across
one point because it was particularly popular with in your local bowling alley. “We actually fly out
40-somethings that wanted to relive their youth.” to Japan, we source everything ourselves,” says
What’s more, there have been very few games Andy. “We want to be on the cutting edge all the
that have escaped once being put on the Arcade time.” That’s something that can’t be achieved by
Club most-wanted list. “Discs Of Tron and I, Robot sticking exclusively to what’s available domestically,
were two difficult ones but I’ve got a source for which Andy attributes primarily to the amusement
those now, they’re buried in a friend’s storage but industry’s lack of focus on videogames. “It’s
» As well as gaming, Arcade Club offers food options, and you can he’s said once he gets to them they’re ours, which always redemption, the ticket machines now. The
even enjoy your meal on a cocktail cabinet. is fantastic.” Still, certain games aren’t feasible to industry’s going that way and I feel it’s a bit of a
run. “Everybody keeps saying about the R-360, mistake, because they’re just aiming for kids with
drawing eight 80-amp feeds, and there’s that but the problem with that is that it needs X-raying these tickets, it’s a little bit manipulative and it’s not
surge of turning the machines on – we don’t want every six months or so to look for microfractures in the spirit of gaming, it’s in the spirit of money,” he
to have to turn them on individually because that in the subframe and stuff. They were a bit of a explains. “I know that’s what business is there for
would take far too long. We’ve spent many, many nightmare to keep going back in the day, and I but at Arcade Club, we have to make money, fine,
thousands just on wiring and infrastructure.” think the duty cycle at Arcade Club would mean it but I feel like we can do it in a fair way. It’s hard to
Additionally, since a business of Arcade Club’s kind would potentially be broken more than it would be balance, but I think I’m doing it.”
is somewhat unusual, some people struggle to working. It also needs an attendant, which means it The business end of things is an interesting
grasp it. “It’s very difficult to get it through to the needs to be fully staffed, which needs a wage.” subject – conventional wisdom says that the arcade
council sometimes that it’s not a gambling arcade business isn’t the place to be today, and Andy has
– there won’t be any fruit machines – because they ne interesting facet of Arcade Club said himself that there are better ways to make
don’t have a videogame arcade category anymore,”
Andy says. “But we had a great guy on planning
who loved arcades, which helped – he actually said,
‘Do you have Tron?’ That was the magic key.”
The roots of the Arcade Club games collection,
which now numbers over 250 games, can be
found in Andy’s own long-term collecting hobby.
However, the selection has been balanced for
O is that although it has a huge roster
of retro arcade games, it is not
exclusively retro-focused. “I think
people will get bored of Pac-Man,” says Andy. “A
lot of people will turn up, play Pac-Man and Space
Invaders, realise how hard they are, be put off and
then never visit again. For those sorts of people
you need to do something different, so we have
money. “It’s not a booking system at Arcade Club,
which means you’re never guaranteed on your
numbers. Summer was hard for us, we had the
World Cup and the heatwave together, so we saw a
massive dip in numbers,” Andy confesses. “Luckily
we’re structured so we could get through that, but
we wouldn’t have got through that if it had lasted
three months. We would’ve had major problems.
quality and commercial appeal. “I targeted cabs,
some of which I had anyway, like Space Invaders,
Pac-Man, Galaxian, Star Wars, Robotron and
Defender. I just went for triple-A titles, the best of
the best, because I thought if we’re gonna do it,
we’ve got to do it with triple-A titles.” The long-
term build-up of Arcade Club’s collection has also
been a major factor in the quality of the games
available, according to Andy, simply on financial
grounds. “If I was starting it now, straight away
I’d run into a brick wall of, ‘It’s £1,000 for Pac-Man,
it’s £1,600 for Donkey Kong’ – there’s better ways
to make money nowadays with an investment.
Everything’s just gone ridiculously priced.”

48 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: ARCADE CLUB

While the heat isn’t something many would

seek out in an arcade, Arcade Club does attracts a
number of players used to heated competition. “We
BUILDING THE DREAM
have a lot of record holders here – CharlieFar, David Here’s a quick pictorial history of Arcade Club, from the
Lyne he’s called, he’s the Galaxian world champion original shop to the latest developments
and he’s the best player I’ve ever seen in my life.
John Stoodley comes here quite often, he’s one
of the world’s Pac-Man champions. Shaun Holley
from the Ten Pence Arcade podcast, he does a lot
for the community. We have MBA, Manchester n, with
to expand in Haslingde
Battle Arena which is our fighting community – it’s » Arcade Club was able mo tion cabinets.
e deluxe
100 machines and som
all to do with gaming across all genres and all ages,
that’s what Arcade Club’s about.”

peaking of all ages, Arcade Club is

S family friendly but it requires adult

supervision for all children under 16.
“Yeah, it’s quite strict actually, very
conservative,” Andy admits. “The reason we did
that is we didn’t want a gang of kids potentially
causing issues. I want everyone to be safe – and the
other thing is we don’t know everyone’s medical
history,” he continues. “So if somebody drops off
» Here’s the original Arcade Club, in the
back of the computer
shop – there were just 30 cabinets and space
was tight!

a group of 12-year-olds and one of them has a fit,

falls or has an allergic reaction to something in their
» Here are the machines moving into Ela
food, we won’t know what’s going on there and it Mill, with
the engineering room being built on the
right.
could potentially be life-threatening. And the other
thing is, I’d hate for someone to turn up five hours
after dropping their child off and say, ‘Where’s my
child?’ because they’ve just gone out of the front
door, because you can come and go as you please.
I don’t want anyone ever to go, ‘You lost my child.’”
Arcade Club also runs adults-only sessions
» Ela Mill was a bit of a bomb site to begin with, and
it required a whole lot of clearing up.

» We were given a sneaky look at the new

floor,
which was still a long way from completion
!

floor.
for the completed second
» This is a previous layout

» Arcade Club keeps hundreds of games

in storage – there’s
always something new and interesting on
the way.
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME
Some games are best experienced in the arcade, or simply
impossible to play at home - here are five that Arcade Club offers

PANIC PARK
QThis offbeat Namco game gives each
player a lever with which to control a
IKARI variety of minigames, some of which
WARRIORS vary by season. Because the levers
QAlthough SNK’s Eighties hit directly clash with each other, you’ll quite
has been converted to home often physically jostle for position with
platforms and often quite well, your opponent in a way that would be
the game’s rotary joystick has impossible to replicate on console.
never been replicated, which
makes aiming significantly
more difficult. The cabinet
at Arcade Club features the
correct controls, allowing
you and a friend to blast the
baddies properly.

ICE COLD BEER

QTaito’s mechanical game requires
you to lift a ball, using a metal bar, into
a target hole indicated by a light. It’s a
game with a simple aim that proves
devilishly tricky to actually master -
though we’ve seen video evidence of
the veteran coder Jim Bagley making
it look like child’s play.

CHO CHABUDAI
GAESHI! 2
QThat title roughly translates as ‘Ultra
Overturning A Table In Anger! 2’ (according
to Google, that is) and that’s your goal.
The game places you in an anger-
inducing scenario, then requires you
to slap your hands on the table before
QUICK & CRASH overturning it violently, scoring you on
QThis is a shooting gallery game which the destruction you cause.
uses real, physical objects – and as a
result, there’s a real pleasure to be taken
in the destruction that occurs as you
blast a mug to pieces. Time Crisis II on
PlayStation 2 features a simulation of the
game, but it’s just not the same.
 EXTENDED PLAY
Andy Palmer explains the work involved in keeping classic machines alive
Wa the maintenance of the
Was hole components. If you looked at the circuit
arcade machines something
arc board, you’d recognise resistors, capacitors, chips
(with 16-to-17-year-olds allowed as long as they you were knowledgeable of and etc as a classic design for a circuit board. But if
are with an adult) on Thursday and Friday. prepared for before opening
pre you look at a modern one, the components are
So what does the future hold for Arcade Club? Ar
Arcade Club? so small that it’s very hard to tell capacitors from
A new location has just been announced, based It’s something I’ve tinkered about resistors, and the board’s lacquered over as well.
in Kirkstall, Leeds and due to open in early 2019. wit
with over many, many years. There’s
We also discover that a third floor is in the works people
peo out there that are far more You’ve got two full-time technicians. How
for Bury. “We’ve found that the Japanese floor can knowledgeable
kn than myself. We have did you find them?
get a little bit chaotic, so what we’re doing is we’re a fantastic TV engineer,
en we have a great engineer Julian, our CRT tech, actually came into the
going to turn that floor into a dedicated Japanese with Mark as well, and we’re taking on some more shop when we still had a few of the computer
floor, drop the VR and PCs down a floor and set engineers soon. But the maintenance side of it I shops le, and came in for a networking job.
up a more loungey console-type area,” says Andy. wasn’t quite ready for, because there is a lot more On his CV it said he used to work at a TV repair
“I’ve always wanted to do a console area for people maintenance than anyone would think on these shop, so I interviewed him at the arcade and he
but if you can’t keep on top of it, people tend to start machines. A lot of the time you’ll pick up one repaired three monitors that me and Mark had
resetting things. It needs stewarding, so to speak, it of these machines and it’s 20-30 years old, and been Googling and going through Randy Frum’s
needs somebody there to make sure everything’s either it’s not been switched on for 20-30 years or flowcharts trying to fix. But because he knows
okay.” Additionally, it will free up space for some of it’s been switched on infrequently. Once you ask the theory of monitors and it’s in his blood, if
the more popular attractions. “We find that VR can them to do a duty cycle of 14 hours, that’s the real you like, he was able to suss out exactly what
be a little bit queuey sometimes, especially on a test for the machines, especially the monitors, and was going on without using those flowcharts.
Friday night, so we need to add more,” says Andy. they will fall down. Whenever we buy a machine So I said, ‘Would you like the job? It’s not in the
off a collector, very rarely they’ll last three or four computer shop, it’s in the arcade,’ and he was
ow about long-term plans – Arcade hours without something going wrong because very grateful that his knowledge that he thought

H Club is already the biggest arcade in

Europe, could it become the biggest
in the world? “I don’t know if we can
achieve that, but hopefully we can,” says Andy.
“We have hundreds of machines in storage, and
we have literally about 50 machines in containers
winging their way over from America and Japan.
We are looking towards the future and we want
they’re not used to anything like that, they’re used
to doing 20 minutes in someone’s house. So we do
a lot to keep them going.

What sort of things would those be?

We recap – we rebuild absolutely everything, at
great cost sometimes because we will have to
replace parts which are very difficult to source,
potentially was lost forever – he thought nobody
would ever want to repair a CRT again – is being
used. He’s got good, solid electrical engineering
skills, too, so he can suss out most circuits,
power supplies, etc and he’s just started to do
PCB repairs too, so he’s starting to move into
that side of things which is fantastic.
Mark is actually Gauntlet world champion,
to make Arcade Club bigger.” How about more or we’ll have to salvage parts off a machine we he’s been with us a bit longer than Julian, and
locations? “One day – maybe – I’d love it if we could bought that’s maybe not in the best aesthetic basically he’s a hobbyist-turned-tech [engineer]
possibly open about four or five across the UK so condition. We imported a Lunar Lander, for but he’s very, very good. Now he can repair
everyone could enjoy it,” Andy replies cautiously, instance, from America, which had shocking monitors, he services a lot of the machines, he’s
“but I have to make sure the infrastructure is there water damage just so we could repair our own taken on board repair as well. And they’re into it,
first, and that we’re able to keep on top of repairs Lunar Lander and get it up to spec. We got a they love what they do, which is what you’d ask
before we could do that.” spare board out of it and a spare monitor, but of any employee and it’s what everybody wants
Regardless of any plans for future expansion, unfortunately the actual wooden shell was a in life, they want to do something positive and
Arcade Club is already a unique and exciting write-off – you would touch it and it crumbled. they want to love doing it.
venue for any gamer to visit – and when all is So that’s something you have to do
said and done, that’s the thing that Andy finds sometimes, you have to sacrifice a machine to
most satisfying about the business. “It’s never save another machine.
been about the money, it’s just about having a
fantastic time and leaving something, once I’ve Is there anything you’ve had to take off the
left this mortal coil, that was worthwhile. That’s floor because it couldn’t be repaired?
very important to me. I don’t want to just have Mostly modern stuff is the major problem,
a big bank account,” he says. “A lot of people because it’s a lot of surface-mounted components.
said it wouldn’t work, and I’d end up with a very A lot of the older stuff’s quite easy to repair, like
expensive lesson in what businesses not to open, Pac-Man, you can repair that forever believe it or
but fortunately it did – people supported us and not, because the components are large through-
just love Arcade Club for what it is, which is a great
value day out that the whole family can enjoy.”

RETRO GAMER | 51
 THE MAKING OF

WE CAUGHT UP WITH ADVENTURE

GAMING
FLORIDA,PIONEER
ONCE SCOTT
THE ADAMS
HOME OF IN
HIS
SOFTWARE COMPANY ADVENTURE
INTERNATIONAL, TO TALK TEXT
AND PAINS IN THE NECK
Words by Paul Drury

S cott Adams leans across the table and

eyes us over his glasses. “I have to tell
you before we start talking about The Count,
this was a game I made before I became a
Christian and it’s not a game I would write today,” he
says, rather unexpectedly.
We are a little taken aback that our favourite of Scott’s
superlative text adventures now sits uncomfortably with
his faith, but then the game does trap the player in a
revisit this dark episode in his game-writing past? “Oh,
but I did enjoy writing it back then,” he says, with a
reassuring laugh. “Of course, it featured Count Dracula,
but as with all my games, I didn’t want it to be horrifying
or scary. I wanted humour! That’s how I approached it.
And, you know, you’re not the only person who has told
me it struck a chord with them.”
Written right at the end of the Seventies, The Count
was the fifth of Scott’s text-based titles, which had
castle in a ‘kill-or-be-killed’ struggle. Is he still happy to begun with 1978’s Adventureland. Each of those early
games took around a month to develop and though they
used the same two word ‘verb noun’ parser, allowing
you to ‘TAKE SHEETS’ or ‘GO WINDOW’, Scott was
always looking to add new features to his game engine
and offer a different experience to the plucky adventurer.
For this vampiric tale, it was all about time.
“I wanted to tell a story that the player was part of
but I wanted it to be something that didn’t happen all at
once,” he explains. “Dracula is a creature of the night,
the player is a creature of the day, so I was going to
need multiple days to tell the story – a day and night
cycle. And the player has to be careful what he does
during that cycle.”
Set over three traumatic days, the player would
awake each afternoon and must explore their
» [Apple II] Bookings at the surroundings and gather the requisite equipment to slay
castle have been affected
by several negative
their blood-thirsty host. Some puzzles simply require
reviews on TripAdvisor. using the correct item in the right location but others
 THE MAKING OF: THE COUNT

THE
ADVENTURE
CONTINUES
Though Scott never fully le adventure
game writing behind – since the demise
» [Apple II] That flagpole looks sturdy enough to hold your weight, surely.
of Adventure International in 1985, he has
produced several text adventures, including
are spread out across several days, forcing you to a sequel to Pirate’s Island – in January
plan ahead. Key events happen on different days and 2018, together with his wife Roxanne, he
certain actions can only be carried out at night, which launched Clopas LLC, which now has a
means you’re going to have to find a way to stave off dozen employees. Their first project is Escape
sleepiness. There’s a palpable tension when the words, The Gloomer, based on the book Mossflower,
‘It’s getting darker,’ and, ‘You’re getting very tired,’ the second in the Redwall series. “It’s been an
appear on screen, an ominous reminder that the Count incredibly fun ride,” says Scott. “The game is a
will soon rise, and you are on the menu. “I was giving ‘Conversational Adventure ™’, which is a fusion
them fair warning,” protests Scott. “ I wasn’t trying to of standard text adventures (puzzles), interactive
make the player feel tense but it was interesting how, in fiction (heavily story-based) and some extra
doing that, it brought out that emotion.” special bits we’ve added. It’s fully voice acted,
music scored with sound effects and contains

I nstilling fear, wonder and intrigue through

a few well-chosen words is, of course,
the art of storytelling, and it impresses us
immensely how, 40 years on, the scenes
in The Count are still so vivid in our mind’s eye. The
cramped dumbwaiter, the dark window you spy even as
you plummet to your death from a fragile flagpole and
the pitchfork-waving mob outside the castle grounds are
all rendered in the most powerful graphics engine ever
» [Atari 8-Bit] Black Sabbath’s debut album. Wait… sorry, no,
it’s the Game Over screen.

and then creating puzzles which flowed naturally from

their surroundings. Of course an old kitchen would
have a dumbwaiter for the servants to send meals up
to the master and that could become a sneaky means
of transport. Of course a castle would have a dungeon
chapter illustrations like a book. It’s designed to
be fun for the hardcore puzzle gamer and those
who don’t really play games at all.” The game
should be available on Steam for PC and Mac as
you read this, and Scott adds that mobile versions
are planned, plus they’ve been toying with the
idea of producing a version for Amazon’s Alexa
using voice controls. It’s an intriguing concept
and one that shows how eager Clopas is to
created – your imagination. with iron rings to secure unfortunate captives and attract those new to the joys of text. “One of our
“That’s what I was counting on,” smiles Scott. they could become useful anchors when it came to playtesters said she never plays games and only
“Players knew the Dracula and Frankenstein stories and exploring that dark pit. “When I’m writing a game, I try watches others play,” he says. “She spent days at
could picture angry villagers. I trusted them to know to envision the setting in my mind,” says Scott, “and our office playing through it. She was hooked!” It’s
what was going on and be a part of the story. Because populate it with items that belong there. Then I think good to have the Chief Adventurer back.
I had so little memory [for the text], I couldn’t go into how I can use them in a puzzle. It’s very organic. I never
great depth, so I had to use ideas and imagery that storyboarded a game. Sometimes I had no idea where a
everyone could relate to. I remember the children’s story game was going.”
Toby Tyler, of this kid tying his bedsheets together and This process of allowing the puzzles to grow out of
climbing out of his bedroom window to run away and the setting was fostered through regular playtesting
join the circus. I knew people could picture that. I was from a circle of friends and family. Scott would create
telling a story with them, not to them. I wanted them to a framework, perhaps a few rooms and a selection of
feel part of it, like it was their story as much as mine.” items, then stand back and watch them play, not just
Scott’s genius was in creating a believable setting, a noting down any bugs but paying careful attention to
solid base for players to add their own layers of texture, how they tried to tackle problems. “It was reiterative

RETRO GAMER | 53
 GREAT SCOTT!
More adventures from the mind of Scott Adams
PIRATE ADVENTURE
1978
THE
OF SORCERER
CLAYMORGUE
Q‘Say YOHO’ and suddenly you’re elsewhere…’
Scott’s second adventure introduced a quest
CASTLE
1984
element as you leave London, build a ship and QThe 13th of Scott’s ‘classic’ adventures,
head for the mysterious Pirate’s Island. this adds some interesting spellcasting to the
treasure hunt.

ADVENTURELAND
1978
GHOST TOWN
1981
QInspired by the original Colossal Caves, which QSet in an apparently deserted settlement in the
Scott played on a mainframe computer at work, Old West, this is one of Scott’s favourites, and
his debut release was the first to bring text also one of his toughest challenges, as you try to
adventures to the home micros of the day. locate treasures and avoid jail, or worse.

IN THE
KNOW
 PUBLISHER:
» [VIC-20] The Count is dedicated to Alvin Files, who reverse-engineered
Adventure International Scott’s game engine and wrote Pyramid Of Doom.
 DEVELOPER:
Scott Adams playtesting,” he smiles. “It was extremely important
 RELEASED: to have multiple people play it and sometimes they’d do
1979
things and I’d think, ‘Wow, I hadn’t thought of that! So
 PLATFORM:
Apple II, Atari 8-bit, VIC-20 what should happen if they do that next time?’”
 GENRE: This approach helped instil The Count with a
Text adventure satisfying logic. Try climbing the sheets holding a
lighted torch, for example, and you’ll soon remember
cotton is flammable. Yet for all the atmospheric period
detail, we can’t resist challenging Scott on one glaring
DEVELOPER inconsistency. Exactly what is a solar-powered oven
HIGHLIGHTS doing in the 19th century? What inspired him to make
ADVENTURELAND this Count some kind of environmental visionary?
SYSTEM: TRS80 “I feel I’m using a gift God gave me,” he giggles.
YEAR: 1978 “That’s my ultimate inspiration. I had an oven because
SPIDERMAN it was a kitchen and then because of the day/night
SYSTEM: C64 cycle, I thought, ‘I could play with this’. I wanted
YEAR: 1984
to throw people off the tracks, until they get that,
RETURN TO PIRATE’S
ISLAND 2 ‘Aha!’ moment.”
SYSTEM: PC There are many such moments in the game and
YEAR: 2000 just as many mulling over possibilities which end up
being clever red herrings. We regale Scott with our
many futile attempts as a child, playing on the VIC-20
cartridge version, of trying to block the air vent and
prevent a nocturnal visit from that marauding bat, much
to his amusement. He also chuckles when we remind
him of the awful cigarette-related pun near the climax
of the game. “I smoked for ten years, then quit cold
turkey when I was 24,” Scott adds. “Smoking was still
very popular back then and I didn’t think it was a good
thing so I just wanted to make a little anti-smoking
rch 1981. statement… and throw in a horrible joke. Remember
al Computing magazine in Ma
» This ad appeared in Person as the pirate. He actually had this was a comedy not a horror story!”
ntlinger posed
Scott: “My friend Tony Bre
is his own facial hair, too.” Scott laughs again and it’s clear the affection we have
a gold front tooth and that
for The Count is shared by its author. He names it, along
with Pirate Adventure and Ghost Town, as one of his
» Your corresponden
t with Scott in Florid
a. He had us at SYS
32592.

54 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: THE COUNT

THE INHERITANCE
2013
QScott’s Christian faith is central to this
adventure, which includes the complete text of
the Bible to aid in puzzle-solving. He hints that a
‘Conversational Adventure ™’ remake is planned.

THE HULK
1984
QThe first in the Questprobe series, based on
Marvel characters, it certainly raised the profile
of Adventure International, and taught everyone
that if in doubt, bite your lip.

“I NEVER STORYBOARDED A GAME.

SOMETIMES I HAD NO IDEA
THE STORY WAS GOING”WHERE
Scott Adams

three favourites of the ‘classic’ adventures he wrote in but I did have a religion and my deity was myself. Back
the late Seventies and early Eighties, and we wonder if then, I had selfish motives. I wanted to make money.
the game influenced the many titles that would follow. I wasn’t putting other people first when I was writing
“Oh yes, it definitely helped me develop my game my games but I’m glad they touched people in positive
engine,” he agrees. “I was always stretching myself and ways and looking back, that makes me happy.”
I felt The Count was more logically consistent than what Scott’s wife Roxanne, who, along with his grandson
I’d done before. It was also something of an apology for Nathan, has been sitting with us at the table as we
Secret Mission, which was also time-based but was far reminisce, nods in agreement. “I’ve only discovered
too rapid. That’s my least favourite game because I think how much his work has affected people by reading all
I did a disservice to players by making it too hard. The the fan mail he’s been sent over the years,” she says.
Count was me making up for that… and it made me “And he still gets it! People write about the impact his
think about what ‘winning’ a game meant. I mean, I was games had on them growing up and that really opened
giving people a story with some unhappy endings.” my eyes. That’s when I realised I needed to champion
him, in fact, kick him out of his comfort zone and start

W hich brings us back to where we started.

Does the vampire theme really still
trouble his Christian conscience? He
thinks for a while before answering. “It’s
bringing attention to something dark, even if it’s doing
it in a lighthearted vein,” he decides. “It is still glorifying
darkness. There’s enough evil and darkness in the
world. I want everything I do to be positive and about
helping people on their journey.”
this new journey.
“She extended the right foot of fellowship,” quips
Scott, who has indeed returned to games development
with Roxanne with their new company Clopas LLC.
“Now I feel an urgency to walk this path God has
shown me… and not drag my feet.”

Visit www.msadams.com for more on Scott’s

wonderful old games and www.clopas.net for news
You cannot help but be touched by the strength on his exciting return to adventure game writing.
of Scott’s faith and his determination to be a force for
good. During our time with him legions of fans and a fair
number of former Adventure International employees
sought him out to thank him for the pleasure his games
had given them. He would greet each one with a warm
handshake and grateful smile, gracious with his time and
ever humble in the face of their effusive praise. Which
may explain why Scott is acutely embarrassed when
we remind him that when The Count was re-released
with accompanying graphics as part of his SAGA (Scott
Adams Grand Adventures) series in the early Eighties
for such micros as the Apple II and Atari 8-bits, the title
screen featured Scott himself in full Dracula garb.
“It was pure narcissism on my part,” he admits.
“I did the same with the Marvel comic series – I put
myself in as the chief villain! I wasn’t a Christian then

» [Apple II] Sure, pull the bell

chord in the ominous castle
with a vampire sleeping in it.
 BIO
Devil Crash was originally released
for the PC Engine in 1990 and is
a spiritual successor to Compile’s
1988 pinball hit, Alien Crush. The
game proved popular enough to be
ported to Sega’s 16-bit console, with
coding duties falling to Technosoft,
the team behind the Thunderforce
games. This port in turn eventually
appeared in the west under the
moniker Dragon’s Fury, but is
missing all the pentagram symbols
that featured in the original version
of the game. A sequel by Tengen,
Dragon’s Revenge, appeared in 1993.

CLASSIC MOMENTS

Devil Crash MD
 PLATFORM: MEGA DRIVE  RELEASED: 1991  DEVELOPER: TECHNOSOFT

t’s easy to forget about Devil Crash’s final boss,

I because he’s so difficult to bloody reach, as he

requires you to best every other table in the game
before you can defeat him. Defeat King Demon you
must, though, and it’s an objective that will test even the
most hardened of gamers. As with other enemies in the
game, King Demon is well protected, and in this case he’s
surrounded by two very fierce bodyguards who aren’t afraid
to use their spinning halberds to deflect your ball and send
it hurtling back towards you. Fireballs are another hazard
that need to be avoided and they cause endless headaches
if you catch them in the wrong place. Hit King Demon
enough times with your ball and he’ll arise from his throne to
continue the fight. Good luck, you’re going to need it.
MORE DEVIL CRASH MOMENTS
The Face Of Evil Get Bonus
Devil Crash’s main table Devil Crash is notable for its
features the face of a beautiful numerous bonus stages that
woman in its centre. She sits you’re transported to when
there looking serene until you certain objectives on the main
start dropping balls into the table are achieved. Although
top of her head. Explosions they take place on a single
begin to appear and her face slowly starts to disintegrate, and screen, they all present a challenge with the most difficult
it soon becomes obvious that something more menacing is being the huge demon that sits in the middle of the screen and
hiding underneath. Hit her enough times and her calm visage throws a fire-breathing worm at you. He’s a real bugger to take
disappears completely and she transforms into a hideous- down, but at least you get to listen to a gorgeous slice of audio
looking reptile. This does net you plenty of points, though. while you are doing it.

Strike A Chord Last Laugh

Frustratingly, one of the As you rack up a high
greatest moments in Devil score in Devil Crash you’ll
Crash MD is one we can’t continually take stock of the
actually show you. It’s when many animated aspects of
you start the game and listen the board. There’s a dragon
to the sensational soundtrack that breathes fire as you
that emits from your Mega Drive as you batter your ball around destroy its eggs, a group of monks circle a pentagram on the
the main table. A couple of minutes later you’re still playing and top part of the table, while a chortling knight guards a ramp.
later you suddenly realise that the scintillating piece of music still By far the most annoying animated extra is a skull, which not
hasn’t looped. It does eventually, nearly seven minutes after it only takes you to a bonus round, but laughs mockingly at you
first started. Astonishing. whenever you lose a ball. We hate that skull.
 S T U D I O S
As one of the UK’s most prolific developers, Bits Studios worked
on some of videogaming’s best-known licensed titles while trying
its hand with a small number of original games. Founder Foo
Katan and some of his former developers reminisce
Words by David Crookes

oo Katan is driving, steering his way around System). Comprising an Apricot PC, an assembler,

F the sun-kissed streets of LA while casting

his mind back 30 years to the days when he
set up Bits Studios, the often-overlooked
London-based company that burst into life in 1989.
“Do you know what Bits meant?” he asks, answering
debugger, editor, profile and graphics tool, it made
development on 8-bit computers such as the C64,
MSX, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC straightforward.
Teaming up with fellow coder Andrew Glaister, Foo sold
the system to other devs through a company called PD
before Retro Gamer can guess at a riff on bits and Systems Ltd. “It was during the marketing of the PDS
bytes. “Belief In The Solution,” he continues. And with at the CES in Las Vegas on 1989 that I began to realise
that, he takes us on a journey through the 17 years of a just how big the console business was,” Foo says.
company that became known for its strong relationship Spotting the upcoming Game Boy, he set up a team to
with Nintendo and a string of big-name licences. create console games on his return.
For Foo, the trip began in 1982 when, as a teenager, This presented problems of its own. Not only did
he had been coding alone on the BBC Micro and Bits not have a history with Nintendo consoles, it was
Commodore 64. With his friend, Jez San, he ended difficult to become a Nintendo developer. “Over six
up working for Silversoft during the summer, a move months, we reverse-engineered the Game Boy,” Foo
which inspired Jez to set up Argonaut Software and says. Eventually a way around Nintendo’s block on
Foo to codevelop Skyline Attack for the C64. It was a unlicensed developers was found,and this allowed Foo
time of great activity for the pair. They also coedited the to visit various publishers at the Winter CES in January
tape-based emag CPC 464 Computing and worked with 1990. He walked away with commissions to create
Simon Rockman on a book called Quantum Theory. Chase HQ and R-Type for the Game Boy.
Most crucially, Foo and Jez had written the cross- Chase HQ was coded by Richard Chappells with an
development tool PDS (Programmer’s Development artist credited only as Rosie and it was the first western-

58 | RETRO GAMER
 FROM THE ARCHIVES: BITS STUDIOS

TIMELINE
1989 QBits Studios is founded by Fouad
‘Foo’ Katan.

1990 QThe company reverse-engineers

the NES and Game Boy and creates a
functioning development system.

QChase HQ is released for the Game Boy.

Loopz is unveiled for the NES.

1991 QBits becomes known as BITS Ltd.

QRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves, T2:

Terminator 2: Judgment Day and R-Type
are released.

1992 QCastelian, R-Type II and Space Football:

One On One are the highlights (along with
Sssnake for the Supervision).

QThe Amazing Spider-Man Vs The Kingpin

is released for the Game Gear.

1993 QSaigo No Nindou is released in Japan.

1994 QBits produces some poorly received

titles including Dream TV, Mary Shelley’s
Frankenstein and No Escape.

QThe company is temporarily known as

» [Game Boy Color] Produced exclusively for the Game Boy Color, Warlocked was one of Bits Studios’ finest games. Bits Corporation before reverting to the
original name of Bits Studios.
developed game Taito had published in Japan. R-Type that ensured it was perfectly lined up to coincide with 1995 QItchy & Scratchy is Bits Studios’ final 16-bit
was created by Jason Austin and Mark A Jones, with the film’s release. cartridge game.
music for both games by David Whittaker. “We had the Its success gave the firm confidence to try and
guys working out-of-house and in their own homes,” branch out. So as well as producing an original title – the QT-Mek and Maximum Roadkill herald a
Foo says, “and they were in two-person teams with futuristic sports game, Space Football: One On One move into PC gaming.
myself as producer. Jason was an amazing programmer which was an exclusive for the SNES – it also made QBits signs a deal with Philips to make
and he produced a great version of R-Type.” inroads in Japan with Castelian, a Game Boy and NES New Day, Cartoon Academy and Riqa.
version of Nebulus that was released as Kyoro Chan
he Game Boy rapidly became Bits Studios’ Land and which is reported to have sold well. The

T
1996 QOriginal game Nihilist is released for
primary platform and R-Type sold more developer was also the only third-party development Windows PCs.
than 700,000 copies. Argonaut handed Bits house ever used by Irem Corporation, with single-player
1999 QR-Type DX is launched for Nintendo’s
the rights to develop Loopz for the NES. The platformer Saigo No Nindou being released only in
Game Boy Colour.
developer then went on to create Robin Hood: Prince Of Japan for the Game Boy.
Thieves, T2:Terminator 2 – Judgment Day, The Amazing By now, Bits was firmly established as a Nintendo 2000 QBits is listed on the AIM market on the
Spider-Man, Castelian, Last Action Hero and R-Type II developer. “We’d formed lots of strong relationships London Stock Exchange.
for the Game Boy. “Bits was also producing the Game with console companies but Nintendo was top for us,”
Boy development kit,” says Gina Jackson who joined says Foo. “We became very close, and I could never QThe wonderful Warlocked is released the

in 1992. “I was taken on at the company because I had speak more highly of Shigeru Miyamoto.” The love Game Boy Colour.
finished a masters in render programming and I’d done for Nintendo’s consoles saw Bits develop Dream TV, 2001 QVirtual Athlete and Lab Rat enter
a lot of stuff with 3D Studio, but when my machine was Genocide 2 and The Itchy & Scratchy Game for the online space under the subsidiary
rendering, I’d be soldering boards to make the dev kits company Gamesmagnet, the latter
that were being sent all over the country.” attracts 40,000 players.
Gina began at Bits just before it moved from Harrow
to Cricklewood, London. “It was an insane place above 2002 QDie Hard: Vendetta is released for Xbox,
a newspaper distribution centre,” Gina recalls. “There PS2 and GameCube.
was always this flirting worry that if the newspapers
QBits’ turnover is £994,000.
ever caught fire, we’d all be doomed.” While this
was taking place, however, the developers continued 2003 QRogue Ops is released as Bits Studios
creating games and demos for Foo to take to publishers turnover is revealed to be £1.7 million.
for future commissions. The company was growing fast.
“T2: Terminator 2 – Judgment Day had been a turning 2005 QConstantine is released as the company
announces the development of The Man
point for us and it allowed us to accelerate our growth,”
With No Name, aimed for 2006.
Foo says. With great graphics and challenging levels that
provided varied gameplay, the side-scroller had indeed 2006 QBits Studios closes its doors.
reviewed well, drawing upon scenes from the movie

» [Game Boy]Unlike the console versions of the game, Alien 3 on the Game
Boy was more about solving puzzles and exploring.
RETRO GAMER | 59
 We wanted the
developers to feel that
» [SNES] It could have
been good but we’d
they owned the games
have rather nailed
our tongue to a car,
allowed it to speed
they were making
Foo Katan
away and smashed out
head with a hammer
than play Itchy &
Scratchy again. platform,” Foo explains. “But even though it caught the
imagination Philips pulled out. I still think we could have
pulled it off with more resources and time but it didn’t
quite work that way.”
It wasn’t the only axed game. Others included Riqa,
a game commissioned by Nintendo that would have
the SNES. In each case, the games were made by introduced a rival to Lara Croft by providing a new
ever-larger, dedicated teams rather across departments. heroine in a third-person setup, and the first-person
“We wanted the developers to feel that they owned the shooter Die Hard 64 (which emerged in 2017 in a
games they were making,” Foo says. playable early form albeit with incomplete levels).
Even so, there were undoubted gems that did see
alking to those developers, it’s clear there the light of day. Aside from R-Type DX in 1999, the new

» [SNES] Bits Studios produced the SNES and Mega Drive versions of Mary
T was good camaraderie between the staff.
Lead tester Stephen Hallett was only on a
three-month contract but says he stayed
for two years “mainly because of the people”.
Composer/sound designer Paul Weir also talks of high
millennium brought the ace real-time strategy Warlocked
for the Game Boy Color, a masterpiece of knights,
wizards, tight levels and secrets which, annoyingly,
was only released in the US. Bits also dabbled in online
gaming with Virtual Athlete and Lab Rat. Both used
Shelley’s Frankenstein, the development of which involved a video shoot. quality devs while Gina was struck by how diverse the proprietary 3D Amber technology developed by Bits’
company was. “When I left at least 25 per cent were technical director Jerome Muffat-Meridol and they were
women, there were lots of non-whites and many people released under a new Gamesmagnet subsidiary. “Virtual
from a working class background,” she says. “It was a Athlete was a pioneering online game but the market
setup that you don’t see these days.” wasn’t ready for it and I feel we were ahead of our
It meant there was joy when a game did well and time,” says Foo. “We didn’t have the financial power to
sadness when one failed. A major blow was New take it forward.”
Day, one of the games which formed a joint venture Indeed, finance was an ongoing issue. “Like many
between Bits Studios and Philips Media. Due for release independent studios at the time, Bits was always
in 1999, it was ambitious – set to feature 60 real-life struggling to make ends meet and it was in a constant
characters and filmed at the Roundhouse in Camden, battle to win publishing deals for original or licensed
north London, using 16 digital cameras on a 360-degree IP,” explains Neil Dejyothin, who joined as Bits as web
blue screen circular stage. Huge amounts of money was manager and PR in 2001. “They were unfortunate with
poured into the game, yet it ended up being canned, two Game Boy Advance projects codenamed Jet Riders
» [Mega Drive] No Escape was based on the 1994 movie and it was much to the disappointment of those working on it. and Wizards which were cutting edge at the time and
published by Sony Imagesoft for the Mega Drive, SNES and PC. “New Day would have had lifelike characters looked and played fantastically. I believe Bits came close
and it was being earmarked for Philips CD-ROM to convincing Nintendo to take on Jet Riders to be Wave

THE DNA OF BITS STUDIO

LICENSED GAMES TALENTED STAFF PROLIFIC PRODUCTION

QBits Studio was an independent developer which relied on QFoo Katan managed to surround himself with the most QBits knocked out games in droves, producing around
bagging deals with the major publishers of the day. As such, talented of coders, graphic artists, musicians and producers, 25 titles in its first five years alone. This was helped by the
there was an abundance of titles based on movies, television all of who were in the early years of their careers. Many have relatively simple nature of producing games in the early
and coin-op franchises but very few original titles. Big name risen in prominence from James Cox, who is now senior Nineties – it wasn’t until the mid-decade that development
games from Chase HQ to Alien 3, however, ensured that the director of engineering at Natural Motion to Shahid Ahmad, moved from two-person person teams to larger teams. Bits
money flowed. the current director of Ultimatum Games. certainly made the most of it while it could.

60 | RETRO GAMER
Race, but in the end Nintendo decided it didn’t want to at Bits for four years, recalls having to do
put the franchise on a handheld system. Wizards was all of his work on this game before having
the natural successor to Warlocked, and as far as I can access to any of the movie audio – “I was
remember, Bits came very close to sealing a deal to do quite pleased on watching it, how close I
a contract to convert this into a Lord Of The Rings title, got in some instances,” he says – but he
but ultimately that ended up with EA.” says he was left to get on with the job.
“The studio itself was quite a dive,”
its was luckier in bagging the first person he continues. “It was in an old converted

B shooter Die Hard Vendetta in 2002, a

game that took place after the first three
Die Hard movies. Players had to stealthily
negotiate their way through numerous levels to save
John McClane’s kidnapped daughter. “It pushed the
building, I can’t remember what it was but
it was an odd shape for a games studio,
dark and grimy. The best space was
the audio room. They’d built a small but
nicely-made studio mix room, which is where I spent
» [PS2] Bits Studios made much of a unique first-person control
system but Die Hard Vendetta ended up being quite fiddly.
boundaries, but it could have done better,” Foo says. most of my time, with an additional foley recording
“We also lost the rights to base the first level in a room, so from my perspective it was ideal.”
famous LA museum so we had to rebuild the first level Even so, it was becoming clear – internally at least
in just two weeks. A nightmare.” – that Bits Studios was struggling. By this time Foo
At this stage, Bits had around 40 people working for
it both in-house and freelance, down from a peak of
had created a new company called Playwize and made
Bits a subsidiary as he sought to create online gaming
WHERE ARE
90 a couple of years before. “There were two teams,
the larger working on the current game and the smaller
software including 3D Poker. “The game space had
become untenable,” Foo explains. “EA was losing THEY NOW?
team working on the next title,” says Stephen who money and the hardcore space was turbulent. We
worked at Bits in 2002 and 2003. “Their direction just had to transition.” Unfortunately, it spelled the end of
Foo Katan
QFollowing the closure of both Bits
seemed to be to get whatever work they could, there Bits Studios which closed in 2006, followed closely
Studios and its parent company,
didn’t seem to be a long term plan beyond that.” by Playwize which followed a couple of years later. “I
Playwize, Foo Katan cofounded
The team created Sega Arcade Gallery for the Game will never forget Bits Studios, though,” Foo concludes.
another software company called
Boy Advance while Rogue Ops was published for the “It was a really talented studio and one that I loved
Origin8 Technologies. Entirely independent, it
Xbox, GameCube and PlayStation 2 (with the e Xbox being involved with.”
makes games and apps for smartphones, tablets,
version faring best). In 2005, the action-adventure
nture
PCs and handheld consoles and it continues to
Constantine, based on the film of the same name,, was
exist to this very day. Foo, however, moved to the
launched. Paul, who had joined in 2002 and continued
continnued
USA where he met his wife and settled into a life in
» [Xbox] Rogue Ops sunny Los Angeles. In 2014, he became the COO of
attempted to ride a Starbreeze USA, ensuring he keeps a firm hand in
wave of popular
stealth action the videogame industry.
titles like Splinter
Cell and Metal
Gear Solid.
Gina Jackson
QGina was only at Bits Studios in
1992 and 1993 but she is a wonderful
example of how successful so many
ex-Bits staff have become. Having
been a producer at Mirage Technologies, she later
moved to Manchester where she worked as head
of studio for six years at Ocean Software. Making
the leap into mobile with Nokia, she took a position
at Kuju, left for Eidos and, in June 2012, became the
chief executive of Women In Games Jobs to help
promote opportunities for women in the videogame
industry. Aside from roles with the NextGen Skills
Academy and GamesAid, she is currently head of
games at The Imaginarium, the production company
owned by Andy Serkis.

Neil Dejyothin
QWhen Neil left Bits Studios in 2003, he became
the lead QA at Electronic Arts, before working up
the ladder at Sports Interactive, maker of the iconic
Football Manager series. He progressed from Lead
QA to Head QA to assistant producer, producer and
senior producer, finally leaving in 2017 to become a
project manager for PlayStation where he continues
to work today on big name games such as The Last
UNFULFILLED AMBITION NINTENDO Of Us and Gran Turismo.
QShahid Ahmad led the axed New Day project and called
alled QAlthough Bits Studio developed
it one of the most ambitious in videogames history but relationships with major gaming platforms, its allegiance
it wasn’t the only one. Riqa had a female lead to rival lay with the consoles produced by Nintendo. Bits Studio
Lara Croft but development took too long while Wizards made a name for itself developing titles for the Game
was promising to push the boundaries of the Game Boy Boy and it also developed for the NES, Gamecube and
Advance handheld. Nintendo 64 (the latter’s games were sadly canned).

RETRO GAMER | 61
 INTERESTING GAMES
YOU'VE NEVER PLAYED

MA T E
GA like Sega and
If titans ldn’t come
Atari couoppling the
close to t y from its
Game Boeties handheld
early Nin e Taiwanese
throne, thoration and its
BIT Corp ever really
Gamate nhance, did it?
stood a c e
nny Dimalin
Words by Jo

BAO QING TIAN

■ DEVELOPER: UNKNOWN ■ YEAR: 1994

■ This brawler is easily the most often levelled at beat-’em-ups, often highlights the Gamate’s weakness.
technically impressive game that (but not in this case) unfairly: that This game was released in 1994, and
you will find on the Gamate, and all you do is walk to the right, press the Game Gear had already had an
also the most enjoyable to play. It’s a the attack button a few times, then amazing port of one of the best beat-
decent attempt at an arcade-style repeat that over and over until you ’em-ups ever in Streets of Rage II, and
beat-’em-up on hardware that’s die or reach the end of the game. while beat-’em-ups were still (and
obviously not built to host such a There’s a few different types of would continue to be) something
game. Right from the outset, you enemy in each stage, but honestly, of an underrepresented genre on
can see that it looks a lot better than you never really have to switch up the Game Boy, it was getting pretty
any other game on the system – even your strategy, even for the bosses: fun (though obviously severely cut-
if the character animations are jerky just make sure you hit them before down) ports of fighting games like
the backgrounds look amazing, they hit you, and keep repeating that Battle Arena Toshinden and Samurai
like ancient tapestries, albeit ones until they finally fall over, flash and Shodown. Meanwhile, Bao Qing Tian
rendered in only four different vanish. Despite that, though, you’ll is apparently pushing the Gamate to
shades of green. likely end up playing it for quite a its absolute limit, and offering a game
Also right from the start you’ll see while, and having a good time along that, while decent enough and fairly
that it falls foul of a criticism that’s with it. It’s a game that’s, more fun to play, still feels like it’s getting
or less, completely carried by the a lot of goodwill simply by virtue of
strength of its graphics and music, being such a miraculous technical
which is also of a higher quality than feat on its host hardware. You could
you might expect. even call it pity. While the Game Boy
As well as the great backgrounds, would go on to last another seven
the sprites are pretty big, and though years in one form or another, and
they only seem to have a few frames even the Game Gear might have
of animation each, they don’t suffer made it, if only it had better battery
from the flickering that plagues a life, the Gamate’s finest hour was
lot of Gamate games. Again, it far also the final nail in its coffin, serving
overshadows any other game with to make it all the more clear that it
which it shares a system in terms of was a system on its last legs, that had
» [Gamate] Bao Qing Tian must have been a lavish
quality. But while that’s the greatest no hope of long term survival, either
production by Gamate standards if these fullscreen strength of Bao Qing Tian, it’s also against its competitors, or in general.
pixel art cutscenes are anything to go by.

62 | RETRO GAMER
 MINORITY REPORT: GAMATE

DOUBLE DRAGON 2 STREETS OF RAGE 2 FINAL FIGHT ONE

GAME BOY GAME GEAR GAME BOY ADVANCE
Q One of the Game Boy’s QThough it loses a lot Q Of course, the GBA was
very few beat-’em-ups (including a playable a huge step up in power
(unless you count unlicensed character) in the move from the handhelds that
Chinese games, of which from Mega Drive to Game came before it, and having a
there are many), it’s not a Gear, Sega’s masterpiece better port of Final Fight than
port of the arcade game, but is still a ton of fun to play in even the SNES could offer
an adaptation of one of the prolific Kunio-kun series that 8-bit handheld form, and is about as good anyone could is a great example of that. Every stage from the arcade
also spawned Renegade. It’s a simple game, but still a lot make such a game under the circumstances. The tiny is here, and there are even more characters to play as,
of fun and worth seeking out. little sprites are incredibly endearing, too! making for a near-perfect port.

IN FOR THE
LONG HAUL
QThough starting you
off with six lives might BEAUTIFUL
seem a bit too generous, ARTWORK
the stages in Bao Qing QThe minimalist,
Tian are pretty long, and tapestry-like
theres a few of them to backgrounds do a good
get through before you job of providing aesthetic
see the ending. cues, where more
detailed backgrounds
might have made the
action slower, or harder
to follow.

ONLY SKIN DEEP

QThough there’s actually quite a few different
enemies right from the start of the first stage,
MOTLEY TRIO unfortunately, the same simple strategy is
QIn the beat-’em-up tradition, the playable effective in dealing with all of them.
characters are a fast young woman, a big
tough bearded man, and a sword-wielding
youth who’s somewhere in the middle.
 ONE MILLION WHYS
■ PUBLISHER: UMC ■ YEAR: 1993

■ Quiz games were a pretty kidnapped by some monster in the

popular fixture in the arcades of sky, and the player takes on the role of
Japan in the Nineties. They’d take her dog, trying to rescue her.
over an hour to complete, with the For some reason, everyone and
expectation being that players would everything you encounter wants to
keep putting their money in when stop you from doing that, whether
they got a game over so they could they’re human, animal, or inanimate
see more of the plot unfold, and then object. They’ll ask questions, promising
they’d come back another time to go rewards for right answers, and instant
down another of the plot’s branching death for incorrect ones. Even stranger
paths. We can’t say whether or not still is that we’ve only encountered
that trend ever reached Taiwan, but questions about plants. The first
One Million Ways is a quiz game with encounter, a talking tree, says it’s going
a story. The story sees a girl getting to ask you questions about plants to
test your ability to survive in the forest,
so we assume it’s some kind of glitch,
or maybe a mix-up in translation that
causes every other character to also
ask about plants. On the subject of
translation, it’s actually quite impressive
that UMC included both English and
Chinese options on the same cartridge,
though maybe the amount of ROM » [Gamate] Judging by the game’s pool of questions, it seems it was made for a very specific audience.
space that takes up could also be an
explanation for the shallow question
pool. All in all, this game’s mainly proof
that the Gamate could probably have
It’s quite impressive that UMC
handled an RPG, if any company would included both English and Chinese
» [Gamate] Try and use one of your items (acquired by
answering questions) at the wrong time and be mocked
by this kermit lookalike.
have wanted to invest the resources
needed to make one.
options on the same cartridge

» PUNK BOY » MONSTER PITFALL » QUIZ FIGHTER » COSMIC FIGHTER

■ DEVELOPER: BIT CORPORATION ■ DEVELOPER: BIT CORPORATION ■ DEVELOPER: UMC ■ DEVELOPER: BIT CORPORATION
■ YEAR: 1992 ■ YEAR: 1990 ■ YEAR: 1993 ■ YEAR: 1990

■ An absolutely shameless copy of ■ It’s not clear where the eponymous ■ Despite the title, there’s no ■ Though it doesn’t seem to be a
the Mega Drive version of Mickey ‘monster’ comes into proceedings, but questions to be answered here. direct clone of any particular game
Mouse: Castle Of Illusion, right down this is just a competent clone of the Instead, it’s a Street Fighter II-wannabe as far as we can tell, Cosmic Fighter
to pressing the jump button twice to Atari 2600 game Pitfall!. There only fighting game, with eight selectable is a simple single-screen shooting
execute the bum attack, and even the seems to be a few repeating screens, characters. It’s not a patch on the game that’s very reminiscent of the
cluster of sparks that pop up when you with extra enemies and hazards added arcade ports seen on the Game Boy kind of games that were released
kill an enemy. The main differences are on each cycle, but it’s inoffensive or Game Gear, but it’s not completely on 8-bit microcomputers in the early
that instead of Mickey’s iconic ears, enough. If you know that game, you terrible, either. The cast is very odd, Eighties. Each stage has you killing
the protagonist has a messy hairdo, know this one: you just go right, though, alongside four human pugilists, birdlike enemies and avoiding their
and unfortunately, they didn’t steal the avoiding traps and wild animals, and there’s also a dragon, a fish-man, a fire, until there’s none left and you go
stage designs from Castle Of Illusion, collecting treasure, though there’s not chicken-man, and most bizarrely of all, to the next, very slightly harder stage.
as Punk Boy’s stages are terrible. much of it about. a bare-breasted cow-woman. Primitive, but not necessarily bad.

64 | RETRO GAMER
 MINORITY REPORT: GAMATE

NIGHTMARE OF SANTA CLAUS

■ PUBLISHER: BIT CORPORATION ■ YEAR: 1991

■ Despite what the excellent title might

imply, Santa Claus doesn’t actually seem to
appear in this game beyond the title screen.
Instead, you play as a horrible-looking little
balding man, charged with the age-old task of
collecting coins from small, enclosed platform
stages while avoiding enemies. The twist
in the tale is that the shrunken Iain Duncan
Smith lookalike you control can’t jump, and
must instead rely on his ability to zip through
Mario-esque pipes to get around.
This is actually a lot more fun than its
simple premise might imply. You walk around
» [Gamate] The clock is the only power-up that
and go into pipes with the d-pad, and you seems to actually do anything, freezing all the
can throw stones (we think) at enemies to enemies for a while. The rest are a mystery.
stun them, too. There’s other items to pick
up besides the coins, though most of them
don’t actually seem to do anything. Once you
get all the coins in a stage, a key and door
appear. Get the key, go into the door, and go
to the next stage. There’s also a weird bug
that means that when you lose a life, you get
a time bonus as you would for completing a
stage. Though you still lose a life and have to
start the stage again.
» KUNG
The few small problems it has aside, FU FIGH
though, Nightmare Of Santa Claus is a pretty ■ BIT CO TER
RPO RATION
good game, that’s very reminiscent of the ■ A Yie ■ 1990
arcade games of the early Eighties, and well Ar Kung
» [Gamate] These spider things drop down from above, making them the biggest threat in practicall Fu clone
y unplay , re
worth looking at. the game, since you can’t hit them with your stones.
the first able by it ndered
foe, for in s difficulty
longer li stance, h :
mbs tha as
him a fru n you, m
strating aking
zoner.

» FANTASY TRAVEL » GP RACE » MARAUDER » JEWELRISS

■ DEVELOPER: UMC ■ DEVELOPER: BIT CORPORATION ■ DEVELOPER: BIT CORPORATION ■ DEVELOPER: BIT CORPORATION
■ YEAR: 1993 ■ YEAR: 1992 ■ YEAR: 1991 ■ YEAR: 1991

■ Yet another clone of a game from ■ GP Race represents a noble ■ Marauder’s a fairly decent military- ■ Obviously, any Game Boy wannabe
another system, Fantasy Travel is a effort, to attempt an into-the-screen themed shooting game. There’s not worth its salt needs a block-sorting
knock-off of the NES Rescue Rangers Formula 1 racing game on the humble much in the way of power-ups or puzzle game, and the Gamate has
game, a staple of 99-in-1 pirate Gamate. Unfortunately, it all adds up to scoring mechanics, and the only real Jewelriss, which is basically just
cartridges. If you don’t know, it’s a not much more than hubris and failure. gimmicks it has are the need to keep Columns, but with a lot of aesthetic
cute platformer in which you play The game is incredibly slow, the cars refuelling by flying over destructible fuel touches stolen from Dr Mario and
as a squirrel who can pick up and seem to take up half of the entire barrels, and a screen after each life or Tetris. It does have one original touch,
throw boxes at their enemies. A nice width of the road, and they flicker like stage telling you how many you shot of though: after you’ve cleared 200
touch in this particular version is the crazy whenever there’s more than one each enemy type. Despite (or maybe jewels (incorrectly referred to in-game
option to play as a male or female of them on the screen, and it’s just no thanks to) its simplicity, though, it’s a as ‘lines’), the game just abruptly
squirrel. Probably the most competent fun at all. It’s commendable that Bit game the just works, and is definitely ends. So there’s no possibility of a
platformer we’ve seen on the Gamate. Corporation tried, though. worth a play. marathon session. Strange.

RETRO GAMER | 65
Splatterhouse 3
SO EXPENSIVE, BUT SO GOOD
 MEGA DRIVE  1993  NAMCO
» RETROREVIVAL
Sometimes a game takes a little while to click, and the third
Splatterhouse title is one such game for me. I first picked it
up around five years ago and paid the princely price of £45 for it.
It was a little sun-faded (as many Japanese Mega Drive games
are), but I’d always wanted to play it so I took the plunge.
It turned out to be a solid decision because Namco’s Mega Drive exclusive is
actually a very impressive scrolling beat-’em-up that has all sorts of neat ideas
in it. The best is the introduction of nonlinear level design, which allows Rick to
amble around the huge haunted mansion at will. The doors of each room remain
locked until you’ve dispatched a set number of beasts; you can then choose to
go wherever you like, which gives Splatterhouse 3 a great sense of place as you
gingerly explore the large house.
Time is also important in Splatterhouse 3 as it directly affects the four possible
endings you’ll get at the end of the game. Take too long mashing monsters, for
example, and your son might get killed, or maybe your wife Jennifer will turn into
a mindless monster, or perhaps both of them will die. Wanting to avoid those
grim endings will spur you on, allowing you to savour one more unique aspect
of Splatterhouse 3:Rick’s transformation into a monstrous version of himself.
Monster Rick can not only chuck weapons at enemies, but he can also pull off a
gruesome attack that lets him strike surrounding beasts with the flesh from his
body. It’s not very nice to look at, but it’s very effective.
Add in some suitably atmospheric cutscenes and Splatterhouse 3 proves itself
to be an incredibly polished game, and easily the highlight of Namco’s short-lived
horror series. Just be aware that today it’s now ridiculously expensive and you’ll
be hard-pressed to find a copy for under £100. Be sure to pick it up if you do find
it for a low price, though. You may end up being pleasantly surprised by Namco’s
brutal ghoul-filled brawler.
 LARGELY RESPON NSIB
SIBLE
LE FOR
ELECTRIFYING THE RPG G GENRE,
EXPANDING IT INNTO A WHOLE NEWEW
AUDIENCE, THIS S LEGEN
NDARY SE
ERIE
RIE
ES
IS STIL
LL PR
ROVIN
NG POPULLAR TODAY.
Y.
JOIN US AS WE RE
ETURN TO ONE
OF THE MOST TR ROUBLEED TOW
WNS
IN THE FORGOTT TEN REAALMS
Words by Graeme Mason

ormed in 1995 by three doctors, Ray

Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine
Yip, Edmonton-based BioWare is today
one of the most respected videogame
developers in the world. With the trio of founders
all holding a keen interest in games and Dungeons
Dragons, the creation of a videogame RPG was
& Drago
inevitable. An early BioWare employee, and key part
in the development of Baldur’s Gate, e was designer
James Ohlen. “Myself and a group of friends were
among the first employees at BioWare,” James
recalls, “and we all drove down to Edmonton for the
interv
inte iew. They told us they were working on a D&D
interview.
game, although they didn’t know what it was going
gam
to be yet.” In the meantime, BioWare had negotiated
a deal with Interplay Productions for a mech-style
game entitled Shattered Steel;l coincidentally, the
publisher had also acquired use of the Dungeons &
Dragons s tabletop RPG, and looked to its new partner
to produce a game based round the TSR property.
BioWar
BioWare re co-opted
co-opted Battleground Infinity, y a prototype
real-time
me strategy
strat
st rategy
egy game e from coder Scott Greig, and » [Above left]The
its engine
used its eng e as the th
he base
base for the
the neww RPG.
RPPG. “Scott Battleground: Infinity
proposed RTS that became
his engine
had his engi
ngine
ne and there
there were
wer a dozen
dozen of
doz of us
u in total,” Baldur’s Gate.
con
continues Ja
ames. “
James. Ray and
“Ray aand Greg
Greg were
were negotiating
negoti
neg o ating
w h Interplay
wit
with Interplplay
ay this
s game
game ba ased on D&D,
based D&D, D and
nd originally
origin
ori ginall
ally
y » [PC, left] An early
inn-based battle as the
it was called
calle
ed Ironn Throne.
T Off course,
course,
se, there
there were
wer a lo llot
ot party takes on a team
of iron throne toilet jokes, b efore Bri
before rian
an Far
Brian Fargo
go [Interplay
[Inter
terpla
playy of assassins.
founder] came up with the name Baldur’s Gate.” Ga
Gate.”.”
Baldur’s Gate e had become the central focus at an a early
ear
arly
stage as TSR wanted Interplay to create an RPG based

68 | RETRO GAMER
 » [PC] A quest to so
lve the region’s iro
n crisis leads you
to a labyrinthine mi
ne.

arround the
around t Forgotten Realms. At gamers involved in the combat and tactics s – get them
the time it was the most popular
the both to appreciate the sides they don’t normally do.”
D&&D ca
D&D campaign setting, and it also BioWare would later build its reputation on the power
featuured a mass of material from
featured of storytelling – think Star Wars Knights Of The Old
which hB BioWare could draw from, with Republic, Mass Effect and Dragon Age – and that
the downside
doww being a relatively small began with Baldur’s Gate, over 20 years ago.
area in w which to base the game. The
main cityity aand focus of this area was its aldur’s Gate is the story of a mage
en all it needed was a lead designer
title; then named Gorion and his young orphan
at the he
helm. “When
“ people ask me how did charge, controlled by the player. Along
I become me a lead designer, I say I decided I was with childhood friend, Imoen, the orphan
gonna be one, went we away, did all the work, and they grew up in Candlekeep, a walled fortress situated just
said, ‘You
‘You’re
You’re the lead designer!’” laughs James. “If south of the fabled titular city. The mystery begins with
you’re
you rre passionate abo about something, pursue that, and the player ushered out of their home by Gorion, who
Dungeons
Dun & Dragonss had been in my life since I was refuses to reveal the reason for the hasty exit. Upon
1 years old. Baldur’ss Gate
11 e was the chance for me to leaving, they are ambushed and Gorion is murdered;
present what I thougthought ht would be a great Dungeons & soon the player is embroiled in a political
politi imbroglio
Dragons s style RPG.” while investigating a chronic iron shortage and trying
In addition to James,
Jame es, almost every employee at to discover who is behind the death of their guardian.
BioWare was also a fan f of the famous tabletop game. It’s an intriguing and absorbing tale that leads to some
While this passion is clearly evident in the finished surprising revelations and fascinating characters. Yet
games, at the time n one of the team actually had
none depth of story alone was not what sold Baldur’s Gate
any programming i or art experience. But they knew to the masses.
how to create an evocative story, they knew all about For years, RPGs had remained, typically, stoicall
stoically
R
RPGs, and they knew exactly the sort of game they turn-based, even with popular series suc as
eries such
w
wanted to play. James continues, “I’ve always felt Interplay’s own Fallout.t And turn-based
tu fans, like it or
hat you can go too far in the story direction, and also
th
that not, this method
thod of play was what many perceived
to
oo far in the exploration and combat direction. If you
too ass holding the genre back. Baldur’s Gate e became a
m
marry those together, you get something that gets bridge between turn-based and real-time, the old and a d
an
th
he power gamers involved in the story, and the story
the the new, unfashionable and the fashionable. “Thatt

RETRO GAMER | 69
From the lawfully good to the chaotically evil
SAREVOK
QHalf-brother of Gorion’s Ward, Sarevok
escaped his demonic father’s sacrificial ritual
when it was interrupted by Gorion and the
Harpers. Adopted by a member of the Iron
Throne, he becomes the main antagonist of “I PLAYEDD WA
ARCRAFT 2
Baldur’s Gate, determined to kill his fellow
Bhaalspawn and ascend into Godhood himself. AND STARCCRAFT
MORE THAAN YOU
IMOEN
QThe main character’s childhood friend, CAN IMAG
GINE”
Imoen is an expert thief, thus valuable James Ohlen
throughout the Baldur’s Gate campaigns. An
eternal child at heart, Imoen is forced to grow
up fast during Baldur’s Gate II after being
was me and Ray [Muzyka],” remembers James.
tortured by Irenicus, then arrested by the
“Ray was a big fan of turn-based games, the Gold
Cowled Wizards for unlicensed magic use. Tsk.
Box games, and my favourite genre was real-time
strategy – I played Warcraft 2 and StarCraftt more than
MINSC you can imagine. So it came from having to have a
QOne of Baldur’s Gate’s most memorable real-time game that satisfied fans of that genre, but » [PC] The player
characters, Minsc is a neutral good ranger, and also satisfied turn-based fans.” The result was tactical can assign
weapons, armour
slightly unhinged thanks to his strange love for pause, where the player could pause the action before and so on from this
giant space hamster, Boo, actually a normal and during a battle, allocate weapons, target enemies character screen.
sized and very ordinary hamster. Named after and even quaff potions to buff up their party members.
the Russian city, Minsc is possibly the most Then you’d unpause, and let the decisions take effect,
quotable character in the entire series. for better or worse. “Maybe I shouldn’t say it,” reveals
James nervously, “but I was never a fan of Fallout
2 I lliked
and Fallout 2. iked the story and the world, but the
JON IRENICUS fact it paused and took turns ns for moving, I never liked
QBaldur’s Gate II’s chief antagonist, the mage
that. RPGs are about immersing you in their world, so
Irenicus, captures the lead character and the closer you get to the feeling of real, the better.”
experiments on them and Imoen in order Despite James’ convictions, the decision was not met
to divulge the mysteries of their demonic with universal praise; but his philosophy paid off when
ancestry. An elf by birth, he was cast out of his Baldur’s Gate was released to almost total acclaim and
home city thanks to his insane power-hungry sales far in excess of Interplay’s expectations. has
attempt to become a god. » Chris Avellone
As Baldur’s Gate sold in its thousands around ma de a career for
Gs.
the world, sucking gamers into a time warp where himself writing RP
KHALID suddenly it was 3am in the morning and they were still
QEschewing his valiant and determined engrossed in its world, BioWare was already at work
portrait, Khalid is a half-elf fighter, member on its expansion. “We were always going to have
of a prestigious group of adventurers, the Tales Of The Sword Coast,” says James. “It wasn’t left
Harpers, and actually a rather nervous over material, we just needed an expansion to make
chap. Married to fellow Harper, Jaheira, he extra money.” Given no one had any idea how big
unfortunately meets an untimely demise at the Baldur’s Gate was going to be, the add-on was a little
hands of Jon Irenicus in Baldur’s Gate II. by-the-numbers. “It wasn’t much, as we didn’t stretch
ourselves. It was okay, but Baldur’s Gate II was when » [PC] Seeking
some healing in a
we knew we had to have something that would blow
KORGAN BLOODAXE everyone away.”
away. BioWare’s
B original plan for Baldur’s
temple in Baldur’s
Gate II.
QNot every party member has to be a good
guy. A chaotic evil bezerker dwarf, Korgan
can be found at the Copper Coronet Inn when
his personal quest is accepted. Worth having
around, not just for his combative abilities, but
also the banter between him and any good
characters in the party.

ALLESSIA
FAITHHAMMER
QA Cleric of Helm, Allessia is a do-gooder,
bound to protect the innocent and serving
the public, kind of like a medieval RoboCop.
Hearing of the troubles in Baldur’s Gate, she
travels there in Dark Alliance II, and has a neat
range of magical attacks at her disposal.

VAHN
QArcane Archers are known for their ability
to land an arrow onto a pinhead, often
with additional magical effects. Arriving in
Baldur’s Gate at the wrong time, Vahn is
soon knee-deep in the political and social
upheaval of the famous city and up against
Eldrith’s Dark Alliance.
 THE
THE HIS
HISTORY
STOR
TORY O
OF:
F: B
BALDUR’S
AL
LDUR’S
DUR GATE

e
» [PC] Parts of th
me
map would beco
game
available as the
progre sses.

Gate was as ambitious as we’ve come

to expect from the developer. “From the
very beginning, the plan was to have a
trilogy,” reveals James, “so we wanted
the player to be able to create a characterr
not just for the first game but the entire
trilogy.” For those fans frustrated by the
THE MISSING
experience/level cap in Baldur’s Gate,
you know why. “Yeah we just couldn’t
e now
w
BALDUR’S
let the player have e all the levels from the
beginning – we were thinking if we could d do
o
GATES
as half as well as Fallout, we could do three “I’m actually glad we didn’t really get the chan
games, making what we loved.” ce
to make Baldur’s Gate III, as I think what was
planned, The Black Hound, had little to do with
aldur’s Gate and its add-on were the franchise,” says Chris Avellone when we
delivered a year late to Interplay; but ask
him about Black Isle’s proposed third game in
it was still an instant smash, though. the famous RPG series. “While the Baldur’s Gate
“The thing about Ray [Muzyka] and Greg series kept the player protagonist in the forefront,”
[Zeschuk] was that they were smart men,” continues the designer continues, “Baldur’s Gate III took a step
James. “They were very humble and created a backward and made the antagonist’s woes more
culture within BioWare that was also very humble. important to the storyline, which I think ends up
So it was all collaboration and the best idea wins out. reducing the player agency. That said, there was
Sure, there were heated arguments, as always, but some great art and level design ideas in it, I just
we all wanted to make a great Dungeons & Dragons didn’t
» [PC] Baldur’s Gate II opens with the player and party members care much for the premise or the companion ideas
game, so were always focused towards the same imprisoned in a dank dungeon. .”
The third game, as perhaps befitted the circuitous
goal.” Despite the group’s singlemindedness, there ending to Throne Of Bhaal, would include none of
were inevitably minor faults within Baldur’s Gate. an evil mage who has discovered the nature of the characters that had helped make the series
Pathfinding, a constant bugbear of games even today, the lead character, and tortures them in a vain so
famous, and was unceremoniously cancelled when
was far from satisfactory, with the player’s party often attempt to tap the power of the God Of Murder. Interplay’s deal with Wizards Of The Coast abrup
pron to wandering through a giant spider nest rather
prone Throughout the city of Athkatla and the lands tly
ended. BioWare itself was undeterred, and anoth
than that safe route you’d carefully selected. And by south of Baldur’s Gate, the game concludes in er
major franchise was born from the ashes. “I’m a
self-
self-admission, James realised his characters weren’t the Elven city of Suldanessellar, where the player Dungeons & Dragons fan,” recalls James Ohlen,
quit as fully developed as they could have been. “I
quite must battle the mage and also, themselves, in “so
I said we can’t just give up on it. So we did our own
was talking to Dermot Clarke, who was a go-between order to save the city and their own soul. “As version, Dragon Age: Origins, which was essentially
bet
between us and Interplay. I was high on the success soon as we’d finished Sword Coast, we began on n just Baldur’s Gate on console.”
of Baldur’s Gate, including our story and characters. Baldur’s Gate II,” remembers James, “although But Baldur’s Gate III isn’t the only abandoned
He told me they weren’t really as well-developed as we didn’t have much sketched out beyond the game in the series. With BioWare busy on Tales
the characters in Final Fantasy VII.” Between Baldur’s fact we were going to do a Highlander-style Of
The Sword Coast and the Baldur’s Gate sequel, Britis
Ga and its sequel, James played straight through the
Gate storyline where the last spawn of Bhaal standing h
developer Runecra, already involved with publis
fa
famous Squaresoft game, enthralled by the game’s would become the new God.” The sequel also her
Interplay, was contracted to produce a PlayStation
de
depth of character, from backstory, to interaction boasted a superior screen resolution, an improved d port of Baldur’s Gate. With changes to the engine
an romance. That’s right, BioWare’s famous (and
and multiplayer experience (the game would no longer er and
gameplay made, including a smooth-scrolling displa
so
sometimes infamous) romance systems began with pause when one character entered a building for y
(as opposed to the PC game’s push scroll), the game
th Final Fantasy series.
the example) and a new pathfinding technique called d was almost completed before issues at Interplay
Baldur’s Gate II continues the story of who we ‘bumping’ which allowed characters to jump out – it
had been in financial difficulty, despite the succe
n
now know as the half-sibling of the first game’s main es.
of the way rather than block their teammates. ss of
Baldur’s Gate – led to a takeover by French publis
a
antagonist, Sarevok, and fellow child of the Lord Of Inspired by Final Fantasy and Chrono s the
no Cross, her
Titus. PlayStation Baldur’s Gate, among many other
M
Murder, Bhaal. At the start of the game, the spawn of mproved immeasurably
characters themselves improved projects, was brusquely dropped from developme
Bhaal and a handful of party members are imprisoned says James. “WeWe gave each companion nt,
as the focus remained solely on the sequel that
within a dank dungeon. Their host is Jon Irenicus, cter an entire storyline, added romance
character would seek to dramatically improve every aspec
t of
the original hit.

RETRO GAMER | 71
 » [GBA] The Game Boy Advance version of Dark Alliance
provides many interesting variations from the original game.

options
ti andd more fleshed-out
fl h d t rel relationship
l tii hi arcs. A
the Forgotten Realms is a huge world, so just sticking
And
d
“DARK AL
LLIAANCE WAS
to the area around Baldur’s Gate didn’t feel right.”
The sequel’s expansion, Throne Of Bhaal, effectively
ALWAYS PRESSENTED
replaced the proposed third Baldur’s Gate game as far
as BioWare was concerned, although Interplay itself
AS AN ACT
TION-
continued d the idea together with Black Isle Studios.
After the critical acclaim and success of Baldur’s
RPG TITLEE WITH
Gate II,I BioWare, loathe to move away from the role- MINIMALL DIA
ALOGUE”
playing genre for which it had now made its name, Chris Avellone
began pitching alternative stories to Interplay based on
the Forgotten Realms setting, utilising a new game
engine. As attractive as the Infinity Engine was, its busy with Neverwinter Nights, s a completely new
time had clearly come, and Neverwinter Nightss was story and style of gameplay was pitched for the
the next proposed chapter. Sadly, Interplay’s money PlayStation 2 console, a market that was proving too
troubles were never far away, and it was eventually large to ignore. Within the publisher, and its in-house
published by Infogrames, under its Atari label. But developer, Black Isle, there was a feeling that it was
elsewhere, the Baldur’s Gate e story was taking a new lagging behind in terms of console titles. “Console
direction, one that would reach a new audience once game sales during that period were a big part of the
more, away from the dedicated PC fanbase. business,” explains Chris Avellone, codesigner on the
Despite the cancellation of the PlayStation port of first game in this fresh direction. “And the fact that
Baldur’s Gate, e Interplay didn’t abandon the idea of a Interplay and Black Isle didn’t have titles in the console
console version of its famous series. With franchise space was setting the company back. Dark Alliance
rights held by the publisher and, in any case, BioWare was intended to combat that.” While a game in the
style of the original Baldur’s Gatee could have worked,
» [PC, above] Baldur’s a focus on combat, exploration and linear gameplay
Gate II contains some was what Interplay decided would work best in terms
new faces in addition to
old friends. of its chief motivation: sales. “I did have the concern
that by using the Baldur’s Gate e name, it would have
» [PS2, right] Kromlech the connotation that it was a deep role-playing game,
the dwarf attacks a horde
of undead in Dark Alliance. and it also implies a strong city connection,” continues
Chris. “To me, however, Dark Alliance e was always
presented as an action RPG title with minimal dialogue,
which made sense.”

o help develop the new title,

Washington-based Snowblind Studios
was contracted by Interplay, together
with its impressive eponymous engine.
“Like BioWare, they were an independent studio,”
says Chris, who worked with Snowblind closely
during development. “I liked its studio director, lead
programmer and everyone I met there. They were

72 | RETRO GAMER
 THE HISTORY OF: BALDUR’S GATE

ANKHEG

Don’t go adventuring without these

ARMOUR
QForged from the shell of a giant
Ankheg, this suit is as strong
as plate mail, yet as light as
leather armour.

BAG OF
HOLDING
QFor those adventurers obsessed
with loot, this magical bag is a must
given it can stack an amazing 100
items inside its soft folds.

ELIXIR OF
HEALTH
QThis ubiquitous brew restores
precious hit points in an instant,
making it a vital addition to any
adventurer’s backpack.

WAND OF MAGIC
MISSILES
QThis trusty wand can be used
by any class, making it a good
alternative to ranged weapons for
rogues or clerics.

ROD OF
RESURRECTION
QHas Minsc gone off and got himself
killed again? No problem! One wave
of this rod and any deceased party
member is brought back to life.

HELMET
QComing in all shapes and sizes,
» The BioWare team capable of developing the engine and tech h where
h helmets offer little in the way of AC.
midway through They do, however, protect against
the development of we couldn’t do so internally.” The Snowblind engine
Baldur’s Gate. presented a top-down isometric view of the action, critical hits, meaning warriors
with a fully rotatable camera, and enabled two players should always wear one.
to battle together within the game’s locations. “It was
pretty smooth, and multiplayer was fun and easy to MAGIC RING
hop in and out of,” recalls Chris. “And this will sound QCarry more loot! Move faster!
crazy, but the water physics in the game made it fun Look like you’re wealthy! All
just to run around in the water – you could literally boot of this and more can be yours,
up a level and have fun jumping and running circles with a band imbued with potent
in the water.” Unfortunately, for many Baldur’s Gate magical properties.
fans, the payoff was a plot and characterisation that
was as shallow as many of the puddles that were so
enjoyable to jump into, with little motivation or story
SLING
QWizards aren’t exactly fond of
» Jam
Jamees
es Ohle
behind its three lead characters. Black Isle, as with the
Ohlenn has
has hand-to-hand combat, but they can’t
recently left BioWare other games, supported development where it could,
to work on a D&D book. use bows either. Answer: this nifty
as Chris explains. “Our support for Dark Alliance e was
sling for when the spells run out.
largely me on narrative production and QA. In short, I
made suggestions, but mostly worked on the script.”
Dark Alliancee is the tale of three adventurers, each
with unique abilities and weaknesses. Human Vahn
COMPOSITE
is an archer, adept at eliminating enemies with his LONGBOW
QStronger and more flexible than
Q
enchanted arrows, yet weaker at melee combat.
a standard longbow, these are
Adrianna is an Elven sorceress, with the ability to
e
essential for taking down enemies
unleash devastating magical attacks, while Kromlech,
a a distance.
at
the obligatory stout dwarf, delights to engage in
hand-to-hand combat, preferably with a battleaxe or
mountainous sword. Each character must take on BASTARD
the Dark Alliance, a mass of evil created upon the SWORD
death of Eldrith The Betrayer, a Sword Coast QThe ‘sword-and-a-half’ can be
used one-handed, leaving the other
hand free to wield a shield for some
extra protection.
 CHARACTER

How to spot an Infinity Engine game

PORTRAITS
VIEWPOINT QIn Baldur’s Gate, these character

QThe isometric view quickly portraits rightly became adored by

became the calling card of any fans, such is the life behind them.
Infinity game, utilising a sliding Their edges highlight whenever a
bitmap technique in order to allow character is interacting.
beautiful and unique worlds.

MENU STATUS RINGS

SHORTCUTS QThese rings below each
QThere’s a plethora of options character gave a handy indicator as
under the hood of every Infinity to their status. For example, when
Engine game, and they can mostly under attack they turn red, when
be accessed using these shortcuts panicked, yellow, and so on.
on the game screen.

DIALOGUE
BOX
QThis window is where all the
dialogue and interactions take
place. It also updates statuses, and
can be set to one of three sizes.

“DARK ALLIIANCE TAUGHTT ME THAT TRYING

TO FIN
NIS
SH YOUR WORK EAR
RLY AT BLACKK ISLE
JUST OPENED YO
OU UP TO MORE REVISIIONS”
Chris Avellone

commander tainted by the poison of foolish pride. even though I wasn’t happy, it could have been worse.
In a maddened frenzy, Eldrith gathered her forces to Dark Alliance taught me that trying to finish your
attack
at Baldur’s Gate, a vainglorious attempt to seize work early at Black Isle just opened you up to more
the walled city. It failed, and with her dying breath revisions. I remember writing a pass of the storyline,
ature of
she
sh cursed it, and all who lived inside. Now, as one or being pleased with it, then suddenly the studio head
impressive fe
tacu lar spell effects are an two of the three characters, the player must take on and others at Interplay began a series of bizarre
S ] Sppec
» [PS2 e.
A liance ennggiinne
D rkk Al the perils of Baldur’s Gate and save the city from the suggestions about what they thought would work
Snowblind’s Da
resurrected evil of Eldrith and her devilish Dark Alliance. story-wise.” In the case of Dark Alliance, there’s no
The story of Dark Alliance serves to move the action doubt that the tenet ‘less is more’ applies. Its levelling
swiftly from one location to another, with frequent up, frequent battles (even more fun in co-op) and
pit stops at the city itself, usually to rearm and flog looting require just a loose framework of story to hang
all the spoils from the various battles. Gameplay is on over its relatively short running time. “I thought
streamlined so that the experience rarely became there were just enough levels to make each new area
onerous. Recall potions allow the player to warp you encountered exciting without the player getting
straight back to the Elfsong Tavern where they can exhausted of the area you were just at,” notes Chris.
sell items and weapons, pick up new gear and learn of “I think if we’d dragged out the environment levels,
potential new missions. Each location presents a linear people would have gotten tired of them.”
procession from one point to another, killing anything
in the way, and saving at the frequent save point altars. he success of Dark Alliance on the
The game’s simplicity (which also includes a truncated PlayStation 2 led to subsequent
level-up system) nonetheless hit the spot with console releases on the Xbox and GameCube.
» [PS2] Arcane Archer Vahn fires off a clutch arrow at some evil gamers more orientated towards action-heavy games. While these differed little – the
lizard men in Dark Alliance. “The story wasn’t balanced well,” bemoans Chris, Microsoft console improved the visuals slightly, with
“with too much coming out towards the end. But the latter console going the other way – the Game Boy

74 | RETRO GAMER
 THE HISTORY OF: BALDUR’S GATE
T

» [Xbox] Like most RP

Gs, you’ll start off fig
hting fodder like goblin
s in Dark Alliance II.
» [PC] Examining some steampunk machinery in Baldur’s Gate II.

Advance port three years later offers a substantially Despite proud assertions of a new direction by Black into the vein of nostalgia, and
nd really connected with
different experience. Gone is the, frankly unnecessary, Isle producer, Kevin Osburn, Dark Alliance delivered a it.” For designer James Ohlen, the first Baldur’s Gate
jumping mechanic, along with the experience meter, startlingly familiar experience to its predecessor. The in particular proved a massive learning curve for the
and most of the game’s conversational choices. game’s engine was as elegant as ever, with some fledgling developer, but a valuable one nonetheless.
Smaller levels and a more interactive Baldur’s Gate minor improvements in environment interactivity. New “All of us were learning, and we were learning from
(the player can talk to most of its populace, and even monsters, weapons and missions were a given; how each other, and from Black Isle, who had more
take on minor side missions for them) help make these would differ, and be used differently, to the first experience than us. It helped form what I know about
this version just as enjoyable, despite its brevity. game was what counted, and here there was little videogames today.”
Only the lack of recall potions and character choice change. Of course, this was not necessarily a bad Today, the Baldur’s Gate series lives on thanks to
counts against it, although the ability to save the game thing, and given its strong sales, it’s clear fans were former BioWare programmer Cameron Tofer and
whenever you want to is a welcome addition. quite happy to lap up more of the same. And the game his company, Beamdog. By releasing the enhanced
Dark Alliance was a big enough hit for Interplay to did at least offer some flexibility and variety with its versions of the original games, along with the other
commission a sequel on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. workshop feature, where characters could take base infinity engine titles, and related games such as
Released in 2004, Dark Alliance II took the safe path of weapons and modify them with rune stones and other Neverwinter Nights, Beamdog has capitalized on
virtually retreading in the steps of the first game, with various gems to create magical weapons. the same nostalgia that made Baldur’s Gate such
a few minor enhancements. With Chris Avellone busy a success in the first place. Tuned in to work on
elsewhere (most notably on Snowblind’s Champions et it’s impossible to look at the release modern hardware, there’s never been a better time to
Of Norrath), David Maldonado took the lead design of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II rediscover the world of Baldur’s Gate. So what are you
reins as Black Isle Studios developed the sequel, albeit without considering the background waiting for? There are evildoers who need their arses
not in total agreement with Snowblind, as a lawsuit turmoil at the time. Interplay, bought out handed to them! Adventurers, roll for initiative!
(presumably concerning licensing issues with its self- totally by Titus Interactive in 2001, was struggling, as
titled engine) was brought against Interplay. Set not was its new owners, whose solution was to begin
long after the events of the first game, Dark Alliance II shutting down its various satellite studios, including,
sees Baldur’s Gate and its surrounding areas once eventually, Black Isle. By the time of Dark Alliance II’s
more in the grip of fear. Eldrith and her Onyx Tower release in 2004, the studio was practically no more.
may be history, but the three heroes who defeated Chris Avellone had already left Black Isle in 2003,
her have disappeared, and further dastardly enemies disenfranchised with the cancellation of Baldur’s
stalk the land. Once more, a band of adventurers Gate III, but still has fond memories of the entire
make the journey to Baldur’s Gate seeking fame Baldur’s Gate franchise. “I think Baldur’s Gate and
and fortune, and perhaps also to discover the fate of Dark Alliance captured and delivered on a nostalgia
their forebears. Cleric of Helm, Allessia Faithhammer, and absence in the market,” he notes. “People had
treasure hunter dwarf Borador and mysterious moon played the SSI Gold Box games and loved them, but
elf Ysuran Auondril are three of the five characters that there wasn’t anything to replace them…until Baldur’s
can take this mission to rid the land of its troubles. Gate happened. It wasn’t just a good game, it tapped » [PC] Beamdog’s Enhanced Edition of Baldur’s Gate II released in 2013.

RETRO GAMER | 75
 neGcon
Fact
QThe neGcon is also compatible
with a very small number of
PlayStation 2 games, including Ridge
Racer V, WipEout Fusion and Tokyo
Road Race (known in Japan
as Battle Gear 2).

neGcon  PLATFORM: PLAYSTATION

 RELEASED: 1994
 COST: £44.99 LAUNCH, £10+ NOW

amco’s home conversion of Ridge button and two face buttons are now analogue

N Racer on the PlayStation was pretty

incredible, but it did have one
notable disadvantage compared
to the arcade experience – the standard
PlayStation controller. Before Sony embraced
inputs. But the big change comes with the twist
functionality, which allows for analogue steering
in racing games. This unusual method of control
takes some getting used to, but some players
swear by it.
analogue thumbsticks and rumble to create the The neGcon standard was adopted by a
DualShock, you were stuck with digital steering. number of developers including Sony itself, and
Though the handling model had been adjusted early PlayStation steering wheels adopted the
well to compensate, Namco still felt that greater neGcon protocol to provide analogue control.
precision was needed. The controller was popular enough that Namco
To remedy this, Namco made the neGcon. later released a smaller revised version, which is
The controller offers most of the same buttons distinguished by its black casing, but ultimately
that would be found on a regular PlayStation became somewhat redundant when Sony
controller (the exceptions are the select button introduced its own analogue controllers as
and two shoulder buttons), but one shoulder standard pack-ins with the PlayStation.
ESSENTIAL GAME WipEout
Psygnosis’ futuristic racer is a famously
unforgiving game, bringing your craft
to an almost complete stop if you so
much as look at the side of the track the
wrong way. As a result, you need every
advantage you can get, and while the
analogue buttons don’t make much of
a difference, the analogue steering of
the neGcon allows for the kind of subtle
course corrections you’d be wary of
making on a standard digital controller. Some players like it so much
they’ve even hacked together ways of using it on later entries in the
series like WipEout HD.
 ULTIMATE GUIDE

Blazing aer the trail set by Naughty Dog’s Bandicoot came this adolescent
purple dragon. Spyro The Dragon was a smash success, but what was it
that made the game such a firestarter?
Words by Adam Barnes

78 | RETRO GAMER
 ULTIMATE GUIDE: SPYRO THE DRAGON

he concept of the third dimension Disruptor, an impressive, if overlooked, cinematic

understandably doesn’t seem so shooter developed by Insomniac. Though it hadn’t
alien to us nowadays. While it’s come sold well, publisher Universal – which had also
full circle and now pixel art is seeing a worked with Naughty Dog on Crash Bandicoot – was
resurgence in seemingly every other impressed enough to go ahead and commission
new indie game released on Steam, back when the a second game from the young studio. The focus
PlayStation was causing a ruckus it was 3D graphics on dragons for the next game was there from the
that was all anyone could talk about. Genres were very start thanks to studio artist Craig Stitt and his
being torn from their traditional, two-dimensional fondness for the mythical winged lizards. The ability
perspectives and thrust into the black fog of early 3D. to fly was a big boon for the game, since it added a
Almost overnight, gaming had once again become whole extra layer to the 3D platformer genre
a frontier, and inventive ways of gaming were being
adopted and adapted with practically every new
release. While Spyro wasn’t the spark that caused
the explosion, the fiery character certainly helped
While Spyro wasn’t
keep it ablaze after the likes of Super Mario 64 and the spark that caused the
Crash Bandicoot had already begun to popularise the
concept of the 3D platformer. explosion, the fiery character
In fact, there are close ties between Naughty
Dog’s destructive orange mascot and that of helped keep it ablaze
Insomniac Games’ purple equivalent. It began with

RETRO GAMER | 79
 » [PlayStation] Each of the worlds had their own aesthetic and
Toys For Bob’s design director, Toby Schadt purposefully avoided familiar level tropes like ‘ice world’ or ‘fire world’.
on resurrecting Spyro’s first three games
Why have you decided to focus on the original
PlayStation games?
Because it’s the classic trilogy that started it all! There are a
variety of reasons as to why now is the right time to remaster
the first three Spyro games, but the most important is the
fans. The love and appreciation for Spyro hasn’t gone away, and
we wanted to create a love letter back to the fans with this remaster that
unleashed the dragon in a significant way.

What technical challenges have you faced?

The team didn’t have any of the code from the original games, which of
course presented a challenge. To get around this, we built a tool dubbed
to
‘Spyro-scope’ that helped the team to map the original games to allow us
rebuild the remaster from the ground up. This means that each level in Spyro
Reignited Trilogy is mapped faithfully from the originals. The characters are
creatively reimagined with additional flair allowing fans to rekindle the fire
with Spyro and his crew like never before.

Is there anything you’ve had to update from a

gameplay mechanics point of view?
them
Because we wanted to create a love letter back to the fans that reminds
place, we focused our efforts on a
why they fell in love with gaming in the first
few key areas of the trilogy. First, the controls: fans will experien ce the iconic
platformer with smooth controls and modern flourishes that will enhance
as
the exploration, collection and discovery. Core elements as fundamental
controllers have changed so much since the PlayStation days, so we wanted
to honour the original experiences while making the gameplay feel natural
re
in today’s gaming landscape. Then graphics, which we wanted to recaptu
the stunning, lush, and fiery environments. And lastly the experien ce: the
Reignited Trilogy captures that same adventure and wonder of the original
three games and goes beyond what fans remember with remastered
environments, characters and musical score!
that didn’t really exist previously. Just think were many, but primarily it was to target a
What’s it like working with the voice actors?
may of Mario’s winged cap in Super Mario 64 and younger demographic in a bid to take a slice
Fantastic! It’s been great to work with them, and fans of the Spyro games
in how that brief burst of three-dimensional out of Nintendo’s domination. Mark never
recognise some familiar voices such as Tom Kenny, the original voice actor
the Dragon. He’s back as the voice of freedom just felt so thrilling. Spyro would quite forced the change, but was eager to
Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage and Spyro: Year of
have that freedom permanently and would be see Insomniac switch tact after noticing
Spyro in the Spyro Reignited Trilogy.
designed with flight in mind. that the PlayStation was targeting an older
But in fact the initial style of the game audience than the N64, and that the space
Our readers crave physical releases. Why are the
was completely different. Despite the desire for a high-quality family friendly game was
second two games in the trilogy digital-only?
to create something more lighthearted than waiting to be filled. Pete became Spyro and a
The development team has put incredible care and effort into the game to
Disruptor – hence the push for a dragon – more colourful, Disneylike tone was adopted.
make sure it not only lives up to fans’ expectations but also to their own
the look of this platformer still leaned closer
incredibly high standards. Each of the games in Spyro Reignited Trilogy has
towards dark and gritty. The inspiration, ark’s input didn’t stop
dozens of expansive levels. A day one patch is needed for those who have
int, all in fact, was 1996 flash-in-the-pan movie there, though. The
purchased the trilogy via the physical disc. From a development standpo
d Trilogy were hand- DragonHeart, with Insomniac wanting to executive producer had
100-plus levels and 400-plus characters in Spyro Reignite
capture a similarly sombre approach to the idea for a panoramic
craed and built from the ground up.
fantasy. Spyro was initially to be named 3D engine, essentially
Pete – as hard as that might be to imagine meaning large open environments that
Does working on other people’s games feel restrictive
– a comically pedestrian name, and one didn’t suffer from the same dark fog that
in what you can and cannot change?
were associated with a 1977 movie, that may well so many PlayStation games did. It was up
When Toys For Bob set out to make an awesome game collection, there
through out the process . The have been intended to be taken seriously to Insomniac’s Alex Hastings to make this
certain design decisions that needed to be made
that but was supposed to be a mythical dragon dream happen, however, who resorted to
team remained committed to keeping the integrity and legacy of Spyro
and all that entails. The change came about assembly language – which was rarely used,
fans remembered intact. Toys For Bob’s goal was to ensure that the Spyro
er fairly early on in development, with guidance even at the time – for the majority of the
in Spyro Reignited Trilogy remained faithful to the Spyro that fans rememb
d in-hous e from Mark Cerny – who was then working at coding. And in fact Spyro’s engine would
when they first fell in love with the franchise. The studio leverage
y Universal Interactive – to change direction to become quite inventive, essentially using two
Spyro aficionados to ensure key details from the original games were faithfull
something more family friendly. The reasons separate engines: one to render the distance
implemented into Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

880 | RETRO GAMER

 ULTIMATE GUIDE: SPYRO THE DRAGON

,’’ļĹĻǓĹvTĮļĹ
The colourful creatures you will meet
around the Dragon Realms
SPYRO
Feisty and fiery, Spyro has just
enough attitude to make him
likeable, but the right amount of
heart to become the hero. He’s
young, too, which means he’s not
quite the powerful dragon that he
could grow up to be.

SPARX
Tagging along with Spyro, the two
became close friends after the
purple dragon rescued Sparx
from a bird. The dragonfly has
a fondness for butterflies, but
also protects Spyro from harm -
essentially acting as a life meter.

LINDAR
You could say that it was Lindar who
caused all the dragons in the Dragon
Realms to be turned to statues,
since his interview with DNN
– Dragon News Network – in
the opening taunted the game’s
villain by saying he was “no
threat”, and that he was “ugly”.

THE BALLOONISTS
Without the wingspan of a
full-grown dragon, Spyro can’t do
much more than glide. As such,
he should rely on the various
balloonists of the world who can
take him to different homeworlds
– once certain requirements are
» [PlayStation] A subtle, but brilliant, addition to the engine met, of course.
was how even if a gem wasn’t rendered in the distance, its
glimmer could still be seen to entice the player.
in lower polygonal quality and one to render THE DRAGONS
T
the closer spaces in much better detail, T
There are 74 different dragons to be
transitioning between the two seamlessly rrescued throughout the game (with
as and when they were needed. Nowadays ssix of them being rescued twice,
this is a common technique to maximise aactually), each offering either
visual fidelity, and back then Insomniac was a pearl of wisdom to help the
something of a pioneer with this tech. This pplayer understand the game’s
engine would become an integral part of the aabilities, or just an opportunity for
game’s design and would allow players to S
Spyro to talk smack to his elders.
see far into the distance a help to ascertain
the gaps that they were looking to glide TOASTY
across. Without this engine powering the Toasty is said to be one of Gnasty
game, Spyro The Dragon would have had Gnorc’s most devious henchmen.
to be a different experience entirely; there The truth is, however, it’s just
would have been no option for floating a sheep in a contraption,
islands with secret treasure or long distances likely exacting revenge for the
to traverse as part of platforming. Even punishment the fluffy livestock
the bright, cheery tone would’ve felt more have had to endure from dragons
oppressive and grim if it had suffered the
same dark fog of early 3D and likely not have Spyro’s engine would over the years.

GNASTY GNORC
become the popular PlayStation mascot it
ultimately ended up being. become quite inventive, The game’s villain. Gnasty Gnorc
Of course this would have all been for
nothing if the character of Spyro couldn’t essentially using two was exiled after he tried to steal
the dragons’ treasure. He then
match the qualities of the environments. For
that, Charles Zembillas took control separate engines enacted a plot to exterminate
the dragons – which he would’ve
gotten away with, too, if it wasn’t
for that pesky Spyro.

RETRO GAMER | 81
 ucky
What elements went into the plucky
young drago n that made him an
enduring success?
The way that Spyro slightly
turned his head and the
This tuft of horns is a great design camera zoomed in close while
choice, almost as though the designerer he dashed really created a
had styled them as a fauxhawk – justt sense that you were steering a The unlimited,
like any teenager would with their hair.
air
air. rampaging creature. unrestricted freedom to
glide as part of an inherent
character moveset was a
first for the 3D platformer,
A great deal of time a necessity when the main
was spent on animating character is a dragon.
Spyro, with his raising
and lowering eyebrows
in particular helping
to give him that
cartoonlike feel.

The ability to breathe fire was Early on in development,

always going to be a part of Spyro was green, but with
Spyro’s draconic skillset, but it so much of the game’s
became such an iconic feature of environments covered in grass
the character. it was tough to distinguish the
character from the ground.
Naturally, you’ll most
commonly see Spyro from
Dashing was another innate the back, so the added
ability of Spyro’s, one that was details from this view - the
enhanced in certain stages that tip of the tail, the undulating
allowed him to burst forwards scales – make him just as
at incredible speeds. interesting to look at.

to shake up the tried-and-true formats that the PlayStation before and considering the
platformers
l tf usually
ll came with
ith att th
the ti
time. ttechnical
h i l stresses
t th
thatt ensued
d ffrom this,
thi
Gone were the concepts of the snow stage, Insomniac certainly didn’t take the easy way
the desert stage, or the jungle stage, and out with Spyro The Dragon.
instead a much more original style that was But then this was a developer looking
all the more mystical and in keeping with to prove itself. Disruptor had been a
the fantasy theme was implimented. The ‘successful’ failure, proving the technical
starting world of Artisans, for example, was skills of the studio but struggling to garner
a fairytale landscape, while the second zone, any commercial acknowledgement for it.
Peace Keepers, provided a more battleworn Spyro, conversely, was met with immediate
environment. It was unique, and only helped positivity, releasing in 1998 to praise from
Spyro stand out all the more. most publications, a top-tier position in the
sales chart (just below Tomb Raider, as it
ut more than that, Spyro happens) and a space in the gaming mascots
» [PlayStation3] In 2011 of the initial design, brought on because The Dragon shunned hall of fame. Ultimately going on to sell
Spyro headlined a new game
called Skylanders: Spyro’s of his work creating the look of Crash traditional stage-by-stage almost 5 million copies across the lifetime
Adventure, which featured Bandicoot – Naughty Dog and Insomniac platforming gameplay in of the PlayStation, the character might have
cute toys figurines that could were both close developers, physically and favour of something more looked like just any another platforming
then be used in the game.
socially. This was how the Disneyesque look akin to Super Mario 64’s level of choice. mascot, but few games have had the lasting
was formed, with Charles’ concepts used Rather than leaping into pictures, however, appeal of the purple dragon. And while
to define both the appearance of Spyro and Spyro would travel through a warpgate – Insomniac Games has since outgrown the
his various cohorts, but also the animations with a neat effect of seeing a 2D plane series, the demand to see them back in the
the characters used to express that cartoony projecting the skyline of the destination – to driving seat of the franchise never really went
vibe. It was Kirsten Van Schreven that travel without noticeable loading screens away. Perhaps if Spyro’s revitalised new look
would take control of the design of the to individual stages. The openness of its turns out to be a winner, that’s something
different worlds, however, and she saw fit gameplay was unlike anything seen on that fans might just get to see.

82 | RETRO GAMER
 » [Playstation] While the original didn’t put as much emphasis
on story, you still got a sense of the young, cheeky Spyro.
ULTIMATE GUIDE: SPYRO THE DRAGON

» [PlayStation] Some stages allowed Spyro to take flight. They were

fun distractions, and compelling to gamers looking to 100% the game.

From young dragonling

to aging platform mascot,
Spyro’s lived a long life...

SPYRO 2: GATEWAY TO SPYRO: YEAR OF THE SPYRO: SEASON OF ICE SPYRO 2: SEASON OF
GLIMMER/RIPTO’S RAGE DRAGON With the success of a Spyro trilogy firmly FLAME
Riding on the success of the original meant The third and final of the original PlayStation established on home consoles, Universal saw fit Following up in 2002 was the obviously-titled
Insomniac had cause to polish the weaker trilogy released in 2000 was also Insomniac’s to push the teen dragon a little further, handing GBA sequel, Season Of Flame. The game
aspects with this 1999 sequel. The overall design last of the franchise before the studio moved on the reins to new series developer Digital Eclipse leveraged the same isometric viewpoint and was
remained mostly the same, but with a greater to new projects. It brought with it a heap of new and transitioning the series over to a handheld critically well received. Though it didn’t sell quite
emphasis on story and characters that was mechanics, key among them being the ability to system for the first time. Season Of Ice released as well as its predecessor, the two were fairly
admittedly lacking in the previous game. play as different characters. in 2001 on the Game Boy Advance. popular – selling a combined 1.5 million copies.

SPYRO: ENTER THE SPYRO: ATTACK OF THE SPYRO ORANGE: THE SPYRO: A HERO’S TAIL
DRAGONFLY RHYNOCS CORTEX CONSPIRACY Developer Eurocom – which had already
2002 also saw the release of the first console This was the third of the GBA trilogy, releasing in Crash Bandicoot and Spyro had enjoyed a friendly developed PS2 and GameCube games for Crash
Spyro not restricted to a Sony platform. Released 2003, and again developed by Digital Ecplise. It rivalry – Naughty Dog and Insomniac would play Bandicoot – was brought on board with this
on GameCube and PS2, Check Six Studios and followed the same template as the original two each other’s games. This culminated in another 2004 release. It leveraged the open world nature
Equinox Digital were pressured to release a GBA games with the same isometric viewpoint, GBA Spyro game, a crossover title released in of the series by adding in slight Metroid-like
game in time for Christmas, and the move to new but it was the last Spyro game to be released 2004 that featured Crash’s nemesis Neo Cortex progression, requiring backtracking in a manner
tech meant it suffered from a lot of flaws. under the Universal brand. as the main antagonist for Spyro. far beyond the hunting for hidden gems.

SPYRO: SHADOW LEGACY THE LEGEND OF SPYRO: THE LEGEND OF SPYRO: THE LEGEND OF SPYRO:
Despite releasing only on Nintendo DS in 2005, A NEW BEGINNING THE ETERNAL NIGHT DAWN OF THE DRAGON
this game takes place after the events of A Hero’s This 2006 entry was the start of a supposed Futurama’s Billy West replaced David Spade as Though the new trilogy offered a sense of growth
Tail. Developer Amaze Entertainment leveraged reboot – a new trilogy for the franchise with the voice of Sparx, but it was otherwise business to Spyro as a character – here he was a teenager
the touchscreen capabilities of the DS handheld Krome Entertainment at the helm. This was as usual for the second part of Krome’s new – none of this improved the quality of the game.
by empowering Spyro with spells, which were more combat-oriented than any other game in trilogy. Interestingly, the GBA game (by Amaze Despite this clever concept of having Spyro grow
activated by drawing the necessary symbol on the series and featured Gary Oldman and Elijah Entertainment) is a standalone 2D adventure with throughout the three games, the reception of
the console’s bottom screen. Wood as voice actors. Metroid influences and a solid combat engine. these titles saw the end of the core Spyro games.
 w e nt w r o n g w ith one of
you w an t to kn ow what
When
t hy pe
yp d ga
g m es of th e N in et ie s, yo u go to
the mos
m us Black ley te ll s u s a b out the
the source. Sea
n d triu m p h s o f T re spasser
trials, tribulations a by Ian Dransfield, interview
Words
by Nick Thorpe

eamus Blackley has had an

extremely successful career – a
programming prodigy with physics
engines, a career as a Hollywood
agent, the m man credited with being the brains
behind the original
o Xbox. He’s done a lot, and
he has a lot tto be proud of. But 2018 is the 20th
anniversary of o the one major black spot on the
man’s resum
resume – so it’s something we had to talk to
him about. T Trespasser – a Jurassic Park tie-in not
directl on a film, starring Hollywood talent,
based directly
offering an open
o world to explore, and featuring an
advanced, cutting
cu edge physics engine… was one
 PUBLISHER:
Electronic Arts
of the most notoriously
n poor games ever released.
“We had written
w this beautiful software
 DEVELOPER:
DreamWorks Interactive Se
renderer,” Seamus tells us, “And right when we
 RELEASED: were ready to t release, the entire media filled up
1998 with all of the
these crazy, unrealistic promises about
 PLATFORM: PC the future of hardware. The first 3DFX chip came
 GENRE: out at that tim
time, which, of course, was completely
First-person shooter incompatible with this elegant software solution we
had for draw
drawing our forests. People would plug in
the hardware and it didn’t work because of how...
it just couldn
couldn’t. But people didn’t know anything
aboutut 3D gra
graphics. It was still the phase where the
 good to shoot the dinos,
» [PC] It never actually feels in any way
that’s actua lly a positive about Trespasser..
and – for once –

The entire media

filled up with all of
these crazy, unrealistic
promises
Seamus Blackley

magical computer would make everything right,

creative solutions to
and when it didn’t, we took the hit. Yeah, it was a » [PC] The open world approach allowed
. Namely: hiding on a roof.
hell of a thing, a hell of a thing. Plus I just cocked it problems like multiple raptors and no guns

up magnificently as a leader, so there’s that also.”

Rewinding a bit, it’s safe to say dinosaurs “Back then it was very much the case that the
weren’t the plan – after playing a lead role in the film people really thought of games as a distraction
creation of Looking Glass’s Flight Unlimited in or a toy,” he says. “I had a different idea about that.
1995, Seamus wanted to move on to a combat I thought that this was an incredible storytelling
version of the game: “[I wanted to] be clever and do medium, and I was very serious about it. I was
something else [Microsoft Flight Sim] couldn’t do, actually very reluctant to make a game based on
because we beat them the first time by making the Jurassic Park because I had had success making
airplanes fly properly, and then we could beat them games at Looking Glass that were their own stories.
a second time by making an F-16 and showing “System Shock, Underworld, even Flight
combat properly.” New management – thanks Unlimited were sort of a way of telling yourself a
to new money – had appeared at the top of the story, and I thought we had an opportunity here. ment
» After Trespasser ’s develop
studio, however, and its plan was to get Seamus to Especially as I had innovated with these physics finished Seamus Blackley left
Microsoft to
DreamWorks Interactive for
make more of the same. He disagreed, he resigned engines that I had written at Looking Glass, and I help create the Xbo x.
(some accounts say he was fired), and after a said, ‘Listen, the idea of being able to tell stories in
time he ended up in the employ of one Steven worlds where you can have emergent behaviour,
Spielberg’s DreamWorks Interactive. The movie where you could actually figure things out yourself
company with a games division was a different and everyone might do something a different way,
flavour for Seamus, and from the very beginning increases the power of our medium over movies.’”
his enthusiasm to work on a game based on The Nineties saw an explosion of studios making
Jurassic Park wasn’t exactly present. games aping the movies – the democratisation

RETRO GAMER | 85
 It was the most
miserable thing
professionally I could
have ever imagined
Seamus Blackey

into a set release date. Funding was dependent

on hitting this date, so no more delays could be
factored in – whatever the game was by October
of 1998 is what the game had to be. Seamus is
» [PC] An epic battle between T-te
x and Triceratops?
adamant with six to nine more months banging out
Nah, more like a particularly bad the dents and tuning it up, Trespasser would have
Three Stooges skit.
been a totally different beast. That didn’t happen.

of FMV thanks to the CD format saw to that in a and relationships were often fractious – but the s per the AMD contract, in
big way. But Seamus – thanks to his time at Looking work continued. Slippages occurred, as they would October 1998 Trespasser
Glass – wanted a different approach: one about with any ambitious gaming project, but there was released. Time has popped
the player, their story, and making their own way in was little understanding forthcoming from the on the rose-tinted specs, and
things. Something that now, 20 years later, sounds movie-centric DreamWorks management. All the there’s a loyal, dedicated fanbase for the game still
about right for most big FPS productions. Back in same, development was chugging along, making going strong to this day, doing wonderful things
1998 it was tantamount to mutiny. progress, and with more time Trespasser was for it and banding together as a community like
The idea was to build a game around the concept going to live up to the hype that Seamus had been only truly great fans can. But none of that changes
of not strong-arming the player into doing anything whipping up in the games press. Enter AMD. the fact that Trespasser was terrible. Near-enough
specific. An overarching goal? Sure. A closed-in “We had the physics engine, we had the sound broken, it had been hyped to ludicrous levels,
walkway littered with waypoints and instructions system for the search engine,” Seamus says. “We released at the wrong time, rushed out the door,
telling you precisely how many steps to take at had an event-driven story that was going on that and left to rot in the cells after summary trial by
any given time? Not quite. The concept was player handled all sorts of permutations. We had actors for public opinion. The game sold 50,000 copies, or
agency and it was central to the entire idea behind one of the very first times, playing new characters thereabouts, and by all reasonable thinking should
Trespasser: “I wanted to build a team around that in a game. We had Minnie Driver. We had Richard have been entirely forgotten by 1999. Yet here we
concept,” Seamus says, “It turned out that the deal Attenborough. And we took it very seriously. We are, still talking about Trespasser.
of being at DreamWorks was that I could have the tried to write a really good story that was deep and But why? Well, in short, it had some
money to do that if all I did was Jurassic Park.” revealed more things about Jurassic Park. phenomenally good ideas for what could be in –
It wasn’t long until the differences between “At that point, it was the biggest picture that had what should be in – games of the post-arcade era.
working at a game studio with plenty of releases ever come out, and so Steven and Universal giving No lives and energy bars, no HUDs and onscreen
under its belt and a movie studio with a small us the opportunity to do that was a big deal, and we hovering indicators, or scores and credits: just a
games wing became apparent. Executives and took it seriously. It was very exciting… right up until realistic simulation of a fantasy setting, offering
management types with zero gaming knowledge we had this AMD deadline.” the sort of immersion you literally could not get in
got on Seamus and his team’s back almost from Seamus doesn’t remember the specifics, but any other medium. Trespasser is still talked about
the get-go. A lack of understanding permeated, a deal was signed with AMD that tied Trespasser because it brought together so many then-unique,

HIGH AMBITIONS
for the machines required to run them
The games that were made infamous

OUTCAST WING COMMANDER III: THE ELDER SCROLLS IV:

QThe buzzword surrounding this
action DOOM 3 HEART OF THE TIGER OBLIVION
ises
adventure game was ‘voxels’, and the prom QIt is shocking to think one of the John QA lot of chat focuses on Wing Commander III’s QWith a huge open world to expl
ore, intelligent
se
were sky high. While the original 1999 relea Carmack-headed id Tech engines was unfriendly FMV sequences, but we shouldn’t forget the NPCs capable of deciding to do things of
their
le
was a solid title, it was crippled by the simp when it came to system specs, but that was space combat sections. Featuring fully polygonal own volition, and those views, it wasn’t
exactly
it in anyt hing
fact that most people couldn’t play the case with the first game to use the id Tech 3 ships in a world pre-3D hardware acceleration, surprising when Oblivion launched to its
fair few
III with
resembling a decent fashion. A Pentium engine, Doom 3. It looked amazing and had the game demanded a hell of a lot from the CPU. share of issues. Performance issues, lost
saves,
it at low setti ngs? Most truly spectacular lighting effects, but Doom 3 Unsurprisingly, few regular players had that kind
128MB RAM just to play glitches, bugs – some charming, others
worse –
people would stick with Half-Life, than ks. demanded way too much from PCs. of hardware to hand. it still ended up an absolute legend.

86 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: TRESPASSER
SPASSER

now-standard elements and honestly tried to make

something truly special out of them. It failed, sure,
but we all know those who play god love a trier.
The immediate aftermath wasn’t quite as
considered, though, and the prerelease hype
behind Trespasser had pushed it into a corner it
had no chance of backing out of. It all turned into
an experience that took Seamus many years to
really move on from: “I was 27 or something,”
he explains,”And I didn’t have any ability too stand
up for myself and so I didn’t, and it was thee most
miserable thing professionally I could have ever
imagined. Shipping something for people to look
at and evaluate, all your peers, that you know
ow
orse,
isn’t done and doesn’t quite work right – worse,
something that’s trying to innovate in a bunchnch of » [PC] The detritus of what was there befor
e on Site B is sometimes
captured well, but most of the time the island
tomp on
ways – if it’s not working right, might just stomp ’s just empty.

that innovation. That’s what Trespasser did.” .”

But hindsight is a powerful tool. Coming to terms
with the project and the changes it forced Seamus
to go through personally and professionally y have
left the man in what seems like a better place
ace
– as well as a place where explanations behindhind
Trespasser’s many failures make sense. “There here
was no 3D hardware when we started the project,”
Seamus says. “There was no idea there ever er would
be 3D hardware. The 3D hardware that existed sted was
made by Silicon Graphics and was built in

» [PC] On the list of more egregious failings on Trespasser’s part,

this doesn’t rank highly. But it is very Trespasser.

Half-Life about Trespasser,

» [PC] There’s an ever-so-slight feeling of
two neve r fare well for the latter.
though comparisons between the

UNREAL
QIt sold plenty, and ended up bein
he
g the
e, but
m ire,
mpir
foundation on which Epic built an emp
ng by
b one simple
at launch Unreal was hamstru
ld
fact: to get it looking as good ass you wou
n ded
ouu need
nee ed too
been promised it would lookk,, you
d a C
PC capa ble
remortgage your house too affor
a
h
he
lly worked in the gam e’ss
of running it. This actually
favour, in hindsight.
 ONTRIBUTIONS
FORGOTTEN C easy to poke fun at Trespasser for what it did wr
ong, but
It’s ovations
it was a game of many inn

PHYSICS THE ARM

QTrespasser laid it on thick with the
physics and QAfter the initial wave of virtual reality petered
be solved
introduced many a problem that could out, there was still an urge to let us interact
opposite
by the power of actions with equal and with game worlds realistically. Trespasser’s
h, plenty had to be
reactions. A lot of it was glitc arm, controlled by the player, was an attempt an arm was difficult when
r for » [PC] Aiming with this wonky tentacle of
dropped, but it was definitely a trailblaze to increase the immersion – something being things were calm, let alone when you’v e got a raptor in your face.
in-game physics. revisited in current VR games. In this dino-game,
though, it was terrible.
their machines that cost millions of dollars. There
were some people working on graphics cards,
and they released them and, if you recall, the first
generation were crap and didn’t work.
“We were doing texture mapping and all this
stuff that had to do with that, and the reason that
there wasn’t was because making the graphics
hardware that could deal with data in that way is
difficult to do. We needed to draw the forest, and so
we needed a very clever algorithm that could draw
OPEN WORLD things we take for granted today, but back then
QFirst-person games – in fact, mos
t games – NO HUD there was no way. You know, we were on machines
weren’t open world when Trespasser cam QWell before King Kong took all the plaudits for that had 4MB of RAM if they were really good.”
e out in
1998. The ambition – the scope – was and doing away with the intense levels of onscreen Seamus admits he’s amazed what the team
still is
impressive, and it’s one of the game’s stro information, Trespasser hid all the details away in was able to get working, even for Trespasser’s
ngest
areas 20 years later. The world may be things like Anne saying aloud how many bullets compromised release. “We had a game that
sparse,
but there’s always a degree of wonder are in a gun, or… well, the health meter being a could have been the whole future of games,” he
conjured
by exploring the unknown. heart tattoo on her chest. Sigh. enthuses. “The way we talked about it was like
that. I mean, maybe we should have been more
conservative in promoting it, but we were excited.
We thought we were bringing the future, and we
had shipped games that did stuff – I’d shipped
physics that were amazing and new and novel, and
we’d shipped renderers that were amazing and
new and novel in System Shock, and interactive
storytelling. We’d done it, shipped it, got awards for
it, and so we were really excited to do this.”
But the parts didn’t come together in time,
» [PC]
[P Because the the technology of 3D cards didn’t interact well
SPINNING OFF ACTING TALENT
simple act of picking
simp
something
some up should
with Trespasser’s software solutions, and the
QWe can’t claim this to
be true for all of them, definitely
defini involve this
whole thing just ended up the perfect mess. If we
QHolly wood talent is ten-a-penny
eties tended to be in games didn’t know any better, it would almost seem like
but move tie-ins of the Nin these days, but Trespasser knocked it out
much fiddly difficulty.
y on the plot of a of the
hasty cash-ins based roughl (Jurassic) park by getting Minnie Driver
t by being entirely its to star
film. Trespasser bucked tha as player character Anne, and the first
pping the Jurassic Park movie’s
own thing, and almost dro Richard ‘John Hammond’ Attenborough
reprised
name to an afterthought. his role. That was big news in 1998.

88 | RETRO GAMER
 THE
THE
EMMAKING
AKING OF:
OF: TRESPASSER
TR

THE LOST LEVELS

Areas in Trespasser that found themselves on
the cutting room floor

PINE VALLEY
QFamous as a level that neared com
pletion before being
as the basis of
scrapped, Pine Valley was actually used
I think a lot of the stuff was a good idea, and Trespasser’s demo version before it was
released. It ended up
owing to the number
being pulled from the game, reportedly
a lot of people would copy those good ideas and of bugs in some puzzles in a geotherm
al power plant the
been hard at work
then made it work right player would enter. Some modders have
restoring what they can of this little curio
.
Seamus Blackley

Dennis Nedry had sabotaged a few backends at had been so successful there that I was arrogant,
DreamWorks on his way to buy some shaving and I screwed up pretty badly. I made myself into
foam. Nevertheless, as Seamus says, you don’t the guy writing all the physics, which was a huge
ship something innovative unless it’s perfect – and research project, and I did well. I got pretty far
Trespasser, not to hammer the point home too compared to the teams of people who did it later,
much, was far from perfect. and all by myself... but it was while I was also
But that wasn’t down to a lack of ability or effort: running a project. That’s ludicrous. It was a horrible
“All of the guys who were able to do this were guys experience for the team to go through, I am sure.
who had PhDs and master’s degrees in electrical “I learned a lot, and as a result we have Xbox,
engineering and physics and math, because it’s to be frank. I mean, that’s the trade. Upset about
hard,” Seamus says, “Not today, where you have Trespasser? Go play Halo.”
an engine and you have a card, and everybody It might sound like a joke, but Seamus is just TEST LEVEL
QMaking its way to the final game, the Test Level survived
suurvived
knows the card and how much memory and all this being pragmatic here – Trespasser wasn’t what it
stuff and it’s all solved.” should have been, it was mauled by the press and a culling purely because it is just that – an area for the
thhe devs
v
public, sold very few copies, and contributed to the to mess about and try out all of their systems in a control
he relative simplicity of utilising downfall of DreamWorks Interactive. It was, by all environment. We the players are able to access it byy using the he
a physics-based engine in the fair measures, a failure. But it added so much to level select cheat – though remember cheating is badd and and you
creation of a modern game is the world of gaming both directly and indirectly – shouldn’t do it – and there’s actually a fair bit of fun too be had
had
worlds away from what the from the features borrowed by other titles, latterly just shooting all the guns and playing giant dominoe oes.s.
DreamWorks team had to deal with. Countless turned into expected, base level elements that
elements – rendering, clipping, ballistics, anything don’t even raise an iota of surprise these days;
you can think of, it all had to be invented by Seamus through to Microsoft’s entry to the world of console
and his coworkers. The end product might have gaming. Without Trespasser and its huge, public
been a rush-job, but the groundwork Trespasser failure, we probably wouldn’t be in the situation
laid didn’t go unnoticed. Many post-1998 tiles owe a we are today – Seamus recognises this, and is
debt of gratitude to this high-profile failure. magnanimous about it all.
“It’s weird and screwed up,” Seamus says, “I There is still a part of him, though, that looks
mean, I think a lot of the stuff was a good idea, and back on Trespasser and wonders… what if? “It’s
a lot of people would copy those good ideas and pretty good to bookend things, you know? I had
then made it work right. That’s something that I the experience of getting to bookend the Duke
think we’re really proud of. Everyone on the team controller issue on Xbox, where we reissued a
should be really proud of that, and I think they are... new Duke controller. That was one of the things I
“Now, that said, I was an idiot and I ran the team didn’t enjoy about Xbox, but now it has a happy
PLANTATION HOUSE elopment
terribly,” he continues. “I had been very successful ending. I think the happy ending on Trespasser
QThis level – scrapped
early on in Trespasser’s dev
at Looking Glass because we had guys around is that it’s coming around. It’s like Kipling said: y s to
ling, hidden valley forr player
– also included a huge, rol s dro pped,
who would ship a lot of games, and when I went ‘Everything turns out all right in the end. If it’s not such a lovely are a wa
explore. It’s a mystery why and a
to build my new team in Los Angeles, I didn’t all right yet, it’s just because it’s not the end yet…’ a mix of performance hits
though it’s fair to assume blame.
have that structure around and I really needed it. I or something like that.” yer were at least partly to
lack of direction for the pla mus a
t of a demo released by Sea
Plantation House was par re.
early version is out the
couple of years ago, so an
 KEVIN EDWARDS
From Acorn Electron to PS Vita, Kevin Edwards has coded for many
classic computers and consoles. He takes time out from creating Lego
games to discuss his long career, baseball and a familiar webslinger
Words by Andrew Fisher

When did you first encounter a computer?

When we ask Kevin if there In 1979, when I moved to a new high school in
were any programmers he Manchester. They had a Commodore PET 2001 with
admired, he replies, “Anyone 8K of RAM, locked away in a storeroom and only
accessed by a handful of people.
who has developed a game
for home computers or the
How soon did you start programming?
early consoles deserves
I spent all my spare breaks in that computer room.
praise and admiration. You couldn’t keep me away from that PET! We had
Development tools back an amazing computer studies teacher, Pete Davidson,
then didn’t exist or were who encouraged us all. He was teaching us 6502
crude, simplistic or unusable. machine code at the same time as BASIC. My first
You had to have a lot of PET games were in BASIC and I added machine code
patience and enthusiasm routines later as my knowledge improved. I started with
to achieve relatively simple simple maze games and later used machine code to
» [BBC Micro] Kevin’s first ever game, Atomic Protector, saw you
protecting the dots in the maze.
tasks. Games were also scroll the screen left and right, like Scramble.
written in machine code
which required a lot of effort Your first commercial game was Atomic 12K, as the operating system steals various blocks of
to do simple things.” Did Protector, how did you publish it? this memory for its own use.
that mean he spent a lot of By 1983 Pete Davidson had left teaching and arranged
time crunching to finish a some summer jobs for myself and school friend Martin You worked with Martin Galway on those early
project? “I’ve spent more late Galway – we were studying for our A Levels. This was BBC titles, what do you remember of him?
nights finishing off games at Database Publications, a big computer magazine We were both super-keen enthusiasts that wanted to
than I care to remember.” publisher, where he worked. We spent six weeks learn how to write software. Martin worked on a sound
Kevin has a clear passion for writing games and other software, including Atomic envelope editor for the BBC during our summer job
making games, so let’s take Protector, which was published by Optima Software – a at Database Publications. It allowed you to tweak the
a stride down memory lane company under the Database umbrella. envelope and ADSR parameters in real-time. This was
and look at his career. used to create sound effects for Atomic Protector – the
What did you like or dislike about the BBC and first commercial game for us both. I don’t remember
Electron hardware? the editor being published or distributed. However,
Not enough memory (both) and the lack of speed it certainly helped start Martin’s audio career. He
(Electron). 32K RAM was never enough and I would worked on his own music driver and created several
spend lots of time optimising memory usage to get demos that eventually landed him a job at Ocean. I and
the games to fit. Galaforce on the Beeb ran in Mode 2 other school friends used his audio skills in our early
which takes 20K of memory. That leaves only 12K for BBC games – including Knight Lore, Alien 8, Cookie,
code, data, audio and graphics. It’s actually less than NightShade, Galaforce, Crazee Rider, and Match Day.

90 | RETRO GAMER
» Equipped with a 28M
B(!) hard drive and co
BBC Master 128 devel processor, this is Ke
opment machine. vin’s

How did your association with Superiorr

Software start?
I was a freelance programmer working on a shoot-
’em-up. The game was 80 per cent complete e and
I decided to approach a publisher to see whatat they
thought. At the time Superior were the mostt active
em.
publisher for the BBC, so I sent a demo to them.
They got back to me really quickly, were veryy helpf
pful
ul
helpful
ork
and gave me lots of useful feedback. We worked rked
closely together for several weeks and shaped
game that became Galaforce. Richard Hanson
ed the
on and his
32K RAM was never
team at Superior were honest and very professional
– something that was important as there were
essional
re some
enough and I would spend
me.
unscrupulous people in the industry at that time.
lots of time optimising to
What was your development hardware like?
For Galaforce and earlier titles I used a single BBC get the games to fit
Micro that assembled the 6502 source code and then Kevin Edwards
embler
ran the game. I used BBC Basic’s built-in assembler

RETRO GAMER | 91
 to create the machine code. The source was
SELECTED TIMELINE spread across multiple files which were loaded and
assembled one at a time from disk using a simple
GAMES overlay technique. For Crazee Rider and Galaforce 2 I
QATOMIC PROTECTOR [1983] BBC MICRO used a BBC Master 128 with turbo coprocessor and
QGALAFORCE [1986] , BBC MICRO, 28MB Viglen hard disk which was connected via the
ACORN ELECTRON user port interface. This allowed me to build the game
QCRAZEE RIDER [1987] BBC MICRO, image very quickly on the Master 128 and deploy the
ACORN ELECTRON game to the second computer for testing. The data
QGALAFORCE 2 [1988] BBC MICRO, transfer time was really quick – less than five seconds,
ACORN ELECTRON if I remember correctly. This allowed me to edit source
QMAGIC JOHNSON’S FAST BREAK [1990] NES code and run images at the same time.
QSILVER SURFER [1990] NES
QWOLVERINE [1991] NES Did you just start coding, or would you plan it » [BBC Micro] Kevin found and released the previously unseen
Amnesia, a scrolling platform game.
QSPIDER-MAN/X-MEN: ARCADE’S REVENGE on paper first?
[1992] SNES I love planning and writing code on paper first. It’s very
QPLOK [1993] SNES tempting to jump in and start coding straight away. But than others. Defender was truly amazing and has
QEQUINOX [1993] SNES something I learnt early on is that you should never to be one of my all-time favourites. I also enjoyed
QSPIDER-MAN/VENOM: MAXIMUM CARNAGE rush things without thinking first. Sit down and plan Galaxians, Galaga, Star Force, Fantasia, and Moon
[1994] SNES, MEGA DRIVE with the big picture in mind, not just the little thing you Cresta. Basically, I’m a big fan of shoot-’em-ups.
QKEN GRIFFEY JR PRESENTS MAJOR LEAGUE have in your head at that moment. I have lots of notes Simple, mindless blasting!
BASEBALL [1994] SNES for Crazee Rider which includes handwritten source
QVENOM/SPIDER-MAN: SEPARATION ANXIETY code, diagrams and general information. A lot of this is What made you develop a motorbike game?
[1995] SNES, MEGA DRIVE on Twitter as people seem really interested. I wish I still Superior Software’s Overdrive was a massive seller on
QINCOMING FORCES [1998] PC had the documents for my other projects, but I guess Beeb and Electron, a very basic car racing game that
QINCOMING: THE FINAL CONFLICT [2002] PC they were recycled years ago. had no corners. You simply had to dodge the cars as
QX2: WOLVERINE’S REVENGE [2003] XBOX they came down the screen. Superior were desperate
QLEGO STAR WARS: THE VIDEO GAME Did you come up with any special techniques for a new racing game that featured realistic corners,
[2005] PC when working on the BBC Micro? but it had to work on the Electron, too. I took up their
QTHE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE Each game has its own set of technical challenges challenge and worked on the road technology first as
WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE [2005] PC which must be overcome. Galaforce was all about this was the most important aspect of the game. I
QLEGO STAR WARS II: THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY performance. The software sprite routines had to be managed to get this going quite quickly using a clever
[2006] PC fast, so code optimisation was really important for this edge update technique and tried it on the Electron to
QJUICED 2: HOT IMPORT NIGHTS [2007] PS3 game. Also, memory was tight so I had to pack the see if the performance was good enough – the Elk
QLEGO ROCK BAND [2009] PS3 level and pattern data as small as possible. runs much slower than the Beeb. The speed was
QTHE LORD OF THE RINGS: ARAGORN’S QUEST great so proper production began. There were so
[2010] PS3 Galaforce drew heavily on arcade games, what many car racing games around it was decided that a
QLEGO PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE were your favourites? motorbike would be more original. You could also bash
VIDEO GAME [2011] 3DS I played many of the early arcade games, some more into the side of other riders and knock them out of the
QLEGO HARRY POTTER: YEARS 5-7 way – well before Road Rash did it. It was a technical
[2011] 3DS, VITA challenge and a nice break from shoot-’em-ups. The
QLEGO STAR WARS III: THE CLONE WARS game was well received, especially by Electron owners.
[2011] 3DS
QSPY HUNTER [2012] 3DS, VITA Did you have any unreleased BBC games?
I started many games that were abandoned very early
in development, from isometric adventures to 3D
wireframe arcade simulations. In most cases I created
the basic technology required and then struggled to
make it into a fully-fledged game. However, two titles
did become well-developed demos. Storky (1985) was
a sideways-scrolling game influenced by arcade title

Each game has its

own set of technical
challenges which must
be overcome
Kevin Edwards

» [BBC Micro] Galaforce was born from Kevin’s love of shoot-’em-ups like Moon Cresta, and, obviously, Galaga.

92 | RETRO GAMER
 IN THE CHAIR: KEVIN EDWARDS

FIVE TO PLAY Five delights from

Kevin you should play

GALAFORCE 2 SPIDERMAN & KEN GRIFFEY JR LEGO ROCK BAND INCOMING FORCES
BBC MICRO VENOM: MAXIMUM PRESENTS MAJOR PS3 PC
QThere were several CARNAGE SNES LEAGUE BASEBALL QBuilding your band and rocking QAfter saving Earth from alien
improvements for this sequel, QThis beat-’em-up alternates SNES around the world, this is the invasion in Incoming, the sequel
including bosses, bonus items and play between the characters QThe Nintendo-owned Seattle perfect combination of Harmonix sees you as the alien defending
an alternating two-player mode. (with cameos from other Marvel Mariners team in-game has rhythm action and TT Games’ their homeworld from the invading
Kevin has released the source heroes). Cutscenes are based on Ken and Nintendo employees as sense of humour. Easy settings Humans. Fast-paced 3D shooting
code on GitHub, with a YouTube comic book panels, additional players, with other teams similarly let all the family play, and famous with a variety of vehicles ensues,
teaser video of Galaforce 3 for the flourishes to the comic book themed (Boston has Cheers bands (Queen, Blur) are included and GOG.com has a great-value
BBC, released this year (to mark feel are the ‘visual sounds’ as an characters). The big-hitting Home in Lego form to play through the bundle of both games designed to
Galaforce 2’s 30th anniversary). enemy is hit. POW! Run Derby mode is a great addition. eclectic 45-song soundtrack. work on more modern PCs.

Fast Freddie. The player controlled a basketball-kicking basically involved obfuscating 6502 code that loaded
stork that had to avoid the scrolling scenery and air- and decrypted the main game code and data. The
based baddies and missiles that were trying to knock obfuscated code was hidden behind some robust
him out of the sky. Sadly, I haven’t located any of the decryption code that used some of the system’s 6522
disks and I can only guess that the game is lost forever. VIA timers to decipher itself. If someone tried to hack
Amnesia was located and made available on popular the code by changing it in any way it would break the
BBC Micro website stairwaytohell.com. The game was decryption process and fail to reveal the obfuscated
abandoned for various reasons, the main one being the code correctly. It proved so successful that many of the
BBC market was in serious decline by 1988 and it didn’t top publishers asked me to protect their titles, including
make commercial sense to continue. Ocean, Imagine, Superior Software and US Gold. I
reworked this system and enhanced it over the years.
Another string to your bow was tape protection I also protected Exile for Superior Software and was
software. How did this come about? fortunate enough to see the game a few weeks before
One of my school friends was Paul Proctor, who everyone else. Exile is a remarkable game that has to
converted many Ultimate Play The Game titles to the be one of the best Beeb games ever created.
BBC Micro – including Sabre Wulf, Knight Lore, Alien 8,
NightShade, Lunar Jetman and Cookie. Because piracy You were known for your tight protection code
was a big issue, he wanted to protect his games for your games. Which game’s code took the » Kevin in 1987, interviewed for A & B Comp
uting magazine.
from being copied from tape to disk. At the time BBC pirates the longest to defeat?
owners distributed copied software on disk as it was NightShade, I have only heard of a handful of people
so quick and easy to do. The idea was to make the that claim to have cracked it – mostly using hardware Did you get extra payments from the Play It
tape to disk transfer process difficult for the average devices. It was particularly nasty and had multiple Again Sam compilations?
user, thus slowing down the rate at which games decoder stages and lots of pitfalls. A few years ago Yes, I got a proportion of the full royalty. So if I had one
would be copied. I’d deprotected many games and I helped the emulation community out as they were game out of four, I got 25 per cent of the royalties.
knew the techniques other people were using, and still unable to emulate the code. A massive technical
devised a more secure way of protecting code. This [forum] thread was started on startdot.org.uk about How did you make the jump from home
NightShade’s protection and the outcome was that computer to NES and SNES?
they could finally run the protection code successfully In late 1987 I realized that the Beeb market was
under emulation. The cycle timings for the 6522 starting to collapse – home computer and software
VIA had to be perfect for it to run correctly and they sales in general were slowing down quite rapidly. I
managed to nail it. considered developing games for the Amiga, ST and
Archimedes but I didn’t see much of a future for those
Did you ever go to the duplication plants to help machines either. Around that same time Paul Proctor
master the games? was working for Tim and Chris Stamper (at Rare) on a
No, I never got the chance. The last thing I did was new console called the Nintendo Famicom. This was
create the ‘Master Maker’ Disk. This disk saved out a of course the NES when finally launched in the US and
cassette image of the protected game. The duplication Europe. [I thought], ‘If the Stampers were investing
staff would boot the disk and record a single master time and effort on consoles, then maybe I should do
tape from it. After testing, this was then ‘bulk-copied’ something similar.’ I knew someone who owned a local
by their duplication machines and boxed up. I think development studio, Software Creations, and heard
Ablex did the mastering for most of the Ocean, they were building a team to work on the NES. I went
Imagine and US Gold titles. down to meet everyone and find out more and

» [NES] Silver Surfer is infamous for its ridiculous difficulty – pretty much
anything on the screen will cause the hero to fall off his board.
RETRO GAMER | 93
 Most of the time, as
long as you aren’t being
really stupid, there are
no problems
Kevin Edwards

SECURITY
BLANKET
Kevin utilised rock-solid
protection for his games

» [SNES] Kevin cites Spider-Man as one of the best Marvel heroes you could utilise in videogames.

got offered a job there and then. When the SNES produced and designed by an American, Brian Ullrich,
was released we started development for that, too. who was a massive baseball fan. He worked at
Software Creations with us and made sure we created
Did you love working with the SNES? the best possible baseball game for Nintendo. Hard
Yes, it’s my all-time favourite console platform. Great work, but happy days!
hardware with plenty of display modes and hardware
sprites. Powered by a 16-bit 6502 processor, too – the With the hype surrounding this year’s Spider-
last platform where the whole game was written in Man game on PS4 in mind, what was it like
» The Ultimate BBC games, converted by Paul Proctor and assembly language. working with the character (and other Marvel
with tape protection by Kevin.
superheroes) in the Ninteies?
Matt Godbolt created Javascript emulator You have basketball and baseball games in your Working with other people’s intellectual property
jsbeeb, and getting games protected by back catalogue – were you a fan? can be the best and worst experience. You are often
Kevin to run on it was a challenge. Matt I wouldn’t say I’m a big fan of either, really. I did get the bound by guidelines that tell you what you can and
says, “Timings are incredibly important for chance to go to see the Lakers play in Los Angeles, can’t do. Most of the time, as long as you aren’t being
accurate emulation. Games programmers which was an awesome experience. Baseball is way really stupid, there are no problems. Spider-Man and
would take advantage of timing subtleties and too slow for me. Wolverine are two of the best Marvel characters
undocumented side-effects of instructions. that you could choose for a videogame. They have
Anti-copy mechanisms were often the most Are you proud of the Ken Griffey Jr baseball awesome abilities and this allowed us to make great
sensitive to this. The 6502 CPU in the BBC game, developed in the UK? games. The hardware in the Nineties was 2D sprite-
Micro had a number of bugs too – [some] Yes, very proud. I worked with an amazing team based so we were quite limited with what could be
game protection systems would use this to of people on that project, including Ste Pickford done. Rendering Spider-Man’s swinging web using
their advantage to try and prevent reverse- who was in charge of all the art. The game was sprites was a fun challenge.
engineering of their code bases. Kevin Edwards’
protection was the undisputed king – using The Incoming games were 3D shooters for the
interrupt timings, various hardware timers and PC, a big change of direction for you. What was
even the self-modifying decryption code itself to your role on these titles?
generate the keys to decrypt the game.” My role was to get the game running on lots
James Bonfield, renowned BBC hacker, talks of different 3D graphics cards and work around
about Kevin’s protection on Exile. “Kevin was problematic drivers/hardware. I was also tasked with
the king of copyright protection and the only optimising CPU and GPU code paths. This included
game author that truly defeated all my attempts. making use of multimedia processor extensions
He had the bright idea of encrypting using the where possible. Incoming was in development just
1MHz hardware timer values, the code doing the as affordable 3D graphics cards were appearing for
encryption, and the program counter. This means PC. Hardware vendors were competing against each
that the code cannot be modified, it cannot be other to sell their cards. However, they desperately
moved (it is position-dependent) and it cannot be needed 3D games that showed off their products.
easily simulated due to the real-time nature of Rage Software came along and supplied a copy of the
the hardware clocks. Truly a genius.” game that was bundled with the graphics card. Rage
» [SNES] Despite working on baseball games, Kevin wasn’t a fan. received a fee and the graphics card companies got

94 | RETRO GAMER
 YOU ASK
THE QUESTIONS
Kevin answers the questions
Do
D you have any unusual stories you can share?
Countless
C hilarious stories that cannot be told for legal
you’re dying to ask
re
reasons and to avoid embarrassing the parties involved.
RORY MILNE: Why did the
I do
d remember the time someone was sent flying
powerful Silver Surfer keep dying
ac
across the room because they connected a console,
in his NES game?
powered
po by a non-isolated 110-volt transformer, to an
ea
earthed TV monitor. Fortunately, they weren’t injured
and
an eventually saw the funny side of things once they’d
p
picked themselves up off the floor. Remember it, Tony? The game design was provided to
us and we never dealt with Marvel
Recently
R you have been preserving old BBC directly… unfortunately, lots of people
disks.
d Has it been a challenge going back to struggled and it became known as
machine
m code? one of the hardest NES games. Angry
I sstill have all of my BBC Micro disks from the mid- Video Game Nerd’s video [review of
E
Eighties and recently started to transfer them to the PC Silver Surfer] has been viewed over
– these disks are 30-plus years old now and in a poor 5.5 million times on YouTube!
st
state. The problem is that magnetic media fails over
tim If they have been stored in poor environmental
time.
co
conditions they begin to deteriorate and even develop
in and the team design Ken m
mould which makes then difficult or impossible to NORTHWAY: Wasn’t Galaforce a
» BriaJrn Ullrich’s flowcharts helped Kev
Major League Baseball.
re Fortunately, I have been able to recover the
read. rather close ‘tribute’ to Galaga?
Griffey
source code and data for most of my early games as
well as other documents and software I worked on. I
something to give their customers on day one. was also the custodian of Paul Proctor’s source code
Everyone was a winner! backups for his Ultimate conversions. Paul’s disks were Galaforce was certainly influenced by
in a bad way, but I managed to recover the source Galaga, Star Force and several others.
You returned to working on Marvel properties code for Knight Lore, Alien 8, Cookie, Lunar Jetman It wasn’t a port of any particular game,
with X2: Wolverine’s Revenge on Xbox – what and NightShade. A bit more work was necessary to and had a lot more variety in terms
did you make of the hardware? get them assembling under emulation. I have made of aliens, flight patterns and logic. I
The first Xbox was a really nice console to develop for. videos of these games assembling for YouTube and wanted to create something that was
However, the GPU was quite limited and only allowed Twitter (@KevEdwardsRetro). I still remember how to fresh, fast and fun.
you to create very simplistic vertex and pixel shaders. program 6502 machine code!
Those chunky Duke controllers were terrible, too, thank
goodness for the [smaller] ones. It was a lot easier to Would you ever release new BBC games?
program than the PS2, which often required you to Yes, if I ever get the time! I have already converted DRS: Do you think the BBC Micro
roll your sleeves up and do very low-level hardware the source for Galaforce 2 so it can be assembled would have been more successful if
programming. I’m not saying PS2 was bad, it was a on a PC using modern-day development tools and it wasn’t so focused in education?
very capable platform, but Xbox was a relatively simple deployed directly to an emulator. My long-term plan is
step for anyone that had written PC games. C and to release BBC and Electron versions of Galaforce 3. It’s
C++ arrived with PS2 and Xbox which made game a straightforward shoot-’em-up, but I need to rework
development so much easier. all the levels and alien pattern data, which is the most The BBC created a specification list for
time-consuming part of the entire project. The coding is their Computer Literacy Project, with
Your most recent job is at Traveller’s Tales. Is it the easy bit and probably won’t need much more work! the intention of getting the machine
fun working on the Lego games? in as many schools, colleges and
Lego mixed with massive IP is an awesome What games do you play to relax? universities as possible. Acorn created
combination. How often do you get the chance to I love playing Mario Kart with my children. Yes, they the [successful] prototype but it wasn’t
work with great franchises such as Star Wars, Indiana beat me every time. I’ve never been a good gamer! cheap to build. The BBC Micro was very
Jones, The Incredibles, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Lord successful with over 1.5 million sold.
Of The Rings, Batman, Marvel superheroes and Harry Do you see a future for retro gaming? Had the price been lower I’m sure more
Potter? The Lego games are so much fun to create and I can’t see it ever going away. The catalogue of retro people would’ve bought it. As it was
it’s great to work on games that people recognise and games gets bigger by the day. Everyone enjoys playing twice the price of the competitors it
have bought themselves. the games from their childhood. was out of the reach of many.

Do you prefer dedicated handhelds or

smartphones for mobile gaming?
Dedicated handhelds, because they have decent NORTHWAY: Did you skip the
built-in sticks and buttons. Touch controls for games 16-bit computers purposefully?
are difficult to do well and are never as good as having
proper controllers. I really liked the Vita, but it got
crushed by faster and better mobile phones and tablets.
I’d already focused my attention on the
What was your favourite studio/company to NES, which I believed was more likely
work at? to survive the home computer crash
It’s the people you work with that makes the job fun on the horizon. I did buy lots of books
and creates the culture within the studio. I’ve been and learnt 68000 machine code in my
lucky enough to work with so many great, talented, spare time. I also invested in an Amiga,
amusing people at several studios. It’s those people but it just didn’t happen. It was purely
you remember and talk about. a financial decision – I had to buy food
» [SNES] Vigilante antihero Venom is about to deliver a coup de grâce in and beer somehow!
Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety.
Final Fantasy
Tactics Advance
MORE DISTRACTING THAN STRONG PAINKILLERS
 GAME BOY ADVANCE  2003  SQUARE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT DIVISION 4
» RETROREVIVAL

Before I used to run Retro Gamer I worked on games™. I started

off as the News Editor, but it soon became obvious that the magazine’s
Retro section was a far better fit for me. One day, I was heading back from
a magazine ‘post mortem’ (a meeting to discuss a recently released issue
with the rest of the team) when I suffered a back spasm. White-hot pain
spread from my lower back like wildfire, and the agony was so intense I fell to my knees
and ended up gripping a table, tears rolling down my cheeks and too scared to move in case
I caused further injury. Sent home to rest, the pain was so intense I couldn’t even lie in my
bed; instead, I slept and rested on my lounge’s wooden floor. It was impossible to even lift
my head forwards without triggering flaring pain in my back, so even watching TV was out
of the question. Thank god, then, for my import copy of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
The strategy RPG for the GBA had turned up a few days previously and I hadn’t gotten
around to playing it. Being stuck at home, though, I had all the time in the world, and it was
possible to enjoy it by simply holding my GBA SP above me so I could look straight up
at the screen. There I was, brace around my neck, avidly staring at the GBA’s tiny screen
as the adventures of Marche and the rest of his team played out in front of me. I’d never
played the original Final Fantasy Tactics on PlayStation, but I knew of its heritage and it
wouldn’t have mattered anyway, as Tactics’ story was completely standalone.
It was completely compelling, too. Maybe it was the strong painkillers or a need to focus
away from the dull throb in the base of my spine, but I found Marche’s adventure utterly
enthralling and I didn’t rest until I’d completed it. Mechanically the game remains superb,
with a deep job system that is engrossing today as when I first encountered it on my
wooden floor. It would be silly to say that Square’s game changed my life, but it certainly
made it a lot more bearable for 227 hours.
RETRORATED
Neo-Geo Mini
THE PRICE IS WRONG
INFORMATION The Neo-Geo Mini As you’d hope given the arcade-style
 RELEASED: instantly caught design, the unit includes a 3.5-inch
OUT NOW our attention upon LCD screen and functional controls.
 PRICE: its announcement, The unit itself is solidly constructed but
£129.99 because we’re surprisingly light, and there are stickers
>> This month interested any time included to decorate the machine. The
 MANUFACTURER:
we take a SNK we can get Neo-Geo games on control panel sticker in the Japanese
look at both the cheap. The long-lived platform is model is nice and durable, and pleasingly
versions of home to many great games, and even if textured, too. The display is fantastic –
the Neo-Geo you go for cheaper MVS arcade games clear, bright and perfectly matched to
Mini, play over the AES home releases, original the resolution of Neo-Geo games. The
every game Neo-Geo cartridges are expensive – we controls aren’t quite ideal, though. While
have games that cost more than this the buttons are responsive, the joystick is
on SNK’s new device on their own. Add to that the cute not a microswitched digital stick and the
compilation design modelled after SNK’s SC25-4, gate is circular, so it travels smoothly like
and find out » [Neo-Geo Mini] The game one of the more attractive Japanese an analogue stick rather than giving you
if the new menu is clean and well
designed, with attractive art
Neo-Geo arcade cabinets, and we had tactile feedback when you hit a direction.
Castlevania for each game. high hopes for the machine. While we were able to adjust and enjoy
remasters are gameplay without too much fuss, some
worth playing players will instantly dislike this and find it
hard to pull off their fighting moves, often
hitting unintentional diagonals.
Unfortunately, the Neo-Geo Mini is not
a standalone portable console, due to the
lack of an internal battery – if you want
to play it on the go, you’ll need to use

PICKS OF
THE MONTH

DARRAN
Castlevania Requiem:
Symphony Of The Night &
Rondo Of Blood
Not the greatest love
letter to two classic
games, but still great fun.

DREW
Tetris Effect
We didn’t get time to fully
review it for this issue, but
my first impressions of
this synesthesia puzzler
are positive as heck.

98 | RETRO GAMER
 REVIEWS: NEO-GEO MINI

WHAT’S IN
THE BOX!?
ALL VERSIONS
Art Of Fighting
Blazing Star
Fatal Fury Special
Garou: Mark Of The Wolves
King Of Fighters 2000
King Of Fighters 2002
King Of Fighters 95
King Of Fighters 97
King Of Fighters 98
King Of The Monsters 2
Kizuna Encounter
Metal Slug
Metal Slug 2
» [Neo-Geo Mini] It’s hard to deny the value here – original Metal Slug 3
carts like this cost more than the Mini. Ninja Masters
Puzzled
a USB power bank. You can also hook Real Bout Fatal Fury
the machine up to a TV, using a mini Samurai Shodown II
HDMI to HDMI cable (not included with Samurai Shodown IV
the Neo-Geo Mini). You have the option Samurai Shodown V Special
for 4:3 or 16:9 output, and there’s an Sengoku 3
option to correct for overscan. However, Shock Troopers 2nd Squad
the image quality on a TV is very poor, Super Sidekicks
with soft pixel edges that only get worse The Last Blade 2
if you turn on the additional filter. We Top Players Golf
actually had better results with original » [Neo-Geo Mini] The international edition does have more genre variety than its Japanese counterpart. World Heroes Perfect
hardware via a direct SCART connection,
INTERNATIONAL
with no external upscaler. There are also states per game, or use the built-in whopping 23 in the Japanese version). VERSION ONLY
no options for scanlines or borders, for virtual memory card to save games the The international version does come off 3 Count Bout
those of you that enjoy those. old-fashioned way. The system behaves better thanks to a greater mix of genres, Blue’s Journey
Playing on a TV with the built-in as a Neo-Geo AES would, so you get but it does also go a bit overboard by Crossed Swords
controls isn’t ideal, so the Neo-Geo Mini the console features, such as difficulty including all six Neo-Geo entries in the Football Frenzy
supports up to two optional controllers selection and training modes where Metal Slug series. It’s also a shame that Ghost Pilots
designed after the Neo-Geo CD joypads, applicable. It’s worth noting that if you we miss out on Top Hunter and Twinkle King Of The Monsters
which retail separately for £24.99 each. get the Japanese machine, the games Star Sprites, both of which are excellent. Last Resort
These are well constructed, but flawed. will stay in Japanese even if you set the Unlike the previous Neo-Geo X system, Magician Lord
Like the stick on the unit itself and unlike system menu to English. there’s no way to expand the library, so Metal Slug 4
the original Neo-Geo CD pads, the Then we need to talk about the you’re stuck with what’s on the device. Metal Slug 5
Metal Slug X
thumbstick has an analogue feel. What’s games themselves. They’re mostly of a It’s a struggle to know who to
Mutation Nation
more, the button layout has actually been high quality, though some choices are recommend the Neo-Geo Mini Robo Army
altered from the original Neo-Geo CD baffling – we’ve got no idea why the to. It’s not truly portable, and it’s Shock Troopers
layout, which is sure to irritate purists. original Super Sidekicks or Art Of Fighting underwhelming on a TV. It will struggle
Fortunately the emulation itself is are included when their superior sequels to please the arcade perfectionist Neo- JAPANESE
good, as we didn’t notice any major were available, and the same goes for Geo fanatics because it has a few faults VERSION ONLY
issues when comparing the games to Top Player’s Golf over Neo Turf Masters. too many, and the price is very high for Agressors Of Dark Kombat
a real system. You can save up to four There’s also no third-party licensing here, the more casual retro gamer. We’ve Alpha Mission II
so the selection of games is restricted really enjoyed it as a desktop distraction, Burning Fight
to SNK’s IP. This isn’t the problem that it but with just a little extra care it could Cyber-Lip
would be on other systems since SNK have been much more than that. King Of Fighters 2001
owns most of the Neo-Geo library, but it King Of Fighters 2003
King Of Fighters 94
would have been nice to see the likes of In a nutshell King Of Fighters 96
Puzzle Bobble and Windjammers. It’s a cute device with some great King Of Fighters 99
Variety is a problem, though that’s games, but the poor TV output, Ninja Commando
mostly inherent to the Neo-Geo subpar control options and some odd Real Bout Fatal Fury 2
library. Although there are 40 games game choices mean that it’s not the The Last Blade
» [Neo-Geo Mini] Super Sidekicks is fun, but its sequels
included, 15 of them are one-on-one must-have device it could have been – Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy
are better and they’re not on the Mini. fighting games (and that goes up to a especially given the price. Twinkle Star Sprites

RETRO GAMER | 99
RETRO ROUNDUP
WE LOOK AT THE LATEST RETRO-RELATED RELEASES

PICK OF THE MONTH

SNK 40th Anniversary Collection
» System: Switch » Buy it from: Online, retail » Buy it for: £39.99
Digital Eclipse has been doing good quite authentic, but the best available solution
work with retro compilations recently, (we definitely prefer it to rotation using L and
and SNK 40th Anniversary Collection is R). There’s also a watch mode for each game
arguably its best release yet. The collection showing a complete run, and you can have a
features a selection of 13 hits from 1978-1990, saved state in each game too.
including the likes of Prehistoric Isle In 1930, There’s also a great Museum mode
Psycho Soldier and Crystalis. In many cases, featuring lots of original research, so even
both the arcade game and NES conversion hardcore SNK fans will probably learn
are included, which is nice to see as many something new from it. SNK’s whole early
of the home versions have new features and history is comprehensively covered, with
changes that are worth exploring. The games screenshots and some text for every game
have been chosen well as most of them (including those not on the compilation). Plenty
remain enjoyable, although they’re predictably of bonus material is included, too – including
rock hard in difficulty. scans of guidebooks and newsletters,
» [Switch] Games
The games are presented with a variety of information on cancelled games and more. come with extra
screen options, including nice TV and monitor Soundtracks are also included for the games bits of artwork to
fill in the rest of
filters, with optional border artwork for modes on the collection. the screen.
where the game doesn’t fill the screen. Although the selection of games is slightly
» [Switch] You
There’s an option to use portrait orientation, slim and a little heavy on shooting games, can play a classic
which is great for games like Vanguard, Ikari a free update is scheduled to add 11 more SNK game, then
learn all about it in
Warriors and TNK III. Regional variations can arcade games including Fantasy, Beast Busters Museum mode.
be selected where available, and options are and Paddle Mania. As a result, we’ve got no
available for each game, too. Controls are fully hesitation in recommending this compilation.
configurable and the rotary joystick games
have been adapted to twin-stick controls – not >> Score 92%

Soulcalibur VI Luigi’s Mansion Castlevania Requiem:

» System: PS4 (tested), Xbox One, PC
» Buy it from: Online, retail » Buy it for: £54.99
» System: 3DS
» Buy it from: Online, retail » Buy it for: £34.99 Symphony Of The Night
Namco’s weapons-based fighting series is Considering Nintendo planned to use 3D for
& Rondo Of Blood
» System: PS4
back, and this time it’s a soft reboot that its GameCube, it should come as no surprise » Buy it from: PSN » Buy it for: £15.99
retells the story of Soulcalibur, meaning that to learn that console’s launch game looks
you’ll see familiar scenery and characters. very good on the 3DS. It’s as good as you As much as we love the two games featured
In fact, only three of the 21 fighters are new remember it, too – exploring a creepy mansion on this compilation, Requiem feels like a
to the series, which is a tad disappointing. Still, in search of Mario and using a souped-up hoover missed opportunity. After being spoiled by
the combat is tight and the new Reversal Edge to suck up the many ghosts you encounter still the Mega Man compilations, Konami’s decision
mechanic adds a cool defensive option. feels great. The bosses remain inventive and fun, to release just two games feels stingy. Granted,
The series’ tradition of graphical excellence and they make good use of the system’s 3D they are amazing games – but it’s still a shame.
continues here, as Soulcalibur VI is a beautiful capabilities. Ghostbusting isn’t quite as easy as it In terms of differences to the originals there
game. Likewise, there’s plenty to do for the solo was on the GameCube, due to the 3DS’s weak are numerous filters, force feedback and a new
player, with a story mode that visits all characters analogue nub, but the motion controls do work localisation. What we effectively have here is an
at various points in the timeline, plus an RPG-style with some practice. Grezzo’s improvements are update of the PSP game that appeared in 2007,
mode in which you develop your own character. many, but they’re subtle additions rather than but without the remake of Rondo Of Blood
It’s a welcome return overall, but don’t expect extravagant changes. Nevertheless, Nintendo’s that came with it. It represents great value, but
revolutionary additions. 17-year-old game still feels surprisingly fresh. Requiem could have been so much better.

>> Score 86% >> Score 81% >> Score 80%

100 | RETRO GAMER

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 *DPHUƖ

ewinŁ sincĠ 2005

Br » [TIC80] Ticarugaa is familiar, yet noticeably different to the game it’s based on.

DEMAKES GALORE
D
Demakes take existing games Mario’s most recent Odyssey at it least demonstrates that a more
a
and pare the design down to adventure received some attention involved reworking is potentially possible.
something which would potentially
s with two platform-based reworkings There’s a lot of love for the fantasy
work on an 8-bit or 16-bit system,
w offering different takes on the source consoles among the 70 entries and even
so the Demake Jam is, possibly
s material, while Super Plumber Boi’s instructions for an intriguing live action
» [PC] Taking aim at the virtual bad guys u
unsurprisingly, a competition where instead went back to the first Super version of Pokémon Snap, all of which
with Metro Cop.
d
developers take their favourite Mario outing for inspiration, converting can be found at the competition’s page
g
games and consider how they can be the graphics to black and white to make via Kikstart.me.uk/demake-jam-2018.
m
made to work after a significant drop them even more retro. The famous On a related note, Jon Burton of
in processing power. plumber’s brother also got to do some Traveller’s Tales recently posted a video
It does have to be noted that there are ghost busting in Muigi’s Lansion and to his YouTube channel Game Hut about
s
some dreadful puns among the titles, another Nintendo franchise Splatoon was possible ways to implement a game
fo
for example Low Knight and Delunky remixed multiple times, with Spraytoon similar to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
aare reworkings of indie darlings Hollow sporting some very impressive pixel on retro hardware like the Sega Mega
KKnight and Spelunky respectively while art. Fox McCloud took to the skies Drive. A 16-bit version of PUBG will
TThieves At Sea is a top down RPG-style once more, although his trusty Arwing probably never happen, but this video
re
rendition of Sea Of Thieves which was dismantled for a couple of visually shows some of the thought processes
ssimulates how Rare’s game could look simplified shooters. behind creating such a demake. Jump
if running on the Game Boy Color. And Also for fans of blasting aliens is through Kikstart.me.uk/pubg-md-theory
» [PC] Bio Evil 4 plays like
e Metal Slug hadh a
wwe had to smile at the exploration-based Ticaruga, a stripped back 2D rendition for his video and there’s plenty of other
baby with Res
esiide
denntt EEvil 4. LLow Mem Sky which looks to be less of level one from Ikaruga for the TIC80 interesting behind-the-scenes discussion
divisive than its muse was… at least fantasy console. It’s not ideal, and of games from Jon’s impressive back
when it was originally released. lacks a few important mechanics, butt cat
catalogue on the channel.
NEW GAMES NEEDED
If you have a homebrew project you would like to see featured then
please contact us at: [email protected]

» [C64] By day, a
brave adventurer.
By night, the
same thing…
but hairier.

» [NES] Seeing
the enemies
despite the
trees in a

A KNIGHT TO forest area.

REMEMBER
There’s been a few false starts over the
years, but the C64 finally has a conversion
of Ultimate’s classic isometric adventure We recently had a natter with Chris Cacciatore about
Knight Lore. Guide Sabreman around a Nebs ’N Debs to find out where the inspiration for
dark, foreboding castle in search of the six his colourful NES platformer came from and his
magical objects that, when placed into the answers were something of a surprise
wizard Melkhior’s cauldron will free him of the
enchantment which sees his body transformed Where did the idea for How has the feedback been
into a werewolf each night. Nebs ‘N Debs originally from NES gamers so far?
Time really is of the essence, since Sabreman come from? Great! Starting with winning
only has a mere 40 days and nights to complete A piece that I pixelled for my second place at the 2016
this magical purification spell before the curse’s daughter’s first birthday in NESDEV competition and up
effects become permanent. Kikstart.me.uk/ 2015. I did the alphabet and to and after our successful
knight-lore-c64 will lead you to the castle. with each letter a kid with Kickstarter campaign the
an animal on their head. The support we have received
characters Nebs and Debs has been positive. I post from
came from the letter ‘S’ and animated GIFs regularly on Morphcat

PORTING AN the corresponding squid kid.

Over time, the squid morphed
Twitter showcasing gameplay
and graphical glitches – my
Games stream
development of their NES

ADVENTURE
Ramsbottom Smith And The Quest For The
into an octopus. I think that
was because I could make
an octopus look a bit better
personal favourite – and these
helped get the word out. There
is also a lot excitement in the
game Bana Nana. Seeing how
they tied together their build
process with Python scripts
Yellow Spheroid is the first game in 30 years in a compacted space – 24 by NESDEV community right inspired me to try similar
from venerable adventure game developer 24 pixels. now. There are awesome approaches, but with the Ruby
John Wilson of Zenobi Software. It’s a text games in development, being scripting language. The easier
adventure originally developed for the Spectrum, Who was involved and released, or Kickstarted at this it is to add stuff to your game,
but, with help from Gareth Pitchford, the magic roughly how long did it take very moment! Nebs ‘N Debs is the easier it is to experiment
of Gilsoft’s PAWS adventure creation tool and to create? certainly riding that wave. and make it better.
the CP/M operating system, it’s been converted Anders Gullmarsvik, artist;
to run on a range of machines including the Kaela Camille Agustin, artist; And is there anything you Finally, do you have
Amstrad CPC and SAM Coupé. Heather Klinger, packaging would have done differently any future projects that
» [Amstrad CPC]
Kikstart.me.uk/ramsbottom-smith is a good Exploring the design and layout; with hindsight? our readers might be
starting point for those all-important download contents of an Chris Cacciatore, programmer I knew that focusing on the interested in?
ottoman rather
links, as well as a little more information about than getting
and project lead; Richard ‘kulor’ asset pipeline would be Yes, our next project is
the game itself. dressed. Armijo, sound and music. important, but I should have codenamed Janus. It is an
It took 2.5 years to make. spent even more time on it. action adventure game for
The NES is an old system and the NES about a protagonist
is ignorant of modern game who wields a slingshot.
assets – for example PNG tile This title will definitely use
sets and palettes, music and more sophisticated cartridge
sound effects in the form of hardware than Nebs ‘N
Tracker files, and JSON level Debs which had to fit
data from a level editor. So within 40 kilobytes. We are
transforming and stuffing these contemplating using expansion
assets into a NES game…well, audio as well. Release timeline
it requires work! is one-to-two years. There will
» [NES] There’s a nasty surprise incoming
Early in development I be more to say about it once
for these enemies. watched Miau and Nicolas Nebs ‘N Debs is released!

RETRO GAMER | 103

 The Temple Of Really Confusing
Underground Mazes is brimming
with treasures and heroic Atari
explorer Illinois Smith is set on
gathering as much as possible
before retiring on the proceeds
in his titular game. There aren’t
any lethal mechanical traps or
eternally cursed creatures to worry
about, either, so the only serious
problem is the smell, or more
specifically the poisonous gas.
Our Fedora-wearing hero is built
of sturdy stuff, but even he can’t
last more than three minutes in that
environment, so finding the exit is
a matter of urgency with gathering
goodies being a secondary concern.
It’s easy to become lost deep within
the mazes, even when knowing
roughly where the exit is and the
temptation of a few more shiny
baubles is there to lure unwary
adventurers to their death. Head to
Kikstart.me.uk/illinois-a8 if you dare.

MISSION: LIFTOFF
 PLATFORM: THOMSON TO8/TO8D/TO9+  DEVELOPER: DATASCUD  DOWNLOAD: KIKSTART.ME.UK/LIFTOFFTO8  PRICE: FREE

Working for Space And International him to whiz around the landing site to
Mecha-Industrial Ventures isn’t gather parts or fuel as needed – carrying
» [Atari 8-bit] Taking time to gather some a great job: it doesn’t have much the weight of a significant chunk of
glittering prizes near the level exit. in the way of safety procedures spaceship without issue – and as a
in place, and it sends operatives bonus it comes with a laser cannon for
out in ships that are only a few dealing with the unfriendly natives. If
harsh missions away from scrap. there’s time, and the pilot is feeling brave,
It, therefore, doesn’t come as much of a items will appear that can be collected
surprise to one operative when, having for points or, more rarely, an extra life.
» [Thomson] Every now and then a skull-like boss suffered problems which resulted in his We probably don’t have to point out
appears, spewing forth bullets.
craft coming down with a bump on an that Mission: Liftoff has been heavily
unidentified world, his SIMIV-issued inspired by Ultimate’s classic 1983
» [Atari 8-bit] Somebody really had a thing transportation promptly falls apart. release Jetpac, but not slavishly so.
didn t they?
for chalices, didn’t
Stranded in the middle of nowhere and The development took over four years,
completely out of contact with dispatch, with the aim being to show what the
the only way to escape is to reassemble Thomson hardware is capable of and
the rocket, gather some fuel capsules the results are indeed impressive, with
and then limp between the worlds of some well-designed graphics and
the solar system. sampled sound effects to enjoy. More
The rocket will survive a few hops importantly than that, however, is that
» [Th
[Thomson] The locals are keeping an eye out as the before collapsing and needing further it’s a good, playable rendition of the
ship comes together.
work, but the supplies of fuel are at least original game, starting off easy with
sufficient – although the lifeforms on the difficulty taking a while to build up
each planet that will be visited during until things become enjoyably intense
this trek won’t exactly be pleased to somewhere between the first and
see an invader crashing through their second boss battles.
atmosphere. That’s where the pilot’s
personal jet pack comes in. It allows >> Score 92%

104 | RETRO GAMER

Don’t forget to follow us online for all the latest retro updates
RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag [email protected]

KIKSTART TRAP RUNNER

 PLATFORM: VIC20
 DEVELOPER: VICTRAGIC  PRICE: FREE  PLATFORM: AMIGA  DEVELOPER: RETROGURU
 DOWNLOAD: KIKSTART.ME.UK/KIKSTARTVIC  DOWNLOAD: KIKSTART.ME.UK/TRAPRUNNERAMIGA  PRICE: FREE
Picoh Mummy! is a reworking
Jay and his girlfriend May’s Trap Runner is a cute-looking for the PICO-8 fantasy console of
plans for a quiet Sunday but tough game, although not the Amstrad CPC Amidar-alike
picnic in the forest go very frustratingly so and it does ease action game of a similar name,
wrong when a creepy- the player into things over the Oh Mummy!. The player takes
looking creature with first couple of levels before the control of an archaeologist on a
glowing eyes and a dramatic more devious enemy and item mission for the British Museum,
cape materialises, kidnaps placements start appearing. searching for ancient treasures
May and disappears again, After that, there’s lots of while being pursued by the undead.
challenging Jay to attempt pixel-accurate jumping and Hidden scrolls can deal with one
a rescue before shooting off. monster stomping to do as the mummy each, and completely
» [VIC-20] Majestically leaping to grab a passing balloon. That’s what our hero sets out to level designs tempt the player circling each stone box reveals
do, only pausing to note that this with items – some of which its contents for better or worse.
Although it shares a name with Shaun would be a fairly weak excuse are necessary on stages with Kikstart.me.uk/picoh-mummy-pico8
Southern’s two-player motocross racer, for some platform-based action quotas to be met – in hard-to- will take you to the exhibit.
Kikstart on Commodore’s VIC-20 is if this were a videogame. reach, precarious locations. Continuing the remaking theme,
actually based on the lesser-known, Monty On The Run is a Windows
arcade-oriented Commodore 16 release >> Score 90% conversion of the classic platformer
from the same author. The objective is still starring everyone’s favourite
to ride a dirt bike across the hazard-strewn absconding mole after his escape
course, but this time against the clock rather from Scudmore Prison. Help Monty
than an opponent. gather parts for his escape kit as
Along with more regular hazards, like he travels between safe house,
rows of double deckers and pits, some underground lair and, hopefully, the
stages have rotating blades and lightning- ferry to freedom having collected
spewing clouds in the air to worry about enough gold coins to be set for life.
as well – although there are also balloons Jump into a hole at Kikstart.me.uk/
floating past which can be collected using motr-win for more information.
the super-powerful springboards that launch
the motocross bike upwards.
The original C16 game is tough but lots of
fun to play, something which has survived
the cross-country journey to the machine’s
NOVA THE SQUIRREL
 PLATFORM: NES  DEVELOPER: NOVASQUIRREL  DOWNLOAD: KIKSTART.ME.UK/NOVASQUIRRELNES  PRICE: VARIABLE
older brother – the graphics made it, too,
but are chunkier in their new home – so a The world of Latte is in peril from the evil
16K-expanded machine is required. Scheme Team, but one hero, a squirrel called
Nova Storm who has special powers to aid her,
>> Score 88% will step forward as its protector. She will need
those abilities as well because the world’s scrolling
th
le
levels are full to the brim with tricky platforms and
fast-moving enemies which want nothing more
fa
th
than to knock poor Nova over. Some nasties can be
stunned, others destroyed and a few can’t be dealt
st
wwith at all, so they need to be avoided.
Although Nova might be taking some of her
ccues from a couple of NES classics, including the
Super Mario Bros series, there are a couple of
S
fa
fairly major differences in her game. The player
ddoesn’t have a lives counter and isn’t racing against
th
the clock so, apart from having to reach the next
ccheckpoint without taking too many hits, any
se
section can be attempted over and over again
uuntil they are successful.
» [VIC-20] A tempting row » [NES] It’s like a grumpier version of Lakitu with a beard.
of buses is like catnip to
a daredevil. >>> Score 83%

RETRO GAMER | 105

 QUICK GUIDES TO HELP YOU
GET THE BEST FROM YOUR GAMES

HOW TO...

SPOT PIRATE GAMES PART 1

FORMAT Nobody wants to get caught out with a duff game – here are some
 MEGA DRIVE telltale signs across a variety of popular platforms
 NEOGEO MVS
 GAME BOY ADVANCE
MEGA DRIVE
FAKE
 The pirate Forgotten Worlds cart here doesn’t have any
WHAT YOU’LL company logos, and its cartridge uses the western shell
NEED design but with a notch cut out to fit Japanese machines.
Legitimate games don’t do this. When you start the game,
» PHILIPS SCREWDRIVER the Sega logo is corrupted – pirates used to commonly
NEOGEO MVS
remove official branding in this fashion.
» GAMEBIT SCREWDRIVER
MEGA DRIVE
» TRIWING SCREWDRIVER REAL
GAME BOY ADVANCE

DON’T NEO-GEO FAKE

FORGET...  It’s clear to see from the outside that Puzzle Bobble’s
» Be particularly vigilant when label is different from the legit Metal Slug – the colours are
buying Game Boy Advance wrong and the label is made from a different material to the
games – pirate games are others. Puzzle Bobble was commonly bootlegged due to its
incredibly common on this small size and popularity. www.mvs-scans.com is a great
particular platform. resource for checking labels and boards.
» If you’re unsure about what
you’re buying, request a look at
the PCBs. Sellers of high value
or commonly counterfeited
items will often oblige. REAL

 Since Sega allowed third party publishers to manufacture

their own Mega Drive games, there’s no single correct
type of board or chip – but typically they’ll feature company
logos of some kind, as seen on the legitimate cartridge.
The pirate game has no official logos on the chip or the
board, and as you can see it’s a bit grubby inside.

FAKE

FAKE

 The boards inside are authentic SNK boards, but the

high number of EPROM chips here gives away the bootleg
nature of the game. Legitimate games do sometimes have REAL
them (often after repair), but usually only a couple. What’s
more, the ROM chips numbered 044 show that this was
originally an Art Of Fighting cartridge.

106 | RETRO GAMER

 HOW TO: SPOT PIRATE GAMES

Something you’d like to see a guide for? Contact us at:

RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag [email protected]

WHAT’S NEXT? YOUR QUESTIONS

Q: I ordered a game and when it
turned up, it was a pirate copy. What
should I do?
Q: I’ve recently seen brand-new
SNES carts for sale which don’t have
the Nintendo logo or anything like
ANSWERED…
A: Contact the seller and request that. Are these legit?
A selection of smaller questions from readers…
a refund. They should oblige, A: Possibly – there are a number CART COPY with no extra fuss – just
particularly if it’s a larger shop – of companies now including What’s the cheapest and pop the disc into the tray
and if you’ve gone through eBay, Retro-bit, Piko Interactive and easiest way to back up save as normal and go. Boot
selling fakes is a violation of iam8bit that are actively engaged files from cartridges? discs like DC-X are cheap
the terms and conditions. Don’t in reissuing classic games, with Alex Harford via Twitter and non-invasive, but you
assume malicious intent, though. the official blessing of the rights have to start the console
Most people wouldn’t be able to holders. However, there are also Right now we use the with them each time you
identify a fake, and we’ve seen unofficial reproductions. Typically, Retrode 2, a USB cartridge want to play an import
well-known retailers of used if a company has the official reader which supports game. They do also allow
games with dodgy carts for sale licence to produce something the SNES and Mega Drive you to force VGA on some
as a result. they’ll make that clear. natively, and a variety of games, which is nice.
other systems via plug-in
cartridges. We’ve found SKOOL DAZE
that most games work How do you ease your
fine, but that some games children into retro gaming?
don’t (particularly third- Anthony Bull via Facebook
party ones) – we couldn’t
GAME BOY ADVANCE get the data from NBA
Jam Tournament Edition
Durable cartridge-based
systems are the best
 The label on this or Micro Machines 96. starters – the likes of the
cartridge has a number The RetroN 5 can also Master System, SNES and
of small flaws. The apparently do this for the GBA. These offer simple
Nintendo logo uses systems that it supports. games with timeless
the wrong font and is characters your child will
incorrectly centred, and FAKE IMPORT FRIENDS recognise, including Disney
the ESRB rating logo How do you get a PAL games, Pokémon games
is also wrong – the E Dreamcast to play and the likes of Sonic and
is smaller than the real Japanese games? Mario. After all, you don’t
thing, and tilted too far. Mike J Fitzgerald via want your child’s friends
Legitimate Game Boy Twitter asking, “What’s Dizzy?”
Advance games usually REAL Nick finds that being
have a number stamped There are two good ways single means that he won’t
into the label, but this to do this, either with a acquire children, so he can
one doesn’t. mod or with a boot disc. just play games himself
The mod is a region-free rather than worrying about
replacement BIOS chip, what they’re interested in,
Compared to a which will enable you to but you may feel this is
legitimate cartridge, the play discs of any region rather too drastic.
FAKE
pirate PCB is scrappy
and dirty. The epoxy
blob isn’t present on
an official cartridge,
either. Legitimate
cartridges always have
an authentic-looking
Nintendo logo, and
never have through-
holes in the pin contact
REAL area – they should be in
a uniform line under the
green solder mask.

» [Dreamcast} If you want to play imported Japanese games on a PAL Dreamcast,

you have a couple of options open to you.
COLLECTOR’S CORNER
READERS TAKE US THROUGH THE RETRO KEYHOLE
DOOM DISKS
“These were the first Doom
disks produced. They were printer
verification copies that were sent to the
guy who wrote the hint book. He put them
on eBay, years pass and they go up
again. I wasn’t going to miss them.”
PAID: €1,000

DOOM
STUFF
“Too many Doom things to
mention. Sometimes, I will find
something as we are archiving, and
I will think, ‘How am I even holding
this thing?’”
PAID: €0

DANGEROUS
DAVE AND
COPYRIGHT
INFRINGEMENT DISK
“The original, and only one. Again, it’s

MAKING HISTORY part of ‘John’s stuff’, and is one of

his very early games.”
PAID: €0

BIO Games designer Brenda Romero on her unique collection of curios

e feel safe in declaring that we were in a unique position to show the founding of iD Software, the actual Doom
NAME:
Brenda Romero
FAVOURITE GAME:
Doom, but I am obviously
W while it’s a long way from
the largest we’ve featured,
there hasn’t quite been a
collection quite like Brenda Romero’s
in these pages. In her unique position,
full design path of the first-person shooter,
from concept to execution.” Much of the
material for the museum is what Brenda
affectionately calls “stuff John kept”. “And
he kept everything. I noticed a few holes,
bible. And the actual Apple II that the first
three Final Fantasy games were made on.
And all of Silas Warner’s notes for Castle
Wolfenstein. It is simultaneously valuable
and worthless, since we won’t get rid of it.”
biased both by collection as both a games designer of note herself, though, and I set about trying to fill them.” Work on Brenda and John’s museum
and marriage plus married to some chap who designed While John hoarded multiple versions of continues, as she fills in the blanks of the
a fairly popular game that kickstarted an Doom and his other games, he often didn’t collection, before creating more blanks to
FAVOURITE SYSTEM: entire genre, Brenda’s collection boasts keep compilations or related items. “So I fill. Their objective is to open the museum
Apple II items of such rarity that actually only one of got those too,” declares Brenda, “and then to the public in the autumn of 2019. “John’s
them often exist. Much of it, in fact, is pure it was localised versions of the early games. collection is primarily very early Seventies
TWITTER: history, hence Brenda and John’s efforts in Then it was games that the early games and Eighties Apple II games,” says Brenda.
@br opening a museum in their hometown of influenced. You can see what kind of fun “And the stuff I kept from my career fits
Galway. “We decided to open a museum disaster this has turned out to be!” Having very nicely into his collection.” As a games
INSTAGRAM: focusing on game design,” she explains, “as spoken to many collectors, we know designer herself, Brenda has also “kept
@theromeromuseum very well how these things work. With things, as you do when you are a games
one particular collection completed, fresh designer”, and when the pair were able
branches always appear. “And I try to have to recently extract their collections from
two of everything so that I can have one storage for the first time in ten years, the
APPLE II open, and one sealed,” reveals Brenda. The extent of their gatherings became clear.
OWNED BY NASIR rarity of the items in the Romero collection “As a games designer, I know that there
GEBELLI make a valuation almost impossible, and is a powerful pull on players to complete
“The phrase ‘Programmed by Nasir Brenda admits she has no idea how much something. I never expected that I would be
Gebelli’ is legendary among Eighties it is all worth. “Some of our stuff is one-of- the one playing what feels like an endless
gamers. We have the machine that the a-kind – like the original disk that led to the collection quest!”
legend coded on. Amazing.”
PAID: £0 (given to Brenda
by Nasir)
 COLLECTOR’S CORNER

Got an impressive collection of your own? Contact us at:

RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag [email protected]

WOLFENSTEIN
3D ZOOM EDITION
SHAREWARE
“It took me forever to find this! It is
sealed and in perfect condition. I
traded some stuff for it.”
PAID: €0
BARGAIN HUNT
Your guide to the rising world of retro prices
THE COVER STAR PLAYSTATION
With the PlayStation Classic hitting stores,
it seems like an appropriate time for us
to revisit the legendary Sony console.
Fortunately, despite the renewed popularity,
prices of the original console remain relatively
low, probably due to the backward compatibility
of the PlayStation 2. Expect to pay between £10 and
£20 for a console and controllers, and £30 to £50 for a
decent bundle with games. The more compact PSone tends to
command a premium, especially if it comes with the neat five-inch
LCD screen – perfect for authentic retro gaming on the go.

BALDUR’S GATE
Despite shipping in one of those notoriously fragile big cardboard boxes,
Baldur’s Gate sold so many copies that there are still plenty out there.
Expect to pay as little as £10 for one in acceptable condition, with up to
£25 for one in superior nick.

SPYRO THE DRAGON

Unlike the console itself, the prices of popular PlayStation games have
ballooned the last few years. Prices vary, but with even the platinum
version fetching £10 to £15, copies of the original Spyro can often sell for
over £20 – remarkable for such a common game.

NAMCO NEGCON
This unique controller is swiftly becoming collectable. Despite its obscurity it remains
available at decent prices, with an unboxed neGcon generally achieving prices in the
range of £10 to £20. If you like your PlayStation racing games, the neGcon is worth
forking out a few quid for.

FANTASY WORLD DIZZY

Think you have a rare Dizzy game worth a ton? Alas, you’re probably
thinking of Crystal Kingdom Dizzy, and while Fantasy World Dizzy is a
popular title, its single cassette version normally posts £3 to £5 with
the big box edition netting you £10 to £20.

JEWEL IN THE CROWN

ORIGINAL SEALED EDITION OF DOOM HOW MUCH?!
Q “This is the registered version of the original Doom, and simultaneously
an ordinary but extraordinary jewel in the crown. It’s a sealed 3.5-inch
TRESPASSER
This unusual PC game endured a rushed development
version in mint condition and is signed by Adrian Carmack.”
in an effort to tie it in with a deal with AMD. The
PAID: £0 (part of ‘John’s stuff’!) jewel CD case and disc are relatively common and
sell for anything between £15 and £25 . However, if
you’re after the original big box, be prepared to dig
deep. They don’t appear very often, and when they
do, they often achieve a price well over £100.

Prices correct at time of print

 WIN!
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Dear Retro Gamer, delighted to read about Stormlord
I just read the recent making of again and I’d love to see a bigger
Stormlord in issue 186 and it made article on him. This is what I love
me remember just how great about your magazine – it reignites
Raffaele Cecco was during the fires I thought had long burned out.
Eighties so thanks for that. I grew Thanks for the memories,
up with an Amstrad and every James Baker
single game he released became
an essential purchase for me. His Glad you loved the feature
games always looked fantastic James and thanks for the
on the CPC, with my personal kind words, it’s very nice of » [Master System] We briefly covered Wonder Boy In Monster Land in issue 186.
faves being Exolon, Cybernoid and you. Have a retro book for
Stormlord. Needless to say I was brightening up our day. My brother, a keen adventure game THE GOOD OLD DAYS
player but not a usually a fan of strategy Dear Retro Gamer
titles, also played and it was good Paul Rose’s (aka Mr Biffo) point about
watching the troops change formation coming of age when computer games
as they marched and fought their way and middle age collide with each
across the 3D battlefield. I also enjoyed other has hit the nail on my head and
the feeling of not knowing what was could explain my reluctance not to
going on over the horizon and awaiting be attached to the latest games. As
the arrival of messenger riders with the Paul pointed out what’s happening
latest news (often inaccurate or out of now is that games are just another
date!) from the front line. mass entertainment medium along
Indeed, even today I strongly feel with movies, music and TV, throwing
that Turcan’s software had arguably everything all at once at us rather
the best pre-radio communication than making something that’s akin to
system ever programmed into a game getting excited as watching your first
and still look back on the franchise with movie in the cinema. To cut a long
fond affection! story short, my reasons for agreeing
Stuart Hardy is basically that I miss the effort that
was made in making a game and its
Thanks for getting in touch with us, artwork from scratch.
Stuart. We’re not massively familiar Cisko Kidd
with the series, but it certainly
» [Amstrad CPC] We’ve already spoken to Raffaele about his career in the past, but never say never. looks interesting. We’ll do a little Thanks for getting in touch. A lot
bit of digging and see if we can of it probably comes down to age
arrange an interview. if we’re honest. When you’re in
your mid-forties like Darran is, it’s
THE STRATEGY KING SHORT AND SWEET hard to get excited about the latest
I would love it if Retro Gamer ran a Dear Darran,
feature on the Battlescapes franchise Can you please do an in-depth article on
of strategy games by Dr Peter Turcan Wonder Boy In Monster Land and Black
from the late Eighties and Nineties. Belt for the Sega Master System. The
I bought all the titles and spent many latter was an amazing scrolling fighter
hours poring over the laminated maps and one-on-one fighter at the time. It
supplied with the games to plan my also has an interesting backstory.
next move. Although some people Nick Moudios
found inputting all the orders a chore,
for me it was actually a blessing, for I If we can get access we’ll certainly
was learning to touch-type at college cover Wonder Boy, Nick. As for
when the games were released and Black Belt, we’ve already got plans
» [PC] Stuart is a big fan of the games developed by
they quickly helped me to become the for that one. Look out for it in a » [Xbox One] Games like Red Dead Redemption 2 highlight
Dr Peter Turcan. We’ll try and track him down. top of my whole class! future Lost In Translation. just how much work goes into making them.

110 | RETRO GAMER

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Email: [email protected] Editorial

Editor Darran ‘SCPH-1000’ Jones
[email protected]
01202 586237
Production Editor Drew ‘SCPH-1200’ Sleep
Senior Staff Writer Nick ‘DTL-H3000’ Thorpe
game, because you’ve already seen
Senior Designer Sam ‘SCPH-100’ Ribbits
it all. Having said that, we’ll have Brand Director, Games Tony Mott
to disagree about the effort that Senior Art Editor Warren Brown
goes into making games today. The DISCUSSED THIS MONTH Photographer James Sheppard
recent controversy surrounding Red Contributors
Dead Redemption II ’s development games™ and GamesMaster Writing Adam Barnes, David Crookes, Paul Davies,
hȒǝȇȇɵ(ǣȅƏǼǣȇƺًXƏȇ(ȸƏȇɀˡƺǼƳً¨ƏɖǼ(ȸɖȸɵًȇƳȸƺɯIǣɀǝƺȸً
highlights just how much work goes Some sad news arrived this month as we
kǣƺȸƺȇRƏɯǸƺȇًhƏɀȒȇkƺǼǸًJȸƏƺȅƺxƏɀȒȇً«ȒȸɵxǣǼȇƺً
learned of the closure of both games™ and
into modern games. GamesMaster. We’ll miss leafing through both
Paul Rose

magazines, as well as sitting next door to the Art Rob Crossland

COLLECTING QUESTIONS games™ team in the Bournemouth office. Both
magazines were brilliant, and everyone on RG
Advertising
xƺƳǣƏȵƏƬǸɀƏȸƺƏɮƏǣǼƏƫǼƺȒȇȸƺȷɖƺɀɎ
Dear Retro Gamer, » If you want to show off your collection like Callum, then will miss them dearly. Commercial Director Clare Dove
I am an avid collector and subscriber to we’d love to hear from you. [email protected]
Advertising Director Tom Parkinson
your magazine. I am interested to know [email protected]
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[email protected]
month, as it is a dream of mine to appear a Spectrum, moved on to a Mega
International
in your magazine. Drive and for some reason lost touch Retro Gamer is available for licensing.
Thank you, with gaming until my cousin showed Contact the International department to discuss
partnership opportunities.
Callum Stannard me his new Xmas present, Sony’s little International Licensing Director Matt Ellis
grey box of delights in the Nineties. [email protected]

We’re doing our very best to I was dumbstruck and spent ages Subscriptions
0ȅƏǣǼƺȇȷɖǣȸǣƺɀ[email protected]
feature your game collections in playing Destruction Derby and my ÈkȒȸƳƺȸǼǣȇƺۭƺȇȷɖǣȸǣƺɀ0344 848 2852
the magazine. If you do want to love of gaming came flowing back. Is …ɮƺȸɀƺƏɀȒȸƳƺȸǼǣȇƺƏȇƳƺȇȷɖǣȸǣƺɀ+44 (0) 344 848 2852
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appear in the Collector’s Corner there any chance of you guys doing a xƏǕƏɿǣȇƺɀxƏȸǸƺɎǣȇǕ(ǣȸƺƬɎȒȸSharon Todd
it’s worth bearing in mind that we piece on Destruction Derby, as I will Circulation
need nice quality images, as ones never forget what brought my love of RƺƏƳȒǔzƺɯɀɎȸƏƳƺTim Mathers
Production
that are typically suitable for use on gaming back. Head of Production Mark Constance
websites don’t translate well when Please keep up the superb work, ¨ȸȒƳɖƬɎǣȒȇ¨ȸȒǴƺƬɎxƏȇƏǕƺȸ Clare Scott
ƳɮƺȸɎǣɀǣȇǕ¨ȸȒƳɖƬɎǣȒȇxƏȇƏǕƺȸ Joanne Crosby
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We’re glad you love the magazine Management

!ǝǣƺǔ…ȵƺȸƏɎǣȒȇɀ…ǔˡƬƺȸ Aaron Asadi
DERBY DEVOTION Kelvin. We actually covered the !ȒȅȅƺȸƬǣƏǼIǣȇƏȇƬƺ(ǣȸƺƬɎȒȸ Dan Jotcham
Hi guys, the magazine is amazing. original Destruction Derby in issue Group Content Director Paul Newman
Head of Art & Design Rodney Dive
I really love Conversion Capers and 81 and the sequel in 163. Good luck » [PlayStation] It’s nice when we hear from readers how a Printed by
Minority Report, as they make me tracking them down. certain game reinvigorated their love for their hobby. Wyndham Bicester, Gravnville Way, Bicester, OX26 4QZ
Distributed by xƏȸǸƺɎǔȒȸƬƺً‫!ד‬ǝɖȸƬǝǣǼǼ¨ǼƏƬƺً!ƏȇƏȸɵáǝƏȸǔً
nȒȇƳȒȇً0‫דג׏‬RÈɯɯɯِȅƏȸǸƺɎǔȒȸƬƺِƬȒِɖǸÁƺǼ‫׎ה׎חוזוב׎א׎ي‬
ISSN 1742-3155

áƺƏȸƺƬȒȅȅǣɎɎƺƳɎȒȒȇǼɵɖɀǣȇǕȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺȵƏȵƺȸɯǝǣƬǝǣɀƳƺȸǣɮƺƳǔȸȒȅ

Your say ȸƺɀȵȒȇɀǣƫǼɵȅƏȇƏǕƺƳًƬƺȸɎǣˡƺƳǔȒȸƺɀɎȸɵƏȇƳƬǝǼȒȸǣȇƺ‫ٮ‬ǔȸƺƺȅƏȇɖǔƏƬɎɖȸƺِ

ÁǝƺȵƏȵƺȸǣȇɎǝǣɀȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺɯƏɀɀȒɖȸƬƺƳƏȇƳȵȸȒƳɖƬƺƳǔȸȒȅɀɖɀɎƏǣȇƏƫǼƺ
managed forests, conforming to strict environmental and socioeconomic
ɀɎƏȇƳƏȸƳɀِÁǝƺȅƏȇɖǔƏƬɎɖȸǣȇǕȵƏȵƺȸȅǣǼǼǝȒǼƳɀǔɖǼǼI³!٢IȒȸƺɀɎ³ɎƺɯƏȸƳɀǝǣȵ
Every month, Retro Gamer asks a question !ȒɖȇƬǣǼ٣ƬƺȸɎǣˡƬƏɎǣȒȇƏȇƳƏƬƬȸƺƳǣɎƏɎǣȒȇ
on the forum and prints the best replies. ǼǼƬȒȇɎƺȇɎɀ۰‫ז׏׎א‬IɖɎɖȸƺ¨ɖƫǼǣɀǝǣȇǕnǣȅǣɎƺƳȒȸȵɖƫǼǣɀǝƺƳɖȇƳƺȸǼǣƬƺȇƬƺِǼǼ
This month we wanted to know… ȸǣǕǝɎɀȸƺɀƺȸɮƺƳِzȒȵƏȸɎȒǔɎǝǣɀȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺȅƏɵƫƺɖɀƺƳًɀɎȒȸƺƳًɎȸƏȇɀȅǣɎɎƺƳȒȸ
ȸƺȵȸȒƳɖƬƺƳǣȇƏȇɵɯƏɵɯǣɎǝȒɖɎɎǝƺȵȸǣȒȸɯȸǣɎɎƺȇȵƺȸȅǣɀɀǣȒȇȒǔɎǝƺȵɖƫǼǣɀǝƺȸِ
What’s your favourite IɖɎɖȸƺ¨ɖƫǼǣɀǝǣȇǕnǣȅǣɎƺƳ٢ƬȒȅȵƏȇɵȇɖȅƫƺȸ‫דזזז׎׎א‬٣ǣɀȸƺǕǣɀɎƺȸƺƳǣȇ
0ȇǕǼƏȇƳƏȇƳáƏǼƺɀِ«ƺǕǣɀɎƺȸƺƳȒǔˡƬƺ‫ي‬ªɖƏɵRȒɖɀƺًÁǝƺȅƫɖȸɵً ƏɎǝ ‫׏‬
PlayStation game? 1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and
ǣɀًƏɀǔƏȸƏɀɯƺƏȸƺƏɯƏȸƺًƬȒȸȸƺƬɎƏɎɎǝƺɎǣȅƺȒǔǕȒǣȇǕɎȒȵȸƺɀɀِIɖɎɖȸƺƬƏȇȇȒɎ
accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You
Rhydian James Davies storytelling. And the mechanics of ƏȸƺƏƳɮǣɀƺƳɎȒƬȒȇɎƏƬɎȅƏȇɖǔƏƬɎɖȸƺȸɀƏȇƳȸƺɎƏǣǼƺȸɀƳǣȸƺƬɎǼɵɯǣɎǝȸƺǕƏȸƳ
You never forget your first – Ridge the game were truly revolutionary to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and
Racer! It was the first time I truly (the stealth gameplay, the different ɯƺƫɀǣɎƺɀȅƺȇɎǣȒȇƺƳǣȇɎǝǣɀȵɖƫǼǣƬƏɎǣȒȇƏȸƺȇȒɎɖȇƳƺȸȒɖȸƬȒȇɎȸȒǼِáƺƏȸƺ
not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them.
felt the arcade was in my bedroom. tactics required for boss battles). ÁǝǣɀȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺǣɀǔɖǼǼɵǣȇƳƺȵƺȇƳƺȇɎƏȇƳȇȒɎƏǔˡǼǣƏɎƺƳǣȇƏȇɵɯƏɵɯǣɎǝɎǝƺ
Lacking in tracks, but I didn’t care. The music and voice acting were companies mentioned herein.

I knew the times were a changing pretty top notch as well. XǔɵȒɖɀɖƫȅǣɎȅƏɎƺȸǣƏǼɎȒɖɀًɵȒɖɯƏȸȸƏȇɎɎǝƏɎɵȒɖȒɯȇɎǝƺȅƏɎƺȸǣƏǼƏȇƳٖ
or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and
and I liked where they were going ɵȒɖƏɖɎȒȅƏɎǣƬƏǼǼɵǕȸƏȇɎIɖɎɖȸƺƏȇƳǣɎɀǼǣƬƺȇɀƺƺɀƏǼǣƬƺȇƬƺɎȒȵɖƫǼǣɀǝ
to take me. Jay T Bossert ɵȒɖȸɀɖƫȅǣɀɀǣȒȇǣȇɯǝȒǼƺȒȸǣȇȵƏȸɎǣȇƏȇɵٖƏǼǼǣɀɀɖƺɀƏȇƳٖȒȸƺƳǣɎǣȒȇɀȒǔ
Tomb Raider. The manipulation of ȵɖƫǼǣƬƏɎǣȒȇɀًǣȇƏȇɵǔȒȸȅƏɎȵɖƫǼǣɀǝƺƳɯȒȸǼƳɯǣƳƺƏȇƳȒȇƏɀɀȒƬǣƏɎƺƳɯƺƫɀǣɎƺɀً
» Sam’s love for Croc is as passionate as Nick’s for Sonic, or Drew’s for denim
social media channels and associated products. Any material you submit
Spencer Guest Lara, the puzzles and just a fresh jackets… or Darran’s for promo codes. ǣɀɀƺȇɎƏɎɵȒɖȸȒɯȇȸǣɀǸƏȇƳًƏǼɎǝȒɖǕǝƺɮƺȸɵƬƏȸƺǣɀɎƏǸƺȇًȇƺǣɎǝƺȸIɖɎɖȸƺ
Destruction Derby! The first take on the genre. nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for
loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless
game released on any console Alexander Graham Great art style and music, multiple ȒɎǝƺȸɯǣɀƺɀɎƏɎƺƳًƏȇƳȸƺɀƺȸɮƺɎǝƺȸǣǕǝɎɎȒƺƳǣɎًƏȅƺȇƳًƏƳƏȵɎƏǼǼɀɖƫȅǣɀɀǣȒȇɀِ
or computer that enabled you James Harvey Tekken 2, it was the first game paths for character progression
to smash your opponents, and Gran Turismo. It was the first I fell in love with and became (so multiple playthroughs) and a
reward you for it! The two-player game I ever pre-ordered and read obsessed with as a franchise. An decent story. Plenty of secrets, too.
link-up was great also. It’s a shame every paragraph of text written improvement over the first in every Brilliant game.
the sequel was a bit overdone. about it before release. It changed way, and a roster that can’t be beat.
Definitely an all-time classic! the game for the racing genre @SamRibbits91
– visuals like we’d never seen, a Stephen Farrell I’d have to go with the Playstation’s
Phil Ping literally unbelievable replay mode Vandal Hearts. A great tactical best 3D platformer. Croc: Legend
Metal Gear Solid. No game and ridiculous depth. NOTHING game that reminded me heavily of Of The Gobbos of course! I can only
before it had that level of detail or could compare. Shining Force on the Mega Drive. assume a remake is on the way.
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 LIBERTY OR DEATH
» Around a quarter of a millennium ago, a humble
North American colony got into a bit of a tax dispute
with the home base. The result was a full rebellion,
which you get to play out in this strategy game, leading
the Americans to victory against those darned… who
were the antagonists again? Drat, we seem to have
forgotten. Our memory is slipping with age

01 02 03

» Oh yes, it was the British. That would be » A good, wholesome American family » Revolutionary leader George
us, then. If there’s one lesson we should celebrates its hard-won freedom. The dog Washington becomes the first president of
probably have learnt from this, it’s to keep was actually a fearsome tracker, sniffing the USA, despite his reluctance to accept
our beaks out of American political affairs. out hidden redcoats, and was awarded a the post, and leads a unified nation with
Sometimes we just can’t help ourselves, medal. The baby, being useless as babies skill. He is later considered amongst the
though, you know? tend to be, didn’t assist in the war effort. greatest of American presidents.

04 05
» The constitution can cause problems and wasn’t perfect the » So let’s hear it for America, a country in which liberty and
first time round, but, hey, that’s what amendments are for, right? justice are the birthright of all citizens. And hey, Britain was a
It’s certainly better than having an uncodified constitution. A reformed nation for the experience, never again colonising far-
country without proper rules of government would descend into off lands and wreaking havoc upon the local… hang on, that’s
chaos quicker than you can say – oh wait, that’s Britain again. not right, either. Sorry about that, Commonwealth nations.

114 | RETRO GAMER