Retro

Theme Hospital

Released: 1997 Formats: PlayStation, PC There was no doubting that Theme Park was going to be a success. It was colourful, fun and innovative and we’re sure that running an amusement park ranks highly amongst the dreams of children. But running a hospital? We’d imagine that 99.99% of...

The history of Official Nintendo? Go!

Every month Matt pulls a magazine out for under his bed and gives it a fine going over. Stop giggling at the back there – we’re talking about video game magazines. This month: issue 64 of EMAP’s Nintendo Official Magazine from January 1998. The history of the Official...

Smile, you’re on Game Boy Camera

There was a time, back in 1998, when mobile phones didn’t have cameras. Standalone digital cameras were still far from being affordable; the common man was far more likely to covet a then swanky APS camera. Can you imagine that, children? Taking photos on film? The massive ’90s...

GameGadget – the modern retro handheld

Normally we’d be deeply sceptical of a new handheld, whatever niche it’s targeting. And it’s always ambitious – shall we say – of companies to invoke comparisons to Apple. But we like a bit of retro round these parts, so the idea of a retro handheld with an...

Do you catch Sonic’s drift?

It has been said that during the winter, sales of retro games boom as a lot of people spend their evenings staying in the warm and thus need entertaining. We wouldn’t be surprised if a few people hope to recreate the magic of a Christmas long gone by...

Dynamite Cop

Released: 1998 (Japan), 1999 (US and Europe) Format: Dreamcast Sega were determined not the repeat the mistakes from their past with the Dreamcast. Unlike the Sega Saturn they had a Sonic game ready for launch, third-party support was strong, it was easy to develop for and the system...

Video Gamer

Every month Matt pulls a magazine out for under his bed and gives it a fine going over. Stop giggling at the back there – we’re talking about video game magazines. This month: issue 3 of Future’s Video Gamer from January 2001. Video Gamer must have been a...

eBay round-up: limited edition edition

Usually our eBay round-ups are distinctly retro flavoured, but we’re kicking this month’s run down off with some new games. The Sonic Generations Collector’s Edition is highly sought after, especially seeing it wasn’t released in the US. This big box pack, which comes with a Sonic statue and...

Christmas Nights into Dreams

Released: 1996 Format: Sega Saturn Here’s a little story for you. When Sega originally revealed Christmas Nights they announced that it would only be available as a freebie to those who purchased certain Sega Saturn games. With my only source of income at the time being a paper-round,...

Sonic tome!

Usually once a month we carefully hand-select a vintage videogame magazine from our extensive collection and give it a going over, but with Christmas upon us this month we’re instead looking at something different. That something is Grandream’s Official Sonic the Hedgehog Yearbook from 1992. As a youth,...

A triple dose of CVG

So, here we are – the grand daddy of all videogame magazines. The first issue arrived in newsagents back in October 1981 for 75p, complete with some Mars Attacks-style aliens on the cover. Back then the magazine was very different from the colourful, console focused, publication most remember...

Viz: The Soft Floppy One

Released: 1991 Formats: Amiga, Atari ST, Spectrum, Amstrad, Commodore 64, PC When Viz was in its prime it sold a million copies per issue – the only publication that outsold it was the Radio Times. It’s a fact that often amazes, but more amazing is the comic’s incredibly...