Games, Books and Films

Throughout much of the nineties, the Turtles were a permanent fixture on kids TV schedules, meaning the 1993 gaming tie-in was something of an inevitability. What was rather less inevitable however was how good it would turn out to be; whilst the Streets Of Rage games would continue to rule the roost when it came… Read More

Before Namco were able to make a healthy living off of their Ridge Racer and Tekken series, they had endured a largely indifferent 16-bit era. Famed in the eighties for the likes of PacMan, Galaga and many other coin-op classics, the mixed reception that greeted Splatterhouse 2’s release in 1992 meant the Japanese giants notable… Read More

Double Dragon is testament to how far gaming has come in such a short period of time. And I’m not talking about the advent of polygons, 3D or ‘emotion engines’ either – in the five years between its original arcade release in 1987 and its eventual Mega-Drive bow in 1992, DD had gone from being… Read More

At a glance, The Steel Empire may not look any different to a hundred other early nineties shoot ‘em ups. To the untrained eye, it’s routine, by-the-numbers and doesn’t stand out. Invest some time in it though, and you’ll be rewarded a little more with each play and despite the shortcomings that deny it classic… Read More

It’s almost become a custom these days in the gaming industry to see a blockbuster film hit the cinemas in all its glitzy glory, and then be quickly followed up by a lukewarm video game tie-in, that plays on its licence to sell rather than its quality. This got me thinking about Disney, who seem… Read More

In the mid-nineties, the world was introduced to game consoles that finally had the power to deliver accurate 3D environments and playing levels. Suddenly a host of new genres were born out of this phenomenon; 3D platforming and survival-horror to name but a couple. It wasn’t all good news though – scrolling beat ‘em ups… Read More

With so many new games appearing these days, the newer generation of players may struggle to recall Outrun, which was arguably Sega’s second most popular franchise of the Mega-Drive era, behind the massively successful Sonic legacy.
Released into the arcades way back in 1986 (a year before I was even born) and eventually making the transaction… Read More

Combining that oh-so-illusive fun factor with immaculate presentation and imaginative design, Sega’s Golden Axe was a hit back in 1989. Mega-Drive gamers the world over consider the classic hack ‘n’ slash adventure to be among the highlights of the 16-bit era of gaming, and though Golden Axe wouldn’t be considered a huge success by today’s… Read More

Here’s a racer that few of you will have come across, as it was a rather low-profile release back in 1992 for the Sega Mega-Drive. It isn’t the type of game you’ll find easily of course, though given the current trend for companies to re-release all of their old 16-bit titles on the Game Boy… Read More

Back in 1991, SEGA released the now-legendary scrolling beat ‘em up Streets Of Rage; a fantastic, terrifically enjoyable title that simply oozed style and class. It made rivals such as Double Dragon look positively ancient, and did plenty to improve the image of video games by introducing console gaming to a broader audience.
Fast forward a… Read More