Lots to love this month:
A moment with Duncan Jones was interesting; I really rate his movies but was intrigued as to how an interview in Retro Gamer would be made to work. It did, though, since he’s obviously as passionate about his retro gaming as most readers.
It was fantastic to see Computer Space in the mag, in any capacity, but a full-on making of really ticked all the boxes. The techy bits throughout were fascinating, I loved how it was soaked in ‘70s reminiscences, and it was great to see so many industry pioneers interviewed for the piece.
Cheap as Chips, in my opinion an underrated feature, did a really good job of showing off Buster Busts Loose. The page looked busy and colourful, and the copy made the game sound like a hell of a lot of fun. One for the must play list.
The Retrorevivals this issue, Crusader: No Remorse and Werewolves of London, were perfect choices from a visual point of view and made for really nice looking spreads. It’s also good to see more PC titles appearing in the mag.
30 years of Galaga was a good read, not sure if I buy the story that Galaxian and Galaga have got nothing to do with each other, but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the piece.
Another brilliant Unconverted this month, it’s a feature that just goes from strength to strength to be fair, and this issue we got some really contrasting titles genre-wise.
Coin-op Capers focusing on Rastan, if I’m honest, wasn’t the first thing I read this month, as I’m not a big fan of the game. But I was pleasantly surprised when I got around to it. Apart from having an interesting history, the various sections of the feature contrasted nicely and by the end of the feature I was actually thinking of giving the game a second chance.
I really enjoyed Signature Series this month, it’s a nice length for this sort of piece and Quake was a good fit for the format. I appreciate that this isn’t a feature that has had loud cheering on the forum feedback pages as yet, but I have a feeling it will grow in popularity as the months go by.
Classic Game on Parodius looked fantastic, and it’s great to see the game covered in the mag.
I’ve no complaints about the amount of ‘70s coverage of late, and From the Archives featuring Atari Inc was another high point for me this month. The meticulous research that must have gone into the piece makes my head hurt, and it’s only part one of feature!
I have to reserve special praise for the making of Nodes of Yesod, alright I’m biased, I love the game. But this was a beautiful feature to look at; even if the copy had read, “All work and no play makes Craig a dull boy,” over and over again, I’d have highly rated this piece. As it was, the story behind Nodes was a very interesting one and the writing was well up to Mr. Grannell’s usual sky-high standards.
Lastly, the design work on this issue, and recently, for the covers, the one-off and new features, in my opinion, has been nothing short of stunning.
In short, since this post is already madly long, another great issue.
