The Pop-Culture E-Zine
Enjoy a trip down memory lane with Dave Freeman’s hour long compilation of 1980s video game commercials from the Video Game Commercial Archive that was released on DVD in 2007.
This video is jam packed with so much nostalgia, it will make you giddy!
source: Dave Freeman
There is no stopping the retro gaming renaissance!
If you still have your Super Famicom or Super Nintendo (SNES) handy, then you’ll be happy to know that there are games being re-released on Nintendo’s 16-bit powerhouse!
First cab off the retro gaming rank is the side-scrolling beat’em up, Super Double Dragon / Return of Double Dragon. This exclusive title is available in Japanese (Super Famicom) and English/US (SNES).
This legendary series follows the young twin brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee, who run a martial arts dojo. Their friend Marian disappears, so we reckon you know the rest of that story of what they need to do to save her.
The player controls either of the (suped-up) Lee brothers. There are seven stages including a strewn of extra stages so your fighting reflexes will need to be sharp. Don’t fret, as your fighters have 30 special moves with power gauges to engage in powerful techniques. Oh yeah, if fighting cleanly doesn’t work, then you can throw items such as barrels, stones, knives, bombs, and boomerangs – woohoo, we love dirty fighting!
If you want some action for your Super Famicom / SNES and you are ready to rescue Marian, go ahead and pre-order Return Of Double Dragon!
Pre-Order Links:
image source: Play Asia
If you are a Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis) fan, then issue 182 of Retro Gamer is your mag to indulge in some 16-bit nostalgia.
From all the inside information on how Sega’s magnum opus came to be, to its developers that made it sing and become a classic console.
The regular features are back, from the Classic Moments, Minority Report to Hardware Heaven and The Uncoverted to name just a few, this issue of RG is jam packed to satisfy your retro gaming lust!
This issue is also accompanied with an Essential Mega Drive games guide and stickers, so if you are a fan of Sega’s 16-bit game changer, then there is no excuse to miss this issue – go grab it now!
This post has been a long time coming!
Not content with the home office acting as our games room, Ms. ausretrogamer came up with the idea to transform the garage into a fun factory – a place where all of our retro gear would be setup to be played and enjoyed.
Once the overall design was pitched, it took a while for me to come around to convert the garage into a gaming space. The garage was basically going to provide an idyllic setting for all of our computers, consoles, arcade and pinball machines in the one space so that they could be enjoyed by anyone at anytime – no more fetching stuff out of cupboards and wiring them up to be used!
With the garage already sporting painted walls and ceiling, the next step was to make it secure from the elements – we didn’t want dust to come in and damage the delicate old school gear. Once the garage was secure and weather tight, the interior design was kicked off by Ms. ausretrogamer. Her eye for detail and use of space was second to none! I must admit, I had trouble picturing how the whole thing would look like, but I should not have had any doubt. Ms. ausretrogamer’s vision for the room was exactly what both of us had wanted, I just didn’t know it till I saw it done!
The games room, now called the ‘ausretrogamer fun factory‘ started taking shape once we relocated the computers, consoles and the Dreamcast kiosk on one side, the cupboards holding the precious software on the opposite side and the larger items (pinball and arcade machines) utilising the rear of the room. Every inch of the room was used to its fullest extent – no waste of space in this fun factory!
The ausretrogamer fun factory has evolved over the last few years, with old items making way for newer old items, with the overall design and function remaining true – which is an ideal space for friends and family to get together and have fun!
All great ideas start with a mess!
Starting the building process
Starting to take shape
Getting the console area setup using a Data Centre grade power-strip!
Testing 1, 2, 3 – we have POWER!
Getting the artwork setup
A comfy chair is a prerequisite!
Fun Factory MK I – console area
Fun Factory MK I – panoramic view
Fun Factory MK I – the pinball and arcade machines area
Fun Factory as it is TODAY! There have been quite a few moves and changes!
Fun Factory – the current pinball and arcade area. Fun times ahead!
If you intend on using any of the photos from our Ausretrogamer Fun Factory, please credit them back to this article – thank you.
Holy cow! These SEGA Space Harrier MODEL runners (sneakers if you are from the North) have totally blown our minds!
Just take a good hard look at these sweet-as-f* runners! To say we love the Sega Space Harrier MODEL runners would be a huge understatement! Even if you are not a Space Harrier fan (Ed: say what?), you have to admit that these are pretty damn cool. We wonder if Yu Suzuki has a pair *pondering*?
image source: Anippon
This is an old one, but we thought it was still worth repeating, in case you missed it the first time around.
If you were lucky enough to have had a meal at Burger King in 2000, you may have been handed a plastic replica of the Game Boy Color which had analogue games built in.
Fast forward a decade and a half and that cute little Burger King Game Boy Colour toy with its analogue games has been DIY hacked with a Raspberry Pi Zero stuffed inside, morphing it into an awesomely cool and working Game Boy Colour emulator! Wish we were this clever.
[original story and images via Technobob]
Our Bucket List keeps getting longer and longer, so we thought it was time to revisit it and take stock of what’s in it. Upon going through the all important list, we had to bump the Galloping Ghost Arcade up the list, because you know, it has a ton of awesome retro arcade games (and a couple of pinball machines) we want to play!
We will be crossing off Bucket List #34: Galloping Ghost Arcade in the near future – it’s a done deal!
image source: Galloping Ghost Arcade website & Facebook
System: Nintendo Switch
Available: Switch eShop
Price: AUD $9.99 / USD $7.99
Zerodiv’s reputation to recreate awesome old school games on the Nintendo Switch is pretty much set in stone now (Ed: take that HAMSTER!). Their meticulous conversions of Psikyo’s games on the Nintendo Switch console are second to none. With a plethora of shoot’em ups under their belt, their latest Psikyo conversion is another shmup, but this time, it doesn’t involve space ships or souped up choppers – this one is refreshingly different!
Think Forgotten Worlds (to an extent) with a fantasy setting a melee and spell casting gameplay mechanic and you’d be pretty much on the money with Sol Divide – Sword of Darkness. Oh yeah, the standard graphics are also a departure with the use of CGI pre-rendered models turned into sprites and backgrounds – which actually look pretty good on the Switch.
The ever important gameplay will always be a deciding factor when playing these kind of games. Sol Divide plays like a regular horizontal scrolling shmup where you fly around the screen and using your attack button to fire and another for melee attacks. Combos are done by repeatedly hitting the melee attack button and a direction, whereas pressing both attack buttons casts a spell. Speaking of spells, there are eight of them you can learn in your quest – fire, freeze, thunder, meteor, slow, wind and fire body. There is also an extra character-exclusive spell making for a total of eleven distinct ways to unleash hell. Spells will cost mana to cast, however they can be refilled by way of melee attacks or pickups from fallen foes. Spells can quickly be cycled and selected by using the ‘L’ and ‘R’ shoulder buttons, making it a greater experience than the arcade game single button cycling.
As per the other Zerodiv Psikyo conversions, Sol Divide offers plenty of customisation such as filters and mucking around with the arcade-like DIP switches to personalise the gaming experience, like making it easy as pie or hard as hell with infinite continues!
So is Sol Divide – Sword of Darkness a worthwhile addition to your digital Switch games library? If you like horizontal-scrolling shoot’em ups with fighting and some light-on RPG elements thrown in the mix, then there is enough unique features in this game to warrant its place in your games library. Sword and vengeance starts now!
Disclaimer: Sol Divide – Sword of Darkness was kindly provided by Zerodiv for this review.
Just in case you missed the memo with this most important proposition – what if DOOM was a platformer instead of a first person shooter?
The answer is miniDOOM 2, a fan game that pays homage to the DOOM franchise by reimagining it as a 2D retro platformer. It takes the beloved cast of classic DOOM enemies and weapons and blends them with old school 80s and 90s games like Contra and Metal Slug, resulting in a fast paced pixelated carnage-fest with a killer heavy metal soundtrack.
More than a sequel, miniDOOM 2 is actually a remake of miniDoom 1 on steroids: Bigger, louder and more badass. Download it now – it is free!
source: JC Porcel
source: Calavera Studio
Does Paul Rose (aka: Mr Biffo) really need an introduction? If so, then hang your head in shame! OK, if you really don’t know, for whatever reason, we won’t judge (Ed: oh yes we will!). Anyway, here is the 101 on Paul Rose – Going by his alter ego, Mr. Biffo, he is the creator and chief writer of legendary teletext games magazine Digitiser, which ran in the UK between 1993 to 2003. These days, he mostly writes for kids TV but can still be found rambling on about games, old and new on his daily website, Digitiser2000.com. You can thank Wikipedia and Retro Gamer (magazine) for this mashed Paul Rose bio.
So why all the excitement and the soiled undies you may ask? Well, Mr Biffo has a Kickstarter that will tickle your retro gaming and funny bone. Digitiser: The Show, will be a proper retro gaming tv series, with top notch production value that will blow your 8-bit minds! Rather than spin a yarn on here, why don’t you check out the Kickstarter campaign and judge for yourself as to why THIS MUST HAPPEN!
Oh yeah, since Digitiser: The Show campaign has blown past its target goal, Mr Biffo has kindly thrown together a handy grid showing which rewards are available with which tier – so check it out, pledge hard or go play with your broken yo-yo!
source: Digitiser2000