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Welcome to issue #23 of the newsletter, thank for all of the feedback on the survey – it is appreciated and is already shaping the newsletter (for the better I hope) – I will do a separate edition to share the results with you all. If you still want to give your views, you can find the survey here.

Bomberman was released 37 years ago today (19/12/87) for the Famicom and a certain video game character turned 35 (17/12/87). His OG name was Rockman, can you guess who he is (answer at the bottom)?

 

News

Switch online has added 4 new Megadrive/Genesis games – including Columns [Eurogamer]. Link

The Daily Mail report on what they think is the largest video game collection in the world, worth an estimated $2.1m. I truly believe that retro is a wise investment. Link

 

A forgotten game called Scramble Training for the Sega AS-1 has been found at a car boot sale featuring some Michael Jackson video [NME]. Link

 

The Wonderboy anniversary collection will be launching on January 26th for the Switch [Nintendo Everything]. Link

 

Articles

Redbrick have a feature on the gaming on the wars in the 90’s and the impact on wider gaming. I used to be team Megadrive (Genesis) as that is what my parents got me, but it’s hard to see it as being better than the SNES these days. Link

 

Continuing the console history theme, Stratechery have a history go video games starting way back in 1958, its well worth a read. Link

Khabar Non Stop have a feature on the Rare “Play Boy” handheld that was never released (unfortunately). Link

 

Destructoid have a feature as they revisit on Final Fight 3 on the SNES. Link

 

If you have a VR unit and want to recreate a working 90’s bedroom of your dreams, you need EmuVR (can be played without as well) [Lifehacker]. Link

 

Make Tech Easier have a run down about the best dedicated controllers for retro gamers. Link

Who knew there was a game called Millenium Falcon Challenge? Who knew there was a games console called the Tiger-R Zone. If you answered no to either question then you will enjoy this look at the “worst games console of all time” and a forgotten Star Wars game [California 18]. Link

 

Yahoo News has a gift guide on dedicated modern consoles to play retro games (and controllers). Link

 

Lists

The Hawkeye give their ranking on the classic MegaMan games. I never really played any of them and should really get around to doing so. Link

 

The Review Geek look at the top Mario games of all time, and there are some surprising entries amongst the more usual suspects. Link

Thats all for this week, the answer to the question is Mega Man (aka Rockman). The link to the survey is here – and please share with communities if you enjoy the newsletter. Thanks!

Last call for the survey on content – some very interesting and constructive responses so far and I will share the results in a future episode. You can find the link here and it will only take 2 mins of your time.

On this day (12th December) in 1960 – a character from Street Fighter was born. He likes John Wayne films, his hair and dog walking. Can you guess which character turning 62 today (answer at the end of the newsletter)?

I have broken the newsletter into new sections (thanks for the feedback) – let me know how this works for you as it will include all consoles in all sections (broken down as News/Features/Lists – NFL).

 

News

Final Fantasy V celebrated turning 30 – it was an iconic game in an iconic series, and Nintendo Life go into why it was a landmark in the series. Link

 

25 years later, the once cancelled Airball for the NES is being released (also available for GBA) by Retro Room Games – you can view the trailer here.

Toejam and Earl and getting a film (The Verge)! Link

Features

Nintendo Life has a nice feature on Christmas gifts for Nintendo fans. Link

 

Essentially Sports looks at the gaming life of Elon Musk as he suggested the Atari 2600 was his first console. Link

CRT’s and Retro Gaming go together like ET and landfill – the smallest CRT ever released was the Panasonic CT-101, so of course someone has hooked it up to a NES to play retro (TecheBlog). Link

 

Abernic are launching the RG35XX which comes in a Game Boy style case and comes with 2 Micro SD Card Slots, a 2100mh battery and an IPS screen with HDMI out and an A9 processor (Notebook Check). Link

 

Hackster have info on modding a Game Boy Advance to be a wireless whole house remote. Link

And Peta Pixel have a feature on 3D printing new lenses for the Game Boy OG camera – 2 bit all the way baby. Link

 

Wired review the Evercade EXP (spoiler 7/10). Link

Want some geeky, retro inspired Christmas Tree decorations? Gizmodo has got you covered! Link

 

Chained Echos is getting rave reviews for modern consoles – it is a 16 bit (retro) inspired RPG which looks great. He is the YouTube launch trailer. Link

 

Khabar Nonstop have a feature on the Nintendo seal of quality that adorned many of the best games. Link

CBR has a feature on why Kiddy Kong was so controversial (I never knew he existed 🫣). Link

 

Final Weapon has a feature on gaming in the 90’s. Link

Reutir looks at 8 bit compatibility on modern OS’s. Link

 

Lists

Gamespot have a long list of the greatest NES games of all time – and inspiration to revisit some of these classics. Link

CBR love a list, so when the decided to share us their best Nintendo games with the worst endings we just had to feature it. Link

And GameRant has a list of the 6 N64 games with the best cut scenes. Link

10 things you did not know about the Atari 2600 (Adafruit). Link

Cultured Vultures has a list of the 20 best N64 games of all time. Link

 

No one: The Gamer: The 7 best Alligators in video games. Link

And finally

Thanks for reading, please help me to improve by giving your feedback on the survey (link here).

The answer to this weeks question is Guile!

 

39 years ago this week the innovatively named ”Baseball” was launched on the humble Famicom. You can play one of the granddaddy of sports games here.

Thanks to those that have shared their feedback on the survey – if you have not, I would be very grateful if you could spend 2 mins letting me know what you like or don’t like about the newsletter so that it can be improved. Here is the link.

Nintendo

Game Rant has some weird ports of retro fighting games. Streetfighter 2 on the Spectrum anyone? Link

 

There is a new trailer for the Super Mario Bros. film. Link

Some footage of a lost Metroid games for the N64 has surfaced (The Gamer). Link

Ruetir has some interesting (or not) facts about Donkey Kong. Link

 

There is a new multi-game changer for the Game Boy Colour, which is totally crazy, but sometimes crazy is cool (Hackaday). Link

 

Tech E Blog has a complete history of Super Mario Kart and why is was made. Link

 

Destructoid has a list of the 5 best games for the N64, not as obvious a choice as you might have thought. Link

Other

ABC News have a feature on the rise of demand for retro consoles. Link

Destructoid has compiled the best consoles that are the worst to collect for. No mention of the 32x! Link

 

Make Use Of have an article on which modern console is best for retro gaming (the ones you can hack usually…). Link

 

Want to know the best 10 Sega Genesis games that were made in the 21st century? No? Well either way CBR have a list. Link

 

And CBR also has a look at some cancelled Konami games which might have been nice had they actually seen the light. Link

Pong has turned 50! Yahoo/Engadget have an interview on its creation. Link

Spokesman has an article on how to care for some of the retro consoles, nothing ground-breaking but definitely some “good to know” points made. Link

That’s all for this week, a gentle nudge to give your feedback on the newsletter if you have 2 mins you can spare. Please do share the newsletter with friends and retro communities if you enjoy it.

27 years ago this week Mega Man X3 was launched for the SNES in Japan. You can play it here.

This newsletter is still a work in progress, but if you can find 2 mins to fill in this survey so I can understand what kind of news is most popular it would be helpful for me to collate the proper selection. You can find the survey here (and thanks very much).

Subscribe now

 

Nintendo

DualShockers have a list of 10 of the best villains from NES RPG’s. Niche, but provides a good visual for the cover of the newsletter. Link

 

Inverse has a nice article on how Nintendo need to treat their older games with more respect. Link

Forbes looks back at the lessons learned on consumer values from the OG Game Boy. Link

Crunchyroll has announced Hime’s quest for the Game Boy Color and PC, as reported by Gematsu. Link

 

Destructiod gives their view on the best 5 Pokemon games (60% retro). Link

 

A modder has created the worlds smallest Game Boy, TecheBlog report. Link

 

The SnesDev Party team have announced the release of Supercooked! a cooking co-op game that works with the OG 16-bit hardware and emulators. Looks like fun! RealotakuGamer has more. Link

 

Rare is a publisher of distinguished quality, but there have been a surprising number of games that there cancelled. CBR do what they do best and provides a list of them. Link

 

Reur goes deep on the story of Star Fox 2 – the lost game. Worth a read if you are a fan. Link

 

Back to Rare, Diddy Kong Racing turns 25 and Exputer takes a look back on why you should not judge a game by its cover. Link

Others

California 18 feature a look at the Sega offices in Japan. Link

Bounding into Comics take a look at some very interesting Sega Genesis/Megadrive ROM hacks. Link

 

Game Asylum look back at the Atari 7800 catalogue – an underrated console? Link

Hacker Noon looks back at some film-to-game conversions that are worth a look. No ET. Link

 

Cultured Vultures give their view on the 20 best Sega Genesis games ever. Link

 

Duealshockers have a piece on what Atari was like before the crash of ‘83. Link

 

For the Atari 50 celebration, they developed a new Atari Jaguar emulator from the ground up. GameRant reports. Link

 

And that’s all for this edition – hope that you enjoyed it. If you missed it at the beginning or forgot, and you have a spare 2 mins – it would be very much appreciated if you can share your feedback on the newsletter (link here).

Welcome to issue #19, the nights get longer so a perfect time to dust off some retro games and get around to playing thatgame you have been waiting to play.

 

32 years ago today the SNES was launched in Japan and a life was never quite the same again. With that came one of the greatest games ever - Super Mario World – and you can relive this masterpiece here.

 

Nintendo

TecheBlog look back at the nemesis of school children in the 80’s or 90’s (which I never knew existed) – the “Homework First” (below). Link

 

Did you know gaming have released an insightful video (30 mins) about every Zelda game that was never released. Link

 

Comicbook Gaming look back at Namco’s Star Wars game for the Famicom which had Darth Vader turn into a scorpion, a shark, a pterodactyl, and a Wampa - not canon. Link

 

Some good people have made every issue of Nintendo Power magazine available for download. Not all hero’s wear capes. Link

CBR have a deep, well written view on the state of Retro Gaming. Joke, it’s a list of the 10 SNES games that are not as good as you remember. Link

 

I love a limited edition console, my Pikachu N64 is one of the highlights of my collection. Dual Shockers look at the rarest Nintendo variants. Link

 

Shigeru Miyamoto Turns 70 and Bolly Inside look back at the career of one of the most influential names in gaming. Link

The Escapist give the “Definitive View” of the Virtual Boy (their words not mine). Link

 

Sega

Game News 24 have a look at some cult games for the Megadrive/Genesis. Link

 

Subscribe now

Event Hubs look at Atari’s attempts to compete with Virtual Fighter and Tekken - and created one of the worst fighting games ever - The First For Life. Link

 

The Gamer take a look at the Atari 50 collection which has just been released and getting some good reviews. Link

 

Not Hardware report that Streets of Rage is being made into a film with the writer of John Wick on board. Not holding out much hope, but loved the game series. Link

 

And that’s a wrap! Thanks for reading and if you can share with others I would be extremely grateful!

This week’s newsletter covers the best of Japanese NES games, Rom Hacks and a new “mini” console in the works.

Also, Sonic Spinball turns 29 years old today! You can play this game here.

 

Nintendo

Another good article from Reutir, shines a light on interesting topics – this time they turn their attention to the history of RockStar and Nintendo. Link

 

Everyone knows Super Mario Bros. but did you know Game Over was not the end and you could continue with a simple button combination 😲. GeekyRant gives more details. Link

Den of Geek are back with a list that tells us all about the “Best NES games released outside of Japan”, and I am sure some are well worth a go. Link

 

Starfox is one of the iconic SNES games and pushed the hardware, and some cleaver modder has now pushed it further with the release of the ROM hack Starfox EX – which contains SNES mouse support, 5-player mode and 17 levels with battles against some of Nintendo’s icons. PCGamer delve into more detail. Link

 

Did you know there was an N64 Zelda game that never got launched, Ruetir give details and the story behind Zelda 64. Link

 

Game Informer has a nice feature on a visit to Japan’s Mario Themed amusement park. Really want to visit this place. Link

 

Sega

Game Rant has a feature on the final Sega Saturn game which was based on Anime. Link

 

The rankers at CBR give their view on the best 15 Sonic games. For me, it was Sonic 2. Link

 

Other

Reutir has an article on Nintendo’s biggest mistake – the Nintendo Playstation which never was. Link

 

Bleeding Cool gives details of the 6 new games created by Digital Eclipse for their Atari 50 collection. Link

Konami has announced the launch of the TurboGrafix-16 mini! Link