In this issue

Safari Hunt
The Master System didn’t have many games that used its Light Phaser, but this was one of them.

Super Metroid: An Enduring Legacy
Developers of popular Metroidvanias and modern Metroid games reveal the impact of Samus Aran’s third adventure..

PLAYING CO-OP

This month's collector isn't going it alone

2 mins

The 400 Mini

MORE FUN, LESS HASSLE?

3 mins

THE MAKING OF BURNOUT 3 TAKEDOWN™

THIS IS THE REMARKABLE STORY OF HOW CRITERION'S DISASTROUS DEAL WITH EA TO REMAKE A CLASSIC SKATEBOARDING GAME SOMEHOW LED TO THE BRITISH STUDIO CREATING ONE OF THE BEST RACERS OF ALL TIME

10+ mins

PSP Go

While Sony was no stranger to tinkering with its hardware, the PSP got a lot of attention over the years – the PSP Go was the fourth major iteration of the hardware, and the most radical redesign.

1 min

THE IMPACT OF 3rd STRIKE STREET FIGHTEr III

THEY SAY THIRD TIME'S A CHARM, ALTHOUGH STREET FIGHTER III DIDN'T IGNITE FIGHTING GAMES IN THE SAME WAY AS ITS PREDECESSOR UNTIL 3RD STRIKE. MEMBERS OF THE FIGHTING GAME COMMUNITY TELL US HOW THIS COMEBACK CEMENTED ITS PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF 2D FIGHTERS

10+ mins

ARCADE WRATH OF THE MUTANTS

A NEW TURTLES BEAT-'EM-UP IS FINALLY HEADING HOME AFTER YEARS OF DELIGHTING ARCADE-GOERS WE TALK TO EUGENE JARVIS AND MARC-ANDRÉ JUTRAS TO LEARN HOW THIS THROWBACK BRAWLER CAME TO BE, AND HOW IT'S BEEN EXPANDED FOR CONSOLES

4 mins

THE MAKING OF STAR TREK 25TH ANNIVERSARY

SPACE MAY BE THE FINAL FRONTIER BUT STAR TREK ADVENTURE GAMES WERE PRETTY MUCH THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY IN THE EARLY NINETIES. AT LEAST UNTIL STAR TREK: 25TH ANNIVERSARY CAME ALONG A GAME THAT DARED TO GO WHERE NO STAR TREK GAME HAD GONE BEFORE

10 mins

Datasette

If you’re going to adopt a common storage method across a range of computers, it makes sense to make the hardware as widely compatible as possible – and that’s just what Commodore did with the Datasette, known by the model numbers 1530 and C2N.

1 min

THE MAKING OF CAPTAIN BLOOD

AS HE TRAVELS THE HYDRA GALAXY IN HIS SHIP THE ARK, CAPTAIN BLOOD MUST TRACK DOWN AND DISINTEGRATE HIS FIVE REMAINING CLONES. TO DO SO, HE’LL HAVE TO COMMUNICATE WITH SEVERAL ALIEN SPECIES USING THE UPCOM, A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE DEVICE. UNIVERSALITY IS THE KEY CONCEPT BEHIND THIS WIDELY ACCLAIMED FRENCH CLASSIC

9 mins

SUPER METROID AN ENDURING LEGACY

AS NINTENDO'S SCI-FI CLASSIC TURNS 30 WE REVISIT THE PLANET ZEBES AND SPEAK TO DEVELOPERS OF BOTH METROIDVANIAS AND ACTUAL METROID GAMES TO LEARN WHAT MAKES SAMUS ARAN'S 2D ADVENTURE SO SPECIAL

7 mins

Space Giraffe

MORE THAN JUST A TEMPEST CLONE

1 min

Street Fighter II: Champion Edition

How NEC's tiny console successfully pulled off the task of hosting the world's biggest fighting game

1 min

Streets Of Rage

FIGHT TOGETHER, FIGHT FOREVER

1 min

The Official Frogger

IT'S FROGGER, BUT SUPERCHARGED

1 min

The Making Of Karateka

Game preservation has just gone up a level

4 mins

Konnichiwa

I’m writing this a week after my return from Japan. I’m feeling flat and can’t believe it’s already so far behind me.

2 mins

CALL OF DUTY

THE STORY OF CALL OF DUTY BEGINS NOT AT ACTIVISION, BUT IN THE BOSOM OF ITS CHIEF RIVAL, EA. THE LATTER PUBLISHER HAD TASKED A DEVELOPER NAMED 2015 INC WITH EXPANDING ITS TERRITORY ONTO PC WITH MEDAL OF HONOR: ALLIED ASSAULT

10+ mins

HOGS OF WAR

TREMENDOUS TURN-BASED TACTICS AND VERY BRITISH HUMOUR BUILT HOGS OF WAR A CULT FOLLOWING IN THE YEARS AFTER IT FIRST BROUGHT BACON TO THE BATTLEFIELD. JOIN US ON A RECONNAISSANCE MISSION THAT YIELDS DEVELOPER INSIGHTS AND NEWS OF A REMASTER

8 mins

Callahan's CROSSTIME SALOON

YOU'LL ENTER IT AS A STRANGER, AND YOU'LL LEAVE AS A FRIEND. JOIN ADVENTURE GAMING LEGEND JOSH MANDEL FOR A BEER OR TWO IN CALLAHAN'S CROSSTIME SALOON: A HILARIOUS, UNSUNG CLASSIC FROM THE LATER YEARS OF THE POINT-AND-CLICK ERA'S GOLDEN AGE...

6 mins

LED STORM

CAPCOM'S ARCADE ARCHIVE IS SO STUFFED THAT FOR EVERY MEGA-HIT THERE ARE SEVERAL RELEASES THAT ARE REGULARLY OVERLOOKED. LED STORM IS ONE SUCH TITLE, AND THAT'S A SHAME BECAUSE IT'S A GREAT GAME - OR SHOULD WE SAY GAMES?

7 mins

KATAKIS

THE COMMODORE 64 WAS HOST TO MANY A GREAT SHMUP, SCROLLING IN ALL DIRECTIONS. ONE OF THE MORE NOTABLE EXAMPLES WAS RAINBOW ARTS' KATAKIS AND IT WAS NOT ONLY FAMOUS FOR ITS HIGH QUALITY BUT ALSO FOR ITS HIGHLY EXTRAORDINARY DEVELOPMENT STORY

10+ mins

THE MAKING OF STAR WARS STARFIGHTER & JEDI STARFIGHTER

CREATED TO TIE-IN WITH THE STAR WARS PREQUEL TRILOGY, STARFIGHTER AND JEDI STARFIGHTER BROUGHT THE SPIRIT OF EPISODE I AND II TO THE PLAYSTATION 2. DESIGNER TIM LONGO EXPLAINS HOW LUCASARTS CHANNELLED THE MOVIES WITH ITS MISSION-BASED COMBAT FLIGHT SIMS

8 mins

DARK FORCES

WITH GEORGE LUCAS BUSY PLANNING THE NEXT STAGE OF HIS SCI-FI OPUS AND THE ALL-CONQUERING DOOM FRAGGING GAMERS EVERYWHERE, THE TIME WAS RIGHT FOR A FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER SET WITHIN THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE. WITH A NEW REMASTER RECENTLY ANNOUNCED BY NIGHTDIVE STUDIOS, THE TIME IS ALSO RIGHT TO RETURN TO LUCASARTS' ICONIC GAME

10+ mins

THE MAKING OF Fantavision

WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING TO DAZZLE A CROWD, PUTTING ON A FIREWORKS DISPLAY IS A GOOD WAY TO DO IT - AND THAT'S EXACTLY HOW SONY CHOSE TO SHOW OFF THE POWER OF THE PS2. KATSUYUKI KANETAKA REVEALS HOW THE CULT CLASSIC PYROTECHNIC PUZZLE GAME WAS MADE

10 mins

Future Classic

Modern games you'll still be playing in years to come

4 mins

THE MAKING OF BIOFORGE

EVERYONE KNOWS ORIGIN SYSTEMS FOR ITS WING COMMANDERS AND ITS ULTIMAS BUT THE ONCE GLORIOUS GAMES COMPANY HAD MANY OTHER GREAT TITLES UP ITS SLEEVE, SOME OF WHICH HAVE BEEN LOST IN THE MISTS OF TIME. LIKE BIOFORGE FOR EXAMPLE...

10+ mins

THE MAKING OF WORLD RALLY Championship

CRAFTED BY A SMALL TEAM IN SPAIN WITH A BACKGROUND IN 8-BIT PROGRAMMING, WORLD RALLY WAS AN INTERNATIONAL ARCADE SUCCESS. BUCKLE UP FOR THE RIDE AS CARLOS GRANADOS RECALLS THE HAIRPIN TWISTS AND TURNS THAT LED TO THE DEVELOPMENT FINISH LINE

8 mins

THE HISTORY OF RAI DEN

THE RAIDEN GAMES HAVE LEFT A PROFOUND LEGACY IN THE SHOOTING GAME GENRE SINCE THE VERY FIRST DEBUTED IN 1990. IT’S A SERIES THAT HAS NEVER BEEN AFRAID TO CARVE ITS OWN PATH. AND IT ISN’T YET DONE

10+ mins

THE MAKING OF Werewolves OF LONDON

RUN RAMPAGE ACROSS THE ROOFTOPS! GET SAVAGE IN THE SEWERS! HAVE A HAIRY FIT IN HYDE PARK! SPREAD TERROR IN THE TUBE STATIONS! IT MIGHT SOUND LIKE AN AVERAGE WEEKEND IN LONDON, BUT IT'S THE PREMISE FOR A TRUE CULT CLASSIC

5 mins

ULTIMATE GUIDE CHADS

SELECT YOUR SPELLS AND LET THE GODS DECIDE YOUR FATE IN THE FINEST MULTIPLAYER ZX SPECTRUM GAME OF ALL TIME. WELCOME TO CHAOS, THE MAGICAL BATTLE TO THE DEATH ON THE PLANE OF LIMBO

7 mins

Read all stories from Retro Gamer

Retro Gamer Magazine Description:

The world’s best guide to classic gaming, Retro Gamer is the only magazine in the UK that’s fully dedicated to the halcyon days of classic gaming. If you’ve ever fondly blasted away at the Bydo Empire in R-Type, swung Bowser by the tail in Super Mario 64, or navigated all 20 levels of Matthew Smith’s Manic Miner, then this is the magazine for you. Created by a dedicated team of experts, Retro Gamer’s mission is to deliver constantly engaging and passionately written articles that cover a wide range of subjects. We offer our readership in-depth looks at classic games and franchises, behind-the-scenes glimpses of the software houses from yesteryear, and one-on-one exclusive interviews with industry veterans such as Archer Maclean and Hideo Kojima. Stylish, entertaining and beautifully presented, Retro Gamer is the ultimate guide to videogaming’s rich and diverse history.