I spent fifteen years in IT management understanding that recommendations need to be practical, not just theoretical. “Best” is meaningless without context. The best retro console for someone wanting to collect is different from the best for someone wanting to play. The best for someone on a budget is different from the best for someone who wants the authenticity of original hardware. Understanding which console to buy right now requires understanding what matters to you…
My mate Steve turned up at my fifteenth birthday party in ’96 with this knowing smirk and a Mega Drive cartridge hidden in his jacket pocket like he was smuggling state secrets. “Right, forget whatever else you’ve got planned,” he announced, which was exactly what you wanted to hear when you’d been politely enduring my mum’s friends asking about my GCSE choices for the past hour. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 wasn’t just another fighting game—it…
I spent fifteen years in IT management understanding that sometimes the best systems are the ones that embrace constraint rather than fighting it. Rez is a system that embraces its constraints – abstract visuals, minimal gameplay mechanics, heavy musical integration – and creates something that’s more engaging because of those constraints rather than despite them. Rez is a rail shooter in an abstract cyberspace environment. You’re flying through geometric shapes and fighting abstract enemies by…
I spent fifteen years in IT management learning to appreciate systems that are clever even when they seem impractical initially. Power Stone is that kind of fighting game – it looks like chaos, functions like brilliant design, and somehow manages to be both random and completely skill-based simultaneously. The fact that almost nobody remembers it proves something important about gaming – innovation doesn’t guarantee recognition, and underrated games often end up being more interesting than…
Back in ’94, I was still primarily an Amiga lad, but I’d managed to convince my parents to get me a Mega Drive the year before – had to have Streets of Rage 2, didn’t I? Most of my mates were still on their Spectrums or C64s, but a few had made the jump to Sega’s 16-bit machine. The thing about console gaming in the UK then was that we were always a bit behind…
I need to start by saying – that title has a typo. It says “RPM” instead of “RPG.” But honestly, it’s kind of perfect because Paper Mario plays like it’s constantly in motion, constantly doing something unexpected, constantly rewarding you for paying attention. The team reviewed this and liked it so much that nobody bothered fixing the typo, which is probably indicative of something about the whole experience. Coming from an IT management background, I…
Right, I need to address something straightaway – Majora’s Mask is divisive, and I understand why. The three-day cycle creates constant time pressure. You can’t just explore freely without consequences. If you want to do everything, you need multiple playthroughs or you need to be ruthlessly efficient about prioritizing. The game doesn’t hold your hand. It actively works against casual play. And that’s exactly why it’s brilliant, even though half the people who play it…
There I was, standing in a grotty service station on the M6, watching my mate Dave’s face light up like he’d spotted buried treasure. “Bloody hell, John – look what’s hiding over here.” Tucked between a knackered fruit machine and one of those claw grabbers full of teddy bears nobody ever wins, sat a proper OutRun cabinet. Blue and red livery, attract mode cycling through those sun-soaked coastal highways that were burned into my retinas…
Right, so there I was last weekend, trying to sort through the disaster zone that passes for our spare bedroom—you know the type, where broken electronics go to die alongside those Christmas decorations you swear you’ll use again but never do—when I stumbled across something that stopped me dead in my tracks. A proper thick stack of A4 paper, held together with what remained of a rusty staple, covered in coffee rings and my own…
Right, full disclosure – I spent most of the 90s playing Sensible World of Soccer and Speedball 2 on my Amiga, so I missed Super Mario RPG entirely when it launched. Console RPGs seemed like a waste of time compared to proper PC gaming. Then the New Player Ready crew insisted I play it for our SNES rankings, and I’ll grudgingly admit: this is exactly how you make an accessible RPG that doesn’t insult anyone’s…