One of the questions we get most asked – aside from “Why are you covering iPhone games” is “When is Archer Maclean’s column coming back?”

The bad news is that work and family commitments means that this won’t be happening any time soon. The good news however is that he has agreed to catch up with us, meaning that you’ll be able to read all about my trip to Banbury in issue 63.

I’ve been sworn to secrecy as to why I’ll be going up there, but let’s just say that all will be revealed very, very soon.

Archer, proudly posing next to his favourite arcade game.

Here’s a more recent entry that was originally put forward for our 60th issue. Obviously what draws you in here is just how bright the darned thing is (although the dreaded CMYK, means it’s not quite as vibrant as it should be). The placement of coverlines work well and the game itself is instantly recognisable (although the name’s there just in case) but something just wasn’t quite right.

While the cover is fun, it doesn’t quite have those extra loving touches that our final covers finally have. Another thing we always have to consider is how viable a cover would be. IE, would you pick it up and buy it if you saw it staring at you on the shelf? Sadly, as much as we love Frak! it’s just not in the same league as Super Mario Kart (the game that finally made the cover).

That’s not to say that Frak! is a bad game, far from it, but when you’re trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, it doesn’t always pay to go with your first choice. Even if it does feature a yo-yo toting caveman.

Okay, not exactly, but after playing Peter Hirchberg’s excellent wire-frame tribute, Vector Tanks on Apple’s iPod Touch, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the actual difference.

Based on the classic Eighties coin-op the main reason why Vector Tanks is such a triumph is because of the excellent control system it uses. Two tank tracks appear on either side of the iPod Touch’s screen and by pushing these forwards or backwards it possible to move your tank in a variety of different directions.

Shells are fired with a simple press of the screen, while the are a variety of power-ups to pick up, including a dangerous Nuke that can take out multiple targets (yourself included, if you get too close).

Sporting terrific visuals and utterly immersive sound (you’ll need headphones to get the best out of it) Vektor Tanks is a truly astonishing little title that can be currently picked up on iTunes or the AppStore for less than £2.

Vector Tanks is well worth downloading if you’ve ever had a love for Atari’s Battlezone.

Realising that it’s sitting on a huge cash cow (Street Fighter IV has already sold an astonishing 2 million copies this past week alone) Capcom has revealed that new costumes are on the way to Live Arcade and PSN – for a price of course…

Granted we would much rather get to download Hugo, Elena and Dudley, but having the ability to dress Zangief up in Mike Haggar’s Final Fight attire, or making Fei-Long look like he’s just stepped off the set of Enter the Dragon is arguably the next best thing.

Yes indeedy, the first available pack: The Brawler pack is available to download now and Capcom will be releasing the rest over the following four weeks.

The Brawler pack includes alternate costumes for: Zangief, E.Honda, Rufus, El Fuerte and Abel.

The Femme Fatale pack includes costumes for: Chun-Li, Cammy, Sakura, Rose and C.Viper.

The Shoruken pack includes new suits for: Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Gouken and Dan.

The Shadowloo pack bestows stylish togs upon: Seth, M.Bison, Sagat, Balrog and Vega.

While the Classic and final pack (and the one I most want) contain outfits for: Guile, Dhalsim, Fei-Long, Blanka and Gen.

Fei-Long showing off his new scars.

Balrog does his best Apollo Creed impression.

Zangief borrows Mike Haggar’s costume to take on dirty Ken scrubs.

Nothing says ‘bad’ like a guy wearing sunglasses and answering a phone while smoking a hoagie – who the hell answers a phone while puffing on a ciggie anyway? ‘80’s salesmen and women in high profile city jobs, that’s who. In the ‘80s everyone smoked all of the time…even in their dreams.  

Anyway, this illustration smacked of ‘80s yuppie-ism, and in a certain light almost looks like a conceptual sketch for the box art of a GTA game (sort of). To be honest we actual quite like the trashy feel of this image, but it’s up here because it makes what is essential a mundane oil magnate simulator look like an action packed Martin Scorsese picture with Lambog’s, choppers and plenty of shady dealings going on for the black gold. The game obviously loves that artwork too, with two mentions on the box that the game comes packed with a free poster. And while we can’t comment on what was on that free poster, we’d bet the farm on the probability that it was this action-packed image.

Of all the covers that never made it this is probably my favourite. I think this particular image ticks all the boxes when it comes to finding that perfect RG cover. It’s iconic, crisp and striking, and although the featured game (The Great Escape) is painted in shades of blacks and whites it still manages to look wonderfully vibrant. But it’s the neat little touches that Stephen added that really help to round everything off nicely, like the yellow and black barb wire framing, the silhouettes against the Retro Gamer logo, and the medal score box, which was going to display the issue number. Hopefully there’s a chance we can resurrect it one day. 

Hooray, it’s yet another exciting issue of everyone’s favourite retro gaming magazine. “But what’s in this month’s issue?” we hear you ask. Well how does this little lot strike your fancy…

The complete history of Mario Kart: Nintendo proves that you can teach an old plumber new tricks

The Making of R-Type: Irem exclusively reveals how its legendary shoot-em-up came to be

Retroinspection – MSX: A machine that’s both a console and a computer? That will never sell. Will it?

The Classic Game: Super Punch-Out!!: We strap on our boxing gloves and get in the ring with the SNES’s mighty 16-bit brawler

The Making of Frak!: Creator Nick Pelling looks back at his classic platforming caveman

A Shock 2 the System: How System Shock 2 changed FPSs forever

The Making of Robotron: Behind the scenes of the frantic, dual-sticked blaster

Something Old, Something New – R-Type Tactics: A new spin on the classic franchise

Eastern Promise – Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru: It costs a fortune, but is it worth it?

The Making of Ecco the Dolphin – Defender of the Future: How Sega watery hero went 3D

Advert Rising: An indepth look at product placement over the years

The Making of Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders: One of the funniest LucasArts adventures that doesn’t have a psychotic rabbit in it.

And much more including M Bison, Sir Lancelot, Scooby Doo, Pacific, Bubbles, The Ooze , Homebrew reviews

You may have noticed that we were very impressed with 4J Studios impressive conversion of Rare’s Banjo Kazooie. Well no sooner had we completed it, Rare revealed the first screenshots for the excellent sequel.

But that’s not all. For the first time ever, the Twycross-based coders have also confirmed that the fabled Stop ‘N’ Swop will now appear exactly as they had always planned when the game was first released on the N64.

Obviously those cheeky little scamps refused to divulge any further information about this amazing but of news, but needless to say it’s left as excited as a very excited person who has a special reason to be excited. There’s no firm released date yet other than “sometime in Easter” so expect further news to be drip fed over the coming months.

Now where’s Jet Force Gemini and Blast Corps eh?

Hooray, it’s nearly time to get jiggy again.

Imagine’s Nick Roberts used to work on classic Spectrum magazine Crash, so every now and again he shows up with something that his parents have dug out of their loft and begins regaling us with tales of the good old days.

His latest treasure that’s been recovered by his parents is a promotional jumper for Hewson’s Cybernoid, and very snug it is to. Roberts now thinks that he has his precious garment back in his possession, but we’ve actually done a clever switch with an old jumper that belonged to Stuart. By the time he’s discovered the ruse we plan to have already left the country, using the money we’ve earned by selling this precious heirloom on eBay.

Here’s Nick’s top in all its glory.

Last year I picked myself up an iPod Touch and over the Christmas break I’ve been discovering all sorts of classic games on the clever little portable.While many of them obviously feature next-gen visuals (good luck finding a DS game that looks as good as Hero of Spartan) it’s surprising just how many of them feel like the classics of old.

Gameloft’s Block Breaker 2 Deluxe and Bubble Bash are basically updated takes on Arkanoid and Bust-A-Move, while titles like Bejeweled 2, Trism and Rainbow are just as addictive as the puzzle games of old. There’s even mario styled platformers like Nicky Boom if you’re prepared to trawl through the many games that are already available.

I’ve also discovered Tower Defence games like Fieldrunners and Crystal Defenders, as well as impressive shoot-em-ups like the excellent rRootage. Perhaps most surprising though is the sheer amount of old retro games that are starting to appear on the system and the actual quality of them. Missile Command, Pac-Man and Pole Position all work exceptionally well on the system and can be controlled by either tilting the screen in the direction you want to go or with a quick flick of your finger.

Best of all though is the brave soul who’s taken it upon himself to recreate five games from Nintendo’s Game & Watch series. Chef, Octopus, Fire, Parachute and Helmut not only look the part but are addictive as now as they ever were. We’ll be taking a more in-depth look at Apple’s handheld in issue 61 of the magazine, in the meantime I’m off to play some more Fish Tycoon.

Fieldrunners is insanely addictive and keeps on receiving fresh updates. It’s well worth its paltry £3 asking price