LD!

UIDE
THE ESSENTIAL GU DE TO CLASS
CLASSIC GAMES
O

TM

GARRY AND DAN KITCHEN

REVEAL HOW THEY DIGITISED
TV’S MOST FAMOUS FAMILY
AMSTRAD | COMMODORE | SEGA | NINTENDO | ATARI | SINCLAIR SONY | COIN-OP | MOBILE

PTRESA2SURES AVALON AND

DRAGONTORC
AMIGA CD32
ANDREW BEALE
DIGITAL
11 OBSCURE GEMS PICTURES
YOU NEED TO
PLAY TODAY PENGO
RESCUE

E V E LO P E R S R E V E A L HOW
FD
A SU PER COM BO OIGHTER REMAINS KING OF TH E RING
CAPCOM’S F
:
GREGG MAYLES EXPLAINS HOW RARE HOW IO INTERACTIVE MADE THE EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW LOAD 181
CREATED A BRANDNEW KONG QUEST ULTIMATE MURDER SIMULATOR ABOUT SNK’S BRUTAL BRAWLER
 LOADING...

THE RETROBATES FAVOURITE STREET

FIGHTER GAME

urely everyone remembers the

DARRAN JONES
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
due to its beautifully refined
fight mechanics, exceptional
animation and diverse range of
DREW SLEEP
It’s a toss-up between Super
Street Fighter II and Street
Fighter V, but the newest game
wins out for me. It just feels
NICK THORPE
Street Fighter Alpha 3
always hits the sweet spot,
with beautiful 2D graphics,
mechanical depth and lots of
S first time they experienced a
Street Fighter game? For me
it was in my local arcade. There
were always people clamouring around
the latest releases, so I actually saw a big
interesting characters. right in every way in its now- great characters. crowd of people before I viewed the game
Expertise: complete Arcade Edition form. Expertise:
Juggling a gorgeous wife, two Expertise: Owning five Master Systems itself. It instantly gained my attention, not
beautiful girls and an Forcing Rogue back into the (I sold two)
award-winning magazine Hearthstone meta Currently playing: because of its amazing visuals, but because
Currently playing: Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life
Currently playing:
Super Paper Mario Final Fantasy VII Favourite game of all time:
the person playing it was pounding some
Favourite game of all time: Favourite game of all time: Sonic The Hedgehog gigantic pads for all they were worth.
Strider Final Fantasy VIII
Transfixed, I patiently waited my turn, only
to discover that the game was hard as nails.
I realised that the original game was
a title I’d rather watch than play, but
that changed with the release of Street
Fighter II. Everything about it felt epic, from
its stunning visuals to its diverse roster of
characters. Pulling off special moves was
a cinch compared to its predecessor and
it arguably became a far more important
game than the title that had spawned it.
SAM RIBBITS GRAEME MASON DAVID CROOKES Street Fighter has punched its way into
I’m not massively into fighting Street Fighter II: Champion Street Fighter II at the arcades.
games (which may or may not Edition on the Sega Mega That gave my wallet a real pop culture in the way that only the most
be down to how terrible I am
at them). But SFII is my pick –
Drive. Awesome competitive
fun against friends or siblings.
bashing at the time.
Expertise:
iconic games franchises can, and we’re
Guile’s theme is a classic! Expertise: Amstrad, Lynx, adventures, delighted to have been given the chance to
Expertise: Adjusting the tape azimuth with Dizzy and PlayStation (but is it
Pixels a screwdriver retro? Debate!) discuss the essence of the franchise with
Currently playing: Currently playing: Currently playing:
Limbo Dragon Age: Inquisition Fortnite some of its key creators, including Yoshinori
Favourite game of all time:
Croc: Legend Of The Gobbos
Favourite game of all time:
Resident Evil 4
Favourite game of all time:
Broken Sword
Ono. We look at character and level
design, mechanics and
everything else that has
made Street Fighter into
the greatest brawler.
Enjoy the magazine!

PAUL DRURY
An obvious choice but Street
Fighter II, for Dhalsim’s
convincing impression of Stretch
Armstrong and my first glimpse
of Chun-Li’s spinning bird kick.
Expertise:
Atari concept art
Currently playing:
God of War
Favourite game of all time:
Sheep In Space
>> Load 181 Breathing new life into lassic games
g

36

The 8-bit Architects

Sandy White and others reveal the difficulties of creating a
bustling metropolis on gaming’s early systems

RETRO RADAR FEA

ATURED
06 The King Of Con?
Twin Galaxies and Guinness World Records
strip Billy Mitchell of his high scores

08 News Wall
Sega melts the internet with news of
Shenmue HD and a mini Mega Drive

10 The Vault
We si through all the latest retro-themed Making Of: Rescue
42 The M
goodies for you to spend your cash on Ste Cork looks back at one of his first
Mastertronicc-published Spectrum games
12 Mr Biffo
Our columnist spent a long time staring at mate Guide: Pengo
52 Ultim
scrolling beat-’em-ups this month Everything yyou need to know about Sega’s
arcade blockk-pusher 20
14 A Moment With…
56 Hardware Heaven:
We interview the minds behind the
Nineties-inspired brawler, Raging Justice

16 Back To The Noughties

Amig
ga CD32
A quick lookk back at Commodore’s third Street Fighter:
Nick’s time machine stops off in May 2001.
Get ready to join him there
failed attemppt to crack the console market

68 Extra Life: Keeping Old

Games Alive
Blow By Blow
Capcom’s prize fighters reveal why this fighter is still at the
Paul Walkerr-Emig
Emig investigates the many top of its game aer more than three decades of hadokens
REVIVALS games that refuse to die, thanks to their fans

78 From The Archives: 44

Digital Pictures
Lodewijk Coen and Mark Klein reveal how
they gamified full-motion video

84 Peripheral Vision:
Game Boy Player
A quick look at Nintendo’s impressive
GameCube add-on

18 Cadillacs & Dinosaurs 90 Minority Report:

Amazingly, Darran’s favourite moment from PlayStation 2
Capcom’s Nineties brawler doesn’t feature a Nick’s been playing a bunch of obscure
single dinosaur classics, including the bizarre Mr Moskeeto

100 Renny Blaster 94 Desert Island Disks:

Nick has decided he wants to spend his Andrew Beale The Simpsons Hit The NES
money on PC Engine games. Aer playing The classic Speccy coder tells us about his Garry Kitchen and Dan Kitchen on converting America’s
this, he’s still looking. interesting and diverse career most famous family to Nintendo’s 8-bit console

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

R
Retro Gamer
G Magazi
Magazine
M g ine @R
@RetroGamerM
@
@RetroGamerMag
G M g retrogamer@futu
@f renet.com GAMING
HEADSET
OFFER SEE PAGE
64 74 34

The Making Of:

Donkey Kong Ultimate Guide:
Country 2 Samurai Shodown

86

The Making Of:

Hitman: Codename 47
Discover how IO Interactive turned murder into an artform

REVIEWS ESSENTIALS
102 The C64 Mini 34 Subscriptions
Worth going seven rounds with Zangief for

106 Homebrew
Jason Kelk continues to discover my gems
from the homebrew community

110 Mailbag
Send us your letters for a chance
58 to win a retro book
104 Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life
11 Next Month
104 Detective Pikachu You be mega excited about
ue
104 Dragon Blaze
114 E ga
104 Battletech Nick’s puts himself thro
eet Fighter: The Movi
ly Nick…

The Making Of:

Avalon & Dragontorc
Graeme Mason quizzes Steve Turner about his
medieval-themed Spectrum game and its sequel

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

THE KING OF CON?

Billy Mitchell’s high scores are expunged from Twin Galaxies
fter several months of the conclusion that Billy’s scores had to the dispute, revealing via Twitter
CONTENTS
6 THE KING OF CON?
Billy Mitchell is under fire after his scores
are removed from Twin Galaxies
A research and investigation,
Twin Galaxies has finally
wiped Billy Mitchell’s
controversial Donkey Kong scores
from its website. Additionally, all of
been set on MAME and not on proper
hardware as required by Twin Galaxies’
rules. Information in the extensive
two-part post explained how screens
are drawn in on an original PCB and
that Billy’s scores featured blue barrel
smashes (which grant higher points)
which were well above the average for
the mean and that there was evidence
of splicing in certain places.
his other scores have been deleted and how they are drawn in with emulation. At the time of the original allegations,
8 NEWS WALL he has also been banned from ever The findings revealed that all of Billy Billy Mitchell pleaded his innocence and
All the latest retro headlines making competing on the celebrated high score Mitchell’s high scores over revealed the following in an interview
waves right now
leaderboard again. 1 million points were consistent with with Gamespot. “I’m the least tech
Rumblings about the authenticity the patterning found via emulation and savvy guy in the world, so I’d be lost
10 THE VAULT of Billy’s Donkey Kong scores first not on an original arcade board. without the kindness of people I’ve
The latest retro-themed items you might
want to take a look at began when Jeremy ‘Xelnia’ Young, a Young’s claims were backed up by never met before, calling me with
member of Twin Galaxies’ forums, left former record holder, Wes Copeland, information and insight. In some ways,
12 MR BIFFO a huge in-depth post, which came to who has been adding his own findings it’s a bummer. There’s a lot of other
Our Teletext-powered columnist fu
un stuff I would rather be doing [than
challenges the topic of gaming icons clearing my name]. But if it’s a cross I
haave to bear for a while, that’s okay.”
14 A MOMENT WITH Since the initial investigations, Twin
We sit down with the team behind
retro-style beat-’em-up Raging Justice Galaxies has now released a statement
re
evealing that all of Billy Mitchell’s
16 BACK TO THE Donkey Kong scores have now been
D
NOUGHTIES re
emoved. “Based on the complete
Nick’s time machine blows a transistor boody of evidence presented in this
and tumbles into May 2001 offficial dispute thread, Twin Galaxies
haas decided to remove all of Billy
M
Mitchell’s scores as well as ban him
from participating in our competitive

» Billy Mitchell was portrayed as a

villain during The King Of Kong, with
rivval Steve Wiebe as the underdog.

6 | RETRO GAMER
 VISIT RETROGAMER.NET/FORUM TO HAVE YOUR SAY RETRORADAR: THE KING OF CON?

» Peter Dinklage’s role of Eddie Plant in Pixels is clearly based on Billy Mitchell, highlighting just what an impact Mitchell has had on gaming’s culture.

I wish I could hand it to you, School Gaming magazine

(where he acts as an advisor,
but it’s taking a considerable alongside the previous owner
of Twin Galaxies, Walter Day).
amount of time “The fact of the matter
is that there is a true,
Billy Mitchell professional, due diligence
being done to investigate
leaderboards,” it stated. Twin Galaxies cannot occur overnight and must be a things that happened as
also revealed that Mitchell had been step-by-step process”. far as 35 years ago. In a
able to answer questions in the dispute Guinness was quick to respond to professional manner, not
thread while the investigation has been the findings by Twin Galaxies, telling in a shock jock mentality
taking place, but had declined to do so. Kotaku that all of Mitchell’s records will designed to create hits,” he
Twin Galaxies continued by be removed, including those set for the said. “We will show that everything
mentioning that it now considers first perfect score and highest score that has been done, everything was
Steve Wiebe to be the first person to on Pac-Man. “The Guinness World done professionally, according to the
officially score over 1 million points in Records titles relating to Mr Mitchell’s rules, according to the scoreboard,
Donkey Kong and how important the highest scores on Donkey Kong have the integrity that was set up. Not
company’s integrity needs to be. Todd been disqualified due to Twin Galaxies 2014 forward by the current regime
Rogers, who had one the longest- being our source of verification for who wants to reach back 35 years.
standing record on Twin Galaxies with these achievements.” It would appear Everything will be transparent,
the Atari 2600 game, Dragster, was that Mitchell’s long-standing scores are everything will be available – I wish
similarly taken off the leaderboards soon to be a memory. I had it in my hands right now. I
and banned for life when his contested So where does this leave Steve wish I could hand it to you, but it’s
score couldn’t be verified. Interestingly, Wiebe, who is now considered to be taking a considerable amount of time.
he also verified one of Billy Mitchell’s the first person to officially score over Witnesses, documents – everything
Donkey Kong scores when he was a million points on Donkey Kong? “I’m will be made available to you, nothing
a referee for Twin Galaxies. “Anyone not the champ any more, but getting will be withheld. You absolutely have
looking into their own past with recognition for being the first to a my commitment to that.
honesty and a desire to improve will million is a great consolation prize,” It’s unclear what evidence Mitchell
likely find things potentially messy he told Variety magazine in a recent believes he has, considering the
and uncomfortable,” the statement statement. “That’s what I was really overwhelming proof against him, but
continued. “Twin Galaxies has bummed out about 11 years ago. Billy y
it’s clear he believes this particular story
experienced a nice big dose of that will have his turn to say something in isn’t finished just yet. More news as it
in
again with this dispute. However, Twin response, for now I’m just in awe.” breaks. It is appearing though that the aps best known for his role
» (Top) Billy Mitchell is perh
Kong.
Galaxies understands this is required And true to form, Billy Mitchell reign of one of gaming’s most notable Seth Gordon’s The King Of
Mitchell’s achievements in
for it to continue its commitment to did respond in a video statement on competitive celebrities is about to come » (Above) Don’t expect to find
’ record books.
accuracy. As we all have learned, this YouTube, which was issued by Old to a close. any future editions of Guinness

RETRO GAMER | 7
 R M THE FRONTLINE OF RETRO GAMING
NEWS WALL

NEOGE TO BE THIS GOOD

WHOA!
SNK TEASES ITS OWN
NEW CONSOLE
TAKES SEGA SEGA FANS MELT DOWN WITH THE
ANNOUNCEMENT OF SHENMUE HD
t’s finally happened. After years

I
t appears that every
publisher with a heritage
is looking to create its own
retro plug-and-play console
and SNK is no exception. In
I and years of constant badgering
from fans, Sega has revealed that a
HD collection of Shenmue I & II will
be heading to PC and home consoles.
The exciting news was just one
addition to revealing a selection of of many announcements from Sega,
classic 8-bit arcade games for the which included a veritable treasure
Switch, it would appear that SNK trove of retro-themed announcements.
is also keen on creating its own The Shenmue announcement was
mini console in the same way easily the biggest, though, and Sega
Nintendo and Sega has. is calling the collection the ‘definitive
Very little has been revealed version’ which will no doubt please
about the new system other than everyone apart from Switch owners,
an image shown on social media who don’t appear to be receiving a
that shows the device hidden port at this moment in time.
under a draped cloth. It appears Sega will be making numerous
to be in the shape of a miniature tweaks to the game, including fully
arcade machine, which makes scalable screen resolutions, numerous
sense when you consider SNK’s PC graphic options as well as the
impressive arcade heritage. The ability to enjoy Japanese or English
company has been aggressively voiceovers. More interestingly, there
flooding the Switch, PS4 and will be two types of control schemes
Xbox One with a large number as well, with the ability to choose
of its back catalogue, so it makes between modern or classic controls.
sense that it would also want to Although it never sold enough to
target the more casual gaming make back its gigantic $80 million » [PS4] News on a HD version of Shenmue has been circulating
g
market or maybe even create a outlay (the planned American since 2010 so it’s great to see it’s finally on the way.
lavish product for hardcore fans. Dreamcast release of Shenmue II fell
It’s worth remembering that through) Shenmue remains one of the Shenmue wasn’t the only news that
SNK’s last hardware release was Sega’s best-loved franchises, so it’s had fans reeling at Sega Fes 2018.
the disappointing Neo-Geo X pleasing to see the company resurrect The company also revealed a brand-
from Tommo Games, so it will be it. It also ensures that fans have new Mega Drive Mini to celebrate
interesting to see what mistakes something to play while they wait for the console’s 30th anniversary. It’s
the company has learnt with this Shenmue III to arrive later this year. initially due for release in Japan, but
new machine. We'll have more w
will be released in additional territories,
news as we get it. including Europe. It’s also worth noting
thhat Sega’s new machine is being
made by AtGames – the company
thhat has handled its previous plug-
annd-play machines – and its track
re
ecord for past systems hasn’t been
faantastic. Its last release was a notable
im
mprovement, however, so we’re
opptimistic that Sega will be paying
a lot of attention to this particular version. As always though, wait for the
definitive Retro Gamer verdict.
The retro love continued with the
news that Nintendo’s Switch would be
receiving several games from the Sega
Ages range, including Alex Kidd In
Miracle World, Gain Ground, Sonic The
Hedgehog, Phantasy Star and Thunder
Force IV. Emulation duties are once
again being handled by M2, so expect
a selection of frightfully accurate
versions that you’ll be able to tweak
to high heaven. Here’s hoping that
Thunder Force III, which was originally
exclusive to the 3DS in Japan, will
ing around as Alex Kidd on Switch soon. make the move, too.
» [Master System] Expect to be swimm

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

Jaleco Brawler’s Pack

If you’re looking to bulk up your SNES collection and have a
penchant for punch-ups, this officially licensed multi-game
The NES/SNES Book Knuckles T-shirt cartridge might be just what you’ve been looking for. Jaleco
Nintendo fans are sure to love this book, which covers Have you ever punched someone to stop Brawler’s Pack contains four games: the Rushing Beat trilogy (Rival
two of the most popular consoles of the 2D era. them from stealing a precious gem? Are you Turf, Brawl Brothers and Rushing Beat: Shura) and Tuff E Nuff. As
Whether you want to find the best games for each easily duped by megalomaniacal scientists? with other Retro-Bit multi-carts, the package includes some neat
platform, discover which games and peripherals are Do you find yourself less prone to chuckling badges and stickers as extra bonus gifts.
most prized by collectors, or even if you just fancy a than flexing your muscles? If so, you’ve got Tuff E Nuff is a one-on-one fighting game which is pretty solid,
guide to accompany your Nintendo Classic Mini a lot in common with Sonic’s friendly rival but lacks the character roster to be much more than a diversion.
plug-and-play consoles, this book has it all. Knuckles, so you should probably rep the The Rushing Beat games are a series of beat-’em-ups. The first
Price: £9.99 From: All good newsagents red echidna with this T-shirt. game in the series is Rival Turf, a relatively early SNES game
or myfavouritemagazines.co.uk Price: £22.00 that is showing its age a bit. However, the sequels are a marked
From: insertcoinclothing.com improvement. Brawl Brothers is a pretty enjoyable game and
Rushing Beat: Shura (included over the inferior US version, The
Peace Keepers) is one of the best beat-’em-ups on the SNES, and
original carts usually sell for more than this collection.
Price: £26.99 From: amazon.co.uk

PICK
OF TH
MONT E
H

Going For Golden Eye

Blu-Ray
Given recent events, the time feels right
for a mockumentary on competitive retro Undisputed Street Fighter
gaming – and this film is exactly that, If you’re a Street Fighter fanatic that needs to know everything
focusing on protagonist Ben’s attempt to about their favourite fighter, this book is the resource you’ll
ascend to the top of the GoldenEye scene. want. It’s packed full of individual stories, sprites and concept
In his way is Ethan, the reigning champion art for your favourite characters, historical trivia (including
attempting to gain his 20th straight victory. some great looks at unfortunate merchandise) and of course
Price: £12.99 insight from the developers that brought you the games.
From: goingforgoldeneye.co.uk Price: £34.99
From: amazon.co.uk

10 | RETRO GAMER
 COLUMN
FEATURING DIGITISER 2000’S MR BIFFO
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.

Fighting familiarity
have recently become fascinated by classic Also, why are there always fresh, health- However, to the true fan, that familiarity is

I scrolling beat-’em-ups. Indeed, I’ve decided

that it might, potentially, be my favourite genre
of game. A really good scrolling beat-’em-up,
for me, should be properly visceral. You should
experience every punch. A good, meaty, ‘Thwack!’
restoring, food hidden beneath piles of tyres
inside vases, or even in the ruddy bin? Why’s there
always a level which takes place on an elevator
platform? And a bunch of big, overweight, guys
who’ll try to crush you with a belly flop? And
precisely what they want. They appreciate the
subtle differences between songs, the way those
familiar rhythms fall in new configurations, how
the pacing changes. It’s about finding the subtle
differences in the identical.
sound needs to accompany every strike. When a whip-wielding dominatrix? And little, fast, What really amazes me is how few classic
they get it right, when it’s a combination of sound, hunched-over, guys with knives? And oil barrels scrolling beat-’em-ups tried to do anything
visuals, and setting which all gels, there’s no other just sitting around the places, precisely in the way different. There are a few examples in the arcades
genre which can give me the same rush. they don’t do in real life? which took an idiosyncratic approach – the
And yet, that’s only part of my interest in the It should annoy me that these games are, Denjin Makai series has a huge combo system,
genre. You see, they’re a bit weird aren’t they? Taken essentially, identical save for the window Capcom’s Battle Circuit jammed its tongue firmly
as a whole, it’s probably the strangest genre of all. dressing, yet somehow it doesn’t. I mean, I hate into its cheek, and Spider Man: The Video Game
Barring obvious cosmetic differences, the scrolling plagiarism in almost every other department, yet incorporates elements of platforming.
beat-’em-up – as we think of it – is essentially a there’s something oddly comforting about the Generally, though, barring the characters, the
series of tropes and clichés. They’re all, to a greater predictability of the scrolling beat-’em-up. games we see as the tent poles of the genre – Final
or lesser extent, much of a muchness. It’s like… say you’re a fan of blues music. Fight, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe – are mostly
You know what I mean, right? How, for example, Somebody who isn’t an aficionado might complain interchangeable, barring their graphics.
whenever you clear one part of a level, the word that all blues songs sound the same, that it’s just Why? I don’t know, but I remain intrigued. Why,
‘Go!’ will flash up on screen, urging you onwards. the same notes and same slidey, twangy, bits over when deciding to create a beat-’em-up, did they
Why is it always ‘Go’? Why not ‘Move On’ or and over, but in a different order. And to a certain almost all choose to use a template rather than a
maybe even “Proceed”? degree they’d be right about that. blank slate? Answers on a pile of tyres.

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

RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag [email protected]

12 | RETRO GAMER
 THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GAMING’S
MOST ICONIC CHARACTER
Retro Gamer celebrates the legacy of Nintendo’s greatest star, from Super Mario Bros to the
stunning Super Mario Odyssey. Discover how the mascot to end all mascots was born.

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SHOWING OFF COOL RETRO-THEMED STUFF THAT’S GOING ON

Cleaning up the streets

MakinGames on bringing back the scrolling fighter with Raging Justice
crolling brawlers used to be What’s the reason for the unique

S everywhere in the Eighties

and Nineties, but it’s now a
largely forgotten genre. The
team at MakinGames wants to change
all that with the release of Raging
visual style?
Jay Howse: There are so many games
out there so I think you have to stand
out and create your own distinct look.
We wanted the game to be 2D, but
Justice. Director, Anna Makin, Nic didn’t want pixel art or cartoony hand-
Makin, Jay Howse and Steve Burke drawn sprites. The natural choice
sat down to tell us more. was to use prerendered sprites and
backgrounds. It felt like it was retro
Where did the concept for Raging enough to evoke the feeling of early
Justice originate? arcade games, but different enough to
Anna Makin: We all used to get give the game it’s own visual identity.
together for a cheesy movie night
starring actors such as Jean Claude What’s been the hardest
Van Damme and Steven Seagal. It thing to achieve from a
was on one of these nights that we technical viewpoint?
got reminiscing about the good old Steve Burke: Raging Justice has
days when we used to save up our some unexpected musical styles for
pocket money for the arcades. We the genre, along with a core retro-style
remembered our favourite side-scrolling synth score. Each level has its own
brawlers, and while we couldn’t agree set of music tracks, so there’s plenty
on the best brawler, we agreed there of variety. Every so often, for a bit of
» Artist, Jay Howse (left) developer, Nic
ought to be a new brawler. If no one fun, I’ll pop in something random like a Markin (middle) and composer, Steve Burke
(right) are big fans of classic brawlers.
else was going to do it then we were! Spanish guitar riff, circus-style music,
or a Bach-inspired harpsichord motif, to Tell us a little about the arrest remember the classic brawlers playing
Why did you choose to make a join in with the Eighties synth, drums, mechanic in the game. as a gamer now, rather than how they
scrolling fighter? and orchestra. Remember that D minor JH: The arrest mechanic was designed actually played.
Nic Makin: I’m a huge fan of arcade is the saddest of all the musical keys to give the player a bit of choice in how
games, probably because they were (according to Jay, our artist). Often the they play the game – beat everyone What will the game’s vehicles add
the ‘IMAX’ of gaming back when I hardest thing in creating the soundtrack to a pulp, or play by the rules and be to the combat?
was growing up, home machines just to a game is that first track. From the a good cop? If a thug is dizzy after JH: We wanted to add anything to
couldn’t compete, the look, the feel, initial ideas the whole thing can unfold, getting up you can arrest him or her. Raging Justice that we thought would
the audio: they were leaps ahead of so it was important to find a musical This takes a little longer to carry out be fun. From a gameplay point of
consoles and home computers. I always style that is instantly recognisable and than a simple kick or punch so it can view they give the player the chance
wanted to make an arcade game, and unique to the game. My first track on leave you vulnerable, but it will remove to wreak havoc on the enemies and
beat-’em-ups were the best of the best this game ended up as the end credits, the baddie from the playfield, and it a temporary feeling of invincibility. It’s
(for me), so this was a dream project. so sometimes it’s a bit hit and miss. leaves you a health pickup. This creates really important to give the player a little
quite interesting gameplay system respite and reward from time to time
as you have to take more of a risk to whether that is a sword or a shotgun
arrest someone, but the rewards are or a broken bottle, or a petrol powered
potentially greater. ride-on lawnmower!

Will you be targeting 60 frames What knowledge from your time

per second for Raging Justice? working at Rare have you applied
AM: We certainly are! Getting the feel to Raging Justice?
just right as you play through Raging NM: Oh, so much! Rare was my
Justice was our ultimate goal. We apprenticeship in the games industry!
want Raging Justice to play how you The main things that I would say I
found helped mould Raging Justice
into what it is was the appreciation
of gameplay, character controls and
how to focus on fun. Everything we
added to Raging Justice had to have an
element of fun, and if we couldn’t find
the fun we would remove it, even if we
had spent months and months trying to
get it right! I remember learning the
mantra of ‘keep it stupid simple’,
» [PC] There are also sorts of vehicles to use in Raging
and have as minimum a route to the
» [PC] There are a variety of characters to play in Raging Justice, which should keep things interesting. Justice, including tractors of all things. gameplay as possible.

14 | RETRO GAMER
 FOR PEOPLE WHO RETRO GAMES

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 MAY 2001 – X marks
the spot as Microsoft’s
new console gets closer
to launch, but Japanese
players are happy to stick
with the 2D delights of the
GBA. Nick Thorpe points his
time machine at Tokyo
to find out more…

NEWS MAY 2001

Douglas Adams, author of
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To
The Galaxy and Dirk Gently’s
Holistic Detective Agency,
passed away on 11 May. [Xbox] If nothing else, Dead Or Alive 3 showed that the Xbox
was capable of astonishing graphical performance.
He had been resting from a regular
gym workout when he suffered
a heart attack. At the time of his
death, Douglas had been trying
to get a film adaptation of The
Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
THE LATEST NEWS
made, as Disney had bought the
rights in 1998. His funeral was
held just five days later, and a
memorial service was later held in
FROM MAY 2001 ll eyes were on Tokyo that addressed the size problems of Elsewhere at the show, Sony’s
September 2001.
On 19 May, Apple opened
its flagship store in New York.
Frustrated with the treatment
of the brand in major computer
A this month for the Tokyo
Game Show, where the
battle lines for the next
generation would be drawn – or so
it seemed. But with the PlayStation 2
the domestic model, to be included
by default with Japanese consoles.
Tecmo’s visually impressive Dead Or
Alive 3 was also shown off for the first
time, and Sega confirmed its support
presence was marked with the
existing big games Gran Turismo 3
and Metal Gear Solid 2, with the newly
playable demos of Silent Hill 2 and
Final Fantasy X ensuring that trade
stores, which generally favoured already on the market and Nintendo for the machine with 11 games said show veterans had something new
Windows machines, Steve Jobs choosing to hold its own show instead, to be in development including new to talk about. Game Boy Advance
had pushed for the computer Microsoft’s attempt to sell the Xbox Jet Set Radio, Sega GT and Panzer games were popular, particularly
company to take control of its retail to the Japanese audience was the Dragoon games. Ultimately though, it Capcom’s retro offerings Super Street
presentation. Though viewed by big story. It’s fair to say the company appeared that Microsoft might struggle Fighter II X Revival and Final Fight One.
some as a costly white elephant, was taking the market seriously as in the region – Edge noted that, “The The WonderSwan looked hard-pressed
the Apple Store proved its merits it unveiled a redesigned controller software line-up seemed to leave to compete, although Square’s Final
and is now a chain of over 500 Japanese gamers slightly cold.” Fantasy conversions did ensure that the
stores worldwide. machine remained attractive – more
Major riots broke out in than can be said for the Neo-Geo
Oldham on Saturday 26 May, Pocket Color, which by this point was
and continued throughout the represented by one SNK employee and
Sunday and Monday, leading to a Pachislot game. Sega’s Dreamcast
at least 20 injuries and 37 arrests. also limped on, supported chiefly by
The ethnically-motivated violence Capcom games including Capcom Vs
was primarily caused by friction SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro and
between local white and Asian Eldorado Gate.
communities, as local areas and Microsoft had a better time at
schools had essentially become its own Gamestock event, where it
unofficially segregated. Ten people unveiled its first-party Xbox games.
[Game Boy Color] Back in Blighty, kids were thrilled to [Xbox] A suited-up space marine leaps over a couple
were jailed for nine months each. finally get Pokémon’s long-awaited sequel. of enemies in a vehicle. Could Halo deliver such fun? The star of the show was Halo, a first-

16 | RETRO GAMER
 BACK TO THE NOUGHTIES: MAY 2001

THIS MONTH IN…

N64 Edge Play
Concerned reader Ian Kirk wants The winners of the magazine’s “It’s been reported in the Japanese
to know, “Have other readers annual awards are revealed, and press that erstwhile Japanese softco
noticed the lack of choice in their Sega sweeps up. As well as winning SNK has sadly been forced to file
local stores?” Apparently, he had best publisher, Sonic Team wins for bankruptcy,” reports Play. Say it
no reason to worry. “The N64 is the best developer, Phantasy Star Online ain’t so? It ain’t so – but the magazine
great survivor – and there are heaps wins game of the year, and Jet Set was only jumping the gun a little.
of great new games to come,” wrote Radio wins graphical achievement. SNK did file for bankruptcy in 2001,
N64. Five months later, the magazine Other winners include Deus Ex, just a few months later.
rebranded as NGC. Mr Driller 2 and Alien Resurrection.

MAY 2001
DREAMCAST
1 Phantasy Star Online
(Sega)
2 Sonic Adventure (Sega)
[Game Boy Advance] There wasn’t much new to see, but
Super Mario Advance still sold by the bucketload. 3 Toy Racer (Sega)
4 Fighting Force 2 (Eidos)
person shooter which had previously
5 Vanishing Point (Acclaim)
been destined for the PC. With the
controls successfully reworked for a PLAYSTATION
pad and a promising level design, but
1 The Simpsons
no sign of multiplayer, Edge noted, “If
Wrestling (EA)
the finished game can implement
a structure that does justice to the [N64] The return of Banjo and Kazooie marked something of a last hurrah for Nintendo’s aging platform. 2 ISS Pro Evolution 2
gameplay, Microsoft will have a (Konami)
hit on its hands.” Other games on Wrestling divided critics and the public – 3 LMA Manager 2001 (Codemasters)
show included Amped: Freestyle the game scored 25% in Play and 4/10
4 Final Fantasy IX (SCEE)
Snowboarding (“perhaps the best in the Official PlayStation Magazine, but
indication at this stage of the graphical went straight to the top of the charts. 5 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
potential of the Xbox’s custom graphics Tank simulator Panzer Front scored (Eidos)
chip”), Project Gotham Racing, NFL 9/10 in OPM, 7/10 in Edge and 73% in
GAME BOY ADVANCE (JAPAN)
Fever, Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee, Play. PlayStation 2 owners were treated
Fuzion Frenzy and Azurik. to Ring Of Red, a turn-based strategy 1 Super Mario Advance
The Japanese launch of the Game game set in an alternative history where (Nintendo)
Boy Advance went rather splendidly, Japan divided into pro-Soviet and pro- 2 F-Zero For Game Boy
with over half a million units sold in American factions after World War II. Advance (Nintendo)
[Dreamcast] Sega fans were still getting a steady
just four days. Edge considered Mr The game scored 8/10 in Edge, which stream of quality games like Skies Of Arcadia. 3 Power Pro-Kun
Driller 2 to be the standout launch called it, “an unexpected delight”. Pocket 3 (Konami)
release, giving it 8/10 and commenting The game of the month for “doesn’t have much more to offer than
that the game “feels as though it has Dreamcast owners was Skies Of Donkey Kong 64”. 4 Yu-Gi-Oh: Dungeon Dice
found its natural home”. Many of the Arcadia (8/10, Official Dreamcast So the biggest release of the month Monsters (Konami)
other games were considered to be Magazine), an RPG following a band of was reserved for the humble Game 5 Battle Network Rockman EXE
good but unadventurous, with Super sky pirates trying to prevent an empire Boy, which played host to the hotly (Capcom)
Mario Advance, F-Zero, Castlevania all from acquiring weapons with the anticipated Pokémon Gold & Silver.
scoring 7/10, and Kuru Kuru Kururin potential to destroy the world. Daytona The sequel packed in 100 brand-new MUSIC
scored the same for being inventive USA 2001 was also well received monsters, bringing the total to 251, and 1 Don’t Stop Movin’
but occasionally frustrating. The slightly- (7/10, Official Dreamcast Magazine), featured a new region to explore with (S Club 7)
less impressive games on offer were but criticised for a lack of content and new gym leaders. N64’s Planet Game 2 It’s Raining Men (Geri
Konami Wai Wai Racing (6/10), Pinobee: the absence of the online mode found Boy section gave the game a generous Halliwell)
Quest Of Heart (5/10) and Top Gear: All in the NTSC versions. N64 players got six-page review and the full 5/5 score,
3 Ride Wit Me
Japan (4/10). Rare’s long-awaited platform sequel with the following encouragement:
(Nelly Feat City Spud)
Back at home, the mid-year release Banjo-Tooie, which scored 81% in N64 “Even if you’ve avoided all things
slump was beginning to take hold. Magazine. Reviewer Mark Green felt Pokémon ’til now, swallow your pride 4 Cold As Ice (MOP)
On the PlayStation, The Simpsons that although the game was good, it and give Gold/Silver a go.” 5 You Are Alive (Fragma)

RETRO GAMER | 17
Cadillacs And Dinosaurs
OI! WATCH THE CHROME!
 ARCADE  CAPCOM  1993 enemies at range, you are often up against numerous bad

» RETROREVIVAL
I’m amazed that I missed Xenozoic Tales guys, meaning it is easy to get overpowered. Ammo is limited,
when it was first released. Later rebranded too, which balances things out further.
as Cadillacs And Dinosaurs, the popular There are of course dinosaurs in Capcom’s game and
comic went on to receive an animated series, they can cause you all sorts of issues (and turn red to show
numerous action figures and even its very they’re dangerous). Fortunately, you can beat them into
own role-playing game. submission, even the tyrannosaurus, which causes them to
I never experienced any of the above, but I did stumble slink off-screen. Dinosaurs also occasionally work as hazards
across the arcade game in my local arcade during the mid- to be avoided, with one stage featuring a gigantic foot that
Nineties. For those who have never played it, it’s a highly needs to be continually dodged as you fight your way through
entertaining scrolling brawler that’s powered by Capcom’s a dank swamp. Interestingly, most of the end of level bosses
dynamic CP System Dash+ arcade board. As a result Cadillacs are simply deranged humans with names like The Butcher and
And Dinosaurs looks the business with gigantic, beautifully Slice rather than actual dinos, which is probably a good thing
animated sprites and a style that’s very similar to the animated considering how tough some of the oversized reptiles are.
TV series, which I’ve now tracked down and watched. My favourite part of Capcom’s game doesn’t feature
One of the things that immediately stood out to me at dinosaurs at all, though. Instead it’s a rare opportunity to get
the time of the game’s release was the inclusion of various in your Cadillac and simply run enemies over as you race
guns you could pick up and use, which ranged from Uzis to across a desert. It’s particularly mean-spirited as the men you
rocket launchers. You’d think the inclusion of guns would encounter are casually sitting around, no doubt expecting you
make Capcom’s game incredibly easy, but that couldn’t be to turn up on foot, which makes mowing them down even
further from the truth. While it does indeed allow you to keep funnier. It is funny, right?
 B LO W B Y B LO W
SINCE 1987, CAPCOM HAS DELIVERED BONECRUNCHING
BLOWS AND SPECTACULAR SPECIAL MOVES TO THE
DELIGHT OF GAMERS WORLDWIDE. RETRO GAMER SPEAKS
TO THE SERIES’ DEVELOPERS TO BREAK DOWN EXACTLY
WHAT GOES INTO MAKING THE GAMES GREAT…
Words by Nick Thorpe

F
or over 30 years, Street Fighter has breaking numbers of competitors to the prestigious
been at the pinnacle of the fighting Evolution Championship Series fighting game
game genre. Like a crafty veteran prize tournament in 2016.
fighter, Capcom has managed to not only Over the years, Street Fighter has busted out of
keep up with its competition, but outfox it along the arcades and into the modern esports scene,
the way. Rivalries with the likes of Mortal Kombat and has transcended videogames to become a
and The King Of Fighters couldn’t halt the rise of part of broader pop culture. There aren’t many
Street Fighter, and nor could the rise of the three- games that would be instantly recognisable when
dimensional fighting game. Even the changing referenced in a Jackie Chan film or an episode of
fortunes of the fighting game genre as a whole Family Guy, but Street Fighter shout-outs made
haven’t been able to floor this series. it into those and more besides. The series has
The first game was a critical success that did inspired comics, animated movies, card games and
good business in the arcades, but it’s seen as even a major Hollywood film starring Jean Claude
little more than a historical curio today. That’s Van Damme, Ming-Na Wen and Raul Julia.
because Street Fighter II redefined the genre in Of course, what goes into the creation of a good
1991, setting the standard for 2D fighting games Street Fighter game hasn’t changed much over the
for decades to come and kicking off a craze that years. All of the games share a common framework
revitalised the arcade market. Via Street Fighter, of important aspects, counting everything from
Capcom stood atop the 2D fighting pile for the the fighting itself to flavour additions such as stage
remainder of the Nineties with the popular Street design and music, and the competitive scene which
Fighter Alpha series and hardcore-friendly Street has a symbiotic relationship with the games. We’ve
Fighter III series. Then in 2008, Street Fighter IV spoken to Capcom’s developers to break down
revived the series and ushered in a fighting game exactly what makes a great Street Fighter game,
renaissance, drawing mainstream attention back and what goes into those distinctive areas to create
to the genre. Street Fighter V attracted record- a cohesive whole.

20 | RETRO GAMER
RETRO GAMER | 21
 BUILDING THE BRUISERS
CHA RACTER DESI GN
YOSHINORI ONO AND TAKAYUKI NAKAYAMA DISCUSS
FAVOURITE THE FINER POINTS OF CHARACTER DESIGN
CH ARACTERS
E
very Street Fighter player has a
preferred strategy – and in the game,
DARRAN those strategies are represented by
I genuinely love any character their characters. As a result, character design
with a 360-degree move, is of utmost importance to the series. Whether
as it allows me to employ you want to get in close and deal lots of damage,
‘The Darran Jones play keep-away and punish mistakes, or even
factor”. Hugo is my favourite play a deliberately weak character as a handicap,
due to his size and reach. In case Capcom provides a character with the attributes
you were curious, The Darran Jones and move set to let you play your game. So
Factor requires frantic rotation with decades of hindsight, it’s strange to think
of the joystick while laughing or that the original Street Fighter game’s characters
crying, ideally both. represented obstacles to overcome. To do that,
you had a generic martial artist with a single
NICK skillset: Ryu. This need to combat fighters of
My favourite character all types ultimately ended up informing the
is Ryu – I know, it’s a character’s abilities. “In terms of gameplay, he’s a
shock coming from Nick great all-rounder and easy to use,” says Yoshinori
‘Default Character’ Thorpe. But let’s Ono, a series veteran and the executive producer
face it, this is the only sane choice. of Street Fighter V.
I’ll never have to learn another In Street Fighter II, the number of playable » [Arcade] The original Character design has always been a difficult
Street Fighter may
character, and I can easily judge characters was increased to eight. This meant not raise eyebrows
process, with many ideas trialled and dropped
new mechanics by how well they that for the first time, the developers had today, but it lay the along the way – rejected Street Fighter II designs
play with his eternal moveset. to design a multitude of characters to play groundwork for the rest include a bullfighter and an American amateur
of the series.
both with and against, and could explore wrestler. According to Nakayama, it remains
DREW the aforementioned offensive and defensive difficult to nail down. “We go through at least
I picked Karin up recently extremes. We’ve often wondered what the 100 versions when we are designing a brand-
» The ever-animated
in Street Fighter V, and starting point is, so we call Street Fighter V chief Yoshinori Ono is new character, going through many iterations
she’s quickly become my director Takayuki Nakayama into the ring; do the a series veteran, of their appearance, storyline and moves,” he
and directed Street
favourite. I prefer nimble designers come up with character designs to Fighter V. explains. Such a process must surely take a
characters that strike, and fit certain fighting styles, or design cool-looking l
long time? “It obviously depends on the specific
Karin’s rekkas are deadly in the people and then decide how they’ll fight? “Both c
character but I’d say, broadly, it takes five people
right hands. Then, looking at of those approaches have been used but we three months to design one character,” he
her design as a whole, she’s a actually mostly come up with them at the same c
confirms. “And then it’s a further six months to
showboater who laughs manically time,” he explains. “We think about what kinds finalise
fi their moves and animations.”
at her foes; it’s me. of moves would be fun at the same time as Something that has always been a part of
we’re thinking about what kind of design would Street
S Fighter
g is its international flavour – the
best show off their moves.”

STREET FIGHTER STREET FIGHTER II

STREET FIGHTER
ALPHA STREET FIGHTER III
STREET FIGHTER IV
STREET FIGHTER V
22 | RETRO GAMER
 STREET FIGHTER: BLOW BY BLOW

» [Arcade] Zangief may be a grappler by design, but other characters can throw, too.

original game featured fighters from the USA, on eliminating the aspects that aren’t in line with
Japan, China and the UK. “The fact that the our vision.”
original Street Fighter II had The World Warrior For Ono, it’s hard to pick a favourite. “Hmm…
as its subtitle tells you that fighters from around I get asked this a lot. The characters are like my
the globe coming together to compete is not just children – I don’t like to engage in favouritism,” » [Arcade] (Above)
a natural part of Street Fighter but an essential he hesitates. “I love R Mika a lot, and used my Charlie and Guile are
both military men and
part,” says Ono. “I think that it also lets players position at Capcom to bring her back in Street fight similarly.
feel more connected to the game when they see Fighter V,” he explains with a chuckle. ”But then
a character from their part of the world in it, and again, I joined the company in the Street Fighter II » [Arcade] (left) Just by
looking at Alex, you can
maybe it’s a hook for them to get into the game era and worked on the sound team, I do have a tell he’s a heavy-hitter.
in the first place.” special place in my heart for Cammy, since she
» [PC] (below-left)
However, new characters are only one part of was part of my work back then.” But what of the Poison has come a long
the story. While Street Fighter’s cast and the bulk Blanka toy that Ono is often seen with? ”Well, way from her debut
of the characters in Street Fighter II and Street he’s been my travel buddy around the world for as a regular enemy in
Final Fight.
Fighter III had to be designed from scratch, the over ten years now, so he’s beyond the level of
Street Fighter Alpha series provided a mixture of like or dislike.”
new and returning characters that has become But despite all of the new characters over the
the model for new instalments to the series years, none has displaced Ryu as the face of the
going forward. How does the team go about series. “I think it’s his personality that makes him
bringing these older characters back after long resonate so much,” says Ono. “He doesn’t stand
absences? “The first step is researching how out, he values effort, he’s a man of few words,
the character was played in the games they he’s kind of mysterious, and there’s no one who
previously appeared in. We play those games you could say he’s similar to. I think that’s what
and watch videos, and even reread the old design has kept him popular over the long history of
documents to work out what the original intent the series.” It doesn’t take much to convey that
behind the character was,” says Nakayama. either, as occasional post-match win quotes will
“Combined with our estimation of what players suffice. “He also has the ‘Perfect Attendance
want from the character and how they like to Award’ for the series and that is something that I
play as them, we recreate them and then work think shows his dedication,” Ono laughs.

STREET FIGHTER
STREET FIGH STREET FIGHTER II
TER
STREET FIGHTER III ALPHA
TER IV
STREET FIGHTER V STREET FIGH
RETRO GAMER | 23
 ARENAS OF AGGRESSION
MAK ING THE STAG ES

EVERY GREAT FIGHT SCENE NEEDS GREAT FIGHT SCENERY

T
he very name of the Street Fighter series really important factor, so I’ll choose a colour that
suggests a location for the brawls it goes well with the character and then work on the
hosts – not within the confines of gyms lighting. I try to make sure each new stage fits in
and stadia, but out in the open. It has always with the image players have for the games, while
delivered on that promise, too, from subways to also bringing something fresh and new.
sidewalks to more exotic locations, like volcanoes.
At first blush, it might seem that stage design is Is any real-world location scouting done
a relatively unimportant aspect of the Street Fighter when designing levels?
series. It’s certainly true that the series has been We haven’t done anything like that recently. I
conservative in its approach to stage design – as would jump at the chance to go, though!
others have experimented with new mechanics,
Street Fighter has stuck with a flat floor and a wall How long does a typical level take to create?
at each end. But it’s the sense of character and From the initial idea to creating prop assets, » [PC] The jungle stage in SFIV is teeming with flora and fauna, and the
polish provided by these stages that makes them background characters and so on, it’s about three fighters trade blows on a precarious wooden bridge, upping the ante.
so crucial, as you remember the little things about months, then lighting and optimisation takes
each stage. When you throw someone through another month until it’s complete. Some stages Over the years, other fighting games have
the crates in Guile’s Street Fighter II stage, there’s take longer than others – the China stages tend to adopted ring-out systems, uneven arenas,
a real sense of impact. When Seth’s stage starts have lots and lots of small details, for example. and other stage design features. Why has
to fall apart in Street Fighter IV, you know that Street Fighter not done so?
you’re reaching the climax of the game. Without There’s lots of Easter eggs in the I think verticality, ring-outs, weapons and other
the expertise of the stage designers, playing Street background of the levels, is that a labour of rules are fun and would be cool to try out, but
Fighter would be a rather flat experience – so let’s love from the team? they would have to be in a bonus mode. Street
find out how they’re made from Street Fighter V’s The team are all huge fans, so they love to put all Fighter has become an esport in its own right, and
art director, Toshiyuki Kamei. kinds of little details in for fans to enjoy spotting. introducing these kinds of ‘uncertainties’ to the
rules would probably not go down well.
What do you do to ensure each level Vega has his own stage-specific attack in
represents the character fighting on it? some games, the wall climb. Have you ever What version of Street Fighter has the best
I try to bring in elements like the character’s considered adding more stage-specific levels and why?
nationality and colour scheme. When choosing the attacks to Street Fighter? I think each title has done well at making the
setting of the stage, I look at scenes and buildings We have considered that and it can be fun in stages part of its coherent vision and playstyle.
typical of the country they come from, and then single-player, but we also don’t want to put in I always get a sense of excitement from the
build more detail in with designs and props that moves that only the CPU can pull off as it means background characters watching the fight, and a
bring out the character’s personality. Colour is a players will want to do it in versus mode as well. feeling of the atmosphere of each country.

GET BON US! THE LEVELS OF STREET FIGHTER AREN’T JUST FOR FIGHTING IN…

TILE BREAKING WOOD BREAKING WRECK THE CAR

STREET FIGHTER STREET FIGHTER STREET FIGHTER II
Q If it’s not enough that you’ve had to face several gruelling rounds Q Ryu’s trials and tribulations continue with a room containing Q Final Fight taught us that smashing the crap out of someone
of opponents, you’re now expected to perform in front of an three burly men and three planks of wood. There’s no hazing going else’s car makes for an entertaining bonus game. Capcom brought
idiot crowd who are just waiting for you to karate chop your way on here, though, just a dazzling display of strength and skill as it back for Street Fighter II, but left the weapons back in Metro City
through nine rock-hard tiles. Timing is everything, so be sure to you’ve got to break the pieces of wood the three men are holding so your character will simply have to rely on their limbs instead.
get it right; otherwise Ryu will hurt both his hand and his pride. It’s with your fists or feet. It pops up again later in the game, but now The stage has popped up in later games to allow later generations
repeated later in the game, but with thicker concrete blocks. there’s a fourth plank holder to deal with. to enjoy some car carnage.

24 | RETRO GAMER
 STREET FIGHTER: BLOW BY BLOW

SETTING A SCEN E
WHAT GOES INTO A CLASSIC STREET FIGHTER BACKGROUND? WE
BREAK IT DOWN USING DHALSIM’S STAGE FROM ALPHA 3

WILDLIFE SPECTATORS
LOCAL SCENERY Animals are oen used to add THROWBACKS The kind of crowd present at a fight
This is India, Dhalsim’s homeland, local flavour, such as the elephants The Street Fighter crew loves to can tell you a lot about a fighter.
and the backdrop needs to convey here – they’re a common feature of reference the series’ wider mythology. Flashy fame hunters like Ken can
that. Good design means that you’re Dhalsim’s stages. The dogs aren’t When Dhalsim fights here, his wife draw big crowds. Dhalsim, who
not easily going to mistake the quite so common, but they’re cute Sarah (introduced in his Super doesn’t care for the attention, has a
architecture in this scene for that of so they get a pass. Street Fighter II ending) appears as a single yogi.
Rome or Chicago. spectator to cheer him on.

BARREL BUSTER OIL DRUMS BASKETBALL

STREET FIGHTER II STREET FIGHTER II STREET FIGHTER III
QThis bonus stage requires you to smash 20 barrels. It sounds QSometimes people just ask for trouble and the person who QThis smart stage is designed to show off the game’s new parry
easy, and would be if they just sat there like barrels normally do. stacked these carefully placed oil drums clearly wanted them system and it’s thematically cool to look at as well. Shaun will
These one have a purpose, though, and that’s to bugger up your to be knocked down, right? Careful though, as these particular lob an increasing number of basketballs towards you at different
chance to score big points by bouncing erratically from a conveyer drums occasionally set alight, burning anyone who hits them in the speeds and heights and you must simply attempt to parry/deflect
belt and hopefully knocking you down in the process. Despite how process. Capcom revisited the idea with less flames and additional as many of them as possible. Careful, though, as he’s a bit of a
annoying it is, it’s still popped up in later games. bricks for its home conversions to the SNES and Mega Drive. swine and likes to catch you out with low blows.

RETRO GAMER | 25
 THE SWEET SCIENCE
FIGHTING MEC HAN ICS

EXPLAINING THE MECHANICS THAT SWAY THE OUTCOME OF EVERY BOUT

I
f you’ve ever wondered why some people By tweaking the abilities and options available
passionately prefer Street Fighter to players in this way, Capcom can dramatically
Alpha 3 to its predecessor, or why change the way games feel. “It changes a lot just
players of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike because it makes the meta different,” explains
didn’t necessarily get on well with Street Justin Wong, a professional fighting game player.
Fighter IV to start with, it’s usually because “If there was parry, you have to think twice
of the fighting mechanics. As a basic in using long-range normals, if there is focus
example, consider throw attacks. Introduced in attack you have to think about how to break the
Street Fighter II, they allowed a player to inflict opponent’s focus attack since it can absorb one
a damaging attack on blocking player – thus hit. Each different game mechanic changes the
reducing the viability of defending your way to meta and also changes the tier list as well.”
a time out victory. But from Street Fighter III Of course, Street Fighter II’s defining mechanic
onwards it’s possible to ‘tech’ throws, reducing famously originated as an unintended side effect » [Arcade] Sagat punishes Ken for a mistimed aerial attack
damage or even cancelling the throw entirely of another system. The ability to cancel the with a devastating uppercut.

with an appropriately timed input – thus limiting animation of a normal attack into a special move,
the usefulness of such moves. creating a combo, was accidentally added when Alpha Counter allowed players to turn defence
the developers were making special moves into attack, burning one segment of your super
easier to pull off but was considered interesting meter to hit an opponent in response to a
enough to include in the final game. Landing blocked attack. Escape rolls also ensured that
combos has become key to maximising your your opponent couldn’t always predict where
offensive opportunities over the years, and those you’d be standing when you got up from being
simple origins are far behind us. “Street Fighter’s knocked down. Street Fighter Alpha 2 added the
combo system evolved a lot,” says Justin. “Back devastating Custom Combo, a DIY super move
in the day there was no combo count but now that could inflict huge damage, and Street Fighter
there is, so people can see what is a combo and Alpha 3 allowed you to use Guard Crush to
what is not a combo. It also changed a lot with punish players that blocked too much.
juggles, using the game mechanics to extend Street Fighter III: The New Generation
combos to make them longer.” added a variety of new movement options that
Street Fighter Alpha introduced a mixture of significantly increased the scope for aggressive
mechanics that enhanced both offensive and play. For the first time, a double tap of the
defensive options. The one that symbolises joystick forwards or backwards allowed the
this balance most effectively is the air guard – player to dash in the appropriate direction,
although it’s an extra blocking option, it’s one closing distance quickly. By flicking the stick
» [Arcade] Parrying became a defining trait of the Street Fighter III series of games. that makes aggressive moves like jumping downwards prior to jumping, you can perform a
towards the opponent much safer. Likewise, the super jump, covering additional distance. Hitting

M EC H A N IC ’S M A N U A L WHICH GAME INTRODUCED YOUR FAVOURITE MECHANIC?

STREET FIGHTER STREET FIGHTER II SERIES STREET FIGHTER ALPHA SERIES

QSpecial moves (PICTURED) QThrows QTaunt QEscape roll
QLight, medium and heavy attacks QCombos QAir guard QAir recovery (from Street
QStun (PICTURED) QAlpha Counter (PICTURED) Fighter Alpha 3)
QSuper moves (from Super Street Fighter II Turbo) QCustom combo (from Street QGuard crush (from Street
Fighter Alpha 2) Fighter Alpha 3)

26 | RETRO GAMER
 STREET FIGHTER: BLOW BY BLOW

FIGHTING TALK BRAWLER TERMINOLOGY

EXPLAINED
ARMOUR
Usually if you manage to successfully land a
hit on an opponent when they’re mid-attack,
their attack animation stops. Moves with
‘armour’ won’t break that animation when hit.
» [Arcade] Use a mix down when knocked down would also cause a
of high, mid and low
attacks to keep your
quick stand, throwing off your opponent’s attack BAITING
opponent guessing. timing and allowing you to get straight back into The act of trying to get your opponent to attack
the fray. And then there’s the parry – a curiously you so you can punish them. » [Arcade] A game of footsies is taking place here, with both
Ken and Alex trying to hit each other’s foot. The fools.
aggressive defensive move. By pushing the stick
towards the opponent in time with their strike, CANCEL INFINITE
you can nullify damage and recover before them Breaking out of your character’s current A combo that can go on indefinitely, much to
to launch your own attack. 2nd Impact introduced animation with another move or ability – good the dismay of your opponent if you land one.
EX moves, powerful variants of certain regular for extending combos.
special moves that cost super meter to use. JUGGLE
If all that aggression rubbed you up the wrong CROSSUP The act of launching your opponent into the
way, the Street Fighter IV series was probably A tricksy move that makes it difficult for your air, then hitting them to keep them airborne.
more to your taste. The Focus Attack was a opponent to decide whether to guard their le
powerful new ability that allowed players to or right side. MIXUP
absorb an attack and deliver a devastating strike A combo or string of low, medium and high
in response – one which would induce the new FOOTSIES attacks that are unpredictable.
‘crumple’ state, in which the enemy is falling but Typically a part in a match where players are
still vulnerable to attack. The Ultra Combo was poking one another with long-range ground PUNISH
also introduced – a secondary super gauge which moves, usually kicks. To take advantage of an opening in an enemy
charged only upon receiving damage, allowing for attack’s recovery animation.
some extraordinary comebacks. The pendulum FRAME DATA
has swung back, with Street Fighter V adding The numbers behind an attack animation. WHIFF
V Triggers and V Skills, character-specific abilities Each move has frames for its startup, hit and To completely miss your attack. Sometimes
that skew towards aggressive play, as well as recovery animations. used intentionally to bait your opponent.
Crush Counters that allow players to carry on
combos after countering a weaker attack with HIT CONFIRM ZONING
a strong attack. However, defensive characters To launch string of attacks to break through Controlling the battlefield at mid-to-long range
aren’t as disadvantaged in competition as players an opponent’s block, then moving straight using projectiles and out-prioritising your foe’s
initially believed, and that’s the beauty of Street into a combo. own attacks.
Fighter’s mechanical depth – it can take years to
fully work out what’s going on and how best to
work within a given game’s rules.

Bold indicates evergreen mechanics – ones kept through subsequent games

STREET FIGHTER III SERIES STREET FIGHTER IV SERIES STREET FIGHTER V

QDash QCrumple Q V Trigger (PICTURED)
QQuick stand QFocus attack (PICTURED) Q V Skill
QSuper jump QUltra combo Q Crush Counter
QParry (PICTURED) QDelayed standing (from Ultra Street Fighter IV)
QEX moves (from Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact)

RETRO GAMER | 27
 SOMETHING SPECIAL
SPEC IAL MOV ES
WHY STREET FIGHTER CAN’T DO WITHOUT THE SPINNING BIRD
KICK, PSYCHO CRUSHER AND TIGER UPPERCUT

T
here are many things that go into » [Arcade] More
making your favourite Street Fighter adventurous combat
styles were refined for
character play in their own unique the later sequels.
fashion, but arguably the most important
is special moves. Don’t take that from us,
though – take it from multiple time Evolution
championship winner Justin Wong. “Special
moves are always important throughout the years
because they are what makes the character who
he/she is,” says Justin. “Ryu would not be Ryu
without the Hadoken and seeing the evolution of
it being better/worse has always been a treat.”
As compared to normal attacks, special moves
are a little more difficult to perform in that they
require a combination of joystick movements
and button presses. The trade-off is that these When creating special moves for characters,
attacks typically have properties that aren’t found three key considerations are taken into account:
in other moves. Some might hit multiple times “Individuality, coolness, and accessibility,”
or send you to the other side of the screen in the according to Street Fighter V’s chief director
blink of an eye. Others launch projectiles, others Takayuki Nakayama. But one thing that Capcom
still nullify and repel those projectiles. In any case, tries to steer away from is introducing more
they have a huge impact on the way you play. powerful moves in exchange for more difficult
inputs. “We try not to have any moves that are
really hard to pull off. The strength and difficulty
of a move should not be in its input command
but in the strategy of deciding when to use it –
the timing and the frames, and how to work out
the risks and rewards,” Nakayama explains. Does
the team ever come up with moves that end
up suiting another character better? “Not often,
but it has happened,” confirms Nakayama. “We
also sometimes reuse ideas that were cut from
» [Arcade] Chun-Li’s games that didn’t come out.”
projectile attack is
slightly different to Ryu Between games, a set of special moves is
and Ken’s. what keeps a character familiar. If you know how

LARGER TH AN LI FE
REALLIFE FIGHTING STYLES FEATURED IN STREET FIGHTER

KICKBOXING WRESTLING BOXING SHOTOKAN

USED BY: ALEX WITH WRESTLING, DEE USED BY: HAGGAR, ZANGIEF, E HONDA, USED BY: BALROG, CRACKER JACK, USED BY: RYU, KEN, AKUMA, GOUKEN
JAY, ED WITH BOXING HAKAN, EL FUERTE, ALEX, POISON, R. DUDLEY, ED WITH KICKBOXING QDeveloped by Gichin Funakoshi, the Shotokan
Q Developed from a multitude of different MIKA, BIRDIE, DARUN MISTER, ABEL QAn ancient sport, combatants use their fists style is generally considered one of the most
martial arts including Karate, Muay Thai and Q This style typically consists of wearing down to land blows and must keep their strikes above influential styles of karate. Interestingly, the
boxing. Contrary to its name, the fighting style the opponent with numerous throws, joint locks, waist height. There are numerous styles and real-life version is nothing like that used by the
incorporates strikes from both legs and arms. takedowns and grappling. stances on offer across the series. characters in the game.

28 | RETRO GAMER
» [PC] Poison goes in for the nut shot on Ken with her Ultra Combo– let’s
face it, he probably had it coming.

to pull off a character’s moves in an older game,

the chances are high that you’d be able to jump
straight back into playing with them in Street
Fighter IV or Street Fighter V. Of course, there are
exceptions – Chun-Li, for example, has had her
Kikoken fireball changed from a charge motion opponent, so he has lots of hits, and his fists
(holding back, then forward) to a half-circular brush up against the ground so friction causes
motion and back again. “I feel that the reception them to go on fire – that kind of thinking is how
has been positive,” says Nakayama when asked we distinguish each character.”
about such changes. “We only make changes The natural culmination of the special move
in order to bring the inputs in line with the has been the rise of the Super and Ultra attacks.
character’s fighting style, or when two moves When introduced in Super Street Fighter II
have similar inputs which can cause players to do Turbo, Super moves were just more powerful
the wrong move at critical moments.” variants of special moves. But in recent years,
One function that special moves perform the gameplay function has remained the same
particularly well is differentiating characters that while the graphical presentation has turned
are otherwise quite similar, such as the trio them into miniature cinematic attack sequences,
of Ryu, Ken and Akuma. “Each character has with dynamic camera angles and detailed facial
to have their own concept defined. Ryu has expressions making them into much more of a
weight in each attack, and is very defensive. spectacle. “This trend started in Street Fighter III
Ken is better at combo attacks and has a certain and was firmly established in Street Fighter IV,” » [PS4] Laura’s special moves are a mix between grapples and strikes,
flashiness, so when he starts attacking he keeps says Nakayama. “I think they simply came from which fits in with her jiu-jitsu fighting style.
going. And Akuma has the best parts of both wanting to show powered-up versions of special
but takes more technical mastery to use well,” moves in really creative and cinematic ways.”
Nakayama explains. “Based on these concepts, Land a couple of Supers and you’ll agree that
we separate out the abilities of their moves. they combine flash and function into something
Ken is a character where you want to rush your incredibly satisfying.

MUAY THAI NINJUTSU KUNG FU CAPOEIRA

USED BY: SAGAT, DAN HIBIKI, ADON, USED BY: VEGA, GUY, MAKI, IBUKI, ZEKU USED BY: FEI LONG USED BY: ELENA
SAWADA QOkay, this is cheating slightly, as Street QRather than actual kung fu, Street Fighter QThis fusion of music, dance and acrobatics in
QOriginating in Thailand, this style utilises Fighter features a fictional version of ninjutsu instead features its own stylised version called one of the most spectacular forms of martial
a number of powerful strikes and clinching called bushinryu. Proper ninjutsu was allegedly Hitenryu, which is loosely based on Bruce Lee’s arts, and has its origins in Brazil and Africa. It
techniques and sees the fighter using a variety of practised by shinobi and typically deals with fast Jeet Kune Do. Needless to say, it’s practised in focuses on speed and power and spins and it
devastating kick, elbow, knee and punch attacks. strikes and numerous weapons. the game by Bruce Lee lookalike, Fei Long. primarily uses kicks.

RETRO GAMER | 29
 GET THE BLOOD PUMPING
MUS IC AND SOU ND DESI GN
FROM BRUISING BEATS TO SPIRITED SOUND EFFECTS, STREET
BEATS W HI LE FIGHTER’S AUDIO DELIVERS CHARACTER AND FIGHT FEEDBACK
YOU BEAT
F
rom the second you hear the opening » [Arcade] Many
chord of Ken’s theme in Street iconic characters were
introduced in Street
DARRAN Fighter II, your hand grips the joystick Fighter II, and many
Ken’s theme is a brash, tighter and your heart pulses, because you recognisable themes
with them.
aggressive tune with a are in for a fight. As you twist the stick and
heavy beat that sums hit punch, a scratchy cry of “Yoga fire!” alerts
up Ken’s cocksure you to a successfully performed special move,
personality perfectly. There’s a and a “fwoosh” signals that your opponent has
ridiculously loud cover on YouTube been engulfed in flames as planned. That’s the
by LittleVMills so make sure you goal of audio design in Street Fighter – to pump
give it a listen. you up, to keep you informed, and to convey the
cracking of bones as fist meets flesh.
NICK Many of the classic Street Fighter tunes
Okay, so it’s the Ryu originated from Street Fighter II. It’s hard to
theme from Street Fighter believe that the game shared similar sound
II. I know. But, it’s a well hardware with its predecessor – the largely
known fact that Daytona forgettable tunes of the first game emanated a tradition from the first game, in that the
USA vocalist Takenobu Mitsuyoshi from a YM2151 FM synthesis chip and music was appropriately themed to the
improves everything he touches two MSM5205 ADPCM chips, while the location it represented. However, their skill
with his golden vocal chords, and sequel gained an MSM6295 ADPCM chip and programming advances ensured that the
back in 2003 he performed a vocal to replace the twin chips of the older board. hardware sang in a way quite unlike what had
cover of the classic tune for a Street The composing team of Yoko Shimomura, gone before. The audio design also retained
Fighter tribute album. Seek it out! Isao Abe and Syun Nishigaki did maintain the best aspect of the first game, vocal sound
effects for moves that conveyed character
DREW personality and showed intensity. When Super
I once wandered into Street Fighter II arrived, taking advantage
gardens on a dusky of the new CPS2 arcade board, the music
summer evening. I heard was upgraded to take advantage of the new
Guile’s theme and went DL-1425 QSound chip. This meant reinvented
to investigate, and saw a man arrangements of familiar themes, alongside new
playfighting with his dog he was ones for the additional characters – and this
shouting “Hadoken” and the dog would become the model for creating Street
was doing Guile’s somersault attack Fighter game music moving forward. Street
in reply. So, yeah, Guile’s theme is Fighter Alpha took the same approach, retaining
my favourite. Street Fighter II’s classic themes and adding
new ones for its new and returning characters,
and Street Fighter Alpha 2 did likewise.
Towards the end of the Nineties, Street
Fighter games became more experimental in
their approach to music. The Street Fighter III
series let the old themes go, and lead composer
Hideki Okugawa instead used the CPS3’s
sound chip to deliver sample-based tracks in a
healthy mixture of musical styles, from house
and rap to jazz. Back on the CPS2, Street Fighter
Alpha 3 also ditched all of the established
character themes entirely, and went with an
almost industrial sound – an energetic electronic
soundtrack filled with grinding guitar samples.
Ultimately, this new approach lost out to the
previously established approach, as Street
Fighter IV adopted the old character themes en
masse and its sequel Street Fighter V has taken
the same approach.
» [Arcade] The Alpha We get the lowdown on sound from the
series threw out audio director and music producer of Street
character themes
for a more uniform Fighter V, Yukinori Kanda.
soundtrack.
 STREET FIGHTER: BLOW BY BLOW

PRIZE FIGHTERS
HOW CAPCOM IS BRINGING
STREET FIGHTER’S LEGACY BACK

Although Street Fighter’s 30th anniversary was

M EM E M E last year, that hasn’t stopped Capcom from putting

together a compilation of games to celebrate the

S REM E
popular series. It pulls together 12 arcade games
from the popular series, including the original Street
How important is the music to the Street Fighter, five versions of Street Fighter II, the three
Fighter series? Alpha games and all three games Street Fighter III
While some scientific discoveries are the In a series like this, which strives to bring titles, including the celebrated 3rd Strike.
result of years of research, others are out the individuality and personality of each Several games will include the ability to play
stumbled upon completely by chance – and character, music is a hugely important part. It online, and save states are also featured. Capcom is
when humanity uncovered the universally lets us express the background, feelings and also promising great presentation for the anniversary
appropriate musical backing for any piece mood of each character in a way that players collection and will be adding a music player, concept
of video footage, it was the latter. In 2010, will understand instantly. It’s less about music art and numerous pitch documents for fans of the
someone combined video from the Super that blends in with the game and more about series to enjoy. Expect a review next issue.
Mario Bros movie and audio from Super bringing out the character. The key is that as
Street Fighter II, then uploaded it to YouTube soon as you hear the intro, the melody, even the
under the username guilethemefitsall. timbre of a particular piece, you know exactly
This pioneer soon revealed that their which character’s music you’re hearing.
username was no mere boast, as a series
of clips showed that Guile’s theme goes Why do you keep the same signature
with everything. The music was inserted tunes for each character with each game?
into scenes including Mufasa’s death in These characters are so iconic to players around
The Lion King, Susan Boyle singing and the world, and their theme music pieces are
the countdown from, erm, Countdown, classics. Of course, we update the music for
and fit each of them as if it had had been each game in line with the game’s style or to be
commissioned bespoke. more modern, or in ways that show the growth
The phenomenon was so powerful that of the characters, but we prefer to do that based
the guilethemefitsall account racked up on the existing melodies by remixing them or
3.75 million views across 17 videos, and rearranging them, rather than introducing new
copycats quickly emerged. Soon, Guile’s music. I think this is the best way to show
theme was plastered atop videos of drunk that Ryu is still Ryu, or this is the new Ryu. In
people trying to stand up, Uncle Phil’s pool saying that, part of me does want to give the
hustle in Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air and Gordon characters new tunes sometimes!
Ramsay blocking a slap to the face. Some
of these achieved as many as 3.5 million In many Street Fighter games, the music
views of their own, but the most popular changes when a character is near KO.
was one set to footage from the Japanese What do you feel this adds to the game,
film Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders Vs when included?
Dai-Shocker, which achieved a massive 6.5 In a word, immersion. I’m sure all fighting game
million views. So the next time you need players get that feeling as they come to the end
music for an epic birthday party, romantic of a match where their focus gets heightened,
night in or health and safety video that so the way the music changes at that time
needs a little ‘li’, consider Guile’s theme. can help them feel the developing situation. It
also makes the game more exciting, of course.
We’ve use this technique since way back
in the series, and the development of audio
technology should let us keep exploring new
ways of achieving an even better effect.
 GET IN THE RING
ESPO RTS

HOW THE PROFESSIONAL SCENE KEEPS THE FIRE BURNING

S
treet Fighter isn’t part of the competitive used by players like Alex Valle and Daigo Umehara. – considerably more than the 700 that showed
fighting game scene – Street Fighter Since then, the rise of the internet has allowed up to the 2004 event across all games, but itself
birthed the competitive fighting game the fighting game community to strengthen dwarfed by the 5,000+ that registered for Street
scene as a whole. Or to be more accurate, considerably – players can communicate with Fighter V in 2016. What is it about Street Fighter
Street Fighter II did. Prior to the 1991 blockbuster, ease, sites like YouTube and Twitch have made that draws players to Evolution? “I think that the
most fighting games that allowed player versus it easy to share technique videos and broadcast name alone, ‘Street Fighter’ will always bring
player combat restricted the combatants to two tournaments, and of course online gaming people back. Its a franchise that has been around
characters with identical skillsets. Even the original allows the best players to compete with each before I even knew what videogames were and I
Street Fighter included Ken solely for the purpose other remotely. The rise of the annual Evolution will always support it,” says Justin.
of having someone that matched up equally tournament series, supported by Capcom and Of course, that’s just the big event – plenty of
with Ryu. However, Street Fighter II’s character other developers, has also provided a focal point other Street Fighter tournaments are held around
diversity and thrilling combat made competition for outsiders to see the best in action. the world every week both online and off, with
inevitable and tournaments began to spring up in The fighting game scene can be highly officially sponsored events under the Capcom
arcades around the world, with the first officially influential in shaping the perception of games, Pro Tour banner. And if the thought of glory alone
» [Arcade] Ryu sanctioned by Capcom held in 1991 at Milpitas which is most notable in the rehabilitation of Street doesn’t motivate you, the most recent Capcom
has seen a good Golfland, California. Fighter III’s reputation. The series was not a strong Cup had a prize pool of $380,000, so there’s a
amount of play in
tournaments across
Throughout the Nineties, players would trade performer in arcades, and received a tepid critical great incentive to get out and prove your skills.
multiple games. tapes of far-off tournaments to learn techniques response when it arrived on the Dreamcast. But We spoke to Capcom’s community manager,
today, genre aficionados consider 3rd Strike one of Matt Edwards, manager to discuss the finer points
the greatest 2D fighting games, due to continued of fighting your friends and beyond.
competition at Evolution and a famous comeback
video in which Daigo Umehara parries a full super When did you start realising Street Fighter
combo from Justin Wong. had a big competitive scene?
“I think the competitive scene is awesome but Personally? I can’t remember the exact issue
I do believe that most players probably still don’t number but I remember games™ ran a feature
know how awesome/important the competitive about the fighting game community, talking
scene really is,” says Justin, who holds a team about players like Justin Wong and referencing
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike championship victory Evo Moment 37. This would’ve been back in the
at Evolution alongside his many Marvel Versus early Noughties, back when I used to play Street
Capcom wins. “Most players are casual players Fighter III: 3rd Strike with friends on the original
and they just play the game for fun and because Xbox. That was the first time I became aware of
of nostalgia purposes at this point.” Still, nostalgia competitive Street Fighter and its community.
drew crowds back to Street Fighter IV, and in turn
Street Fighter IV helped to grow the competitive Why do you think Street Fighter III had a big
community. When introduced at Evolution revival in Japanese arcades later in its life?
2009, it attracted over 1,000 players on its own It’s no secret that 3rd Strike is one of the most

COMPETITIV E CLASSICS OUR FAVOURITE TOURNAMENT MOMENTS FROM OVER THE YEARS…

EVO MOMENT 37 SNAKE EYEZ WON’T DIE YOGA FIRED

Q Justin Wong has a commanding health lead over Daigo QFighting for the pride of his southern California team against its QDuring a Super Street Fighter II Turbo tournament at 37 Reloaded,
Umehara, and goes in for the kill with Chun-Li’s Super Art. Daigo northern California rival, Darryl ‘Snake Eyez’ Lewis (Zangief) is the Daigo Umehara’s Ryu plays eltrouble’s Dhalsim – a match heavily
can’t block it, as any hit will kill him, so he parries the entire combo team’s last hope – it’s one versus five. In a match against Ricki Ortiz favouring eltrouble. But when a super Yoga Inferno leaves Daigo on
with expert timing, then immediately launches his own combo for (Rufus), he manages to pull off extraordinary wins, baiting out his a sliver of health, the Japanese legend fights back and knocks out
an epic comeback. The crowd goes wild and a viral video is born. opponent’s moves on near-zero health before hitting his own Ultra. his opponent from 90 per cent health – a rare comeback.

32 | RETRO GAMER
 STREET FIGHTER: BLOW BY BLOW

technically demanding entries in the main Street just wouldn’t exist, and that’s ultimately what
Fighter series. This is something that the Japanese Street Fighter is.
community thrives off. They were the first to
show the true potential of the parry system, and How has the competitive scene changed as
in recent years, they’re still discovering new tech. online gaming has become popular?
It’s one of the reasons why the Cooperation Cup When Street Fighter IV released on consoles back
– an annual 3rd Strike tournament where teams in 2009, it was the first time that the series was
of five face off against each other in Japan – is so able to fully embrace the ‘world warrior’ mantra.
entertaining to watch. There’s always a chance The era of being a hometown hero or the best
you’ll see something completely new in what at your local arcade was essentially over. Players
many regard as the pinnacle of 2D fighting games. now had the opportunity to prove themselves
against the best in the world, all from the comfort Strike aren’t the most balanced fighting games in » [Arcade] It may
seem impossible to
Would you see Street Fighter as a series of their owning living room. This led to more existence. Chun-Li, in particular, dominates in the pull of professional-
that caters to competitive gamers first, and players travelling to tournaments like Evolution in latter two games. But while these arcade games level fighting
casuals second? the US and Stunfest in France. They got valuable had to (for the most part) stick to their original techniques, but
you can do it with
The life cycle of a fighting game is determined by experience against international competition forms, the modern Street Fighter titles can be enough practice!
the community that plays and supports it. That’s and we saw lots of new faces breaking into the patched and updated as necessary. Indeed, the
why Super Turbo and 3rd Strike maintain an active Top Eight. Skip to 2018 and the impact of online dream is to have a Street Fighter that’s perfectly
competitive scene even today while many other gaming has gone even further. Streaming services balanced with every character match-up being
fighting game titles are comparatively stagnant. like Twitch, YouTube and Facebook allow anyone even. Unfortunately, though that’s impossible.
The mechanical base has to be finely honed for with a smartphone, tablet or PC to watch a Street If you change one frame to make a specific
that to happen, though. That’s what Street Fighter Fighter tournament as the action unfolds in real- match–up more balanced you will inevitably affect
has been at its core since Street Fighter II: The time. Professional streamers and commentators five other characters in different ways. The best
World Warrior. It’s a fighting game that can be work diligently to frame and narrate each match as Capcom can do is to observe professional-level
enjoyed against the computer as you battle against professional Street Fighter players – some of which play at Street Fighter tournaments and keep an
a series of AI opponents with the chance of a now command healthy salaries from sponsors eye on the community tier lists for characters.
secret boss at the end. But when you switch out as they compete for prize pools in the hundreds This information – coupled with the mechanical
the CPU for a human opponent – one that can of thousands of dollars – throw down in Street insight of the development team – is how the
level-up alongside you as you try out different Fighter V: Arcade Edition. That’s where online character balance is regularly revised. It’ll never » Matt
M tt Edwar
Edwards
ds
works with the
characters and strategies – that’s when Street gaming has taken the Street Fighter series. be perfect, but I feel that Street Fighter V: Arcade
Fighter becomes so much more. But Capcom Editionn is one of the most balanced fighting games community.
will always encourage people to embrace the What influence does Street Fighter ever made. You only need look at the character
competitive side of the Street Fighter community. competitive play have on character balance? diversity in recent Capcom Pro Tour tournaments
Without it, the hype moments and rivalries It’s fair to say that Super Turbo, Alpha 2 and
a 3rd to know this to be true.

WATCH THE BIRDIE CUSTOM CLASH

QIn the grand finals of the Capcom Pro Tour 2017, Tokido (Akuma) QIn the finals of the Battle By The Bay tou
urnament in 1996, John
has full health and is at match point, and his opponent MenaRD Choi (Ken) is facing off against Alex Valle (Ryu). Both players are on
(Birdie) is on 15 per cent health. But MenaRD comes back, low health in game one, when Valle decides to unleash his custom
smashing two thirds of his foe’s life bar in a single combo en route combo – which he hits, but fails to finish with.
w Choi fires back with
to victory – not only in that game, but ultimately the tournament. his own combo, leaving Valle susceptible to a final dragon punch.

RETRO GAMER | 33
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 T H E 8  B I T

We oen don’t oen stop to take a look and

appreciate the architecture around us, and that’s
definitely true for gaming worlds. Here, we pay
tribute to the urban cityscapes of the 8-bit era
Words by Alexander Chatziioannou and Konstantinos Dimopoulos

G
aming worlds used to be stark, empty at, was as straightforward and simple as things got;
places. Oblong spaceships would it’s no wonder that early city depictions never moved
traverse the void with so little to do much further than this. The fact remains, though, that
they’d just shoot one another on sight. it was exactly the use of urban centres along with their
Abstract tennis rackets would bounce square balls over implied millions of human lives that made the horrors of
pitch-black fields. Then, at whatever pace technology Missile Command feel relatable, and it gave the game
permitted, worlds began to form, and eventually entire its memorable context.
cities would become possible. Urban spaces, however, Rampage, a definitive game of civic demolition,
can’t be empty by any stretch of the imagination. They was a fun, pulp-like arcade offering that brought vivid
require residences for the congregation of humanity neighbourhoods to 8-bit monitors. It featured procedural
residing in them to sleep, eat and watch TV in, places buildings, and several cities for radioactive monstrosities
for them to work at, as well as roads of all sizes to travel George, Lizzie and Ralph to destroy. Each city/level
between these points. They’re kept alive by a canopies comprised its own skyscrapers, evocative silhouetted
of utility poles and traffic lights while below their streets backgrounds, tiny people, buses, security forces, and
they’re punctuated by sewer grates and litter. Unlike even architectural styles. The illusion wasn’t totally
space, you can’t depict a city with a black void. convincing, obviously, but at least every screen felt both
Then again, you can still use the darkness as a night different and decidedly urban. The more explorable
sky, and it was this sort of blackness that served as environments of the superficially similar The Movie
the background for Missile Command’s urban centres. Monster Game by Epyx further distinguished individual
Atari’s widely ported arcade classic tasked players cities by incorporating famous landmarks. Playing as
with defending six heavily stylised cities consisting of non-copyright infringing versions of Megatron, Godzilla
a couple dozen pixels each from nuclear annihilation. or even the Blob players could demolish Tokyo Tower,
Treating cities as tokens, or simple targets to be shot Big Ben and the Statue Of Liberty, while terrorising

36 | RETRO GAMER
 THE 8-BIT ARCHITECTS

» [ZX Spectrum] The

marvellous Contact
Sam Cruise gave you
a surprisingly detailed
city to investigate.

» [C64] Whether a
yellow or a black belt
seems debatable but
that is definitely the
Sydney Opera House
in International Karate’s
background.

» [Amstrad CPC] Rampage dares to ask who the real monster is.
It’s us. We stomp on humans for fun. Definitely us.

residents, chasing cars and avoiding the army. Despite

the isometric view, sensible city blocks and larger
cities, despite even the provisions for public spaces, the
ambitious urbanism of The Movie Monster Game just
wasn’t as spatially immersive as that single scene of
Saucer Attack!. Granted, this was a simpler game, but
its first-person perspective, and its colourful, detailed,
lively Washington somehow turned a mere UFO
shooting gallery into something strangely believable.
Washington was not the only recognisable city to » [C64] Catching air and scraping knees under the iconic
be rendered in a smattering of garish colours and low Hollywood sign in California Games.
resolutions as an intricate but mostly static background.
For Saucer Attack! (much like for 1951 classic The
Day The Earth Stood Still) the relatable setting served a postcard. The universally acknowledged symbols
as a simple way to create a sense of urgency, though of Paris (in Bob Winner), Moscow (in Human Killing
there were several other reasons to try and convey the Machine), and Athens (in Bomb Jack) were there, but
idea of a real-world metropolis, too. International Karate you couldn’t explore these cities, understand the ebb
placed its first duel under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and flow of their urban spaces, their energy, the people
overlooking the iconic Opera House, a choice that not who lived in them. To attempt something like that,
only differentiated it from The Way Of The Exploding even a grossly oversimplified version, we needed a
Fist with its tranquil dojos and snow-capped peaks, but very specific genre to emerge from the sewers and the
also bestowed it with an edginess, an air of urban cool. alleys, take over the streets, and start stirring up trouble. » [C64] Clear skies, a flag flying proudly, and a couple of murderous
California Games made sure we saw the Hollywood Drawing from the urban dystopias portrayed in films alien vessels to ruin the day in Saucer Attack!.

sign and the Golden Gate Bridge in the background to like The Warriors and Streets Of Fire, side-scrolling
justify not just its name, but also the entire premise of its beat-’em-ups became prominent in the late Eighties.
activities through a suggestion of geographical proximity. A slew of popular coin-op titles such as Dragon Ninja,
The problem with these cities was that, lovely as they Renegade, and The Ninja Warriors were ported to home
were to look at, perhaps even eliciting an ingratiating computers, followed closely by a parade of similar
sense of pride that came with having visited or lived in games like Silverbird’s Street Warriors and CRL’s Time
them, they really didn’t amount to anything more than Fighter as smaller publishers jumped into the fray.
Naturally these games did not paint the most
» [ZX Spectrum] welcoming picture of civic life. Like its cinematic
Only a few
moments before
counterpart, the genre exploited that decade’s paranoia
a decidedly surrounding the metropolitan downtown, popularly
non-urban swarm portrayed as a festering cesspool of lawlessness and Antescher Ant Attackk s city was
» Antescher,
of bees starts devised by Sandy White.
chasing us around deviance, ready to explode into violence at any given
the block in 720°. moment. Packs of skinheads roamed the parks

RETRO GAMER | 37
 » [Amstrad CPC] Urban streets come alive with graffiti and poster
advertisements in Double Dragon.

at nighttime in Target: Renegade, whip-wielding

dominatrices patrolled the streets of Double Dragon,
and the alleys of virtually every genre title were infested
with hoodlums committing crimes against civic society.
In more humorous efforts, such as Street Hassle, you
took the role of the neighbourhood menace yourself,
terrorising blind seniors and feisty old ladies that could
whip up a flurry of handbag strikes. However the roles
were distributed though, it was clear that these were
battlefields for factions to fight in unto death, or, at least,
unto the game over screen.
These exaggerated tensions were reflected not just in
the cast of characters populating the seediest of genres,
but also in the deliberate choice of environmental
visuals. All the instantly recognisable signifiers of urban
decay were there: tattered Warholian posters adorned
the walls of Shinobi, automobile husks and towers of
neatly stacked tires dotted the landscape in Vigilante’s
junkyard, while boarded up storefronts, smashed
windows, and burning barrels were ubiquitous.
Hollywood’s exploitative dystopianism was not just
» [ZX Spectrum] Wonderful, technically an indirect influence. Several of that era’s gritty tales
impressive games like Cobra will always be able of urban implosion were adapted for the medium
to get away with highly abstracted environments.
calling upon our solitary protagonist to deliver justice or
» [C64] Abusing the blind and elderly provides for revenge against the unruly lords of the city. RoboCop’s
some morally dubious but quite enjoyable action Detroit, Cobra’s LA, and the New York of Death Wish 3
in Street Hassle.
were among the numerous locations where the blood
of innocents stained the pavements and civilisation
seemed always on the brink of collapsing downtown.

CONSOLE YOURSELF Great 8-bit cities that found home on consoles

RIVER CITY RANSOM

NES
QRiver City Ransom, also known as Street Gangs in PAL
territories and Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari in Japan, is
the game that revitalised the side-scrolling beat-’em-up genre
by adding RPG and open world elements to it. Cleaning up
River City will expose you to vibrant pixel art urban scenes, and
several shops, saunas and restaurants.

DRACULA THE BARD’S TALE: TALES OF

INTELLIVISION THE UNKNOWN – VOLUME I
QConsidering the Intellivision was released in 1979, Dracula’s NES
scrolling, recognisably urban cityscapes allowing for night-day QThe fantasy town of Skara Brae transcended the many
transitions should be considered both a technical marvel. Few limitations of the 8-bit console generation, and managed to
games had allowed people to play in cities before Dracula, and recreate its classic, expansive RPG charms on the NES. Expect a
even fewer cast them as vampires out to feed themselves, and cohesive settlement for your adventuring party to explore, filled
turn the occasional passerby into a thrall. with inns, guilds, towers, temples and, above all, danger.

38 | RETRO GAMER
 THE 8-BIT ARCHITECTS

CITIES OF TEXT
V
iolence aside, the first real taste of
urban exploration in a more fleshed out,
more believable urban environment It was interactive fiction authors who craed the more intricate 8-bit cities.
was delivered by Sandy White’s Ant Steve Meretzky discusses Rockvil from A Mind Forever Voyaging
Attack, and its city of Antescher. Yet, the “initial
creation of city-like structures was purely accidental, What was the inspiration behind constrained size even if all that’s included is text and
and came well before any thoughts of actually building the city of Rockvil? code. I had to be super-vigilant to make sure nothing
a city, or indeed a game”, Sandy remembers. “I was I just wanted a generic mid-size was included that wasn’t absolutely necessary either
playing around with an Acorn Atom writing code which American city. I thought that if I made up to create a believable environment or to support the
printed isometric cubes randomly onto the screen. a city instead of using a real one, it would plot elements.
Quite often as layers of cubes continuously built up, make more people feel like. ‘This is my city.’ Also,
weird and wonderful buildings and cityscapes would making up a new city gave me freedom of geography. How is creating believable text-only urban
appear by chance.” Adding a bit of code to line the As for the atmosphere, it was determined by what spaces different from visualized ones?
cubes up he noticed those fleeting glimpses of strange decade you were in, how far the city had fallen into the I was able to describe a building, an intersection, an
places suddenly becoming almost consistent, and their effects of ‘The Plan’, and not so much by its design, event in 100 or 200 bytes. Trying to create something
Escher-like qualities coming into view. There was “an though for your initial visit the atmosphere I was on the scale of Rockvil graphically would have been
‘atmosphere’ which came with those images, a strong aiming for was ‘Anywhere USA’. By the way, Rockvil inconceivable in 1985. The primary point is that a
feeling as though I were peering through a window into is named aer my wife Betty Rock. We got married a text-only city could be larger, more detailed, and
another place”, as Sandy puts it. month or so before AMFV’s release, so when I named it therefore more realistic. Also, since I was trying to
Having a feeling was not enough, and while tackling she would have still been my fiancé. create that ‘Anywhere USA’ sense of ‘this could be my
the mammoth task of fitting all the urbanistic data city’, letting players visually map out their own cities
into 16KB, the city itself had to be designed. “It arose How did you approach the plan of the city? or neighbourhoods onto Rockvil was easier with a text
organically, built little by little with no initial plan. As the Did navigational considerations enter into it? description.
available ground space of 128x128 squares began to I had majored in architecture, and later in construction
fill up, eventually it became necessary to plan things management, and I took several urban planning What part of Rockvil are you most proud of?
out on squared paper with a binary number in each courses as part of that. So, I knew something about I’d say the malleable nature of the city as it falls apart
square to represent the associated stack of bricks.” how cities grow and morph over time, and what over the decades. Again, I had a limited number of
Interestingly and “as it was such an effort to do this, patterns of zoning and development are typical; I used KB to work with, and oen had to convey a location’s
and get it into the Spectrum, and saved off to cassette”, that to design the city. Things such as a denser, older changing character just by changing a single adjective
once a building was placed, there was no moving it ever urban core with ageing landmarks and monumental in a location description. It was a real exercise in
again, in a process not wholly dissimilar to the physical civic buildings, newer areas located further out, and using the tiniest text changes to convey big, sweeping
environment’s resistance to change. “There is no doubt indications of urban redevelopment were considered. changes. Most likely, if I had no limits, I’d have written
that there are also influences from my native city of Navigational considerations weren’t an issue; the size completely new descriptions for each decade, but
Edinburgh, itself replete with stone buildings ancient of the city was. AMFV was the first ‘Interactive Fiction the constraints of keeping most of the description
and new, along with a good sprinkling of viaducts, Plus’ game that Infocom made, meaning it required the same may have actually worked out well for
graveyards, stone staircases,” Sandy adds. Wisely, 128KB of memory instead of 64KB (which was a lot at the game’s purposes. It provided the player visiting
what with Ant Attack being all about locating and swiftly the time), and we weren’t going to support a number Rockvil in the later decades with a sense of familiarity,
escorting your partner out of the city landmarks, paths of old machines. This allowed the executable size to while simultaneously giving the feeling of something
and navigational aids were top design priorities. approximately double to 256K, which was still a pretty being wrong; something being off.

STREETS OF RAGE II MOTOR CITY PATROL

MASTER SYSTEM NES
QThe gang of Mr X returned to terrorise law-abiding citizens, QMotor City Patrol was one of the first top down, open world
and to allow Sega to perfect the scrolling fighting game. driving games, and by definition a precursor to Grand Theft Auto.
Granted, the Master System port is inferior, and yet it offers a It was also painfully dull and incredibly gray. Being a Matchbox
fun experience through the locations Eighties pop culture loved licensed offering where you played as the police didn’t help
to demonise and hoped to gentrify: downtown streets, clubs, much, though patrolling its five large precincts did offer a
waterfronts and even stadiums. glimpse at gaming’s future.

DOUBLE DRAGON
NES
QDouble Dragon, the archetypical city brawler, defined
videogame depictions of the brutal, lawless inner city areas
that seemed to terrorise the collective consciousness of the
mainstream world back in the day. Its NES port might not have
been able to provide two player co-op, but it added a fair bit of
urban platforming.

RETRO GAMER | 39
 WISH YOU
WERE HERE There’s still one question that remains
unanswered, though. Was Antescher, the first three-
Immersive home computer urban landscapes
dimensional game city many people ever visited, a
place stylised to meet technical requirements, or was it
THE UNTOUCHABLES the ruins of a long forgotten town? According to Sandy
QInfogrames had tried something similar a couple
it was, in a way, both. “In the beginning it was an
of years earlier with Prohibition, but it took Ocean’s film
excavation, a discovery of random fragments which had,
adaptation to bring prohibition-era Chicago to life, an
until 1982, lain waiting to be discovered beneath digital
urban battlefield of Tommy guns, gorgeously curved
sands, and subsequently a design effort to turn these
cars, and precariously positioned baby strollers rolling
discovered ruins into something useful to a playable
down the steps of Union Station.
» Hervé Lange wanted game. Perhaps it wouldn’t stretch the analogy too far to
to create a nonlinear, call that an urban environment built on ancient ruins.”
HILLSFAR explorable play space
for BAT.
QUnscrupulous adventurers could relieve every ith more realistic environments
Hillsfar home of its valuables. Upon entering, a
frantic action sequence gave you limited time to
explore, loot and evade suspicious guards. Success
meant more beer and gossip at the local pub; failure
sent you on an involuntary trip to the arena.
W came the need for different ways
of engaging with them. These were
places inhabited by living beings whose
cycles of activity revolved around more than just work
and survival. Our protagonists needed the occasional
respite from either exploration or confrontation. How
SNATCHER did these urban dwellers have fun? The answer is by
QHideo Kojima’s famous adventure game began its organising some friendly competition, of a kind that
life on the humble MSX2 and PC-8801 micros. Drawing takes advantage of the metropolitan morphology. 720°
inspiration from Eighties cyberpunk, Neo Kobe City is offered not only four skateboarding parks but, perhaps
a beautifully illustrated and detailed futuristic dystopia even more memorably, a whole city block’s worth of
that included everything from seedy bars to abandoned space filled with makeshift ramps and slippery puddles
factories, and showcased some stunning skyline views. to practice your skills. Other competitive endeavours
associated with the inner city also had videogames
JUDGE DREDD produced after them; most notably breakdancing in titles
QEven more interesting than Mega-City One’s slums like Break Street and Break Fever.
and skyscrapers is its unique interactive map, charting Not that more conventional sports remained
criminal activity, from tobacco smoking to alien seed confined in the stadiums and courts with which they’re
deals, via a series of beautifully suggestive icons. Select associated. Epyx’s Street Sports series featured some
one and you’ll instantly arrive at the scene, be it sewer wonderfully atypical settings for its games. Street Sports
or high-rise, to enforce Dredd’s unique brand of justice. Basketball, in particular, gave you a choice between a
school playground, a pristine suburban yard, a dingy
alley, and a garage that wouldn’t look out of place in
MERCENARY
Renegade, all complementing the variety of decidedly
QModelling a small planet in real time 3D was
urban character archetypes you could pick for your team.
ambitious on any 8-bit machine, and yet this is exactly
Driving through cities, though not much of a sport,
what Mercenary achieved. Targ’s most impressive sight
is one of the predominant ways in which we get to
was the modernist Central City. A place that despite
» [Amstrad CPC] Every
experience contemporary urbanism, and doing so in a
the planetwide civil war was proud of its stadiums,
sensibly planned city super-fast car seems to have been a widespread fantasy
museums, institutes, and exhibition centres. has to cater to the during the Eighties. It’s no wonder, then, that racers such
fundamental needs
of its citizens; hence as Cisco Heat proved popular across 8-bit micros. Unlike
BATMAN: BAT ’s toilets. the majority of genre offerings that had you race through
THE CAPED CRUSADER
QThe comic book aesthetic for Gotham provided the
definitive one in the 8-bit era. Stacked panels featured
imposing Georgian mansions and huge warehouses,
while on the distant horizon corporate towers loomed.
It meant Ocean’s game looked visually gorgeous.

DUN DARACH
QBeing the mythical city of a fantasy setting didn’t
prevent Dun Darach from sporting a realistic urban
structure. This was a believable city with distinct
districts, sensible land use patterns, an economy, lively
inhabitants and, importantly, both a thieves’ guild and a
network of public torches to be lit during the night.

RENEGADE
QArguably the game’s most iconic level, Renegade’s
subway creates a dystopia of small details. The grimy
windows of an inoperative train, graffiti scrawled on
its motionless husk, a locked metal railing blocking
escape to the city above. The gang closing in, metal
pipes in hand, are simply this world’s natural predators.

40 | RETRO GAMER
 THE 8-BIT ARCHITECTS

» [Amstrad CPC] Using

a New York phone
booth as a launching
pad for an impressive
backflip in Shadow
Warriors.

» [C64] After they

cleaned up all the
blood, this alley made
a perfect makeshift
court for Street Sports
Basketball.

» [ZX Spectrum] Static screenshots simply fail to do Turbo Esprit’s groundbreaking, smooth scrolling 3D cities justice.

From a visual point of view, we were

influenced by Blade Runner, Metropolis,
and Enki Bilal
Hervé Lange

graphically less demanding countrysides in the tradition to Troy Miles, serving mostly as a gateway to the latter.
of Out Run, Cisco Heat attempted to convey the Troy particularly loves the in-game PAX machines as
intensely urban atmosphere of San Francisco. Having “they combined the web as we know it now with an
the Golden Gate Bridge on the screen border, including ATM”. Of course, the book was widely read by the
hills to traverse, and even allowing the occasional development team, and influenced all design decisions,
building to scroll by just wasn’t convincing enough though Troy admits that getting most of Neuromancer’s
though, despite admittedly evoking a hint of the city. iconic locations into the game demanded several
Mike Richardson’s 1986 Turbo Esprit, on the other technical tricks, including breaking it up into levels. Finally
hand, really did place gamers inside an unexpectedly the illusion of a world much bigger than the C64 should
realistic, open world city that shined on the Spectrum. allow for was achieved. As for Chiba City’s civic life, it
The game that’s believed to have an influence on was enhanced by giving “dialogue a techno-slag feel to
Grand Theft Auto series had gamers chasing drug keep it interesting and humorous, [and] providing each » [C64] Every self-respecting bar in the cyberpunk future will come
with its very own PAX terminal, just like Neuromancer’s.
lords in four complex cities that were always in motion. NPC with their own backstory”.
Said expansive urban centres came with ranked road BAT by Ubisoft, originally designed for the Atari ST,
networks, and were convincingly functional places. was more ambitious. Hervé Lange wanted to create a
Traffic lights regulated traffic, AI-driven cars obeyed laws non-linear world in which players could freely evolve. neighbourhoods, railway stations, botanical gardens,
while overtaking each other, pedestrians used zebra The “idea that the plot takes place in a city imposed bars, nightclubs, and Haussmannian boulevards
crossings, road-works added a touch of danger, and itself quickly” as the foundation for a setting teeming leading to smaller alleys of street vendors and shops”
reckless parking manoeuvres could lead to traffic jams. with life, and Terrapolis on planet Selenia was born. is also evident. An important goal of the design was
Several RPGs strived to achieve vivid urban centres, Hervé describes Terrapolis “as a dense patchwork of to create a comparable “sense of richness through
but it was innovative adventure games that came close contemporary, modern and futuristic styles, with a different neighbourhoods offering varying gameplay
to achieving a sense of actual spatial immersion. Based pinch of grotesque elements”, that was treated as a opportunities, and thus reinforce the idea that a
on the definitive cyberpunk works of William Gibson, dynamic actor itself. “The place regenerated NPCs such complete world had been recreated”.
Interplay’s Neuromancer offered versions of both as policemen, merchants or thieves depending on the BAT was followed up by BAT 2, which swapped
physical and cyber urbanism, with the former, according aggressiveness of player actions.” its Parisian inspirations for Roman ones, but didn’t
Terrapolis had a world crafted around it. A setting offer a radical change of direction. For that we have to
of “capitalist expansionism compelling eccentric go back to Ant Attack and look at its sequel, Zombie
billionaires to extricate themselves from Earth, build Zombie, which “biggest innovation was the addition
space exploration machines based on black holes, and of a rudimentary editor to aid city construction,
thus colonise entire planets”. Thus was inhospitable construction itself becoming part of the gameplay” as
planet Selenia able to support the dome of a dystopian, Sandy White remembers. In this way, the man who
overpopulated megacity, which allowed Hervé to create laid the foundations for the urban environments of the
a rich place filled with exotic creatures and possibilities. late Eighties, also paved the way for SimCity, a game
“From a visual point of view, we were influenced by emerging at the tail end of the 8-bit era heralding a
Blade Runner, Metropolis, and Enki Bilal,” he mentions, new paradigm of interaction with urban environments.
pointing out the horizons of skyscrapers forcefully Exploring or fighting your way through them, could be
towering over more conventional, replaced by actively shaping and watching them
humbler cities. “Indirectly, the evolve. But that is another story about another
influence of Paris with its typical generation of interactive cities.

» [Amstrad CPC] Detroit’s finest gun-toting gangsters and

chainsaw-wielding maniacs have surrounded our hero in RoboCop.
 THE MAKING OF

RESCUE RESCUE HAS ENJOYED CULT

STATUS AMONGST SPECCY FANS FOR
A VERY LONG TIME. NOT BAD FOR A
GAME PUT TOGETHER IN CREATOR
STE CORK’S BEDROOM
Words by Paul Davies

ans of the game will know seven and still lose. You don’t know one person could end up doing

F that Rescue is a straight up

sci-fi search-and-retrieve
mission, where our hero
takes on an infested space station
to rescue a high-value scientist and
IN THE
KNOW
 PUBLISHER:
Mastertronic
 DEVELOPER:
until you commit to pressing takeoff,
after adding fuel, too, of course. Then
there’s the heart-stopping couple
of seconds while the FX are being
played for takeoff, before you finally
everything involved in a game’s
development, though there were
times where a little helping hand was
needed. In this case, Ste brought in
the help of good friend and composer
his magnum opus. All you need Ste Cork get either the success or fail screen. Tony ‘Tiny’ Williams. “Tiny and I are
to do is get both scientist and his  RELEASED: 1987 Certainly, to rescue all eight scientists, really close; I’ve known him since
experiment back to your ship for  PLATFORM:
if you set that as a goal, is very hard.” 1986. He was always the guy I’d go
takeoff. What makes this so difficult ZX Spectrum After picking up his first Spectrum to for audio work. Very easy to work
is that you don’t know which, out of  GENRE: in 1984, Ste released his first game with, good music, good solid code,
eight scientists, is the right one; this Shoot-’em-up CaGara just one year later, through and he was happy to do work for me
is randomly selected at the start of budget label Players. He then went on the promise of royalty cuts later.”
the game. The pesky aliens trying to on to complete his second game Also working on Rescue was Mark
destroy the place don’t help either. Wibstars in 1987, through software O’Neill. “He was a brilliant artist in the
“It is difficult, and it isn’t.” Ste Cork house A&F. After starting w workk ffor 8 bi days,
8-bit da with that trick of making
explains. “Rescue is rather unusual Icon Design, Ste began to w write things look good in single-colour
in the way you have to meet the the game Colony, this time sprites, like the Spectrum was
winning criteria. You could, in theory, published by Mastertronic, forced to use.”
just take off with one scientist and who he also approached a From a player’s point of
win the game; or you could have year later for the release view, you’d assume Rescue
of Rescue. was hard work to write given
Ste elaborates, itts big graphics, sharp fast
“[Mastertronic] had some good g movements and exquisite detail.
games out, and a lot of games that “I had a lot of fun writing it”, says Ste,
were relatively poor. They got better “and to be honest it reused rather a
I think once they’d been around for lot of code from Colony. The engine
a while and I think by the time I was similarities are pretty obvious once
ready to release Rescue they were a you look. That made it an easy game
100 per cent decent house, so I was to write; but of course back then you
happy to approach them. They were could get away with things like that.
the first company I went to, in fact.” The guys that ran Icon Design, Roger
» [ZX Spectrum] Ste’s game has some impressive visuals In the era of bedroom Lees and Mike Cohen, were really
and it moves along at a nice pace. programmers it wasn’t unusual that relaxed about those kinds of things.
 THE MAKING OF: RESCUE

CORK
CLASSICS
Try these Ste Cork hits out

COLONY
ZX SPECTRUM
QSet in the future, Earth has become
overpopulated and there’s a need to grow crops
» [ZX Spectrum] Wanted: experienced scienti
st immunity on other planets. You control a droid whose job
to bullets is essential. Free boots provide
d.
it is to grow and protect crops, as neighbouring
aliens have acquired a taste for them. As you can
screen was when I got my free copy. probably guess, they’re not the friendly type.
It was too late to do anything by then.
If they’d asked me what I wanted for
the screen, or even to supply one, I
could have got an in-house artist to
» [ZX Spectrum] These aliens are on the hunt, so it’s best do something, but they never did.”
to try and avoid them. After Rescue, Ste went on
producing games for the Spectrum
I had less hours to write things at over the next few years, before
home of course after a day’s work in moving on to games for the Amiga,
the office, but given that most of the Atari ST and then PC, with the game
code was already written it wouldn’t OverKill being one of his favourites
have required as much extra doing to on that format. Ste continues to work
it. I didn’t really have a life outside of in the industry and has many credits OVERKILL
computers in those days. The classic in notable games such as X-Men: PC
geek, I suppose.” Legends, Quake 4, Marvel: Ultimate Q A vertical shoot-’em-up, Overkill puts you in
Alliance and Call of Duty: Black Ops III. » Ste Cork is still in the indus control of your spaceship as you blast away at
try
today working on
f you mention Rescue to certain Speccy fans will argue, though, the alien enemies, leaving nothing behind. On

I
triple-A blockbusters such
as
Spectrum fans, there’s a chance that nothing beats the simplicity of an Call Of Duty. your way, collect power-ups to improve your
that one of them will quickly 8-bit shoot-‘em-up. Rescue is one that weapons and shields, then go on and destroy
say Harrison Ford back to you. will stay long in the memory for many some more of anything that gets in your way.
Well, take a look at its cover and you of fans, not least in Ste’s.
may well find out. Some may say that “Rescue had people writing into
the cover star was a rip off Han Solo magazines about it and mapping
lookalike, others say coincidence. “I out the ship. I was chuffed. That was
didn’t even see the cover until I got really nice to see for something I’d
mailed a freebie copy,” Ste recalls, just put together in my bedroom.”
“I didn’t see the resemblance, but I
suppose once it’s pointed out I can
just about see it. If I squint a bit.”
Another talking point apart from
the gameplay is the loading screen;
or indeed the lack of one. You’d
think, given the quality of the game PSYCHO PIGS UXB
itself, it deserved a screen to do it ZX SPECTRUM
justice. Apparently Mastertronic Q Take control of your own personal swine as
didn’t. “I assumed they would paint you attempt to blow up other pigs in the area
something then slap a loading screen with the help of bombs that crop up around
on themselves. In the end they didn’t the screen. The last pig trotting wins here
» [ZX Spectrum] “My ammo. My
bother.” Ste explains. “The first I saw beautiful, beautiful ammo. You as the victor takes all in this explosive,
of the boring ‘Rescue is loading…’ should haven take me instead.” anarchic free for all.

RETRO GAMER | 43
 +,77+ (1 (6
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1LQHWLHVWKHVKRZSURYHGLWZDVILWIRUEUDQFKLQJRXW
LQWRQHZPHGLXPV'DQDQG*DUU\.LWFKHQWHOOXVKRZWKH\
EURXJKWWKHZRUOGĖVPRVWIDPRXVIDPLO\WRWKH1(6
Words by Adam Barnes

ry to imagine a time before The culture as any of those advances. The show first aired in
Simpsons. It’s not easy, is it? The much- 1989, and back then it was Nintendo which was ruling
loved cartoon family has been such a familiar the roost; the Famicom was dominating Japan, and the
staple of our lives for so long that even those NES was the console that revitalised an industry still
who might be old enough to remember their first airing suffering from the videogame crash in the USA, and
in 1989 likely won’t recall the way life was without brought with it new interest from licence holders. But
Homer, Marge and the kids. The Simpsons predates it wasn’t 20th Century Fox that sought to get a slice of
Google, DVDs, even the internet as we know it, and this revitalising market, instead it was Acclaim that was
– love it or hate it – is just as integrated a part of our hoping to capitalise on The Simpsons before Do The
Bartman was even a twinkle in a marketing man’s eye.
“In January of 1990,” begins Garry Kitchen, one
of the lead designers on Bart Vs The Space Mutants,
“a couple of days before the airing of episode four of
season one of The Simpsons, Greg Fischbach [founder
of Acclaim] called me and suggested that I watch the
episode. He was considering licensing the rights to
make a Simpsons NES videogame and wanted to know
if I was interested in developing it.” Though the TV
show had been an immediate success, no one could’ve
predicted the phenomenon that it was set to become.
Greg was a visionary, however, and had started Acclaim
after leaving Activision with the dreams of becoming
» [NES] It was important for the developers to implement familiar a huge videogame publishing house, initially making a
places of the show into the games. name for itself with licensed titles. Garry knew Greg

44 | RETRO GAMER
 THE SIMPSONS HIT THE NES

» [NES] The concept of the x-ray glasses isn’t just

a storyline novelty, it has functional properties in
the game, too.

through Activision where the pair had both worked, » [NES] Thhe first leveel of the
first game is perhapss one of
but from which the former had left in 1986 to form the more mmemorable e aspects
Imagineering with colleagues. All it took was a single of the NES
S trilogy.
episode of The Simpsons to get Greg intrigued by
the idea, and he reached out to his old colleagues to
see if they might be interested in developing a game
around the licence. “Acclaim had relationships with 20th
Century Fox,” adds Dan Kitchen, the brother of Garry
and cofounder of Imagineering, “and I believe it was
a very expensive license for them, it was a very large
product. It was one of their first large licences.”
The Kitchen brothers and the team at Imagineering
all had experience in the industry, having produced
several Atari 2600 games. “My brother and I had taken » Garry Kitchen was one of
the creative lead,” says Dan, “with another producer the lead designers of Bart Vs
who worked for us whose name was Barry Marx. The Space Mutants.
We collectively got together and considered what
would be the best for gameplay, the best selection of
mechanics for gameplay and what would work for the
license itself. So we flew out to California, we met with
Matt Groening and the Fox people and went through
a number of concepts. One that we liked that we had
conceived – and that they finally signed off on – was
doing a game based on the old science fiction movie
They Live, with Springfield being taken over by aliens.”
The inspiration for this particular concept was first
born out of the backs of comic books, adds Garry:
 WDQWVVKDSH
+RZGLG63DFVH\0VWXHPV"
XSRQRWKHU

Q This was one of the best-selling

versions of the game and
more refined visual s, slicker controls and overhauled
had
s to the more powe rful hardware.
sound effects – thank
the nine platforms,
While it didn’t have the best art across
more manageable
it still balanced slick movement with a
n all the same.
difficulty. A step up from the NES versio

 black outlines from the art

QThis version brought with it the
d to recreate that
Q The original version of the game
and therefore the one of the Mega Drive equivalent, which helpe
The NES original style a little more faithfully than the original
that every port had to hold a candle to. Matt Groening
as good, and did
received the most care and attention, but once that NES equivalent. However, it wasn’t quite
Mega Drive version -
foundation was set in stone – at least in
terms of gameplay – also bring over the same speed as the
on from, which t it was tough to handle.
every other version had a template to follow but poorer movement mean
they all did remarkably well.

Q If the Amiga version should be

known for anything it
shoul d be its visual s, with high-q uality pixel art that really
took the backgrounds of the original NES version to a whole
intro that - better
new level. There is even a fairly lengthy
other platforms - prope rly explains Bart’s
than any of the
n of the game.
x-ray glasses. Arguably the best versio

QThe ST version of the game was

one of the few others
g, not that there’s
Q Like most Game Gear conversions
, this is a shrunken that were handled in-house at Imagineerin
n, the same black betwe en any of the different platforms.
down version of the Master System versio much difference
version and didn’t
edges at least made it easier to separ ate Bart and NPCs This lacked the fancy intro of the Amiga
ntum to Bart’s
from the background - which would’ve
been impossible on play quite as smoothly with a weird mome
quality art.
the tiny screen of the Game Gear. It wasn’
t especially popular movement, but it does at least match the
on the platform.

Q While on the surface the visual

s look much better than
version of them
the ZX Spectrum, this is perhaps the worst
limits of the hardware mean t that the x-ray goggles
all. The
ed, the mech anics were a little
weren’t quite as well handl
details were simply
ropey and many of the Simpsons-based
removed from the game.

 ly suffered because of its

QThe Commodore machine equal
a knock when it came hardware limits, but just edged the Amstrad. It, too, failed to
Q Naturally, the visuals had to take
game, meaning that
to downgrading to the ZX Spectrum, which was handled by implement various finer details into the
ver the gameplay on the basic side of things, but it still
British studio Arc Developments. Howe its visuals fell firmly
mechanics as slick
itself is mostly uncha nged, save for the fact that it’s not a retained a scrolling screen and kept the
n-by-screen style as they could be.
scrolling platformer but instead the scree
that was typica l on the hardw are.

46 | RETRO GAMER
 » [NES] Keep an eye out for those doughnuts
on the ceiling pipe, Bart. You wouldn’t want
Homer to scoff them all…

» [NES] One of the funnier twists in the original

had Bart hopping on Sideshow Bob’s large
feet rather than his head.

“Barry Marx and I spent a good deal of time kicking drove the narrative of the series; for example, Bart was
around ideas. In one brainstorming session, for some the focus of the famous opening sequence of the show,
reason, we were recalling the cheesy advertising on the skateboarding through town. And every kid who owned
last page of comic books. The one ad that stood out for an NES would want to play as Bart.”
us was the x-ray glasses, enabling you to see through a
girl’s clothing. We agreed that Bart would have definitely ith the character settled, there was
been the first kid on the block to order a pair of these. only one other area where demands
Obviously, that led to the concept of an alien invasion, were made and, considering the
with Bart ending up as the only person in town who nature of the NES and the games that
was able to detect the ‘body snatching’ aliens by using were released for it, there wasn’t much chance that
his ‘ill-gotten’ x-ray specs.” those in charge would want anything other than a
There were two aspects of the game that were set 2D platformer. “From the beginning, Acclaim said that
in stone by Fox before development went underway, they wanted to do a side-view scroller, because of the
though. The first was the choice of playable character; popularity of Mario,” says Dan. “That was what they
nowadays Homer is the popular favourite of the wanted, a platformer. And so it was on that machine,
franchise, but there was a time when Bart was the given the 2D restrictions, that this was obviously the
show’s star. With Bartmania only just beginning to form, best way to show Bart and the characters.” No one
Fox wanted to capitalise on its mischievous character, intended to compete head-on with Mario, though, the
believing his ‘don’t have a cow’ attitude would fit well idea was instead to leverage the licence in the right way,
with gamers of the time. “We considered a concept to replicate the same humour, style and entertainment
that was less Bart-centric,” admits Garry, “but Acclaim that The Simpsons was already making itself known
pushed back, believing – rightfully so – that Bart should for. This was handled in a number of ways, but Fox’s
be the focus, given the target demographic of the game. co-operation meant that the team at Imagineering had
They were right, of course. Bart was the character that a good deal of access to the show to help create the
foundation for capturing the essence of the show. “Fox
met with us on a number of occasions at the studio,”
says Dan. “They did have a liaison here through Acclaim,
but Matt Groening did meet with us a couple of times
and made sure that the character Bart was well created.
He had sign-off on the way that Bart looked, the way
that the backgrounds looked. We worked to emulate the
look of the show as well as we could, putting in things
like Barney’s Bowl-a-Rama, putting in various other
places that are in the show and representing them in
the game like the Jebediah Springfield statue. We really
were inspired by them to come up with the best scenes
and the locations in the show and replicate them in the
game. So they were great help for direction, for giving
us b-roll of the show, for giving us reference art.”
» [Amiga] Across each of the different versions, the core gameplay
This was the first ever Simpsons game, after all, it
and level design remains the same. needed to set the bar if it was to match the hype

RETRO GAMER | 47
 » [NES] Of course, the
much-loved Itchy and
Scratchy make
an appearance.
» [Mega Drive] The Mega Drive Space Mutants is a step up over the NES
» [NES] Fans of the John version in terms of visuals and overall gameplay.
Carpenter film They
Live will easily spot the
homage in Bart Vs The that [Bart] did at the beginning of each episode in the
Space Mutants.
intro, and we wanted to bring in there the character
of Bart being what he was then, the little wise-guy,
that the show was getting. To Fox and Acclaim’s mischievous character. That was what we wanted to
credit, this wasn’t a cash-in to try and get a quick buck focus on and with the limited dialogue in there, that’s
from the craze surrounding Bart and co, there was a real what Fox wanted to focus on, too. We also wanted to
intention to create that could stand out on its own. “The focus on little bits of the show that people were familiar
idea was to be specifically Simpson-esque,” recalls Dan, with, going to the payphone and doing a funny call to
“to take those things that are in The Simpsons and really Moe’s that, again, gives you something in the game but
play up that as much as we could for the character of trying to work as much as we can from the [elements]
Bart, to bring in the personality of the Simpsons and in the show that made it famous.”
focus on the personality of Bart.” Fox did at least hope
to have a cameo for each of the main family members, his created some clear pieces of design
adds Dan, which lead to “having Maggie in the status for the first level, then, combining the
area, Lisa in the fair and Marge in the mall”. But there storyline elements with gameplay
was one aspect of the show that Imagineering felt mechanics that would fit in. For the
it needed to properly capture in the game, an iconic former this meant utilising the x-ray goggles for Bart
element of the cartoon that remains a recognisable to safely spot the aliens and jump on them to collect
portion of each episode. To the developer, it was letters to spell out a cameo character’s name, while
imperative that the familiar intro scene that culminates in the latter allowed for puzzle elements to be included
the family sitting around the TV was recreated properly, into the platformer, which was a fairly novel concept on
and it was around this idea that the first level was the NES. In the first level this meant using Bart’s cool,
designed – the level that no doubt many remember rebellious attitude to spray paint purple objects red, but
the most. “We wanted to get in the skateboarding extended further into having to solve other intricate ways
of eliminating any purple within the stage. It blended the

 +RZ %DUW WULHG WR WDNH RYHU \RXU SRFNHW

      
GAME BOY, 1991 GAME BOY, 1992 GAME BOY, 1994
Q The first of the portable Simpsons games was a new QPutting a spin on things a little, Bart Vs The Juggernauts
QAfter reverting back to platforming, Bart & The Beanstalk
title rather than a Bart Vs The Space Mutants spin-off, and forwent 2D platforming – a saturated genre on the handheld is a technically superior game to its predecessor Camp
the show based an episode on the game’s plot a year later. console – and instead chose to use a variety of minigames Deadly but still a drab and dull platformer. The idea isn’t
However it isn’t much cop, with poor controls and repetitive under the guise of a TV competition not unlike Gladiators. It even original, taking a fairytale and just pasting in Simpsons
gameplay – a curse of most early Game Boy games, sadly. was an original idea, and is fun to play in short bursts. characters as though that would be enough fan service.

48 | RETRO GAMER
 THE SIMPSONS HIT THE NES

 in me the realisation that we could go to all sorts of very

 cool places,” recalls Dan of the original meeting with
Fox. “I said: ‘Look out the window, we have a studio

    here, and you guys can take everyone around the world
right here in your backlot, so let’s do the same thing,
Garry Kitchen let’s do a level where Bart is literally walking across the
animator’s table and jumps into a sound stage and then
he’s in a pirate movie or China, various exotic places that
two core aspects of the game – platforming and puzzle- Homer’s power plant workplace and the numerous I was trying to think would be fun to play.”
solving – seamlessly, inspired by the adventure games secondary characters like Barney, Krusty The Clown and The focus, then, was on making something that
that Dan used to play. “I was a big player of a lot of the Sideshow Bob. “One of my favourites,” smiles Garry, continued the strengths of Bart Vs The Space Mutants,
original text adventures,” he says. “I had played the “is the visual of Sideshow Bob as the boss in level leveraging the character of Bart in more entertaining,
Zork series, I had written and published in 1980 before three and the humorous touch of Bart having to jump varied and different ways. This meant that while those
going to Activision two text adventures that were in on his feet rather than his head. And I love the hilarious puzzle elements did disappear, much more about the
the same vein as Zork. And those were text adventures climactic ending of the game, using Maggie’s pacifier game was improved: the addition of Bartman, enhanced
on the Apple and the TRS-80 that had full sentence in a special way.” The deft use of the show’s most skateboarding sections, various minigames throughout;
recognition, very involved. I think those kind of adventure recognisable scenes and characters was largely reliant a lot was done to really enhance the experience
games, where you could collect objects and inventory on Barry Marx, Garry explains, who doubled as producer provided by the original, building on issues that could be
objects and keep them and use them kind of inspired and writer for the game. “Our goal was to continually resolved. “We tried to make some of the levels
the adventure aspect of the game.” It was a clever idea, delight the player with surprises,” he adds, “always
giving platforming stages a slower, more considered incorporating the favourite aspects of the show.”

6
pacing that wasn’t common at the time. It meant each
stage had a different goal, too, starting with removing o when it released in 1991, it was perhaps
the colour purple through to collecting hats, destroying no surprise that the game was a smash-hit
exit signs and finding hidden radioactive uranium rods. success, hitting the shelves at a critical
This had the added bonus of adding a little bit of point in the cartoon’s life that it ultimate
humour to proceedings, which everyone agreed was rode the wave. It wasn’t just a critical success,
an important part of the franchise’s brand. With the however, but a commercial one too, and with the
limitations of the hardware, however, and therefore added glory of actually being a standout licensed
much less in the way of dialogue, this was no easy title – a stigma the industry was still recoiling from
feat. “We used dialogue when we could,” recalls thanks to overzealous publishers and the generation
Garry, “because so much of the series’ humour comes prior. As is often the case with these things, a sequel
through in the brilliant voice acting. We were always was practically inevitable. “This was in talks before but
conscious of building humour into the game experience Acclaim didn’t greenlight it until after there was success
whenever possible. We were careful to include the with Bart Vs The Space Mutants,” says Dan. “And so
small details in the visuals to stay true to the show, such they came to us, said we did really well and could they
as Maggie sucking on her pacifier incessantly – even in have a broader concept, a wider concept.” The concept
the game interface - and the omnipresent blinking eyes was born pretty quickly from there: why not have Bart
on both the characters and, sometimes, the aliens.” taking on the whole world? It was a rather obvious
There were a bounty of references that could be made choice for a sequel, too; having proven The Simpsons
that would help to solidify the Simpsons-esque tone, could work in videogames, moving on to turning the
including its raft of locations like the Kwik-E-Mart, whole planet into Bart’s playground would really help to
encapsulate the spirit of the show. “The idea illuminated » [NES] The team paid close attention to inserting in-jokes from the
TV show into Bart Vs The Space Mutants.

  
GAME BOY, 1994   GAME BOY ADVANCE, 2003
QThis version was never going to compete with the console
QThere is novelty in the combination of a golf game and an GAME BOY COLOUR, 2001
action platformer, even if there’s no way of understanding equivalent – which itself was a flawed copy of Crazy Taxi -
QNight Of The Living Treehouse Of Horror is the best
how the concept was derived. It’s functional in its mechanics but it managed to condense the experience into the smaller
platformer among its handheld brethren. It’s exceptionally
and the violence of the Itchy & Scratchy show is retained, but screen relatively well. It lost some of the charm that at least
difficult, however, and doesn’t change the gameplay enough
it really does feel like two separate games stapled together. made the PS2 version appealing to Simpsons fans, though.
to hold on to any interest.

RETRO GAMER | 49
 7KH6LPSVRQV
ğ JDPHV\RXVKRXOG
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QIt was the first, but also one of the Dan Kitchen
best early Simpsons games. The NES
games that followed didn’t match
easier,” says Dan, who laments that he didn’t push
the same quality and attention to
back more on Fox’s desire to make the original a longer
the series that this did, and no other
game by increasing its difficulty. “We took the original
Simpsons game utilised the unique
code and tweaked Bart a bit, made him look a little
puzzle-solving elements of this debut
different, not much different but better in many ways.
title from Imagineering.
We tweaked his physics, but we did want to retain the
feel of Bart so that if you were used to the first game
and how it responded to the controller then it wouldn’t
be too different. And also we wanted to improve some
of the levels and the way they played, making sure we
QIf a game of this era wasn’t a
didn’t have as far jumps, making sure we didn’t have
side-scrolling platformer then it was
blind jumps, making sure you could move the camera
likely a beat-’em-up. But much like
and see where you were so you knew where to go.”
Bart Vs The Space Mutants this wasn’t a
lazy cash-in but a well-rounded arcade
eanwhile, Fox’s interest was piqued.
game from Konami. It was smooth,
Where the original had been created with
fast and paid close homage to The
a degree of freedom for Imagineering, the
Simpsons franchise.
particulars of the sequel had much more
input from Fox itself. The potential of tying a videogame
to its new phenomenon was a clear opportunity, and
it looked to release a game that had more to offer
its fans. “They wanted it to be a much more fuller
  experience,” explains Dan, “which is why we ended up
QWhere Road Rage was a fun but adding in more of the characters as cameos and why
lacking Crazy Taxi rip-off, Hit & Run we ended up putting in the interstitial map and then
was the obligatory Grand Theft Auto minigames.” These minigames meant more tertiary
clone that was so popular on the PS2. characters could be brought into the game without
However, the latter was a much having to struggle with the NES hardware to include
better-quality title, and enabled players more playable characters, which Fox at least accepted
to properly head out into Springfield was a fair challenge. “It wasn’t just good enough to
and explore for the first time. have Bart visit another location and do the same,” he
adds. “We had to think: what can we give to the player
» [NES] Bart narrowly
that is Simpsons-themed, captures the personality of
  evades a peg-legged
pirate using a ladder, the show but gives them more than just the same?”
and he probably quips
QThough this was essentially a tie-in This was where the idea to include trivia had come
at the scoundrel to dine
to The Simpsons Movie, it didn’t suffer on his trunks. from, since it tapped into the audience’s interest despite
as such games usually do. It utilised
the humour of the series well and even
poked fun at many videogame cliches
and tropes for added entertainment.
The fact that it was a solid 3D
platformer in its own right helps
solidify it as a Simpsons classic.


QTapped Out is a freemium title in
the vein of Farmville and other social
city-building games. It still manages
to leverage the brand well and in a fun
way, and if we’re defining ‘essential’
as a study of how a brand can be
used across a broad spectrum, this is
certainly one to at least try.

50 | RETRO GAMER
 THE SIMPSONS HIT THE NES

» [NES] Bartman stares off into the distance and wonders if this
particular licence was a good idea or not.

there only being two seasons of the show at the time

of the game’s development. All this was crammed into
a incredibly short development time, a short turnaround
that meant Bart Vs The World would also release on the
NES in the same year as its predecessor – a matter of
months between the two.
At this point The Simpsons name was already a
huge brand, its success and popularity rising with each
new episode. Bartmania had run its course, bootleg
T-shirts were a common sight and the show was really
beginning to find its groove in terms of humour and
style. But Acclaim and Fox had been bitten by the craze,
with the former already looking to work with other
developers on new Simpsons games – particularly with
an eye for a new generation of consoles. Imagineering
would have one last Simpsons game up its sleeve,
Bartman Meets Radioactive Man, but the circumstances
were different. Fox became far more involved with the
process, particularly from a creative standpoint. “The » [NES] Bartman disposed of all the iconic Springfield imagery and
went for something much more abstract.
opening sequences [of the show] are kind of little comic
book panels,” explains Dan of the original concept,
“and Fox wanted a kind of feeling of Bart protecting and story was completely removed from the franchise.
the world from Radioactive Man. They also came to “It was really more of a fantasy,” says Dan, “Bart’s gone
us and said, ‘Look, we want more of the same with into a comic book and what things could we do that
this one.’” Fox even had specific ideas for the sorts of Radioactive Man had set up against him?”
places that the game should allow players to explore, Bartman Meets Radioactive Man was a major
and dictated the addition of the likes of an enchanted shift from the titles that came before it; sure, it was
forest or underwater segments. As a result it was only a 2D platformer, but far more generic and with only
the character of Bartman that tied the game to The superfluous attention to the brand. It didn’t have the
Simpsons at all, otherwise the environments, enemies puzzle elements of Bart Vs The Space Mutants, or the
variety of Bart Vs The World, and was considerably
harder. “Of course this one was all Bartman, so we had » [NES] Radioactive man opens a door in space and time to
to build in levels with this in mind,” continues Dan. “So, congratulate Bartman on his hard work.
in traditional Mario levels it’d be no fun if you could put
on a cape and fly over everything, so we had to make at which point the well-loved family was well on the
them more vertical, we had to put in things that would way to becoming the iconic piece of pop culture that
restrict him more. We couldn’t just fly over everything, it is today. That pressure certainly will have continued
and so the challenge from that aspect was to make to grow over the years and is perhaps a key cause
it fun but with different types of levels.” The biggest of the erratic rollercoaster of titles that the Simpson
shift was the focus on combat, with Bartman’s melee family have had to endure, covering the full spectrum of
and laser-shooting abilities giving the game a totally knockout smash hits to shameful duds. The Simpsons
different approach than the previous titles. It released history with gaming is a long one, and as much a part
in December of 1992, and didn’t fare too well critically. of our consciousness as the TV shows themselves; in
“Of course we felt pressure,” says Garry. “And the many ways the show’s quality has its own parallels to
pressure only got worse because when we first started videogame equivalents. Yet while Homer, Marge, Bart,
the game it wasn’t clear how popular the brand was Lisa and Maggie might not have always entertained at
going to become. As The Simpsons grew in popularity, their very best, it’s impossible to say that there isn’t at
» [NES] Bart Vs The World saw the eldest Simpson child visit the pressure grew as well.” Imagineering’s involvement, least a soft spot in our hearts for The Simpsons when it
famous landmarks from across the world. however, ended with Bart Meets Radioactive Man, comes to videogames.
 ltimate Guide to
U

According to Sega, what’s the

biggest threat to penguins? It’s
not global warming or hungry
leopard seals, no – it’s those
pesky ice-melting Sno-Bees. Only
Pengo can stop them...
Words by Nick Thorpe

P
enguins are excellent. We’re pretty sure
they’re the best flightless birds, as they’re
less egotistical than peacocks and cuter than
ostriches. Even kiwis can’t compare. In fact,
we’re rather convinced that much of the UK’s interest
in maintaining sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is
driven by the desire to have more penguins in British
territory. So it’s no surprise that penguins are a popular
choice for videogame characters, and before the likes
of Piplup, Overbite and Pentarou, Sega gave us Pengo.
Back in the early Eighties, Sega was a big name in
arcade games, but wasn’t the huge operation it would
later become. As a result, it would often make use
of subcontractors – for example, Ikegami Tsushinki
worked on Zaxxon and Congo Bongo. For Pengo,
Sega hired Coreland for the first time in what turned
» [Arcade] Maze desiggns out to be a fruitful relationship – the companies would
typically don’t clusster
many blocks together, work together frequently up to 1986. Thanks to a
allowing Pengo many hidden credits screen, we’re able to properly identify
opportunities to attack. the creative minds behind the game – director Nobuo
Kodera, programmer Akira Nakakuma and designer
Shinji Egi. A fourth staff member named Tsutomu
Iwane is identified in the code, but no role is specified.
Much like Dig Dug earlier in 1982, Pengo is a
maze game that breaks the conventions of the genre

52 | RETRO GAMER
 ULTIMATE GUIDE: PENGO

Conversion Capers
ATARI 2600
1983
QConsidering the limitations of the console,
this is a remarkably full-featured conversion.
The playfield has been rotated to fit horizontal
TVs and uses an 11x8 block maze, but all the
game mechanics are present and correct. The
intermissions don’t make it, but a rendition of
the in-game music does.

ATARI 5200
1983
QThis version uses a 12x10 block maze rather
than the arcade’s 13x15 layout, and generally
plays out at a slower speed, but is otherwise
faithful in terms of scoring and mechanics. The
theme is pretty catchy here, too. As with the
other Atari versions, intermission scenes and
the intro were cut for space.

ATARI 8-BIT
1983
QThe Atari 8-bit version is almost identical to
the Atari 5200 version, which you might expect
if you’re aware of the technological similarities
between the platforms. The music on offer
isn’t quite as rich here, but we will take that
hit if it means not having to use the atrocious
Atari 5200 joystick.

GAME GEAR
1990
QThis pocket-sized Pengo experience is a nifty
little version. In order to fit the entire playfield
on the small display, the game uses small block
by allowing the player to define the maze. The key » [Arcade] That graphics with larger sprites for Pengo and the
red flashing block
difference is that where Dig Dug doesn’t have a preset indicates the Sno-Bees. The Japanese release uses Popcorn,
maze, Pengo does – but rearranging the maze is an location of a egg and the European cartridge uses the original
that has yet to
inevitability, as it’s Pengo’s primary means of attack as hatch.
theme from the later arcade release.
well as the enemy’s most dangerous ability. In order
to defeat the enemies – Sno-Bees – Pengo must push MEGA DRIVE
ice blocks, which slide along until they hit an obstacle 1995
and wipe out anything in their path. However, the Sno- QIncluded on Pepenga Pengo, this version was
Bees can also destroy ice blocks at the cost of a little the first to come close to arcade perfection. It
speed, leaving Pengo with fewer places to hide and initially appears to use the arcade graphics, but
fewer opportunities to attack. What’s more, Sno-Bee closer inspection shows that they are in fact just
eggs are actually hidden in some ice blocks, waiting very close redrawn versions, and Popcorn isn’t
to hatch when their buddies get iced. When all of the used. Unfortunately, there’s no option to choose
Sno-Bees are defeated, or the last one flees from a non-scrolling playfield.
battle, Pengo can move on to the next level.
What made Pengo stand out in the arcade was
its excellent presentation. The titular character was a SATURN
rather cute creation – as well as being well animated 1997
QReleased as part of Sega Ages Memorial
as he darted about the screen, he was a delight to
Selection Volume 1, this is the closest home
watch when tripping up on his way out of a stage,
conversion of Pengo. It uses the Mega Drive
or even when he was caught by the Sno-Bees. An
graphics rather than the original arcade sprites,
animated introduction sequence showed off Pengo
but offers the choice of a regular mode with
and his friends being chased around by the enemies,
slightly smaller graphics or a vertical monitor
and every couple of stages you would see a short
mode for a more authentic experience.
intermission, comprised of colourful penguins briefly
dancing to Ode To Joy.

RETRO GAMER | 53
 Icy What You Did There Want to rack up the points in Pengo? Here are five
important bits of advice…

COMBO CRUSH
QIf you ever get the opportunity to squash more than one
Sno-Bee at a time, take it – your score will go through the roof.
One Sno-Bee is worth 400 points, two will earn you 1,600,
bagging three will net you 3,200, and taking out four rewards
you with a whopping 6,400 points.

BREAK SOME EGGS DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

QEvery so often, the game will flash a few ice blocks to show QAs well as being valuable for their indestructible properties,
the location of the Sno-Bee eggs. Remember these, and if diamond blocks award serious bonuses if connected – 5,000
you’re nearby, break the blocks. Not only do you score an easy points if all are touching the walls, and 10,000 if at least one
victory, you also get 500 points instead of the 400 you’d get for isn’t. This also stuns all of the Sno-Bees in the playing field,
squashing an active Sno-Bee. allowing further point-scoring opportunities.

Q&A: W Sean Hennessy

A look back at the coding of the Atari 8-bit and Atari 5200 versions of Pengo
Had you played Pengo before How long did the conversion take? Were there any features you that
you got the job of converting I think between four to six months. I figure 20 per were proud of?
the game? cent of the Tennis core code was reused, refined Of course we were proud as a team to ship as
I do not recall if I’d played the title or reworked to accommodate Pengo. The test close as possible representation of the Sega
beforehand. We regularly went out cycle between first playable and product release original. Mimi Rogers (art) did her typical
on gameplay safaris to the local arcades. The probably took a month. awesome job on the character conversions. Andy
title was assigned/offered soon aer we shipped Fuchs (audio) delivered the goods. Mind you, I
RealSports Tennis. I seldom refused any task What materials were you given to assist in think Andy did the audio for every title that came
George [Kiss] asked me to take on – I like to think creating the conversion? out of 275. Getting your project on top of the art,
that’s why he offered me a place at Atari and The coin-op sat with other games in the arcade at audio or testing department list of all things to
again at BlueSky. 275 Gibraltar, and I had a thick binder print out of work on required some tact.
the source code (Z80, not 6502).
What did you think of the arcade game? One contemporary magazine review
It mimics other successful coin-op gameplay, for Did you face any memorable challenges complained about the lack of the arcade
example Pac-Man. It was cute and appealed to the when programming Pengo? game’s introduction sequence. Can you
demographic of the home console. Yes. Firstly, for a coin-op conversion the aspect remember why it wasn’t included?
ratio of the display is 90 degrees off. Look at the Bear in mind that the home console is a different
arcade orientation versus home TV. Those pixels venue than that of the arcade. The raison d’etre
on the TV are not square. It plays hell with of the coin-op arcade environment is all about
getting the images size and the corresponding quarters. Every unit in the arcade is screaming
relative velocities to match. We wanted it to feel for the player’s attention with introduction that
the same as coin-op. serve little purpose in the home environment.
Secondly, not to be lured by original source That, and available space was final argument for
code listing. Arcade coin-ops were predominantly all things le out.
custom built hardware. Seldom were the
architectures even close cousins. The CPU and How did you feel about the finished
display chipset were different. The firmware conversion of Pengo?
interfaces to audio, controllers, and display were of It was the third 5200 title in roughly two years
no use. So the source code was a good reference for me. I was glad to be able to deliver on
for the actor logic, but not much else. We had to be George’s goal to support the 5200/800 with
clever about how things were implemented on our titles. Conversions were part of the job and I was
resource constrained console. pleased to do my bit.
» A younger Sean Hen
nessy striking a pos
e.

54 | RETRO GAMER
 ULTIMATE GUIDE: PENGO

STONE COLD STUNNER

QIf you’re by a wall, kicking it will stun any Sno-Bees that
happen to be adjacent to the same wall. Although you can now
defeat them simply by walking over them, that only earns 100
points – if you’re by an ice block, you can still claim the full 400
for crushing a stunned Sno-Bee.

AN ICE TIME
QTry to complete levels as quickly as possible – doing it in
under a minute will bag you a measly ten bonus points, but if
you can do it in under 50 seconds the rewards are much better.
Manage a miraculous time of less than 20 seconds and you’ll get
a massive 5,000 point jackpot.

“I figure 20 per cent of

the Tennis core code was
reused,accommodate
refined orPengo”
reworked to
Sean Hennessy

Speaking of music, Pengo is famous for including delightful characterisation, plenty of

a rendition of Gershon Kingsley’s famously catchy scope to work out your own tactics and
electronic track Popcorn. However, not all versions a catchy melody.”
use this – some arcade boards use an original track, However, Pengo was only a
while some of the home conversions use Popcorn moderate success in arcades. For
and others don’t. Many people believe that the reason western markets, Atari picked up the
for the change was that the music was unlicensed, rights to produce home conversions.
but Japanese accounts suggest that it was used Good versions were produced for the
with permission, evidenced by a JASRAC (Japanese Atari 2600, Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit
Society For Rights Of Authors, Composers And computer range. In a review of the
Publishers) seal affixed to instruction cards to show computer version, Computer & Video » [Arcade] Narrow misses are common in Pengo, especially when
Sno-Bees start smashing through the ice.
that the music was used legitimately. This is why Games awarded scores of 9/10 for
most of the later Japanese home releases continued getting started, 8/10 for graphics, 4/10 for value and
to use Popcorn, while all export versions use the 7/10 for playability. The reviewer was perplexed by battles and more. When it arrived in 1995, it became
alternative tune. So if you remember Popcorn being the lack of intermission screens (“Wot no dancing Sega’s final first-party Mega Drive game in Japan.
used in Pengo, chances are you were playing either an penguins?”) and commented that the conversion Pengo! (distinguished from the original by that
imported board or a bootleg! “generally plays an arcade-authentic game of Pengo,” exclamation mark) was a Japan-only arcade game first
but was “a bit pricey at £24.95.” Owners of non-Atari sighted in 2010, with a huge playfield and support for

W
hen Pengo was unveiled in 1982, machines weren’t left out though, as many unofficial up to eight players, reduced to four in the Xbox 360
Computer & Video Games was effusive clones were sold for a variety of computers. conversion, Ge-Sen Love: Plus Pengo!).
in its praise. Before even finishing the In Japan, Sega didn’t convert the game for the Pengo isn’t one of Sega’s major characters, nor
introduction to its coverage of the game, the SG-1000, and the home computer market was left one of the very brightest stars of the early Eighties
magazine had declared, “Four lucky members of the to purveyors of clones once again. By the time Sega arcade scene. However, there’s still a lot of fun to
C&VG team have so far tried out this cutest of chose to create an official version as a launch game be had with the game in all of its incarnations, so
coin-operated video games and their verdict is for the Game Gear in 1990, the game was already if you haven’t revisited it in a while or you’re new
unanimous… Pengo is the C&VG tip for 1983.” considered retro. It has delivered a couple of updated to its charms, it’s well worth giving it a play some
Assessing the game as a whole, the author wrote, takes on the formula, though. Pepenga Pengo was time soon. After all, penguins are nothing short of
“Pengo is a game apart, with wonderful graphics, a major reworking, with new block behaviour, boss excellent. What could go wrong?

RETRO GAMER | 55
Amiga CD32 hen the first AGA (Advanced
 YEAR: 1993
 MANUFACTURER: Commodore
 COST: £250 (launch), £150+ (today)

The system launched to a solid reception in

W Graphics Architecture) Amiga

computers launched in 1992,
Commodore realised it had a
pretty solid gaming platform on its hands
– it could comfortably claim to offer more
Europe in September 1993 and quickly amassed a
large software library, though the bulk of this was
comprised of legacy Amiga games ported to CD for
a quick profit. Although the console dominated UK
CD software sales during its short life, overtaking
than Sega or Nintendo. So for the third and PC CD-ROM and Mega-CD game sales, it wasn’t
final time, Commodore would attempt to enter enough to save Commodore. The company went
the console market. Unlike the Commodore 64 bankrupt in 1994 and with nobody to manufacture
Games System, the hardware wasn’t outdated, or advertise new units, the CD32 faded into
and unlike the CDTV the price was reasonably irrelevance. When Escom purchased Commodore
affordable to the mass market. With a newly and the Amiga technology later that year, it declined
designed joypad and a (relatively) compact grey to support the CD32 – a sensible move, given the
case, it looked to be a viable contender. impending arrival of the PlayStation and Saturn.
EDITOR’S CHOICE Litil Divil
If you’re going to pick up a brand-new CD-based console, you want something
flashy with which to show it off to your jealous friends, and this action
adventure game fits the bill nicely. Your
goal is to explore a dungeon, avoiding
traps and beating games rooms in
order to get treasure and escape to
the next stage. The cartoon graphics
are colourful and feature some pretty
incredible animation, and the CD
soundtrack that accompanies the
action is a nice touch. Add to that the
lack of a floppy disk version, and Litil
Divil is an ideal CD32 showcase.

Amiga CD32 fact

Q Although not designed for expansion into a full computer, third-party peripherals
exist that allow the connection of a hard disk drive, floppy disk drive, keyboard and
other accessories needed for the equivalent function of an Amiga 1200.

PROCESSOR: 32BIT MOTOROLA 68EC020 CPU 14MHZ

RAM: 2MB MAIN MEMORY
GRAPHICS: AMIGA ADVANCED GRAPHICS ARCHITECTURE 256 COLOURS
INDEXED MODE, 262,144 HOLDANDMODIFY MODE, FROM A PALETTE
OF 16.7 MILLION, 320X256 RESOLUTION
AUDIO: 4X 8BIT PCM CHANNELS
OPERATING SYSTEM: AMIGAOS 3.1 1MB ROM
MEDIA: CDROM UP TO 650MB
STORAGE: 1KB EEPROM
 The Making Of

and

Having Steve
trilogy, enjoyed greatturned
Turner success
hiswith his Seiddab
talents tofamous
a new,
more ambitious type
Spectrum developer of game. We visit the
very to learn more
legendary gamesabout these two
Words by Graeme Mason

he Seiddab games had proved to be out of favour with the press.” Steve correctly

T fruitful for developer Graftgold and

publisher Hewson throughout 1983 and
early 1984. Shoot-‘em-ups, together
th platform games, were still the go-to genre
or publishers, and we once more sit opposite
Seiddab’s creator, Steve Turner, his living room no
S
ss cosy than when we chatted about Graftgold a
onths ago. “I noticed in the magazines,
identifies that Crash and its peers, were key
influencers upon the Spectrum’s audience; if the
mags were getting tired of shooting games, it was
a fair chance Speccy fans were too. “Those games
were like hit singles. I wanted to do something that
was the equivalent of an LP, something that would
last longer than five minutes, and that people would
want to go back and play again and again.”
specially Crash, that the phrase ‘not another
es Several influences converged at this point, all
shoot-‘em-up’ appeared a lot,” he begins. of them contributing towards the idea that would
“They were selling, but quickly going become Avalon. “I used to play a Dungeons &
Dragons-type game called Runequest with Andrew
[Braybrook] and some friends,” continues Steve.
“That got me thinking that a similar thing would be E
IN THE
great on a computer.” For the technical aspect, the KNOW
coder noted Ultimate’s Atic Atac and its clean, top-  PUBLISHER:
down perspective walls. “That taught me that you HEWSON CONSULTANTS
didn’t need a full backdrop, just lines, to suggest  DEVELOPER:
depth. So I experimented with some drawings GRAFTGOLD
to make a display a bit like a theatre, a 3D look  RELEASED:
without it actually being full 3D.” The third influence 1984 AVALON,
informed Avalon’s storyline. A keen fan of history, 1985 DRAGONTORC
Steve drew upon his current reading material,  GENRE:
Geoffrey Ashe’s take on ancient British legends, ZX SPECTRUM
specifically the author’s first book, King Arthur’s  PLATFORM:
Avalon: The Story Of Glastonbury. “I thought it ARCADE ADVENTURE
» [ZX Spectrum] Avalon made the best use it could of the
ZX Spectrum’s limited colours. would be good to put the D&D thing into a myth

58 | RETRO GAMER
 » alonl n andd
Dragontorc’s creator,
Stevve Turner.

» Booth Avalon and

D gontorc contained
Drag
a lovely map and
c fully constructed
care
p m, both from the
poem
hand of Steve.

» [ZX Spectrum]
S The
player began Avalon with
just Maroc’s move spell.

everybody knows, and was also aware that if you

could put a recognisable name in, it could become With an idea for Avalon’s display, Steve began
a lot more popular.” to create sample screens and devise gameplay. “I
Dipping into the Arthurian legends reveals a thought about all the kind of things I could do with
list of notable events associated with the Isle Of the game, like pick up objects, put objects on other
Avalon. Steve explains, “The area has always objects, use magic, hide things and so on. And I had
been associated with myth, so I thought it would to invent a way of getting it all into 48k.” Achieving
make a superb setting.” Considered to be the Avalon’s desired screen view, a pseudo-3D effect,
area where Arthur recovered after the battle of was Steve’s first task. “I’d had a border around a
Camlann and also the birthplace of Excalibur, the couple of my previous games, a console around
developer created a story tied into the legends, the space ship, and wanted to keep that because
with a sizeable dab of his own fertile imagination. it gave a sense of depth, narrowed down the area
“I tried to key in as much as I could to real places, you had to plot, and reduced what you had to
creating the illusion of reality, even through fantasy. move around the screen.” Steve took the panels
I invented this story of the wizards of the age having from his Seiddab games and adapted them for the
a battle with the lord of dark forces, all going on new scenario, before working out what was going
underground before the area is sealed off.” The to take place inside the border. “I started out on
player must revisit the scene of the battle as the evil paper,” he divulges, opening a folder and revealing
lord once more threatens the land. “I got the idea a glorious spread of 35-year-old drawings. “And
from Tolkien, because he created what seemed a drew a Spectrum-sized screen, cut it out from blank
real world, and it had a history, and then hints of paper, and drew scenes on another piece of
history.” Furthermore, in Geoffrey Ashe’s book,
the top of a staff is discovered in the excavated
hill. Steve used this as a basis for the staff which
Avalon’s wizard, named Maroc, carries around.
“Maroc was the character invented for my son,
Mark, when he used to attend our D&D sessions,
aged two or three at the time. He had his own
character, a mage, so I thought I might as well use
that.” Maroc, a gatherer of knowledge of the old
ways, is accosted by an old woman sometime in
the year 408AD. The Roman Empire is fleeing and
barbarian hordes are on the cusp of invading. But
it’s the Lord Of Chaos who presents the biggest
danger to the land, and it appears Maroc is the only
one who can stop him. One night, the mage makes
his way to the Isle Of Avalon, and prepares to battle
the forces of evil. Through the Caverns Of Doom,
Goblin Warren and Catacombs Of The Dead, Maroc
must venture, before the final confrontation with » [ZX Spectrum] The theatre-style display was broken up
the Lord Of Chaos himself. with the occasional vertically scrolling scene.

RETRO GAMER | 59
 paper, moving them behind so I could see what
it looked like. It was a good way of getting an idea
of the scale, and I needed fixed angles so I could
“I thought
would be it
good
use the same graphics over and over again.” Now
the theatre comparison came to the fore as Steve
realised that they usually contained two sides, set at
an angle, with a suitable backdrop panel. “I thought
tothing
put the
into D&D
a
that would work, graphics side and back. I had the
horizon from Lunattack made out of a line of sprites,
so started out with that, which became the back of
myth know”
everybody
the room.” Next came a small segment of bricks
Steve Turner
to fortify the illusion of a wall, along with diagonals
and corners. “And that scrolled around pretty well,
so I added more substance, such as the higher character fly. “But I still needed to animate him in
corners of the room. You don’t need a lot to have eight directions, so bought some plasticine and
the illusion, and I did this all first as I knew if it didn’t made a little wizard model. Then I sketched him
work I’d have to rethink the whole game again.” from eight directions, and got that into the game
Avalon’s central graphic, Maroc the wizard, was in a standard sprite routine.” At this point, Avalon
the first major problem that presented itself. “I began to form for definite as Steve admired the
needed him to be quite big, and realised that if I solid, yet swift way in which the hero moved. “He’d
started animating a walking wizard, I was going to rise up from the floor, and then settle down. So I
run out of graphics fast.” Steve’s logical solution, needed a shadow in order to enforce this, which
considering Maroc’s profession, was to have the Hewson called a flying carpet!” Keen to emphasise
his LP-rather-than-single tenet, he created a
relatively huge amount of objectives and task for
the player to compete, and set them all within a
gargantuan map of 255 screens. “After the game’s
release, a magazine demanded a solution. I said,
‘Not yet! Give it time!’” laughs Steve. “They were
expecting a list of about ten things the player had to
do, but it was pages and pages long for Avalon.”

ork proceeded efficiently on Avalon;

W both Steve and Andrew Braybrook had

a background in programming before
writing games, and this gave them
an edge in the early days of the Spectrum and
Commodore 64. “There was no assembler back
then, it was all keyed in [using] REM statements,”
remembers Steve. “The actual code was hex as
well, I’d write it on squared paper, the code down
» [ZX Spectrum] Enemies frequently ganged up on Maroc, pursuing one side and down the other I’d hand-assemble
him from room to room. it into hex. Then I had a hex autoloader, which

Ancient Britain T WARRIORS

Five more games of yore

d by Dinamic, those lords of the

Camelot Warriors thrusts the player
dle ages in search of items that have
world from the modern day. Pick
, give it to a guardian, and it’s job
eh? NB: it’s not easy.

E DEFENDER OF THE CROWN

1986
QWith England’s king dead and the country in
chaos, it is up to a chosen Saxon hero to hold off
the threat of those dastardly French. Jousting,
castles and damsels in distress, all the fun of the
twelfth century is here, with the added bonus of
no deadly infectious diseases.

60 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: AVALON & DRAGONTORC

Piracy
Prevention
How the Spectrum combated piracy
LENSLOK
QAh, Lenslok. The optical
input challenge that required
» [ZX Spectrum] Despite accusations of similarity to its predecessor, Dragontorc perfect 20/20 vision, a finely-
actually contains new graphics, including this atmospheric take on Stonehenge. tuned in television and an
Olympic level of dexterity. First
I’d written myself, which changed the hex into bundled with the renowned
assembler. It allowed me to put labels in, which Elite, Lenslok was used with a number of high-end products.
was a godsend, so I could identify the code using a Unfortunately, frustration from genuine users meant it never
key.” Avalon was taking shape, and it was clear to stood a chance, and pirates cracked it easily anyway.
its creator that nothing like it had been seen on the
Spectrum. “I felt the player needed to feel where SPEEDLOCK
they were and interact with things. I thought this QThere were quite a few
was new territory, and was sure it would work.” different types of loaders
With his demo ready, Steve visited Hewson, DEVE for the Spectrum, and most
confident Andrew Hewson, would like what he
had to show him. “I had a wizard and three rooms,
HIGHLI of them were designed with
fooling professional pirates
with doors, walls and a sample object you could 3D SEIDDAB A in mind. Created by David
open, which was also the wizard as I didn’t have SYSTEM: ZX Looker and David Aubrey-Jones, this fast loader disrupted and
any other graphics.” Fortunately it was enough for YEAR: 1983
locked up any disassembler that was running beside it. Critically,
the publisher to appreciate this was going to be QUAZATRON however, it didn’t work against Multiface devices.
something special. Continues Steve, “I then made SYSTEM: ZX
a mock-up of a level with a few more graphics that YEAR: 1986
he could show the press, at the same time twisting
COLOUR CODE
RANARAMA CHART
his arm to get more royalties.” Steve’s first game, SYSTEM: ZX QIncluded with smash hit Jet
3D Space Wars, had taken six weeks from start to AMSTRAD, C
Set Willy was a small sheet
finish; its sequel double that, and then double again YEAR: 1987
of coloured squares. Upon
for 3D Lunattack. Also the developer considered his
loading, the player had to type
efforts and the potential game to be worthy of an
in the correct colour from
impressive box akin to the products from Ultimate.
the reference requested otherwise the game crashed. This
“It was a way to avoid piracy,” explains Steve, “by
was another early innovation that largely enjoyed success until
making people want to own the whole package,
enterprising playground pirates simply copied the chart.
give better perceived value for money.” Hewson’s
choice of soft clamshell case was a halfway
POWERLOAD
QFirst utilised by Incentive
Software, the Powerload
was another loader that
LORDS OF THE REALM sought to disrupt local
1994 dissemblers and prevent
QA century after the events of Defender of The hacking and copying software.
Crown, another king has snuffed it, and there’s Again, it was used with a high-end products such as the Graphic
a war of attrition ensuing to see who succeeds Adventure Creator, it was also highly susceptible to the wiles of
him. A strategy game of not inconsiderable Romantic Robot’s Multiface peripheral.
quality or complexity from British developer
Impressions, there have been two sequels since. HARDWARE
ADDON
QOf course, the best way
of combating piracy was to
MEDIEVAL: TOTAL W include a piece of hardware
2002 that you needed in order to
QCreative Assembly’s second Tot make the game work. The
shifted the action from feudal Jap most famous example was Mikro-Gen’s Shadow Of The Unicorn,
Europe, of which England was a p which came with the Mikro-plus expansion pack. Unfortunately
dynasty. Now at last you could lay the game was distinctly average, and poor sales virtually
regions of Europe, and pause for bankrupted the software house.
whenever things got a bit too hect
 compromise, and a (supposedly) photocopier-
proof code sheet was included to piracy-protect the
game. The package was rounded off with a poem
and map, both printed on parchment-style paper,
and created by Steve himself.
Exploration
Nation While graphically impressive, it was under the
hood where the magic of Avalon really takes place.
Even in noted games such as the aforementioned
Atic Atac, enemies would be generated randomly
8-bit games with huge maps within each room the player entered. “I wanted to
make the meanies dangerous and semi-intelligent,”
TANTALUS says Steve, “And also for them to be grounded
QAfter his first game, in proper physics, to make it as real as I could.”
Strontium Dog: The Killing, Maroc would start Avalon only able to use his
coder Paul Hargreaves move spell. The theory was for the player to learn
cemented his reputation with about controlling the wizard before collecting the
this maze game. As one of fire spell that meant they could at least fight back.
four mutants attempting Helpful, as fleeing, was not always a successful
to assassinate a crime lord, Tantalus encompasses an eye- solution. “I designed the meanies to follow you,”
watering 1024 screens according to reviews, and, as you might smiles Steve, “so if you went into another room,
expect, many of them looked very similar. they’d soon reappear. In order to lose them, you
needed to put more than one room between you
NONTERRAQUEOUS and them.” These little complexities are what bring
QAnother mooted 1,000-plus Avalon alive, and each had to be programmed
screen game, this budget efficiently. “I had a set of movement patterns for
release offered outstanding each creature depending on how it felt,” recalls
value for money, if nothing Steve. “If they were dressed in armour and
else. Ruled by an evil powerful, they’d be bold. Others kept their distance
computer, an alien planet have until you approached. Many would flee, especially
decided to construct a robot to seek out and destroy the tinpot if you cast a spell.” Unable to code specific routines
terror. Naturally, that’s where you come in, and there’s a world of due to memory restrictions, Steve used a stack
traipsing around extremely similar screens awaiting you. of eight random numbers that drove the enemy
movements, in a cycle that changed every fifth of a
second. Playing around with these numbers gave
FIRELORD
Steve an impressive-looking range of movements
QBy the time of Firelord, with lovely
» Lots of classic games came
you into the
programmer Steve Crow stylised maps that helped pull
Dragontorc
had already produced two game world and Graftgold’s
was no exception.
maze classics in Bubble Bus
Software’s Wizard’s Lair and
Starquake. Playing the gallant
knight, Sir Galaheart, there are 500 screens of bucolic medieval
England to explore, fire ghosts to zap and locals to trade with or
steal from. Graphically beautiful, and maddeningly huge, Firelord
is another mapper’s paradise.

UNDERWURLDE
QAfter Knight Lore, many saw
Underwurlde as a step back
for Ultimate. In fact, it was
an ace game in its own right,
and scored a deserved Smash
from Crash back in late 1984.
Continuing the story of the Sabreman, the game features 52
levels with over five hundred screens in total.

EXPLORER
QThis is it. This is the big
one. Advertised heavily on
the back of its screen count,
Explorer boasted an incredible
40 million-plus locations,
although in essence they
were identical save the odd building or pile of rocks. Using a
procedurally generated system and limiting the amount of data
stored in RAM, Explorer is a technical achievement, for sure, but
not much of a game.

62 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: AVALON & DRAGONTORC

“Itowanted
make
the meanies
dangerous
and semi-
intelligent” Steve Turner

that were varied enough to make the player feel

they were being stalked, avoided or attacked.

iven the level of commitment and

G time invested in Avalon, it was

Graftgold’s plan to create a series of
games based around its base engine.
Dragontorc followed a year later, but it was no
mere update. “I was thinking constantly of what
more I could do with the game, but didn’t want to
replace all the systems, just lift them a little bit,”
explains Steve. Into the sequel came more spells,
greater variety of enemies and afflictions such
as poison and blindness. “The races in the game » [ZX Spectrum] Arriving in the mystical woods in Dragontorc.
would also act differently, depending on how you
behaved towards them. For example, elves were people struggled getting through them.” Despite
apathetic unless you gave them a gem or a bow, these improvements, Dragontorc failed to improve
then they’d follow and kill your enemies for you.” on its predecessor’s sales. “It was similar to what
This becomes a useful tactic toward the end of the happened to Gargoyle and its fantasy trilogy,”
game where invisible opponents plague Maroc. notes Steve. “They did two games and then sales
Steve devised another plot for the sequel, once dropped off. A lot of big sci-fi movies were out,
more based in ancient Britain, this time imperiled so we, like they, shifted to a space theme.” While
by a witch known as Morag the shapeshifter. “I Gargoyle created Marsport, Steve produced the
worked out the prehistory better this time,” says brilliant space adventure Astroclone. However,
Steve, “which gave me all the artefacts you needed he didn’t forget about his magical trilogy. “At that
to try and complete the adventure. I pieced it point it never got much past the initial idea,” he
» Hewson’s advertising at
all together and wrote the poem. I was learning remembers, “but with the advent of the 16-bits the time made it
quite clear you were getting
to link it all up better.” The developer had also I did try and resurrect it. It had to be completely value for money.

analysed what gamers found frustrating about different in order to avoid copyright problems
Avalon. “There were more spells available from with Hewson, and we put a prototype together.”
the start; I also made the door frames bigger as The game, Dragonwrath, was based around a
young King Arthur, and picked up by publisher
Warners, impressed with its multi-layered parallax
graphics. “No one else understood it,” laments
Steve. “Everyone just wanted polygons, while we
had a preprocessed room with these graphics you
could move between.” Alas, three months in the
publisher got cold feet and pulled the plug.
But no matter; for leaving an indelible mark on
ZX Spectrum games history, Steve Turner can be
proud. His technical skills ensured classic status
for both Avalon and Dragontorc. “We believed in
framerate for playability,” he concludes, “And an
instantaneous warp between rooms, as loading
spoiled the flow. You do it so the data is of a
format that can be picked up quickly. It was one
of my trademarks.” After Astroclone, fancying a
change, Steve had a crack at isometric games with
Quazatron. But it’s his brace of arcade adventures
that he recalls most fondly. “No other arcade games
of the time had the same depth,” he reminisces.
“And the interesting thing was it never just dropped
off the sales charts . It seemed that when people
» [ZX Spectrum] As with Avalon, failure in Dragontorc
started playing it, they continued to play it – which
produces this withering announcement. is exactly what I wanted them to do.”
T MAKING OF

DIDDY’S KONG QUEST

OU GH TH E MA SS IV E SU CCESS OF DONKEY KONG
ALTH AN IN EV ITABILITY, GREGG
COUNTR Y MADE A SE QU EL
S HOW A BIGG ER , BE TTER FOLLOW-UP
AYLES REVEAL THE PLAN
HAD ALWAYS BEEN PARTe OF
Words by Rory Miln

G
iven that Rare’s Donkey Kong Country was the environments that the game
g could
IN THE the fastest-selling game of 1994, it might be take place in, which require ed Gregg’s
KNOW reasonable to assume that pressure would team to think outside the box ox and create
 PUBLISHER: NINTENDO have been applied on the developer by its something different. “Similar to the first game,
 DEVELOPER: RARE publisher Nintendo to rapidly produce a sequel. we just sat down and thought about themes
 RELEASED: 1995 But as Rare’s Gregg Mayles explains, the push for worlds,” Gregg recalls, “and I guess we had
 PLATFORM: SNES, GBA to develop Donkey Kong Country 2 was entirely exhausted all the obvious ones in the first game:
internal. “I think the pressure was on ourselves,” the jungle, the caves, the mines and the forest. So
ENRE: PLATFORMER
 GE
Gregg reflects. “We had started on DKC 2 before the backgrounds and the worlds in the second one
we realised just how successful the first one was were a little bit more out there. That’s where the
– everything happened so fast. We always knew ‘hive’ level and the ‘bramble’ level and all the edgier
there were things we didn’t have time to do in stuff came from – and the pirate stuff.”
the first one that we would like to do in a second As well as providing inspiration for level themes,
one, so we started thinking about it, and pirates also defined the overall narrative that the
then as soon as the first one became DKC 2 team created for their follow-up. “I’ve had an
successful it became a formality.” almost life-long interest in pirates,” Gregg enthuses.
The thoughts for Rare’s sequel “I think they’re a fascinating bunch of characters.
began with consideration of I guess pirates have always been painted as

» Gregg is still at
Rare today, currently
he’s sailing thhe high
seas, working g on
Sea Of Thieves.
 COLLECT ‘EM ALL!
Everything you can collect in DKC 2

BARRELS
Q Technically single-use weapons
rather than collectibles. As well
as standard and TNT variants,
there are DK barrels that can bringg
Diddy or Dixie back to life.

BANANAS
Q Collect one hundred bananas
to gain an extra life. Additionally,
bananas are often positioned to
give you a clue to the direction you
should be going in.

» [SNES] Diddy deftly lobs an explosive barrel to make

COINS
Q There are Banana coins to pay
short work of a foe.
for services, DK coins that decide
your position in a hall of fame

“THE TEAM WAS and Kremkoins to pay the toll to

access a lost world.

VERY YOUNG – I WAS

PROBABLY 23 AT KONG TILES
Q These have one of the four

THE TIME” letters in ‘Kong’ stamped on them

and are hidden around levels.
Gregg Mayles Each time that you collect all four
tiles you get an extra life.
» [SNES] Krow’s weakness is eggs; as long as you’ve got one he’ll
freespirited people that did their own thing, which take damage when he attacks.
masks the truth that they were probably a bunch KANNONBALLS
of scumbags! Donkey Kong Country was very Q Besides being useful as close
‘jungle-y’ themed – when you think of gorillas and they fitted in. We almost certainly had some ideas and long range weapons, when
monkeys you think of jungles, so it was the obvious that we carried over from Donkey Kong Country, but kannonballs are carried to and
thing to go to. For the second one we wanted to do certainly not levels; they were all brand new.” dropped into cannons they blast
something a bit different, and I guess just because Another fresh aspect of Donkey Kong Country 2 Diddy and Dixie to a bonus level.
we liked pirates it became an easy choice.” was a new player character called Dixie Kong,
whose inclusion required Donkey Kong to sit out
CRATES
H
aving dreamt up locations for their pirate his own sequel. “The team was very young – I was
platformer, Gregg and his team next took a probably 23 at the time,” Gregg points out, “and QSimilar to standard barrels,
decidedly analogue approach to populating I think when you’re that young you’re prepared to although less durable, crates are
those locations. “We would have a board take risks. We wanted to do something that would never the less worth throwing at
with all these Post-it notes with ideas for levels, surprise people. The gameplay was set, but we enemies that are too tough to take
where there was, like, tyres that you bounced on wanted to introduce a new character, so we were out by jumping on them.
or a thing that was chasing you,” Gregg notes. “So either going to have to take Diddy out or take the
the levels all started off life as ideas, and then when braver, bolder step of taking Donkey Kong out. It
we had chosen the ideas we decided which world worked out okay. I think otherwise we would have CHESTS
got a bit of a roasting from the marketing people!” QEssentially the same as

An unintended side-benefit of Dixie’s introduction standard barrels, except that they

was that her ponytail could double as a whip or a give up collectibles when they takee
helicopter blade, but the character’s gender wasn’t out an opponent and don’t break
influenced by the pros of long hair or a push for when they hit the ground.
female representation. “I think we decided it was
going to be a female character before the hair; the
hair didn’t lead the decision,” Gregg clarifies. “And
EXTRA LIVES
QRed, green or blue replicas of
it was certainly nothing to do with female gamers
Diddy’s noggin in balloon form.
– to me, if you enjoy the games you enjoy the
They typically appear at the end
games. I’m sure Dixie came from some of the early
oof each level but will quickly float
concept sketches. Someone drew her with a big,
away if not collected.
long ponytail; I think it was because they wanted to
make it flow behind her as she ran. I saw that and

RETRO GAMER | 65
 A guide to Diddy and Dixie’s friends

SQUAWKS SQUITTER
QAs well as being able to fly around areas QSquitter’s abilities are both web-based but
that would be otherwise inaccessible, work completely differently. His webshots
Squawks has a never-ending supply of are a decent range weapon, while his web
pellets that he can spit at opponents. platforms float in midair.

RAMBI ENGUARDE
QA thick skin and a spiky horn allow Rambi QLike Rambi, Enguarde has a move that he
to dispatch foes that Diddy and Dixie can’t, can use to break into bonus sections. He can
and his ‘supercharge’ lets him smash down also take down enemies with his sharp nose
walls to access bonus areas. and has two swimming speeds.

» [SNES] Alternating crosswinds make guiding Squawks through

this thorny maze a daunting challenge.

“but we had none of that in the second one so that

gave us the freedom to have different backgrounds
for the bosses. A lot of the bosses in the first game
were fairly similar, where as the ones in the second
one – like the giant sword with the hooks – allowed
us to go a bit more out there and think about the
things in the levels and try to build them into the
» [SNES] The final showdown with K Rool ends with his
blunderbuss getting plugged with a cannon. boss battles.”

T
thought: ‘Oh. We can do something with that.’ You he design philosophy for Donkey Kong
would think it was part of the design, but really it Country’s follow-up also underwent a
was just one of those happy coincidences.” radical overhaul, with the emphasis shifting
Dixie wasn’t the only new player character in from speed-run-friendly to exploration.
DE
EVELOPER DKC 2, however, as unlike the original game, the
second Donkey Kong Country would have stages
“If we had made it speed runs again then there
wouldn’t have been much scope for us to go
HIG
GHLIGHTS where the Kongs could change into their animal anywhere different with it,” Greg argues. “We
DONKEY KONG friends. “You got so used to riding them that wanted to maintain the same ‘go first’ gameplay
COUNTRY PICTURED transforming into them was the next logical step,” where all the barrels and baddies were set up so if
SYSTEM: SNES, GAME Gregg reasons. “I also didn’t want the size of the you went first time – or got the timing right – then
BOY COLOR, GAME BOY monkeys to get in the way of what they could do. the levels were very fluid, but I also wanted to add
ADVANCE The vision for the parrot was that it was a small something new to it. So the first one was very
YEAR: 1994 character that was very agile, and adding the linear, and the second one introduced exploration.”
DONKEY KONG monkeys to it made it not a small character that In particular, Donkey Kong Country 2 would
COUNTRY 2 wasn’t very agile. So it was a case of the physical feature many more optional bonus stages that
SYSTEM: SNES, GAME size that they took up on the screen if the monkeys could only be located if you followed the clues to
BOY ADVANCE were there as well.” their whereabouts. “The first game had its bonus
YEAR: 1995 Of course, as well as new protagonists, Gregg’s routes, but you either found them or you didn’t,”
BANJOKAZOOIE team were also coming up with fresh antagonists Gregg concedes. “Certainly those giant DK coins
SYSTEM: N64, XBOX 360 for their sequel, of which the bosses got particular in the second one, we really went to town with
YEAR: 1998 attention. “In the first game, a proportion of the trying to conceal those. There was a pattern to
time was spent developing the tech and working the first game where you started to look at all the
out how to build the backgrounds,” Gregg recalls, walls knowing that there might be a secret entrance
 THE
E MAKING OF: DONKEY KONG COUNTRY 2

CLAPPER QUAWKS
QWhen Clapper is jumped on by Diddy or QA palette-swapped Squawks that can’t fly
Dixie, he obligingly cools down lethally hot up or fire pellets. In the only stage Quawks
water or freezes bodies of water containing appears in he provides Diddy and Dixie with
schools of monkey-eating fish. a slow, controlled descent.

RATTLY GLIMMER
QBy using his coiled tail, Rattly can jump QBesides being invulnerable to foes,
much higher than Diddy or Dixie. He also has Glimmer can light the way for Diddy and
a ‘superjump’ move that’s required to ascend Dixie when they’re navigating the pitch black
DKC 2’s Toxic Tower stage. waters of DKC 2’s Glimmer’s Galleon.

“WE WANTED TO HAVE AD

how can we rack that up another level to make the
collecting more involved?’”

BIT MORE INTRIGUE AN

Less involved, though, was the game’s publisher
Nintendo, which trusted Rare explicitly to deliver a

TRY TO EXTEND THE great Donkey Kong Country sequel. “Nintendo had
less involvement with DKC 2;” Gregg confirms, “I

PLAYING TIME” Gregg Mayles

just can’t remember much communication with it at
all. I think the success of the first one gave us some
sort of trust – even though we had a huge amount
of trust in the first game – but on the second game
there, where as in the second one we wanted to it was almost at the point where Nintendo didn’t
hide those coins in all sorts of hopefully clever feel it needed to get involved at all.”
places that people could try to figure out.”

W
But as well as bonus levels, the DKC 2 team also ith Nintendo’s approval seemingly a
created a ‘lost world’ that could only be accessed foregone conclusion, Donkey Kong
after collecting enough coins from certain bonus Country 2 Diddy’s Kong Quest was
rounds. “We wanted to have a bit more intrigue released to rapturous reviews
and try to extend the playing time;” Gregg explains, and brisk sales, although Gregg recollects
“having those extra levels that you had to earn was taking the game’s success in his stride. “At
just one of the ideas that we came up with. Rather the time, I was still very young, and I guess
than having bonus levels that you found on a level, to a certain extent I didn’t appreciate what
they were effectively bonus levels that you had to we had done. We just wanted to make a better
work towards through the entire game. So every version of the first one. So it came out and it didn’t
level had its own immediate hidden rewards, but sell as many as the first one, obviously, because
the game also had a hidden reward at the end.” the first one was very different, but it was certainly
Rather than limiting DKC 2’s collectibles to the more critically acclaimed.”
game’s bonus stages, however, Greg and his team In reviewing his game with hindsight, Gregg
additionally crammed the follow-up’s core levels doesn’t offer any tweaks, and when asked to
with surreal pick-ups such as banana coins and choose between DKC 2 and its predecessor he
» [SNES] As well as traditional platforming,
extra life balloons, which Gregg puts down to applies a degree of diplomacy. “I don’t think I’d Donkey Kong Country 2 has several underwater
responding to popular demand. “In the first game make any changes; I try not to look backwards too sections to navigate
navigate.
you collected stuff, but it was quite lightweight. We often. The first one was the groundbreaker; but the
then just tried to experiment with pushing that a second one was a better version. I think the first
little bit further. It was just the feeling that people one was better in terms of ‘wow factor’, but Donkey
liked collecting and finding stuff in the first one, and Kong Country 2 was a better game in terms of the
going: ‘Okay, well we’ll give them more of that then. gameplay. So I guess we’ll call it
What else can we give them to collect or an honourable draw.”

RETRO GAMER | 67
 P I N G O L D S ALIVE
K E E
T
he dear readers of Retro the so-called classics you’ve heard
WE SPEAK TO Gamer will be more of, but never played. It’s all too easy

THE FANS AND than aware than most

o the issue of videogame
of
to leave them entombed as a vague
nostalgic memory, a fabled turning
DEVELOPERS p
preservation. The medium’s
intimate relation to the technology
point that many know the significance
of, but few actually bother to
INJECTING NEW it is played on means its history is
always at threat, whether that be due
experience themselves, or, worse, for
them to be forgotten almost entirely.
LIFE INTO THE to the degradation of physical media,
or the more modern phenomenon
That is to say, even if videogames
don’t face literal death, there is always
VIDEOGAMES THEY of online services being shut down the risk of a metaphorical one. Just as
by publishers. But even putting a cryogenically frozen person in a
LOVE TO FIND OUT aside the issue of literal preservation, sci-fi novel does not truly live until

WHY THEY DO WHAT videogames’ symbiotic relationship

with technology also puts their legacy
they are thawed out, a videogame
that’s stored as a collection of ones
THEY DO AND WHY at risk in a less concrete way. This
isn’t the only industry where the focus
and zeroes on a hard drive must be
played if we are to say it is still alive.
SOME VIDEOGAMES tends to be on ‘the next big thing’,
but it is one where it’s progressively
Fortunately, there are people
fighting against videogame entropy.
REFUSE TO DIE harder to revisit the games you’ve
tossed aside over the years, or even
People who are working hard to keep
old games going in a variety of ways
Words by Paul Walker-Emig and for a number of reasons.
Fabian Woltermann is the lead on
one such project. The Freespace 2
Source Code Project is a fan-run
initiative that’s been enhancing the
Freespace 2 engine and keeping it
running on modern systems since
Volition released the game’s source
code to the community in 2002.
“At first, it was just fans doing
what they wanted to do,” Fabian
replies when we ask him about the
» Fabian
F b motivations behind the project. “The
Woltermann is source code that was released to us
the lead on the » [PC] Some more detailed models and updated effects
Freespace 2 courtesy of the Source Code Project make Freespace 2 a lacked certain parts. The multiplayer
Source Code pleasure to revisit. matchmaking component had to be
Project.

68 | RETRO GAMER
 EXTRA LIFE: KEEPING OLD GAMES ALIVE

» [PC] Brutal Doom ramps up the violenc

e with a variety of death animations, dismem
berment and splashes of blood.

ripped out. The cutscene code had community,” Fabian tells us. “Volition
to be ripped out, all for licensing included the mission design tool
reasons. And so, people recreated that they had in the engine and
those portions to get the game to the basically told people to go nuts, be
point it was at on release.” creative and share their missions.
Fabian tells us that fans were also That set the tone for what people
making their own missions, tinkering were doing with this game.” Fabian
with the engine, and adding things to explains that the game’s openness
the game that they thought were cool, to creativity, combined with its
but that there came a point where a efficient, minimalist storytelling, left
mission to preserve the game they players with a desire to fill in the
all loved was formalised. “I think it gaps. “When Freepace 2 ended on
was in about 2004/2005 where we a massive cliffhanger, and with the » [PC] Ever want to flip the bird at an enemy you don’t like?
Brutal Doom has got you covered.
as the people who are in control of existing creativity in the community,
the central source code repository that was the starting point for a lot of
decided that one thing we need to do people to ask, ‘Okay, what’s next?’. ideas, we don’t want to tell them, ‘No,
is always make sure Freespace 2 retail Or, ‘What happened in the time skip you can’t do that.’ That’s certainly
is playable on modern machines. That between Freespace and Freespace contributed to the longevity of our
became goal number one,” Fabian 2?’” hence the creation of the Blue community as a whole and, as a
says. “We’re careful to make sure that Planet campaign, which follows on result, this project.” » arcos Sgt
any changes we make do not effect from the events of Freespace 2. Then Marcos Abenante, better known Mark IV’ Abenante is
the modder behind
Freespace 2, or at the very least, only there are undertakings like Babylon as Sgt Mark IV, the creator of the Brutal Doom.
correct mistakes, obvious bugs that Project, which “took everything from Brutal Doom mod, echoes some of
Volition introduced, to preserve what the Babylon 5 TV show and turned Fabian’s thoughts as he explains why
Freespace 2 was intended to be.” it into a game”, Diaspora, a Battlestar Doom, the game that’s captured his
However, what’s great about the Galactica-themed mod, and Wing Of imagination, has refused to die.
Source Code Project is that it hasn’t Dawn, an attempt to use the engine to “Modding is an essential part of
stopped at keeping Freespace 2 alive create a kind of visual novel. the Doom experience,” Marcos says,
through literal preservation. It’s also “When we decided that Freespace explaining that the ease with which
done it by turning the game into was going to be the one thing that Id Software made it possible to make
a tool for people to express their we are guaranteeing can always be levels for the game helped create
creativity, continuing in the spirit of played, we also had to make sure the kind of community that would
the original game. that those projects don’t get screwed inevitably help sustain it. “There is
“Volition has always been over by that,” Fabian insists. “When virtually infinite content generated
very supportive of the modding someone comes around with new by the fanbase, around 50,000 or

RETRO GAMER | 69
 F

60,000 levels maybe,” he suggests, Skulltag (now Zandronum) and weapon specific death animations.
while also pointing out that the how much stuff they could add to Brutal Doom was born.
evolution of the tools means it is far the original game, so I started to It has become one of Doom’s
more flexible than Doom (2016) and dissect some mods such as Doom best-known mods. We’d suggest
its Snapmap editor. Reinforced, The Monster Resource its success can be attributed to the
That potential is what has kept Wad, Beautiful Doom and NeoDoom, way it zones in on and amplifies the
Marcos with the game so long. He to see how their code works, and then elements that made the original game
tells us that he first encountered I started working on my first mod, great. When you play it, you still feel
Doom on the Sega Saturn in the ArmageDoom.” like you’re playing Doom, despite all
Nineties, played it again on the PC Marcos describes ArmageDoom the changes. It has the same intensity
in the early Noughties, and then as “a mess of half-baked ideas”, but and gives you that same feeling of
dived into the modding scene it took him onto bigger and better exhilaration you first had playing
towards the end of the decade. “I things. His next mod focused on the Doom. Or perhaps you could argue
got fascinated with the capabilities core systems, adding more blood, that it reimbues it with an intensity
of the sourceports like ZDoom and the ability to perform headshots and and sense of exhilaration that might
be lost in the modern era. In Marcos’
words, it’s “Doom the way you
remember it as a kid”.
And Marcos isn’t finished yet. “I
have seen more and more people
calling Brutal Doom, ‘What Doom
should have been if id Software had
the time and the technology to do
everything they wanted,’ so this is the

» [PC] Brutal Doom utilises the retro aesthetic of old Doom and brings the gameplay up to modern standards.

STILL B URNS Games kept alive by loyal fans

THE SOUL

PHANTASY STAR ONLINE SUBSPACE

STALKER: SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL QThis Asteroids-esque MMO shooter didn’t last long,
QThis pioneering MMO was almost killed when the
QThis cult classic survival horror FPS has performed its
servers were switched off, first for Dreamcast and effectively being abandoned a year after its 1997 release as
own feat of survival, thanks to its dedicated fanbase. A
GameCube and then for Xbox and PC. Its fans came to the developer Virgin Interactive Entertainment ran into trouble
strong mod scene has kept the game going for a decade,
rescue, though, setting up their own servers to keep PSO and sold much of its assets to Electronic Arts. However,
most notably through the standalone project Lost Alpha.
going. It’s remarkable that over a decade since Sega shut fans stuck with the game and, in 2015, a fan-developed
Drawing on old promo images, previews, and leaked
down Phantasy Star Online, there are several servers to version called Subspace Continuum got a free-to-play
builds, Lost Alpha recreates cut content and introduces new
choose from, each with a healthy pool of players. release on Steam.
systems to create an incredible Stalker experience.

70 | RETRO GAMER
 EXTRA LIFE: KEEPING OLD GAMES ALIVE

The vast majority of our games

were implemented by folks who just
loved them and have nostalgia
Eugene Sandulenko

direction I decided to take, making their own opcodes, address spaces

the ‘Doomiest version of Doom’.” etc. Basically, we rewrite the original
This has included “adding weapons games as they were developed with
and features that were planned in use of our hardware abstraction
the Alpha version of the game”, layer, OSystem, which in turn makes
drivable tanks, visual tweaks, and them work on any platforms where
lots more. Marcos won’t be the only OSystem was ported. Emulators
one keeping Doom alive and kicking. implement virtual computers, and » [PC] Revolution Software released Beneath A Steel Sky
He argues that the combination then the original code is executed as freeware in 2003, opening it up for use on ScummVM
of an implied bigger universe and there. As a result, they demand much without any of those legal grey areas.

accessible modding tools means not more resources than ScummVM

only that “Doom is still being modded does, as ScummVM, for instance, implemented by folks who just loved
over two decades after its release”, uses your operating system them and have nostalgia.”
but that it “will probably still be for capabilities for writing to your hard Reviving an old game may be
two decades more.” disc, and emulators need to have a about personal passion, or, Eugene
virtual HD for the same purposes.” suggests, enjoying the challenge of » Eugene Sandulenko
is helping keep
ot every community We asked Eugene whether the solving complex riddles while reverse

N
old-school point-
keeping games alive is preservation of adventure game engineering game software, but and-clicks alive with
focused on a single title. history was consciously on the minds ScummVM has become an important ScummVM.
ScummVM is a tool well of those who have chosen to spend preservation tool nonetheless.
known among adventure their free time working on ScummVM Eugene tells us the team has been
game fans as a resource for revisiting and getting new games working on enthusiastically contacted by
the genre’s roots. It’s also often the platform. “Yes and no,” he replies. developers whose games they’ve
misrepresented as an emulator. “I personally view it as preservation, been working on with materials for
Fortunately, we have project leader thus we sometimes add seemingly the engines and ScummVM has been
Eugene Sandulenko to set that right. non-used features such as CGA used to rerelease adventure classics
“ScummVM is a collection of the rendering, implementation of the on services like GOG and Steam, such
game engine reimplementations,” original (and often limited) save/ as Toonstruck. Perhaps ScummVM
Eugene tell us. “Many of those load dialogs, and being faithful to can even claim some credit for the
engines, including the Scumm, were some of the game options. But on rereleased and remastered versions
in fact, Virtual Machines. ScummVM the other hand,” Eugene continues, of several LucasArts classics thanks to
has many Virtual Machines with “the vast majority of our games were the way it kept their legacy alive.

MYTH II: SOULBLIGHTER GOLDENEYE 007

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG SERIES QUsing Valve’s Source engine, fans have recreated N64
QBungie’s tactical RTS released in 1998, Myth II, is still
QFan ports are normally shut down by publishers, but Sonic
alive and kicking thanks to the efforts of the fan-run Project classic GoldenEye 007 for a modern audience. All the game’s
fan Christian Whitehead managed to persuade Sega to give
Magma. The project encompasses map making, a special classic maps are faithfully recreated, but the Source version
his Retro Engine version of Sonic CD an official release,
forces plug-in that replaces Myth II’s fantasy inspired also features updated visuals, additional maps based on
its success leading to mobile ports of Sonic and Sonic 2.
characters with WW2-styled units, managing websites single-player levels that didn’t appear in the original’s
Christian’s collaboration with PagodaWest and Headcannon,
dedicated to the game, and anything else that will help the multiplayer and others inspired by other James Bond films,
the critically acclaimed Sonic Mania, followed, giving classic
game to keep on going. as well as some extra modes.
Sonic levels a new lease of life.

RETRO GAMER | 71
 F

S ARE
HOW GAME
E
KEPT ALIV
REMAKES
Not everyone has the knowledge or motivation to
mess around with emulators or scour online auctions
to revisit videogame classics. Remakes like Shadow
Of The Colossus on PS4, or HD updates of games like
Devil May Cry Collection, prove that providing an easy
way to play these titles on modern machines – along » [PC] When you’ve got to deal with unforeseen
consequences, they may as well look pretty.
with modernising touches to iron out some of the
frustrations present in the originals, and updated
visuals – can revitalise an old title. » [PC] Black Mesa has been given the blessing of Valve experience, and technology
itself and you can find it on Steam.
they had for Half-Life 2. As the
MODS objective changed, our scope
One great way of extending The desire to preserve a game ratcheted up (almost to a fault).
the life of games is by you love doesn’t always end in the I think our unwillingness to
making them open for faithful recreations that ScummVM is compromise is part of what
» Adam Engels is
modification. Firstly, this associated with. Crowbar Collective’s made the project successful, but working on Black
allows fans to keep the game Half-Life remake Black Mesa is a it had the drawback of extending our Mesa, which has
been in development
looking great as technology perfect illustration of that. “Initially development timeline.” for almost a decade
improves. Perhaps most there were two projects working on Indeed, development began way and a half now.
importantly, however, it also creating an HD Half-Life experience,” back in 2004, the game’s growth
allows those modders to create new ways to play the project lead Adam Engels tells into an ever-more ambitious project
game, whether that be by adding new mechanics, us. “Once they realised they were pushing its release back. Still, it’s
quests, or whatever else, keeping the game fresh. basically working toward the same been worth it. While most fan
The strong community behind Skyrim is a prime goal, they merged and kicked off the remakes are shut down by publishers,
example of how this can work. team that’d [create] Black Mesa.” Valve embraced Black Mesa and it is
Adam explains that what started now in Early Access on Steam with
FAN SERVERS as a simple visual update soon only a reworked version of the last
When a publisher decides to shut down the server evolved into something else entirely, section on Xen to be completed.
for an online game, it’s as good as dead. That is, “Early objectives were just to replace Black Mesa’s evolution from HD
unless there’s a strong community willing to go the models and textures in Half-Life polishing to remake brings into focus
extra mile to keep it going. The SaveMGO project is a to high-quality, current-generation a conundrum that can be faced when
prime example. SaveMGO brought together a group of versions,” he says. “Fairly early in you’re are trying to revitalise a game
ethical hackers who managed to get the original Metal development, though, it turned into a for a modern audience. At what point
Gear Online back working again in 2014, two years complete reimagining of Half-Life, as do the changes you make mean that
aer it was shut down in 2012. if Valve made it with the knowledge, the game loses the essence of what

DIGITAL SHOPS
There are several examples of digital stores that

RTY
have given new life to old games. Nintendo’s Virtual

TH E PA
CRASHING
Console has been a great way for the company
to make money from its classic titles on modern
machines, while Good Old Games (GOG) is a great
portal for getting old titles to PC, including the likes
of Dungeon Keeper, X-Wing Vs TIE Fighter, The Longest
Journey, and many more.

HOMEBREW
The homebrew market has given people all sorts of
ways of reengaging with old games. This might be
through games ported to different systems, remixed
versions of Mario
games that you can
buy on a cartridge
for your NES, such
as Mario Adventure, AM2R
or hacks that allow
BREATH OF THE NES
QShort for Another Metroid 2 Remake, Milton Guasti’s
QMost remakes bring retro classics into the modern era,
people to play pirated Metroid II remake took around ten years to develop.
but Breath Of The NES took the opposite approach, aiming
versions of old games The game included new art, larger rooms and updated
to remake Nintendo’s The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The
that are too difficult or mechanics and was praised as a fantastic version of the
Wild in a retro style. Unsurprisingly, WinterDrake received
expensive for them to game true to the original’s spirit. Thankfully the game was
a DMCA takedown from Nintendo and had to take his demo
get hold of otherwise. released in full before Nintendo forced Milton to take it
of the game down from itch.io. WinterDrake plans to keep
working on the game in a new, non-Zelda, form, though. down, which means you can still find it online.

72 | RETRO GAMER
 EXTRA LIFE: KEEPING OLD GAMES ALIVE

No Mouth And I Must Scream, The

Ultimately, we started saying 7th Guest, and many more.
“Nightdive was founded for the
more and more, ‘What would purpose of restoring classic games

Valve do?’ that would otherwise have been

lost,” says Stephen. “We think it’s
Adam Engels important for modern day gamers,
and I mean both consumers and
the people that make games, to
made it special in the first place? How look like what one would expect from understand what came before them.
do you decided what can change and a 1994 game. We wanted to bring It’s imperative that we don’t forget the
what must stay the same? the level up to modern standards. rich history that’s been established
“Deciding if we should change And then there was the challenge by the studios and individuals who
parts of the game was a big deal to of the UI. The inventory system and forged the path we’re on today.” » Stephen Kick is
us,” Adam replies. “There were parts the controls of the original game are It would seem there’s more than Nightdive’s CEO and
of Half-Life that we agreed were not quite difficult for today’s gamers to one way to ensure that we don’t has made keeping
old games alive his
as fun, but who were we to say we get used to. In our enhanced edition, forget that history: mods that let us company’s modus
knew better? Ultimately, we started we added some basic elements such experience an old game in a new operandi.
saying more and more, ‘What would as mouse look, but even with that way, updates to make them more
Valve do?’ That eventually became players have a hard time. palatable, remakes that remix and
our mission statement. Not to remake In working on our remake, we tweak or tools that simply make it
the game 1:1, but to remake it as best took the opportunity to address easy to play old titles on modern
we could with the lessons taught to both aspects,” Stephen continues. machines. We would suggest that » [PC] Battering
us by Valve.” “Visually, the game is being redone each approach is a valid way of baddies with a pipe
in Unreal. We followed much the making sure older games continue to in System Shock
will never have
ightdive Studios has same principles in reworking the user live pm in the best way possible: by

N
looked so good once
similar decisions to face interface. We wanted to modernise it being played by gamers. Nightdive’s remake
is complete.
having decided to follow so that players can enjoy the game,
up on its enhanced while staying true to the franchise.
edition of the original We decided to adopt the inventory
System Shock with a complete system that was introduced in System
remake. The fact it’s doing so also Shock 2. It will be familiar to players,
begs the question: why take two make the game more enjoyable, and
different approaches to rereleasing still preserve the legacy.”
the same game? The task of preserving videogame
“System Shock is an absolutely history and keeping classic games
brilliant game, but two things stand ticking usually falls to the fans, but
out to gamers playing the original in Nightdive, we have an example
game or our enhanced edition,” of a company that’s made keeping
Nightdive CEO and founder Stephen old games alive its business, having
Kick responds. “First off, the graphics rereleased versions of Turok 2, I Have

Five remakes that have been shut down by publishers

PROJECT VAULDERIE CASTLEVANIA UNREAL ENGINE

GALAXY IN TURMOIL QDejawolf spent about a year working on a remake of the
QAs a cult classic known for having great ideas and
QThis title was started as a remake of a game that was
fantastic storytelling hampered by shoddy technical original Castlevania in the Unreal engine before receiving
never released. Frontwire Studios wanted to remake the
execution, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines has always the dreaded cease-and-desist letter from Konami. While
cancelled Star Wars Battlefront III, inspired by leaked footage
been an ideal candidate for a remake. Project Vaulderie was insisting that Dejawolf must stop development, Konami
of the game and the original two titles. After agreeing a
a fan project that aimed to fix those technical issues, but at least allowed Dejawolf to keep the files of the demo up
distribution deal with Steam, however, Lucasfilm and EA
was shuttered after the lawyers from CCP got in touch and online and even said it would look into the possibility of
shut it down. Development is continuing, but with all Star
insisted that development ceased. getting the indie developer an official licence.
Wars references removed.

RETRO GAMER | 73
 When SNK decided to mine Japan’s history of warrior culture
that lived and died on the edge of a folded metal blade, it created
Samu
S urai Shodown, one of the most iconic versus fighters of all
ttime. It’s time to grab your katana and join the fray…
Words by Robert Jones
ven if it seems certain that you will

E lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom nor

technique has a place in this. A real man
does not think of victory or defeat. He
plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By
doing this, you will awaken from your dreams.”
So begins the Hagakure, also known as The
Book Of The Samurai, the most definitive guide
to Japan’s historical elite warrior culture that
has survived today. And that quote, one of the
book’s most famous, perfectly sums up SNK’s
Edo-period versus fighter Samurai Shodown,
a bloody, hyper-violent, inherently Japanese
masterpiece of design and programming.
 Destiny
The key players in this
steel-forged epic
HAOHMARU
Q The main protagonist of Samurai Shodo
own,
Haohmaru is a ronin whose aim in life is tto
travel Japan and face adversaries to perffect
his fighting skill. His design is loosely
based on the legendary swordsman
Miyamoto Musashi, who famously
remained undefeated in over 60 duels.

UKYO TACHIBANA
Q Another iconic character, and one that is
present in most of the games in the Samurai
Shodown series, Ukyo is an expert Iaijutsu
swordsman who fights despite his body being
plagued by tuberculosis. Like Haohmaru,
he is based on a historical Japanese
swordsman, Sasaki Kojirō, the nemesis
» [Neo-Geo] Tam Tam is one the game’s most distinctive designs and his Catherine wheel special move, where he rotates his large scimitar, is deaadlyy. of Miyamoto Musashi.

“You or your opponent will die, GALFORD D WELLER

Q One of Samurai Shodown’s numerous ninja
characters, Galford is an American sailor-turned-
that it certain, and often badly ninja who – along with his faithful husky Poppy
P
– fights for justice and to vanquish evil whherever

via loss of limb” he finds it. Interestingly, his character was

reportedly based on a character in the
Japanese manga Animal Doctor, who
also owns a husky
husky.
Shodown, literally, encourages the player to
plunge forward and fight to the last, even if the HAN
NZO HATTORI
odds are stacked against them. It does this by Q Hanzo is directly based on the real historical
building in a ‘Rage Gauge’ mechanic (one of characcter Hattori Hanzō, the most famous
the first, too) which triggers when a player has samurai of the Sengoku era and leader of the
received a lot of damage and is close to death, powerful Iga ninja clan. Hanzo is not only the
granting them enhanced power and damage coolest ninja in Samurai Shodown, and one that
dealing capabilities to cut down their foe. hhas appeared in ever , but
The game earnestly demands blood and, with maybe in any game ever.
an enhanced damage strong attack capable of
» [Neo-Geo] Earthquake, despite his appearance, is annihilating most wounded opponents in one
actually a practitioner of ninjutsu. He is slow but hits very
blow, that glorious retaliatory victory calls to you KYOSHIRO SENRYO
hard in Samurai Shodown.
QA famous Kabuki theatre star who also
at all times in Shodown, no matter how badly
possesses excellent skill with a naginata
you have fought or how close to death you
(a Japanese bladed pole), Kyoshiro
may be. You or your opponent will die, that it
– whose first name translates as
certain, and often badly via loss of limb, arterial
‘dying insane’ in Japanese – is one of
puncture, or a geyser-style explosion of blood as
Samurai Shodown’s most colourful and
a blade rips through flesh and bone.
crazy characters. His fighting style is based
Barbarian aside, just as many had not seen
largely on kabuki dance moves and gestures.
such levels of intense combat and death in
a videogame pre-Samurai Shodown, no one
had seen a weapons-based versus fighter as GENAN SHIRANUI
violent as this in arcades before either. To play QA disciple of ‘the way of evil’ (the baddie’s
» [Neo-Geo] Win a fight and you get treated to some Shodown was, like a warrior following the way of choice, no doubt), Gen-an is one
excellent character artworkk, as well as a brief snippet of
written victory speech. way of the samurai to its fullest extent, akin to of Samurai Shodown’s most distinctive
waking from a dream to a bright new world. characters and, if you look closely, you’ll
The vividness of the warriors competing in see potential nods to both Street Fighter’s
mortal combat, which on the whole felt more Blanka and A Nightmare On Elm Street’s Freddie
real than in rival fighters (and later we will see Kruger. Gen-an is a member of the feared
why), the brightness and scope of the Shiranui clan and attempts to kill Amakusa.

RETRO GAMER | 75
 NEOGEO AE GAME BOY
QIdentical to the Neo-Geo MVS version that debuted in QContinuing its run of cartridge ports, Takara handled
Japanese arcades in the summer of 1993, the Neo-Geo the Game Boy version of Shodown and, surprisingly
AES home cart version of Shodown (released a month considering the system’s limitations, delivered a fun,
after MVS) delivers the definitive experience of this post- full fat edition. All the characters, stages and music
Sengoku period slasher. Fast loading and playing, the are present and, as you can see by reading the nearby
118Mbit cart really showed of what the AES could do. sidebar, it boasts some port-exclusive content, too.

NEOGEO CD GAME GEAR

QSNK’s CD-based Neo-Geo system delivers a very QComing out six months after the black and white, but
faithful port of the MVS original in terms of graphics and surprisingly faithful, Game Boy edition, the Game Gear
gameplay, as well as arguably superior sound. However, version of Shodown – despite delivering a welcome
thanks to the Neo-Geo CD’s single-speed drive it suffers dose of portable colour – is badly compromised on the
from horrendous load times even compared to some character front, with only nine fighters selectable (the
other CD loading systems. original has 12). Otherwise it is a solid port.

SUPER NINTENDO PLAYSTATION

QOne of many cartridge conversions handled by QA Japanese-exclusive release as part of a bundle with
Takara, the Super Nintendo version – while not looking, Samurai Shodown II, the PlayStation version of Shodown
sounding or running as good as the MVS edition – does is one of the less well-known versions, despite it
compare well to some other ports, mainly thanks to delivering a great experience. Indeed, aside from some
it maintaining a full roster of characters and keeping modest load times, everything else remains intact, with
intros, audio samples, music and more intact. the game’s sound standing out in particular.

FM TOWNS PLAYSTATION 2
QHandled by JHV, the FM Towns port of Samurai Shodown is, QAnother lesser-known port of Samurai Shodown,
despite slowdown and dynamic camera issues, a surprisingly the PS2 version of the game is playable via the Samurai
solid version. Interestingly, due to those dynamic camera Shodown Anthology collection, which contains each
issues, background zoom disabling was built into the game’s game in the series from the original up to Shodown
options menu, which improves framerate but narrows the VI. As with the PlayStation version, this is a smoothly
combat field. running experience with dynamic background camera.

MEGA DRIVE WII VIRTUAL CONSOLE

QAnother port handled by Takara, the cartridge version QPlayable on both Wii and Wii U, the Virtual Console
of Shodown for the Mega Drive does not compare well edition of Samurai Shodown is handled by D4
to the arcade original. Dynamic background zoom is Enterprise and was one of the first digital download
ditched for a fixed camera, the cinematic introduction is ports of the game to go live back in 2008. The game
non-existent, as is post-fight character art, some audio is also available via the SNK Arcade Classics Vol 1
samples and even certain characters and moves. compendium on Wii, too.

3DO PS4
QA youthful Crystal Dynamics handled the underrated QAs you would expect from a version released 23 years
3DO port of Samurai Shodown, which thanks to a after the original, on a modern console, the PS4 version
double-speed drive and programming know-how, of the Samurai Shodown runs fantastically well, with
landed on the console with dynamic camera, full roster HD Video Output up to 1080p delivered. The port also
and all moves intact, as well as far superior loading delivers a wealth of options to tinker with, as well as
times compared to Neo-Geo CD. region (Japanese / English) switching.

SEGA CD NINTENDO SWITCH

QOne would of expected JVC, the handler of the Sega QThe latest port of Samurai Shodown is incredibly
CD port of Shodown, to make up for all the omissions faithful, with Hamster, Co delivering a full-fat, portable
that compromised the earlier Mega Drive edition. In edition that makes squaring off against Amakusa
reality, despite the game landing on store shelves two just as adrenaline-inducing as it ever was. Additional
years after the original, this version still omits dynamic modes, region switching, as well as the ability to tweak
background zoom and the character of Earthquake. visuals, arguably make this the most definitive edition.

76 | RETRO GAMER
 » [Neo-Geo]
EARTHQ
QUAKE
Galford cuts Q Ah, Earthquake, the SNK trading card
through both collecctor’s worst dream (the character
barrel and
opponent was very
v common). A Texan ninja and
Charlotte to end banditt, Earthquake uses the distinctive
the fight with a
bloody arterial
kusarigama weapon, a chain-sickle that
puncture fata ity. deliveers big damage. His motivation in is to
exploit the chaos caused
used by Amakusa to steal
all the w
world’s treasure.

WANFU
QDespite being modelled on Miyoshi
Seikai, one of the Ten Heroes Of
Sanada (a legendary group of Sengokuu
ninja), Wan-fu sports one of the more bland
designs, with only his scimitar standinng out.
Hailing from China, he fights to discovver men
worthy of unifying his warring country.

NAKORURU
NAKORU
Q One of S
Samurai Shodown’s best and
most enduring characters, Nakoruru is a
powerfuul warrior priestess who hails from
c north (she is based on the native
Japan’s cold
Japanese Ainu
A people who historically have
inhabitedd the region of Hokkaido).
Nakorurru is at one with nature and fights to
defendd it from Amakusa.

CHARLOTTE COLDE
olde,
QFull name Charlotte Christine de Co
Charlotte is a French noble and expert fencer,
who travels to Japan to do battle with Amakusa.
Interestingly, her design was based on Oscar
» [Neo-Geo] Kyoshiro demonstrates his flame breath special move, which looks and works almost exactly like Dhalsim’s Yoga Flame in Street Fighter II
Francois De Jarjayes, a character from
the popular Japanese manga The Rose of

“No one had seen Versailles. She is a fast character with a

selection of slashing strikes.

a weapons-based JUBE
EI
YHUVXVöJKWHU Q Based on the legendary Yagyū Jūbei
Mitsuyoshi, one of feudal Japan’s most famous

like this before” sam

murai, Jubei enters the events of Samurai
Shoodown having previously defeated a
young HHaohmaru in combat. Jubei has only one
eye, and practices one of the oldest forms of

New Heroes background scenes, which were loaded with

action and detail, and the gloriously authentic
kenjutssu (swordsmanship).

Interestingly, the Game Boy port of

musical score and audio, which utilised genuine TAM TAM
Samurai Shodown has a brace of QMissing from many later instalments in
instrumentation from the Edo period such as
exclusive side-characters, Hikyaku the series, Tam Tam is a South American
the shakuhachi, koto and taiko, fused together to
and Kuroko, who in the normal edition warrior who wears a fearsome (and powerrful)
create an experience that – especially in the west
are simply NPCs. Kuroko (above) is daemon mask while in combat. Like Wan-ffu,
– felt excitingly alien.
the cloaked-in-black, flag-waving Tam Tam wields a scimitar as a weapon,
Yes, there had been big versus fighters
battle judge that oversees each fight however, unlike him he fights with a
released before Samurai Shodown (the now-
between the game’s warriors, while crouched, compact style that betrays
legendary Street Fighter II had been out for two
Hikyaku (historically, ‘hikyaku’ were his long reach.
years upon its release in July 1993), however,
couriers and messengers in Japan)
while Shodown shared their cartoon aesthetic,
is the servant-come-postman who
drops items into fights. On Game Boy
unlike those games it was constructed from AMAK
KUSA
its core around an unprecedented authenticity Q The ma
ain villain of Samurai Shodown and,
both these characters are playable,
to Japanese culture and history. From the later, Sam
murai Shodown IV, Amakusa is actually
with Hikyaku delivering bombs as his
characters, plot and setting, to the presentation based onn the real historical character Amakusa
primary form of attack, and Kuroko
and spoken language, Shodown doesn’t check Shirō Tokisada, a Japanese Catholic who led the
wielding and throwing his flags with
any of its blows. And, arguably, it is this more Shimaabara Rebellion against the Shogunate
surprisingly lethality.
than anything that has led the game to endure andd was executed for it. In Shodown he is
so well and lodge itself very firmly as a fighting resurrected after making a pact with the
game genre favourite. dark god Ambrosia.

RETRO GAMER | 77
 gt Sce ne Of
Sceene
po o ex
e sw
is v
his
n Easteer egg
t TTrap as an
The Crime appeared in Nigh

9KVJ *QNN[YQQF RTQFWEVKQP XCNWGU CP ack in March 1995, in an article penned

GZRGPUKXG ECUV QH CEVQTU CPF C DWTPKPI

FGUKTG VQ OCMG õKPVGTCEVKXG VGNGXKUKQPö
B for Next Generation magazine, Tom Zito
expressed his feelings about television.
He said it was “no secret to anyone” that he
hated the medium but he also acknowledged the irony.
That’s because he was the president of Digital Pictures
&KIKVCN 2KEVWTGU RKQPGGTGF (WNN /QVKQP 8KFGQ – a developer obsessed with marrying filmed footage
and games. And it was he who led the FMV craze of
DCUGF ICOGU 4GVTQ )COGT VCNMU VQ the Nineties thanks to a desire “to talk back to your TV”.
Digital Pictures was born in 1991, but Tom’s interest
.QFGYKLM
. G KL %%QGP
G CPF
C /CTM C -NGKP
- K in creating interactive television emerged six years earlier
when he was employed at Axlon, one of Atari founders
wh
W by id C kes Nolan
an Bushnell’s growing number of companies.
He was working on the AG Bear, a talking toy that
respond
onded to human voice and he liked the interactively.
W n the project was done, he approached Nolan
When
with
h a new idea to combine interactive images with
a video
v stream. Nolan gave him the green light to
d
develop a prototype.
Tom gathered a formidable team. There
was Rob Fulop, creator of the Atari 2600

» [Mega-CD] Sewer Shark was a rail shooter that was bundled with the
Mega-CD and later ported to the 3DO.

78 | RETRO GAMER
2KEVWTGU
INSTANT
EXPERT
Q Tom Zito’s first job was a rock critic for
the Washington Post.

Q Night Trap and Sewer Shark were

originally produced for a VHS-based
console called Control-Vision.

Q Sewer Shark was bundled with the Mega-

» [Mega-CD] The violence in Night Trap was not as bad CD expansion.
as some people made out.
■ Diff’rent Strokes actress Dana Plato
appeared in Night Trap.
classics Missile Command, Demon Attack
and Cosmic Ark, David Crane, cofounder of Q Ground Zero: Texas was shot in California

Activision and Pitfall! developer, graphics artist by a full Hollywood film crew for $2 million.
» Stick the Mega-CD
disc of a Digital Picture
and games designer Michael Becker, and Steve R Russell,
sel track two to hear a rec s game into an audio
ording of a zombie-like player ■ It was written by RoboCop screenwriter
chant. Then play it bac and select
the American computer scientist who coded Spacewar! ce
cewar! kwards.
Edward Neumeiser.
in 1962. They examined the ColecoVision console’s
graphics chip and discovered it could display videogame interactive video at the frame-by-frame granularity. We Q Steve Russell, creator of 1962 classic
images over a clear background. were pioneering a genre.” Spacewar!, worked for Digital Pictures.
It was the breakthrough they needed, but Nolan Scene Of The Crime was the highlight of Tom’s
■ Digital Pictures provided four of the
baulked at the $7 million Tom estimated to get such successful NEMO pitch to 22 executives at Hasbro’s
Mega CD 32X’s six games: Corpse Killer,
a machine ready. Tom sought an alternative financial headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in December
Night Trap, Slam City With Scottie Pippin
backer and found a willing partner in the toy company 1986. Having been granted more funding, Tom looked
and Supreme Warrior.
Hasbro. More staff was brought on board and the to take on more staff. His roster would eventually
team worked on the console, codenamed Never Ever include writer Ken Melville, graphics artist Lodewijk QAlleged bad violence in Night Trap led
Mention Outside (or NEMO), under the watchful eye of Coen, business development expert Anne Flaut-Reed to the setting up of the ESRB videogame
Axlon. When Hasbro wanted development to quicken, and Kevin Welsh, who Lodewijk dubs an “interactive ratings system.
however, Tom faced a tough choice: to leave Axlon video and technical wizard”.
■ 50,000 copies of Night Trap were sold
and Nolan or risk losing Hasbro’s financial backing. Tom Tom also threw himself into two key productions. The
following the Senate hearings.
promptly left and he created a new company called Isix. first was Night Trap which grew from the concept of
NEMO was an interesting console as it utilised VHS Scene Of The Crime. Shot like a Hollywood production QCorey Haim of The Lost Boys appeared in
tapes rather than cartridges. This allowed computer in Culver City, California using actors over 16 days in Double Switch.
data to sit alongside video and audio tracks, all of which 1987, it cost a staggering $1.5 million. Jaws dropped
could be switched to allow for interaction, branching and further when Tom spent $3 million creating Sewer ■ Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch:
switching. To show off the new tech, three demos were Shark, a first person, on-rails shooter written by Ken Make My Video got a savage 0/10 in
created: a baseball game called Bottom Of The Ninth Melville. All was going well. “We finished the hardware Game Informer magazine.
Inning, an interactive music video for The Cars’ You and software development and the system was almost QA Saturn version of Supreme Warrior –
Might Think I’m Crazy, and Scene Of The Crime which ready for large-scale manufacturing,” Mark Klein says. shot in Hong Kong – was cancelled.
dabbled with the idea of letting players view the gaming But then, in late 1988, two months before the
action through a series of surveillance cameras. console was due to be released, Hasbro axed NEMO – ■ FMV game Kids On Site for Mega-CD
Among those who assisted with the creation of or the Control-Vision, as it was to be called. Executives was made under the ‘Sega Club’ brand.
Scene Of The Crime was technical wizard Mark Klein. feared the $299 price tag would cause it to tank in a
QPublic domain footage was sometimes
“I was hired by Tom as a consultant to design the market dominated by the cheaper NES. Tom’s team
used in the games.
operating system for NEMO,” Mark tells us. “And I was also hit by the illness of Hasbro’s chief executive
developed the scripting language INTERVAL that was officer, Stephen D Hassenfeld, who died in 1989 of ■ A revamped Night Trap was
used to implement the gameplay of Scene Of The pneumonia and cardiac arrest aged 47. Stephen was a rereleased on its 25th anniversary last
Crime. The titles were unique as the first appearance of big supporter of the NEMO project. year for the PC and PS4.
 “I was surprised the Control-Vision was Play Station was scrapped. But, as luck would have it,
cancelled,” says Mark. “There had been other Sega was working with CD-ROM for a Mega Drive
milestones that we barely made or barely missed add-on, convinced the format was the future of gaming
and yet the project had not been cancelled then. Only media. Needing unique content, Sega and Tom began
once we had virtually completed everything was the talking. An agreement to port the unreleased FMV
product shelved.” The Isix team was disbanded and the games to the proposed Mega-CD was struck.
NOT QUITE employees went their separate ways.

O
Tom bought the rights to the games and stored the ne of the first tasks was figuring out
GAME OVER assets, including the filmed footage, in a warehouse
in Rhode Island. There they languished, gathering dust
how to work with CD-ROM and this was,
as Mark admits, a difficult task. “We
QDigital Pictures’ promising game Maximum before discussions got underway with Nintendo in 1991 developed a video compression algorithm
Surge was canned in 1996 when the company to port Sewer Shark to its proposed new CD-based Play tailored to the needs of full-motion video,” he tells
closed. But it didn’t mark the end for Tom Zito’s Station. Tom created a new company called Smart TV – us. “We digitised and compressed all the footage,
video footage. Snapped up by Insight Film And swiftly changed to Digital Pictures – and he approached frame-by-frame but, because CD-ROMs were in their
Video Production around 1999, it was used Mark, Ken, Lodewijk, Anne and Kevin to help him. infancy at the time, we faced and surmounted many
within a 2003 movie bearing the same name as “I think Sony was interested in using its massive technical challenges.” One issue was that the Sega CD
the game. And it gave fledgling director Jason entertainment business assets in interactive projects, wasn’t designed to display video (“It was far from high
Bourque his break. especially music videos, which were still huge in those definition,” Mark says). Making life easier, however, was
“We had footage starring Walter Koenig and days of MTV,” recalls Lodewijk. “The hybrid nature of that footage for the two games was already filmed.
Yasmine Bleeth [stars of Star Trek and Baywatch the medium – of watching a movie passively and playing “Kevin Welsh did an awesome job rebirthing Night
respectively] as well as a script by Keith Shaw, a game interactively – posed some challenges but we Trap for the Mega-CD,” says Lodewijk. Based on the
the brother of the company’s owner,” Jason tells really did some pioneering work in game design.” original concept by Rob Fulop and James Riley, Kevin
us. “We ended up creating a virtual Unfortunately, the plans hit the buffers when produced the game along with Ric Lacivita. Meanwhile
reality-type plot based around getting this Nintendo fell out with Sony and the Nintendo James directed it and Lodewijk created the computer
footage to work in a movie, although Koenig graphics. Extra footage was shot for the introduction
wasn’t too happy: he’d signed up for a videogame which referenced Sega’s products and the game was
and thought the project was dead.” dedicated to Stephen Hassenfeld. “We had to juggle
To help the footage make sense, Jason spent the trade-offs relating to the length of video, the quality
eight days filming additional footage on a budget of the image, the user interface, audio and gameplay on
of under 500,000 Canadian dollars. “When I was this tiny CD and that was the main challenge we were
cutting it, we also looked at using film from other facing,” says Lodewijk. “Initially, we basically blew our
videogames like Corpse Killer, Supreme Warrior competitors out of the water with that technique.”
and Quarterback Attack,” he adds. Sewer Shark was also ported. Produced by JoAnne
Picked up by a Canadian sci-fi channel and Michels-Bennet and Amanda Lathroum it picked up on
later released on DVD as Game Over, it helped Melville’s work and Fulop’s original concept. “Amanda
turned Insight into Canada’s biggest independent Lathroum was a Harvard PhD and she started out as
production company. “A lot of people’s careers our receptionist when Digital Pictures was based on
in British Columbia were born from this really Hamilton Avenue in Palo Alto,” recalls Lodewijk, whose
crappy, C-movie,” Jason says. own team was responsible for the graphical user
» [Mega-CD] The key to beating Prize Fighter was pressing the right button
at the right time. interface of the games. “She’s incredibly smart and she

DEFINING GAMES

NIGHT TRAP SEWER SHARK GROUND ZERO: TEXAS

Q Shot over 16 days in 1987 with an extensive cast, a large lineup Q This swam in better waters than Night Trap and it achieved QAs with Night Trap, Ground Zero: Texas had a first-person
of stuntmen and all of the associated editors, assistants and the glorious combo video motion with blisteringly fun on-rails viewpoint and, like that aforementioned title, its gameplay
engineers that tend to be involved in Hollywood productions, the shooting action. It became a must-play game for Mega-CD consisted of peering through a series of cameras, this time to
interactive movie videogame Night Trap was rejigged for its owners, so much so that it ended up being bundled with the save the disappearing people of a small Texan town. Rather than
Mega-CD release five years later. It was lauded for its full-motion system. Yet it still bore the hallmarks of FMV: over-the-top acting trapping enemies, however, players had to shoot them instead,
video. Yet despite a plot that had players keeping tabs on a house and a slim plot. Even so, it had pedigree. John Dykstra was the lending the feeling of a target shooting game, albeit one that
packed with high-spirited teens, activating traps for the evil Augers director and he had led the special effects for the original Star employed the services of a Hollywood film crew. Directed by
who were intent on endangering them, it soon became apparent Wars! So while the game mainly revolved around controlling a Dwight H Little, whose credits include 24, Prison Break and Free
that its single-button press gameplay was rather dull. crosshair, there was no faulting its ambition. Willy 2, there was 100 minutes of footage overall.

80 || RETRO
RETROGAMER
GAMER
 FROM THE ARCHIVES: DIGITAL PICTURES

The video had to be

converted to a very
limited color palette,
resulting in heavy
pixels and banding
Lodewijk Coen

was the one who rebirthed Sewer Shark, working day

and night to redesign the game on a new platform from
raw movie footage. The video had to be converted to a
very limited color palette, resulting in heavy pixels and
banding. I think a palette of 16 colours was set aside for
the UI and 200 or so for the video.”
Both games sold well and Sewer Shark, with
100,000 sales, was bundled with the Mega CD shortly
after its North American release in October 1992. It was
a mega triumph, grossing about $18 million at retail, and
a vindication of Tom’s determination to make a success
of FMV. Yet trouble wasn’t too far away.
Night Trap caught the attention of US Senators. The
game was deemed to be ultraviolent: “In the scene
» [Mega-CD] Midnight Raiders was as Nineties Hollywood
played at the news conference, the attackers get their as it could be, complete with exploding choppers.
screaming victim and attach the blood-draining device to pull the game itself in January 1994. The game was
her neck with a high-pitched drilling noise,” a newspaper later rereleased with new box art and it was also ported
reported on 2 December 1993. to the Sega CD 32X, 3DO, PC and Mac. But the furore
Senator Joseph Lierberman led the issue. “We’re not had led to the creation of the Entertainment Software
talking Pac-Man or Space Invaders any more,” he said, Rating Board in September 1994 and a mass realisation
adding that he would, if possible, ban the likes of Night that games were not always aimed at children.
Trap and Mortal Kombat from being sold. Yet Night Trap
wasn’t all that violent and neither did it contain sexual
In the meantime, Digital Pictures had ploughed on
developing new titles, among them a gaming series TIMELINE
content and nudity despite such claims. “It was political called Make My Video which let players take a song by
19 19 19
QProduction of Night Trap for the Control-Vision
87 88 89
grandstanding,” says Mark. “Most of us thought they INXS, Kris Kross, or Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch console begins.
were comical – the game and the politicians who called and produce a new music video for it using preshot clips
it out as an example of a violent videogame.” and ‘snazzy’ special effects. None of the games sold or QDevelopment of Sewer Shark starts.
Even so, retailers such as Toys ‘R’ Us and the Kay- indeed reviewed very well, leaving Digital Pictures out of
QHasbro cans the Control-Vision console.
Bee chain took it off the shelves and Sega decided to pocket. Lodewijk believes the problem was down
QExecutive producer Tim Zito buys the assets
for both games.
19

QSega approaches Tom Zito to create games for

90

its Mega-CD add-on.

QDigital Pictures is formed.

19

QConversions of Night Trap and Sewer Shark to

91

Mega-CD are released.

QThe Make My Video series based on music

videos is launched.
19

QUS Senate hearing on violent videogames

92

cites Night Trap.

QFresh games Ground Zero: Texas, Prize

Fighter and Double Switch are released.
19

QBasketball game Slam City With Scottie Pippen

CORPSE KILLER
93

and Corpse Killer launch.

QAlthough Digital Pictures’ early FMV titles were made
for the Mega-CD, Corpse Killer also got an outing on other QNight Trap appears on 32X and 3DO.
CD-based consoles including the Saturn, 3DO and the Mega
19

QSupreme Warrior and Quarterback Attack with

94

Drive’s 32X. Each version – aside from the Saturn – could Mike Ditka are published.
be played using a lightgun. But while there was a real
danger that blasting away at dozens of zombies could QMaximum Surge, a game which overlaid FMV
become rather repetitive, it was kept alive by some neat on graphic backgrounds, is cancelled.
19

twists. Blast the Shadow Men when they were darkened,

95

QDigital Pictures closes.

for instance, and it would cause you to lose health.
 ayed Winston in Corpse Killer
in movies including LA Conf . He’s since starred
idential.

great talent on staff like Cuyler Gee who

I collaborated with for so many years,” Lodewijk
remembers. Steve Russell also took a job at Digital
Pictures. “He had a great game sense and he was a
good development manager,” Mark explains.

» [Mega-CD] The writing and acting in Night Trap was rather cheesy but the game was innovative to a point.

T
hat said, some of the games retrod
themes from Digital Pictures’ games.
to the limitation of the medium. “Too low-res video, by beautiful nature in the foothills and amazing art,” Double Switch was very similar to Night Trap,
too low-res interface, an editing timeline with tiny video Lodewijk adds. Digital Pictures had hired around 80 for instance, having players study cameras to
screens, low-res audio – it was a tour de force that we people at its peak in 1993. “We kept on growing, avoid or set traps (I briefly met Deborah Harry on the
even did this,” he says. developing new concepts and titles,” Lodewijk says. set,” Lodewijk says). But others were rather unique.
Better was Digital Pictures’ second wave of games, The company approached its games in much the “Prize Fighter was revolutionary,” argues Mark of a black
among them Ground Zero: Texas and Double Switch. same way. “Usually we’d start with off-site meetings – and white FMV game that had gamers playing as The
Flush with cash from Night Trap and Sewer Shark gatherings in nice remote settings that were conducive Kid from a first-person perspective, fighting in the ring
(“Our funding came from a combination of revenues to creativity,” Lodewijk remembers. “Everyone from the against various opponents.
and investment,” reveals Mark), Digital Pictures spent receptionist to chairman would actively participate and “I just remember focusing on how the graphic
$2 million making Ground Zero: Texas, using a full we’d filter the best concepts in a democratic way.” They overlays, sprites and interface would work with the
Hollywood film crew (the game also starred Steve would then create concept boards (“I sometimes hired filming to get a ‘natural’ effect,” says Lodewijk. “For
Eastin, who had appeared in many TV shows including story board artists especially for those jobs,”) and these Prize Fighter, I had to go to the movie set in order to
The A-Team and TJ Hooker). “Producing video, including would be laminated “after they were colour printed on help film the boxing gloves for the first person point-
hiring talent, was a major component of the cost of our incredibly slow inkjet printers”. of-view boxing moves. Those were shot separately on
games,” Mark says. “Sometimes movie snippets were shot, anything a green screen, to be extracted later and turned in to
Despite the large investments needed, the company to make a concept as clear as possible,” Lodewijk sprite overlays for the POV fighting scenes. The idea
was growing fast. It moved to larger premises on Page continues. “They were then either taken to possible was for the player to feel that he was really fighting the
Mill Road,Palo Alto. “We also worked on Sand Hill Road investors or tested on future audiences via focus opponent which was different to, say, Street Fighter
in Menlo Park, in the Quadrus campus, surrounded groups.” Some of this was done in-house. “We had where you fought sideways.”

THE DNA OF SIERRA ONLINE

FULLMOTION VIDEO LOYALTY TO STAFF CONTROVERSY OVERTHETOP ACTING

QDigital Pictures aimed to bridge the gap QThose who worked at Digital Pictures were QEven though the violence in Night Trap was QIt’s fair to say that most (but not all) of the
between film and games by developing cinematic told their jobs were safe unless they made a mild, it didn’t stop Senators Joseph Lierberman acting in many of Digital Pictures’ games would
titles that relied on prerecorded video files. The whopping mistake. That’s because Tom Zito and Herbert Kohl from advocating banning not have kept anyone awake at night drafting an
technique was a few years old at the time, but decided to cede the right to fire them and he told videogames in 1993. It caused Night Trap to be Oscar-winning speech. But that was part of the
it was still seen as cutting edge. It was also the New York Times that his aim was to attract temporarily withdrawn from stores (but not charm, lending a somewhat cheesy, B-movie air
expensive, ensuring many games cost millions of and keep talent. Each employee was also paid before the publicity saw sales soar). It also led to to the proceedings. The games clearly didn’t take
dollars to make. more than they asked for. the creation of North America’s ESRB. themselves seriously, either.

82 | RETRO GAMER
 FROM THE ARCHIVES: DIGITAL PICTURES

And yet despite the ambition and the interesting

Our games for the comments by Tom that it was “really the first game

PC and Mac were the in which we used the camera as a tool rather than
as a recording device”, it was never released. The

best quality and not aforementioned focus groups came up with a bunch
of suggestions and the game was put back six months

just because they were to implement them. Within that time, Digital Pictures
ended up closing. It was 1996 and the loss of appetite

not on a TV screen for FMV in the Sony PlayStation era of impressive 3D

graphics helped killed the company. WHERE ARE
Lodewijk Coen Lodewijk also believes the writing was on the wall
for full-motion video because of blockbuster games like THEY NOW?
There were other sporting renditions such as the Doom. “Doom was relatively cheap to make, and it had
basketball game Slam City With Scottie Pippen that had an immediate following. The internet also allowed for TOM ZITO
3,000 film shots on four discs and, towards the end of online games, however primitive it might have been in QFollowing Digital Pictures, Tom
the company’s life, Digital Pictures created the American the mid Nineties. With our games, the movie part was Zito harked back to his older
football title Quarterback Attack. The former, however, very expensive, the game playing time was limited, and career as a Washington Post
was one of just a handful of titles created for a having the watch the same video sequence over and rock critic and set up a new company called
Mega-CD-32X set-up. It was also released for MS-DOS. over again to be able to play the game to the end was Garageband in 1999 which aimed to give a
“Our games for the PC and Mac were the best quality boring after a while.” promotional leg-up to up-and-coming bands.
and not just because they were not on a TV screen,” Indeed, even Tom Zito knew the end was near when He then served as chief executive officer of
Lodewijk says. “There was no bleeding of colours, and he was interviewed in Next Generation magazine in Integrated Media Management until 2009.
there was better resolution and stable images.” October 1995, agreeing that the days of “old FMV” Today, he runs a web-based company called
By the mid-Nineties, however, FMV was feeling tired. were over and that it was time for a rethink. That was I’d Watch That, which enables TV viewers to
Digital Pictures released the FMV shoot-’em-up Corpse coming with Maximum Surge but quite what the wider vote on the shows that they would like to see
Killer in 1994, the same year as the fighting game gaming world would have made of his new version of get made for TV.
Supreme Warrior which was shot at the iconic Shaw FMV is one that has now been lost to time.
Brothers film studio in Hong Kong. It also dabbled with LODEWIJK COEN
a children-friendly title called Kids On Site that allowed QAfter leaving Digital Pictures,
players to mess around with various building site Lodewijk Coen became a
machinery. Yet while lots of money was being poured senior art director at Microunity
into the games, Digital Pictures felt it had to come up Systems in Sunnyvale, California and then
with something fresh. moved to the Netherlands to become a
To that end, work started on Maximum Surge for the lecturer in new media and typography at
3DO, Saturn, PC and Mac. Although it used FMV (and the Academy of Fine Arts in Maastrict. He
featured Yasmine Bleeth, who played Caroline Holden has lectured at many institutions in the
in Baywatch), the production method was different. Netherlands, Finland, America and Belgium
Instead of taking standalone FMV as before, the game and he is currently the principal chief
used up to four layers of video-sourced graphics on the executive officer at a company which seeks to
screen at the same time. This allowed the developer to look at the link between wellness and art.
seamlesssly combine the video with computer graphics
while ensuring enemies could attack in any combination, » [Mega-CD] Double Switch took many of its cues from Night Trap and it MARK KLEIN
and it was, said critics who saw it, a triumph for the starred teen idol Corey Haim. QOver the past couple of
team and producer Larhroum. decades, Mark Klein has been
involved in internet security
products, he has cofounded a nationwide
voicemail company called eVoice which
was bought by AOL, and developed many
consumer and enterprise products and
services. He is currently the chief data
scientist at a company called Averon.

ROB FULOP
QRob Fulop founded a company
called PF Magic in 1991
which became best known
for the virtual pet games Dogz And Catz
– deliberately producing cute interactive
games because he was embarrassed at the
controversy over Night Trap. He sold PF Magic
TOM ZITO to Mattel in 2000 and later joined Playfirst as
QTom Zito’s desire to integrate film with gaming SEGA CONSOLES a senior game designer. He has also worked
began in the mid-Eighties when he pitched the QMost of Digital Pictures’ games appeared on the for Videobrain and Zynga. Today, Rob is
idea to Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. Turned Mega-CD but a notable exception was Quarterback currently employed as the design director for
down due to a lack of finances, he went to Attack with Mike Ditka, a game that appeared on the Hands On Media, overseeing the World Poker
Hasbro, suffered a second blow, yet pushed PC, 3DO and Saturn. The fact that it was on the latter Tour online games. He also joined the indie
ahead with the concept by cofounding Digital console, however, further cemented the strong link and rock band Bourbon Therapy in California in
Pictures and overseeing each game. relationship between the developer and Sega. 2015 as the pianist/keyboardist.

RETRO GAMER | 83
 Game Boy
Player Fact
QThe official software is no longer
the only way to use the hardware
– the homebrew Game
Boy Interface is also
available.

Game Boy Player

 PLATFORM: GAMECUBE  RELEASED: 2003  COST: £39.99 LAUNCH, £60+ TODAY, WITH SOFTWARE DISC
t’s a nondescript little thing, the Game Boy When playing on a Game Boy Player, it’s

I Player – a slab of plastic that sits under

your GameCube and gives it dimensions
closer to its advertised cube shape. But
that little device contains a set of Game Boy
Advance hardware and opens up the access to
possible to use a standard GameCube control
pad, or you can use a Game Boy Advance
to GameCube link cable to hook up a Game
Boy Advance or Game Boy Advance SP as a
controller instead. Link cables and even the
every Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game wireless adapter are supported too, allowing
Boy Advance game, an enormous library of for multiplayer functions to be retained as if you
classics liberated from the questionable screens were using a regular GBA. Though games of
and limited battery life of their handheld homes. all regions work on the Game Boy Player and
To compensate for the variation in display the hardware is universal, you must possess
between different TV sets, screen options the correct Game Boy Player software for your
including scaling and filtering are included. GameCube’s region.
ESSENTIAL GAME
Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
We like this pinball outing in
general – video pinball has always
been something of a soft spot
for us, and the Pokémon games
offer a lot to do in addition to the
simple thrill of chasing high scores.
However, playing via the Game
Boy Player actually offers a little
enhancement over the Game Boy
Advance experience. The game is programmed to send rumble data to a
GameCube controller if possible, which adds the kind of tactile feedback
that you want from a pinball game – and which this game lacked in
handheld form compared to its Game Boy Color predecessor.
 CODENAME 47
THE HITMAN SERIES MAKES USE OF SUCH AN
ELEGANT FORMULA IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE IT
ANY OTHER WAY. BUT THE ORIGINAL ENTRY IN
THE SERIES COULD HAVE BEEN A VERY DIFFERENT
GAME, AS JACOB ANDERSEN REVEALS
Words by Edward Love

a simple shooter that would pave the way for bigger

and better things. The company was a joint venture
between Reto-Moto, a Danish development house,
and Nordisk Film studio. The former wanted to make
indsight is a funny thing. Today, the a fantasy MMO they had dubbed Rex Dominus. The
Hitman series is beloved, with a latter was hesitant. “One of the marketing guys at
calculated antihero and a Nordisk Film persuaded us to stop development on Rex
tried-and-tested stealth action setup. Dominus,” recalls Jacob Andersen. “We were asked to
Every time you slip into Agent 47’s dark suit you know prove ourselves with a simple shooter first.”
you’re gearing up for a succession of guilty pleasures, IN THE A run-and-gun action game would indeed be quicker
from filching disguises to assassinating key targets, a
formula so good that it has had its share of copycats
KNOW to create and it would give Jacob and his team the
leeway to get back to their world of might and magic.
 PUBLISHER:
since. But like any great idea, IO Interactive didn’t crack EIDOS INTERACTIVE So they changed tack, drafting storyboards for an action
the Hitman code in one sitting. It took hard work and  DEVELOPER: game based on John Woo movies like Hard Boiled and
refinement to crystallise the vision, and as we have IO INTERACTIVE The Killer. You’d play an assassin in a suit icing Chinese
discovered, a thousand pieces needed to fit together.  RELEASED: 2000 mafia types, hardballers spitting fire and fury.
The truth is that IO Interactive nearly didn’t make  PLATFORM: PC Many of IO Interactive’s workers had cut their teeth
Codename 47 at all, and it originally intended to make  GENRE: making Mega Drive titles in Los Angeles for Scavenger,
Third-person shooter Inc, but this new game would be built for the PC. Why?
“Well, it was hard for us to get hold of development kits
in the new setup,” Jacob recalls. “On top of that, 3D
hardware was beginning to appear for the PC, which
made it extremely interesting to develop for.”
The Glacier engine was built and IO spared no
expense. “Since killing was the main theme of the
game, we wanted to do something special,” Jacob
says. “Standard ‘death animations’ just looked too static
so some of the coders tried to see if they could use real-
time inverse kinematics for the falling bodies. The first
versions ran terribly slowly until one of the programmers
figured out a way to fake the whole calculation.”
» [PC] When you’re in a mobster’s home surrounded by his
As fate would have it, IO Interactive was introducing
goons, you better make sure you’re in a disguise. proper ragdoll physics into the fold, which is one of the

86 | RETRO GAMER
 THE MAKING OF: HITMAN: CODENAME 47

» [PC] Hit 3 on the keyboard to switch to the dynamic camera.

first examples of the technology. In other games around move on. The earliest storyboards depicted an assassin » [PC] Sometimes your best-laid
plans fall by the wayside.
the same time, enemies would fall down in a canned jumping over tables and shooting out fish tanks. The
animation, but IO’s shooter was different. Enemies John Woo influences were writ large and Hitman was
collapsed based on the wound and the environment. destined to turn out like something close to 2007’s
This technology caught the eye of Eidos, and in Stranglehold. But Jonas encouraged Jacob and the team
particular, Jonas Eneroth, who would go on to executive to tone down the action and focus on a methodical
produce Codename 47. “The ragdoll physics really experience. Serving as executive producer, he brought
opened up opportunities to explore a shooting game learnings from projects like Thief and Deus Ex. The art of
that went beyond a run-and-gun approach,” Jonas tells stealth was, to his mind, worth emphasising.
us. “It was the first time we [at Eidos] had seen ragdoll The pieces began to fit together. In the game, players
physics as a key gameplay element. It was very much slip into the polished shoes of Agent 47, a genetically
a new and key differential feature.” Suddenly Jonas engineered killer with 47th chromosome and a lab rat’s
sniffed the possibilities. Imagine moving realistic dead barcode. He’d be able to don disguises, kill enemies
bodies around a map and using this as a source of unseen and move bodies out of the path of other
tension? “Hitman featured a number of gaming firsts, characters. Levels are open-ended, with the prime » Jacobb Andersen
A d sen worked
orkedd on th
the
he
including deformable cloth and plants, but its ragdoll target hidden, and a number of NPCs standing in your first four Hitman games.
physics enabled a gameplay shift to the slower, more way. Stealth is a key to victory, and to make matters
thought-out gameplay that defined the series.” harder, there’d be no way to save during a mission.
That wasn’t the game IO Interactive was intending to Thanks to its initial work on Rex Dominus as well
make, mind. It was looking to do a simple shooter and as its prior experience making games, IO was

RETRO GAMER | 87
 comfortable creating open worlds that could run
on low-end PCS. “We built a master system out of
old-school tile maps we had used in a previous game,
“CODENAME 47 REALLY
A-M-O-K,” Jacob recalls, “as well as a simple module
system that we had used in our 1996 title Scorcher.
SHOWED THAT WE WERE
If I’m not mistaken, our system is used today when
making maps for Hitman.”
CONSOLE DEVELOPERS” Jacob Andersen
The first levels take place in Hong Kong, a hangover
from the early storyboards. Agent 47 has escaped the
lab from which he was hatched and is now working based on Hotel Gellért, follows. “The mercenary, Frantz price of admission. Some loved it, some felt it was
for the International Contract Agency. His target is Red Fuchs, is modelled on a real Austrian terrorist named too punishing, but Eidos spied the potential for more
Dragon Triad leader Lee Hong but smaller targets lie Franz Fuchs, a really scary guy, that I read about in the polished and user-friendly sequels to come.
in wait first. The levels are bigger than your average newspaper when designing the map,” Jacob says.
shooter and were state of the art for the time as well. “I Eventually, Hitman: Codename 47 comes full circle itman 2: Silent Assassin shipped in
remember making a crazy animation for the aquariums and you end up where you started: in the lab, face to 2002. This time, the PS2 and Xbox
in the Hong Kong restaurant, using deformations in face with your creator, a dastardly doctor by the name were the focus, though the PC and
3D Studio Max and then ‘baking’ them out as vertex of Ort-Meyer. B-movie shlock is served up in spades GameCube got versions, too.
animations,” Jacob recounts. culminating in a face off against the mad doctor and “Now that the main platform was PlayStation 2, we felt
The action shifts to Columbia where drug lord Pablo his army of clones. 47 prevails. Or does he? To say more at home,” Jacob remembers, and it feels like a
Ochoa is in your sights. This a nod to Scarface and Codename 47 is punishing is like saying the Bugatti more polished, more assured effort, though hardcore
features an Agent 47 clad in war paint and military Veyron is just a car. True, but a gross understatement fans scoffed at the introduction of a mid-level save
overalls. A shorter excursion through a Hungary hotel, as well. The unpredictable NPCs are like drunk chess system. The controls were improved and the team
pieces capable of tottering across the board without tried to fix AI niggles, but NPCs found new ways to
warning, and for another, it’s impossible to save mid- misbehave. “Many have tried to fix the AI since and all
level, meaning the odds are always stacked against you. have failed,” Jacob smiles. “It just has to have those
“Codename 47 really showed that we were console odd moments, otherwise it wouldn’t be Hitman.”
developers,” Jacob admits. “We didn’t consider a save That straight shooter that was supposed to pave the
game option. On consoles at the time, you were just way for Rex Dominus had, well…turned into something
given a code that would allow you to skip levels that you rather momentous. Today, Agent 47 is the star of
had already completed. Also, the keyboard layout was celluloid and the hero of several sequels in one of the
all messed up. Still, one good thing we brought from biggest franchises in PC and console gaming. There
consoles was the 3rd person perspective. All character- have been six full-fledged titles and two Hollywood
based games on consoles had to be 3rd person. 1st movies. Not bad for a “simple shooter”.
person was a PC-only thing at that time.” Jacob Andersen would eventually lend his expertise
Hitman shipped at the tail-end of 2000, a markedly to four of the Hitman titles. In addition to Codename 47
different game from the one that had first been and Silent Assassin, he helped develop Hitman Contracts
» [PC] Planning your attack is one of the juiciest aspects of the conceived. With state-of-the-art ragdoll physics and (2004) and series favourite Blood Money (2006). Today
Hitman experience. In that regard, there’s a map to help you out. gorgeous graphics it was a technical darling, but he works at the reformed Reto-Moto with many of the
critics were divided on whether it was worth the original IO crew. The team is hard at work on Heroes
And Generals, a free-to-play shooter and strategy

CHRONICLES OF A HITMAN
HITMAN: CONTRACTS
2004
QA bit of an oddity, this one. Hitman: Contracts was something
of a stopgap between Hitman 2 and Hitman: Blood Money and it
involves a series of flashback contracts, some of which retread
ground covered in Codename 47. Déjà vu is unsurprisingly in
abundance with this one.

HITMAN 2: SILENT ASSASSIN HITMAN: BLOOD MONEY

2002 2006
QHitman: Codename 47’s first sequel was a cross-platform release QAsk a lot of fans what their favourite game in the series is and
and a runaway success, appearing on the original Xbox, PS2, PC they’ll likely point to Blood Money. It represented a huge leap
and later the GameCube. It was a far more polished and assured forwards, giving players a dizzying number of ways to complete a
game than Codename 47; one that upped the production values and mission and rewarding crafty players in spades. There are plenty of
laid the groundwork for the Hitman series we know today. reasons to dip back in, even all these years on.
 BECOME THE
ULTIMATE HITMAN
The best methods to assassinate your target
FIBRE WIRE
QMake good use of Agent 47’s go-to weapon when
he’s trying to be silent. Beware, though, because
having it out in open will cause guards to shoot at
you. It’s a design decision that’s not logical – because
surely Agent 47 can hide it in his sleeve? The quirk
was eventually fixed for Blood Money.

KITCHEN KNIFE
QThe early Hong Kong levels feature a fair few
kitchens and their share of chefs. Ergo, there are
plenty of kitchen knives are lying around for Agent 47
» [PC] A thousand unsuspecting chefs have died at the hands of 47’s fibre wire.
to snap up like a kleptomaniac murder machine. Sink
one into the flesh of the nearest cook and steal their
game that does a lot of things that were not possible uniform while you’re at it.
in Hitman. In Jacob’s words: “Multiplayer, a persistent
online world and action, strategy and RPG elements - all
in one game.” Perhaps Rex Dominus, after all this time,
SNIPER RIFLE
QIn Codename 47, you can take out enemies from afar
lives on with a new name.
with either the Blaser Jagdwaffen R93 or the Walther
As for the man that helped steer Hitman in the
WA2000 sniper. Just make sure you pack the deadly
direction we’ve all come to love, Jonas Eneroth worked
weapons away in their trusty suitcase and leg it out
on some of the biggest games of the Nineties and
of the area once you’re done – a good hitman doesn’t
Noughties. He’s now enjoying a change of pace in Malta
leave a trace… other than the bullet, of course.
as the cofounder of Karmafy. In Jonas’ words: “Karmafy
is a socially responsible charity platform for game
developers to support good causes in their games.” MINIGUN
Interested? You can find out more at karmafy.com. QWhy not throw caution to the wind with the

The story of the first Hitman is the story of minigun? It becomes available near the end of
boundaries being pushed to the extent that a new game Hitman, starting in the Plutonium Runs Loose mission
was spied and developed. The story of Hitman is of where it can be bought for $10,750. It’s also located
best-laid plans falling at the wayside, and something in a maintenance room in the final level, Meet Your
new emerging in its stead. The classic games you know Brother, so use it to dispose of Ort-Meyer in style.
and love were never straightforward to make. No project
ever is, no act of collaboration ever can be. Even the SHOTGUN
birth of a no-nonsense assassin had several twists and QThis would be emphasised even more in later
turns and forks in the road. But the good news? We got games, but Codename 47 is open to the way you want
there in the end, and Codename 47 is a fitting blueprint to play it, and if that means waging war Rambo-style
for a truly wonderful series that endures to this day. with a shotgun in hand, so be it. For your bloodthirsty
efforts, you will be rewarded with a cloud of giblets.
Very Soldier Of Fortune indeed.

HITMAN: ABSOLUTION
2012
QRumour has it development on Absolution was tricky, in part
because the game was trying to be several things at once. Linear
console shooter? Tick? Hitman of old? Tick? Palatable to new
players and veterans alike? Tick. In the end, the smaller, more
restrictive levels felt like a step backwards after Blood Money.

HITMAN
2016
QHitman goes episodic. Set over six instalments with jaunts to
Paris, Colorado, Bangkok and Marrakesh, 2016’s Hitman is the
most freeform example of the series yet. In fact, standout episode
Sapienza feels like a true realisation of the Hitman formula with a
truly open playground to explore.

RETRO GAMER | 89
 INTERESTING GAMES
YOU'VE NEVER PLAYED

T A T I O N 2
PLAaYlibS
rary of liter
ally
With of games,
thousandscond console
Sony’s seo plenty of
is home tg games that
interestin passed you
may haveick Thorpe
by. Join Nt to find some
on a quesiamonds in
of those d…
the rough

MR MOSKEETO
■ DEVELOPER: ZOOM INC ■ YEAR: 2001

■ Maybe it’s because we’re British, daughter Rena, the family member Environmental hazards include
but we’re pretty sure that summer will quite happily bumble about and air conditioners to destabilise your
is the worst of seasons. People mind their own business, until you flight, insecticides, bubbles which
get extremely excited only to be start to fly about the room and cause loudly pop and more. However, the
disappointed by weeks of drizzle, havoc. You can go straight for any biggest hazard to your survival is
» [PS2] Yes, Rena’s in the bath. Yes, she attacks broken by a singular week of exposed skin, or attempt to expose the Yamada in the room. If you are
Mr Moskeeto with the shower. No, you don’t see
anything, filthmonger. uncomfortable heat and humidity. vulnerable areas by causing the spotted, the family member’s stress
Throughout the whole miserable person to move. This is achieved with level will increase until a battle scene
ordeal, we are tormented by bugs, the use of various objects, such as triggers. The massive foe gets up and
which give us nasty, itchy bites. All light switches and TV remotes. Once stops whatever they were doing, in
of this would be utterly irredeemable you land on a person, you can hit R3 order to attack you with their hands,
abuse by Mother Nature, were it and start rotating the right analogue feet, bug spray and even boiling hot
not for the fact that such traumatic stick to start drinking. While you water from a shower head. Unlike
situations inspired the development drink their blood, you need to keep the blood-sucking sequence, being
of Mr Moskeeto, released on Eidos’ an eye on the speed at which you’re hit here doesn’t instantly kill you,
short-lived Fresh Games label. drinking it, and the overall stress but you’ll need to avoid taking too
Each stage places the titular level of your host (which may result much damage while you try to hit
bug in a room with a member of in being swatted – an autokill). Fill up relax points to calm your host down.
» [PS2] Pick-ups like these heart pieces are
absolutely tiny, so you’re going to have to hunt high the Yamada family, whose blood the necessary number of tanks from Unfortunately, Moskeeto’s not so
and low for them. you need to drink to survive for the each extraction point and the level is easy to manoeuvre and sometimes
winter. Whether it’s Kenichi, the over. This sounds simple, but we’ve you will trigger battles or get hit
goofy dad of the family, his more not yet covered the obstacles to your simply because your guy isn’t quite
sensible wife Kaneyo or their teenage blood-sucking exploits. agile enough.

90 | RETRO GAMER
 MINORITY REPORT: PLAYSTATION 2

KA 2: LET’S GO HAWAII TOY COMMANDER HAUNTING STARRING

PS2 DREAMCAST POLTERGUY
Q This import-only sequel QIf you want to fly around MEGA DRIVE
to Mr Moskeeto sees the a gigantic household Q If tormenting families and
Japanese mosquito head environment without causing havoc is what draws
off on holiday to Hawaii with needlessly irritating a small you to Mr Moskeeto, EA’s
the Yamadas. With a new family in the process, this supernatural revenge game
American mosquito buddy, military-themed game offers many of the same thrills. You control Polterguy,
they torment the Yamadas and their hosts, the Browns. should be right up your street. As well as flight missions a teenager killed by one of Vito Sardini’s defective
Some of the dialogue is even in English, so you’ll be able in toy planes and helicopters, ground-based objectives skateboards, as he possesses household objects to
to understand at least a portion of the story. can be achieved with miniature tanks and RC cars. scare Vito’s clan out of four different homes.

FILL UP
Q This bar shows how full
your current blood tank is. You
have a certain amount of blood
that must be collected during
each stage, as indicated by the
nearby tank graphics.

DEEP PURPLE
Q This smoke isn’t on the
water, and it isn’t something
» [PS2] That red light on Kenichi is a ‘relax point’ –
attack it and he’ll calm down and leave battle mode. you want anything to do with
in this game – it’s pesticide,
There’s a budget feel to the affair and will hurt Mr Moskeeto if
and it’s short, but with a second loop he happens to fly into it.
and lots to collect you can wring
out more value if you please. The
main attraction is the strangeness
of the whole experience – being
the fly on the wall is appealing, and
just watching the family has its own
charm. The game has a sense of
humour, too – pregame screens
ACTUAL SIZE
include a parody of Resident Evil’s
KEEP YOUR COOL Q Mr Moskeeto is pretty accurately
Q This indicator shows how stressed proportioned – he’s only barely visible
warning, and the cutscenes are pretty
your target is. When green, you’re on the back of Kaneyo’s leg, which is
funny, too. It’s surprising that any
free to be aggressive, but as it moves why a zoomed-in view is shown in the
publisher took a chance on bringing
to red the danger of being swatted or top-right of the screen.
Mr Moskeeto to the western markets,
entering battle increases.
but we’re glad that Eidos did.

RETRO GAMER | 91
 GITAROO MAN
■ PUBLISHER: INIS ■ YEAR: 2001

■ The PS2 is home to a number of underrated

music games, and Gitaroo Man happens to be one
of our favourites. U-1 (a Japanese pun for Yuichi) is
a loser schoolboy who is transformed into the heroic
Gitaroo Man after being gifted a Gitaroo by the talking
dog Puma. His job is to fend off a variety of enemies in
musical battles using the Gitaroo.
Battles have a few steps. Firstly, there’s a charge
phase, in which you build your life bar. This involves
following a directional track with the left analogue
stick, and pressing a button in time to the on-screen
prompts. Then, in the battle proper, you’ll use this
process to attack, and defend yourself by hitting the
four main controller buttons as icons fly from the edge
of the screen to the centre. You’ll alternate between
these attack and defence phases until either U-1 or his
opponent is defeated.
While the in-game action is well designed, it’s the
music you play to and the story that unfolds that you’ll
remember. The soundtrack from the Japanese duo
COIL is excellent, and the game’s signature track The
Legendary Theme deserves to be mentioned in any
conversation about the greatest music in videogames
– particularly the brilliant acoustic version, which plays
during a sentimental stage in the middle of the game.
Gitaroo Man didn’t sell very well originally, and the
current going rate is £15. This price is already starting
to creep up as the game gains popularity via word of
mouth, despite the existence of a much cheaper PSP
conversion. Thankfully, the developer lived on to give
» [PS2] Best level in any music game ever? Maybe – it » [PS2] Spinal Tap would have loved lightning-shooting
us Osu! Tatake! Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents and the definitely runs Parappa’s toilet stage close. guitars. Thank the gods nobody let the group have any.
popular Lips series of Xbox 360 karaoke games.

» FIRE HEROES » XTREME EXPRESS » FREAK OUT » MONSTER ATTACK

■ DEVELOPER: SPIKE ■ DEVELOPER: SYSCOM ENTERTAINMENT ■ DEVELOPER: TREASURE ■ DEVELOPER: SANDLOT
■ YEAR: 2004 ■ YEAR: 2001 ■ YEAR: 2001 ■ YEAR: 2003

■ A fire has broken out at the newly ■ You might wonder what a train ■ Demons have possessed Linda’s ■ This is the first game in the Earth
built skyscraper Clayton Tower, and racing game entails, given that you dozen sisters – but luckily, one also Defense Force series, which has
as a firefighter, policeman or architect don’t need to do any steering. Speed possessed her scarf and gave it the transcended its budget beginnings to
you’ve got five real-time hours to put management to avoid derailing is a ability to grab and stretch objects. become a cult favourite. The premise
out fires, rescue people and solve key consideration, as is track selection Now she has to head out and rescue here is simple: giant bugs are invading
the mystery of the disaster. Each – it’s possible to block off your her sisters by exorcising the demons earth, and you are one of the army
character has nine unique chapters opponents. Additionally, pulling into a in a series of boss battles. This isn’t grunts tasked with stopping them,
to play, as well as multiple endings vacant platform at the end of the track one of Treasure’s more celebrated so pick up the biggest gun you can
and a complex web of relationships is crucial. There’s clearly some novelty games, but it is an interesting find and shoot them until they’re all
to unravel across the three stories, so value here, but you’ll find yourself experiment – all the bosses feel very as dead as they can possibly be. It’s
this cel-shaded action game provides pining for a less on-rails experience unique, and the game employs some even better fun in co-op, so conscript
plenty of long-term value. before too long. unusual visual techniques. a friend if you can.

92 | RETRO GAMER
 MINORITY REPORT: PLAYSTATION 2

MICHIGAN: REPORT FROM HELL

■ PUBLISHER: GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE ■ YEAR: 2002

■ A mysterious fog has descended over Lake

Michigan and Chicago, causing people to
mutate into hideous monsters. But instead
of being some gun-toting hero or a young
child fleeing in distress, you play as a camera
operator, documenting the unfolding events
as part of a TV news crew. By pointing your
camera at interesting things and highlighting
them, you’ll draw the presenter’s attention
and increase your score in one of three areas:
suspense, erotic and immoral.
This semi-passive approach to the horror
genre is highly unusual, and extends beyond
the limited direct interaction with your
surroundings. If your reporter is killed during
the course of a stage, you’ll simply start the
next one with a new reporter along for the
journey – presumably, one who didn’t ask too
many questions about why the vacancy was
open. In fact, it’s entirely possible to finish the
game without keeping any of your reporters
alive and well.
It’s a bit hard to take the game seriously at
times, in part due to the hilariously bad voice
acting – to call it ‘B-movie’ would be putting
it kindly. However, the concept is undeniably
» [PS2] Here’s a survivor.
unique. Michigan is an uncommon PS2 Hint: she’s not going to
game in Europe, and demand for PAL copies be a survivor for long…
is higher than normal due to the lack of an » SKY S
American release and the high profile of
URFER
■ TOK A ■
Goichi Suda (better known as Suda51), so » [PS2] Your presenter has answered the phone 2000
prices tend to hover around the £40 mark. – are you going to follow her to try to find a lead? ■ Most
of the pio
extreme neers of
sport die this
We wou d in accid
ld still ra ents.
than eve the r try it fo
r play th r real
is dread
game ag ful
ain.

» RULE OF ROSE » DOG’S LIFE » DETONATOR » STEAMBOT

■ DEVELOPER: PUNCHLINE
■ YEAR: 2006
■ DEVELOPER: FRONTIER DEVELOPMENTS
■ YEAR: 2003
■ DEVELOPER: KADOKAWA SHOTEN
■ YEAR: 2002
CHRONICLES
■ DEVELOPER: IREM ■ YEAR: 2005
■ An attractive horror game, in which ■ In this game directed by David ■ Although it’s ostensibly about ■ Your protagonist, Vanilla Beans
you play as Jennifer, a 19-year-old girl Braben, you take control of Jake, a building demolition, Detonator is an (yes, really) wakes up on a beach
tormented by a group of malicious dog whose crush Daisy has been abstract puzzle game. With a limited with amnesia and has to help out the
children known as the Red Crayon taken by the dogcatchers. While trying supply of dynamite and a set number similarly-aged girl that discovers him.
Aristocrats. Along the way, she’s helped to rescue her, he’ll track down other of turns to place it, you must find the So far, so JRPG. But then Vanilla gets
out by her dog Brown. The game was dogs by scent, compete against them most efficient way to ensure the total access to cool customisable robots
pulled from release in the UK, following and recruit them to help him out. He’ll demolition of a building. However, called Trotmobiles which he can use
attacks from Italian politician Franco also complete tasks for humans to you’re limited by the shapes of the to do battle, and you can choose
Frattini and the Daily Mail which were earn bones, avoid dogcatchers and explosive charges you can place, as whether he becomes a hero or follows
dismissed by the Video Standards even mark his territory in the usual well as the structure of the building. a villainous path. An interesting game,
Council as ‘nonsense’. It’s rare and fashion. It’s a bit simple, but the This is an engaging puzzle game, but overlooked primarily due to a late and
expensive in all regions. unique premise makes it worth a look. one lacking in spectacle. low-profile release.

RETRO GAMER | 93
 ER/CON SOLE
FAVOURITE COMPUT
FIRS T JOB Amiga 500
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<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

94 | RETRO GAMER
 n y Beale
What cherished games would you take to the island?
Andy Beale has gone from and I would phone Tim up and confer about the game I was
working on,” he explains. “We’d talk about technical things
making Spectrum games in Surrey or gameplay ideas. There was some collaboration and I really
appreciated it back then because he was someone to talk to
to coding for consoles in who got what I was doing. And getting royalty payments when
I was still at school was great. It financed my first car!”
California. He tells us about Andy suddenly found his school days were considerably
brightened by the cash and playground kudos of producing
coin-ops and colour clash Spectrum games. Crash magazine gave Megapede a decent
review and so Andy set about cloning Stern’s Berzerk, again
Words by Paul Drury released by Softek as Robon in 1983. Unfortunately, this
one short-circuited a bit. “It looked the part, I think, but the

I
f you ever wandered into the arcade under the Wild gameplay was a bit lacking,” sighs Andy. “It was flickery and
Mouse rollercoaster by the beach at Little Hampton you had to be pointing in the direction you wanted to fire. I did
on the Sussex coast around 1981, you might well read the reviews of all my games and I can see why Crash
have spotted a wide-eyed teenager mesmerised by didn’t like this one.”
Space Invaders, Defender and all manner of arcade Undeterred, his third release of a prolific year was a very
classics, staring over the shoulder of skilled players. competent version of Atari’s Missile Command. Clever use
“I hope I didn’t creep them out,” says Andy Beale, of high-resolution graphics meant Repulsar presented the
apologetically. “Sometimes I’d spend hours just watching other player with an imposing missile shower to repel, though given
people play, picking up techniques… plus it was the original’s reliance on a trackball to mount a
a lot cheaper than playing!” successful defence, was replicating the controls

Trivia
Inspired by those great games of the golden effectively Andy’s top priority? “To be honest, I
age of arcades, he ordered a ZX81 and even started by trying to make it look like the arcade
drew the keyboard on paper so he could spend game,” he explains. “Getting the graphics as
the long wait for Sinclair to dispatch his first In Theme Park on the Mega close as I could was really important to me and I
computer constructively, practising his typing and Drive, players couldn’t think I managed it with the missiles raining down.
save their game due to EA’s
learning where the keywords were located. This reluctance to add a costly I did add a few things, like the flying saucer, but
bot by
on Micro
impressive preparation continued when Andy battery-backed memory the game only had one base, not three. I did
work to the cartridge, so Andy
rted s. upgraded to a Spectrum on its launch in 1982. always try to get as much in of the arcade original
Andy sta und with graphic encoded player progress
li
ling aro He had already drawn the graphics for various in a string code to help as possible and not start by thinking about what I
dd
fid arcade titles in the back of his school maths mitigate the problem. had to cut out.”
book before the rubber-keyed wonder arrived, Accepting constraints was, of course, the
includding those for a Centipede clone which reality of anyone attempting to clone coin-op
would become his debut game, Megapede. The BASIC games for humble home micros in the early Eighties so before
compiler he used to speed up his efforts was made by the year was out, Andy decided to work on a design of his
Softek which actively encouraged keen coders to send in own. “I began by drawing the main character and it stemmed
theirr efforts for consideration. “I sent my Centipede game from there,” he says of Microbot, “I started with the graphics
off and
a was staggered when I got a phone call from Tim as that gets me into the mood of the game and I remember
Langdell. He wasn’t an infamous character at this point! drawing all the pipes and thinking, ‘This looks pretty good!’”
He offered me a contract – I was only 16 so I got my Microbot certainly showed considerable ambition over
muum to look at it to make sure it was above board…” his previous arcade knock-offs, with your little robot flitting
A wise move, given Dr Langdell’s subsequent between 12 screens and balancing pipe maintenance with
bu
usiness practices and courtroom battles, but back then, enemy blasting. “I always liked the idea of having lots of things
Anndy really valued the support and encouragement he you had to juggle,” says Andy. “You can’t be in two places at
received. “I was the only electronics person in my family once so you have to prioritise.”
 Praise
Though it’s very of its time, with some foes
resembling Manic Miner’s wacky amoebatrons and a
nod to the screen-flicking adventures of Atic Atac, it is
“ I wanted to create
something that was
for Andy an original effort with some sweet visual touches and a
Here’s what Retro Gamer has to say
about Mark Pierce’s work…
main character with legs, both literally and figuratively.
As 1984 dawned, Andy began work on Psytraxx,
in the realms of
which would take the robotic protagonist of Microbot
and place him in a network of over a thousand rooms.
the Megagames”
Andy Beale
rran Jones
very satisfying to learn that “I wanted to create something that was in the realms
y worked on Dead To Rights, of the Megagames,” laughs Andy. “Imagine was
remembed completing it on
Xbox many, many years ago talking about them so I wanted to scale up my idea to
no . s ool mechanics like bullet time that size. I mapped out all 1,000 screens with my sister
and then of course there was Shadow, your on the dining room table, putting it all together. We did them all development was where his heart truly lay, and he dropped out
faithful furry companion who would help you
down bad guys. Silly, over-the-top fun. one by one! The main thrust was the size. I wanted something of his Computer Science degree during his first year. Besides,
that was bigger than most other games of the time, though at this point in his life, Andy had high hopes for the new
l Drury most of the rooms did look the same.” Spectrum game he’d been working on.
always a pleasure uncovering Bigger isn’t always better, though. Published through “Quadron was something I wanted to play. It had elements
stories of less well known The Edge, Tim Langdell’s new venture, adverts boldly declared of Defender, Robotron and Sinistar, all those Williams games I
e programmers and hearing
ow Andy went from bedroom
a “new programming technique called Synergy” had allowed loved. It was set in the Quadron complex, a multiscreen affair,
coding on the Spectrum to working on big the creation of such a huge game world, though in reality, and in the corners were four rocks that held these crystals.
name titles in the USA was not only fascinating most screens were virtually indistinguishable. It did get Andy That was the Sinistar concept – certain aliens could mine these
but felt a very British tale. To find he still has all
some press attention, with a feature in the November 1984 crystals and others called ‘Fetchers’ could grab them once they
the code for an unreleased Speccy game also
made me smile. issue of Personal Computer Games, and coincided with were mined and take them to these rooms where they could
him working over the summer at Tim Langdell’s offices in use them to convert into ‘Meta-Fetchers’, a bit like turning into
Covent Garden, London. Though he continued working on his mutants in Defender. I wanted it to be fast-moving and with
er various names
Andy mulled ov
A-Level qualifications and eventually went off to University of different weapons you could power up like Side Arms. I touted

f re se o Microbot.
s ttling on Essex, Andy y recognised
g g g world of g
that the burgeoning game it around to various software houses and Palace Software in
befo
b
Fix Trix London really liked it. Pete Stone who ran it gave me a contract
We rather like o publish it so I carried on coding in my bedroom and when
to
it was all ready to release, the producer came round. His tone
was very different to previous visits and he said, ‘Sorry, these
w
games aren’t doing well anymore so we’re changing our mind’.
Iwwas gutted. I’d spent so long on it…”

t was late 1987, and with Andy recognising the 8-bit

computer games market was on the wane, he began
experimenting with coding on Commodore’s Amiga
and landed himself a day job in the arcade business,
working
w for small, local companies such as Electrocoin
and RS Coin. He applied his programming skills to various
frruit machines and electromechanical game projects such as
The Bomb, which tasked the steady-handed with diffusing an
ex xplosive through careful twisting of cogs, and the brilliantly
named Beat The Cat, which involved no animal cruelty but
much
m frantic wheel-spinning to save a mouse in jeopardy.
By the early Nineties, Andy was looking to move his way
back into videogame development. Spurred on by his love of
thhe Amiga, he went for an interview at Bullfrog, where he was
offfered the job of converting Theme Park to the Mega Drive,
a console which shared the 68000 processor he was familiar
with.
w “I said I would be up for that,” smiles Andy. “Going to
he office every day was a new concept for me. It wasn’t that
th
big – I think I was employee number 30 – and it was fun but
professional. I was actually interviewed by Peter Molyneux and
he did have this reputation ahead of releases of adding features
during magazine interviews that weren’t actually in the game.
Everyone would roll their eyes and say, ‘Peter’s at it again –

Timeline 1983 1983 1984 1995

MEGAPEDE MICROBOT PSYTRAXX THEME PARK

QYEAR: 1983 QYEAR: 1983 QYEAR: 1984 QYEAR: 1995
QFORMAT: ZX Spectrum QFORMAT: ZX Spectrum QFORMAT: ZX Spectrum QFORMAT: Mega Drive
Andy began his trio of arcade Set inside a giant robot’s head, Originally titled Microbot’s Revenge, An excellent version of Bullfrog’s
clones for the Spectrum with your tiny robotic charge must this sees the little chap rebelling rollercoaster and salty popcorn
this solid version of Atari’s manage multiple threats, from against the Emperor robot. simulator, Andy managed to
perennially popular insect leaky pipes to fighting off enemies With over a thousand screens, it’s expertly tailor the gameplay to fit
shooter Centipede. with some light puzzling, t big but a little bemusing. the console and its controller.

96 | RETRO GAMER
 R epulsar (ZX
Spectrum)
was Andy’s cred
ible clone
of Missile Com
mand.

Andy made the pages of

Personal Computer Games
in 1984 for Psytraxx.
we’re going to have to stick that in the game now!’ He really
Close to went to town with the press.”
Beale on Beale
the Edge Andy started at Bullfrog in November 1993 and worked on
his version of Theme Park throughout the following year. He
began by implementing the isometric display and making best
Given that Andy’s early releases were use of the console’s controller in lieu of a mouse. “They were Andy picks his three favourite projects
all through companies owned by Tim still working on the PC version and I was working on mine
Langdell, a man now best known for alongside them,” he explains, “and because that was still in Q QUADRON
his overprotectiveness of the word flux, it made it tricky for me to convert it. Plus there were a I was creating something that
‘Edge’, we were keen to know what he combined a bit of each of those
lot of technical limitations on the Mega Drive, including much
was like when Andy knew him. “Tim early Eighties arcade games
less memory, and at some points I did wonder whether it was
was very charming and I was always I loved. It’s a pity that it was
possible. But I kept going, bit by bit…”
appreciative of him understanding the never released. I still enjoy
Andy’s work on the theme park building simulator was playing it today.
technical side of what I was doing,” impressive enough to be named as the Mega Drive’s ‘Best
Andy assures us. “I’m not sure if Strategy Game’ in 1995, a source of enduring pride for him.
he coded himself but he seemed to Q THEME PARK
After its release, he was immediately moved over to work It was a challenge fitting this
understand the techniques.” And was on Sega’s new CD-based machine, the Saturn, a console
Tim as forthcoming when it came big PC game into a 64KB
renowned for its complicated internal architecture. “I was Mega Drive cartridge but it
to royalty payments? Andy pauses
intrigued by the Saturn,” muses Andy. “It was powerful and was rewarding when a lot of
before answering. “Well, it started
had a lot of 2D capabilities and I liked the idea of the RISC people considered it the best
off good and then kind of declined
processors, which I hadn’t programmed before. Basically, EA version of the game.
and turned into a struggle. But just
came to Bullfrog and said they needed a game out by a certain
receiving payments when I was still at
school was cool. I got a few thousand date so could we do something quickly to help with their Q XENA: WARRIOR
for those Spectrum games, which numbers that financial year?” PRINCESS
Bullfrog agreed and the result was Hi-Octane, a WipEout It was released in 1999
wasn’t fantastic but for a schoolboy it
wannabe that never really emerged from its vapour trail. Andy and by then we were really
beat doing a paper round.” getting to grips with what
handled the Saturn version, a considerable challenge given the
the PlayStation could do. It
console’s shortcomings when it came to implementing 3D at
was a good team and I had
a decent framerate, and he diplomatically concludes the game
a lot of fun programming it.
“could’ve been better with more time”. On its release, Andy
decided to take a break from the games business and follow
a long-held dream of being a waiter. It was an adventure that
took him to the exotic shores of Tenerife and the less salubrious
floors of the Pizza Hut in Newbury. After almost a year out,
he returned to Bullfrog to briefly work on the Saturn

1995 1998 1999 2005

HI-OCTANE POPULOUS: THE BEGINNING XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS DEAD TO RIGHTS

QYEAR: 1995 QYEAR: 1998 QYEAR: 1999 QYEAR: 2002
QFORMAT: Saturn QFORMAT: PlayStation QFORMAT: PlayStation QFORMAT: Xbox
This take on high speed Released after Andy had left Having moved to the States Andy’s final project was
hovercraft racing might have been Bullfrog, the third entry in the in the late Nineties, Andy as lead programmer on
fast but its rushed development series certainly looked the worked on this fun hack-and- this Namco title which had
cycle, rumoured to be just eight part but changes to the core slash title which featured its plenty of variety and some
weeks, definitely shows. gameplay didn’t please everyone. fair share of cleaving. entertaining canine combat.

RETRO GAMER | 97
 Hi-Octane (Saturn) was a challenge
d and
to code d a chall l
t play
h llenge to

Readers’
Questions
Merman: What was your favourite
hardware to develop on?
Probably the Amiga because it
had a lot of flexibility, it had all
those custom chips and it was
accessible. It wasn’t like the
PlayStation 2 or Saturn where
you had all these processors to
worry about. It was smooth sailing
programming-wise and you could
get some really good results.

Northway: What development

system did you use for making your
coin-op stuff?
The guy I was working with on the
coin-op stuff didn’t really know
what to get. We got started off
with an Amstrad 6128 with an
EPROM programmer attached

“
before moving up to a PC with
either an EPROM or Z80 emulator, I
seem to remember. I do miss the
Merman: Do you have a favourite camaraderie, when
Bullfrog anecdote or crazy anecdote
from working in the office? your team are all As the new millennium dawned,
dawned Andy got to ply his
PlayStation programming prowess on Dead To Rights, an
pulling together”
FEAST! You had to pound your hand
on your desk while you chanted original project for industry stalwarts, Namco. “It felt like a
it and it meant we were all going prestigious thing to be working for them,” he remembers,
off to the Hawaiian barbecue. It
was a place in the Hazelmere area Andy Beale “and there was a big team of over 50 people. It was a long
way from the ‘one-man-band’ days. Letting you play as
and occasionally we would all go
there… FEAST was the signal! the dog was fun and it was pretty neat the stuff you could
make it do. We had a good feeling about the game during
FGasking: Have you still got version of Magic Carpet, before moving over to PlayStation development and we were always striving for 60 frames per
the source code for any of your development and joining the team working on the third second. At E3 in 2002 it got the award for ‘Best Action Game’
unreleased games? instalment in the Populous series. “I knew Sony’s console was though it was a bit rough round the edges.”
Yes, I have all the code for Quadron.
Of all the games I worked on, it’s easier to program so I really happy with the change,” he grins. The game had plenty of good ideas and we enjoyed the
the one I most wish had been “You could get a lot more out of it without jumping through rhythm action section set in a nightclub a little too much,
released. It was a labour of love hoops like you had to on the Saturn.” though its reliance on bullet time shoot outs inevitably led to
and something that was a very less than favourable comparisons with the Max Payne series.
personal project for me.
espite Bullfrog bulging with interesting Working on the PS2, Xbox and GameCube versions of Dead
TT: Are there any other arcade
new projects, Andy’s penchant for warmer To Rights gave Andy a broad view of the contemporary console
games you would have liked to climates meant in 1997 he was tempted landscape and after two decades years making games, new
convert to the ZX Spectrum? across the pond to San Francisco on vistas beckoned. Now with a wife and two children, Andy
I wouldn’t have minded having a America’s West Coast, joining a startup studio working decided the long hours on crunch time, weekend working
go at R-Type or Nemesis or one
of those scrolling shooters. That on a PlayStation title based on the-then burgeoning and the instability of a career in games development were
would have been interesting as Stargate franchise. The game, a third-person sci-fi adventure no longer for him. Since leaving it all behind in 2002, he
scrolling on the Spectrum was with some nifty animation, was shaping up has formed his own company, moved into
quite complicated and a challenge nicely, but was abruptly cancelled, leading Andy audiovisual production and has dabbled with

Trivia
to do well. It involved using some
programming tricks so I would to move to Universal Studios’ videogame division electronic music, but doesn’t completely rule out
have liked that. in San Jose. There he worked alongside Dino a return to game-making.
Dini of Kick-Off fame on a game based on the “There are lots of things I don’t miss, like
Merman: Do you play fruit studios many classic ‘monster’ franchises, such as the crunch times,” he says, “but I do miss the
machines yourself? Frankenstein and Dracula, but when that project During his time at camaraderie, when your team are all pulling
Occasionally but I know the odds Electrocoin, Andy worked
of winning so I don’t go on them too
stalled, he switched from fangs to flesh to work on an unreleased adaptation together. And I will always have a soft spot for
much! I do have a strong memory on Xena: Warrior Princess. Did he get to meet the of Mr. Do!. Somehow this the Eighties and the games and computers of
of when I was first programming badass star of the TV show, Lucy Lawless, we small UK-based coin-op that
th t era.” Us
U too
t Andy,
A d us too.
t
company had got hold of
a fruit machine and getting it to ask hopefully? the source code, though it
stop all three reels, ‘clunk, clunk, seems unlikely this was an
clunk’, in the exact configuration “No I never met her and wasn’t really into the
official deal with Universal.
I’d programmed in ten seconds television show,” he admits to us, “but I really
before. That made a real impact – it enjoyed the project. I got to do lots of the special
seemed like magic back then! effects, some of the boss characters and engine
optimisations. The PlayStation libraries really helped and it
was a nice change from the Sega Saturn that I had come
from with its many processors and the PlayStation 2 to come,
with its. I certainly didn’t feel restrained by the licence. It didn’t
matter if things were in the show or not, we just wanted to
make it look good!”

TRO GA
 Andy’s
The games that Andy simply
couldn’t live without
01
01 Defender ARCADE
It was the first fast, really challeng
ing and impressive arcade
osio ns, the smooth 50fps
game. I loved the particle expl
the uniq ue soun ds of the time and although
refresh rate,
at first, with time you could
the controls were daunting
them and keep that 10p goin g!
master

02
I chose
Robotron: 2048 ARCADEleng
this for similar reas ons. Very chal

ing, and you
times. The first time you stick your
need really fast reaction nds, but you
abou t five seco
10p in it, you’re going to die in
know you can get bett er.

03
You can
Sinistar ARCADE
see a theme here? When that Sinis
tar creation was
you, screaming… it was terrifying!
built and started chasing

04 Space Invaders ARCADE 

videogame thing
It really was a classic that got the
whole
It had that perfe ct balance of gameplay and everything
going.
. In the arcades, I was just as happy
about it felt just right
the best techniques as
watching people play and learning
playing myself.

05 Galaxian ARCADE
It was the next stage after Spac
e Invaders. It was the drone
02 03 04
soun d effects and the colour,
when they came down, all the
of course… it all felt very novel.

06 Battlezone ARCADE
It was the first 3D arcade game
I saw. That was a definite
ling alley, not to bowl but to play
pull. I used to go to this bow
de gam es, and there was a guy installing it. I just
the arca
w, I’ve neve r seen anything like this
remember thinking, ‘Wo
ination.
before’. It really captured the imag

07
I first saw
Asteroids ARCADE
it at a chip shop after school and
it was the first
. All thos e techniqu es you could learn,
vector game I’d seen

05
and waiting in the corner for
like keeping one asteroid going
the saucer to

08
arrive. I was

Jetpac ZX SPECTRUM

a lurker!
06
essed me. It was
Like everyone else, this really impr
trum and that really hit you.
arcade-like quality on the Spec
Ultimate really knew wha
weapon was just like Defe
t they
nder .
were doing and that laser
08

Taken from A
notebook from
ndy’s Spectrum
07
1983, this is
the code for ad
ding the f leas
in Megapede.

RETRO MER | 99
RO GAM
Renny Blaster
LEAVE MY ANTACIDS ALONE!
 PC ENGINE  1995  NEC AVENUE

» RETROREVIVAL
Until recently, I figured that I wasn’t the
sort of person to spend a lot of money on
a game. Certainly not more than £100.
I’d occasionally splash out if a game I really,
really wanted had a cool collector’s edition, but
I’d never go bananas for a regular one. But a Neo-Geo MVS
copy of Garou: Mark Of The Wolves looked too tempting one
day, and I haven’t regretted it. Sure, I could get lots of great
games for the price, but I’m hardly short on games to play as it
is – I may as well make fewer, larger purchases.
As a result, I’ve been looking towards my next big purchase,
and since my PC Engine collection is pretty small I decided
to start there. Renny Blaster caught my eye, as it feels like an
oddity. It’s a single-plane beat-’em-up from the mid-Nineties,
almost as if games like Renegade, Double Dragon and Final
Fight had never happened. It’s got a horror theme without
being as gratuitous or cartoonish as the likes of Splatterhouse.
There’s even a good bit of complexity crammed into the
controls, with running attacks, various specials and more.
Yet it’s not a game I find myself in love with – and for that
sort of money, it has to be. Sometimes it feels just a bit too
clunky, sometimes the backgrounds are just a little too static,
and ultimately it’s just not quite good enough to convince me to
break the bank. Luckily, I still have plenty of obvious choices like
Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood to fall back on.
 BEIGE IS BACK
INFORMATION The invasion of the designed. HDMI and micro USB power
>> This month  RELEASED: OUT NOW mini consoles is input can be located on the back of
we take a  PRICE: £69.99
well and truly on – the console, plus two USB ports and a
look at The  MANUFACTURER:
Nintendo has made power button are on the side. Set-up is
C64 Mini, play RETRO GAMES LTD a roaring success of easy and booting is very quick.
through the its NES and SNES The game selection menu is
, ega has just announced that attractive and shows box art, a brief
sixth Yakuza it’s shrinking down the Mega Drive, game description and a screenshot. A
game and and in the present The C64 Mini jaunty SID tune plays as you browse the
shoot down has arrived. For those of you games on offer, and it can be muted
some dragons. unfamiliar with the device, it’s a 50 per if you prefer. A few menu options sit
Good times cent scale miniature of a breadbin below the list of games: a system menu
Commodore 64, with 64 preloaded that allows you to set the region of your
games, 720p HDMI output and an USB keyboard and update firmware, a
PICKS OF authentically designed Eighties joystick. language selection menu, and a screen
THE MONTH Opening the box, the presentation settings menu. This offers you the
of the device is very attractive and the ability to play with a pixel-perfect display
bundled documentation explains how or choose PAL and NTSC 4:3 ratios, as
to use the system sufficiently well. well as the opportunity to apply a CRT
However, it is only a quick start guide filter. This is a nice inclusion, although
– for more complete instructions and the filter can’t be customised further to
» [C64 Mini] The C64 Mini manuals for all of the games, the printed alter blur and scanline strength.
offers screen modes to suit
a variety of preferences,
booklet directs you online. The unit itself With a system that hosted as many
DARRAN including a CRT filter. is pleasing to the eye and very cleanly games as the Commodore 64 did, it’s
Dragon Blaze
practically impossible to curate a list
It’s a shoot-’em-up which
has dragons in it. Dragons of games that will include everyone’s
are like winged dinosaurs. favourites. Still, the selection of built-in
Of course I’m enjoying it. games represents a valiant effort to

NICK
Yakuza 6:
The Song Of Life
I’ve got a soft spot for
Yakuza’s antihero Kazuma » [C64 Mini] As is to be expected, the HDMI output is
Kiryu and his mad antics. clear and crisp, although it is limited to 720p.

102 | RETRO GAMER

 REVIEWS: THE C64 MINI

» [C64 Mini] This attractive menu is typical of the care

that has gone into presenting The C64 Mini.

been carefully chosen for joystick The C64 Mini is going to suffer. Of In all, if you still love C64 games, this
control. A menu button on the course, it’s worth noting that hooking is a fun way to revisit them. We’d have
keyboard allows you to exit games, up original C64 hardware would preferred a more comfortable joystick,
access save states (up to four per probably result in similar problems easier loading of your own games and
game) and bring up the virtual given that analogue display conversion lower input lag, but in all other respects
keyboard for the games that require in modern TVs is not geared towards The C64 Mini delivers. Nintendo’s
» [C64 Mini] The virtual keyboard uses the widescreen occasional key presses. This is much speed, and even a great upscaler plug-and-play machines remain the
format well, shifting the display so nothing is obscured.
more convenient than placing the will only do so much to mitigate that. best in class when it comes to doing
reset button on the system itself, as Hopefully, this issue can be mitigated justice to the source material, but the
present some of the system’s greatest Nintendo’s machines do. You can also with future firmware updates. experience here is definitely a step up
hits. The likes of Armalyte, Boulder use a USB keyboard instead of the Additionally, with these games from other plug-and-play devices we’ve
Dash, Creatures, Impossible Mission, virtual keyboard – a real lifesaver if you coming from a time before tutorials looked at in recent times.
Jumpman, Paradroid, Pitstop II and plan to run text adventures, and it’s a and hand-holding became the norm, it
Epyx’s Games series all feature in big advance over the likes of the ZX really would have been nice to have at In a nutshell
Lemon64’s user-voted top 100 games Spectrum Vega. We’re not all that keen least basic game instructions available The C64 Mini is a good attempt to
list, and that’s a list that doesn’t even on the joystick, though. After years of on the machine itself. It’s often deliver a nostalgia console for the
include great games such as Uridium, using joysticks with a longer throw and incredibly hard to know what you’re home computer kids. The biggest
Deflektor and Monty On The Run. If microswitches, it feels like a bit of a meant to be doing and how to do it, bugbear is the input lag, which will
you’re new to the system, this isn’t step backwards. and having to refer to online manuals depend on your TV. A revised model
quite the one-stop shop that Nintendo’s While this is clearly a package that does detract from the immediacy of could potentially achieve greatness,
miniature plug-and-plays are, but it’s a has been put together with some the plug-and-play experience. but this is still worth investigating.
very good introduction. care, it’s not without some drawbacks.
Better yet, it doesn’t have to be One particular issue that we noticed
quite that comprehensive, as The was input lag. We observed a very
C64 Mini officially supports loading small amount of delay between stick
additional games via USB. Using the movements and button presses, and
system’s Commodore BASIC interface, how they play out on screen. If you’ve
you can load games through an already taken steps to minimise your
emulated disk drive. Unfortunately, this TV’s input lag, you might not notice it
is a bit clunky – the file has to have a unless you look for it – but if your TV
specific name, which means only one already exhibits considerable input lag,
file is loadable at a time. While you
can pack multiple games into a single
disk image, it’s an awkward process
that detracts from the plug-and-play
simplicity of the console. Additionally,
with the system offering only two
USB ports, you’ll need a USB hub if
you want to have access to both the
keyboard and joystick. » [C64 Mini] Here’s the CRT filter in action – the blur and scanlines are
good, but the strength of the effect can’t be adjusted.
When it comes to controlling the
» [C64 Mini] Up to four save states can be used per game, via a simple
games, the selection on board has menu – a nice touch, for sure.
RETRO ROUNDUP
WE LOOK AT THE LATEST RETRO-RELATED RELEASES

PICK OF THE MONTH

Yakuza 6: The Song Of Life
» System: PS4 » Buy it from: Retail, online » Buy it for: £49.99
After over a decade on our screens, exploration and fighting. The result is less
Kazuma Kiryu is finally ready to ride off wasted time on transitional screens, making
into the sunset – but not before finding everything a little more inviting.
out what happened to his adoptive Still, there’s plenty of stuff to do. The
daughter Haruka, who disappeared and frequent and often bizarre side quests that
was injured during his most recent stint have become a staple of the series are as
behind bars. Once again, this involves prevalent as ever, and remain engaging – you’ll » [PS4] Occasionally, Kiryu picks up a partner with whom he can enjoy cracking skulls.
exploring open city environments (Onomichi, never guess how a Siri-style smart assistant
Hiroshima and the familiar fictional district of gets you into fights, for example. It’s also a
Kamurocho, Tokyo), getting into fights and good Sega compilation in its own right, thanks
indulging in the countless distractions on offer. to the in-game arcades. As well as Out Run,
As compared to recent games in the Super Hang-On, Space Harrier and Fantasy
series, Yakuza 6 has a reduced scope. Where Zone, there’s a version of Puyo Puyo and a
Yakuza 4, Yakuza 5 and Yakuza 0 all featured conversion of the brilliant Virtua Fighter 5: Final
multiple protagonists, the latest game Showdown, complete with multiplayer.
places the focus squarely back on Kiryu. Of course the main game is what you’re
Likewise, Kiryu’s multiple fighting styles from really here for, and it doesn’t disappoint. The
Yakuza 0 have been dropped, and even the skill progression system is a bit cumbersome,
city environments are slightly smaller. This and the writing isn’t always the strongest, but
is because Yakuza 6 is the first game in the there’s enough intrigue to keep you hooked
series using a new engine, and it does offer between the satisfyingly brutal fights. Yakuza 6
some worthwhile improvements. As well comes recommended, no matter whether
as graphical improvements, the game now you’re a fan or a newcomer.
transitions seamlessly between indoor and
outdoor environments, as well as between >> Score 86% » [PS4] This poor thug is about to have his neck introduced to Kiryu’s knee.

Detective Pikachu Dragon Blaze Battletech

» System: 3DS » Buy it from: Online, retail » System: Switch » Buy it from: Switch eShop » System: PC (tested), Mac » Buy it from: Online
» Buy it for: £34.99 » Buy it for: £6.99 » Buy it for: £34.99
Tim Goodman’s detective dad has gone missing, We’ve not played this shooter since it was part Harebrained Schemes continues its love
and with the help of his Pokémon partner of an old PS2 compilation, so it’s pleasing to see of old franchises by updating the once
Pikachu, he’s trying to track him down. There’s how well it still stands up. Mechanically there’s popular board game, which spawned the
a lot to be said for this new characterisation a lot going on in Dragon Blaze thanks to the use popular MechWarrior series. It takes many
of Pikachu – it’s hilarious to see the critter of charged and standard shots, which ensure elements from the board game and also takes
guzzling down coffee, trying to be a ladies’ man you can tackle the wave of enemies and bosses inspiration from the XCOM series. It’s an
and investigating incidents. The game is also in numerous ways. Your dragon mount also interesting move, allowing your squad of up to
presented to a very high standard, with excellent play a key role in Dragon Blaze’s mechanics, as four mechs to take part in all sorts of different
visuals and some good voice acting. it’s possible to dismount it whenever you want, missions. There’s a wealth of mechanics to
Unfortunately, the mystery gameplay isn’t providing additional firepower (at the expense of juggle, including overheating weapons and
quite so engaging, besides occasional QTEs making yourself an easier target as you continue line of sight, but it rarely feels overwhelming
and arranging evidence to uncover the reality the fight on-foot). thanks to a good informative UI and camera.
of events is your task. Solving the simple logic Dragon Blaze is a little more bullet hell-heavy It’s a little clunky in places, due to some
puzzles is rarely challenging. Younger players will compared to other Psikyo blasters, but it looks fiddly control choices, but that doesn’t stop
appreciate it, but adults are advised to play Ace fantastic, has a decent difficulty curve and will Battletech from being a highly engrossing time
Attorney and Danganronpa instead. take an absolute age to beat it with one credit. sink for those who love mechs.

>> Score59% >> Score 71% >> Score 77%

104 | RETRO GAMER

 TWO MAGAZINES Available
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SPECIAL THE 200 GREATEST GAMES

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 *DPHUƖ

rewinŁ sincĠ 2005

B » [C64] Adding new meaning to the phrase “the daily grind”.

Crank Crank Revolution on the

C a retro system and the PICO-8 in some puzzle solving mechanics where
C64
C is, bizarrely, a street musician particular appears to have picked up a shooting the titular barrels will cause
simulator where the player grinds significant following since its launch. area-clearing explosions.
are ticking
» [PICO-8] The Dead Seconds an organ by rotating their joystick. This game jam had a reasonably open On the shooting front, Dead
away rapidly. TTo attract an audience, the speed must to interpretation theme of ‘one minute’ Seconds is a run-and-gun affair set
bbe just about right and, as money and all of the code and assets within against the clock and sporting a
is earned from people passing by, each entry had to be created within the stylised graphical style where downed
tthe monkey can be sent in to collect space of a week. enemies leave behind time bonuses,
it by holding down the fire button. Mazeborn is a Gauntlet-style while Monster Love is an arena shooter
LLeaving some cash on show draws top-down action game inspired by about a man being kept waiting by
in more watchers but it’s something Bloodborne and the Souls series where his girlfriend and ‘hulking up’ to kill
oof a balancing act since too much in each procedurally generated dungeon innocent bystanders as a means for
tthe hat will attract the attention of the only exists for 60 seconds before it relieving stress. There are a few games
ppolice. Apply for a busking pitch over at changes around the player. Late For which play with the theme a little as
KKikstart.eu/crank-crank-c64. The Date is a tricky platformer where a well, such as What Is Minute where a
The Fantasy Console Game Jam 3 cute blue creature has to avoid hazards cute little blob must collect scattered
wwas a small two-week competition and collect flowers for his date while blocks of seconds to make 60 in total.
eencouraging developers to make new Red Zone Rush involves surviving The game jam culminated with 29
» [PICO-8] Adding time together
to make 60 seconds in
ggames for consoles that don’t actually various forms or aerial bombardment entries – 23 of which can be played
What Is Minute. exist; systems like the LIKO-12, TIK 80 on a rapidly dwindling island and for from the comfort of a web browser –
or PICO-8 all offer retro-style graphics those wanting a slightly more cerebral and they can all be found at
and sound without actually emulating platforming challenge, Barrel Force has Kikstart.eu/fantasy-jam-3.
NEW GAMES NEEDED
If you have a homebrew project you would like to see featured then please contact us at: [email protected]

» [PC] Gettting
into a flap wh hile
collecting
eggs and landing
in nessts.
t
Patrick Nevian’s Amiga games set in the world of
Gorluth have previously been RPGs, but the next one,
Heroes Of Gorluth, is going to be a platformer. We
went on a fetch quest with him to find out why
What have been the
inspirations for Heroes
Of Gorluth?
I have to admit that at first
I didn’t want to develop
another action RPG for the
Amiga. Tales Of Gorluth I and
its sequel required a lot of
work and patience due to the
Zelda-style gameplay. But I still
» A programmer’s workbench, both
literally and figuratively.
FOR THE BIRDS
had some ideas in mind for a Currently being developed is Egg Lander, a web-
third part. And roughly how long doess 3DWULF ś based action game which has been inspired by the
In December 2017 I
stumbled over some cool
something like Heroes Of
Gorluth take to create?
Another
reason:
1HYLD Ũ arcade classic Lunar Lander. The controls are based
on rotation and thrust but the sprite being guided is a
platformer tilesets and they I set a personal schedule for platformers are bird who must wing its way around the screen and sit
gave the final inspiration for the one year. So the final game much easier to develop and on all of the nests to clear a stage; if there’s some spare
Gorluth spin-off. will be finished in December so I’ll combine riddles and time a score bonus can be earned by collecting eggs as
2018. I’m well within the conversations from RPG’s well. Fly over to Kikstart.eu/nest-lander-web for a play of
How many people are time schedule and hopefully and adventure games with the demo version.
involved in the game’s there are no major bugs traditional side-scrolling action.
development? encountered in the future.
It’s basically only me. I licensed I’m currently working on a And finally, do you have any
the tilesets and sprites and
converted them carefully via
town level and an underground
section below this village. After
future games our readers
would be interested in?
I love games
Paint for my Amiga game.
So, of course, I am also
that there are three worlds
left – forest, winter, stronghold
I’m also working on a game
called Oh No! More Aliens!
like Cadash on the
responsible for the game
design, the soundtrack/sound
– and each world consists of
three to four levels.
for Ares Computer. It is
progressing slowly though,
Mega Drive
effects, additional graphics and due to real life things as the
the storyline. The gameplay has changed production of the new album
» [ZX Spectrum]
Recently, I contacted Ozan from previous instalments, of my band Blue May Rose. Considering
from the demoscene group where did the idea for that But I for sure won’t stop options when
realising the
Desire. He will contribute come from? producing Amiga games in the
shopping centre
some cutscene pictures. Well, Tales Of Gorluth I near future. has vanished.
and Tales Of Gorluth II
heavily focused on complex
storytelling and lots of text.
I love games like Cadash on
the Mega Drive, though, and I
think this kind of gameplay
also fits into the Gorluth
universe. So I decided to come
» [Amiga] Getting close to the heart of along with a more action- » [Amiga] Exploring is always
the map. oriented approach. easier with a map.

» [Amiga] The tide has gone all

the way out today.
GO ADVENTURING
In this adventure Karl is an author who, it seems,
is losing the plot somewhat. The painting in his
spare room vanishes and his partner denies any
knowledge of it could be put down to a number of
things, but Karl starts to doubt his own sanity when
visiting the local shopping centre only to find that has
vanished too, with nobody else remembering it.
In Nihilum Reverteris is a piece of interactive fiction
on the ZX Spectrum from developer Yerzmyey with an
intriguing story. If you’re interested, there’s a download
at Kikstart.eu/ in-nihilum-spec assuming it hasn’t
mysteriously disappeared.

RETR GAM 10
 » [Atari 8-bit] Dealing with a deadly space
mine pretty much by accident.
Warspite is a space-bound scrolling
shooter based loosely on the
Thalamus classic Delta that was
originally destined for a budget
release, but ended up being given
away through the Commodore 64
demo scene.
Destroying an entire wave of
attacking enemies or a boss will
change which icon in the power-up
bar at the bottom of the screen
is highlighted – there are three for
extra speed, more bullets and a
shield – and, when the desired
icon is lit, a slap of the space bar
activates it. These extra weapons
don’t last however, so they will
need the occasional top up to keep
them active.
More information about
Warspite’s history and a download
can be found at Games That
Weren’t behind Kikstart.eu/
warspite-c64 – please note that
there’s some harsh language in the
game’s trainer menu.

BOSCONIAN
 PLATFORM: ATARI 8BIT  DEVELOPER: JANUSZ CHABOWSKI  DOWNLOAD: KIKSTART.EU/BOSCONIANA8  PRICE: FREE

The subjugation of Earth didn’t take practise, be used to pick off enemies
very long, the Bosconians turned while flying away from them. The
up with a fleet of huge orbital platforms themselves are destroyed
platforms which allowed them to by shooting all six of their gun pods
» [C64] The boss isn’t exactly pleased to see an
invading spaceship.
pelt our planet with meteorites. or putting a well-aimed bullet into the
The Federal Council – what remains of exposed reactor core, with the latter
Earth’s superpowers, for once working becoming trickier to pull off.
in harmony – have created a space Bosconian is no-nonsense blasting
fighter capable of striking back against based on Midway’s coin-op of the same
the invaders, but the absolute secrecy name. It’s a sturdy conversion albeit » [Atari 8-bit] And cue a very large explosion
required to keep this activity from the with less forgiving collision detection in three, two, one…
enemy means there’s just the one craft. which needs to be allowed for and, while
And now the time has come for it to the game is relatively quiet for the first
blast off and destroy the Bosconian couple of levels, the playfield soon fills
orbital platforms to free mankind once up with enemy fighters and projectiles to
» [C64] Entering the space city and defeating and for all from the invaders’ tyranny. the point where planning goes out of the
some enemies. Each stage is a sector of space window and survival instincts kick in.
c
containing a number of platforms, One technical feature worthy of
m
meteorites and space mines which note is that there are multiple versions
th
he player can navigate through in any available, a ‘full-fat’ 128K release which
d
direction, using the radar to locate features the speech from the original
» [Atari 8-bit] Only two platforms left but being
b
both their targets and the occasional coin-op and a ‘semi-skimmed’ version chased by a wave of nasties.
fo
ormations of enemies sent to hunt for 64K users – that’s something g to be
th
he invader down. There aren’t any commended since not everybo has an
p
power-ups available but the ship’s expanded Atari 8-bit.
w
weapon simultaneously fires forwards
and backwards which can, with a little >> Score 85%

108 | RETRO GAMER

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

STEEL RANGER SUPA ZAZAI DA!

 PLATFORM: COMMODORE 64  PRICE: $4.99 DOWNLOAD
 DEVELOPER: COVERT BITOPS  PLATFORM: ATARI ST/FALCON  DEVELOPER: CEREBRAL VORTEX
 DOWNLOAD: KIKSTART.EU/STEELRANGERC64  DOWNLOAD: KIKSTART.EU/SUPAZAZAISTE  PRICE: FREE

Former model Maria Whittaker has been

kidnapped by the stars of various Sega, Atari
and Nintendo franchises to be used as a hostage
in order to keep her boyfriend Dr Floyd from
releasing new, high-quality videogames.
Our programming hero therefore sets out to rescue
the poor woman from their clutches, which will be We spoke to Dr Ludos a few issues
achieved by heading into space and blasting loads of ago about his Game Boy release
game sprites before taking on a larger enemy at the Sheep It Up! where a cute sheep
end of each stage. The good doctor only gets the one jumps between pieces of Velcro.
» [C64] Popping outside for a quick nose around probably wasn’t a life so care must be taken to dodge his attackers and It can be purchased on cartridge,
good idea for our hero.
the copious amounts of bullets they’re firing. and the author has recently made
Heading into the black yonder and Supa Zazai Da! has an amusingly silly plot – and the game available as a download
accidentally stumbling across a deadly a chance to play ‘spot the sprite’ – wrapped around from Itch.io as well for use with
rival would in itself be unlucky, but some simple but enjoyable blasting action; the collision emulators. Kikstart.eu/sheep-up-gb
mankind’s expansion towards the stars in detection is generous but it’s still satisfying to scrape will take you to more info.
the 23rd century is unexpectedly halted by through clouds of bullets by the skin of Dr Floyd’s teeth. A much darker, more fiery
the discovery of forces under the control release is Burn Us, the first entry
of a dangerous machine intelligence.
>> Score 81% into the MSXdev competition
The crew of the Scourge are sent out to this year. The player’s character
investigate the mysterious signal emanating is part of a weird cult that self-
from a supposedly barren planet only to come immolates, so the game sees
under fire from the machine forces. The player him running and climbing around
takes control of the only crew member to don the stage and avoiding enemies,
their Ranger armour before the ship crash while locating a can of petrol, a
lands and therefore has to start the mission lighter and, finally, the cult’s sacred
alone, picking up weapons, power and parts altar. The download can be found
along the way. smouldering behind the link at
Steel Ranger is the latest game from Lasse » [Atari ST] Inexplicably coming under Kikstart.eu/burn-us-msx.
attack from Kirby and company.
Öörni, the developer behind the Metal Warrior
series and more recently Hessian and won’t
disappoint fans of those games. It’s a little
more arcade-oriented than previous outings
but still a very solid run-and-gun experience.

>> Score 84%

LUNATIC  STARRING MINER WILLY
 PLATFORM: WINDOWS  DEVELOPER: DANIEL MAY  DOWNLOAD: KIKSTART.EU/LUNATICMWWIN  PRICE: FREE

Miner Willy’s life is far quieter than it used to be » [PC] Willy

returns to his
back in the Eighties. For a start he’s living at the Golden roots with a spot
Pastures retirement home which is where we join him of spelunking.
waiting patiently for his morning medication to start
working just as an unmanned rocket unexpectedly lands
in the grounds. Whizzing off to the moon for a spot of
mining suddenly seems like a terrific idea and that’s
exactly what Willy does.
There are 300 gems to be found but most of them are
» [PC] There
difficult to reach – a few might initially seem impossible if really is water on
there weren’t helpful power-ups to aid in their collection the moon, and
– and it wouldn’t be a Miner Willy game without some look: it’s
inhabited too.
weird, deadly creatures patrolling the platforms and
rity device in the undergrou
nd control centre. the moon seems well stocked on that front. Lunatic is
» [C64] Dealing with a secu
a homage to Matthew Smith’s seminal games, so it’s
challenging and sometimes frustrating, but fans of the
series should enjoy it.

>> Score 77%

RETRO GAMER | 109

 WIN!
Every mo
nth
one luckhy,
writer-in w
ill
rec
spankingeive a
c
of either opy
NES /Masour
te
Syste o r
SNES /Mm ega
r

HAVE YOUR SAY… SEND US A LETTER OR MAKE YOURSELF Drive

books
HEARD ON THE ONLINE FORUM – WWW.RETROGAMER.NET

sside of the Pac-Man story, but I We’ve had quite a few emails this

TEAM wish
w your article spent more time
conveying and acknowledging
month similar to Ben and Tom’s.
It would appear that even now,
nearly four decades after its original
PLAYS ordinary readers’ reactions to
the game than seemingly trying
to please Mr Frye, whom I’d
release, Todd’s conversion of
Pac-Man delights people as much
STREET FIGHTER III: imagine you’d want to keep as it annoys them. Pac-Man on
Atari 2600 may not be the most
3RD STRIKE » [Atari 2600] Tod Fry
’s Pac-Man is still divi
its release.
ding readers in your good graces for future
interview
int requests. accurate of conversions, but it
some 37 years after remains fun to play and ultimately
Ben Stein
that’s all the matters. Isn’t it?
PACATTACK PAC ‘N LOVE
Dear Retro Gamer, Dear Retro Gamer, MORTIMER WHO?
I will never forget my excitement as I’m thoroughly looking forward to The other day I was rereading Load
a 13-year-old when I saw the Atari ad reading this month’s cover story, and 167. I came across the article on
announcing Pac-Man for the 2600. would like to make my own case for Thimbleweed Park, and it reminded
But when I saw the game on my TV the defence of Pac-Man on the 2600. me of on my favourite series from the
Trying something a little different screen several months later, it was an Myself and my pals and cousins late Noughties: Mortimer Beckett. I
than the usual score chase this instant letdown. For me, the flicker were about ten years old when Pac- would love it if you guys could do an
month, we set up 3rd Strike and
had ourselves a mini-tournament was awful, the colours were ugly Man reached the console, and we article on it. Thank you.
and Pac-Man himself was a clunky don’t remember any dissatisfaction or Deraj Nagar
HEAT 1: DARRAN VS DREW imposter. I knew Atari could do better. complaint about the game. We knew,
Drew tried to go all-in using Chun-Li’s With all due respect to Tod Frye and even back then, that consoles couldn’t
lightning kicks and Spinning Bird Kick, but the deadline and space limitations he yet match the arcade, and those who
he underestimated Darran’s prowess with
faced, and to all the fans who enjoyed didn’t visit arcades wouldn’t know any
Hugo’s command grabs. Chun-Li ended up
a crumbled mess under Hugo’s body slam. the game, it’s not fair or accurate – different, obviously.
Victory to Darran on this one. and frankly a bit of revisionist history Pac-Man seemed like… Pac-Man.
– to suggest that mainly only critics, It played well, it was fun, and its zany
HEAT 2: NICK VS SAM mean bosses and ‘tribal fanboys’ didn’t sound and basic graphics were part of
A classic Ryu-versus-Ken matchup like the game. For me, it was my first its character. For example, the ‘scared
resulted in a win to the former. It comes as a
Atari disappointment. blue ghosts’ of whom the flickering
shock to nobody that Nick (who is very good
at Street Fighter) demolished Sam (who is I think it’s good you provided a represented their fear! » [PC] Games like Mortimer Beckett are usually found on PC,
not very good at Street Fighter). forum to enable Todd Frye to tell his Tom Vanheems but became more popular with the rise of iOS and Android.

FINAL: NICK VS DARRAN

Nick’s strong on the offence for the first
match, but the Darran Jones FactorTM is too
much for him. Our Handsome Staff Writer
claws two victories aerwards, though,
STAR LETTER
making him this month’s champion.

WINNER: NICK
ART ATTACK
K
Hi Retro Gamer,
I wanted to share a project I just
completed with you! Every week for 28
weeks I have picked an arcade game and
created a piece of art for it. You can see
each piece of art on the my website at:
https://arcadeartbytupa.wordpress.com. I
thought it might be a good fit for you.
Christopher Tupa
» [Arcade] Nick’s calculated brain managed to
remain cool after his first loss in the final.
Thanks for thinking of us
Christopher. The art looks great
and you’ve clearly got great taste in
arcade games. Let us know if you
plan to cover any other systems
from back in the day, as we’d love
to see them. In the meantime have »H
Here’s a ffew off Christopher
Ch i h ’s fantastic
f i
pieces of artwork. We particularly love
a book for your troubles. the Golden Axe one.

110 | RETRO GAMER

Don’t forget to follow us online for all the latest retro updates
RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag Retro Gamer Magazine @RetroGamerMag

CONTACT US
Snail Mail: Retro Gamer,
Future Publishing, Richmond House,
33 Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Future PLC Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill,
Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ
Dorset, BH2 6EZ Editorial
Email: [email protected] Editor Darran ‘Hugo’ Jones
[email protected]
01202 586237
Production Editor Drew ‘Karin’ Sleep
Senior Staff Writer Nick ‘Ryu’ Thorpe
Senior Designer Sam ‘Ken’ Ribbits
To be honest Deraj, we’ve Group Editor in Chief Tony Mott
never heard of this actual Senior Art Editor Warren Brown
adventure series, which is DISCUSSED THIS MONTH Photographer James Sheppard
surprising, as Darran loves Contributors
Adam Barnes, Alexander Chatziioannou, David Crookes,
‘hidden object’ games. The Hearthstone Paul Davies, Konstantinos Dimopoulos, Paul Drury,
franchise itself is probably a The release of a new expansion has pulled Rob Jones, Jason Kelk, Edward Love, Graeme Mason,
Darran and Drew back in to Blizzard’s excellent Rory Milne, Paul Rose, Paul Walker-Emig
little too new to cover in the
card game. Darran has gone the money route, Cover Art
magazine, but a look at the while Drew is being far more sensible. They’re Street FighterTM 2018, Capcom. All rights reserved, used
actual genre certainly might both trying to convince Nick and Sam to play as under authorisation.
be worth exploring. well, but so far, it’s been to no avail. Advertising
Media packs are available on request
Commercial Director Clare Dove
THANK YOU FOR [email protected]
THE MUSIC Advertising Director Tom Parkinson
[email protected]
Hi, Darran » We’re glad you’ve Account Director Kevin Stoddart
been jamming to C64 [email protected]
Just want to post a big shout Remix’s tunes.
International
of thanks to you and your Retro Gamer is available for licensing.
team for releasing the cover-mounted Contact the International department to discuss

CD of music from C64audio.com. CAN’T SLEEP A WINK partnership opportunities.

International Licensing Director Matt Ellis
I think that this is great because 40 Winks is a really decent 3D [email protected]

not only are all the tracks amazing, platformer. Not groundbreaking, but Subscriptions
Email enquiries [email protected]
but it supports the remix scene and fun and atmospheric. Unfortunately it’s UK orderline & enquiries 0344 848 2852
promotes it. Also I can finally say, that only on the PlayStation, which isn’t my Overseas order line and enquiries +44 (0) 344 848 2852
Online orders & enquiries www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
C64 music has hit the big time and is favourite console. It’s supposed to be Magazines Marketing Director Sharon Todd
available in your local supermarket! coming out on the N64 in September. If Circulation
Martin Dodd it does will you be reviewing it? Head of Newstrade Tim Mathers
Production
Tom Wedley Head of Production Mark Constance
We’re glad you enjoyed it Martin. Production Project Manager Clare Scott
Advertising Production Manager Joanne Crosby
The CD appears to have gone Glad to hear you’re looking Digital Editions Controller Jason Hudson
down very well with many of our forward to 40 Winks, Tom. If we Production Controller Vivienne Calvert

readers, so don’t be surprised if we receive review code we’ll certainly Management

!ǝǣƺǔ…ȵƺȸƏɎǣȒȇɀ…ǔˡƬƺȸ Aaron Asadi
do similar things in the future. We be interested in covering it. It will Commercial Finance Director Dan Jotcham
quite like the idea of a Sega arcade certainly be interesting to see how » [N64] 40 Winks will be finally getting a physical release,
Group Content Director Paul Newman
Head of Art & Design Rodney Dive
soundtrack, for example. it holds up today. nearly 20 years after its original planned release.
Printed by
Wyndham Bicester, Gravnville Way, Bicester, OX26 4QZ
Distributed by Marketforce, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf,
London, E14 5HU www.marketforce.co.uk Tel: 0203 787 9060
ISSN 1742-3155

Fromthe forum We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from
ȸƺɀȵȒȇɀǣƫǼɵȅƏȇƏǕƺƳًƬƺȸɎǣˡƺƳǔȒȸƺɀɎȸɵƏȇƳƬǝǼȒȸǣȇƺ‫ٮ‬ǔȸƺƺȅƏȇɖǔƏƬɎɖȸƺِ
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managed forests, conforming to strict environmental and socioeconomic
Every month, Retro Gamer asks a question standards. The manufacturing paper mill holds full FSC (Forest Stewardship
!ȒɖȇƬǣǼ٣ƬƺȸɎǣˡƬƏɎǣȒȇƏȇƳƏƬƬȸƺƳǣɎƏɎǣȒȇ
on the forum and prints the best replies.
This month we wanted to know… All contents © 2018 Future Publishing Limited or published under licence. All
rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or

What is your favourite Street reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Future Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in
Fighter game? 0ȇǕǼƏȇƳƏȇƳáƏǼƺɀِ«ƺǕǣɀɎƺȸƺƳȒǔˡƬƺ‫ي‬ªɖƏɵRȒɖɀƺًÁǝƺȅƫɖȸɵً ƏɎǝ ‫׏‬
1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and
is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot
Big Shoes including new remixes for the accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You
Mine would be Street Fighter II new characters in the CPS1 are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard
to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and
Turbo on the SNES, because style which sound amazing. websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are
that is the one I have played the The analogue sticks are pretty not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them.
ÁǝǣɀȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺǣɀǔɖǼǼɵǣȇƳƺȵƺȇƳƺȇɎƏȇƳȇȒɎƏǔˡǼǣƏɎƺƳǣȇƏȇɵɯƏɵɯǣɎǝɎǝƺ
most. I still play it all the time. nice to use with the game, and
companies mentioned herein.
the graphics are faithful to the
If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/
dste original games. » [Arcade] Street Fighter II remains astoundingly popular with readers. or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and
SFII Turbo on the SNES. I also you automatically grant Future and its licensees a licence to publish
your submission in whole or in part in any/all issues and/or editions of
enjoy Super with the extra kiwimike to forget how impressive it was Mega Drive - a great 6-button publications, in any format published worldwide and on associated websites,
characters, but it just lacks Probably SFII arcade, although when it came out, thanks mainly controller and playing as the social media channels and associated products. Any material you submit
is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future
something compared to Turbo. I’m more of a fan of Final to Capcom milking it to death. bosses bested the SNES version.
nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for
Fight/Streets Of Rage scrollers Nowadays I’ll play on either loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless
NeppyDreamy personally – and more of a fan of Mayhem 16-bit console. otherwise stated, and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions.

I’d say Hyper Street Fighter II: The MKII style if I am playing SFII Turbo in the arcade, but SFIV
Anniversary Edition (PS2). one-on-one fighters. Arcade runs it close. smccd
Although it didn’t do everything Street Fighter II: World Warrior,
perfect, it did offer the CPS1, Bluce_Ree RetroBob because it represented a colossal
CPS2 and 3DO version music - Probably Street Fighter IV. It’s easy SFII Champion Edition on the improvement over the original.

Future plc is a public Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne

company quoted on the Non-executive chairman Peter Allen
London Stock Exchange !ǝǣƺǔˡȇƏȇƬǣƏǼȒǔˡƬƺȸ Penny Ladkin-Brand
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 >>LOAD

ON SALE 14 JUNE 2018

Everything you need

to know about Mercs,
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Commando sequel

ALSO INSIDE...
Rock ‘N Roll Racing, Savage, Matt Gray, Dungeon Master,
Wec Le Mans, Building The Build Engine, EyeToy, 30 Years Of
The Mega Drive, Collector’s Guide To Software Projects
 STREET FIGHTER:
THE MOVIE – CAPTAIN
SAWADA’S ENDING
» Cast your minds back to the early Nineties, when
Capcom’s fighting phenomenon was the hottest thing
in arcades. Hollywood came knocking on Capcom’s
door, and how could the company say no? Of course, if
there’s a film, there’s got to be a licensed game to go
with it too – and somehow, we got this hot mess. Let’s
save ourselves some pain and skip to the end.

01 02 03

» We’ve beaten the game using Captain » So what the hecking heck is this bit- » According to director Steven De Souza,
Sawada. You remember him from the part character doing as the only original Capcom wanted Kenya Sawada – a
games, right? No, because he wasn’t in character in this otherwise unremarkable Japanese actor who was big in Hong
them. What about his pivotal role in the game? He’s representing Hollywood Kong – to play the role of Ryu. However,
film? Come on, he was in a few scenes politics, that’s what. Well, that and Sawada couldn’t speak English at that
and was referred to by name twice! standing in for Fei Long. time, and Byron Mann was cast instead.

04 05
» Between Sawada’s persistence and Capcom’s insistence, a » How does he play? Nothing like Fei Long at all. In fact, one
new role was created: Captain Sawada of the Allied Nations. He’d of his moves involves him stabbing himself to spray blood on
replace Fei Long (the only Super Street Fighter II character not to his opponents. Offensive? Maybe. Stupid? Certainly. Thankfully,
appear in the movie), and lead a small group of ground troops in Sawada never turned up in another Street Fighter game, and
the assault on Bison’s fortress late in the film. the actor had a successful post-Street Fighter career.

114 | RETRO GAMER

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