Classic Replay

Turrican 2 is massive, one of the biggest games I've ever experienced on any computer or console. You traverse ledge after ledge, with most jumps consisting of leaps of faith.  The programming team responsible Enigma House, boasted in (AA71) "Turrican 2 contains a jaw-dropping 1500 screens! Think of it this way - if you laid out 1500 monitors on their backs on the floor, it would cover an area 9240 meters square." Each level took up nearly 60k of code, with a total of five levels, this had to include sound effects and music, I'll let you do the maths! The amazing thing was, this game fitted on a single disk. The basic idea is to explore everywhere and anything, killing all sorts of nasties and giants, collect extra lives, power-up's and extended time, and basically just try to survive in order to reach the next stage. There's an excellent feel for the game, the main protagonist looks and struts along like a proper space trooper, and effortlessly g...

What was once old, appears current again, and although prehistorik by todays standards, the simplicty of early video games still see us wishfully reaching, and scouring our memory banks for those once forgotten classics. I think it's safe to say, that Retro games have found a new home amongst our younger generation of folk, on next generation hardware. But because of our throw-away mentality of yesteryear, the kids today will probably never experience these games, as the gods intended. Shame then, as the Arcades were a giant first step in gaming... it was an era of Space Invaders, Pacman, Defender and hot girls, ahem. These days, the only place you'll likley find an Arcade machine, is in a collectors garage, or warehouse gathering dust. The culture, friendships and atmosphere that sprung up around these places, are almost a thing of the past. Once we've gone, no one will ever remember they happened. Hallelujah then ...

Capcom are one of my all-time favourite publishers. Their games are hardly breathtakingly original, but a large percentage of their efforts appeal to the arcade lover in all of us. Final Fight is no exception, it's a mow-em-down, side scrolling beat-em-up with huge sprites, fast gameplay and simplicity at its finest. It's a particularly good game for those who like a quick gaming fix, and if you've not played Final Fight for some time, it's great to go back in and give it one more go. In fact, as far as beat-em-ups go, Final Fight should probably be considered one of Capcom's perfect moments. Back in the day, beat-em-ups were the done thing, and until Final Fight appeared, Renegade, Double Dragon and Streets of Rage were where I became a proper hard knuckle head.  For me, beat-em-ups are as much a necessity to gaming, as the 'ol shiny silver ball is to pinball. I'm currently lucky enough to own the Mega-CD version (jap), Snes, iPhone and the ...