Julian "Jaz" Rignall has done it all. Video game champion. Magazine editor. Game producer. TV commentator. Website launch editor. Video game research analyst. During a career which began in the '80s and continues to this very day, Rignall has witnessed the evolution of an entire industry, and he's now written it all down in a massive 420-page book, The Games of a Lifetime, published by Bitmap Books.
In many ways, you could say I'm the wrong person to review such a project, as I make no secret of the fact that I'm a card-carrying Rignall fanboy. It's no exaggeration to claim that, had I not been exposed to his sterling work at such a tender age, I wouldn't be doing what I do today; magazines like Mean Machines, MegaTech and CVG are the reason I wanted to write about video games, and my first website, The Mean Machines Archive (RIP), was the stepping stone to me meeting my colleagues and Hookshot Media co-owners Darren Calvert and Ant Dickens. Without that, my life would look almost unrecognisable today, so it's fair to say I owe a massive debt to Rignall and the teams that worked underneath him.
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]]>As we all know, the Sega Dreamcast is a fantastic console for fighting game fans. It was superbly supported by the likes of Capcom and SNK with a series of arcade-perfect ports, making it one of the premier platforms for lovers of one-on-one brawlers such as Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Marvel vs Capcom and Last Blade.
It's a shame, then, that the console's bundled controller is so utterly unsuited to 2D fighting games. Not only does it have a pretty awful D-pad, there are only four face buttons, and the L and R triggers are analogue rather than digital—a massive handicap when playing games that require a six-button setup.
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]]>While modern-day consoles have long since abandoned the idea of storing save data on removable memory cards, we've seen new "smart" cards appear for consoles such as the PS1, Dreamcast and GameCube. These devices are the functionality of old-school memory cards but introduce next-gen features such as (almost) limitless storage and cloud saves, making them pretty essential for any self-respecting retro gamer.
8BitMods is one of the leading firms in this field, having already given us the excellent MemCard Pro (PS1) and MemCard Pro GC (GameCube). The company also launched the MemCard Pro 2 a while back for the PS2, which includes all of the functionality we've come to expect from these devices.
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]]>The Sega Nomad wasn't a commercial success, yet it remains one of the best ways to experience Genesis / Mega Drive games; it can be used in portable form but also connected to the TV—almost like a Nintendo Switch, but two decades ahead of time.
The big issue with the device back in 1995 was the fact that it required a whopping six AA batteries, and those would only deliver around three hours of gameplay—and they had to be placed inside an external battery pack which bolted onto the rear, making an already bulky device even larger.
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]]>Namco's Pole Position is rightly regarded as one of the most influential video games of all time. The first racing game to feature a real-life circuit and a qualifying lap, it was also notable for offering a degree of realism that previously hadn't been encountered in arcades, combining large sprites viewed from 'behind the car' viewpoint and a smoothly-scrolling track.
As such, Pole Position is the perfect game to launch My Arcade's new mini-cab range, dubbed the 'Racing Player'. This new design comes with an analogue steering wheel and gear lever and will be reused when My Arcade releases its OutRun cab later this year.
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]]>When it comes to creating appealing emulation handhelds, one typical objective seems to be to make the device as similar to a previous system as possible. This is a solid tactic; nostalgia is a powerful tool, and consumers are more likely to take a punt on a product that reminds them of a beloved piece of gaming hardware.
To this end, we've seen many classic Nintendo portables cloned by Chinese manufacturers, with Anbernic in particular producing imitations of the Game Boy (RG35XX) and Game Boy Advance SP (RG35XX SP).
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]]>The second in the Polymega Collection series focuses on two of Data East's most famous fighting game franchises, Karate Champ and Fighter's History.
In total, there are 15 different games included in this package – Karate Champ (arcade, NES, Famicom Disk System), Karate Champ PvP (arcade), Way of the Karate (Japanese arcade version), Fighter's History (arcade, SNES, Super Famicom), Karnov's Revenge (arcade, Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD) and Fighter's History Dynamite (arcade, Saturn, Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD) – but some of those are simply ports or regional variants of the same game.
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]]>The GameCube has a reputation for being a fighting game console, thanks mainly to the fact that Super Smash Bros. Melee exists on it. There are also titles like Soulcalibur II and Capcom vs. SNK 2: EO on the system, so you can see the wisdom in positioning a new third-party pad as a next-gen combat option, first and foremost.
That's what Retro Fighters has done with its new BattlerGC Pro controller, which is the first in the company's 'Pro Edition' series of pads and improves on the existing BattlerGC. This upgraded variant features a new design (which is very similar to its StrikerDC controller), improved internals and low-latency 2.4GHz wireless connectivity, making it understandably attractive for those GameCube fans who demand the very best controller for Nintendo's boxy beauty.
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]]>The market for pocket-sized Game Boy-style emulation handhelds is pretty saturated right now, with devices like the Miyoo Mini Plus and Anbernic RG35XX already offering solid performance at a reasonable price. You wouldn't think there was any room for other options, but the TrimUI Brick (which starts at $80) proves that, with the right approach, it's always worth being open to alternatives.
TrimUI isn't a company that has the fame of rivals such as Anbernic and Retroid, but it produces solid products nonetheless – and the Brick certainly feels like a cut above many other alternatives when it comes to design and build quality. The multi-colour LED lights on the front and rear are truly eye-catching, and the unit has a solid feel to it that isn't often present in handhelds in this price range. The back panel, for example, is made of metal.
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]]>Regular readers will know we covered Changeable Guardian Estique last year and in May, and we were very excited for its release. We've actually had a review ROM since September, but we wanted to play an additional 19 games alongside – on real hardware – to fully appreciate what it achieves.
This is important because, post-obsolescence, NES development has often been lacklustre. Some examples are interesting, but rarely do they compare to Konami's Crisis Force or Sunsoft's Batman: Return of the Joker in terms of pushing the machine's capabilities (Former Dawn being an exception).
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]]>When you stop and think about it, the Game Boy Advance is perhaps the last gaming platform that was truly built for 2D gaming, first and foremost.
By the time Nintendo's million-selling handheld arrived on the market in 2001, we were already a few years into 3D being the norm for home video games, and by the time its successor, the DS, arrived in 2004, there was a definite shift to 3D in the world of portable consoles, too.
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]]>Accessory maker Genki has a track record for identifying gaps in the market and producing handy gadgets which are both innovative and reasonably-priced. The ShadowCast 2, for example, is something I carry around in my laptop bag at all times, as it allows me to capture HD video and screenshots from any HDMI-ready device with the minimum of fuss.
The company's next trick is the SavePoint. Compatible with Steam Deck, Windows, iOS and more, it's essentially an M.2 2230 SSD enclosure which connects via a super-fast 10Gbps USB-C cable. It also offers 100W passthrough charging, allowing you to quickly top up your device's battery at the same time.
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]]>Atari's Asteroids is one of the most iconic arcade titles of all time, and it not only inspired many similar arcade games but also spawned spiritual sequels from within Atari itself. As such, it's a fitting way to kick off Polymega's new collection of physical releases.
Polymega Collection Vol. 1 - Asteroids includes ten games: Asteroids (arcade, 2600 and 7800), Asteroids Deluxe (arcade), Lunar Lander (arcade), Space Duel (arcade), Orbit (arcade), Gravitar (arcade and 2600) and Super Asteroids & Missile Command (Atari Lynx).
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]]>Once upon a time, if you were truly serious about playing only the finest wrestling games, you simply had to own an N64.
This was mainly due to the fact that AKI Corporation (known as syn Sophia these days) was involved in crafting some of the most beloved examples of the genre for Nintendo's 64-bit console – games which, even by modern standards, remain infectiously playable and stunningly entertaining.
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]]>For an entire generation of British gamers, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum remains a legendary machine.
Host to hundreds of classic games and a hugely important stepping stone for many European developers, the rubber-keyed wonder's influence cannot be understated – so it's little wonder that there's a lot of interest in Retro Games Ltd's latest micro-console system, which is based on the Speccy.
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]]>AYANEO already has a few Android-based gaming handhelds under its belt in the form of the Pocket Micro and Pocket S, but it's fair to say that its next effort in this arena has attracted the most interest out of all of them.
The AYANEO Pocket DMG is shamelessly inspired by the Nintendo Game Boy, right down to using the same colourway (on the model I reviewed, at least) and even having a boot screen which mimics the pea-soup LCD display of the original 1989 DMG-01.
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]]>It might seem like a relic from a bygone age to your typical smartphone-using teenager, but the humble Game Boy still has the power to captivate and entertain, even after decades of technological progress. We've seen a community grow up around modding and upgrading Game Boy systems, and Nintendo has tipped the hat to the handheld's legacy on more than one occasion, making Game Boy games available digitally on its 3DS and Switch consoles.
However, one thing Nintendo hasn't done yet is produce a modern-day variant of the system, as it did with the NES and SNES Classic Editions. That has left a gap in the market for a wide range of options, from cheap Chinese-made emulation devices to higher-end alternatives, like the FPGA-based Analogue Pocket, which is even capable of accepting original Game Boy and GBA cartridges.
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]]>It's hard to effectively communicate in words the remarkable impact WipEout had on the world of video games when it launched alongside the PlayStation in the West in 1995.
From its iconic box artwork to its groundbreaking music and cutting-edge visuals, it was, alongside Ridge Racer, the game which illustrated the massive stride games were taking; little wonder, then, that it spawned a successful series that is close to the hearts of many 40-something gamers.
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]]>With four collections dedicated to its library on Evercade, Toaplan is one of the better-represented developers on the system, and with good reason. During the '80s and '90s, the company was responsible for some of the most iconic shmups of all time.
The previous three collections have done a commendable job of covering Toaplan's enviable coin-op history, but this fourth entry is no slouch, either – despite the fact that only 50% of the cart is occupied by shooters.
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]]>Data East has a rather odd reputation in the world of arcade gaming. While a great many of the company's games are classics – such as BurgerTime, Joe & Mac, Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja and RoboCop, the Japanese firm was also responsible for a lot of very average (and very odd) coin-ops, too.
This uneven lineage is illustrated perfectly by the second Evercade Data East arcade collection, which includes Peter Pepper's Ice Cream Factory, B-Wings, Shoot Out, Last Mission, Express Raider, SRD: Super Real Darwin, Midnight Resistance, Crude Buster, Trio the Punch: Never Forget Me, Super BurgerTime, The Cliffhanger: Edward Randy and Joe & Mac Returns.
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]]>Esteemed Japanese developer Toaplan may no longer be with us, but current rights holder Tatsujin is making sure its legacy is remembered. We've seen Toaplan games on Switch and PC, and there are now four special collections for the Evercade family of systems, covering pretty much all of the company's key releases during the '80s and '90s.
This third cartridge includes Batsugun, Batsugun Special Version, FixEight, Out Zone, Truxton II, Ghox and Vimana. Six of those seven titles are shmups, which should come as no great shock to fans of Toaplan; it made its name in the genre.
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]]>Blaze's Evercade range covers both the home and portable markets thanks to its Evercade VS and Evercade EXP products, and it recently expanded into the lower end of the handheld sector via subsidiary HyperMegaTech's Super Pocket devices.
The company's next move was always going to be noteworthy, and the announcement that the next member of the Evercade family would be a tabletop arcade machine was met with a reasonably positive response from fans.
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]]>It shouldn't come as a massive shock to learn that football (or soccer, depending on where you are in the world) is one of the most popular (and longest-running) topics for video games. Like tennis, the sport lends itself brilliantly to the realm of competitive interactive entertainment, and we've seen countless video game interpretations of it over the decades.
What's really odd is that today, the field of video game football is dominated by EA Sports FC (the artist formerly known as FIFA) and Konami's eFootball (once known as Pro Evolution Soccer). While there are some minor challengers – such as Sociable Soccer – the footballing landscape is shocking barren today, especially when compared to the '80s, '90s and 2000s, which spawned a dazzling array of options.
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]]>I've kept a keen eye on Victory Heat Rally ever since it was successfully crowdfunded back in 2020. Promising a revival of Sega's legendary 'Super Scaler' arcade games from the '80s (most notably, 1988's undulating Power Drift, which got the 3D Classics treatment on Nintendo 3DS a few years back) this cute racer has been in development for what feels like forever. Now that it's finally here, we're pleased to report that it's jolly good fun – if a little on the shallow side.
At the heart of Victory Heat Rally is a drift system that's clearly inspired by Mario Kart. By holding down the right shoulder trigger you place your vehicle into its "drift" state, building up a boost meter at the same time. This has three stages, with each giving a progressively larger jolt of speed at its conclusion.
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]]>The notion of connecting physical controllers to your iPhone isn't new – we've had Bluetooth-based options for many years, most of which bolt onto your device and have to be removed when not in use.
However, the arrival of emulation on Apple's handset – ushered in by the company's freshly-relaxed polices – has resulted in a spike of interest in the idea of using proper buttons over a finicky, imprecise touchscreen.
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