I’m sure a few readers have already seen the following picture, but I was looking through some old files and stumbled across it again.

Anyway, this is what happens when an overweight man in his mid-thirties looks like when he goes to his Christmas Party as a videogame character. I should also point out that everyone else at the do was wearing Tuxedos and elaborate dresses.

Yes I know it’s a lazy blog post but Stuart is off on holiday and I’ve been a bit busy playing with my new iTou… sorry, working on the magazine.

Regular readers of Retro Gamer will be fully aware of my love for shoot-’em-ups and may even know about my passion for Thunder Force III (easily the best part of the series). So imagine my delight when I saw the first screenshots on the official website and saw many of III’s bosses beautifully recreated for the new game.

It’s highly unlikely that this superb looking shooter is ever going to get a release in the UK, so your best bet is to do what I’ve just done and invest in a chipped PS2. That way you can enjoy loads of classic shooters and compilations, including the excellent Sega Ages range, several Capcom and Taito compilations and still by cheap budget releases like Gradius V and R-Type Final that do get released here.

Anyway, back to the awesome looking Thunder Force IV. Take it away Sega.

Here’s one of the bosses from Thunder Force III. I’m getting excited just looking at it…

And here’s one from Thunder Force V. Imagine if the entire game is just a remake of the first five. How cool would that be?

Another Thunder Force III boss, although the jungle level he was once in now seems to have disappeared.

Thunder Force IV was originally due to appear on the Dreamcast but was canned. This is proof that there is justice in the world.

Zelda’s Adventure is an atrociously bad game. In fact, it’s so bad that if anybody asks us what that peculiar top-down Zelda game thing was on the Philips CDi we’ll simply answer with ’a cancelled Russian pilot for the ITV television show Knightmare’. 

Here is the voyeuristic advert for the show; a remarkable picture of an open window with some sinister incandescent light thrown in for good measure. Uninspired stuff!     

Exhibit A) A great television show 

Exhibit B) A naff videogame

As many are no doubt aware, Retro Gamer now has an amazing website in the form of http://www.retrogamer.net/

As well as uploading classic game profiles and getting quick and easy access to our excellent blog and forum, it’s also possible to browse eBay in search of those desirable retro goodies we all love buying. All you need to do is head on over to Buyer’s Guide section and use the scroll down menus to choose a manufacturer and system, once you’ve done that the magic of the Internet will make the current 20 available items on eBay appear for your perusal. I’ve already been using it during work to check out new Lynx games to add to my collection (don’t tell the boss) so be sure to check it out whenever you fancy some new retro treats.

Here’s a quick guide to how it all works.

“Hmmm, I wonder if there’s any Atari Lynx stuff worth buying…”

Success!!! Oh, and I’ve already put a bid on that cool Ms Pac-Man pin, so everyone stay away from it or else…

The collection is going rather well at the moment, with most of my goods coming from eBay. I have discovered a few goodies from sites like videogameimports.com and retro-games.net, so if you’re thinking of starting a collection yourself it definately pays to look around.Anyway, here’s a collection of my latest goodies. Notice the lovely Lynx carry case that nows goes into work each day with me (much to the amusement of writers on our other mags).

Rampart cost me £9, but it’s a truly impressive conversion that features a great multiplayer mode and some nice little cutscenes between battles. Pit Fighter is pretty good on the Lynx, but still rather flawed, but you can’t really complain for £4 (although I’m sure many have).

Joust is an excellent conversion (see my profile on www.retrogamer.net) while Batman Returns is a truly awful fighter that sucks away your will to live. Chip’s Challenge on the other hand is superb, and is still one of the Lynx’s best puzzlers.

It’s another brand new issue of Retro Gamer, and this month there’s a lovely arcade theme running through the issue. Don’t believe us? Then check out the following…

 The Making of: OutRun

It’s easily one of the best known arcade racers of all time, but what makes it so special? Creator Yu Suzuki has all the answers.

Retroinspection: Intellivision

Discover how Mattel nearly beat Atari at its own game.

Retro Shamer: Bionic Granny

This is quite possibly the worst game you’ll ever, ever play. You have been well and truly warned…

Developer Lookback: Konami Part 2

The final part of our Konami retrospective looks back at how the company’s past has helped shape its future.

The Greatest Arcade Games Ever

With so many arcade games available it was virtually impossible to choose our favourites. That didn’t stop us from having a good go though…

The Making of: Cannon Fodder

Jon Hare takes time out of his busy schedule to discuss the creation of one of Sensible Software’s most popular games.

The Making of: Q*bert

Discover how an orange blob with a penchant for swearing and isometric levels hit the arcade big time.

Arcade Inspection: Neo-Geo MVS 

It’s one of the oldest running arcade boards of all time and launched SNK into the big leagues. Meet the MVS.

The Making of: New International Track & Field

Pat Phelan or Sumo Digital explains how the company resurrected Konami’s arcade classic for a brand new audience.

And much, much more including; Toobin, Joust 2, Jaws, Bucky O’Hare, Forgotten Worlds, Crime Fighters. 

We’ll I’ve been scouring eBay and second hand shops and so far I’ve managed to get my hands on some classic and not so classic Lynx titles. S.T.U.N. Runner is easily the best version of the game I’ve ever played outside of the arcades (Midway Arcade Treasures 3 doesn’t count), while Xybots is an incredibly faithful conversion that captures all the chaos and action of the original game.My best bargain though was picking up Gates of Zendecon, a second copy of Ninja Gaiden, Todd’s Adventure’s in Slime World, Klax, Blue Lightning and Toki for a bargainriffic (well I thought it was good) £20.I’ve include a shot of the latest titles and will be updating as many of them as possible onto the website (unless of course you beat me to it).  

Every now and then, I get it into my crazy head that I have to collect something. Anything. And usually it takes the form of something retro related.

Anyway, the latest machine that has fallen into my sights is Atari’s Lynx. After being given some games at Retro Fusion 08 (Robotron: 2084, Tournament CyberBall and Super Skeek) I started mulling over the possibility of once again owning Atari’s failed handheld.

As luck would have it, one of the lads on Play actually had a machine for sale, with Xenophobe, Hard Drivin, Chequered Flag, California Games, Viking Child, Steel Talons, Robosquash, Ninja Gaiden and Rampage (sadly though, they’re all unboxed). Well that was it. I handed over 40 notes, picked up a power supply from Maplin and have now started to relive my youth all over again.

I’ll be periodically posting updates, as the collection progresses (or until I get bored and start collecting something else) but in the meantime here’s what I currently have.

Oh and feel free to give me suggestions as to what to buy next.

So here’s the actual machine. As you can see it’s the bulky Mark II model.

And here’s my starting collection. Should I try and get the original boxes as well though, or simply stick to the cartridges…

A flashy looking portable Megadrive is being released by Blaze and comes pre-loaded with 20 classic Megadrive games. Inside the machine you’re getting Sonic and Knuckles, Shinobi, Decap Attack, Flicky, Sonic Spinball and Jewel Master (which we really should get around to playing).

    The styling of the machine is retro-chic with a Megadrive-style three button pad and a nifty looking thumb friendly d-pad. The machine is said to retail for $60 in the States. Here are the specs…

• Plug & play portable video game system
• 20 built-in SEGA licensed games
• Built-in speakers
• Colour LCD screen
• TV out connection
• TV format: PAL
• Eats: 3 x AAA batteries (Batteries not included)