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.
THE RETROBATES • WHAT GAME DEFINED THE EIGHTIES FOR YOU?
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ROGER KEAN: A LASTING LEGACY • Friends pay tribute to the co-creator of many classic gaming magazines
RAIDEN III RETURNS
A NEW TAKE ON CYBERPUNK
FANTASTIC REALMS • Danny Passarella discusses his videogame-themed art exhibition
NEW ATARI HARDWARE
SHRUNKEN GRADIUS
Gaming prejudice
Upstaged by Mario
Akka Arrh • Jeff Minter on revitalising a lost Atari gem
THE LATEST NEWS FROM JUNE 2006
NEWS JUNE 2006 • JUNE 2006 – EA has a guaranteed football hit, Eidos has a guy who just performs hits, and Nintendo has announced a console name that’s a bit… controversial. Once again, Nick Thorpe messes around with time travel to bring you some old news
THIS MONTH IN…
CHARTS • JUNE 2006
Trashman • CLEANING UP THE STREETS
THE 80s A DECADE OF INCREDIBLE GAMES • THE EIGHTIES WAS A TUMULTUOUS DECADE OF TECHNOLOGICAL TRIUMPHS AND PIONEERING CONCEPTS, AND AS A RESULT IT IS PERHAPS THE MOST-INTERESTING TEN YEARS IN GAMING HISTORY. JOIN US AS WE REMINISCE ABOUT THE REMARKABLE GAMES THAT WERE PRODUCED IN THIS GOLDEN ERA
THE INTERVIEWEES
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
SUBSCRIBE TODAY • FOR 2 YEARS AND GET AN INCREDIBLE AUSTRIAN AUDIO PG16 PROFESSIONAL GAMING HEADSET WORTH £149
ULTIMATE GUIDE THE WAY OF THE EXPLODING FIST • ALTHOUGH FAR FROM THE FIRST BEAT-’EM-UP ON HOME COMPUTERS, THE WAY OF THE EXPLODING FIST WAS THE EARLIEST TO FEATURE MULTIPLE MOVES. LET RETRO GAMER TEACH YOU THE WAYS OF GREGG BARNETT’S SEMINAL FIGHTING GAME
TOP TACTICS • HOW TO GET FROM NOVICE TO TENTH DAN IN EXPLODING FIST
CONVERSION CAPERS • WHICH VERSION OF EXPLODING FIST BEATS WHICH?
DEVELOPER Q&A • RICHARD COSTELLO ON ADAPTING EXPLODING FIST FOR THE C16
Cobra Triangle • THAT’S ONE ANGULAR COBRA
STUDIO PROFILE ENIGMA VARIATIONS • Development and publishing company Enigma Variations became prolific in the late-Eighties and early Nineties, producing numerous licensed computer games based on kids’ TV shows like Postman Pat and Thomas The Tank Engine, and big title conversions for Nintendo consoles
SELECTED TIMELINE
WHERE ARE THEY NOW • WHAT BECAME OF THE MINDS BEHIND ENIGMA VARIATIONS?
DNA OF ENIGMA VARIATIONS • THE KEY INGREDIENTS OF SUCCESS
ULTIMATE GUIDE ALIENS • OF ALL THE GAMES BASED ON ALIENS, NONE HAVE CAPTURED THE CLAUSTROPHOBIC TENSION AND RELENTLESS ACTION AS WELL AS KONAMI’S COIN-OP. JOIN RETRO GAMER AS WE DISCOVER WHY THIS ARCADE GAME IS MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER BUG HUNT
EAST VS WEST • HOW KONAMI’S GAME DIFFERED DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU PLAYED IT
BOSS RUSH • HOW TO RID LV-426 OF ITS DEADLY GUARDIANS
WE NEED GUNS, LOTS OF GUNS • LET’S INTRODUCE YOU TO SOME PERSONAL FRIENDS OF...