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THE RETROBATES
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE
WONDER BOY GAME?
A
mazingly, I can still remember
the first time I encountered
Wonder Boy. I was on a school
DARRAN JONES TIM EMPEY NICK THORPE trip to France and Wonder Boy
Once upon a time it would I’ve definitely played Common answer, but was one of a handful of arcade games
have been The Dragon’s Trap, Wonder Boy, I just can’t it’s Wonder Boy III: The
that were on the ferry as we made our
but Monster Boy And The remember where. It was Dragon’s Trap. I’ve only loved
Cursed Kingdom is a killer either after swimming lessons, a few games so much that I crossing. That fun encounter led to me
update that I absolutely love or Barry’s Amusements in took them on holiday with me,
Expertise: Juggling a Portrush. I was bad at it. and this is one of them. picking up the Amstrad conversion, but the
gorgeous wife, two beautiful Expertise: Finishing Game Expertise: Owning five
less said about that the better.
girls and an award-winning Pass games before they leave Master Systems and a Mark III
magazine, all under one roof! the service Currently playing: Sega’s franchise really came to my
Currently playing: Currently playing: Final Vendetta
attention once I purchased a Master
Trauma Center: Second Opinion Anvil: Vault Breakers Favourite game of all time:
Favourite game of all time: Favourite game of all time: Sonic The Hedgehog System and I enjoyed both Monster Land
Strider God Hand
and The Dragon’s Trap, arguably one of the
best Master System games of all time.
It’s a real pleasure then to not only talk to
creator Ryuichi Nishizawa about those three
early games, but also the likes of Monster
Lair (which I played in a local pub) Wonder
Boy In Monster World (which came free
with a Game Gear and Master System
adaptor I bought) and Monster Boy And
The Cursed Kingdom (which I reviewed for
ANDY SALTER PAUL DRURY PAUL ROSE
this very mag). It’s a fantastic, interesting
What’s the Wonder Boy Monster World IV, with its Got to go really old-school and
and often convoluted series, and it’s great
where you team up with fancy swords-womanship say the original in the arcades.
Young Nastyman to slay the and peak Nineties pixel art. It just stood out. Bags of to see its revival in recent years.
final boss hydra? I’m playing it at the moment character too.
Expertise: Modding games, and am brimful of Asha. Expertise: Winging it Other highlights of this issue include
no ‘vanilla’ versions for [Groan – Ed] Currently playing: Making Of articles on Donkey Kong Land,
me, thanks! Expertise: Old arcade games Wonder Boy, now that you’ve
Currently playing: Total War: based on public nudity reminded me. Kick Off 2 and D&D: Warriors Of The
Rome Remastered… Modded Currently playing: Favourite game of all time:
Eternal Sun, how The Sales Curve got
of course Monster World IV (told you) Half-Life 2
Favourite game of all time: Favourite game of all time: started and a chat with Andrew Braybrook
Rome: Total War Sheep In Space
about the excellent Paradroid. We’ve got
something for everyone, including a great
subs offer on page 30.
Stay safe and enjoy the magazine.
ANDREW FISHER RORY MILNE MARTYN CARROLL
Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair I have a soft spot for the Sega The first one, in the arcades.
– loved it from the moment Master System Wonder Boy – Specifically seeing how long
I saw it, stylish graphics and purely for nostalgic reasons. It I could keep hold of the
great shoot-’em-up sections. may not be arcade perfect, but skateboard you get at the
Expertise: Forty years of it felt like it at the time. beginning of the game (round
gaming, from Commodore 64 Expertise: The game that 2 if I was lucky).
to Switch I’m writing about at the time Expertise: Sinclair stuff
Currently playing: BAT of writing Currently playing:
Favourite game of all time: Currently playing: Elite Resident Evil:
Wizball Favourite game of all time: The Mercenaries 3D
Tempest Favourite game of all time:
Jet Set Willy
CONTENTS
>> Load 235 Breathing new life into classic games
RETRO RADAR
78
06 Main News
We reveal Blaze’s plans for its new
Evercade handheld and take a quick
look at Sega’s Mega Drive Mini 2
08 Iain Lee
Have you met Namco’s president? Iain
has and he’s here to tell you about it FEATURED
10 Mr Biffo
40 CD-ROM:
Everyone covets games and Mr Biffo is
The Early Years
no exception. But what game was it?
Clem Chambers explains how On-line
12 A Moment With
Entertainment harnessed the early
Jeff Minter discusses the recent Switch storage power of CD-ROM
release of Tempest 4000
46 Lost In Translation
14 Back To The Noughties
Discover why Panel De Pon was updated
Nick travels to October 2005 and for Western audiences
discovers a world of gaming goodness
62 Peripheral Vision:
DualShock
92
Nick gets hands-on with Sony’s
massively popular controller
70 Studio Profile:
The Sales Curve
Richard Hewison charts the early days
of The Sales Curve and how it evolved to
keep with the times
76 Classic Moments:
WWF: No Mercy
18
REVIVALS Have you ever taken part in a ladder fight
in a WWF game? Nick has The History Of:
16 The Legend Of Kage 78 The Making Of:
Wonder Boy
Dungeons & Dragons:
We all know that Darran thinks Strider
Warriors Of The
Hiryu is gaming’s best ninja, but Nick
Eternal Sun
would like to offer an alternative
Few franchises are as convoluted as the Wonder Boy series. Worry not,
Louis Castle explains how Westwood
38 Total Eclipse though, for Wonder Boy creator Ryuichi Nishizawa is here to guide you
Associates cra(cid:3)ed its well-received
Darran explains why this Egyptian- Mega Drive RPG Ultimate Guide:
themed Freescape adventure really le(cid:3) 32
an impression on him 82 Future Classic: Paradroid
Marvel’s Guardians Of
68 Sonic Wings Special The Galaxy
Andrew Braybrook chats about his
Do you regret selling games? Darran Forget those Batman and Spider-Man innovative action game he made for Hewson
does and they’re expensive to replace games, Darran would like to make a
case for this entertaining adventure
92 Capcom Vs SNK:
Millennium Fight 2000 84 Hardware Heaven: Wii
Nick explains why he didn’t gel with We take a brief look at the Nintendo
Capcom’s excellent fighter when he first console we once heard described as
encountered it in arcades “two GameCubes Sellotaped together”
112 Geometry Wars: 86 In The Chair:
Galaxies Andrew Sleigh
Darran’s been on a Wii binge lately and it He was only at Ocean So(cid:3)ware for
has allowed him to complete this highly four short years, but it le(cid:3) quite the
underrated arena shooter impression on Andrew
4 | RETRO GAMER
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SEE PAGE 30
54
Top 25:
Lightgun Games
Ashley Day sets his sights on the
best examples of the genre
ESSENTIALS
48
30 Subscriptions
More amazing than taking down an
octopus while riding a skateboard
The Making Of: 98 Homebrew
Kick Off 2 The latest developments in the popular
scene, courtesy of Andrew Fisher
REVIEWS 102 Hot Topic:
Mega-CD Memories
As the Mega Drive Mini 2 will play
Mega-CD games the team decided to
talk about their favourite games
104 Collector’s Corner
Our latest collector is a big fan of
Japanese games, particularly those
from the 16-bit era
106 My Retro Life
94 Final Vendetta
Paul Drury talks about how MAME
96 Sonic Origins scrolling lets him discover all kinds of
64
new experiences
96 Teenage Mutant
108 Mailbag
Ninja Turtles:
Shredder’s Revenge We’ve had lots of great
letters this month. Please
96 The King Of Fighters: keep them coming
The Ultimate History
114 Endgame
Here’s why you probably
96 Snow Bros:
Nick & Tom Special won’t see Wild Woody on the
Mega Drive Mini 2
The Making Of:
Donkey Kong Land
Paul Machacek on the daunting task of squeezing
a SNES epic into the less impressive Game Boy
RETRO GAMER | 5
THE EVERCADE EXPANDS
» There are only six games on the
incoming Irem collection but they’re
absolute bangers.
Blaze reveals new games and a brand-new handheld in its Evercade range
A
s everyone was firmwares will not have guaranteed
CONTENTS preparing to celebrate or tested compatibility.”
the Queen’s jubilee, Blaze’s focus now appears to
6 THE EVERCADE Blaze had its own plans. be on the sleek-looking Evercade
EXPANDS It used the two-year anniversary EXP and it’s clearly resonating
of its original Evercade to reveal with fans as the recently unveiled
Andrew Byatt discusses the
two new game packs (Irem and black limited-edition version has
Evercade EXP with us, Blaze’s
incoming handheld Toaplan) as well as a brand-new already sold out. In addition to its
handheld, the Evercade EXP. The new TATE mode, the Evercade
8 IAIN LEE
Evercade EXP (priced at £129.99) EXP will be fully compatible with
Find out what happened when Iain will not only greatly improve on the all previous cartridges, including
met the president of Namco
original handheld, which will now the two Namco carts, and will have
10 MR BIFFO be discontinued, but will also give an upgraded IPS screen and built-
owners the ability to play certain in Wi-Fi. It’s also more powerful
Do you remember SurfChamp?
Paul does and he wants to discuss games in TATE mode. than the existing hardware. “The
» Blaze’s Andrew Byatt has big plans for the future
its peripheral with you While a few handheld owners Evercade EXP addresses much of the Evercade brand.
are disappointed that their system of the feedback we had on the
12 A MOMENT WITH
will soon be obsolete, Andrew original hardware, as we’d already
We chat to Jeff Minter about the
Byatt, Blaze’s managing director, addressed firmware-related issues
recently released Switch port of
assures us the original Evercade with software updates,” says
Tempest 4000
won’t be forgotten. “In terms of Andrew. “Updates themselves are
14 BACK TO THE
long-term support, the original easier than ever with the addition of
NOUGHTIES
handheld will get one more built-in WiFi. We have an 800x480
Find out what happened when quality-of-life firmware upgrade IPS screen, which improves
Nick travelled all the way back to
in 2022, and from then onwards viewing quality and angles. The
October 2005
we will only look to update it if we board and CPU bring this up to
encounter any major bugs,” he spec with the Evercade VS so
says. “There will still be long-term we have parity across our entire
customer support for this product ecosystem for performance.”
and to be clear, all cartridges, The Evercade EXP is due to
both current and future, will be launch at the end of the year, and
playable on the original device with while previous systems and carts
» [Evercade] The eight games on Toaplan Arcade 1
that final firmware release. Older have had COVID-related shipping include Snow Bros, Alcon (above) and Tiger-Heli.
6 | RETRO GAMER
VISIT RETROGAMER.NET/FORUM TO HAVE YOUR SAY
MEGA
DRIVE MINI 2
ANNOUNCED
L
ike Blaze, Sega also
has new hardware
on the way, having
just announced the Mega
Drive Mini 2. While Sega
is still keeping plenty of
information about the new
system under wraps ahead
of its Japanese launch,
we do know that it’s once
again being developed by
» Andrew tells us that, “R-Type is a very big get for
M2 and that it will feature
us and I hope it shows that we are attracting big » Andrew was keen to point out the value of the new carts, revealing some games like
names that we’re able to bring to Evercade.” In The Hunt are “difficult to own physically now due to their home console cost”. an impressive 50 games.
So far, only 11 have been
issues, Andrew is confident the on the way. “It’s been a very long Andrew says this has the potential announced, including
Evercade EXP won’t suffer in the road as the demand for home to change going forward as well Bonanza Bros, Fantasy
same way. “From the production computers on Evercade has been when we asked about the potential Zone, Magical Taruruto,
point of view, we’re very confident there since we started. However of an Amiga-based Evercade cart Shining In The Darkness,
as production will be complete it’s difficult to realise this when in the future. “It’s possible and not Thunder Force IV and
before the console is available to you account for the BIOSes, just with the Amiga, but also ZX Virtua Racing for Mega
preorder in September,” he says. emulation rights and also game Spectrum, MSX and more,” he tells Drive and Mansion Of
“If all is well then there would rights,” explains Andrew. “We’ve us. “Existing Evercade releases Hidden Souls, Popful Mail,
be very little issue in hitting that found a good solution in partnering with Amiga ports would need to Shining Force CD, Silpheed
date. Logistically, we are taking with Retro Games LTD in bringing be licensed separately and we’re and Sonic CD for Mega-CD.
the lessons we learned from the a collection based on The C64 trying not to re-release the same The Fantasy Zone game
release of the Evercade VS and the computer reproductions. These games multiple times.” is particularly interesting
vast issues we encountered with are great games that many know As exciting as these changes as it’s a new Mega Drive
the global shipping crisis and the and love, and our plan is to have to the Evercade brand sounds, port. The Mega Drive Mini
knock on effect of that, alongside multiple cartridges from them, Andrew remains adamant that featured an excellent new
the pandemic, worker shortages and also other home computer the addition of bringing home port of Darius, so we’re
and backlogged ports. We’ll publishers in future.” computers to the systems won’t hoping this follows suit.
release a more definitive date in One of the biggest complaints hinder the ethos behind its popular The inclusion of Mega-
September, ready for preorder.” we saw for the Oliver Twins, retro-fuelled hardware. “Whatever CD games is particularly
In addition to the announcement Codemasters and Bitmap Brothers we choose will have to work using pleasing as the console
of new Irem and Toaplan carts, collections was that no Amiga or Evercade’s control interface across is definitely becoming
Blaze has also revealed to us that Spectrum versions were featured all devices,” he says. “We want to extremely prohibitive to
Commodore 64-based carts are on their respective carts, but limit confusing control schemes, collect for nowadays, so
virtual keyboards and the need anything that makes its
The Evercade EXP addresses for peripherals to make things as library more accessible is
playable out of the box as they definitely a good thing in
much of the feedback we had on can be. Much like we’ve done for our books. Here’s hoping
Intellivision games.” fan favourites like Night
the original hardware We’ll have more information Trap, Final Fight CD and
about the Evercade EXP, including Snatcher make the cut as
its promised ‘bonus content’ which well. There’s no news on a
ANDREW BYATT
was mentioned during its European release date yet,
launch video, in a later but we’re confident we’ll
issue, but it’s currently hear more soon.
shaping up to be a very IMG: pr_mega_mini2
interesting addition to
the Evercade family.
» In addition to R-Type,
Andrew says Blaze’s
new Irem collection
offers “great variety
with Battle Chopper and
Lightning Swords”.
RETRO GAMER | 7
COLUMN
Who is Iain Lee?
Iain Lee is a freelance broadcaster who loves gaming, particularly retro gaming.
FEATURING IAIN LEE Join him as he hosts a phone-in show and plays games at www.twitch.tv/iainlee
and also check out www.patreon.com/iainandKatherine
Don’t look him in
the eyes
H
ave you ever seen one of those big Show, not some random consumer survey. Entering this world
Japanese meetings in a film? You was light years from anything I had experienced before or since.
know the kind where there’s dozens of Nearly all of the meeting was conducted in Japanese and I
people in an office and loads of bowing? have absolutely no clue what was going on. Obviously some of
I’ve been in one of those meetings and it was it was translated by our fixer, but really we had very little input.
the weirdest experience. I seem to remember we had to submit all of our questions
When I was filming Thumb Candy, a delightful documentary beforehand and they were handed back during this summit
about videogames – it’s on YouTube if you fancy it, we were with a few changes and a couple of potential questions
lucky enough to get an interview with Toru Iwatani, the guy had double red lines through them meaning under no
that made Pac-Man. However, to secure the interview, circumstances must these be asked.
we had to prove that we were good enough to do it At the end something very strange and wonderful
and that our intent was pure, hence the meeting. happened. The old man head of Namco stood
There were easily 15 people in the room, up and beckoned us over. There was tension
not including me, director James Bobin and in the air and we were later told this was most
the production assistant Simon Wilson. unprecedented. A lot of bowing took place, you
If you want a giggle, check them out on bow lower depending on the status of the person
IMDB, now very influential people in TV and you are meeting. He merely dipped his head
Hollywood. I’m sitting in Costa writing this. while we were basically touching our toes. He
Make of that what you will. then handed each of us a gift. Mine was a copy
Everyone, except for us, were in of Pac-Man World for the Playstation. He took
business suits. About half the people were out a Sharpie and signed the box for me.
standing, the others sat around a huge Wow. This was amazing. Actual treasure.
table. At the head of the table was the We left the meeting and the next
actual boss of Namco. This was a great day we conducted the interview
honour for him to attend a meeting like with a very sweaty and nervous
that and we were instructed by our Iwatani, I maintain to this day he
Japanese fixer to not look him in the was being held there against his
eye and never to address him unless will. Oh, and a dozen Namco
he spoke to us first. employees were watching to
You have to remember, up until make sure we didn’t ask the
this point, my entire career had been double red line questions.
shoving microphones in people’s I’d love to now show you a
faces and asking them if they would picture of that signed game.
eat meat that had Princess Diana Shamefully, it got lost many years
DNA injected into it. This was ago in a move or divorce or a clear
for The 11 O’Clock out. What an absolute tool I am.
At the head of the
table was the actual
boss of Namco
Do you agree with Iain’s thoughts? Contact us at:
RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag [email protected]
8 | RETRO GAMER
COLUMN
Who is Paul Rose?
Paul is probably better known as Mr Biffo – the creator of legendary teletext games magazine
FEATURING DIGITISER’S MR BIFFO Digitiser. These days, he mostly writes his videogame ramblings over at Digitiser2000.com. If you want
more Biffo in your eyes, you can catch him as the host of Digitizer The Show at www.bit.ly/biffo2000.
Undimmed potential
I
n the mid-Eighties, there was one game I Not a screenshot, but a black-and-white photograph of the
coveted above all others. The one that got unique peripheral that came with it. The name might’ve
away. My Moby-Dick, if you’ll excuse the given it away, but SurfChamp was packaged with its own
expression. You’d be forgiven for not pogo stick! Joke. It was a surfboard that rested on the
remembering this particular game – by all Spectrum keyboard, wobbling atop a central peg that fitted
accounts, it received only a limited release – over one of the keys. To play the game you turned your
but you may remember that, years before Samba De hand into a surfer. It was a similar idea to those miniature
Amigo, Donkey Konga, or Guitar Hero, it came bundled with toy skateboards that I’ve never remotely understood.
its own unique controller. I’m talking about SurfChamp. SurfChamp went even further than that though: it claimed
The original home-computer era wasn’t a big time for that it could actually teach you to surf. Which it might’ve
weird and wacky add-ons. The Nineties were the golden done had it not been the victim of a botched launch which
age for that spirit of wanton madness, when you could bulk saw only 3,000 copies make it to market. It was later
out your Game Boy with so many extra bits of hardware released on the C64, where it sold a pitiful 600 copies.
that it ceased to be portable. This, in part, explains why I never got to play SurfChamp.
For the Spectrum… beyond some cheap and cheerful I never even saw it for sale. I do recall reading a review
joysticks from the likes of Kempston and Fuller, the thermal of it in – I think – Crash magazine, which wasn’t entirely
printer (yes, you too can have your text burned into a roll of complimentary. I remember them criticising complicated
silver toilet paper), and the RAM pack that upgraded your instructions, which may have dampened my ardour a little.
humble 16K Speccy to a 48K one… there wasn’t much But still… I’ve never forgotten SurfChamp, particularly
else to get excited about. You could, I suppose, ask for a after reading about its creation in issue 211. In its own way,
new tape deck for Christmas – and some of those came it had as strong an effect on me as Knight Lore did
with bells and whistles – but they weren’t always designed when I first saw screenshots of that. That
specifically for the Spectrum. one picture demonstrated the near-
And this is why, I suspect, SurfChamp jumped out at me limitless potential of games, the
when I saw a photo of it in a games mag. Yes: a photo. genius creativity of some and for
that reason perhaps I never even
needed to play it. Expectation
versus reality is only ever
going to disappoint, but by
never playing SurfChamp,
by only having a photo to
go on, its potential
remains undimmed.
That one picture
demonstrated
the near-limitless
potential of games
Do you agree with Paul’s thoughts? Contact us at:
RetroGamerUK @RetroGamer_Mag [email protected]
10 | RETRO GAMER
