A Hedgehog and a Mouse: Sega, Disney and a Surprising Attempt to become an Amusement Giant

On social media, old pictures from London’s Sega World are an easy way to harvest some quick engagement. Post the image, chuck in your ‘remember that time when Sega ran a theme park?’ caption then sit back and wait for the likes numbers to rise. Read More …

Complete Carnage: 32-bit Console hardware and the reshaping of the industry

Recently we looked at the Sega Saturn and whether it was killed too prematurely by Sega. Though these days the Saturn’s renewed popularity means we regularly ask what could have made the console a success, there’s one question that should probably ask first: Could the Read More …

180 Free games: Analysis of a Cover Tape Collection

It just so happened that a few weeks ago I had to move my original Zx Spectrum collection out of storage. Faced with a huge plastic crate filled to the brim with cassettes, it suddenly struck me how ridiculous it was that we had some Read More …

Strider: The Unfortunate Mr Hiryu

In gaming there are the origin stories we all know – like the origins of Mario and Sonic the hedgehog – but there are many more characters who remain relatively obscure – like the stars of most microcomputer budget games or Japanese cassette titles. More Read More …

Nothing New in the Villlage: The 35 Year Old Ancestors of Untitled Goose Game

Everyone loves the Untitled Goose Game. I love the Untitled Goose Game. If you haven’t played the untitled Goose Game, you should play the Untitled Goose Game: A stealth game that follows in the footsteps of Metal Gear Solid and Hitman, Goose Game’s masterstroke is Read More …

Carjacking down Memory Lane: Returning to The Getaway’s Digital London in 2019

This article was originally posted over at https://www.gametripper.co.uk. Why not head over there and see what lovely articles they have ready for you to read right now? (well, after you’ve read this one obviously) When is a game not a game? The usual response to Read More …

Retro Review: Chase HQ (Zx Spectrum)

On reflection, it’s probably a minor miracle that the world ever persuaded us that £40 to £50 cartridge games were the way to go. Back in the early 90s, you could probably count yourself lucky if Father Christmas slyly dropped one or two video games in your stocking. For the Christmas of 1989, however, the FatNicK house ended up with a grand total of five new titles to play. Blimey. Read More …

In Pursuit of Power Drift

Does any game own its genre as effectively as Mario Kart? Sure, the more po-faced among the racing brigade might draw influence from other (more realistic) avenues, but if you’re looking towards making a light-hearted kart racer, it’s impossible to avoid the touch of Nintendo’s Read More …

“IRQ: 7” – The Complicated World of early MS-DOS Sound Options

Modern games consoles, eh? With their bundled hard drives and insatiable hunger for game patches, they’re effectively just user-friendly PCs aren’t they? Yes, even you over there in the corner, Mr Switch. Hang on though! When you think about it, the inverse is also true. Read More …

Blimey, it’s the 30th anniversary of Outrun!

Egad – today marks the 30th anniversary of the world-wide release of Outrun. Now, I think articles like this make no secret of the fact that I’m somewhat of an Outrun obsessive. However, I’m reasonably certain that there can be no way of objectively denying Read More …

RaGGD 2016: How To Be A Complete Bastard

Oh look, It’s another April 8th so it’s time to look at another great game! This year I’ve opted to look at a title that just about crosses the precipice into greatness: How to Be a Complete Bastard on the Zx Spectrum. As games go, Read More …

The Megadrive is 25 Years Old…Part II

Blimey! it’s been two years since I, err, celebrated the Megadrive’s quarter century by destroying a cartridge. Weirdly, however, the Megadrive’s 25 again today. How can that be? Well, two flippin years was the amount of time it took for the Megadrive to leave Japan Read More …