The weather in March was lovely. Now we have entered April the weather has turned for the worse. Hail, thunder and torrential rain coupled with colder than average temperatures can mean only one thing. Yes, it’s Car Boot season once again. Ah yes you can almost smell the hotdogs and burgers from the comfort of your own room. Never has there been more fun from being crammed into a tiny field at 7am on a Sunday morning than by going to a booty.

A perfect site for sore retro eyes - there be bargains to be had out there !

So here are a few tips to keep you on your guard during the next few months :

1. Always take a small bag or rucksack with you. I made this mistake many times believing that it was either too late in the season to get any bargains or there won’t be any booters around because it was holiday season. Never underestimate what might be there.
2. Park as close as you can to the car boot as is possible. Nothing hurts more than carrying round a boxed Nintendo Gamecube Donkey Konga set, as I experienced 3 years ago. You can’t always park close but if you do make a large purchase like that don’t man up and think that because you only have a few rows to go it won’t hurt. It does.
3. Get there early. I know some of these things start at stupid o’clock but even arriving an hour after the boot starts means you are likely to have missed something. These places are full of traders and specialists who will be there when Dawn cracks. If you want the best stuff, get there early.
4. Get in early. Almost the same as above. Don’t leave something to chance as in “I’ll come back later”. If it is something you want, buy it there and then. It won’t be there later.
5. Use your own judgement. If you think you are paying too much for something then say so. It’s always best to barter, after all that is what car booting is all about. In most cases the seller will have added a couple of quid to the asking price so if you knock them down they are still getting a good deal. I should take my own advice sometimes – I tend to consider the price and think if it’s fair I’ll pay it. If it’s too much I’ll walk away rather than haggle.
6. Watch out for traders. You’ll know who they are. These are the ones who have priced high and won’t move on it because then you will be eating into their profit margin. Occasionally you can get a good deal if you buy a few things but on most occasions if it is priced highly it is priced to sell and not to be knocked down.
7. Check the condition. This is particularly with disc based games. No one is going to shout at you if you want to look at the state of a disc. If they do, then they have something to hide. Always check the contents of the box too because you might not be getting what you think you are buying, but then again I have had the odd bonus find with an extra disc inside.
8. Be sensible. Nothing pisses people off more at a car boot than someone being aggressive when it comes to haggling on prices. It’ll get you short shrift and leaves a nasty taste in everyone’s mouth. Bite your tongue if someone is being a wanker and move on, don’t get involved and start anything. It will only end in tears. Some of these places are very well marshalled and some I have been to have police officers close at hand.

There are also a couple of tips if you fancy parting with any of your collection :

1. Be realistic with your pricing. Not everyone goes to a booty with £100 in their pocket so just consider this if you think marking up your dusty PS2 with a few FIFA and WWE games at £25 is going to attract many buyers. It won’t and you’ll end up taking it back home. If you want to make that sort of profit then shove it on eBay. Go to a booty, price sensibly so you make a few quid and enjoy it.
2. Beware the trader. We’ve touched on these guys before and they will become very persistent in wanting your stuff before it goes on sale. As soon as you arrive they’ll be hovering round your car, peeking inside and asking questions. You can either do two things – give in or sit inside and wait until they have gone. They’ll want your stuff and will pay only a fraction what you want for it, and you will guarantee walking around afterwards they’ll be selling it on their stall – at a much higher price than you sold it to them. Hold your ground and be strong.
3. Be kind. If someone is trying to rip you off – and this applies to selling as well – just a few kind words and send them on their way. The last thing you want to do is get into a scrap at a booty. If they try and knock down your prices, go with it and drop if you can. If you can’t, say so and be honest. If they get all aggressive about it, just be polite. Don’t let people bully you either – after all unless you are trading or selling for charity you have your own limits set and if they don’t agree with them that is their problem.
4. Do your research. It’s always best to try a few boot fairs as a buyer and see how busy they are. Do some internet searches as well and see if you can find popular sites. The last thing you should do is join a gaming forum and ask people where good ones are. Chances are most retro gamers won’t reveal where they go for fear of an influx of buyers. There is, most definitely, a difference between standing in a field and making a decent wad and standing in a field and making 12 sales all day, believe me I had the latter happen because I didn’t do my research. A good source of information is the local free paper as there always a few adverts about upcoming and long running events

So there you go. This is not a definitive list by any standards, nor should it be taken as gospel. This is simply me passing on my experiences to you. The best advice of all, buying or selling, is to simply go and have a good day and pick up some great bargains or make a few quid.

Now get out there and grab a bargain before they are all gone.....or I get there first

As birthdays come and go, every now and then one of them is a milestone. Be it 16, 18, 21, the dreaded 40 and the even more dreaded 65 – only one stands above them all. That is the Big One and RetroBear joins in the centenary celebrations of Retro Gamer Magazine…..

Happy 100 Retro Gamer !

Usually I shun birthdays as I have no wish to be reminded just how old I am getting and how young I actually used to be. However there is one birthday I shall be raising a crafty glass to this week and that is the milestone reached by Retro Gamer magazine – it’s sparkling, glittering 100^th issue. 8 long years in the making and the publication is still going from strength to strength, packing loads of pages with lots of articles about the games from the past.

When it started in 2004 there would have been much trepidation as to how successful a magazine could be, especially with the subject matter being in the past. There must have been a demand for it, but given how collectable retro gaming has become in the last 2-3 years there can be no doubt that as us gamers who remember all the old games get older we wish to be reminded of just how much fun computer games were back in the day.

The very first issue of Retro Gamer - which is being reprinted and available as a free gift with Issue 100

So how can a modern publication, now published monthly as opposed to quarterly and surviving the collapse of their original publisher in 2005, find articles to fill their pages with. Well it’s quite simple really. There is a news section, a calendar featuring key dates in gaming history, a look back at 2 months in retro history, game reviews, players guides, arcade reviews for those gamers who restore old cabinets. There are also future classics featuring games which will be retro in the future, the compulsory letters page, interviews with programmers, games designers and retro gaming figureheads and reviews of new games, as well as retro reissues.

If you throw all that together, as well as a series of articles looking in depth at how retro consoles came about, you get an idea of the wealth of information that is out there. Many of those previously in the computer and video game industry have stepped forward to be interviewed and talk about their experiences back in the day. The sheer passion they still have comes out in interviews and articles. They must be surprised as anyone at just how their comments and insights are lapped up by gamers, both old and new.

I have been a subscriber for nearly 3 years after picking up my first issue back in the summer of 2008. While I haven’t necessarily been interested in all of the articles and can certainly claim to have gone back and read some of the ones I skipped just because I wanted something to read, a huge proportion of the magazine is of great interest to me and a fabulous read. In the day and age of blogs and websites such as these, one must bow down and accept that Retro Gamer magazine is the bible for gamers from all works of life.

Issue 53 - ah yes the delights of Track and Field, or as it is more commonly know, Sore Wrists and Broken Joysticks

For someone brought up on the likes of Zzap64, C&VG and Amiga Format, Retro Gamer has been the first publication for a very long time I have wanted to read again and again and again.

Gentlemen, RetroSection proudly salutes you and toasts you to 100 more fabulous issues.

Here;s to another 100 !

To close the February Free For All – which in all honesty has been a bit of a disaster content wise but Bear with me because the Mega Drive is up next and I absolutely love that machine – I thought it best to close out with another patented RetroSection list. They are easy to do and don’t require too much taxing of the old brain cells. I can feel the writer’s block gradually lifting and personally cannot wait to get my teeth into the mass of Mega Drive games that await me.

This game is like the February Free For All - a bit of a disaster.....

So join me as we bid farewell to February and welcome the much warmer, brighter and altogether more appreciated March with some more retro musings…..

WHY CAN’T I GET ON WITH……

STREET FIGHTER II – Hailed as one of the best beat em up games ever, and hailed by me as a button mashing nightmare of a game. I for one cannot and will not see the appeal of this side-on fighting game. I resent having to know all the button combinations beyond kick and punch. Too may of my formative years were spent being pulverised by people who knew what they were doing. Nothing was guaranteed to piss me off more than another night playing Street Fighter II on the SNES. Just for the record I tried to play it the other night…..and still couldn’t do any more than punch or kick.

SUPER MARIO KART – It might seem like this is turning into a hatred for all things Nintendo but I can assure you it isn’t. No matter what version of Mario Kart it is, I simply cannot think of anything worse – well maybe a night in playing Street Fighter II. If it wasn’t for the total unfairness of it all, I might like it. My friends have always agreed that there is a certain unpredictability about it and friendships have been strained because of it. I will admit a liking for Double Dash on the Gamecube, however, but that version along with Mario Kart 64 are regarded by many as inferior to the original Super Mario Kart – therefore meaning that I only like crappy versions of Mario Kart, which in my opinion is most of them.

WHY DOES THIS NOT EXCITE ME LIKE IT SHOULD…..

THE PLAYSTATION VITA – Seriously I am about as unexcited about this as I am excited to be getting a new motorised polisher for my car. The 3DS died on its arse when it was launched and only now, because of Mario releases, is it beginning to get noticed. Time will tell on the Vita but for me it’s not something I care two jots about.

N64 AND PS1 GAMES – Some of these games look absolutely  horrible now compared to when we first came across them back in the day. Two examples spring to mind – Turok on the N64 and Spiderman on the PS1 (Probably because I have played these two fairly recently). When Turok first came out it was well received but playing it now sees you running round in a foggy atmosphere with not much going on. Ditto for Spiderman which is ruined by some god awful polygonyish graphics at the start of the game. I know it’s meant to be a comic book but some of this is barely playable. Why have games like these aged so badly? Are they now more unplayable than less technically advanced games i.e. Frogger? Pop a PS1 game in your PS3 and you’ll soon find out.

IT’S TIME TO RUMBLE – SOME REASONS WHY SOME THINGS ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS (AND OTHER FANBOY ARGUMENTS)

WHO WOULD WIN A FIGHT BETWEEN :

C64 V SPECTRUM V AMSTRAD

The C64 had the most awesome music chip of all time
The Amstrad came with a green screen monitor
The Spectrum was responsible for a whole generation of gamers and coders

RESULT : I like music so the C64 just takes it from the Speccy

MEGA DRIVE V SUPER NINTENDO

The Mega Drive came in black whilst the SNES was sort of beigy cream
Sonic AND Mario – two killer games and practically inseparable
The SNES had Mode 7 tucked away to give some fairly impressive 3D stuff
The Mega Drive was the console which revolutionised home gaming and had at least a 12 month head start on the SNES

RESULT : Close to call but I’d have Sega’s black beast winning by a nose

AMIGA V ATARI ST

The Amiga, while occasionally suffering from lazy porting of games from the ST, was superior in graphics, sound and capabilities
The ST was crap

RESULT : Duh…...

GAMEBOY V GAME GEAR V LYNX

Although the Game Boy was monochrome it actually made the portable gaming market its own – and came packaged with Tetris
The Game Gear ate batteries and was the size of a small house
The Lynx did exactly the same as the Game Gear, and didn’t even have a TV Tuner

RESULT : Are you mad ? Game Boy by a distance

PS1 V SEGA SATURN V N64

Sony showed that you could make games using CD’s that were pretty good
The Saturn suffered because it was too late to market, causing irreparable damage to Sega
The N64 was hampered by being cartridge only which came in those silly cardboard boxes. Some games needed you to invest in an expansion pack because the cartridge was bigger in memory terms than a stock N64 could handle

RESULT : No looking beyond the PS1 on this one. The N64 comes a close second though.

DREAMCAST V PS2 V XBOX V GAMECUBE

The Gamecube and the Dreamcast could not play DVD’s
The XBOX was made by Microsoft, which in turn wasn’t all that bad a thing as people made out at the time
The PS2 was first to market, took hold of it and never let go – they were still making games for it in 2011 – and it outlasted all it’s rivals
The Gamecube never took off after a lacklustre launch
The Dreamcast never took off because Sega were last to market and despite making a damn fine machine, had no takers
The XBOX was made by Microsoft which turned out not to be as good a thing as people made out at the time

RESULT : PS2 takes it with the rest fighting amongst themselves for second place.

The following reasons are why Mario is better than Sonic, and why Sonic is better than Mario – at least, for arguments sake, that will give you something to mull over until next time :

It's the battle to end all battles, the rage in the cage, the rumble in the jungle - but who comes out on top ?

MARIO IS BETTER THAN SONIC because : He collects coins, thus ensuring a wealthy journey through his adventures. Sonic collects rings, which unless they are made of a particularly valuable metal, mean that they are worthless.

SONIC IS BETTER THAN MARIO because : He gets there quicker. Seriously if you were hanging around waiting for Mario to show up then you would be waiting a very long time. I am surprised the Princess never died of old age. There is an art to arriving early and with Sonic’s speed he will always be there on time.

SONIC IS BETTER THAN MARIO because : He wears the coolest looking training shoes. Mario wears dungarees which weren’t even fashionable in 1985 when Super Mario Bros arrived on the NES. Mario also has one of those dodgy 1970’s porn film moustaches which, being a plumber, means he may have a second career on the side we don’t know about

MARIO IS BETTER THAN SONIC because : When he opens his mouth he sounds like he looks i.e. A stereotypical Italian. When Sonic opens his trap he sounds like a 7 year old boy, and has done so for many years. It might be a nice idea to have Sonic’s vocal chords be a little more masculine in future

MARIO IS BETTER THAN SONIC because : The spin off games involving Mario and his supporting cast – Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Kart and Mario Party – are considerably better than Sonic’s – Sonic Spinball, Sega Superstar Tennis, Sega All Star Racing and Sonic Shuffle.

SONIC IS BETTER THAN MARIO because : His animated TV series didn’t have a couple of second rate actors pretending to be Mario and Luigi in some poorly scripted inserts before the low quality animation kicked in.

MARIO IS BETTER THAN SONIC because : Mario games make Nintendo consoles. Super Mario Bros was given away with the NES, whilst the third game in that series is one of the greatest games of all time. Super Mario World, again, was bundled with a special version of the SNES. Mario 64 launched the N64. Super Mario Galaxy is going to be a future classic on the Wii and the new Super Mario World 3D is going to shift a lot of handhelds. Sonic no longer has a console to call his own and despite games like Sonic R on the Saturn and Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast being rather good, both those systems died a death.

SONIC IS BETTER THAN MARIO because : He is just so much cooler than Mario. He’s the sort of character who you want to hang out with. Mario isn’t all that appealing and to be honest when all your best friends come from some fantasy world you have to keep visiting then you can’t be all that popular in the first place.

The battles shall of course rage on and the arguments shall continue, but one thing is assured : Mario & Sonic are probably the two most identifiable characters in video game history and shall forever be associated with it. In some ways that’s a pretty damn good thing…….

A quick look ahead to some of the fun things that are planned here for Retrosection in the next 12 months. Of course there will be other bits and pieces but the idea is to have a nice them for each month. Read on for more details….

12 months is a long time in video gaming...........

Each month this year I am going to have a theme each month. It will be devoted to a different console/computer and it’s games. These will as always take a random form of selection but will also allow me to include all my favourites and a few obscure ones as well :

NES JANUARY CLASSIC : Focussing on Nintendo’s grey box of magic, which whilst not my favourite machine of all time, was more or less responsible for kick-starting the video game craze again after the traumas of 1983

FEBRUARY FREE FOR ALL : Completely random games across the board and from all sorts of places and areas. This will be a lot of fun as I shall be going into unknown waters. Where possible I shall try and avoid any of the other machines making up the 11 other months of the year

MEGADRIVE MARCH MADNESS : One of my favourite consoles, the Mega Drive was one of the machines I was lucky enough to own first time around. Plenty of arcade and original classics and I shall really enjoy giving them a whirl

AMIGA APRIL APOCALYPSE : The first proper computer I ever owned and the machine all my mates had when we went to big school. It will at least give me the chance to dig Kick Off 2 out again – and maybe Sensible Soccer though that is a BIG maybe…..

MASTER SYSTEM MAY MAYHEM : I prefer the Master System over the NES for reasons I cannot actually explain. It will be interesting to see by the end of this if that is very much still the case

N64 JUNE JAMBOREE : My second favourite console of all time. From the moment I first played Goldeneye I was in love with the machine and for me it is the best console Nintendo have ever produced

DREAMCAST JULY JUBILEE : A very underrated console which suffered from release delays and a market which by that point had lost it’s trust in Sega following the launch disaster that was the Saturn. This though for me is probably my favourite Sega console of all

PS1 AUGUST ARMAGEDDON : Some of the games have aged terribly but you cannot deny that the PS1 was something of a phenomenon when it launched. It gave us a new player in the games market and a little grey wonder with some fabulous games

XBOX SEPTEMBER SMASH-UP : Like the Dreamcast, I have always felt the XBOX was underrated and under-appreciated. Yes it weighed a tonne and cost a bomb but it had massive potential. Give me this over the 360 any day

GAMECUBE OCTOBER O.M.G. : You can argue all you want but I class the Cube, XBOX and PS2 as retro simply because I do. The Cube suffered from a lack of decent launch titles and no DVD facility so gamers stayed away and picked up PS2s and XBOXs instead. Its a shame because as we shall find out there were some awesome titles for it

SUPER NINTENDO SUPER NOVEMBER : I had a lot of exposure to the SNES growing up so it does have a fond place in my heart. Most of those involved being pummelled on Street Fighter II but not all the memories were as bad as that

PS2 DECEMBER DEMOLITION : To finish with, arguably the greatest console of them all ? Well we shall see but with a massive back catalogue which is still being added to a trip through some PS2 awesomeness is most definitely called for.

Better late than never, RetroBear takes you on a journey by train to “That London” as he attends the first ever London Gaming Convention and has a thoroughly enjoyable time of it….

You may recall towards the end of November I mentioned I had been invited to the first London Gaming Convention not far from Arsenal Football Club. Well the good news is I did manage to attend. The bad news is it took me so long to write an article about it. However I can report that, despite a few teething problems, and those I can’t really comment on as I did not take take part, I found the whole thing to be really rather good.

It was held at the London Metropole University Rocket bar, which seemed to be a rather small venue for what this will hopefully branch out and become. There were various areas where you could go and experience gaming – a modern area for PS3, 360 and Wii fanatics, a LAN area for all the PC gamers, if 10 man Bomberman on the Sega Saturn was your thing then you could join in with that too, and finally a rather well stocked Retro area with more CRT TV’s than I have seen in a long time.

The well stocked retro area

Upstairs, there was a big stage where invited guests such as Guru Larry, Ashens and BrentalFloss all appeared, doing some Q&A sessions for the gathered masses. Elsewhere more modern gaming areas could be found and alongside that, an all out Super Smash Bros Brawl area with again up to 10 players at a time involved. It was also good to see a smattering of traders at the event, though one had to be careful with the wallet as the retro stuff was priced highly but all in rather good nick.

A smattering of traders meant those who brought enough cash with them could leave with a bagful of goodies

The event also ran alongside their usual Anime convention, with the games part being used for the first time. Whilst there is a certain amount of crossover between the two this was definitely more games orientated and the upcoming event in February 2012 plans to focus more heavily on Anime. All in all there was plenty to do and see and have a go on. I managed to revisit my love affair with Point Blank on the PS1 and, whilst some of the retro stuff broke down, there was still plenty of choice to sit down and sample.

The Q&A and audience participation stuff was good fun, but was marred by a lot of technical issues

The only criticism of the event which has been prominent is the organisation. A lot of events were cancelled or pulled at the last minute and upon arriving at the start time of 11am it was at least a further hour before the event managed to kick off. I spent a rather long hour waiting for everything to start while people ran round looking for cables. The bar was well stocked and very busy, and whilst the food on site looked and smelled great I think more thought needs to be given to the catering. There was very little to choose from and a long queue, so unfortunately like many others I preferred to wonder 250 yards down the road to McDonalds instead.

It was a long hour but at least the company was good

So all in all, with any new event starting up there are going to be a few teething issues and so this was not a bad event to go and see. The next event is planned for (to confirm) and if you are in the area it is definitely worth a look. I would once again like to extend my thanks to the team for their kind offer of an invitation and look forward to seeing them again soon. Meanwhile have a look at the images below for some of the goodies that were on general public play !

Atari Jaguar running Tempest 2000

More CRT TV's than you can throw sticks at - remember retro looks a lot better on one of these

You can't have a retro event without Sonic

The small arcade cabinet had literally hundreds of classic arcade games loaded in and was incredibly busy

Driving games are ten a plenty but it is rare to find one that rocked the arcades that also rocks in the comfort of your own home. Those Friday night trips to Stourport-on-Severn must have paid off as RetroBear loads up one of the great Sega games from the last great days of arcade gaming…..

Driving games don't get much better than this and for once the spirit of the arcade original runs through it

There was a time when if you wanted to play the biggest, baddest and best looking games then a trip to your local arcade would suffice. There was always a great deal of interest when one of the games got the home conversion treatment. Of course none of the 8 bit machines could have hoped to replicate the arcade originals in terms of graphics, no matter how many magazines proclaimed these conversions as “arcade perfect”.

In the dying days of the arcade there were many fine games, but because of the shift in the industry to produce consoles capable of being more arcade perfect than ever, slowly but surely with each new release and each failed machine the arcades themselves began to wane. Nowadays these places are full of fruit machines and gamblers and to find one containing working games machines is harder than ever.

As close to arcade perfect as it was at the time, this was far superior to the Saturn conversion of Daytona

That said there were some belting arcade games that came about and Sega produced two fab racers that have lived long in the memory. One was Daytona USA which sadly I don’t have a copy of on the Sega Saturn, but brings fond memories flooding back of 4 machines linked together racing against my friends in the battle to finish first. The other was Sega Rally, which did find itself converted to the Saturn, and some years later an updated version to the Dreamcast.

As with the all best games, the premise is simple : drive your rally car through a variety of terrains – desert, mountain etc – and continually hit the checkpoints to extend the time. Sitting alongside you in voice only is your co-driver, barking out useful things such as “Long easy right, Over jumps, long easy left maybe” – giving you a heads-up on what lurks round the corner. The road surfaces change so you have to get used to sliding round corners and accelerating/breaking at the right time to maximise your speed.

The Saturn conversion of the game is nothing short of spectacular. It’s fast like the arcade original and the graphics were excellent for the time, though now they have lost a lot of their impact. The playability is still there with the “one more go” factor not only there but increasing after every play just to see if you can beat your times and fastest laps. The only downside was the clipped frame rate which added scenery as you went along, but this is a minor gripe.

Looks like a right turn ahead rather than a wrong one

It received rave reviews when released and many arcade fans were grateful that justice had been done. Playing it now it is still a very good racer, though 16 years after it’s original release there are obvious signs of it’s age. One of the first PS3 racers was an updated version, graphically tarted up but with the same core gameplay element still there. As good as it was, up against more modern racers like DIRT and Need For Speed : Hot Pursuit the game didn’t stand up to modern audiences and rather sadly was largely ignored.

Sega Rally stands as a great racer of it’s time, one the last true great arcade games. Dig out a Saturn and a copy of the game and let it rip.

VERDICT : Pole position all the way. It’s still a great racer even by today’s standards, though it is showing it’s age.

NOTES : Complete copies on Amazon for around the £2.00 mark, whilst on eBay prices start around £4.00 for the complete game

UP NEXT : Resist the temptation of the Dark Side – Shadows Of The Empire on the N64

Thanks Maz, it's good to be back....

I made a promise a few months ago to keep coming back and posting stuff on a regular basis. Shortly after that I decided to do a piece on Football Manager and that’s pretty much where I have been since. Yep I dug out FM 2055 and have spent a lot of my spare time playing that.

Therefore I am devoting some of my run time each day to sit down and play one game for each day in November. It could be any format or any genre (not football management as I have had enough of that for now) but that’s my aim. I’ll post my thoughts on here when I have played the game and let you know how I get on, and also anything else that springs to mind.

So RetroSection still lives, it’s just the Retrobear needs to sort himself out a bit better in the future…..

Seriously - how much ????

I know it’s been a while but it has been a very busy period in my life. So much has gone on in the last couple of months it’s almost as if my hobby of retro gaming has taken a back seat to some more pressing issues. The good news is that I am able to report that once again I am back up to speed and shall be posting articles as regularly as I did before.

For now the Commodorathon is taking a back seat. Not through lack of interest but simply through lack of time which I don’t have now that I did then (if that makes sense). I shall pick this up again when the time is right as it is still my goal to play through all 400+ games that I have. Maybe it was one shit Activision coin-op conversion too many that wore me down – after all not too many software houses of the 1980’s had such a bad record for ruining great arcade games as Activision.

Besieged by piles.....of games

By now I should have added to my many games with rich pickings from car boot sales. I have either been desperately unlucky or, as I fear, those articles posted in the Daily Mail and The Sun last year about how much they claimed old computers and games are worth have now filtered their way down to the fields of Britain. When I started my collecting in 2009 many great things could be found for a very reasonable price. Now I am faced with masses of PS2 games priced at £5.00 each or ridiculous pricing because people believe these things are worth a fortune.

Seriously if one more person says “I can get more for it on eBay” I’ll scream. If you can get more for it there then why not do it ? Surely it must be a better option for you to stay in your warm bed on a Saturday/Sunday morning, rather than getting up at the crack of dawn and make your money that way than purposely try to fleece some poor soul who believes they are getting a good deal. You know who you are, and let me tell you this : real retro gamers know when they are being taken for a ride. Not only are the prices on eBay falsely driven up, but now you can’t even go to the car boot and bag a bargain. It seems that this is also the problem with charity shops – hey I know it’s for charity but some of the prices are way, way off the mark.

He could be so good to you, only if you want him to

Before you think I am being a self-righteous prick about all this and appear to be crying into my soup that I can no longer buy a Sega Saturn unit (no power lead and no guarantee it would work, which it did as it happens) for £1, I’m not. It just means my hard earned money goes on other things or stays in my pocket. That and the fact I have packed up smoking means I am better off. I have lots of games and machines to play on so I am sorted. Yes it’s nice to add to them but I know when I am buying at the right price. Given the fact I have just purchased a house means that cash is at a premium so any new additions to my collection are going to have to be few and far between.

So where does that leave RetroSection going forward ? Well rather healthily actually. There are plenty of games to plough through, I have an extensive 16 bit console ROM selection and also the MAME arcade programme. Put all those together with a few known sites for playing retro games online and there is plenty for me to talk/rave/rant about. It’s just taken me a bit longer than I would have liked to get back to where I wanted to be.

So stay tuned, as someone once said – RetroSection is alive and kicking !

Playing games and kicking ass - that's the only way to be

An every day occurence for Retrobear - the endless struggle against the simple things in life

Its quite often hard to pick a favourite computer or console, let alone a favourite game from my collection of retro goodies. Quite frankly I would think about hurting the feelings of the ones I neglected and the amount of hours (or in The Running Man on the C64’s case, minutes) we had together, getting to know one another and the sheer joy that we gave to one another during those few stolen moments. OK, that is sounding a bit sick so I shall move on.

So I thought I’d just pick some games at random A-Z and give you my memories of playing these and how they rate in my own views (remembering these are my views and do not represent any mass consensus) :

Arcade quality graphics and sound ? Hmmmmmmm.....

A – Altered Beast (MegaDrive) – You wondered what Sega were up to when they bundled this as the free game when you purchased the console. It’s hard to imagine being blown away by it at the time, because the game simply hasn’t aged well. Poor graphics, unidentifiable speech and repetitive gameplay made for a harsh gaming experience. Still it was quite groundbreaking to see such big sprites in a game, and a decent (using that word loosely as there was very little to compare it to at the time) arcade conversion being on a home console.

The best driving section to a multi platform title ever.

B – Batman The Movie (Amiga) – Before Ocean got sloppy and started churning out clone platform games to go with their movie licences, this was the mould from which that was born. Platform levels, a puzzle levels, an awesome driving section and fly through Gotham in the Batwing made this one of the best tie ins of all time. It’s hard to fault such a game and it is revered now as it was then.

Those are planes and clouds, just so you know.

C – Combat (Atari 2600) – Probably the first game I ever played on the 2600. 27 video games in 1 ! Wow how spoilt for choice we were, although inspection found a lot of the games were different just with more planes and the invisible tanks. That last one gave me and my sister a lot of fun. Basic, aurally painful (bit like my sister) but so addictive – that is what games on the 2600 were all about. If only games nowadays had half the playability and less concerns with how they look and sound.

2 things that made Britain great in the 1980's - Daley Thompson and the C64

D – Daley Thompson’s Decathlon (C64) – The original joystick wangler, where strong wrists and a sturdy table were the order of the day. So began a fascination for teenage boys thrashing their wrists back and forth to achieve the crowning glory – a gold medal. With the advent of joypads the art of joystick thrashing was confined to history, and button mashing soon took over. How we all miss a good wangle now and then.

Hold on to your hats - if they have hats in the future.

E – Extreme G (N64) – Sort of like Wipeout but not actually anywhere near as good as Wipeout. Vastly inferior to F-Zero which remains the best SNES/N64 future racer. Extreme G isn’t bad, it’s just not very exciting. Quick yes, thrilling no. All substance and not a lot else.

"And it's Schumacher !!"

F – Formula 1 (PS1) – Do you remember the first time you not only saw this game move, but also heard what it sounded like ? It was like watching proper F1 with Murray Walker yelling in your ears. The proper TV on-screen graphics were there too ! Wow this was one of the games that defined the PS1 as the leading console of that generation. Fun to play, fab to watch and an absolute joy. It’s hard to say if this has been equalled by an F1 game since. If you disagree do let me know, I’d love to know what you think.

Arcade action looked like this in the mid 1980's on the C64

G – Green Beret (C64) – Also known as Rush N Attack on the NES. Either way this was one I couldn’t get to grips with. The basic premise of going left to right, stabbing or shooting anything that came your way looks incredibly dated nowadays. However this shouldn’t discount this game from its place in history. After all, every single game of this style after it owes a great debt. There have been better variants (Contra) and poorer ones (Cobra).

Not to be confused with the Texas song of the same name

H – Halo (XBOX) – Every machine has a defining game and this was it for the XBOX. It needed something fresh and something exclusive to show Sony and Nintendo that it could be Bobby Big Bollocks when it wanted to be. The fact the series lives on with the 360 versions says a lot. For me ? Well it was running and gunning in 3D which is fun for a while but it didn’t grab me and shake me the same way, say, Doom did on the PC.

Is it a bird ? A Plane ? No, it's a mole. A what ??

I – Impossamole (C64) – Monty Mole was one of the 80’s games icons, starring in a string of hit titles that got more and more difficult and hair pulling as they went along. Gremlin had the great idea to resurrect Monty for the Amiga and Atari ST owners, as well as existing 8 bit fans. Sadly Impossamole proved to be Impossible for a lot of gamers – whereas previously, frustration had been an element of the game now it was just plain annoying. Marked the beginning of the end for insanely hard platformers.

As we Brits call it over here - American Rugby

J – John Madden Football (MegaDrive) – One of the longest, if not THE longest running franchises in gaming history. Back when it wasn’t known as just Madden ** this was about as simple as it came when it comes to American Football. Simple playbooks, a small collection of teams and requiring the player to know less about America’s Game and more about just playing the damn game. Incidentally, the Madden series has been running since 1986 in some form or another and has survived on all generations of consoles and formats.

Back of the net ! Kiss my face !

K – Kick Off 2 (Amiga) – I have written about this game enough in previous columns, so all I can say is it’s the best game I have got that starts with a K. And it’s also The. Best. Football. Game. Ever. For. Console. Or. Computer. K also stands for Kick Ass, which is exactly what it does.

Pushing the Master System to the limit

L – Lucky Dime Caper Ft. Donald Duck (Master System) – There were many platform games for the Master System, with Psycho Fox probably being the best. I haven’t got that one yet so I plumped for Mr Duck’s first 8 bit outing. Not that it’s particularly groundbreaking, but it looks brilliant and plays very well. Donald went on to star in Maui Mallard (which I enjoyed immensely). It should also be noted that while this was released on the Master System, MegaDrive owners got the equally quacktastic Quackshot at the same time.

Mickey Mouse, (Mickey Mouse), Mickey Mouse, (Mickey Mouse)...

M – Mickey Mania (SNES) – From Donald to Mickey in one fowl swoop (enough bird related gags). The appeal of this for me was playing as Mickey through the ages, from Steamboat Willie onwards. A very fun 3D level being chased by a moose follows shortly after and while there are some incredibley difficult bits to negotiate, you just get lost in the charm of the thing.

Realistic looking isn't it ?

N – NBA Jam (SNES) – Now this I just found silly. I simply can’t go along with a sports game that isn’t trying to simulate it correctly. It has it’s many fans and while it is fun to play. I am not a fan of basketball and this just went over my head. Ashamed to say I have this on both SNES and MegaDrive as well as NBA Jam Extreme on PS1. Well thats what happens when you find them at 50p each at the car boot.

I wasn't expecting miracles - but come on ! Look at it !

O – Outrun (C64) – Horrid conversion of the amazing arcade game that drew punters in big style and caused much parting with 10ps at a very quick rate. Of course the Commie was never going to be able to match the arcade original, but what you got was a washed out looking, incredibly slow, pile of poop that wasn’t anything like the original it was based on.

Showcasing the very best the N64 had to offer

P – Pilotwings 64 (N64) – Now here was a game that not only improved on the original looks-wise but kept the great gameplay too. It’s hard to believe Nintendo didn’t attempt to make a Gamecube version of this game, which truly would have been stunning. Complete tasks and levels to earn your marks and pass your courses. A simple enough premise yet highly fun and challenging at the same time.

Errrrr quite literally unremarkable

Q – Question of Sport (C64) – Back in the 80’s there appeared to be a fad for converting popular TV quiz shows and board games to the home computer. This game us, for example, the home computer version of Pictionary, the popular drawing game. Retailing on the Amiga and ST for a mere £24.99 and £19.99 respectively in 1989 – yet the game could be played with a pad of notepaper and a pencil. Alas, QoS was not a good representation of the quiz show and was anything but remarkable.

The kind of game that gives motorcyle gangs a bad name

R – Road Rash (MegaDrive) – Upon first playing this game I was fairly nonplussed. Take a motorcycle along a road and beat some people up along the way. After an hour or so this became rather fun and eventually became one of the games I played most on that system. I don’t think other versions have come close to capturing this original version since, making it a landmark title in video games history.

"Easy left, over jumps, maybe"

S – Sega Rally (Saturn) – Not as smooth as the Dreamcast version and certainly looking raggedy in it’s old age, but the feeling you got from playing it was exactly the same as the arcade. It was one of the showoff titles for the Saturn, which sadly failed to make any impact on the market at all. Shame as it did have some good games for it, and this along with the conversion of Daytona, are two games any Saturn collector must have.

This game had time and involved a crisis. How about that ?

T – Time Crisis (PS1) – Having not played this in the arcade I was sucked into buying the PS1 version because it came with the Namco G-CON45 controller that looked totally awesome. Because firstly you could use said light gun with the other great Namco hit of the day Point Blank and secondly, I lost lots of time (literally) playing this back in the day. Recently I tried it on my LCD TV (remember folks, old school light guns won’t work with an LCD screen) and had to use the joypad. I still got close to the end but missed the feeling of crouching behind a crate, gun in hand ready to blow away some bad dudes.

Either that's Sesame Street or it's a meeting of the British Parliament.

U – Unbelievably I have no games beginning with U. Oh if only for a copy of The Untouchables !

So you create a rock hard character with a tough look....and then you call him Jeffry

V – Virtua Fighter (Saturn) – Like Sega Rally, this hasn’t aged well but was very much a precursor to what we have now in fighting games. At the time they were all 2D, but this was the first to explore that further and gave inspiration to the likes of Tekken and DOA. Both those games ended up being far superior and Virtua Fighter fell away. For me it’s not my favourite genre at all as I can’t be bothered to remember all the button combos. Punch/Kick is good enough for me.

Watcha gunna do ? Well pick Shawn Michaels, keep repeating his finishing move and complete the game very quickly if memory serves me correct.

W – WWF Super Wrestlemania (MegaDrive) – Every games console I have has to have a wrestling game for it. It’s like a tradition really, harking back to Ocean’s WWF Wrestlemania on the Amiga. This was the vastly superior version compared to the SNES release as it had all the proper finishing moves in it. Playing it now though, well it sucks on all kinds of levels. The entrance music themes are still good though.

As usual with games like this I have no idea whats going on

X – X-Men Legends (PS2) – Thank god for the X-Men otherwise this would have been the second blank entry on this list. Actually this is a damn fine game which is very like Marvel Ultimate Alliance in its gameplay, although predates that by a few years. Which reminds me I really should play more of it.

Quite a nice loading screen. Errrmmm not a lot else to add really...

Y – Yes Prime Minister (C64) – Not sure what to make of this. It seems incredibly like the TV show which was a bit before my time and does require a bit more concentration than I am required to put in at times. Maybe one for fans of the show as the humour seems to have been lifted straight from it.

I think Zool is in there somewhere, but my eyes are stinging from all the colour...

Z – Zool (Amiga) – The Miggy’s answer to Sonic in many respects, offering a platformer in the same style with the same speed. Whilst it was popular enough to spawn a sequel and made it onto the MegaDrive and SNES, the quite frankly ludicrous product placement and endorsement of Chupa Chups lollies was too much for some.

Well I hope you enjoyed that. Maybe we’ll do it again sometime, perhaps. Just as long as one of us remembers to bring a game starting with U. Oh, and Y as well as I have only got the one listed here. And maybe a couple more starting with X too……

PS You will notice a lack of games from the NES, Gamecube, Gameboy, Gameboy Colour, Gameboy Advance, Game Gear, Dreamcast and just one from PS2. I have all these consoles, I just didn’t include games I had on them. Maybe next time but this was done at random and that is what was chosen.