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...

Super smooth sideways scrolling and great graphics are nothing new to the CPC these days. CPC bunnies expect the graphics and scrolling to be good as a matter of course, so a game needs to have a little bit more going on underneath than just flashy graphics. Fortunately, Invasion of the Zombie Monsters does the CPC justice in all areas. It has a great look and feels excellent, with hauntingly tinny music and fantastic presentation. At first glance, it'll remind you of the arcade classic 'Ghouls and Ghosts', but not the dafty version by USGOLD. I'm talking arcade quality. Essentially it's a run and gun shooter. Evil forces have inherited the earth, and our hero, the chosen one 'Ned Friks', is the only guy around to save mankind. You'll need to man up, though, as there are all sorts of undead out to get you. There are classic zombies, zombie werewolves, zombie reptiles, zombie plants, zombie souls and a zombie grave-keeper to keep things real. ...

GAMECUBE TRENCH RUN In 2002 LucasArts approached Factor 5 in order to attempt a modern re-imaging of the arcade classic, Star Wars, from Atari. Developed on the GameCube, this was officially the sequel to Rogue Squadron, which was originally released for the N64 and PC. I loved the original Rogue Squadron; this was probably the first Star Wars game outside of the arcade to put me in the movie. Let's face it, the original Rogue Squadron on the N64 is a massively overlooked blaster; it pulled all sorts of clever stops out of the N64's hardware. The light and shadow effects alone helped it to stand out from the crowd. It is no accident that it is one of the best looking games on the N64. Factor 5 were a talented bunch, and the game not only looked incredible but was highly detailed and interactive. Rogue Squadron II was developed in just under a year and considered by many to be the launch title to really show off the true potential...

Ever since StarWars flashed before my eyes, I've been hooked. I was just a kid back then, but the impression it left will stay with me until a right good ole' age. There's something else I probably shouldn't admit to, I had such a soft spot for the movie, I imagined playing the lead role and would pretend to shoot down Tie Fighters and ultimately the Death Star from the safety of my armchair. It had to happen, my only surprise is that it took so long. The now decidedly ropey Atari released Star Wars in 1983, it was a nice attempt at doing something new with a classic film. The graphics and sound were amazing for the time and had colourful vector graphics. It also featured the really cool heroic music of the movie, accompanied by smooth reactive-tight controls and a movie-authentic blasting noise. The speech is where it impressed the- be-Jesus outta me and at the time I thought the stuff of dreams. Star Wars was definitely my favourite game as a kid, I'd nev...

P47 - Freedom Fighter Arcade: Jaleco 1988 Home Conversions: Firebird 1989 In the midst of Spitfires, Messerschmitt's and Hurricane's, there was one world war 2 fighter, nicknamed the 'jug' (short for 'Juggernaut') that packed an almighty punch. The Jug entered the war in 1943, piloted by the 78th and 56th Fighter Group of the 8th Air Force, with a kill ratio of 8 to 1... changing history forever. WOT? NO SPACE SHIPS? When playing these types of SHMUPS as a kid, I had no idea of the historical significance of it all. Back in the day, it was just a really good shoot-'em-up, that moved at pace and looked really good. Although highly inaccurate  the game follows the real life struggles of the American fighter, as it prowled above the skies of Northern France, Egypt and North Africa. How does it play P47 is a horizontal scrolling shoot-'em-up (No need to fill out any forms), with bags of pace, outstanding graphics and rigorous gung-ho game-pla...