Christmas games not necessarily about Christmas

In this digital age, gaming is almost synonymous with Christmas. There’s no better time of year for the younger generation to ask their parents for a new game console, gaming credit vouchers, or an assortment of new releases. For the older generation, Christmas also represents a time to catch up on games they may have …

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SEGA Extreme Sports took the Dreamcast to the max

It’s easy to forget that the SEGA Dreamcast was the most technically advanced console available when it launched, making the PSone and N64 look considerably dated in comparison. Sonic Adventure initially wowed gamers and critics alike, featuring heavily in marketing campaigns. Later during the console’s short life titles such as Metropolis Street Racer and Shenmue …

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FIFA 96 on 32X – football at its least fashionable

Since its debut in 1993, EA’s FIFA series has been a huge commercial success. It arguably hit the big leagues when the franchise first hit the 32-bit formats, with the new CD-based technology allowing for greater realism and presentation closer to what footie fans saw, and heard, on their TV screens during a typical Saturday …

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Stepping into the arena with KIBORG

It’s always neat when a demo of an upcoming game has more to offer than just a level or two. I’m not referring to things like ten-hour trials, as beneficial as they are, but rather when a developer turns a demo into a standalone product, such as a prologue. That’s the case with KIBORG: Arena, …

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‘90s critics strongly disliked Nintendo’s Alleyway

The NSO service updated earlier this week, revealing a distinct theme to Nintendo diehards – the three new titles added to the Game Boy library were all launch titles for the monochromatic marvel, launching 1989 in Japan and the US, with Europe trailing behind in 1990.    Glancing over reviews from ‘90s gaming critics, via …

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A diver plays Endless Ocean Luminous

When I play games, I play with the experience gained from other games. I might mess around with the combat system to see how it differs from similar titles. I might look at the responsiveness and intuitiveness of the controls and compare them to genre standouts. With Endless Ocean Luminous things were remarkably different; I …

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RoadBlasters – from Atari coin-op, to a forgotten toy line

A few years ago, we looked at the partnership between SEGA and the radio-controlled car manufacturer Tyco, which resulted in Pocket Power – a unique line of pocket-sized toys, varying from launchable cars to glow in the dark skeletons. This wasn’t the only unlikely partnership between a toy car manufacturer and a video game giant, …

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2023: Games you might have missed

Every month of this year, including the typically quiet months of January and December, has seen a handful of must-play releases. An assault not just on gamer’s wallets, but their spare time as well. Browsing through 2023’s release lists, it soon becomes apparent that dozens of positively reviewed games failed to generate much of a …

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The Chicken Run movie tie-in wasn’t bad at all, surprisingly

With the long-time-coming Chicken Run sequel imminent on Netflix, memories are stirring of the late 2000 PC, PSone, and Dreamcast tie-in for the original movie. Somehow, this plucky little game managed to break movie tie-in convention, being quite good. Not amazing, but the gaming press were surprisingly receptive at the time. Published by Eidos, home …

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