Retro Gamer

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’S YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE PS2 GAME?

LOADING…

RICH LEGACIES • Retro Gamer pays tribute to the recent gaming legends we’ve lost

PS number two?

A feeble launch

David Jones • The Spectrum legend is working on a brand-new Magic Knight game

THE LATEST NEWS FROM SEPTEMBER 2008

NEWS SEPTEMBER 2008 • SEPTEMBER 2008 – Heavyweight fighters square up for their fourth round, downloadable delights proliferate and we return to a galaxy far, far away. Nick takes you back to a time the global economy was crashing, but gaming was still good

THIS MONTH IN…

CHARTS • SEPTEMBER 2008

Fantasy World Dizzy • BEAT ME, WHISK ME

INSIDE THE PlayStation®2 • TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO SONY LAUNCHED A CONSOLE THAT ENCOURAGED DEVELOPERS TO DREAM BIG, AND CAUSED THEM THE ODD NIGHTMARE. SPEAKING WITH DEVELOPERS WHO TACKLED ITS TRICKY TECHNOLOGY, WE DISCOVER WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO CREATE GAMES FOR A CONSOLE THAT TRULY TRANSFORMED WHAT WAS POSSIBLE IN VIDEOGAMES

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE • THE KNOWLEDGE YOU NEED ON THE CHIPS THAT POWER YOUR PLAYSTATION 2

MODEL STUDENT • WHAT CAN CHARACTER MODELS TEACH US ABOUT THE 3D GRUNT OF THE PS2 AND ITS PREDECESSOR?

THE MIDDLEMEN • WHY ONE PIECE OF MIDDLEWARE DEFINED THE PS2 GENERATION

VISUAL MEMORY • DUGAN JACKSON EXPLAINS ONE OF THE CONSOLE’S QUIRKY FEATURES

INVENTING THE EYETOY • DR RICHARD MARKS EXPLAINS HOW THE POPULAR MOTION-CONTROL PERIPHERAL CAME TO BE

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ULTIMATE GUIDE BUBBLE BOBBLE • LET US JOURNEY INTO THE DEADLY CAVE OF MONSTERS ONE MORE TIME AS RETRO GAMER PRESENTS THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO TAITO’S MARVELLOUS BUBBLE-BLOWING EXTRAVAGANZA. CUE THE MUSIC…

MASTER OF BUBBLES • RETRO GAMER’S TIPS TO HELP THOSE LOVEABLE HEROES AGAINST BUBBLE BOBBLE’S BATTERY OF MONSTERS

PLAY TODAY • LOOKING FOR A BIT OF BUB AND BOB ACTION? HERE’S HOW YOU CAN PLAY BUBBLE BOBBLE TODAY

CONVERSION CAPERS • THE BEST HOME VERSIONS OF TAITO’S CLASSIC BUBBLE-BLOWING PLATFORMER

DEVELOPER Q&A • RETRO GAMER VENTURES INTO THE CAVE OF MONSTERS WITH MIKE FOLLIN OF SOFTWARE CREATIONS, AUTHOR OF THE EXCELLENT ZX SPECTRUM CONVERSION

FOREVER BLOWING BUBBLES • RETRO GAMER LOOKS AT SOME OF BUBBLE BOBBLE’S MOST MEMORABLE SEQUELS AND SPIN-OFFS

XE Games System

A TRIBUTE TO Odin COMPUTER GRAPHICS LTD • AFTER RELEASING BEDROOM CODERS’ GAMES AS THOR, A REBRAND SAW ODIN IMPRESSING WITH IN-HOUSE HITS LIKE NODES OF YESOD, ROBIN OF THE WOOD AND HEARTLAND. FORMER ODIN CREATIVES STUART FOTHERINGHAM AND KEITH TINMAN REVIEW THE CELEBRATED STUDIO

Alien Highway: Encounter 2 • CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR

JULIAN RIGNALL • With a knack for quickly identifying and reacting to shifts and patterns in games media, much in the same way he did when notching up videogame high scores, Julian Rignall launched some of the most prominent and successful...