January 2012
1 post
8 tags
Childhood Memories of the Fond Kind (Amstrad CPC)
The Sega vs Nintendo wars of the 80s and 90s are well documented and are considered to be the thing of legend. Lesser known, but by no means lesser in nature were the home computer wars that were occurring at around the same time. In Australia during the 8-bit era we had the Amstrad CPC vs Commodore 64 war. In other countries you could substitute Amstrad for another computer such as the Apple 2...
May 2011
1 post
7 tags
Super 8: The Ultimate Downgrade Peripheral
Console collecting… It can take up a lot of room can’t it? I love my SNES collection, but every now & again I feel like playing some Famicom or NES games. Trying to find the machines though & then dig them out of wherever they are means I normally can’t be bothered. For most people though, Famicom games aren’t even an option as they don’t have one of these… …...
January 2011
2 posts
6 tags
Taking a Bite of the Apple
Let me start off with a little known fact: While Microsoft have been active in the home console market for roughly a decade, Apple were there first. The Pippin console was designed by Apple Technologies & marketed by Bandai, in a similar arrangement to the 3DO which was licensed by a few different companies. Firstly thanks must go to the good people at Celga who are always fantastic in both...
4 tags
Playing the Playdia
After another bulk order from Japan Yahoo Auctions thanks to the good people of Celga, it’s time to check out one of the consoles we purchased. It was a bit of a Bandai-fest with us purchasing a black Pippin, white Pippin & a Playdia. For this article we’ll have a look at the Playdia. The title wouldn’t make a lot of sense if we didn’t… First & foremost,...
May 2010
1 post
4 tags
Tails Adventures - Game Gear Review
System: Game Gear Released: 1995 By: Sega
Tail’s Adventures is one of the lesser known games in the Sonic series. It was one of 2 Tails only games on the Game Gear & unlike the previous game “Tails’ Sky Patrol” this one wasn’t a Japanese exclusive. This particular game is a prequel to Sonic 2, & Tails hasn’t met Sonic at this stage. The story goes...
April 2010
4 posts
2 tags
Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie - review
Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie
Released 1994
By: Manga Video
Note: Before we begin, this review is written with the assumption that the reader has prior knowledge of the Street Fighter series & it’s characters. With that out of the way, on with the review…
Back in the early 90s Street Fighter 2 was a phenomenon. The original “World Warrior” game spawned...
4 tags
Bomberman World - Arcade review
Released: 1992 By: Irem System: JAMMA/Arcade
Now I’ve said in the past that Super Bomberman 4 is the greatest game in the series. It’s a pretty bold claim considering the amount of Bomberman games out there today. Now, we all know about the home conversions, but it’s a little known fact that there were arcade releases. Neo Bomberman that was released for the Neo Geo is the...
7 tags
Christmas in April - Japan Yahoo Followup
A few months ago we talked about using Japan Yahoo Auctions & some of the bargains you can find in that mystical eastern land. Check that story out here first: http://retrospekt.com.au/post/357773503/in-retrospekt-a-guide-to-yahoo-japan-auctions I’ve been ordering a bit of stuff & it all came in today thanks to the good people at Celga. Let’s have a look: There was a lot of...
5 tags
The Wizard - Movie review
Released 1989
By Universal
Starring Fred Savage, Jenny Lewis, Beau Bridges, Christian Slater, Luke Edwards
How do you sum up a movie that’s about a young boy who wants to go to California, & ends with becoming a Nintendo master? Well I guess I could say it’s about a young boy who wants to go to California, & ends with becoming a Nintendo master, but that would be...
March 2010
8 posts
6 tags
Amusementworx "Come & Play" Weekend
Amusementworx is a South Australian business that specialises in amusement machines. Whether you’re interested in arcade machines, pinballs or redemption machines, these guys know their stuff & can help start your arcade/pinball collection or service a troublesome machine. Recently they made the move from Magill Rd to a new location at 285-287 Torrens Rd, West Croydon. To celebrate on...
7 tags
SD The Great Battle 3 - SNES review
Released 1993 System: Super Famicom / Nintendo By Banpresto If you’ve never heard of the “SD The Great Battle” series, it’s basically a collection of games featuring SD (Super Deformed) versions of Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Gundam & Roa. Different versions of these characters appear throughout the series, but I believe Roa was specifically created just for the SD The...
3 tags
Pacman - Neo Geo Pocket Colour review
Released: 1999 By: Namco System: Neo Geo Pocket Ah Pacman. Not a lot you can say that hasn’t been said already. The game’s 30th anniversary is this year (2010 for those reading in 2011 onwards) so I thought it might be appropriate to do a review on one of the home ports for the little yellow guy. Which to choose though? There are a lot of unique ports of the game, a lot of which tend...
13 tags
Memories of Videogames & Music
Music is a powerful thing. It can bring out different feelings & emotions in people, whether they be happy, sad or nostalgic. I felt it would be interesting to focus on the latter, as in which music makes you feel that childhood gamer who was plugging away at the latest game on their Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, or Commodore 64, or maybe you had a NES or SMS. Maybe you’re from the 16-bit...
5 tags
A Look At The Sharp SF-1
I’ve said it once & I’ll say it again: The Japanese are electronic geniuses. That’s it, that’s my opening statement & I stand by it. Why do I have this opinion? Well, not only do some of the finest TVs in the world come from Japan, but so does the Super Famicom / Nintendo. Not only that (this is where it gets good!!), but the television with a built in Super...
4 tags
NES/SNES to Wii Adapter
A few months ago we had a look at the SNES Classic Controller, which was a Japanese exclusive for Club Nintendo members. Now they’re fairly common though they do fetch upwards of $70AU in most cases. For most people that’s a bit out of reach for a controller, & what if you don’t like using the original SNES controller? What if you prefer to use a Honeybee or SN controller?...
3 tags
Dragonball - Bandai Wonderswan Review
System: Bandai Wonderswan Released 2003 By Bandai What the… I though this was a retro review? 2003? That was only 7 years ago, what’s going on? OK, calm down people! This is actually a remake of Dragonball 3 for the Famicom which came out in 1989. Better now? Phew… Also, I’ve chosen to use “dub names” for this review. I figured everyone will know what I’m talking...
6 tags
How to cheapen Megaman
OK, it’s time to go on a rant. This time I’ll be looking at the Megaman/Rockman series, but we’ll stick to calling it Megaman as it’s the name the majority of us use in the English speaking world. Now I’m not talking about Megaman X, Megaman Zero, Megaman NT, or any of the other variations out there. I’m talking about the original Blue Bomber himself.
For...
February 2010
8 posts
3 tags
Ranma 1/2: Super Battle / Chougi Rambuhen - SNES...
Released 1994 System: Super Nintendo
By: Rumic Soft
NOTE: This review contains images from both the game & the anime.
The history of Ranma fighting games is a bit of a tale. The first game which is known in some fan circles as “Neighbourhood Combat” was released in the US under the rebadged title of “Street Combat”. The game was already decidedly average & the...
2 tags
Super Mario Land 2: The 6 Golden Coins - Gameboy...
System: Gameboy Released: 1992 By: Nintendo The Super Mario Land series stand out from the rest of the Mario games. Firstly they don’t take place in the Mushroom Kingdom & I’m not sure how it’s supposed to fit into the main series, but Wario & Princess Daisy (both introduced in this series) have both become mainstream Nintendo characters with Wario even being given his...
5 tags
Sufami Turbo
Here’s the rundown on the Sufami Turbo. It was released in 1996 by Bandai in a rare agreement with Nintendo. In an effort to cut the costs of cartridge manufacturing, Bandai created this little system to go on top of the Super Famicom & use smaller cartridges that Bandai themselves could make in house without using Nintendo’s own expensive process. This saved Bandai money which in turn...
4 tags
SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millennium review -...
SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millenium Released 1999 System: Neo Geo Pocket SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millenium (from here on referred to as MOTM) is the first in the SNK & Capcom vs games. Being a fan of both franchises I purchased this game on release, & I didn’t even own a Neo Geo Pocket!!! It took another 6 months to get that, which means MOTM was sitting in the top of my...
3 tags
Super Famicom Classic Controller - Wii
Nintendo have released their classic games many times on many of their systems. From Super Mario All Stars on the SNES to the limited edition Zelda collection on the Gamecube, Nintendo have seized every opportunity to release their most popular games over & over again. The Wii added a new dimension, allowing you to buy games online & store them on the console itself. This way you...
5 tags
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles - Amstrad CPC review
Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles
System: Amstrad CPC
Released: 1990
By: Imagesoft
First thing’s first: The Teenage Mutant WHAT Turtles? Well in certain parts of the world, most notably the UK, the word Ninja was not seen as something that should be associated with a childrens cartoon. Consequently the word Hero replaced the word Ninja. This carried across to all ports of this game...
4 tags
Pang - Amstrad CPC+ / GX4000 review
Pang System: Amstrad CPC+ / GX4000 Released: 1990 By Ocean When Amstrad decided to release upgraded versions of their CPC computer line & the GX4000 console not too many companies offered their immediate support for the product. The thing to keep in mind is that we have an English company taking the battle to Nintendo & Sega… It was never going to work at this point in time & the...
5 tags
Wonderboy 3 / Dragon's Curse / Adventure Island -...
Wonderboy 3 / Dragon’s Curse / Adventure Island System(s): Sega Master System, PC Engine / TG16 Released 1989, 1991 By Sega / Hudsonsoft You’re probably looking at the top of the page & thinking “what?” Well allow me to explain. The Wonderboy / Adventure Island series have had a close relationship over the years, with Sega releasing Wonderboy & Hudonsoft releasing...
January 2010
9 posts
3 tags
Japan Yahoo Auctions - A Guide
Japan: The land of the console. The place where the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Megadrive, Mark 3, PC Engine & most other consoles in the world started out. There are exceptions of course such as Atari systems, the Amstrad GX4000 & Commodore 64GS among others, but Japan is where most of the big hitters were born. It’s a magical land for gamers & if you know where to look online...
6 tags
Zone, Zone, Zone, Zone, Zone, Zone...
Television shows based on video games were just starting to make their mark in the early 90s. Britain had Games Master Live which was quite popular. This was aided by the fact that Games Master was also a magazine released by Future Publishing, which is what the show was based on. Future Publishing had some of the best video game magazines around in the 90s & naturally cross promotion took...
6 tags
We Love AV, why don't Nintendo & Sega?
Back in the 80s/90s AV was the way to go when playing consoles. Instead of sitting there for hours tuning in the TV you could plug in the AV cables & spend those hours playing games. That’s why AV was the way to go when it came to connecting consoles to a TV. Then Nintendo & Sega decided to change the rules…
Let’s look at the first generation Nintendo Entertainment...
4 tags
Box Art Disaster #1 Ranma 1/2: Hard Battle
A lot of sites have covered box art & the problems with international interpretations, specifically Japanese - American ones. I don’t like to point the finger specifically at the US, but some horrible box art has come from that part of the world. That being said all territories are guilty of it. So what’s the problem with the artwork on a box? Well for those who haven’t...
6 tags
Sonic & Knuckles - Sega Megadrive
Sonic & Knuckles
System: Sega Megadrive/Genesis
Released: 1994
By Sega
I think you’ll agree that the Megadrive is THE machine for add ons. You have the Master System converter, the 32X, the Sega/Mega CD, plus any unofficial ones you can think of. Sonic & Knuckles doubles as a game & another add on primarily for Sonics 2 & 3. If you want to put a few of those add ons...
4 tags
A Look at the Super Gameboy
Super Gameboy 1 & 2 The Super Gameboy (or SGB) was Nintendo’s first attempt at getting Gameboy games to home console players. Later attempts include a “rumoured but never released” N64 Gameboy player (of which a couple of 3rd party devices were released) & the Gamecube’s Gameboy Player. The Super Gameboy was released in 1994 & opened the market for more Gameboy...
2 tags
Street Fighter 2 - PC Engine Review
Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition
System: PC Engine
Released: 1993
By Capcom
We’re about to review Street Fighter 2 on an 8-bit system. WAIT, don’t go yet, give it a chance. I’m sure a lot of you will have seen the Sega Master System version made by Tectoy in all its ugh… I can’t even joke about that abomination. Even some of the 16-bit systems fared poorly...
2 tags
Zombies Ate My Neighbours / Zombies SNES review
Zombies Ate My Neighbours / Zombies
System: Super Nintendo
Released 1993
By LucasArts/Konami
Zombies Ate My Neighbours (from here on referred to as “Zombies” which is the PAL title of the game) is a game I remember fondly from my childhood. It’s a wacky game which I remember being a lot of fun, but what about today? Let’s take a look.
Zombies is a game based on...
4 tags
Goof Troop SNES review
Goof Troop Released 1993 System: Super Nintendo By Capcom Capcom & Disney just fit together so well. You have Disney’s memorable characters backed up by Capcom’s outstanding record of classic game after classic game. Back in the day the Super Nintendo was THE machine to own Capcom games on. It had Street Fighter 2 before anyone else, it had Mario & it had some of...
December 2009
4 posts
3 tags
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade review
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Released 1989 System: JAMMA (Arcade) By Konami I’m going to say something that a lot of people are going to disagree with. The NES version of TMNT2: The Arcade game was CRAP. The extra levels they added were pointless, Raphael didn’t have his alternative special attack & the NES was just generally a bad platform choice for the arcade port. Do I think...
7 tags
Super Mario Brothers 2: Why the hate?
Super Mario Brothers 2. When I say it today 2 games might enter your mind: Super Mario USA & The Lost Levels. Mario USA obviously being the game released in the Western world as SMB2 & The Lost Levels being the Japanese SMB2. Most Western gamers were introduced to the Japanese SMB2 via the Mario All Stars collection that was released on the Super Nintendo in 1993. In the Western world...
4 tags
Super Famicom Nintendo Power Cartridge System
In Japan Nintendo doesn’t dump its systems for the next big thing like the Western world seems to. Being that most video game systems debut there you would think they’d be the first to drop one generation & hop onto the next, but this is not the case. For example, they were still making Famicoms (the Japanese NES) right into the new millennia. So too, the Super Famicom had a life...
4 tags
Super Famicom Barcode Battler Interface FAIL!
So, riddle me this Batman. What happens when you take 1 Super Famicom, & one Barcode Battler 2? Well, the answer is: Not a hell of a lot. Add in the specially designed Barcode Battler Interface for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo however, & we’ve got ourselves this setup. The idea behind this is really inventive. Take a game & determine the strength of the characters in...
November 2009
3 posts
3 tags
Ufouria: The Saga
Ufouria: The Saga (Nintendo Entertainment System)
Released 1991
I’ve been known in the past to complain about games & systems that Australia never got & how much better the Americans (& the Europeans in some respects) have it than us. Yes I am somewhat of a whinger, but let’s look at the history. When I think of games that never made it to Australia I think of: Final...
7 tags
Do Re Mi Fantasy: Milon No Doki Doki Daibouken
Do Re Mi Fantasy: Milon No Doki Doki Daibouken (Super Famicom)
Do Re Mi Fantasy: Milon’s Doki Doki Adventure (Wii Virtual Console)
Released 1996/2008
It is often said that a sequel is never better than the original. Have a look at Back to the Future 2, Oceans 12, or almost any horror movie sequel. As always there are exceptions to the rule, take The Empire Strikes Back for example....
4 tags
Super Bomberman 4 review
Super Bomberman 4 Released 1996 System: Super Famicom
There are 5 Super Bomberman games on the SNES/SFC. Not many people know this as in the Western world only the first 3 were released. The problem is that Super Bomberman 4 was released in 1996 which was around the time the SNES had started to drop in popularity. The world was anticipating the next generation of systems, & the 16 bit...