Drake gets down and dirty.

Naughty Dog’s new game sets impossibly high standards for all other action adventures to match. A bold claim perhaps, but from the minute you start playing and find yourself hanging on for dear life to a train carriage that’s dangerously hanging off a cliff top you know that Uncharted 2 is something special.

The first thing that hits you is the fantastic sense of scale that Naughty Dog has managed to capture. As with the original Uncharted you really do feel that hero Nathan Drake is fighting against both the elements as well as the numerous bad guys that he’s constantly required to mow down.

The second thing that hits you is that no one, absolutely no one is able to craft cut scenes as well as Naughty Dog. Meticulously directed and featuring superb acting from the cast – they record their lines with each other and various props to make them as authentic as possible – they make efforts by all other developers look childish in the extreme.

Uncharted 2's visuals look absolutely glorious.

Tightly scripted and brilliantly paced they draw you into the onscreen action and are so mesmerising that even my non-gaming wife (she lost interest in my occupation after the N64) was transfixed by what was happening onscreen. Yes you can tell that new character Flynn is going to double cross our hero as soon as its gets a chance, but it doesn’t matter. Uncharted 2’s cut scenes, like its actual gameplay, may not feature innovative and startlingly good ideas, but what it is is polished to perfection.

Every dollar spent on Uncharted 2 is up there onscreen for all to see. From the truly glorious visuals, to the stunning cut scenes and dynamic set pieces, this is a game that’s been crafted with skill, an amazing amount of technical expertise and, dare we say it? even love. In fact, the most telling moment in Uncharted 2 is when you finish and immediately bemoan the wait for Uncharted 3, only to realise that you can simply play through Naughty Dog’s game immediately.

The hallmark of any great game is in its standout moments and Uncharted 2 has a plethora of them. While set pieces like the hind helicopter attack and the hotel collapse that you subsequently find yourself in set new standards for videogame action scenes, it’s the quite moments that can be just as impressive. The mind-blowing beauty as you take a rest in Borneo and see the jungle stretching out forever below you, the tranquil stroll through a Tibetan village that has you interacting with both the villagers and their wildlife and the unspoken bond that develops between you and Tensin, the guide that leads you on your quest in one of the later stages of the game.

Action scenes are brilliant. You'll be constantly surprised by what Naughty Dog throws at you.

In fact, the addition of Tensin is an absolute masterstroke and for this jaded reviewer, one of Uncharted 2’s cleverest moments. The guide doesn’t speak a word of English, and yet the two explorers are able to connect with each other thanks to wild gesticulations and slow, pronounced speech. It works brilliantly and gives you a real sense of achievement as you make your way through the dangerous, yet oh so beautiful caverns.

Balance is also something that Naughty Dog has achieved with amazing assuredness. The original Uncharted felt like a platform game and a shooting game and very rarely worked when the two elements were spliced together, but it’s a totally different story for Uncharted 2. Levels are fantastically designed allowing you to climb and scrabble around the huge open environments in order to seek out both weapons and the best routes for stealth attacks. That’s right we said the S word. Worry not though for while your introduction to the new gameplay mechanic feels rather stunted when you first encounter it, you soon realise that it’s there to simply enhance the exciting fire fights and not hinder you. Mess up an attack or get spotted and you simply move straight into a shoot out, there’s no restart, and if you’re good enough you can make the subsequent face-offs far easier for yourself. Again it’s the seamless way that every gameplay mechanic is integrated with each other that most impresses with Uncharted 2 and as the game continues those moments keep getting better and better and better.

Hopefully Uncharted 2 will go on to amaze punters as much as it has amazed critics and it really deserves to. For me Naughty Dog has not only created the finest action game since Capcom’s Resident Evil, but has also delivered the best game I’ve played all year. I’ll be incredibly surprised if anything else due next year, or even in 2010 comes close to the magnificence of Uncharted 2, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be playing them all to find out.

Uncharted 2 proves money things. It cements Naughty Dog as one of this generation’s finest developers, gives Sony a great chance of success over the Christmas period and proves that both Lara Croft and Indiana Jones have finally had their day. Oh and if you’re wondering why I’ve not mentioned the multiplayer it’s because I’m still too busy enjoying the single player experience.

Finally here’s a video of Uncharted 2′s opening moments

Video of Uncharted 2

The biggest problem with visiting retro events is that they always come to an end far too quickly.

The same thing happened with this year’s Retro Reunited, a truly impressive effort pulled off by first time retro organiser Gordon Sinclair (or SirClive as he’s known on the Retro Gamer forum). Thanks to able help from the likes of Chris “Retro Fusion” Wilkins and Matt “Byte Back” Corne, Gordon was able to pull off a truly spectacular event that not only raised many hundreds of pounds for the homeless charity Shelter, but sold over 300 tickets and saw avid retro gamers travelling from all over the country.

Housed at the Cedar Court Hotel in Huddersfield (enabling many a visitor to stay overnight and indulge in both alcohol and classic gaming conversation) the even itself took place in two huge halls and was wisely split up.

Retro Reunited Part 1

The main hall featured practically every key console and computer you could think of (as well as quite a few other more obscure machines) while the second hall housed Acorn World and the many interviews that took place over the two days.

While Jon Hare was sadly unable to attend, Jamie Woodhouse, Jon Ritman, Archer Maclean and Charles Cecil were just a few of the celebrities who were on hand, and all of them gave fantastic discussions on both their pasts and the current state of the industry.

Archer even brought his new game Wheelspin down, which immediately impressed everyone thanks to its slick gameplay and fantastic visuals.

For many though the main reason for going was to play classic retro games and Retro Reunited certainly didn’t disappoint. Split into many zones, there were a huge variety of machines and games on offer ranging from the humble C64 and Spectrum, to more exotic fare like the Famicom Twin, PC Engine and PCFX. Arcade machines were on offer as well, including Tony Temple’s Missile Command (on which he got the world record) and John Stoodley’s Pac-Man cab. There was even a Battlezone standup, which I’ve not played since I was a nipper.

Retro Reunited Part 2

If you’re a fan of Atari’s Jaguar, or just love Atari in general then you can’t afford to miss Jagfest UK 2009. Now in its ninth year, this year’s event promises to be the biggest yet, and as well as moving to a new location, will also feature plenty of new computers and consoles.

Organised by Kieren Hawken, this year’s even will be held at Luton’s Chiltern Hotel making it far more accessible than past events. Along with all the exciting Jaguar coverage there will also be other machines to play, the ability to buy and trade games and systems, and a variety of tournaments to take part in. Best of all though are two exciting exclusives that will be debuting at the event.

In addition to a brand new 3D project for the Jaguar CD you’ll also be able to see the offcial premiere of Donkey Kong as well as use the world’s only working VR headset. If that wasn’t enough you’ll even be able to get your hands on Madbodies, the new homebrew game from the creators of the excellent Jaguar port of Gorf.

The event runs from Friday the 18th to the 20th of September. Purchase your tickets now from here

We’re huge fans of shoot-’em-ups at Retro Gamer, so join us as we look at some of the best shooters to ever appear on Sega’s Saturn or any other system for that matter.

First up is Psikyo’s homage to Capcom’s 1942 series.

Greetings everybody. Just a heads up to tell you about the fun new retro channel I’ve created on Youtube. Basically it’s just me talking about my love of retro gaming and showing off videos to my favourite games. I’m also using it to revive classic magazine sections from gamesTM that I used to write including Clash of the Titans that pitted classic 8-bit coin-op conversions against each other.

Fans of the Dreamcast should also pay attention as I’ve committed myself to collecting all the available games for the Pal machine, so be sure to check in as I’ll constantly be receiving new games in the post and posting them up on Youtube.

It’s only been running for 9 days now but I’ve already reached nearly 150 subscribers, so be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already done so

Retro Gamer Hits Youtube

We’ve had a lot of interest in Road Runner since yesterday, with a lot of people wanting hints and tips. Well, we’re certainly some way off the current high score on Twin Galaxies, but we can give you a few pointers.

First off you need to play with analogue controls, as a digital pad will stop you from gaining the tongue bonus. Whenever Road Runner allows Wile Coyote to get near him, you’ll eventually gain 2,000 points after a limited amount of time. You’ll know if you’re doing this correctly because Wile’s arms will be outstretched. By using this hand tip we’ve been able to double our score for the first level.

Be warned though, controlling the analogue stick is quite tricky and it’s going to take a fair while before you fully master it. Another handy piece of advice is that you should never miss a seed. If you do your multiplier immediately resets to zero, undoing all your hard work. Loosing a life makes no difference to the multiplyer, so sometimes it’s best to simply cut your loses and let Wile get you.

You need a steady hand to get into the big leagues.

Regular readers of the forum will know that I have something of a soft spot for Magic the Gathering, so it should come as no surprise to learn that I’m quite enamoured with the game that’s just gone up on Xbox Live Arcade.

Available for 800 points, Duels of the Planeswalkers is a pretty good representation of the original game, and while certain elements have been dumbed down for this new iteration, it’s nevertheless well worth picking up.

The included cards are from the Magic 2010 core set that will be available in July.

The game itself is split into a variety of different sections. There’s a campaign that sees you facing off against increasingly stronger opponents, as well as the ability to play online, either solo or with another player. Best of all though is a selection of puzzles that give you one turn to win the game. It’s a brilliant little edition that was extremely popular in the long defunct magazine The Duelist.

The actual game itself is very solid and plays very well. Although the stack has been removed (something that will no doubt annoy hardcore fans) the core gameplay is still intact and it’s as good as it has ever been. Beat an opponent in the campaign mode and you’ll be rewarded with a card that can be added into your core deck. It’s a nice little touch that harks back to the old days of ante, but it does highlight one of the biggest issues that we have with the game.

Presentation is absolutely superb. It's always easy to work out exactly what's going on.

To keep everything on a fair and even level, Duels of the Planeswalkers deck editing capabilities are virtually non-existent. Wizards apparently want to ensure that people can play online and not have to worry about facing killer decks, so they have ensured that you can’t mix and match from all your available cards.

Deck building in one of Magic’s greatest strengths, so it’s a real pity that it’s been implemented so poorly here. On the other hand, Wizards is offering additional downloadable decks in the future, so future online play should hopefully have a solid following.

It’s obviously not a patch on the official online version of Magic that’s available on the PC, but this is nevertheless a fantastic introduction to the game, and for the measly price point, something that everyone should have in their collections.

The above clash was always going to end in tears. That's a 7/7 monster you're taking on.

We’ve not had a high score competition for a while, so why not join us by playing Atari’s Road Runner. Yes it’s controls are best described as skittery as hell, and the less said about those loopy theme tunes the better, but we still cannot tear ourselves away from it.

This lunchtime drew quite a crowd from our sister mags gamesTM and Xbox 360 as Stuart and myself went head to head and while Stuart was able to make further progress than myself, he missed a few seed mounds.

Anyone who’s played Road Runner will know that missing seeds resets your multiplier, so if you want a chance of beating our high scores then you’re going to have to pick up every last one.
We’ll give you an update if we succeed in beating our current efforts, but in the meantime here’s some scores to try and beat.

As a special treat for hitting 2,000 fantastic profiles on Retrogamer.net, our talented IT guys have put together a fantastic new website for you. The Retro Gamer Face-Off has been specifically designed so that you can choose your favourite titles from the 2,000+ profiles that are now available.

All you need to do is head on over thttp://www.retrogamer.net/retrofaceoff/ and you’ll be presented with two available profiles. Choose your favourite and you’ll be given two more to decide on. Choose those and… well, you get the idea. In addition to choosing your favourite profiles, you can also chart the most popular choices by genre, or the overall top 20. So if you want to find out if the rest of the readership love Strider as much as I do, it’s now really easy to find out.

So what would you choose between The Way of the Exploding Fist and Final Fantasy V?

There’s a beat-’em-up revival going on at the moment and it’s all thanks to Capcom. Not content with delivering last year’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for the 360 (or this year if you own a PS3) and creating the sheer awesomeness that is Street Fighter IV, they’re at it again!

It’s been one of gaming’s lousiest kept secrets – rumours have been circulating for months now – but Capcom has finally revealed that Marvel Vs Capcom 2 is heading to Xbox Live Arcade and Sony’s PlayStation Network. Boasting enhanced 1080p backgrounds and the ability to play online, we’re already predicting all sorts of awesomeness for the popular fighter and have already started pestering Capcom’s PR, Leo Tan with flattering emails in the hope of getting free codes.

One thing that’s particularly interesting is that all the characters – that’s 56 in total – will be unlocked from the very beginning, meaning the Dreamcast’s excellent unlock mode will be nowhere to be seen. Still, I only play with Strider, Ryu and Zangief anyway so it’s no skin off my nose.

There’s no news on prices yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it sells for a similar price to HD Remix (around £12). Needless to say we’ll bring you more news as soon as we get it.

Hulk smash! The green one takes on Spidey and Venom.

Spidey pulls off a devastating super. Go Spidey!

These are obviously PS2 shots, but you get the idea.