Retrogaming

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Published in the Oct 1991 YS70 issue

The first time I ever heard of the PC Engine was when a friend whose Chinese mate's uncle had imported one told me about it. Without having seen it, I just assumed it was some kind of Japanese computer for word processing's sake - not a console the size of a good sarnie, and certainly not one that ran cutting-edge games stored on credit cards. Any which way you sliced it, the PC Engine was something special. From five-player games and the eight-way d-pad sported by its controller to what was at the time easily the best console version of R-Type, NEC's machine was a little marvel. Shame, then, that hardly anybody in the UK had one (though, for some reason, everyone in France did).

Published in the Dec 1991 YS72 issue

Published in the Feb 1992 YS74 issue

Published in the Jan 1992 YS73 issue

Published in the Nov 1991 YS71 issue

After more than ten years since the Your Sinclair Big Final Issue, Retro Gamer magazine surprises everyone by licencing the YS trademark from Future Publishing.

It's great that various web site authors and contributors have written reviews of old arcade games, but it's a completely different thing to read reviews that were written when the games were brand new and the hype was on. Here you can find scanned arcade reviews from various popular European home computer magazines. If you wish to contribute by either sending me scans or magazines themselves, please contact me!

One of the most popular sections in my video game newsletter, Retrogaming Times is the MAME Reviews.  Each month, I would choose two or more games and review them.  Over the years, I received alot of requests to review certain games.  Well, the newsletter has been around for a long time (nearing 30 issues at the time of writing this) and it is quite time consuming to go through all the issues to read the game reviews.  So, I decided to compile all of them here.  This way, you can easily read all of them, quickly and easily.  Plus, I hope to add some new reviews here of games that weren't originally reviewed in Retrogaming Times.  So enjoy the reviews and let me know what games you would like to see covered!

The appeal may be lost on some people, but for many who grew up in the "golden age" of arcade games, owning a vintage video game arcade machine is the ultimate. These machines used to be everywhere in the early 80's: the mall, bowling alleys, the local 7-11, sub shops, and even many restaurants. Although I dropped my share of quarters into them, I also spent a lot of time watching other players. I always noticed and admired the machines' colorful marquees and distinct artwork.

Information guides include screen shots, a brief game review, box, manual, and overlay images, and content about Easter eggs and known ROM revisions. If you find new, contradictory, or other information you wish to share, please let me know!

Welcome to the Game Zero's Final Word review section. Here you can find reviews for a wide variety of console games--both new and old.

The PC Engine Software Bible is a comprehensive listing of games for NEC's PC Engine console, released in 1987 in Japan, and two years later as the TurboGrafx-16 in America. On this site you will find reviews, screenshots, videos, music tracks and many more extras.

Know what to expect before you purchase a new Xbox game. We offer our unbiased opinions here.

Not only was the Nintendo Entertainment System the console that resurrected video games after the industry crash of '83, but the system's top titles set the gameplay standard by which modern platforming, RPG, action, adventure and narrative are designed today. These are the most influential and trend setting titles from the NES.

Up until 1978 video games were still in their salad days. Since the first coin-op video games launched in 1971 popularity was continually growing as mechanical games were slowly being phased out and replaced with the likes of Pong. By the end of '78 video games exploded into pop culture madness, mainly thanks to the number one pick on our list, Space Invaders. This was also the year that introduced the world to the first trac-ball game, the first continuously scrolling game and the first POV driving game. These are the most popular, innovative and groundbreaking titles from one of the grooviest year at the arcade.

The success of Space Invaders in 1978 brought Arcades from a small budding market, into a booming business. Meanwhile in homes the Atari 2600 was seeing monumental success. To meet the demand companies jumped on the bandwagon, launching numerous titles into development.

While horror might be a mainstay for console games today, there was a time when a home video game system didn't have enough power to run the terrifying graphics needed to create a rich and frightening universe. So the place where the spooky classics went to get their fright on was on computers. From PC, Mac and even a few 8-bit models, the place to experience real terror was on the hard drive. The games that follow are the best and most groundbreaking fright-fest video games ever released. Just keep repeating to yourself, "it's only DOS", "it's only DOS".