GravyThief

I used to love this show. As a young child I really got into it, I found it a bit scary. I think it was that life force sequence when you get close to death.

I was wanting to pre-order this, but not at £105. So I’ll be passing.

A great read, thank you! It’s been over 20 years since I’ve played it (although I do own it!) but I can still remember how I controlled it, using the C buttons to strafe and analogue stick to move and turn. It’s ingrained in me!

What control set ups did most people use? I’m guessing they couldn’t do the dual controller thing with it being 4 player?

Very interesting read. Never heard of this before, or the RAZZ arcade board even. Thanks!

I like hip hop about as much as I like stepping in dog poo, so reading those artists means nothing to me. Except for MC Hammer. Now I’ll definitely agree he’s a legend!

Great read, thanks Martin. Glad to read a piece from you again, hopefully we see some more updates on your blog soon, although I’ve seen you’ve been competing in a Goldeneye Tournament 😀

As someone who’s played all the obvious classics I remember from my youth, I’ve enjoyed going through more of the library. I thought Castlevania 64 was great, despite the negative reviews. Such good music and atmosphere. Goemon was also cracking, with awesome music too. I need to play the sequels to both of these.

Next on my list are the Bomberman games. I really like the look of the top down puzzle, platform adventure style gameplay. Again games that received negative reviews at the time because they weren’t what people expected, but in hindsight I think they fare better.

Has to be original hardware and CRT for me. I’ve tried hooking them up to HDTVs with various gizmos but no matter what anyone says, they just look rubbish in comparison.

It has to be original hardware and controllers as that’s part of the experience for me. Anything else just doesn’t feel right.

I do use flash carts though (and Verbatims for disc based systems). While I do have original cartridges and discs, I just like the option of being able to play any game that takes my fancy without worrying if it costs hundreds of pounds or not. But I do have most of the games I liked as a child, the boxes and manuals for those games is part of the nostalgia.

Dodgy FMV in Doom would have been just glorious!

Really interesting read, thanks! As someone who’s never owned or played an Xbox, I didn’t really know anything about Fable’s development and always assumed it was a Molyneux game, so I’m glad I know better now! If I were to ever get an Xbox, Fable would be one of the first games I played on it.

I agree that RR type 4 has the best soundtrack in the series. The 20th anniversary soundtrack has some great remixes of some of the already awesome tracks.

I actually haven’t played RRV yet, despite owning it. I have great memories of playing all the PS1 games and spending hours on them, but never owned a PS2 during its time of release so missed out on it. I’ll have to rectify that.

Excellent article. I know very little about the Jaguar and its history so this was very educational and interesting. Thanks!

I’m really not into this MSU business. I just don’t think sticking orchestral music on 8 bit or 16 bit games particularly enhances the experience (from what I’ve seen, the majority of them just whack orchestral arrangements into the games).

I particularly don’t like the Zelda Link to the Past one. If I recall they whacked a cringe worthy cartoon sequence at the start where Link and his Uncle are chin wagging (yep Link talks!) and Link has some horrible whiney voice. It would have sounded better if they just cut his voice from the 80s cartoon and he was going ‘excuuuuuuuuse me’ as he tried to get past his Uncle who was doing the dishes or whatever.

While I think this is technically impressive, and I have access to MSU via my SD2SNES, I’ll be sticking to the originals thanks very much.

I don’t know much about the Amstrad other than it existed and was done by Alan Sugar. I had a C64 growing up, and of course I know about the ZX Spectrum and many of its games, despite never having owned or played one.

But I’m less familiar with the Amstrad, and even less so with its games, so I found this article really interesting, thank you. I must say graphically these look much better than the typical games on the C64 and ZX Spectrum. I clearly missed out!

I am one of the 5 people in the world who still hasn’t played Skyrim (I’m also one of the 3 people who hasn’t played GTA5).

I do own a copy of the PS4 Remaster, but I more got it for my wife than myself. To be honest, open world games with copy/paste chores (sorry quests), crafting, skill trees and inventory management (of thousands of items!) bore the heck out of me. Once you get over the world, it’s a job, not a game.

I found the same with Breath of the Wild. To me that isn’t a Zelda game, it’s a To Do List simulator with some Zelda characters in.

But regardless, this was an interesting read. The Elder Scrolls is certainly a series with a great history and I’d probably prefer the earlier games with their smaller worlds and less complex systems (maybe).

I wish I’d have owned a PS4 back when this released. As I didn’t I never got a chance to experience it.

It’s a shame Kojima and del Toro went from this to Death Stranding, as while I’ve not played it Death Stranding does not look anywhere near as good. Hopefully they revive this, just without the Silent Hill branding. There’s nothing in PT that relies upon Silent Hill from what I can tell.

It was Ridge Racer Revolution I spent the most time with. It had more tracks or layouts of the same track (I think?), but also had the white car to beat and unlock as well as the black car. I remember playing it for hours until I unlocked both, I had a real sense of achievement when I did. I seem to remember the way to beat it was to block it from passing you as once it did pass it was gone.

@Damo that picture of Super Famicom games is a sight to behold

The C64 is a strange beast for me. It was the first games computer/console I ever had and played, but I was very young and found most of the games extremely difficult and glitchy so I don’t really hold much nostalgia for it. I probably didn’t play the best games given I don’t recognise most games on this list!

The games I remember playing most (I’m not saying these are any good!) were:

Freak Factory (scared me as a child!)
The Last V8
Combat School
Turrican games
Game Over
Moon Shadow
Various Dizzy games
Blue Max
Dan Dare

This article has piqued my interest for playing these games again! I’m guessing it’s easy playing C64 games on PC via emulation? I’ll have to take a look.

Interesting read, thanks. I enjoy short games given my busy real life, so will play this at some point soon.

It would have been nice to include a picture of the logo you discussed in the article. I had to Google it to see what you were talking about.

I wouldn’t mind owning a physical copy of this game for the SNES. Oh it’s Limited Run Games. Guess not then.

Really interesting read. And thank you for adding the video at the end 🤣

Really interesting read, thank you. Really enjoying this new site so far.

I notice this phenomenon when I’m exercising and doing planks. When you you’re staring at the carpet really close up, the different shades of fibres and speckles make it really easy to see faces in the pattern!

I’m from Leeds too! I mean, so are a few hundred thousand other people too, but still, it’s the last thing you expect when reading an article about someone who featured in a set of French Sega adverts from the 90s!

I’ve never come across these adverts before. I’ll definitely be checking out that compilation video when I get chance.

An awesome read, thank you! I’m looking forward to more articles from this new site.

Great to hear from Pete from Genki Video Games in this article. I’ve ordered numerous Japanese games and hardware from him over the years. I recall putting an order in for Bomberman 64 (the Japanese exclusive one) with him and having to wait for the palett to arrive from Japan. It took a while and it felt a bit like the whole grey import scene from the 90s again…. Except I didn’t have to pay until it arrived and didn’t have to send a Postal Order 😀 I highly recommend his site for anyone interested in Japanese games.

I also blew a US SNES power brick when I plugged it straight into a UK socket with a shaver adapter (so no step down!). I remember the pop and acrid smell all too well. It was the first ever foreign console I’d imported, but thankfully it just blew the power brick and not the console itself.

@Rambler same here. Never had an Amiga but my friend did, and the few times I played on it I was enthralled by how different it is and the games are to your Nintendo and Sega consoles. It almost has this ‘mythical’ status in my mind!

Does anyone know, are most Amiga games available in this WHDLoad format? And are they easy to find on the internet?

I’m tempted to get one of these, but I’m not willing to pay the price for the included games alone.

The games I’d like to play off the top of my head are Hero Quest, Space Crusade, that Geoff Crammond F1 game. Probably loads more, but that’s what comes to mind right now.

Not really sure I get the point of going to all this effort if you’re just playing your carts via emulation on your PC. By that point you may as well just play the ROMs and cut out the faff. But what do I know?

Much closer to the original than I was expecting, going by this trailer, which is a good thing for me (i.e. someone who was alive in the 90s and watched the originals).

They should bring back Bad Influence too.

No idea if this will work and be any good if done now, but I’m certainly intrigued enough to watch it when it releases. I have no interest in watching celebrities (who I probably won’t recognise) playing FIFA, Fortnite or COD, but I’d certainly like to see how the retro sections play out.

Also I wonder if they’ll be aiming this towards man children like me who grew up with the original show, or kids/teenagers now who enjoy the above mentioned games? Or both?

I’m intrigued anyway. I’ll keep my eye on this!

@andykara2003 I’m with you there. I even love playing old consoles via RF on a CRT, it’s just so nostalgic for me! Obviously RGB is the best though.

I have looked into things like the Franemeister and OSSC in the past, as I know one day my CRTs will die. But I always end up down the rabbit hole of all the hassle that comes with it, like OSSC settings for different consoles, even different games on the same console, issues with resolution switching on PS1/N64 games, will my TV be compatible with all the modes the OSSC has, lag on the Framemeister etc. And I just can’t be bothered and stick to playing on my CRT. I do have a RAD2X cable for my Nintendo consoles, as whilst not the best picture it’s just easy plug and play. Will get a RAD2X for the PS1/PS2 too, then I should be done!

I wonder if the emulation will end up being as smooth as its development

I missed this earlier in the year, so thanks for publishing it again. I’ve never read this story before so glad I have now

My dream is an Analogue console for every retro console I have and play, along with one of their DACs so I can play on a CRT or HD TV as I see fit.

Considering an N64, PS1, PS2 and Gamecube are on that list, I’m not sure it will happen before I’m too old to play.

Here’s to wishful thinking.

I did know this at the time as it was one of the control options and even showed two controllers on the screen. This was 1997 though, and using two analogue sticks at the same time just didn’t feel right. I think I gave it a go but quickly stuck with the one controller option. I managed to compete the game on all difficulties with one controller so obviously it was fine. I’d like to give the dual control scheme a go now.

Can the dual control method be used in 2 player?

As someone from the UK, I’d never heard of these magazines before, but it was still a very interesting read. Thanks!

It certainly appears more positive than it did a year or two ago, and from what I’m reading and seeing on YouTube the emulation seems impressive. Especially for the Saturn.

I’d love to see PS1 games from this compared to the new PS1 digital mod recently released, to see how impressive it is.

I’m not normally a fan of software emulation, but I do see the appeal of an all in one system like this if the emulation is of good quality. I look forward to seeing MLiG’s and Digital Foundry’s analysis.

If they ever manage to get a module for N64 released with good quality emulation, I’d be very interested.

Who is bank rolling all this by the way? Given how long it’s been in development, it must have some serious money spent on it already. I’m surprised they didn’t go bankrupt ages ago.

@ThanosReXXX it would be nice to be able to run the gameS without having to load up SWISS, but of course it’s no hardship if not.

Another nitpick question I have is whether the Gamecube still has its normal start up sequence with this installed? It’s my favourite start up of any console so it would be a shame if it loses it with this installed.

But ultimately this device looks awesome, and the fact no soldering is required makes it so much more desirable. I’ll have to get one.

@Damo does this circumvent the region locking of the Gamecube, so I’d be able to make backups of my USA games, load them onto the SD card and play them on my PAL Gamecube without needing to use a Freeloader (or an ISO of the Freeloader)?

Will something like this ever be available for the PS1/PSone and PS2? I think something exists for the PS1, but it requires soldering if I recall correctly. Those consoles would definitely benefit from this, as from my experience their drives are much more prone to failure than a Gamecube’s

@samuelvictor thanks for all of that info. I never realised the Dizzy games and their names were so confusing! The only way it could be more confusing is if there was a Gryzor Probotector Dizzy.

I only recall the Commodore 64 Dizzy games (with their big boxes) from my childhood, so I’ll have to check out the NES versions.

I would love for the Nintendo and Sega mini consoles to take this approach. Have their games in a mini replica cartridge that plugs into the console. It means they could sell future collections easily (say 10 or 20 games per cart) rather than release a new console each time they want to release a fresh set of games (assuming they even do that at all, nobody has yet).

I really like the idea of this, but not with the current selection of games. If that ever improves, I’d consider getting one.

Oh goodness. I can’t believe he’s died, so young too.

I downloaded most, if not all, copies of Super Play in pdf format from various places on the internet a couple of years ago, and read them all. Despite completely missing this magazine back in the day, I got completely sucked into the ‘club’ like I was there at the time. You really felt their enthusiasm for the SNES and Super Famicom, especially the JRPGs that either only made it to the US, or never left Japan.

I’m gutted to hear about his death 😞

Excellent read, many thanks. Now, when will you be interviewing the Stamper Brothers?

Nice to read a Rare story that isn’t DKC or Goldeneye, so thanks for the read!

I remember getting KI for the SNES back in Xmas 1995 along with SNES Doom. Most of my time was spent with Doom (I was obsessed with original Doom back then) so KI didn’t get much of a look in. I’m not the biggest beat em fan, and I don’t think I ever managed to pull off an Ultra combo, so I didn’t get to enjoy it to its full potential. Still, I have great memories of its graphics and style and that awesome music CD!

Never heard or read these stories before, so this was a great read, thank you.

I was an avid video game fan back in 1993 but I don’t remember any of these SEGA Pirate TV adverts. I’ll check them all out on YouTube when I get chance.

I have their NES and SNES compendiums, and their SFC Box Art book which is probably my favourite. I’ll definitely get this, but I have a bit of a backlog of gaming books to get through at the moment. I do love a good gaming book.

These articles make me want to buy an original DMG-01 and loads of loose Game Boy carts so I can lay them all out on a table and take pictures.

I am being serious 😀

Hopefully Analogue keep on releasing new versions of these old consoles, so my original games will still have a use. Not sure if they’ll ever get into CD based systems, and I imagine the PS2 generation is out of their reach, for now at least.

I have the Super Nt, and whilst I’m a die hard original hardware and CRT retro gaming fan, it’s an amazing piece of kit, and provides me with more flexibility to play SNES games, whilst being able to go between both my retro and modern set ups with the same games, with no compromises.

I’m not as into Sega as Nintendo, so don’t collect any of their systems or games, but this Mega Sg would be ideal. I’ll pair it alongside the Mega Everdrive, and will basically have access to the entire Master System, Game Gear and Mega Drive library in just two pieces of kit. Sounds good to me!

@Raphi7 coax probably wasn’t a good word for me to use! Of course I won’t push her in any way, she will like what she likes and that’s fine by me. If it happens to be games, I’ll be very happy.

Given how she already tries to grab controllers from me when I’m playing in front of her, I think she may already be a gamer. The best was when I handed her an unplugged SNES controller when I was playing for real, she was bashing it alongside me. It was so adorable, I can’t wait to play games with her for real.