183 PDF
183 PDF
183 PDF
TM
SONIC 3D
JoN burToN dIscusses HIs IsoMeTrIc
plaTforMer aNd ITs 2017 updaTe
THE HISTORY OF
REALSPORTS
How aTarI INc coNverTed popular
AMSTRAD | COMMODORE | SEGA | NINTENDO | ATARI | SINCLAIR | NEO-GEO | SONY | COIN-OP | MOBILE sporTs To ITs 8-bIT HoMe sysTeMs
see paGe 30
PLUS
ALAIN FERNANDES
THE LAST I Have No MouTH
BLADE
How JapaNese folklore sHaped
aNd I MusT screaM
STARDEW VALLEY
sNk’s saMuraI sHodowN successor
3d MoNsTer Maze
ATARI JAGUAR
THE MAKING OF sTardusT
TOTAL ANNIHILATION
cHrIs Taylor Goes beHINd THe sceNes
SHINOBI
of HIs revoluTIoNary rTs MasTerpIece Load 183
GIlsofT
LOADING...
DARRAN JONES
It’s got to be Tetris DS. Lots of
different game modes fused to
classic Nintendo characters. I
still play it today.
DREW SLEEP
I used to think that Puyo Puyo
Tetris was Tetris’ final form, then
I saw the trailer for Tetris Effect
and I’m no longer sure. We’ll
NICK THORPE
Puyo Puyo Tetris, because other
Tetris games don’t feature a
bizarre dog scientist named
after a Tetris block.
I experience of Tetris. I was in Densham
Computers as I had a bit of pocket money
to spend and I was looking for my next
purchase. I remember browsing through
a meagre selection of Amstrad games
Expertise: have to wait and see! Expertise: and trying to choose between the latest
Juggling a gorgeous wife, two Expertise: Owning five Master Systems
beautiful girls and an Expunging the word ‘playable’ (I sold two) Codemasters releases, when I saw a group
award-winning magazine from the style guide Currently playing:
Currently playing: Currently playing: Hanagumi Taisen Columns gathered around one of the computers.
Project Zero II: Crimson Final Fantasy XII: Favourite game of all time:
Butterfly - Director’s Cut The Zodiac Age Sonic The Hedgehog
I wasn’t prepared for the sight that
Favourite game of all time: Favourite game of all time: greeted me as the game looked so basic.
Strider Final Fantasy VIII
Different coloured blocks were falling
downwards, only to be rotated and moved
around by the person playing. It looked dull,
and yet I could stop watching the deluge of
shapes fall downwards. I was mesmerised.
A lack of money at the time meant that
my first dalliance with Tetris was brief, but
we became reacquainted when I acquired
a Game Boy in the early Nineties and fell in
love with Bullet-Proof Software’s version of
the game. I’ve been a fan ever since and it’s
SAM RIBBITS GRAEME MASON ANDREW FISHER satisfying to finally share that love with you
I’ve really enjoyed playing Puyo The original Game Boy is the Super Bombliss on SNES adds
Puyo Tetris, even against Nick – version I fell in love with, back bombs to the pieces and has across our two fantastic cover designs.
our very own Tetris wizard. It’s
so… playable. Tetris DX is pretty
when gaming on the move
seemed like a remarkable thing.
interesting new modes.
Expertise:
If you’re not a fan of Tetris, then you’ll
playable, too. I guess Tetris is Expertise: Over thirty years of gaming, find plenty to get you in a spin this issue,
just such a playable game. Adjusting the tape azimuth with from Commodore 64 to Wii U
Expertise: a screwdriver Currently playing: including articles on Atari’s RealSports
Trolling the team Currently playing: The beta version of Puzzle
Currently playing: Fallout 3 Bobble (C64) series, the making of 8-bit loading screens
Hollow Knight Favourite game of all time: Favourite game of all time: and the groundbreaking Total Annihilation.
Favourite game of all time: Resident Evil 4 Paradroid
Croc: Legend Of The Gobbos And do make sure you check out our
amazing subs offer on
page 30. It’s proving very
popular and is even open
to current subscribers.
Enjoy the magazine!
E XC L USIVEER
SUBSC RIB
C OV E R
JASON KELK PAUL DRURY
I’ve sunk hours into the Game I like the challenge of the arcade
Boy version, but Vioris on the version, which gets tough very
C64 comes a close second. quickly, and my eldest daughter
Expertise: enjoys schooling me on Tricky
Being a homebrew hero Towers, our update of choice.
Currently playing: Expertise:
Planet Search (C16) Scaramouche
Favourite game of all time: Currently playing:
Io Detroit: Become Human
Favourite game of all time:
Sheep in Space
CONTENTS
>> Load 183 Breathing new life into classic games
FEATURED
32 The Making Of:
Punch And Judy
The coders behind Alternative Sotware’s
game reveal the way to do it
34 Peripheral Vision:
RETRO RADAR Commodore 1541
We take a look at Commodore’s disk add-on
for its home computer
06 Ted Dabney,
A Legend Passes 36 The Art Of The 8-Bit
We pay tribute to the co-founder of Atari Inc Loading Screen
Ste Pickford, Jonathan Temples and others
08 News Wall explain the intricacies of making 8-bit art
Our E3 report reveals all the classic franchises
heading your way 42 The Making Of: Thrust
Composer, Dave Lowe discusses converting
10 The Vault the classic BBC game to the Spectrum
More great items to spend your cash on,
including our fantastic new retro book 52 From The Archives:
Gilsot
12 Mr Biffo We go behind the scenes of the Welsh
This month Mr Bifo is pleased that the publisher that released The Quill and other
games industry is moving forwards essential utilities
62 Hardware Heaven:
Neo-Geo Pocket Color
We take a brief look at SNK’s second
attempt to crack the handheld market 20
70 Pushing The Limits:
Stardust
Learn how Bloodhouse’s shooter pushed
16-bit home computers
The History Of Tetris
Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers reveal how an 8-bit puzzler dominated the world
4 | RETRO GAMER
Don’t forget to follow us online for all your latest retro updates
RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag
72 82
Retro Inspired:
Stardew Valley
Eric Barone reveals how a love of Harvest
Moon led to his breakout indie masterpiece
REVIEWS ESSENTIALS
102 Street Fighter 30th 106 Homebrew
Anniversary Collection
Jason Kelk is back with more new games
for classic systems
110 Mailbag
Send us your letters and tweets and you
might win a free book
64
113 Next Month
Find out what we have got in
104 Bloodstained: Curse Of store for you next issue
The Moon
114 Endgame
104 Slipstream Nick completes yet another
game so you don’t have to
104 Ikaruga
104 Shaq-Fu: A Legend
Reborn
Ultimate Guide:
The Last Blade
Everything you need to know about SNK’s
stunning weapons-focused battler
RETRO GAMER | 5
give us two minutes and we'll give you the retro world
CONTENTS
6 REMEMBERING
REMEMBERING
TED DABNEY
We pay tribute to the cofounder
8 NEWS WALL
of Atari Inc TED DABNEY
Retro Gamer pays tribute to the cofounder of Atari Inc
All the latest Retro-themed headlines
from The Electronic Three
n 26 May, Samuel F Dabney Packard. After a stint there he changed
O
© Dabney Family
10 THE VAULT (known to many as Ted) jobs again to be an engineer at Ampex.
New goodies we’ve got our eyes on, sadly passed away from He eventually met Nolan Bushnell and
including our special 8bitDo subs offer! esophageal cancer at the history was made.
age of 81. In addition to helping to create So why did it take us so long to learn
12 MR BIFFO Computer Space and Pong, Ted was also about Ted’s role at Atari? “Nolan Bushnell
Our columnist looks back at some
games that have aged awfully responsible for the cofounding of Atari was a showman,” explains Leonard,
Inc, one of the biggest players in the early whose 1994 book, Phoenix: The Rise &
14 A MOMENT WITH days of the videogame industry. Fall Of Home Videogames was one of the
Tommy Tallarico takes a break from Due to his quiet nature and lack of first to mention Ted’s key involvement.
music to resurrect the Intellivision interest in being in the spotlight, many “[Nolan] worked on a carnival midway » ...and 40 years on, Ted recreates the famous image
gamers have been unaware of Ted’s during college. Ted was an engineer. that introduced him to so many gamers.
16 BACK TO THE contributions to videogames, with most Nolan was a people person, so he was
NOUGHTIES having no idea how big his involvement the person in front of the cameras, while pinball machines and Nolan would do
Nick watched E3 in his time machine this
year and malfunctioned his way into 2001 was until Leonard Herman chronicled his Ted stayed in the background. When the videogames. When that didn’t pan
achievements in a 2009 Edge article. Nolan began publicising himself more out and they went into business on their
After leaving the US Marines, Ted than the company, that was when Ted own, Ted secured financing after Wells
worked in the Bank Of America’s decided to leave.” Fargo denied Nolan a loan. When they
research lab, but was unsatisfied with It would appear that the structure at began building Pong machines, Ted
his work there so left to join Hewlett Atari was much like Apple, a company purchased the television sets. And it was
that Atari would battle against throughout Ted who came up with a retail price of
© Al Alcorn/Computer Histo
ry Museum the late Seventies and early Eighties as $937 for each one after seeing a car with
both companies put out their own home that number on its licence plate.”
computers. “Ted wasn’t really involved Although Atari Inc is the most well-
with the games themselves,” continues known company that Ted and Nolan
Leonard. “Ted was the technical guy, were involved with, it certainly wasn’t
the Steve Wozniak, whereas Nolan was the first, as Leonard explains. “After they
Steve Jobs. Nolan came up with the signed a deal with Nutting Associates to
ideas and Ted figured out how to put build and distribute Computer Space, Ted
them together. Initially they tried to get and Nolan needed a way to distinguish
a contract with Bally; Ted would design the stuff they made for themselves with
the stuff that Nutting had the rights to.
© Dabney Family So they started Syzygy Game Company.
Another engineer at Ampex, Larry Bryan,
actually came up with the name Syzygy,
which loosely means ‘the alignment of
three celestial objects’. In order to keep
Nutting from claiming that they owned
Computer Space, a tag that stated
‘Syzygy Engineered’ was put on the front
of every Computer Space cabinet.”
» Ted (left) with Nolan Bush
With Leonard having documented
nell, (centre) and Al Alcorn
(far right) proudly show off
Pong. » Ted Dabney poses outside his family home in 1968... Ted’s previously unknown involvement
1961 Ted joins Ampex and 1969 Nolan Bushnell joins Ampex and he 1971 Ted and Nolan leave Ampex and 1972 Ted and Nolan form Atari Inc after they
works in its military products becomes friends with Ted. After seeing a computer create their own company called wanted to incorporate and discover another
section, he eventually gets system at Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Syzygy. In the same year they release company had the Syzygy name. The name is
involved with various video the pair discuss creating a similar system that Computer Space, which is based on the derived from a term in the popular Chinese
imagery products there. people could pay to play. 1962 game, Spacewar! game, Go, which they were both fans of.
6 | RETRO GAMER
VISIT RETROGAMER.NET/FORUM TO HAVE YOUR SAY RETRORADAR: REMEMBERING TED DABNEY
» One of the first projects Ted was involved with while working with Nolan was the creation of Computer Space.
with Atari for so long we were keen to Perhaps one of the sweetest aspects is » Few things
scream ‘retro’
know what Ted was like as a person. that it wasn’t until late in his life that he like a Computer
“The funny, and sad thing about our realised just how important his work was Space cabinet.
friendship is that we never met in and the impact he had on people.
person,” Leonard reveals. “We always “Ralph Baer is credited as the inventor
communicated by Skype, email, and of the home videogame. Nolan Bushnell
phone. I had a standing offer to visit him is credited as the father of the videogame
in California but I never made good on it. industry. I think Ted is somewhere in
Every time I spoke to Ted, he was always the middle,” concludes Leonard. “If you
funny, cheerful and optimistic. This were able to ask Ted what he thought
was even after his house burned to the his legacy was, that answer would have
ground from a wildfire in 2016 and after changed in the last few months. Before
he was diagnosed with an aggressive March, he would have been humble and
form of cancer. He told me several times say he didn’t do anything. However, after
that he had a wonderful life and he had a Smithsonian seven-man crew recorded
no regrets. We’ve had several talks about him for nine hours, he called me in
his upcoming death and we both agreed amazement. He was simply amazed that
that death was part of life. He wasn’t people cared enough about him to do
depressed about it at all. And no matter this. For the first time, he began to realise
how bad he felt he always managed to the impact he made on so many peoples’
make me feel good. He’d always tell me lives. He was so happy. I think that’s his
that my call made him feel better.” legacy. He’s the cocreator of an industry
It’s clear that Ted was an important that made millions of people happy.”
part of Atari’s success, even if so many Our thoughts go out to Ted’s
gamers were unaware of it as the time. friends and family.
1972 Pong is released and becomes a huge 1973 After feeling increasingly
hit. As with Computer Space, Ted Dabney overshadowed by Nolan Bushnell and being
created the basic video circuitry principles left out of high-level meetings, Ted Dabney
that Allan Alcorn used to create the game. leaves Atari Inc, selling his stake in the
The game would go on to become iconic. company for $250,000.
Dispatches from the frontline of retro gaming
NEWS WALL
8 | RETRO GAMER
THE VAULT
the cool retro stuff that we’ve had our eye on this month
Price: £9.99
From: bit.ly/ultimate90smag
SEE PAGE
30 FOR OUR
EXCLUSIVE
GAMEPAD
OFFER
PICK
OF THE
MONTH Hyperkin Duke Controller Space Invaders Cabinet
There are some gamers that swear by
Arcade Art T-Shirt
Microsoft’s original Xbox controller. If you’re While the classic Space Invaders
one of those people, then you’ll be delighted enemy sprite is synonymous with
N30 Pro Bluetooth Gamepad to discover that Hyperkin has officially licensed videogames, we’ve also been rather
This cool pad from 8BitDo is a mashup of designs that pays tribute to the it and made it compatible with both the Xbox partial to the awesome original
NES, SNES and PlayStation. Thanks to its use of Bluetooth it’s compatible One and Windows 10 PCs. The flashy LED artwork that adorned the side of each
with a number of different devices, including PC, Mac, Steam, Android and display that shows the original Xbox’s boot-up arcade cabinet. Thanks to Numskull,
Switch, as well as Raspberry Pi, making it a versatile piece of gaming kit. screen isn’t really needed and the additional you can now proudly show off that
It comes with a Micro-USB cable and a single charge will allow you to bumper buttons feel shoehorned onto the stylistic art with this unisex T-shirt,
game for up to 18 hours. While the lack of iOS support is something of a classic design, but this is otherwise a pleasing which caters for six different sizes,
disappointment, the N30 Pro is otherwise an extremely solid controller that replication of the classic pad. Providing, of from XS to 2XL and features a
should serve you for many of your gaming needs, regardless of whether course, that your hands are big enough… distinctive distressed style.
they’re for modern games or classic ones. Price: £69.99 Price: £12.99
Price: £34.99 From: funstockretro.co.uk From: funstockretro.co.uk From: numskull.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.
A new perspective
have got a confession to make: I used to enjoy that these fairly basic point-and-click adventures I’m sure some of you will think “Just get over it,
12 | RETRO GAMER
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Showing off cool retro-themed Stuff that’S going on
NEWS
A MOMENT
WALLWITH...
Intellivision returns
The industry veteran, Tommy Tallarico, talks to us about the return of a classic console
he Mattel Intellivision was was to keep the [Intellivision] brand
T a groundbreaking console
that often doesn’t get the
recognition it deserves.
Tommy Tallarico and the newly formed
Intellivision Entertainment want to
and name alive, and be able to present
it to a new generation.
To keep up to speed on
developments of the new
Intellivision, head over to its
» [Intellivision] The graphically-impressive Starstrike – one of the games due an upgrade? We hope so. » [Intellivision] Utopia – one of the earliest god games,
Facebook page or website:
» (Above) Tommy hopes the rivalry between the Intellivision and Atari 2600 can rise again and one that played out in real-time, too. intellivisionentertainment.com.
14 | RETRO GAMER
FOR PEOPLE WHO RETRO GAMES
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JULY 2001 – E3 gives us
our first glimpse of the
console battle proper,
and publishers suddenly
remember that they could
be selling games in the
here and now. Nick Thorpe
chronicles a busy
summer month…
16 | RETRO GAMER
BACK TO THE NOUGHTIES: JULY 2001
JULY 2001
PC
1 Microsoft Train
Simulator (Microsoft)
2 Operation Flashpoint
[PS2] Like the Resident Evil games, Onimusha uses
prerendered backgrounds, and is ace. (Codemasters)
3 Baldur’s Gate II: Throne Of
“easily one of the most stylish titles to Bhaal (Interplay)
have appeared in recent times.” The 4 Diablo II: Lords Of Destruction
hugely ambitious political strategy game (Sierra)
Republic was also on show, promising
5 Half-Life: Generation (Sierra)
revolutionary gameplay in more than
one sense. Finally, Sega’s arcade-style PLAYSTATION 2
flight combat game Propeller Arena [N64] Excitebike 64 is brilliant, although the 14 month wait for a PAL version definitely wasn’t.
1 Gran Turismo 3 (Sony)
was singled out as a late Dreamcast
game worth looking at, thanks to its PC players were blessed with the 2 Onimusha: Warlords
promise of online multiplayer with voice tactical shooter Operation Flashpoint, (Capcom)
chat. “Outrageous manoeuvres can which allowed players to join a 3 Red Faction (Eidos)
be pulled off with ease, and the entire hypothetical conflict on the side of
4 The Bouncer (Sony)
experience is wrapped up with the America, the Soviet Union or an
kind of accessibility for which AM2 is unaffiliated resistance faction. The 5 Formula One 2001 (Sony)
renowned,” wrote Edge. game drew praise for allowing players
GAME BOY ADVANCE
Surprisingly, there was a fair amount enormous freedom of action – Edge’s
to be excited about without looking 9/10 review said “It’s about choice, 1 Super Mario Advance
too far into the future, too. Sonic every bit as much as the brilliant (Nintendo)
Adventure 2 marked both the blue Deus Ex, and it deserves to be as 2 Tony Hawk’s Pro
[PS2] Play worried that the “gritty realism of gangland
blur’s final outing on a Sega console highly regarded.” Business simulation warfare” in GTAIII might not appeal to everyone. Hmm… Skater 2 (Activision)
and his tenth birthday. Players were Startopia also arrived, from the ex- 3 Rayman Advance (Ubisoft)
offered the opportunity to control the Bullfrog developers at Mucky Foot. This noting that it “pumps the classic
villainous Shadow, Rouge and Eggman Douglas Adams-inspired game got 8/10 formula full of some seriously stylish 4 F-Zero: Maximum Velocity
as well as Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, from Edge, which felt that the game’s action,” awarding it 91%. Edge didn’t (Nintendo)
with levels encompassing high-speed humour was “delicate and affecting” much like first-person shooter Red 5 GT Advance: Championship
platforming, shooting and treasure and that it “doesn’t break boundaries, Faction, giving it 5/10, but Play loved it – Racing (THQ)
hunting. Dreamcast Magazine gave but it does defy expectations of a genre though its 94% review recommended
the game 93%, with reviewer Martin that’s conceptually progressed so little the game to “sickos” and referenced MUSIC
Mathers calling it “a huge step up since Sim City.” the Columbine massacre. 1 Eternity/The Road To
from the original” with “much more PS2 owners also had some good Rounding things off for the month, Manadalay (Robbie
in common with the old-school Mega fortune. While Square’s heavily hyped Excitebike 64 (90%, N64) kept game- Williams)
Drive Sonic titles.” Crazy Taxi 2 also beat-’em-up The Bouncer (58%, Play) famished N64 fans going for a little 2 Purple Pills (D12)
arrived, featuring jumping cabs and a failed to deliver the goods, Capcom’s longer, Breath Of Fire IV (85%, Play)
3 Elevation (U2)
New York-inspired city to explore. “The action adventure Onimusha: Warlords gave PlayStation RPG fans something
formula remains sharp enough to came out of nowhere. Play’s reviewer to do after Final Fantasy IX, and Rayman 4 Perfect Gentleman
support minimal alteration,” opined Mike Richardson addressed concerns Advance (4/5, N64) revived a (Wyclef Jean)
Edge in an 8/10 review. about yet another survival horror, six-year-old hit on GBA. 5 Castles In The Sky (Ian Van Dahl)
RETRO GAMER | 17
Overdrive
DRIVEN TO PLAY AGAIN
» BBC MICRO » 1984 » SUPERIOR SOFTWARE
» RETROREVIVAL
20 | RETRO GAMER
FOR CLOSE TO 35 YEARS, TETRIS HAS
INFILTRATED THE MINDS AND HEARTS OF
GAMERS. CREATOR ALEXEY PAJITNOV,
AND TETRIS BOSSES HENK ROGERS
AND MAYA ROGERS REVEAL HOW
THIS SIMPLE PUZZLER TURNED INTO A
WORLDWIDE JUGGERNAUT
Words by David Crookes
T
here are some videogames out there that The breakthrough was a PC version in 1985, created
are incredibly difficult to tear yourself by Alexey with the help of colleague Dmitry Pavlovsky
away from. We’re also aware that games can and a young programmer called Vadim Gerasimov.
distract you from life’s more tedious tasks. What The whole shebang had been inspired by the board
to make of Tetris, then? A puzzler that gets so inside game, Pentominoes, which involved putting 12 types of
your brain, it can lead to the medically recognised ‘Tetris five-square pentomino pieces on to an 8x8 grid, rotating
Effect’ – where you play so much of the game you and reflecting them to fit without overlapping. Alexey
actually start hallucinating tetrominoes in your day-to-day realised that 12 pieces was too much – “People would
life. Yet it’s a runaway bestseller that’s essentially about not be able to remember so many,” he says – so he
ALEXEY PAJITNOV tidying up the playfield over and over again. Cleaning, ditched pentominoes for tetrominoes (geometric
Creator of Tetris we imagine, has never been so successful. shapes composed of four squares connected
It was a strong pairing of developers which saw
this iconic puzzler reach dizzying, multimillion-selling
heights, and it ended up in the slippy mitts of so
many people and companies that the entire western
licensing deal could easily become the basis of a
gripping holiday page-turner. Never mind that it’s
already been the subject of a BBC documentary,
Tetris: From Russia With Love, Tetris’ origin story is
richer than a Russian oligarch.
To go into the ins and outs of what happened
HENK ROGERS between 1984 and 1989 would likely take over the
Managing director,
The Tetris Company entirety of this issue. Suffice to say 29-year-old
Russian computer engineer Alexey Pajitnov toiled
on his humble Elektronica 60 computer at the
Soviet Academy Of Sciences in Moscow
and created a prototype of an intriguing
puzzle game that would eventually be
fought over by companies such as
Nintendo, Mirrorsoft, Spectrum
Holobyte, Andromeda and
Bullet-Proof Software.
MUSIC
■ The single, Tetris, shot to number
two in the UK charts in 1992. Based
on the 19th century Russian folk song
Korobeiniki, it was created by Dr Spin –
the pseudonym used by Andrew Lloyd
Webber – and record producer Nigel
Wright. Another song called Tetris by Madilyn Bailey was
released this year and uses the blocks as a love metaphor.
THE SIMPSONS
■ In episode nine, season 14 of
The Simpsons in 2003, Homer
is trying to pack the car only for
Bart to question whether he’d
be able to get all of the junk
in the trunk. “Don’t worry,” he
reassures as an infamous tune plays in the background. » A photo of the original Tetris – the game has come a long way from
“This is what all those hours of playing Tetris were for.” the simplistic visuals of an Elektronica 60 computer.
■ By projecting a game of Tetris From there, the game found its way out of else were bureaucrats or KGB.” Henk also influenced
on the side of Philadelphia’s Cira the USSR. It was ported to the Apple II and the direction of the game. “Alexey’s original was all
Centre in 2014, Dr Frank Lee’s Commodore 64 by Hungarian coders then, in about survival so I put in the additional play concept of
art installation not only created 1987, it was converted to many machines for having points for clearing lines and bonuses for getting
a stunning 29-storey canvas on the North American and European markets. rid of three at a time, which changed the way people
which to play, but earned a world The following year, Bullet-Proof Software’s boss played,” he continues. “I also broke Tetris up into levels.”
record for the largest architectural videogame display. Henk Rogers spotted the game at the Consumer
F
Meanwhile LummoBlocks in Madrid’s Plaza de las Letra Electronics Show in Las Vegas and became rom then, Tetris snowballed, evolving,
used a giant screen and allowed pedestrians to play by determined to secure the rights. He released changing and mashing up with other games
simply walking. versions for the NES and PC in Japan and, following and concepts. Today, The Tetris Company
trips to Moscow, moments of panic and companies officially recognises in excess of 220 versions
creating versions they weren’t actually allowed to, of the game and the first of these came straight away,
MERCHANDISE he ended up walking away with, among others, the when in 1989 Alexey, with the help of Andrei Sgenov,
■ From T-shirts and tote bags licence to produce ports for handhelds. By putting designed Welltris.
to pillows and lights, the huge this into the palms of Nintendo, Tetris was created for Instead of falling down the screen, Welltris had
variety of Tetris merchandise can the Game Boy in 1989. Bundled with the console, it blocks falling into a pit. Players would then move the
be seen on the streets, in the became the best-selling puzzle game of all time, with pieces from wall-to-wall before considering how they’d
home and at work. “Merchandise 30.26 million copies sold. slot into place at the bottom to complete vertical or
is a big part of the business,” says Tetris suited handheld gaming extremely well. “The horizontal lines. Originally released for DOS and the
Maya Rogers. “One of the things we Game Boy had a small monochrome screen but Tetris Mac and ported to 8-bit and 16-bit home computers, it
found is that any merchandise where people was perfect for it because the blocks were easy to see was inspired by another puzzler, Blockout, developed in
could see the game and imagine playing it always and manipulate,” Henk says. As a true pick-up-and-play Poland by California Dreams.
works very well.” title, it could occupy short bursts of time while being “I didn’t like Blockout,” Alexey explains. “It used 3D
easy to learn. Players simply needed to move the pieces wireframed blocks that only showed the edges and
left and right, rotate them and slot them into place I thought a lot about how it would be possible to do
within other blocks at the bottom of the playing field. it myself. I decided to essentially make Welltris a 2D
Getting four lines achieved a tetris, removing them from game with a real strong sense of 3D by having flat
play. But just getting one line resulted in it being cleared pieces fall down the surface of the walls. The effect of
it. It’s then a matter of keeping it up so the blocks don’t jumping the piece from wall-to-wall, especially on the
reach the top. bottom, uses really complicated 3D effects but it still
“To me, the Game Boy was made for Tetris and has the addictiveness of Tetris because you work with
Tetris was made for Game Boy,” Henk continues. 2D pieces.”
THE HISTORY OF TETRIS
PICK-UP-AND-
PLAY
■ “Tetris has a good
learning curve – there is
a long period when the
SIMPLE player feels his or her
CONTROLS skills and abilities are
■ “The actions required pleasantly improving.”
for successfully playing
Tetris are both reasonable
and pleasant for the
player.” Basically, you’re
moving left to right and
rotating the pieces to fit.
RETRO GAMER | 23
CONVERSION CAPERS
Official versions of Tetris that will steal away your time
the next available piece, kept score and levelled up out. It was certainly a graphically unique, almost same colour as they land) and options including
TENGEN
when you got ten lines. haunting version of the game. cooperative, versus and against-AI modes.
SEGA
background on the fly. one of the finest ports if we’re honest. to rotate a piece on the ground before locking it in.
“DR MARIO
WAS A BLATANT
ATTEMPT TO COME
UP WITH A TETRIS
REPLACEMENT”
» [SNES] Tetris
Battle Gaiden was a
Japan-only release
by Bullet-Proof
Henk Rogers Software where
players shared one
Welltris was followed by Hatris, a more peculiar queue of pieces.
RETRO GAMER | 25
BLOCK BUSTERS
The tetromino sequels that are worth your time
TETRIS: TETRIS DS ‣
THE GRAND MASTER ‣ ■ As well as offering the standard game (albeit
■ This arcade game was a chance for advanced with 8-bit homages to other Nintendo titles
players to prove how good their skills were. on the top screen and endless rotating at the
Rather than level up by clearing lines, players bottom), Tetris on the DS handheld console
would see the level counter increase for each arguably picked up where the Game Boy Tetris
piece dropped and for every line cleared. The left off. Its touch mode made good use of the
speed would rise and eventually pieces would stylus as you shifted blocks at the bottom to
instantly drop (at a speed known as 20G). allow the creation of rows.
26 | RETRO GAMER
heartrate and altered the speed of the game depending
“IT WAS HUGELY on whether you were close to cardiac arrest or chilling.
The concept was certainly more out there than, say
Tetris 4D on the Dreamcast or Kids Tetris by Hasbro.
INTELLECTUAL AND I Tetris DX, a version of the game for the Game Boy Color
from 1998, was a little gem, however.
STILL ENJOY IT FROM “For Tetris DX, Nintendo came to us with the Game
Boy Color and asked if we could keep the same game,”
says Henk. “But we designed the ultra mode which
TIME TO TIME” built on the marathon mode by having a three minute
time-limit. We called it ultra because there was a
Alexey Pajitnov character in Japan called Ultraman who, when the world
was going to hell, would have three minutes to defeat
on the field of play prior to the start of the game as the monsters. It kind of became a new standard.”
well as a lovely battle mode which entailed destroying By now, of course, gaming had (one could argue,
a creature – most satisfyingly by dropping blocks on perhaps controversially) come on in leaps and bounds,
its head. Meanwhile, a new puzzle mode was added so tiles falling and fixing into place could easily be seen
for Tetris Plus where you needed to get a climbing as old hat(tris). Tetrisphere was proof that the concept
professor to the bottom of the screen by clearing blocks could be modernised and tweaked, while still being
from under him, trying hard not to crush his head on the faithful to the original, but there were other approaches
spikes above. to Tetris as it continued to prove a mainstay of gaming.
None of those were anywhere near as odd and Just before the turn of the 21st century, for instance,
innovative as Tetrisphere. “That was a very strange the arcade was blessed with Tetris: The Grand Master,
project which I did with Ken Lobb, my friend at the a chance for players to prove how accomplished they
time,” says Alexey. “We’d worked at Microsoft together were by upping the ante. There was also The New Tetris
and he was really fascinated by the idea of Tetris of the for the Nintendo 64 that included real-time renders of
sphere. But it was too complicated, even though it was famous buildings and a new gaming mechanic where
interesting to work on.” you could make a four-by-four block that, when cleared,
would generate many point-scoring lines. Players could
D
eveloped by H20 Entertainment and also hold a piece that could be swapped with one
published for the N64 by Nintendo of
America, Tetrisphere was revolutionary and
that was falling and see the next three blocks for
HOW
polished to near-perfection but it required
a lot of learning. Perhaps for the first time, a game
of Tetris was pushing the graphical boundaries of a
» [Game Boy
Color] Tetris
came to the
MUCH!?
GBC in the
machine. Wholly original, it revolved around a rotating guise of Tetris
A version of Tetris has collectors’
ball that you pulled blocks off in layers to reveal enough DX which wallets cowering in fear
included a
of the core. “It was hugely intellectual and I still enjoy it three-minute In July 2011, an eBay seller created a listing
from time to time,” Alexey says. Ultra mode.
for the Japanese Mega Drive version of
Other N64 titles followed. Tetris 64 was released in Tetris. The Buy It Now price? A cool
Japan and it was notable not just for allowing up to four $1 million, but then this game – signed by
players but for being the only game that ever made use Alexey Pajitnov, no less – is the most rare
of SETA’s Biosensor, a device that connected to the of all of the Tetris ports. With an estimated
controller’s extension port and came with an ear clip. As ten copies thought to exist in the entire
daft as it would make you look, it measured the player’s world today, it’s little wonder it is so highly
sought ater.
The reason there are so few units around
is down to the licensing iasco surrounding
Tetris in its early years. Bullet-Proof
Sotware had the rights to console versions
of the game in Japan and so Sega’s
game – produced at the same time as the
System-16 arcade version – was blocked
from being sold.
The idea is that Sega then destroyed
its production run but some copies leaked
out. Whether or not that makes it worth
such a high sum is open to debate, though.
The seller – shinsnk – is thought to have
originally bought the game for $16,000 four
years previously and, in truth, that sounds
about the right price.
» [N64] Tetrisphere was a gorgeous-looking game putting a very different spin on the Tetris franchise.
RETRO GAMER | 27
» [N64] Magical Tetris Challenge combined Tetris with, well… magic, alongside a cast of Disney characters.
THE TETRIS
EFFECT
The iconic puzzler heads into the
world of virtual reality
According to a Harvard University study in
2000, 60 per cent of people who play Tetris
for more than seven hours over three days
end up seeing blocks falling ater they stop
playing. They also look at buildings and “SMARTPHONES INHERENTLY CHANGED
seek to move the blocks in their mind to
complete lines, and even take to dreaming
about those damned tetrominoes.
HOW TETRIS IS PLAYED”
Maya Rogers
So what have the brains behind Tetris
done? Well, licensed a trippy game called
Tetris Effect, which is named ater the was the release of Tetris DS which followed a few
phenomenon. What’s more, the reigns have Grand Master sequels and Tetris Elements (a game that
been handed to Enhance president and CEO let you import MP3 tunes and incorporated the natural
Tetsuya Miziguchi, who created Lumines world into Tetris). “With Tetris DS, we were able to put
and Rez Infinite. It will be released for the the game on another Nintendo handheld and they did a
PS4 with PS VR support and it promises to great job of implementing it,” says Henk.
iniltrate your mind like never before. The DS version made use of the handheld’s two
“The idea behind Tetris Effect the game screens and it was a delight for 8-bit gamers thanks
is to amplify and enhance that same to its themes based on Donkey Kong, Metroid, Super
magical feeling where you just can’t get it Mario Bros and the Legend Of Zelda among others.
out of your head, and not just the falling Tower mode had you using the touch features to free
shapes, but all the visuals, the sounds, the balloons by clearing a mass of pieces from the screen.
music – everything,” Miziguchi wrote on the The game also ended up in the Guinness World
PlayStation Blog. Records, this time as the first wireless Tetris game. It
He says this will be done by using allowed ten players to compete locally or four via Wi-Fi.
background elements, audio, special » [Arcade] Tetris: The Absolute The Grand Master 2 Plus – it’s name is
T
efects and, last but not least, pulsating, nonsensical and its difficulty takes no prisoners. etris was on a high and, in recognition
dancing, shimmering, exploding, musical for his incredible contribution to gaming,
pieces. There will also be more than 30 better planning. Then there was The Next Tetris Alexey was handed the First Penguin
stages complete with music, characters that had you clearing pre-placed blocks, introducing award (now the Pioneer Award) at the
and animation to provoke emotional multicoloured pieces which really had you scratching Game Developers Conference in 2006. Tetris also
responses and convey moods. your head. And, of course, Magical Tetris Challenge, moved effortlessly from one generation to the next:
developed by Capcom and starring Mickey Mouse, come 2007 and Tetris Splash (complete with a watery
Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy, it let you play theme and six-person online play) was launched on
seven variants of the game, with the upside-down Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Arcade, becoming the first game
mode being particularly good fun since every line you published under The Tetris Company’s new subsidiary,
cleared was added to your opponent’s pile. Tetris Worlds Tetris Online.
introduced the infinite spin where tiles could be rotated By now, Henk’ daughter, Maya, had joined
after touchdown. Blue Planet Software and she headed up game
In 2002, Henk launched Blue Lava Wireless to development, global licensing, marketing, brand
develop mobile phone versions of Tetris which he sold management and IP enforcement. She helped pushed
to Jamdat three years later, granting it an exclusive Tetris into different directions. Tetris Party was released
15-year licence to publish Tetris on mobile phones. as WiiWare, for example, making the game playable via
That power switched to Electronic Arts in 2006, the a Balance Board. EA pumped out Tetris for the iPhone
year Tetris for the iPod was launched, bringing it to yet and iPod Touch, while an online multiplayer Tetris went
another platform and a new market. Of greater note to the top in South Korea.
28 | RETRO GAMER
THE HISTORY OF TETRIS
» [PS4] Pyuo Pyuo Tetris is a great mashup of franchises – we still play it competitively in the office.
RETRO GAMER | 29
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Oh we do like to be beside the
B
rutal scenes of domestic C64 and Amstrad versions. “They are
abuse, graphic depictions very dark indeed but it was all tongue in
summer day on the beach, ‘videogame nasty’. “It’s not in the spirit
of today’s society, is it?” admits Dean
having handled conversions of Bangkok
Knights and Urban Warrior as Video
32 | RETRO GAMER
CONvErsION
CapErs
ZX SPECTRUM
■ Dean produced the graphics
for this using Oxford Computer
Publishing’s Art Studio and
completed bits of the coding
when original Spectrum
» [C64] What’s a day by the sea without a fish and chip supper? programmer Gaz Wood left.
Your final enemy in this version is the crocodile, which
an unwanted trip to the cells, and requires a stern beating, whilst you keep a close eye on your
buying strings of sausages from ‘truncheon meter’.
the butchers to distract the hungry
crocodile, another rogue cast AMSTRAD CPC
member. Even the in-game timer ■ David coded the CPC release
is represented by the encroaching and it remains his favourite. “I
» Dean’s original sketches
tide heading ever nearer to the pier head. for Punch And Judy was pleased with the Amstrad
“We were all in an open plan room with version and I always thought
the target 8-bit machines and a PDS it’s more or less a copy of a book we the C64 lacked somewhat in
development system,” recalls David. borrowed from the local library on comparable capabilities, colour
“We had the basic idea and we’d just sit the history of Punch and Judy. All the palette for one and a limited number of hardware sprites,”
down and start coding, getting the ‘game characters were in there – the crocodile, he says in a Darran-pleasing outrage.
loop’ down, building the necessary the policeman, the dog, Scaramouche…
tools to allow us to map out a world and yes, he’s part of the folklore!” COMMODORE 64
design sprites and tiles and so on. It felt The game does indeed culminate in ■ David also handled the C64
IN THE like a collective effort and we all threw a violent fandango as Mr Punch skips version, which opts for a final
KNOW ideas in. It was very organic but we across the puppet booth, button-bashing battle with a crawling baby, like
» PUBLISHER: didn’t hang about either.” seven shades out of the cast, whilst a horrible reimagining of that
ALTERNATIVE avoiding the long-ish arm of the law. It’s scene in Trainspotting. The large,
T
SOFTWARE he whole game only took an oddly frenzied finale to a game with colourful sprites and postcard
» DEVELOPER: a few months from initial some interesting ideas but which rather humour remind us of the work of those other Bridlington-
CLOCKWIZE
drawings to something plods in the preceding ‘collect-’em-up’ based game developers, Taskset.
» RELEASED: 1989
that could be sent to the sections. As a budget title, though, it
» GENRE: ARCADE
ADVENTURE
publishers for playtesting. Though provides a decent challenge and for Dean MSX
both admit that producing games for and David, it has a small if special place ■ Now this is an odd one.
Clockwize could feel a little like working in their hearts as the game that brought Although Dean remembers
on a production line, they did take their them to Bridlington. Both still live in the converting Punch And Judy to the
task seriously and aimed to produce a town and Dean ended up marrying MSX, the only existing ROM is a
polished title with a distinctive visual look. Teresa Hickie, the boss’s daughter. rebadged version of Mr Micro’s
We assume they modelled Mr Punch They have two children and just like Punchy, which features Punch
on Bruce Forsythe for added realism? Punch and Judy, remain together to this & Judy’s loading screen and credits Clockwize. There’s no
“Ah, you mean the chin,” laughs Dean. day. “Except we don’t throw our kids MSX in our office, so we can’t see if physical versions are the
“Actually, if you look at the title screen, downstairs,” Dean assures us. same (we suspect so) or if this is some weird ROM mix-up.
RETRO GAMER | 33
Commodore
1541 Fact
■ If you needed to change the drive number
of a Commodore 1541, for use in multiple-
drive systems, the instruction manual
provided both a software method and a
hardware method – the latter requiring
you to open up the drive and
physically cut jumpers.
ESSENTIAL GAME
Little Computer People
Not every storage medium decision
comes down to loading speed – some
Commodore 64 games are limited on tape
when compared to their disk versions, and
this early example of a life simulator happens
to be one of them. If you don’t play the disk
version, you’ll be missing out on a persistent
character, the little games you can play such as Poker, and more meaningful
communication. Other games that benefit from using the 1541 drive are ones which
require multiloading on tape, as the process is not only faster, but very helpfully
automated when playing a disk version.
Commodore 1541
» RElEasEd: 1982 » PlatFoRm: Commodore 64 » Cost: $400 (launCh), £35 (now)
hen looking back at the history of the Commodore 64, it’s not hard to see
W why cassette tapes became the dominant storage media for the system in
this region. Commodore’s default disk drive, the 1541, was akin to a tank – bulky,
expensive, heavy and slow. The single-sided drive accepted 5.25-inch floppy
disks, and contained both Commodore DOS 2.6 and a MOS 6502 CPU to run it. However,
the drive was initially hamstrung by supply problems caused by high defect rates. Worse
yet, due to hardware problems relating to Commodore’s desire for the C64 to be compatible
with the 1540 disk drive, Commodore DOS transfers just 512 bytes per second – barely
faster than the Datasette.
Reliability problems were ultimately fixed with the adoption of a new drive mechanism
manufacturer. What’s more, the drive has the capacity to receive new firmware without
any permanent modifications, either via type-in code or through ROM cartridge. As a
result, it was possible to drastically increase the speed of data transfer – Epyx’s FastLoad
cartridge could manage up to five times the drive’s regular speed. Without such tools, the
drive design wouldn’t have stuck around , but it was made available in revised forms for the
duration of the C64’s life, first as the 1541C and later the 1541-II.
The of the 8-bit
Back infortheartists
8-bit era, loading screens wereruna
chance to let their creativity
wildup.– We’ve
so long as theacomputer wasof able to
keep gathered selection artists
to find out how these iconic images came to be…
Words by Nick Thorpe
THE MAKING OF: XXXXXXXX
RETRO GAMER | 37
CHOOSE YOUR CANVAS
Every computer has different graphical capabilities – here are the limitations artists had to work with
ZX SpECTRUm
■ 256x192 resolution ■ Every pairing is defined on a
■ The rainbow here couldn’t
■ Square pixels case-by-case basis
have been any smaller, as
■ 15-colour palette ■ Whole tiles must be set as regular or bright,
lots of tiles already hit the
■ Each 8x8 pixel tile can contain up to so regular and bright shades can’t coexist in
four colour maximum.
two colours the same tile
AmSTRAd CpC
Mode 0: Or Mode 1:
■ 320x200 resolution ■ 320x200 resolution ■ The BBC is
■ Double-wide pixels ■ Square pixels characterised by
■ 27-colour palette ■ 27-colour palette its bold colours,
■ Each 8x8 tile contains up to 16 colours: ■ Each 8x8 tile contains up to four colours: allowing for some
■ All colours shared across all tiles ■ All colours shared across all tiles rather attractive
images.
■ The Amstrad
is great at ■ Due to its limited
still images in palette and chunky pixels,
Mode 0, with the BBC is best suited to
■ You can vibrant colours flat coloured images.
technically use and a relatively
every one of your 16 large palette.
chosen colours in a ■ Though limited in colour, the
tile, but the need for BBC’s Mode 1 gives artists access
that is rare. Some to a higher resolution than its
tiles here do use six rival systems’ coloured images.
colours, though.
bbC miCRO
Mode 2: Or Mode 1:
■ 320x256 resolution ■ 320x256 resolution
■ Mode 1 has a less blocky
■ Double-wide pixels ■ Square pixels
look thanks to its square
■ Eight colour palette ■ Eight colour palette
pixels, but the colour
■ Each 8x8 tile contains up to eight colours: ■ Each 8x8 tile contains up to four colours:
reduction is very severe.
■ Rapidly flashing pairs of colours are available ■ Rapidly flashing pairs of colours are available
to simulate further colours to simulate further colours
38 | RETRO GAMER
THE ART OF THE 8-BIT LOADING SCREEN
RETRO GAMER | 39
Q&A:
JONATHAN
TEmpLES
We speak to the artist
» Jonathan Temples (left) specialised with C64 loading
screens, while Shaun McClure (right) favoured the Spectrum.
behind a variety of classic
C64 loading screens deliberately did the Amstrad screen first
using colours in such a way that it could
When you were designing loading not be converted to the Spectrum,
screens, what was your process? then I had a justification for spending
Did you sketch them out on paper extra time designing a completely new
first, or go straight to screen? Spectrum loading screen.”
I would sketch roughs on paper Ste also had the ability to play
experimenting on compositions. I favourites. “I enjoyed the Amstrad the
then used my NEOS mouse and most. Partly because there was no
programme on the Commodore 64 » [ZX Spectrum] Shaun’s Lords Of Chaos screen is a masterclass in minimising attribute clash. attribute clash to worry about, and you
‘mouse and cheese’. had a nice set of colours to use. And
picture elements should be I then start partly because the Amstrad came with
How much reference material did adding colour and work out where to its own nice monitor, which was nice
you have to work with? add masking to hide the attribute clash.” and clear, whereas on the Spectrum or
I would be near the end of the main Bill’s one major bugbear is a common C64 I was using a 14-inch TV with RF
game graphics maybe working on one, too: “The main limitation was input, and the picture was painful on the
last level sprites and background level plotting pixels on the screen with just eyes.” The Commodore 64 earned his
maps. That would mean I would have the rubber-keyed Spectrum. When I ire, however. “I generally hated working
a good grasp on the main elements of was drawing some new screens in on the C64. All the graphics packages
the game to create a loading screen Photoshop recently I was shocked that I were garbage, and you had to draw with
with impact. Sometimes the games » [C64] Chester notes this loading screen as a C64 would have had the patience to draw an a joystick, which was a nightmare.”
companies would send me concept favourite, and the detail makes it easy to see why. entire screen without a mouse.” The Knights Of Bytes team didn’t
art of the game, like with Wrestling have that problem – but then, they were
Occasionally, things began off-screen. te worked very able to take advantage of sophisticated
Superstars where I was told, ‘Just copy
the game cover the best you can.’
40 | RETRO GAMER
THE ART OF THE 8-BIT LOADING SCREEN
plus anything David Thorpe did – Simon enough – artistic skill and technical image is reduced to the C64’s
Butler was good, too – Martin Wheeler knowledge were both key to creating 16-colour palette. However,
had his moments. Ste Pickford? All a great loading screen. As computers peripheral characters need
really good!” For Ste himself, it’s have become more powerful and the to be removed as they’re only
another one of our interviewees who restrictions were lifted, that intersection partially visible. Additionally,
proves memorable. “There were loads of skills has become a little redundant. this image actually isn’t
that were way better than mine, but Of course, iconic loading screens didn’t possible on a real machine –
I’m terrible at remembering names, so I disappear at the end of the 8-bit era, but some 8x8 blocks on the screen
can’t namecheck anyone unfortunately. that’s a story for another time. For now, contain too many colours.
Actually, Bill Harbison did some ace just get a cup of tea, put on a great 8-bit
work at Ocean on the Spectrum.” game and take the time to admire its
“The loading picture of Rainbow loading screen. Hopefully, you’ll see it in
Island on the C64 did impress me as a whole new light.
After many hours of editing by hand, the image is complete. “There was some
» [Amstrad CPC] While it doesn’t represent the in-game action, Prince Of Persia’s loading screen sets the scene well.
04 cursing involved,” admits Chester, who also notes the natural appearance of the
image: “There haven’t been any grid alignments in the Sam’s Journey title picture. It’s more a
» [Amstrad CPC] The snow-covered streets of Moscow look lovely here – shame you’re about to bomb them… clever way of selecting the three colours per cell.”
RETRO GAMER | 41
The making of
IN THE
KNOW
» PUBLISHER:
Firebird
M composing music rather
than coding games, you
may be surprised to find
that Dave Lowe was approached
to take on the project of converting
Thrust to the ZX Spectrum. But
having already produced Buggy Blast
for Firebird, he was the first port of
gamer, Dave’s interest was more in
the challenge of coding, and given the
complexity and originality of Thrust
this no doubt added a little extra to
the appeal of taking the job on. “A
lot of games seemed to regurgitate
the same concept and just dress it
up with fancy graphics and sound,”
» DEVELOPER: call by them for the conversion. explains Dave, “but I was fascinated
dave Lowe
“Firebird came to me with the with Thrust, as it was the actual » [ZX Spectrum] Plenty of fuel here. Unfortunately, there’s
» RELEASED: plenty of guns, too.
1986
conversion about six weeks before concept behind it that gave the game
I was due to move house, and they its playability and sustainability.”
» PLATFORM:
ZX Spectrum needed the game completed in four Thrust puts you in control of a ship Under the constant pull from
» GENRE: weeks,” Dave says. “I took a few where your mission is to navigate different forces, Thrust is very
Shoot-’em-up days to decide whether to do it or your way through maze-like caverns tricky indeed; though that’s maybe
not, as I could see that it required to retrieve an orb, which you pick up not the case for everyone. Dave
some maths and I was not sure if my via cable, and then make your way recalls, “I must say that I played it
house move would allow me to meet out before blasting off into space. so much during the development
their deadline. But as is the life of a A simple concept, in theory, but not while tweaking stuff, that I was
musician – the money won out.” only do you have to control your able to complete the whole game
speed, you also need to take into without cheating; though I did
consideration the effect such speed build a backdoor into the game that
will have on your ship as you battle allowed me to have infinite lives and
to bring it under control – lose control the ability to start on any level as I
of your orb and you lose stability of needed to do that to complete the
your ship. On top of battling with coding.” If anyone has looked or is
gravity and inertia you’re also up indeed now planning to look for this
against mounted guns as they aim to backdoor, Dave confirms that he left
take you down. Your control options this in the final version of the game.
are limited, too, with the ability to After all these years, how does he
only rotate left or right and ‘thrust’ to fair at the game now? “I downloaded
push you forward, you may well find a Speccy emulator to play Thrust
stopping mid-flight a bit of again,” says Dave. “I found that
problem. Could this game after all these years, with a
be any harder? Yes, of bit of practice, I could still
course it could; you have reach the end level and
to keep an eye on your fuel complete the game. There
level, too. are little tricks to every level
» [ZX Spectrum] Hmm, orb or fuel? Deciding which to take first could be crucial.
42 | RETRO GAMER
THE MAKING OF: THRUST
» [ZX Spectrum] This thing is heavier than it looks. Best not drop it.
ConvErsion
CAPErs
BBC MiCro
■ Where it all started – this is
the original version of the game
of which others were based.
Its looks may be simple, as is
the case with the conversions,
but this is the version that had
people tied to their chairs, and no doubt also had people furiously
jumping out of them, as they watched their ship helplessly spin and
shatter into pieces over and over again.
“i found ThaT afTer all
These years, wiTh a biT AtAri 8-Bit
■ A solid port but with slightly
of pracTice, i could sTill cruder graphics, the Atari 800
reach The end level” handled the conversion well
but has the look of a game
Dave Lowe
that could have been handled
slightly better. If you’re looking
in the manoeuvring of the ship and applied to the ship were applied at its for a version that maintains the playability but has a slightly different
taking out the cannons that when you centre of gravity as it rotated around look – here’s your best bet.
learn them, enable you to beat it.” the 360 degrees; when it picked up
Getting the physics just right on the orb, the centre of gravity moved CoMModorE 64
a game like Thrust would no doubt to a point along the connecting beam. ■ Another version here which
leave a lot of programmers scratching This effectively made them one featured the musical stylings
their heads; this is something that object as its position on the beam of Rob Hubbard as per its
Dave could empathise with. “I defined the weight of the orb.” Atari ST counterpart. A brilliant
actually spent a lot of the four weeks Thrust was almost completed as conversion here as you may
just figuring out the maths side of the a one-man job, with Dave taking expect from a computer of
game, as I knew it had to be correct on the game development entirely the C64’s standing. Very smooth and slick, this is one of the best
to get the playability correct.” Dave by himself, though he does divulge versions of the game out there.
continues, “Once I had all the gravity that a lot of the screen layout on the
and inertia working on the ship, I was different levels was actually mapped AMstrAd CPC
still stumped for a while as to how by his wife Victoria, who happened ■ Similar to that of the original
the ship’s inertia was transferred to to be a dab hand at the game. “She BBC version, the Amstrad
the orb when it was being carried. I could play it all the way through incarnation holds up well and
could see that it wasn’t just a case of on the C64,” says Dave, “making is up there with the better
applying the same gravity and inertia it possible to see the actual map versions of the game. All the
that controlled the ship to the orb, configuration of the levels.” original elements remain and
as the inertia built up by the orb also After a solid four weeks of coding make it one of the best to play. If you don’t have the BBC version then
affected the ship.” on such a tough game like Thrust, this is the closest you’ll get to it.
So how did Dave finally crack it? was there anything Dave learned
“I was actually messing around with from the experience? “I learnt the ACorn
a knitting needle with a cork on the hardest and most important ElECtron
end,” he explains. “I was trying to lesson in programming: ■ Due to its hardware
simulate it in my head and then it when the code crashes and limitations, the Acorn Electron
clicked; there was in fact only one set wipes your hard disk, it is version only ran in two-colour
of maths that needed to be applied only doing what you, the mode, though this is still a
to both objects. The forces that were programmer, told it to do.” solid conversion which runs
rather smoothly. In fact, the colour limitation actually adds to the
atmosphere and the stark contrast between the green and black,
gives everything a nice crisp and clean look.
THE HISTORY OF
ONE OF THE BIGGEST SELLING POINTS OF THE
INTELLIVISION OVER THE ATARI 2600 WAS THE QUALITY
OF ITS SPORTS GAMES. THE INTRODUCTION OF THE
REALSPORTS SERIES HELPED LEVEL THE PLAYING
FIELD AND WE DISCOVER JUST HOW THAT CAME ABOUT
Words by Kieren Hawken
I
n 1979 the very first console war was
started as Mattel’s Intellivision went head-
on with the market leading Atari 2600.
People might not remember this battle as well
as Mega Drive vs SNES, or Spectrum vs C64, but
make no mistake this was an aggressive fight. One
that eventually saw a clear winner, and believe it or
not, sports games were at the very forefront of it all.
The early sports-based games for the-then Atari VCS
were very simple affairs that bore little resemblance
to the pastimes they were based on. Games such
as Homerun, Football, Pele Soccer and Golf had sold
well but were no substitute for the real thing. The » Designer of RealSports Volleyball Bob Polaro is a regular visitor of
management at Mattel knew this too, and it felt that US gaming expos.
the increased power of its system could provide the
sporting experiences that everyone craved. So Mattel just plain old Soccer Mattel had NASL, licensed from
set about creating a sub-label that it would call Sports the North American Soccer League. It also had NBA
Network, to specialise in this field, thus creating the Basketball, Major League Baseball, US Team Skiing,
first videogame sporting franchise. But it didn’t just NHL Hockey and many more. Former Intellivision
knock out more realistic sports games, it also attached president and leader of the famous Blue Sky Rangers
licenses to them to add more legitimacy. Rather than Keith Robinson, who sadly passed away in 2017, had
previously talked about this with us. “There’s no doubt
about it, these were the games that sold our console,”
he said. “Our TV adverts made the 2600 look
laughable in comparisons. It was very clever marketing
and established the Intellivision [as] the serious sports
game machine.” Keith was right, too, as Major League
Baseball tops the charts as the system’s bestselling
game of all time, no mean feat for a sports title.
Talking of those TV adverts, they soon became the
key for Mattel, mainly thanks to hiring George Plimpton
to front them. For those unaware of his work, George
was a writer, actor, journalist, keen amateur sportsman
and, most importantly, a sports commentator. He
» [Atari 2600] Part of the Atari’s 2600 original sports lineup, Football was
was highly respected in his field and very much seen
widely mocked among the senior coders at Atari and it’s easy to see why. as an authority on all things sporting. In these
RETRO GAMER | 45
» Jim Huether proudly shows off his Atari 5200 version of RealSports Football to
Steven Spielberg and the top bosses at Atari. » [Atari 2600] The mock-up of RealSports Football that Rob Zdybel produced for the 2600 had more sprites on screen than was possible.
RealSports checklist like, games on the Atari 2600 and Intellivision, not just
telling you how superior Mattel’s games were but also
showing you. Images of George along with his words
Which sport appeared on which system would also be reused in magazine adverts. There was
no escape from Mattel’s aggressive advertising. Atari,
Atari Atari Atari Atari for the first time in its history, was on the ropes and
Game 2600 5200 8-bit 7800 needed to make a big comeback. So after a meeting
of its bosses, the company came up a plan to launch
a new sports range of its own. All of the company’s
Baseball Yes Yes Yes Yes existing sports games would be discontinued and
replaced with a new lineup of titles, which would be
Football Yes Yes Yes No named RealSports, and were set to be launched in
1982 for both the rebranded Atari 2600 and its new
Tennis Yes Yes Yes No stablemate the 5200 SuperSystem, as well as Atari’s
8-bit home computers.
The first three titles in this series would be
Volleyball Yes No No No recreations of baseball, American football and
volleyball. The last of these proved most interesting
Soccer Yes Yes Yes No as not only was it a sport that Atari hadn’t covered
before, but also one that couldn’t be played on the
Basketball Yes Yes Yes No Intellivision either. The developer assigned to this game
was Bob Polaro, who had previously programmed
the bestselling Atari 2600 port of Defender. Bob had
Boxing Yes No No No already done some work on a volleyball game for the
Atari 2600 and remembers when he was asked to
Yes = Unreleased commercially but complete prototype leaked in more recent years. resurrect it. “RealSports Volleyball was my second
Atari 2600 Intellivision The 8-bit match day you’ve all been
waiting for, which console will win?
A
tari’s RealSports Football was a huge the players on the field were tasked with roles at the
upgrade on the existing football game beginning of the play. As the play developed, they
for the 2600 and was remarkably close would change their roles as necessary, just like in real
to Mattel’s own effort. This project was football. The Stanford football team was hooked on this
assigned to Atari stalwart Rob Zdybel, and he has a game, and I got to demonstrate it and play it for about
pretty amusing story to share about its development. 15 minutes with Stephen Spielberg when he came to
“I was asked to mock up a screen that would show visit, which was really cool!”
a football game in progress on the 2600,” he says. Without doubt the most talked about game in the
“They wanted 22 players on the screen which was series remains RealSports Baseball, this is mostly
strictly impossible if the players were to move, but this down to the highly accomplished 5200 version than its
was just a static screen. I told my boss that, but when poor 2600 sibling however. The man behind this game
she took it upstairs, they were like, ‘We love this! We was Keithen Hayenga, a new hire at Atari who would
want this football game!’ I definitely learned a lesson later work on the unreleased 5200 port of Tempest.
there!” With the first mock-up of the game out the He wasn’t even assigned this project originally. “My
window, Rob had to try and come up with something original assignment was to be a war game called Fox
that actually worked. He describes this process to us, Fire, which almost everyone still at Atari had turned » [Atari 2600] The 2600 version RealSports Baseball was rereleased late in the
“I was just trying to be better than the previous football it down,” he explains. “It was the title of a movie system’s life as Super Baseball with a new title screen and some colour changes.
And the
winner is...
Atari 2600
■ Despite an early lead, the Intellivision lost out as the
evolution and understanding of the Atari 2600 hardware
allowed it to increase the realism greatly from its early
sports games. Take that George Plimpton!
2-2 3-2
Sporting heroes More popular sporting franchises
AcTuA SpoRTS
■ In the mid-Nineties the arrival of polygonal 3D graphics saw a
huge leap in the realism of sports-based videogames. Gremlin
Interactive was one of the first studios to capitalise on this with
its Actua Sports series. Titles released with this branding included
Actua Soccer, Actua Golf, Actua Pool and Actua Tennis. However
many of these haven’t aged particularly well.
D
ue to the internal turmoil at Atari, in the
wake of the North American videogame
crash, no more RealSports games
were produced under Warner Brothers
management, despite the fact big-name sports
such as ice hockey, golf and wrestling, had not
been covered. However, once the new streamlined
Tramiel-owned Atari Corporation started to get
software development into full flow it was decided
48 | RETRO GAMER
TV SpoRTS
■ This one will be more than familiar to all the Amiga owners out there as Cinemaware’s
The not-
many titles became a staple during the 16-bit years. The main selling point of these titles was
the TV-like presentation, hence the name, with cutscenes, commentators, stats displays and
so-real sport
scoreboards. Something EA would mimic to great success just a few years later. When looking at the list of sports covered by the RealSports series there
is one very notable omission in the form of basketball. One of the most
popular sports in America, it’s also proved to be a highly lucrative videogame
over the years with titles such as NBA Jam, One-on-One and Double Dribble. Atari
obviously knew this at the time and did announce RealSports Basketball for the
Atari 2600, Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit. Despite being heavily featured in catalogues
and advertising, the game never made it out the door. Rumour has it that Atari
management simply wasn’t happy with how the game turned out and felt that it offered
nothing over its rivals and, indeed, previous Atari basketball games.
With the Atari 8-bit and Atari 5200 versions, there were actually two attempts,
with the first being nothing more than an updated version of Atari’s original
Basketball from 1979. Programmed by Ken Bass, both versions were shared
with the public thanks to his brother Ben and reproduction carts have
been produced of both the Atari 8-bit/5200 and 2600 iterations so
we can all judge the game for ourselves. And we agree with
the testers that RealSports Basketball needed some huge
improvements to compete with other sports
titles that were available in 1983.
RETRO GAMER | 49
100 | RETRO GAMER
3D Monster Maze
STILL TERRIFYING ME, THREE DECADES ON
» ZX81 » MALCOLM EVANS » 1982
» RETROREVIVAL
plus Life are Gilsoft’s first releases. solve puzzles, attack enemies and rescue fair
■ Tim meets Graeme Yeandle as Gilsoft damsels; or pilot a spaceship, save a planet and
publishes his adventure, Time-Line. still be home in time for tea. But for Gilsoft, the
Graeme begins work on The Quill, which adventure genre wasn’t the start of its story. “I
is released at the end of the year, to great phoned my dad from the Microfair where they
acclaim. In June, Gilsoft attends the announced the ZX Spectrum,” remembers Tim » [ZX Spectrum] Adventure writer Peter Torrance cut his teeth on Firebird
budget adventure Subsunk and its sequel, Seabase Delta.
Gilberts, cofounder of the company that took its
19
office and storage location is purchased in Tim’s main hobby throughout the late Seventies arcade classic. “I wrote a version of Pac-Man,
84
Park Crescent, Barry. and early Eighties was electronics, building and I don’t think we’d actually sold a copy before
computers such as the ZX81 from kit form. “But I Atari wrote us a nice letter,” he recalls. Small
■ Apart from a repackaged Quill/
loved programming as much as electronics, and adverts in the mail order sales sections of several
Illustrator combination and a small
that ZX81 came on the family caravan holiday magazines had been spotted by the arcade giant,
selection of Quilled adventures, a quiet
to France, screwed into a plywood base, and yet despite this unwanted attention, these adverts
year for Gilsoft release-wise as Tim
attached to a 12V black and white television.” As were critical for any software house selling its
focuses on creating the Professional
19
soon as the Gilberts family acquired its first ZX goods via mail order. “Dad used to joke that he
85
Adventure Writer.
Spectrum, Tim set to work. “The first [program] I had a chart with stars for all the magazines,”
■ The Quill’s follow-up, The Professional think was John Conway’s Life, using assembler to smiles Tim. “And each time we got an advertising
Adventure Writer, is released to great make it generate several generations a second. I call, he added a star. Magazines with the least
acclaim. Competition is ramping up, was also determined to do a colour 3D maze game stars had an advert the next month.”
Tim was just 17 when the first Gilsoft products
19
Spain, working for Aventuras AD. artwork for both early packaging
and loading screens,” says
Tim, name-checking Steve
Harbron and Andy Griffiths
for the former and Huw
Jones for the latter. And as
Gilsoft grew, Tim’s school life
inevitably suffered, or at least from
one point of view. “I didn’t think so, but
the school did!” he laughs. “As they did not
52 | RETRO GAMER
OFT
In The eIGhTIeS, hOward GILberTS
began a side-line business in
league with son, tim, spurred
On by The LaTTer , s enthusiasm
for the ZX spectrum. never a big
player, but fondly remembered
TOday, ThIS IS The STOry OF GILSOFT
– what now, brave adventurer?
Words by Graeme Mason
“i wrote a version
of pacman, and
we hadn’T SOLd a
copy before atari
wrote us a nice
LeTTer”
Tim Gilberts
T
hey say everybody has a good novel suggested he create something that anyone could
in them; maybe the same can be said use.” The Quill Adventure System – a program
of adventure games, and in 1983, that allowed even the most technically challenged » [ZX Spectrum] A tricky situation in Gilsoft’s
Gilsoft gave everyone the chance to user to create a workable adventure game, was The Curse.
realise that otherwise distant dream. With Tim’s the result, and Gilsoft’s breakthrough hit. As
» (Top) Graeme Yeandle and Tim Gilberts proudly
experience of the genre limited, it was left to Crash magazine noted in its review, “The Quill displaying their respective creations The Quill and
nearby customer, Graeme Yeandle, to help him opens up a huge area of complex programming The Illustrator.
create history. “It was an accident of geography; to thousands of people. At £14.95, it is almost
Graeme had bought some games from us by mail ludicrously underpriced for what it does and, more
order, and when he saw he only lived ten miles importantly, what it allows others to do.”
away, he came to our house to see them before But before The Quill had even been completed,
buying,” explains Tim. An eminently sensible Tim recognised the significance of the utility.
RETRO GAMER | 53
“i loved showing what we had
done to people and chatting to
other enthusiasts”
Tim GIlberts
“We realised how unusual it was, as we weren’t run side-by-side with The Quill. By now, games
aware of anything like it, other than assemblers were firmly in the backseat as far as Gilsoft was
which helped, but only other programmers.” concerned. “Actually, I think we had always been
There was a step-up in packaging, as noting the a bit utility-focused,” says Tim, “with programs
potential retail capacity of the utility, Tim hired a like CESIL and HAL [two educational languages],
local commercial artist to create a striking black The Visual Processor, Softlink, and the Electronics
and gold image. “We also had to have a cardboard CAD programs from Peter Armitage. Much of it
box to replace the plastic bag, which was driven was because I liked creating an effect, like a sprite
by retail, who needed eye candy for the shelf.” The system, but then turning that into a game seemed
success of The Quill was virtually instantaneous; less interesting than overcoming the technical
now it was possible for programming neophytes challenges.” Quilled games appeared rapidly, and
to create their own adventures, with only their Gilsoft, having encouraged them to be submitted,
imagination to limit the result. Conversions to were deluged with efforts from fans. Commercial
other formats followed, with its author handling releases also appeared from other software
the Commodore 64 and Amstrad ports, while houses, with CRL and Piranha in particular having
Tim took care of the Oric and Atari ports, now decent success, usually adapting the basic Quill
focusing full-time on Gilsoft and using The Quill’s engine with Gilsoft’s own modification software
success to fund future releases. He recalls, “We such as The Press (text compression) and
sold many tens of thousands of copies but even at Character (a font mod). Then, after publishing a
£14.95 there wasn’t a lot of profit, considering up handful of titles itself Gilsoft turned its attention to
to 70 per cent discount for large wholesalers and a quasi-sequel for the popular utility.
retailers, plus the large manual and outer box to
T
produce along with tape duplication.” im explains, “It seemed logical to draw
The main drawback of The Quill was its lack of together the range of programs we
graphics capability. Graphic adventures, buoyed had now, The Quill, Illustrator, Patch,
by the success of games such as The Hobbit, were Press and Characters into a single tool
becoming the norm, even by 1984. Tim says, “I to simplify things again. It was also the chance
had been pondering how we could fit [graphics] to increase the power of the system, and make
into the Spectrum when I realised we would use of disk units that were appearing.” By this
» An early cover by Steve have to store how they were drawn, and that lent point, the Gilsoft boss was busy running the
Harbron… and an even earlier itself to a database, and an editor system to be company and supporting its products with help
pencil sketch of the same cover.
able to amend the drawing.” The result was The sheets and letters – even running a late-night
Illustrator, created by Tim on the ZX Spectrum telephone support line every Tuesday evening.
and Commodore 64, and tailored specifically to Then, just prior to release of The Quill’s follow
54 | RETRO GAMER
FROM THE ARCHIVES: GILSOFT
where are
they now?
TIm GILberTS
■ Today Tim works as
an ICT consultant for the
Fire Service on projects
such as the recent new
joint 999 centre. As a hobby, Tim has been
contributing drivers to the Spectrum Next,
and is always keen to chat with fans – just
» [ZX Spectrum] CRL published a bunch of Delta 4 like at those ZX Microfairs, 35 years ago.
adventures, including amusing spoofs such as The Boggit.
utilities
■ While the company is
most remembered (and
quite rightly so) for The
Quill and the Professional
Adventure Writer, Gilsoft
released a number of
useful utilities for the
ZX Spectrum such as
Soft Link (an interface
utility) and White Noise
And Graphics.
enGaGInG wITh FanS fantastic art
■ Having been conceived while Tim attended a ZX Microfair, ■ In addition to some excellent loading screens from Huw
it seems apt that Gilsoft became a staple at such events. Jones, Gilsoft enlisted the skills of local artist Terry Greer to
Often the whole family would troop its way to London to help it with its inlay art. This resulted in memorable covers
sell both hardware and software, as well as chat both for games such as Africa Gardens and The Hollow, and a
technical and games to fans. great picture for the cover of Tim’s The Illustrator.
RETRO GAMER | 55
CLASSIC MOMENTS
Shinobi
» Platform: ARCADE » released: 1987 » develoPer: SEGA
BIO
While it shares numerous similarities
with Namco’s Rolling Thunder, Shinobi
is very much its own game and more
than just a simple clone. It doubles
down hard on the use of ninjas (which
were immensely popular during the
Eighties) by not only making one
into the chief protagonist, but also
using them as endless cannon fodder.
Whether they’re garbed in yellow, blue,
red or green, they all fall readily to Joe
Musashi’s deadly ninja skills, meaning
Shinobi is one of the few arcade
games of the time to really make you
feel like a deadly ninja master.
MORE CLASSIC
SHINOBI MOMENTS
Black Hawk Down
Shinobi’s second boss is one
of the largest in the game,
but it’s quick to down, if you
know what you’re doing. The
entire helicopter is impervious
to your attacks, with the
exception of its nose – so fill
it with shuriken as quick as you can. Oh, did we mention the
unlimited supply of yellow ninjas that appear from its cabin and
the stinger missiles that it fires at you? We didn’t? Silly us.
Ninja Magic
Although Joe Musashi is a
master of the shuriken, steel
throwing stars alone won’t
be enough to deal with some
of the nastier chokepoints
that appear in Sega’s game.
Luckily, Joe is also a master of
the ninja arts, which means he’s not averse to lobbing the odd
bit of magic around when things start to get tough. While he
can use a variety of useful spells that tap into certain elements
the best sends mirror image versions of himself flying around
the screen, instantly killing all but the toughest of enemies.
Cool As Hell
Everyone knows that ninjas
are cool, and Joe Musashi
is a perfect example. One of
the most memorable images
of Joe comes from when he
exits certain levels. Rather
than simply walk off right like
he does on many of the levels he instead enters a doorway or
cave, casually sauntering into the distance, no matter how many
enemies are still left to kill. It looks cool as hell and we’ve been
trying to copy his casual stroll (to no avail) ever since.
Ultimate Satisfaction
Speaking of ninja magic, while
it refills on every new stage,
you’ll get a significant amount
of points (5,000 in fact) if you
can get through the entire
level without actually using it.
As satisfying an achievement
as that is, it becomes an even better way of showboating if
you’re able to clear a boss this way. Lobster is arguably one of
the best mayors to take down using this technique, and you’ll
earn our endless respect if you can achieve it.
THE MAKING OF
3D
Sonic fronted the Mega Drive’s greatest
hits of the early and mid-Nineties. Kats
Sato and Jon Burton tell Retro Gamer how
they worked with Sonic Team to give the
speedy mascot a 16-bit swan song
Words by Rory Milne
S
ome wrote the Mega Drive off as early Unfortunately, the Japanese firm’s chosen
as the summer of 1995 when Sega developer had other ideas, and so when a
launched the Saturn in the West. proposal to produce an unspecified Mega Drive
However, the next-gen system’s initial title was rejected, Sega revealed all to Traveller’s
price stopped many Mega Drive owners upgrading, Tales boss Jon Burton. “We wanted to move on
which led to demand for a new Sonic The to the PlayStation and Saturn,” Jon remembers,
Hedgehog release for Sega’s aging 16-bit console, “so we told Sega that we weren’t really interested.
as former Sega producer Kats Sato explains. Then it revealed it wanted us to develop the next
“Sega Of America and Sega Of Europe strongly Sonic game for the Mega Drive and we said, ‘Oh,
requested a Sonic title on the Mega Drive. At that that game! Well you know how much we love the
point, Sega Of Japan decided to use an outsourced Mega Drive – we’d love to make it for you!’”
team. Somebody at Sega Of Japan found out that With Traveller’s Tales signed up to produce code
Traveller’s Tales had done a really great job on Toy and visuals for the forthcoming Sonic title, there
Story for the Mega Drive, and so Sega chose it.” remained the matter of producing a game design,
IN THE which was a task naturally entrusted to Sonic
KNOW Team. “We used the three game designers from
Sonic Team: Hirokazu Yasuhara, Takashi Iizuka
» PUBLISHER:
SEGA and Takao Miyoshi,” Sato notes. “They made
» DEVELOPER:
a map and also some specs, but Sonic Team’s
SONIC TEAM / programmers, artists and other designers were
TRAVELLER’S TALES busy doing NiGHTS, as having a key title from
» RELEASED: Sonic Team on the Saturn was very important.”
1996 Given that the production of Sega’s forthcoming
» PLATFORM: Sonic title was being outsourced, a decision
MEGA DRIVE
was made to give the project an isometric rather
» GENRE:
PLATFORMER than side-on viewpoint in order to distinguish it
from Sega’s core Sonic The Hedgehog games,
as Sato discloses. “I think Sonic Team wanted
» [Mega Drive] Early on in Sonic 3D’s first level the little blue
something different from the standard Sonic 2D
hedgehog encounters a loop-the-loop. platform game because they were using a new
58 | RETRO GAMER
THE MAKING OF: SONIC 3D
DIRECTOR’S
CUT
Jon Burton on his new and
improved Sonic 3D
What made you decide to
revisit Sonic 3D?
I watched a few recent video
reviews of the game and thought
that they made good points, but also that a
lot of the issues were solvable now. So that
gave me an idea of the things to fix, and then
I wanted to add the replayability and map
sonic team wanted screens that more modern games have. That
was the blueprint.
» [Mega Drive] The finale of Sonic 3D’s animated intro shows Sonic
game breeze more than anything. He offered to
help in any way he could, but I was worried
leaping towards the screen fist first. Kats Sato about the legal implications of involving other
people so I kept the project just to myself in
development team: Traveller’s Tales. Sonic Team and Yasuhara-san to England, and they stayed the end.
were always thinking about the next Sonic title, in a hotel for maybe three, four months. Mainly
I think they had some sort of idea for the Saturn, Miyoshi-san and Yasuhara-san did map design. how does the Director’s Cut improve
and that’s why they didn’t want Traveller’s Tales to Iizuka-san was quite busy doing some other title, on the original?
do the same type of game.” but he did some design on the map.” The handling model was overhauled to make
A further deviation from the main Sonic Although no longer a designer, a Sega director it much easier to play. An overworld map
series followed, as the game’s isometric sprites was equally important to the production of the screen was added allowing for replaying
required prerendered polygons rather than pixel firm’s emerging isometric title, he had even levels, collecting hidden objects and
art. “Sonic faced in 16 different directions,” Jon created the project’s costars – the Flickies – accessing new game modes. Super Sonic
recalls, “and so a 12-frame run cycle alone would although Sato isn’t certain if Youji Ishii was was also added to the game, following the
take 192 frames of animation – all required to responsible for partnering them with Sonic. rules of the previous Sonic titles. And I also
be perspective correct, so traditionally designed “Ishii San was the development director of threw in the level editor and a password
sprites weren’t really an option.” Sega’s consumer department at the time, so he save game system.
Another option deemed unviable for Sega’s was my boss. He assigned me to go to Sega Of
isometric Sonic title was a two-player mode, as Europe and work with Traveller’s Tales, but I don’t other than a legal backup of the
Jon soon found out. “It became clear pretty early remember who came up with the idea of using mega Drive Sonic 3D stored on a PC
on that even a full-screen single-player isometric Flickies in the game, maybe Ishii-san or maybe and an emulator, what other sotware
view would struggle to show what was needed,” someone in Sonic Team.” is needed to play the Director’s Cut?
Jon points out, “let alone a screen using a The former Sega producer is more certain There’s a patch file and a program called Delta
split-screen mode, so we dropped the idea.” of whose idea it was to have different coloured Patcher – the details are on gamehut.com,
Months into implementing Sonic Team’s ideas Flickies behave differently. “I think that the alternatively they’re on the Steam Workshop
onscreen, the long-distance between Jon and behaviour being different for different colours of (bit.ly/sonic3ddirectorscut).
his Japanese collaborators was significantly Flickies came from Jon,” Sato muses. “I think one
shortened, as Sato recollects. “Some of the design of the Flicky birds was moving slowly, and then
was done in England, because it was sometimes the behaviour changed. If my memory is right, Jon
easier to work together with Jon and the artists at did something to change the AI movement and
Traveller’s Tales. I brought Iizuka-san, Miyoshi-san behaviour between the different colours.”
RETRO GAMER | 59
As for how ideas like Flicky behaviour were being one memorable gameplay feature to be
shared between the English-speaking Traveller’s implemented into the game. “I believe Yasuhara-
Tales and the Japanese-speaking Sonic Team, san brought the fan idea,” Sato ponders. “We
Jon gives full credit to the bilingual producer really wanted to do something different because
of the evolving game that the two teams were isometric was different from 2D platforming,
collaborating on. “Input from Sega was ideas so we saw not from the side-view but from an
rather than development,” Jon explains, “so we isometric view. That’s why Yasuhara-san came up
DEVELOPER worked out of our office, and Kats passed on any
suggestions from Sega.”
with this kind of idea.”
HIGHLIGHTS
A
But outside of work time, Jon remembers how dditional gameplay concepts followed,
toY storY demonstrating his Lotus Turbo Esprit’s acceleration such as giving Sonic the ability to turn
sYstem: to his producer resulted in an outcome that didn’t into a living homing missile. “With an
MEGA DRIVE, VARIOUS need any translation. “I slowed right down, but then isometric view, it was really hard to
Year: 1995
I spotted headlights in my rear-view mirror, so I actually aim at enemies,” Sato reasons, “that’s
soniC 3D
sYstem: accelerated as hard as I could and then slammed on why the ‘Blast Attack’ worked really well, because
MEGA DRIVE, SATURN the brakes to turn into Sato’s hotel. Unfortunately, it automatically aimed. Without the ‘Blast Attack’
Year: 1996 the car in my mirror was a police car. I remember you made many mistakes, lost coins and soon it
soniC r (PiCtureD) seeing Sega’s senior management with their faces was game over. So probably players would have
sYstem: pressed against the hotel windows taking in the gotten frustrated at such a quick game.”
SATURN, PC
Year: 1997 scene. Turns out the police thought I had stolen the A recurring feature from previous Sonic titles
car and made a run for it!” was omitted, however, as Sonic’s ‘Super Sonic’
Meanwhile, Jon and Sato’s Sonic project power-up didn’t suit the puzzle-based gameplay of
was also picking up speed, with industrial fans the isometric title. “From the beginning, this was
a more puzzle element action game rather a battle
action game,” Sato argues. “Super Sonic was a
special feature to fight on boss stages in the other
Sonic games, and so I think it didn’t fit into this
because it was just more puzzle element action.”
Recurring characters Tails and Knuckles did join
Sonic in his isometric Mega Drive debut, but as
60 | RETRO GAMER
THE MAKING OF: SONIC 3D
With an isometric
view, it was hard to
aim at enemies that’s
why the ‘Blast Attack’
worked really well
Kats Sato
O
title. “I really don’t remember seeing the NiGHTS n the motivation for producing a Saturn project. But of course there are some regrets, if we
animated intro, but I was really keen to fit one version of Sonic 3D, Sato is forthright could have we would have liked to have produced
into Sonic 3D, he tells us. “I kept saving memory about Sega Of Japan’s opinion of the more stages.”
wherever I could and then surprised Sega a few cancelled game that the Traveller’s Tales When asked for his assessment, Jon highlights
weeks before going gold with the intro we’d port replaced. “Sonic Xtreme was really bad. We Sonic 3D’s visuals and slickness before finishing
managed to squeeze in.” reviewed it many times internally, but it didn’t with an admission that he likes his 2017 enhanced
When Sonic 3D hit the shelves, sales were reach the quality needed. But I think marketing version that much more. “It’s a great looking
brisk, and while reviewers hoping for 2D wanted a Sonic title on the Saturn, and game, it’s technically very proficient and it was
platforming were disappointed, those that Sega in Japan was busy doing other executed according to the design that Sega
appreciated its novelty heaped praise on the titles. That’s why we did a conversion gave us. I always liked it, but I prefer the
game. Although Sato focuses on the positive of Sonic 3D from the Mega Drive.” Director’s Cut now!”
RETRO GAMER | 61
Neo-Geo
Pocket Color fact
■ a second model of the neo-geo Pocket Color was released
exclusively in Japan in october 1999, featuring a slightly lighter and
slimmer body than the original.
Neo-Geo
Pocket Color
» Manufacturer: SNK » Year: 1999 » cost: £59.99 (launch), £30+ (today)
ess than six months after releasing the ill-fated Neo-Geo Pocket, SNK
he blades clash, the cherry blossom falls And you, the player, must choose from a
and, as the winds of change howl across 12-warrior roster and then master the game’s
a 19th century Japanese landscape, you four-button control scheme and combat system
the player must fight, furiously, until in order to survive a series of deadly duels and
your very last breath. You must fight to carve out prosper against Kagami. Only in doing this will
your own future in a world that is on the brink of you stand a chance of ending the Crisis Christ
destruction, both physically and culturally, and to and his resurrected henchman Musashi Akatsuki
do so, to be the last warrior standing, you must – only then will you live through the dramatic and
become one with your blade. poetically melancholic bakumatsu.
The bakumatsu period is your setting for Indeed, SNK made an inspired choice when
combat in The Last Blade – SNK’s stunning making this refined, darker, and more mature
weapons-based versus-fighter series swan spiritual sequel to Samurai Shodown, with the 19th
song – the 19th century ‘final curtain’ of the Edo century bakumatsu (the game is set in the year
period and the Tokugawa shogunate. Japan is 1863) the perfect setting to finish its romance with
in the grip of a brutal civil war and, in the chaos, Japan’s feudal, warrior culture history. And the
the ‘Crisis Christ’ and former guardian of Hell’s studio’s passion for this project and insane skill in
Gate (a passage to the daemon-infested makai terms of producing one-on-one fighters is poured
underworld) Shinnosuke Kagami intends to bring into The Last Blade in every aspect of the game,
destruction to the Earth and rule it like a god. from the artwork right through to its musical score.
64 | RETRO GAMER
ULTIMATE GUIDE: THE LAST BLADE
KAede yuKI
■ The lead character in MorIyA ■ Yuki, whose name Juzoh hyo
The Last Blade, Kaede MInAKATA means snow in Japanese, KAnzAK AKArI IchIJou AMAno ShIgen
fights with a katana using ■ Trained alongside is the last character to ■ The adopted brother ■ Akari hails from ■ A ladies’ man that is nAoe
the Kasshin Ittou fighting Kaede, but wrongly be trained by Gaisai and of Akari Ichijou, who Kyoto and enjoys a good obsessed with sake and ■ He’s a guardian of Hell’s
style taught by legendary accused of their master’s wields a ‘Fate-Penetrating persuades him to adventure. She is an having fun, Amano fights Gate and, after getting
swordsman Gaisai. His murder, Moriya fights with Spear’ naginata, a weapon accompany her, Juzoh is a onmyouji, a sorcerer, and with a bokutou wooden set in stone for ten years
name is based on the the Kassatsu Ittou-Ryuu associated with women in powerful fighter that uses can summon spirits to sword. He is modelled on by big bad Shinnosuke
Japanese word for maple. style. His katana is named the bakumatsu period. a huge metal club as their help her fight. Kumo from the manga Kagami, desires revenge.
Katsura Of The Moon. weapon of choice. Haguregumo.
now you
See Me
■ The ninja, Zantetsu
has the ability to briefly
disappear and turn
invisible, similar to the The fALLen
ninjas of legend. ShInSenguMI
■ Shikyo is a corrupted Shinsengumi
warrior, and still wears the tattered
remains of his old uniform.
SAKurA SeASon
■ Falling sakura is symbolic of
how times are changing during
this period of Japanese history.
66 | RETRO GAMER
ULTIMATE GUIDE: THE LAST BLADE
RETRO GAMER | 67
n c A p e r S
co n v er SIo neo-geo AeS
■ Basically identical to the MVS arcade
original, The Last Blade on Neo-Geo AES is
a super-faithful port, delivering a stacked
474Mbit cart that shows the bakumatsu
brawler off perfectly. A full character roster,
buttery-smooth gameplay, and a full-fat
feature set make this version a must own
for Neo-Geo fans.
neo-geo cd
■ The Neo-Geo CD version of the game is
unique in the fact that it comes with a fully
orchestrated arranged soundtrack. This is
absolutely stunning and is a sweet boon pLAySTATIon
that helps you to forget about this port’s ■ The PlayStation version of The Last Blade is a similar port performance-wise
(as to be expected for SNK’s CD system) to the Neo-Geo CD version, but also boasts improved load times as well as
annoyingly long load times and small an exclusive anime intro (of middling quality, admittedly) that introduces all
moments of slowdown. characters, and it shows a bit of extra story, too.
PlayStation 2 neo-geo
■ Released well after the game’s original
pocKeT coLor
■ A interesting quasi-port of The Last Blade,
release, the PlayStation 2 version of The
Last Blade is part of a combo package that the Neo-Geo Pocket Color version actually
includes both it and its sequel, adding in a combines elements from The Last Blade 2
must-have feature for 2006: online network as well, with the game sitting somewhere
play via the PS2’s modem. You get the between the two. The transition into the
arranged soundtrack from the Neo-Geo CD sequel has to be earned by the player, who
version, too. must unlock its features by winning.
pc
■ One of the more recent ports of the game,
The Last Blade on PC offers a variety of
display options, such as ability to run the
game at various resolutions up to 1080p and
add scanlines if desired, as well as allowing
online play with leaderboards, too. While the
audio is clean, you don’t get the arranged
soundtrack in-game, which is a shame.
SwITch
■ The latest, and arguably greatest, edition
of SNK’s sword-slinging slasher, The Last
Blade on Switch is a very authentic yet
PS4/XboX one augmented experience. The same super
■ While Neo-Geo purests may hate to admit it, the PS4 and Xbox One ports of The port technically as the PS4 and Xbox One,
Last Blade are – aside from the fact they are not running on original hardware – Hamster Co here, though, lets you to take
basically perfect. The game flies on both systems, with zero slowdown, and also the silky smooth and beautiful action of
boasts added features over the original, like controller vibration support. clashing katanas on the road with you.
68 | RETRO GAMER
ULTIMATE GUIDE: THE LAST BLADE
» [Arcade] Lee
Rekka’s overhead
flame-fan-
kick move is
devastating.
RETRO GAMER | 69
» PUSHING THE LIMITS
Stardust
This showpiece didn’t result in instant stardom, but
Bloodhouse’s debut was a strong foundation
» Platform: AMIGA » DeveloPer: BLOODHOUSE » releaseD: 1993
t’s fair to say that Stardust wasn’t a appeared on the platform previously – there was
Clever Colour
While the Amiga is capable of
performing tricks to generate
additional colours, Stardust just makes
fantastic use of limited resources. This
screenshot employs 31 colours, which
is incredible given the detail on display.
Ray Tracing
This technique for creating realistically
lit 3D objects was used extensively
in the creation of Stardust’s sprites. A
twisting, spinning asteroid, space mine
and abstract head all look phenomenal
as a result.
Amazing Animation
While you couldn’t quite mistake
Stardust for true 3D, the animation
actually looks better than most
prerendered games of the era. Better
yet, it allows for a good simulation of
scaling for the tunnel sprites.
Memory Miracles
Cramming that tunnel animation that’s
so impressive into the Amiga required
major graphical efficiencies. It was
achieved with just four colours and
lots of dithering, a handful of frames of
animation and copper mirroring.
The Making of...
I
n 1995, the point-and-click adventure genre who remain trapped in an artificial hell of the machine’s
reached critical mass. Sierra and LucasArts design. Not exactly standard puzzle adventure material.
titles were a huge deal, selling in the hundreds Even more unusual, Harlan himself was brought
of thousands. Having previously worked with HR in to flesh out the concept with writer David Sears.
Giger on the audacious 1992 horror title, DarkSeed, When the two discussed the project at the annual
indie studio Cyberdreams went for the jugular – Game Developers Conference, among those in
approaching Harlan Ellison for an adaptation of his 1967 the audience was designer, David Mullich. “I was
IN
KNOWTHE short story, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream.
Suffice to say, this would be no ordinary videogame
very jealous, because I Have No Mouth And I Must
Scream was my favourite short story,” Mullich says.
adaption and the prodigious Harlan, author of roughly “I thought that, given my success in adapting the
» PUBLISHER: 2,000 works and winner of numerous awards, was television show, The Prisoner, into a videogame, that
CYBERDREAMS
no ordinary writer. Notorious, unrelenting, visionary; I was the best person to develop such a game.”
» DEVELOPER:
THE DREAMERS GUILD he once mailed 213 bricks to a publishing house, Cyberdreams agreed. When Sears left the project
» RELEASED:
followed by a dead gopher, via fourth-class mail, when months later, Mullich was brought in to produce it.
1995 a cigarette ad was printed in one of his paperbacks. The original story follows five characters, who
» PLATFORM: Grotesque and harrowing, I Have No Mouth And I have been tortured since the Allied Mastercomputer,
PC, MAC Must Scream revolves around a supercomputer, which or AM, destroyed mankind 109 years ago. Boasting
» GENRE: has wiped out humanity, save a handful of people, godlike powers, AM has made his prisoners
ADVENTURE immortal. They spend their days in squalor,
fending off hunger and monsters, while
suffering all manner of violent demises. At
» [PC] Unlike the short story, the game gives gamers the chance to
defeat AM, with the help of unexpected friends.
Dramatis
Personae
The evil godlike antagonist, and its
human test subjects
AM
■ The Allied Mastercomputer, it
began as three supercomputers
designed by the Americans,
Chinese and Russians. They
eventually merged, wiping
out the human race. AM turns
into a god, with the power to
» [PC] The manipulate biology and matter.
paranoid Ted
is surrounded
by unsavoury
characters, each
with conflicting
Gorrister
■ Gorrister is a former trucker,
agendas and
information, whose wife was institutionalised
preying on his following their abusive marriage.
insecurity.
After 109 years of torture,
» [PC] Benny’s he awakes on a dark, filthy
story was zeppelin, flying over a desert,
rewritten for the
videogame. Cruel where AM promises he may
in his previous life, finally kill himself.
he must learn to be
compassionate.
Benny
■ During a war with China,
the end of the story, the narrator, Ted, seizes a rare Benny, a sergeant, murdered
opportunity to help kill his fellow captives, but is one of his weaker soldiers, and
caught before he can commit suicide himself. AM three others who tried to help
mutates him into a blob “whose shape is so alien a him. Though insane, AM has
travesty that humanity becomes more obscene for restored Benny’s wits, only to
the vague resemblance”. He is trapped, forever to cripple his legs and send him to
endure his captor’s hatred alone: “I have no mouth. a bio-organic jungle.
And I must scream.”
Sears and Harlan wanted to explore why AM
chose these individuals, using puzzles to unravel
Ellen
■ She was once a high-flying
their backstories and personalities. Though the duo
engineer, whose life tragically
completed three quarters of the design work, Mullich
fell apart when she was sexually
says there were some issues. “Much of the problem
assaulted in an elevator. By the
was that individual lines of dialogue needed to be As the game starts, players must complete
events of the game, AM has sent
turned into full, interactive conversations that could quests for the five prisoners – using a SCUMM-style
her to a robotic pyramid, where
branch into different directions.” interface to interact with environments, via a selection
it claims to have left her the
of verbs and inventory items. Gorrister, for example,
tools to destroy it.
W
ith Harlan too busy to write the wakes up on a zeppelin – where AM suggests he
dialogue himself, Mullich picked might finally be able to kill himself. The ex-trucker
up the slack. “Although I am a far
inferior writer,” he concedes, “Harlan
is forced to confront his abusive treatment of his
institutionalised wife, and his tumultuous relationship
Nimdok
■ A former Nazi scientist
would ‘punch up’ some of the scenes I had written.” with his mother-in-law. He must also retrieve his whose tortuous experiments
Moreover, while Sears had never designed a game heart, which has been cut out. However, the sadistic on human guinea pigs form
before, Harlan was not even a gamer. “Some of the AM sets up various red herrings – such as a poisoned the basis of AM’s own godlike
puzzles he suggested seemed very difficult to him, bowl of punch – which result in the game resetting. powers over the human body. He
but I had to explain that a gamer would figure them After each character has completed their quest, the is sent to a concentration camp,
out right away, and then I’d come up with ones that I player attempts to help them kill themselves, along where he learns of his own
thought were more challenging,” adds Mullich. with AM. There are multiple endings – numerous bad Jewish heritage.
The producer, who now runs Electric Sheep endings, alongside one good one – and Harlan took
Game Consulting and heads the Los Angeles Film great pride in how difficult it was to achieve the good
School’s Game Production programme, says he first
became a fan of Harlan’s work when he saw the
ending. This would only be available to players who
had made noble decisions earlier in the game. The
Ted
■ He’s a former conman, who
writer’s legendary 1967 Star Trek: The Original Series perfect ending would result in the final character taking lived a life of luxury, bankrolled
episode, The City On The Edge Of Forever. Despite over the supercomputer, while the earth recovered, in by various rich lovers. Living
the author’s famously ferocious demeanour, he says time to host a lunar colony of 750 sleeping survivors a lie made him paranoid. AM
it was a “big treat” working with him. “He threw – a far more hopeful ending than the original short sends him to a Medieval castle,
a few insults at me, like being ‘a member of the story. The numerous bad endings resulted in either the where he must rely on a cast of
Cyberdreams’ brain trust’, but I just ignored them and character’s turning into the titular mouthless blob, or unsavoury characters to save
eventually won his trust.” the lunar colony being killed off. his lover, Ellen.
RETRO GAMER | 73
Although Mullich, who was simultaneously
working on DarkSeed II, had previously juggled
multiple projects at Disney and Edu-Ware, he was
impressed by Cyberdreams’ approach to hiring third
parties. “For one project, I might separately hire
a designer, an art director, a development team, a
voiceover producer, and a music composer, and
my job would be to coordinate all these different
contractors,” he says. “It was part of a shift towards
more and more people with expertise in different
disciplines working on a game.”
Early in the project, Cyberdreams hired a team of
storyboard artists to establish a visual style, before
bringing in The Dreamers Guild, to implement it. To » [PC] The worst ending a character can achieve mirrors Ted’s original fate:
his surprise, Bradley Schenck, who had joined The turned into a blob, in agony, but unable to scream.
Dreamers Guild as an artist, was immediately thrust
into the role of art director, tasked with visualising that he would never enjoy again. “It’s much more
Harlan’s hellscape. He was given a level of autonomy common to find that you have all the responsibility
for your team’s work, but no real authority over
them. That’s a pretty reliable recipe for craziness and
burnout,” says Bradley, who today sells original art
» Art director, Bradley and books at his website, Webomator.
Schenck, did much of
the work on Benny’s
T
backgrounds, which he design document was a big, thick
incorporated HR Giger’s notebook,” he recalls, “and that made
biomechanical
visual style.
it confusing for anyone who jumped in
at midstream.” Although it was his first
» [PC] The art style was experience managing other artists, he says it was
achieved with a unique
blend of 3D rendering a talented team. “The core of the art team was
and hand-painting over about six people. We used our larger projects as a
scanned sketches.
training ground for new hires, though, so new artists
would work on No Mouth for a short time when
they started.” Schenck only met Harlan once, at a
Cyberdreams office party, where the author said he
reminded him of Horatio Hornblower. “I’m still trying
to figure that one out,” he says.
When he joined, work had already begun on
Gorrister’s story. “In most cases, the backgrounds
were created with a combination of 3D rendering
and painting; there was the beginning of a style set
for that first story.” However, each character’s story
would be inspired by different visual influences –
ranging from fairy tale illustrations to Egyptian art. me on the intro’s impressionistic style. Well, before it
“When Glenn Price was working on the airship was compressed that animation had been photoreal:
backgrounds for the Gorrister story, I think he it was the massive compression that made it seem
watched the film Zeppelin over and over again. This so stylised.” However, the added space was a
stuff was far more difficult back then – we didn’t double-edged sword, as developers were expected
have the web yet.” to fill the larger capacity with more data, art and
Benny’s story was set in a “biomechanical music – with budgets failing to rise as fast. “This
environment, camouflaged to look like a tropical was a problem that Talin, one of the Guild’s founders,
jungle inside a cavern” – reminiscent of HR Giger’s called ‘the tyranny of the assets’.”
work. Bradley produced most, if not all, the Making the most of the added space, Mullich
preliminary sketches and backgrounds for Benny’s enlisted the audio expertise of Usual Suspects » [PC] The final sequence of the game sees the characters attempt to kill
character arc. “For Benny’s story, the scanned sketch composer, John Ottman and voice-over director, Lisa themselves, along with AM.
was the actual foundation for the finished, painted art. Wasserman. AM was voiced by none other than
But usually we modelled some parts of the scene, Harlan Ellison, who poured melodramatic scorn into Reviewers praised it as a masterful work of art,
painted others, and retouched the renderings to every roar and cackle. combining powerfully dark visuals, excellent sound
match.” At the time, videogame art production was design and thoughtful, albeit sometimes baffling,
D
undergoing a major shift from Amiga platforms to ue to Cyberdreams’ limited size and puzzle-solving, used to confront troubling dilemmas.
MS-DOS and Windows. “In 3D rendering we used resources, neither Darkseed II nor I Have Since being rereleased in 2013 and 2016, modern
Imagine, Lightwave, and a little 3D Studio. The first No Mouth And I Must Scream were reviewers have praised the game as being far ahead
two were first available on the Amiga, later moving to hugely profitable. Mullich initially thought of its time – fitting, given how groundbreaking
DOS and Windows. On the 2D side, we used Deluxe Darkseed was a superior title. However, he says: Harlan’s short story was.
Paint, Autodesk Animator, TV Paint, and Photoshop.” “I was proven wrong, as I Have No Mouth And I Looking back, Mullich says the game was greater
The game benefitted from the recent release of Must Scream was a critical hit and DarkSeed was a than the sum of its parts. Though he would not have
the CD-ROM format, without which it would have critical failure”. I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream done anything differently, he has two regrets. “One is
required 50 floppy disks. “The format gave us a won numerous awards, including Computer Gaming that I wasn’t involved earlier on in the game’s design.”
tremendous amount of storage compared to floppy World’s Best Adventure Game of 1996 and Digital Two? “I never had my picture taken with Harlan. That
disc-based games. But disc access still wasn’t Hollywood’s Best Dark Game of 1996. “The honour would have been a nice memento.”
very fast. You had to limit the deltas, or per-frame that most mattered to me,” continues Mullich, “was
changes, in an animation if you wanted to stream it receiving the Best Game Adapted from Linear Media
from the disc,” Bradley explains. award at the 1997 Computer Game Developers
“I had recently done the intro animation for Return Conference. I still occasionally hear from people who
To Zork. Not long afterward, someone complimented were fans of the game.”
The LegendBook
Kyrandia: of 3:
Malcom’s Revenge
1994, PC, MAC
■ The third title in the Kyrandia series plays up the humour, with the
player controlling former antagonist, Malcolm. The wisecracking
jester is accompanied with canned laughter, as he attempts to
prove his innocence of the murder of the king and queen. Though
the game boasts decent visuals and multiple paths, the puzzles are
notoriously frustrating.
HallsAdventure
Tale of the Dead:
II Faery
1997, PC
■ This open world RPG was the last game The Dreamers Guild
released before shutting down, and was therefore rushed out.
However, it boasts beautiful graphics, courtesy of art director
Bradley Schenck’s decision to hand-paint over 3D rendered
images and animations. » [PC] Though the best
ending offers a glimpse
colony, it is notoriously of hope, on a lunar
difficult to achieve.
RETRO GAMER | 75
LOST IN
Retro Gamer Travels
TRANSLATION
How the rest of the world experienced your favourite games
JPN
ECONOMY
LOST IN TRANSLATION
ECONOMY
ming of
t the brilliant na
Instead, you ge
ECONOMY
d…
» [PlayStation] so pleased this was change
e’re
MILF 2000. W
RETRO GAMER | 77
INTERESTING GAMES
YOU'VE NEVER PLAYED
S T A T I ON
PLAY inal console
Sony’s orig a lot of
was host gtogames in
interestinhties, but with
the Nougneration of
a new ge on the market,
consoles re overlooked.
many we Thorpe to
Join Nicksome late PAL
discover n gems…
PlayStatio
■ Sometimes, it’s fun to be the camouflaging yourself in a bush all order to avoid waking a raging bull.
bad guy – and Ralph Wolf is most help), but getting back out with a Typically, the solutions involve using
definitely the villain of this licensed sheep is tricky. Lifting and carrying the sheep as unwitting partners in
Looney Tunes game. All Ralph wants them usually isn’t an option as their own abduction – for example,
to do is steal sheep from under the Sam is astonishingly quick when they’ll activate switches for you if you
» [PlayStation] Up, up and away! This sheep is watchful eye of Sam Sheepdog, but alerted. Thankfully, products from can get them in the right place.
going for a ride thanks to the big boulder.
his schemes always fail. Suddenly, the Acme Corporation are only a Sheep Dog ‘N’ Wolf was critically
Daffy Duck bursts into Ralph’s life mailbox away. Perfume might lure praised at its launch, receiving scores
and tells him that he’s the newest sheep out from afar, or you could of 9/10 from the Official PlayStation
contestant on the Sheep Dog ‘N’ Wolf use a flute to hypnotise dear old Sam Magazine and 84% from Play, and
show, where he’s tasked with doing and draw him away from the flock. for good reason. The simple style
exactly what he’s always wanted Alternatively, lettuce can be used to of the original cartoons is a blessing
to do, with the proviso that he’s not create a tempting trail for the sheep. for the PlayStation’s limited 3D
allowed to harm any of the sheep. Of course, acquiring a sheep capabilities, as the lack of textures
This convoluted premise gives is just one part of the story – you and other details allows for some
way to a platform puzzle game then have to get it back to the goal, surprisingly large stages and a pretty
with prominent stealth elements. which involves all sorts of cartoon decent draw distance. Sound is great
» [PlayStation] It’s possible to swim about, In each stage, your goal is to steal shenanigans. In one stage, you might too – all of your favourite characters
though the presence of sharks makes this
somewhat ill-advised. one of the sheep under Sam’s watch have to push a giant boulder onto from Daffy to Farmer Porky are voice
and take it to a goal point. This is a rock to create a see-saw effect, acted, and there’s the usual array of
usually easier said than done, as launching the sheep into the air. In brilliant spot effects for being hit with
it’s easy to infiltrate Sam’s territory another, you may need to tiptoe a boulder and other such incidents.
(tiptoeing, hiding behind rocks and around noisy piles of leaves in Controls are a little fiddly when
78 | RETRO GAMER
MINORITY REPORT: PLAYSTATION
TACTICAL
FARMYARD
» [PlayStation] Sam has caught Ralph Wolf, who is
about to experience a nasty bop on the head. VITAL SIGNS ACTION
■ This indicator shows
■ This bottom-left icon tells
using the standard controller, but an you if you’re successfully where Sam is looking –
analogue controller of some kind will luring the sheep – or at least directly at us here, but the
sort that problem out swiftly. placing items at the correct green colour shows we’re
It’s true that Sheep Dog ‘N’ Wolf distance to lure them, if for out of sight. Orange means
might not be the most obvious use example you’re making a you’re in range and red
of a Looney Tunes licence, but that’s lettuce trail. shows you’re caught.
precisely why we like it so much.
Infogrames took something that
could have been a cookie-cutter
platform game and instead thought BORDER LINE
about how to blend the characters SWEET SCENTS ■ Sam’s territory is well defined here
with popular game mechanics of the ■ This bottle of perfume is luring by the use of a fence, but you won’t
day. The result is something that’s a sheep into our clutches, but it always be so lucky, so it’s wise to
genuinely funny and memorable, wouldn’t be able to do so without the tiptoe around whenever you venture
even if not enough of us experienced electric fan to blow its scent towards near him and his flock.
it the first time around. the unsuspecting flock.
RETRO GAMER | 79
fIreBugS
■ PUBLISHER: atteNtIoN to DetaIl ■ YEAR: 2002
80 | RETRO GAMER
MINORITY REPORT: PLAYSTATION
RETRO GAMER | 81
In 1997 Cavedog and otal Annihilation came out at a time
evolving real-time strategy the mid-Nineties, PCs were finally acquiring the sort
of graphic capability needed for an upturn in strategic
wargame genre. What complexity, and battle scale and scope, as well as
bearing witness to the birth of online gaming. And it
they created turned out was that world Total Annihilation creator Chris Taylor
was waiting for. We caught up with Chris and asked
to be revolutionary. Total him where the idea for the game came from.
Annihilation would change “It evolved from a bunch of experiences that I had
while developing games for most of my childhood, but
» [PC] Total Annihilation offered new grouping tactics, emulated in
countless RTS wargames since then.
RTS wargaming forever there was a moment, while I was playing the original
Command & Conquer where I saw many of the ideas Total Annihilation didn’t sit alone at this new feast.
Words by Erlingur Einarsson coalesce,” Chris says. “For example, I was always It came out in an era where RTS wargames were
a very big proponent of doing things in true 3D, but surging within the videogames industry, with Z and
the computers just couldn’t handle it. I had developed Command & Conquer: Red Alert having come out in
many techniques for sort of ‘tricking’ the computer into 1996, and Total Annihilation sharing 1997 with games
making it look 3D and saving a lot of calculations. And like Age Of Empires and Dark Reign before StarCraft
what’s kind of crazy is that I developed a lot of these came out in 1998. However, Total Annihilation enjoyed
while working on baseball games like Hardball II and immediate success and the kind of glowing reviews
Triple Play Baseball. Anyhow, it’s a lot of factors any games studio would dream of. But was it helped
that all lead up to a moment where you have by the general popularity of RTS games at the time
an idea for a game.” or the other way around? And how much does Chris
think Total Annihilation helped the RTS genre, and thus
other RTS games?
“That’s something I can only speculate on really. I
totally agree that having all those RTS games come out
around that time made the RTS genre very popular,
and top of mind [with gamers and the media at the
time]. I don’t know how much TA contributed to the
genre’s success, but I think more specifically it helped
advance the idea that a RTS could be ‘over the top and
insane’ and have more advanced control schemes.
This is something I am still passionate about today.”
And indeed, Total Annihilation was considered
revolutionary in many ways, such as with improved
AI, new grouping techniques, sheer scale of the
battlefields and skirmishes, and of course the
» [PC] Assigning a detail to guard the Commander is important, Commander unit. It offered a level of control beyond
especially after you discover ‘Command Napping’.
the already sophisticated one provided in C&C: Red
» [PC] If you’re
struggling for
resources you can
always harvest
the wreckages of
killed units.
RETRO GAMER | 83
I did like the idea that one side was
slightly more evil, but not too evil, and that
is obviously the Core
Chris Taylor
“There was a lot of stuff packed into the game. to shift the balance of power back and forth between
W
up the rights to the game ater Cavedog’s hat Chris refers to here is the rather the idea that one side was slightly more evil, but not
collapse in 2000, the world has never – and extraordinary concept of ‘Command too evil, and that is obviously the Core.”
will probably never – see a sequel to Total Napping’, as it was referred to by the When Total Annihilation came out, it was an instant
Annihilation. However, Chris Taylor designed TA community. As the success of your success, both critically and commercially, and it took
2007’s Supreme Commander during his campaign often relied on your Commander surviving Chris – and the Cavedog management – by surprise. “I
time at Gas Powered Games. Both he and and being active, it would become a tantalising target believe it sold almost 500,000 units in the first four-to-
the gaming world see Supreme Commander for opportunistic players. Nigh-unkillable as it was in a five months and that blew people’s minds,” Chris says.
as a clear spiritual successor to Total firefight, some devious, yet ingenious, gamers found “That was 20 years ago, which was a different time
Annihilation. It had the intergalactic stakes. a loophole to taking the Commander out of the game: than today with the distribution of Steam and GOG.”
It had a very similar level of immediate build an air transporter, such as a Valkyrie or Atlas, This was especially gratifying, as TA was Cavedog’s
accessiblity balanced with sophisticated fly it over to the enemy Commander, pick it up, and first (and unfortunately also ended up being its last)
tactics. It had the immense scale. And it then just fly the aircraft to the far edge of the map,
did allow Chris to work on some speciic rendering it useless to the opponent, thus crippling
elements of Total Annihilation that he their building and development capabilities, which
wanted to take further than before. relied heavily on the Commander. Yes, it would have
“I think Supreme Commander had to required building several dozen aircraft in the hope that
be bigger and more awesome in every one survived long enough to pick the Commander up
way. I think the Strategic Zoom brought a from deep within its own territory, but if you pulled it
lot of that to the game; it’s really hard to off, it didn’t just give you and advantage; it gave you a
imagine Supreme Commander, and the epic sense of great villainous joy.
size and scale of the game really working This was merely one of the ways in which Total
without Strategic Zoom. Then everything Annihilation dedicated player base found ways to get
else in the design followed suit. Nothing the most out of the game and its hundreds of units.
had to it within the conines of the screen In many scenarios, especially for experienced players,
anymore, because you could just zoom out one side, Arm, would find a tactical advantage over
further until it it. Units could be huge and its opposing side, Core. That, Chris explains, was
have guns all over it, the Fatboy was the also unintended: “We never intended for one side
embodiment of this. Speaking of which, the to be more powerful than the other. We had always
concept of Experimental Units went from planned (and did for quite a number of months) to
the one-of of the Krogoth in TA [a super- release new units, which we believe would continue
heavy Commander-killing KBot included » [PC] The environment played an important role, as
in the Core Contingency expansion pack], you could seek temporary shelter among trees or
gain higher ground.
to a whole new technology tier. Nukes and
Anti-Nukes went to the next level as well.
Everything went crazy and over-the-top,
which I think worked pretty well, because
I don’t always recommend that to people
when designing games. Regardless, SC
needed to be huge and awesome and
insane, and I think that worked out.”
It was certainly a hit with the critics,
scoring in the high-80s to low-90s for most
of them, and sold well enough to spawn two
expansion packs in 2007 and 2008, and a
full sequel in 2010. We do strongly advise
you go with the original PC version rather
than the Xbox 360 port, though.
84 | RETRO GAMER
THE MAKING OF: TOTAL ANNIHILATION
E
ven today, 21 years after its original
release Total Annihilation is still played
by a large number of players. As to the
question of what the reason for that might
be, Chris says, “That’s a tough one to answer, but » [PC] Coming out in 1997, Total Annihilation was a standout in a
suddenly crowded genre of RTS wargames.
ultimately maybe there’s a comfortable familiarity to
it, especially if it was one of the first RTS games that
you played in your youth. And then if you try to play a disposal, whether he would change anything from the
more modern RTS they can be overwhelming and you original incarnation.
need to learn all the new units, which is a lot of work. I “I’d try to stick to the core design,” he says. THE CORE CONTINGENCY
think gaming should be about fun, not work, so it’s just “I would resist the urge to just make it huge and ■ The success from the game’s initial release afforded Chris
more fun to play something you know and understand over-the-top, although that would be so incredibly Taylor and the Cavedog team an opportunity to expand the TA
and can just jump in and enjoy. I think there is also tempting. I think it would be important to really talk to universe, and with The Core Contingency expansion pack, they
something about the graphics that make it accessible, the community and see what they are looking for and introduced a staggering 75 new units, 53 new battle maps and
kind of like Minecraft with the 8-bit stylised graphics. take that input very seriously. It might be great just to a ‘lost mission’ from the original game’s timeline.
Even I don’t love modern games when they throw a kind of go through a wishlist of things and then more
ton of complex gameplay at me, I like to take it a little naturally look for places to expand the game, ie add
slower. But that’s not a hard and fast rule, it’s just me flow-field pathfinding, improve mod tools, fix weapon
talking out loud here!” limits, add more AI capabilities, make the simulation
Finally, Chris ponders if he were to make Total lock-step synchronous, and make a state-of-the-art
Annihilation again from scratch today, apart from multiplayer and matchmaking server. I think there is
having larger and more capable graphics engines at his a ton of cool things you could do before you even
change the core gameplay, but eventually you’d really
want to take a hard look at that and find new ways to
take it to the next level… without messing it up!”
BATTLE TACTICS
■ The second expansion pack, Battle Tactics, was made after
Chris Taylor’s departure from Cavedog, and received mixed
reviews, as it deviated in some ways from the revolutionary
economy system of the original game and required more
micromanaging in battle, although it did offer a new way
to interact with the TA universe.
RETRO GAMER | 85
Arcade games that never made it home
converTed aLTernaTive
cyBer-Lip
1990
■ SNK’s run-and-gun is set on Earth instead
of in space, and involves blasting robots
instead of aliens. However, the combination of
the genre with sci-fi themes is intact. It’s only
available on SNK hardware, but for people
who can’t stomach Neo-Geo cartridge prices,
there’s a CD version available.
THE UNCONVERTED
RETRO GAMER | 87
Atari Jaguar fact
■ The atari Jaguar may have had a short commercial life but the
system’s casing at least lived on in the form of a dental camera
manufactured by imagin systems.
Atari Jaguar
» Manufacturer: Atari Corporation » Year: 1993 » cost: £229 (launch) £80+ (today)
tari Corporation’s last console is a fascinating one. It has a rabid fan base that
A comes close to the Dreamcast in terms of its sheer ferocity for championing the
system, but the Jaguar is also equally unfairly derided as being a spectacular car
crash of a console that was doomed from the start. Both of those viewpoints have
done nothing to soften the negative image that Atari’s console has built up over the years
and the truth lies somewhere in the middle of those two polarising views.
Regardless of whether you sit in the ‘Jaguar was the first true 64-bit console’ camp
or not, there is no denying that Atari’s machine was a powerful bit of kit at the time of its
release and Atari Corp released it at a competitive price as well. It wasn’t enough, though
and despite some solid looking 3D games and some quality conversions of older 16-bit
classics such as Flashback and Zool, Atari’s console failed to gain traction. Even a later CD-
ROM add-on couldn’t inject life into the system and it was eventually discontinued in 1996.
The relatively short commercial life of the system, and the fact it was Atari’s last console,
has now made the Jaguar a rather desirable console from a collector’s point of view and the
system and games are now rising in price as a result. With the machine rapidly approaching
its 25th anniversary it’s the perfect time to discover Atari Corp’s hardware swan song.
EDITOR’S CHOICE Tempest 2000
It’s a clichéd choice for sure, but Jeff Minter’s eye-blistering update of
Tempest really is as good as everyone says it is. With a soundtrack that’s
every bit as intense as the game’s
blisteringly fast pace, Tempest 2000
is an astonishingly good tube shooter
that not only highlights the strength of
Dave Theurer’s original game design,
but also Jeff Minter’s deftness at taking
those existing mechanics and refining
them for a new system and more
expectant gamers. A true triumph
every Jaguar owner needs to own.
New games that wish they were old
any gamers have a favourite series, games, and those early experiences planted a
90 | RETRO GAMER
RETRO INSPIRED: STARDEW VALLEY
“I was
Interested In
vIdeogames
from the
begInnIng“
Eric Barone
RETRO GAMER | 91
sPeed datIng
You can befriend anyone, but here are the folk you can strike a special bond with
abIgaIl alex
■ The town’s jock, Alex spends a
■ Daughter to store owner Pierre.
Abigail has a strained relationship lot of his time talking about sports
with her mother who wants her to and generally being outside of his
ditch her ‘alternative lifestyle’. grandparents’ house.
ellIot emIly
■ A reclusive writer and a
■ Pelican Town’s aspiring
romantic, Elliot looks like he sartorialist, she lives with her
belongs on the cover of a pulpy sister, Haley and works at the
Eighties romance novel. local watering hole. » [PC] You are free to build the farm you want to. Do you really like
pumpkins? Then be a pumpkin farmer. Go nuts.
92 | RETRO GAMER
RETRO INSPIRED: STARDEW VALLEY
Development was a trying process. I would relax and take breaks from the more
Eric is a self-professed “solitary person” tedious aspects of game development. I also like
and wanted to realise his vision by his how ‘direct’ of a medium music is… more than » [PS4] While it is a laid-back game, Stardew Valley does touch on
own hand. This meant he had to tackle anything else in game development, it sets the deeper themes. Each character has their own fears and desires.
everything about Stardew Valley, from mood and directs the emotions.”
coding, to writing, art, music, design be able to come up with cool new ideas for it.
and QA all by himself. Indie publisher he hard work paid off, and Stardew Valley Second, the game is popular and I don’t want to
Chucklefish would eventually come on
board to help with publishing duties, but for the
majority of Stardew Valley’s development, it was
all Eric – and it more or less took up his entire life.
“The most challenging part of actual
t is name-checked as not only one of the
best life sim games, but as one of the
best titles to come from the indiesphere.
It currently sits with a metascore of 89 and has
been ported to all modern consoles – most
let my fans down… I like making people happy.
“I think I’ll always leave the book open,
because I can never predict how I will feel in the
future. There have been times after release that
I wanted to step away from Stardew forever, but
development was probably creating the recently the Vita. Eric isn’t done with it, though. then six months later I had a change of heart and
characters. Eric says when we ask what was the He’s still adding content and polishing his game started working furiously on a new update.”
most difficult part of the game’s development. via regular updates. The community surrounding So does Eric feel he’s achieved his original
“There’s just so many of them, and they each the game is vibrant, and Eric patiently listens to goal? And would Young Eric enjoy playing it?
have sprites, tons of dialogue, schedules, its criticism and wants. Currently, Eric is working “I’m very happy with Stardew Valley… especially
portraits with different expressions, and event on implementing a multiplayer element to the amount of fun, happiness and comfort it’s
cutscenes. It was a lot of work, and became the game, so fraternal farmers can drop in brought to so many people,” he concludes.
tedious at time.” And he’s not joking around, you and out of one another’s homestead to lend “Even though I made the game, and should
can view the many iterations that each character a hand. It’s currently in open beta for the PC be sick of it, I still enjoy playing it myself
went through on websites such as the Stardew version. “I keep coming back for a couple from time to time. I never thought that
Valley wiki. In the case of the character Penny, for reasons,” he says. “For one, there’s so would be possible. I think my younger
example, her character art went through at least much potential in the game, and I’ll always self would’ve loved the game.”
11 versions. Eric also cites a more personal issue
he struggled with. “Outside of development,
there was also the psychological struggle of
watching my peers getting good jobs and making
progress in their lives while I was chasing what
seemed like a very unlikely dream. It all worked
out though.”
That’s not to say Eric didn’t enjoy the process:
the truth is quite the opposite, in fact. Eric cites
one facet of game development he enjoys the
most, “My favourite part of development is
probably to make music. Composing has always
been a passion of mine, so that part of the
game came easy to me and was actually a way
» [PC] You can make a living being an explorer; the materials that
slain monsters drop can fetch a good price when sold in bulk.
RETRO GAMER | 93
ALAIN FERNANDES
In a career spanning 35 years Alain Fernandes has programmed games
and apps on a huge range of consoles and computers. From Oric to
Nintendo DS, it is time to look back with Alain
Words by Andrew Fisher
94 | RETRO GAMER
I played a lot since 1979
and I still play now. But
before 1983, I played mainly
at the arcade
Alain Fernandes
RETRO GAMER | 95
another computer. I never met the original more than 100,000 in the schools in France, so people
VIVE LA designer of the game. bought the Thomson for their home. In 1983/84, the
French government decided: ‘Every school must have
TITAN (ZX SPECTRUM) GALACTIC KNIGHT FORCE CUB(HIC)! DELUXE 1000 BORNES (DS)
■ This is a game Alain has CONQUEROR (AMIGA) (AMSTRAD CPC) (WINDOWS) ■ The classic French card game
returned to many times in his ■ The best-received of Alain’s ■ Travelling through five time ■ One of a series of compelling works well on touchscreen. Watch
career, and the ZX Spectrum trilogy of 3D titles, with influences periods, the heroic knight must puzzle games Alain created, the out for hazards played by your
version still holds up today. from Galaxy Force. Stop the enemy collect seven talismans to help him aim is to clear the screen by clicking opponent, including speed limits
Ignore the daft story about a mad forces attacking the Carillon station defeat an evil wizard. Hack-and- on groups of the same-coloured and a flat tyre. Presentation is slick
professor, enjoy the 80 smooth- by clearing sectors, recharging slash action with detailed graphics, cubes without leaving any behind. and the game is easy to learn.
scrolling levels as you try to break energy with the help of the this will take time to learn and It’s available on multiple portable Special Mode adds DS features,
down all the bricks in this clever mothership. The 3D works well and conquer. The Amstrad port was and mobile formats, including such as blowing into the mic to
variant on Breakout. the game is nicely presented. nicely done by Alain himself. Nokia’s N-Gage. inflate a tyre.
96 | RETRO GAMER
IN THE CHAIR: ALAIN FERNANDES
RETRO GAMER | 97
Screenshot by Alain Fernandes
LES
ORDINATEURS
The obscure systems Alain
has worked with
The list of hardware Alain has worked on
includes interesting and obscure machines.
The Matra & Hachette Ordinateur Alice, a
collaboration between two French companies,
was a clone of the Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80
MC-10 but stood out because of its distinctive
red shell and white keyboard. Like many French
machines, it sported an AZERTY keyboard,
rather than the more familiar QWERTY layout. It
came with a Péritel (SCART) connector instead
of an RF modulator. Launched in 1983, the
following year saw the upgraded Alice32 (with
8KB of Video RAM and a built-in assembler) » [PC Engine] The PC Engine port of Jim Power was his most gruelling deadline – he only had three months to pull it off.
and in 1985 the Alice 90 (with the ability to mix
computer graphics and video). It became part of
the government’s Informatique Pour Tous (IT For
Remember, [the conversion is] not based on the budget I think. At the time, I worked for Ocean France/
Everyone) programme.
Amiga version code. PAM (Power And Magic Development) – a new
Thomson was a rival French electronics
game studio. And the first project was Waterworld
company that based its machines around the
You worked with most of the major French for Nintendo’s Game Boy. Fortunately, the movie was
Motorola 6809 processor. The TO7 loaded its
companies, which was the best? delayed and that gave us more time to finish the Game
Basic from cartridge, reducing the memory
Either Titus: for six years, I worked on many different Boy version.
available. It also had a built-in lightpen. The
machines, different hardware, and different processors.
enhanced MO5 was meant to compete with the
I made so many games. I learnt a lot. Or Mindscape: You localised several PC/Mac games for the
Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum and the device
during almost seven years, I used my knowledge to French market, does this take different skills?
found its way into many schools. It had 48KB and
solve hundreds of bugs and technical problems, and It was not only for the French market, it was also for
built-in Microsoft Basic. Later models in the T and
the salary was great. many European countries. Reader Rabbit and Adi have
M ranges failed to sell well outside their native
been great successes around the world. You need to
home of France.
Do you remember the hype around Kevin understand each Reader Rabbit grade was made by
Costner’s Waterworld film, and working on the different studios, with different tools and computer
Game Boy tie-in? languages. Worse, at the end of the Nineties many
» Creating the levels for the iOS version of Titan. Yes, it was the first film to reach $100 million of game studios created their own computer language,
their own compiler, and their own file formats. To be
sure, when you need any modification, you have no
choice but to use your skills. For example, during the
localization of Reader Rabbit in 2002, I received 64
CD-ROMs full of data and source code. But this is not
s
Screenshot by Alain Fernande
» [FM Towns] Alain moved to Los Angeles for six months to work on the
FM Towns version of Titan.
98 | RETRO GAMER
IN THE CHAIR: ALAIN FERNANDES
Everything is
possible. Everything
has changed since Pong YOU ASK
and it never stops THE QUESTIONS
Alain Fernandes Alain answers your
burning questions
the final source code. So you need a lot NORTHWAY: Did France have any
of experience to improve the code and good computers that utilised the
rebuild every project. 6809 CPU?
RETRO GAMER | 99
Fighter’s History:
Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!
MORE THAN A FOOTNOTE
» SNES » 1995 » DATA EAST
» RETROREVIVAL
▼ SOMETHING NEW
STREET FIGHTER V (PS4)
on, they would have been nice to see. Despite some minor drawbacks,
Lastly, there’s no option to map spare this collection deserves a place in
controller buttons to combinations like your library if you have any interest
all punches or light punch and light kick, in Street Fighter or fighting games in
which would have been nice. general. Whether you’re a one-player
Additionally, fans of the Street warrior with a love for the character
Fighter Alpha games may wish to backstories, an Alpha 3 maniac who
stick with their existing versions. The has been waiting for a new online
absence of Street Fighter Alpha 2 version since the Dreamcast, or just
Gold is a minor one, but Street Fighter someone who wants to see why the
Alpha 3 gained a lot of content after hardcore love Third Strike so much, this
its initial arcade release – home will suit your needs.
» [PS4] The Museum mode is a great inclusion for anyone interested in Street Fighter history. versions contained between six and
ten additional fighters, and some of In a nutshell
Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Street versions are often mentioned, their these were ported back to the arcade Some minor omissions mean that
Fighter III: Third Strike. The restriction platforms aren’t, so expect to see in Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper. Both this doesn’t quite render past Street
is a little annoying but serves to stop ‘16-bit home cartridge’ as a of these updates were previously Fighter collections obsolete, but for
people dispersing across so many euphemism for ‘SNES’ more than included in the PS2 compilation Street most people it’ll serve as a perfect
different games. Online play is good once. There’s plenty of supporting Fighter Alpha Anthology, and it’s a reintroduction to some of the best
when it works, but unfortunately visual material, too, with previously shame not to see them here. Likewise, fighting games ever made.
somewhat barebones – there’s no unseen prototype images and design we’re curious as to why Hyper Street
current option to filter matches (for documents to feast your eyes upon. Fighter II was omitted. >> Score 91%
example, by region or connection Additional information is available on
quality), no way to create tournaments characters and there’s a sound test
and there are few options when mode here, too, allowing you to listen
creating casual lobbies (no character to the excellent soundtrack of each
bans or ISM restrictions here). When game on the compilation.
you do encounter a bad connection, We do have some small quibbles
the game will stutter as the connection with the compilation, though. Firstly,
tries to keep up, music and all. If you it seems absurd that Training mode is
don’t want to deal with that or want only available for the four games which
to play one of the other eight games, also support online play. Secondly, the
you’ll have to face your opponents as Museum mode references a number
you did back in the Nineties – shoulder of games which would have made for
to shoulder in front of the same TV. bonus inclusions – Final Fight is noted
This works perfectly, as you’d expect. for its origin as “Street Fighter ‘89”
The Museum mode is a real treat. and the likes of Super Puzzle
As well as a fairly comprehensive Fighter II Turbo and Pocket Fighter are
overview of the series’ history as a mentioned as notable spin-offs. Given
whole, there are deeper dives on that this compilation already emulates
individual games. Bizarrely, while home the arcade boards those games ran » [PS4] The many versions of each game are included, so you can revisit your favourites.
ON SALE
NOW
AMSTRAD ACTION
There’s been quite a bit of activity computers as well. The original Amstrad all of the combat is based on a series
in the Amstrad CPC world in recent conversion by Elite wasn’t a particularly of primary and secondary statistics for
months so, along with the review good one in the eyes of CPC owners, so each character. Explore the catacombs
goblins and quite a
of Galactic Tomb over the page, developer Xifos set out to build a new behind Kikstart.eu/sergoth-cpc while
» [Amstrad GX4000] Ghosts,
few zombies as well in Ghos
ts ‘N Goblins. we’ve got a few new releases and conversion which would take advantage paying attention to how detailed the
an update to look at. The first is a of the enhanced Plus hardware. The surroundings are, and be sure to read
conversion of Ultimate’s Pssst from the result is impressive, too, with high- the very detailed user manual before
ZX Spectrum which is called Robbie quality graphics based on the coin-op setting out on your initial foray.
Strikes Back. The titular gardening robot version and an excellent rendition of the And to finish off this month’s
must use bug spray to defend his prized soundtrack as well. Kikstart.eu/ghosts- Amstrad-flavoured roundup we’ve
Thyrgodian Megga Chrisanthodil from goblins-gx4000 heads to CPC Wiki’s recently been informed of an upgrade
the advances of highly destructive forum for the launch thread and that to Keith Sear’s trigger happy scrolling
insects. Of course, this task is more all-important cartridge image download. shoot-’em-up Chibi Akumas Episode 1
complicated than it might sound since Back to the regular Amstrad CPC, – rebuilt in the sequel’s engine and
there are multiple types of spray but this time with 128K, we’ve got referred to as version 1.666 - along with
» [Amstrad CPC] This bat available with each targeting a specific Shadows Of Sergoth which is a news of a physical release on disc and a
doesn’t look particularly happy enemy and merely stunning the others. Dungeon Master-style dungeon plethora of ongoing conversions to other
in Shadows Of Sergoth.
Raid the garden shed at Kikstart.eu/ crawler, set in the fantasy medieval Z80-based platforms such as the MSX
robbie-strikes-cpc for more information. realm of Chrisandia. The format and Spectrum in the works. Follow the
Next is another conversion, this time of this adventure is based on the link Kikstart.eu/chibi-update-cpc for the
a major reworking of Ghosts ‘N Goblins tabletop game Microlite20 – itself a discussion thread with more information
which targets the Amstrad GX4000 so pared-down, lightweight version of and the relevant links.
therefore works on the Plus range of Advanced Dungeon & Dragons – so
NEW GAMES NEEDED
If you have a homebrew project you would like to see featured then please contact us at: [email protected]
» [Atari 8-bit]
Bouncing
around isometric
plains in search
of pyramids.
GALACTIC TOMB
» platform: AmstrAd CPC » Developer: EsP soft » DoWnloaD: KIKstArt.Eu/gAlACtIC-tomb-CPC » priCe: frEE
In the earliest days of the universe of each world are deadly to the touch
there were three incredibly wise and and well armed, with every intention
» [Plus/4] Literally destroying the powerful rulers; each managed a of destroying intruders regardless of
programmer’s good name one brick at a time.
kingdom in the Ururben galaxy and who they are. The environment also
together they managed over a happy seems out for our ‘hero’ with lava
and enlightened society. Of course, and acid pools spitting chunks of their
there’s always someone like Shakar contents skywards, but fortunately the
who sees a utopia and feels it could be commander is wearing an armoured suit
a smidgeon more evil, which leads to which will take several hits before failing.
him defeating these benevolent kings The graphics are very solid, with » [Amstrad CPC] Doesn’t anyone or anything
and hiding their bodies throughout the well-defined sprites populating each on these alien worlds ever tidy up?
galaxy. But after a few generations on distinct planet and the player’s controls
the throne this dictator has grown old vary from stage to stage as well, with up
» [Plus/4] Slowly tunnelling downwards beyond the point where medical science as jump on the first level but becoming
towards the blue blocks and potential death.
can help. Those concealed, regal bodies the thrust control for a jetpack on the
potentially offer a chance for Shakar to second for example. Galactic Tomb has a
prolong his reign even further, so one of few places where things get annoyingly
the finest commanders of the imperial hard, but advancing with caution seems
army is sent out to gather the required to be the most sensible approach – the
artefacts from the rather hostile worlds game doesn’t have a time limit and
they were hidden upon. there’s no shame in edging along a
» [Amstrad CPC] Security here are very
Apart from being an unusual scenario corridor whilst holding down the fire trigger happy, so it’s best to take them out.
for a game – the player is, in essence, button – and it helps to spend a little
supporting an evil dictator, so failing time acclimatising to the controls on
would actually work out better for the each stage before heading into battle.
people of the empire – this quest isn’t
going to be easy; the patrolling denizens >> score 83%
BaCk from the budget, and given that the remake than Elite Beat Agents, and Psychic
SAM 119,100
too oten i tried to be too clever
and save the power-ups for a
sticky situation. i’d inevitably ind
STAR LETTER
myself in said sticky situation as a result.
DARRAN 87,458
i can’t play this game because
COMIX ZONE
Hi Retro Gamer,
it stresses me out too much.
i buckle as soon as Drew and
I get your magazine every
Sam start heckling me and i immediately month and I thought I’d like to
start messing up my lines and squeaking send you a few of my comics
like a child, which would be ine if i wasn’t a that I have made in the past few
45-year-old man. weeks. I’m a big retro gamer of
25 and love me some Sega.
Steven Grayson
CONTACT US
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Editorial
Editor Darran ‘Four Block’ Jones
[email protected]
consoles, are they just being thrown 01202 586237
Production Editor Drew ‘The Line’ Sleep
in to cash in on the craze around the
Senior Staff Writer Nick ‘t-Shape’ Thorpe
NES and SNES minis without much DISCUSSED THIS MONTH Senior Designer Sam ‘L-Boy’ Ribbits
thought put in to ensure its more or Brand Director, Games Tony Mott
less good quality over quantity? Sticking It To The Man Senior Art Editor Warren Brown
Cisco Kidd We’ve been sticking it to just about everything Photographer James Sheppard
else too, since we got an excess of sticker Contributors
sheets with our last issue. The office quest Hareth Al Bustani, David Crookes, Paul Davies, Paul Drury,
It’s hard to know how the Neo-Geo has been to find the most unlikely place for the Erlingur Einarsson, Andrew Fisher, Robert Jones, Jason Kelk,
Mini will turn out right now, as this old Sega Seal Of Quality – so far, the cognitive Kieren Hawken, Graeme Mason, Rory Milne, Paul Rose
dissonance of the SNES is winning.
isn’t being manufactured by the Advertising
Media packs are available on request
same company as the Neo-Geo X. Commercial Director Clare Dove
We were surprised by the games [email protected]
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lists for both versions – there are [email protected]
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as people decide between
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This month we wanted to know… All contents © 2018 Future Publishing Limited or published under licence. All
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Is Tetris the best puzzle reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Future Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in
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The Laird is Klax. that would probably accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You
as good as Tetris is there are be my personal favourite, and are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard
to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and
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more such as Columns, Baku version of it. not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them.
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If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/
kiwimike Tetris is great and can be » [Arcade] Kiwimike feels that Klax is an underrated puzzle game. or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and
i love Tetris. it deserves its enjoyed in hundreds of diferent 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
accolades of course. my late iterations (bar some of the it is deinitely the best puzzle of the best games out there. publications, in any format published worldwide and on associated websites,
mum god rest her soul was recent Ubisot games). even game ever. the gameplay is evergreen and social media channels and associated products. Any material you submit
is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future
addicted when i bought her an today we can see developers though for me personally anyone can play it.
nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for
original gB with the cart! imo it inding ways to improve on the rhythmically-oriented puzzlers loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless
is a better solo game than two simple but addictive formula - have more appeal - Lumines, samhain81 otherwise stated, and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions.
player though. i love Bust A Move apparently we will now get Tetris for example. Baku Baku Animal - a great spin
and its variants for that. in Vr! Tetris is also the game to on the ‘connect 3 or more of the
many of the popCap games bridge generations and is loved RetroBob same’ puzzler. lovely animal
are great too, as is Columns. But by people who otherwise don’t for me Tetris is not just the best animations keep the game fresh
one favourite overlooked at times play videogames. in that regard block puzzler out there but one and entertaining to play.
$50 (US) or
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Darran has
NickWoulda broken
has measles. arm. Drew has typhoid.
you likeSam has aaround?
to look snakebite.
Also inside...
Daytona USA,
CoolDreamcast Brian
Spot, Quake Colin, Thunder
II, Atariand2600, Jaws,
Controller muchR-Type
more! II,
EVOLUTION SOCCER
» “Sometimes life last only 90 minutes. Fight for
glory!” So goes the wisdom of Mexican developer
Evoga, which bravely made its debut in 2001 by
codeveloping a 2D arcade football game with the
former SNK staf at Brezzasot. But hey, technological
relevance be damned – if the advice is good, we’ll take
it. So let’s skip to the end and see if it helped England
bring home some gold…
01 02 03
» Those white shirts, could it be…? It » Some bloke in a grey polo shirt is also » Harry Kane takes hold of the trophy,
could – England has only gone and won overjoyed, and happens to be holding inally grasping the representation of
the World Cup! The players are overjoyed, the coveted trophy. If he’s doing the success that England fans had awaited
and as a result they don’t even notice the presentation, surely this level of happiness for over 50 years. But as he clutches it in
unnerving shadowy presence celebrating is outside of his professional remit as a his hands, he notices something isn’t quite
with them in the foreground. FIFA oicial? He’s suspiciously partisan. right. Something here is amiss…
04 05
» Congratulation. Singular. That’s because this isn’t the World » The Astana Arena is now as empty as this sham victory.
Cup at all, but some dodgy lookalike trophy. What’s going on? Harry Kane looks at the worthless trinket in his hands and
“The government wanted an event to bring the nation together,” contemplates what to do with it. Ater some consideration, he
Gareth Southgate explains sheepishly, “so we set up a fake decides to keep it – he’ll be shot if he blabs, and it’s as close as
tournament for you to win. We’re not even in Russia, lads.” he’ll ever get to the real thing anyway.