bring_on_branstons

@PGTips Would love that too. Surely there's a market for it through crowd funding?

I always thought it would be fun to do a version of Mean Machines (in the same style!) for today's market, much like what's been done here, but reviewing modern games and doing some classics from the past 30 years. TLoU... RE4... Red Dead... MGS... BioShock... how about Burnout 3 and Split Second!? (btw both of these are so good! 🤩 Still super peeved we never got a Split Second sequel.)

Hell you could even take pictures the old fashioned way and point a camera at a screen in a darkened room. I'd buy it.

Thanks for all the memories and games! 🙌

This looks Mega indeed. Those page layouts bringing out the nostalgia big time - they're spot on. Bit odd Jaz's cartoon portrait from Zzap!64 was used instead of his Mean Machines one.

Man would love a copy but guess it's nigh on impossible to get one. Unless I'm missing smth, looking at the website is there a digital version (PDF) to download? That would be really nice.

Shame the website doesn't have the same look and feel as the printed version - but I guess they're mimicking web pages from the 90s.

And for the record, Paul Davies era CVG was EPIC and SO much fun. What a time. Cheers Paul!

@Martin_H That's really interesting! Hadn't heard about the MC68000 before... oh what might have been. 👍

@Hairlesswookiee That's really good to hear - thanks!

@Cmatt1977 I still haven't taken the plunge with a Polymega despite really wanting one. The only thing really putting me off is all the horror stories of them not fulfilling orders. If they could guarantee a unit and modules I'd jump at it. Is there a good reason why they can't follow through?

Have you (or anyone else reading this) had issues with them?

@Martin_H I haven't said that at all, that the SNES was a failure! It's a phenomenal machine and my all time favourite.

I'm simply day dreaming and positing a 'what if' scenario as the SNES CPU is legendary for how slow it is and the reasons for Nintendo using it flummox me as they knew it was handicapped from the start. Money obviously comes into it, but I find it hard to believe that by the time the machine released in 1990 a faster and still affordable option wouldn't have existed, regardless of the machine spec being locked in a few years prior.
a: We might not have had as much slowdown in games that ran on the core machine like Super GnG and many others, or games that ran slower than their MegaDrive counterparts (EA NHL Hockey games being a good example),
b: using DSPs was not a cost effective solution for many third party publishers as explained above as they paid for them up front, and c: we would have had an even wider range of games on the system, maybe something like EAs F-22 Interceptor would have been more viable.

Not detracting from the system or the many many amazing games on it. Just would have been cool - that's all.

Now excuse me I'm off to play my SA-1 enhanced version of Gradius III with no slowdown... those bubbles be damned!

@Martin_H Well... by releasing the SNES with the processor they did, whilst it might have been cheaper, isn't it already obsolete?! It was a hybrid 8/16-bit chip so it's not the best option for seeing a new machine though a generation! It was far slower than the MegaDrive's CPU which was a machine released 2 years earlier! You're handicapping developers from the off.

But was it just a cost thing? Being Nintendo and recycling old tech, I'm sure that's a big factor, but one of the main reasons for choosing the Ricoh 5A22 was that it is from the same family of processors that powered the Famicom so this would have helped the new machine be backwards compat, although this feature was abandoned so this reasoning becomes null and Nintendo should have pivoted to a better CPU - especially when they knew they were having issues with launch games like Pilotwings. (Hence asking Jez San to develop Super FX). They easily had enough time to change it as they were showing Super Famicom stuff as early as 1988. That processor seriously compromises the SNES - EA were not keen to work on the machine in part because it was too slow.

If the core machine had a faster CPU, it would have benefited ALL developers. To presume they could just stick a DSP in there wasn't true for many and a risky idea to pass the cost onto consumers. Nintendo didn't have to pay anything extra in ordering DSP chips from themselves - it was much easier for them to use them than a third party where there was massive cost and risk involved. Developers ordered and paid for their cartridges/chips from Nintendo up front before making any sales so there was massive jeopardy involved laying out that much cost before you've even sold a single game - they wouldn't want to risk that extra cost for a DSP and pay for a load of games with added chips in them that might not sell!

Witness Street Racer - the publisher refused to pay extra for a DSP AND an 8MB cartridge, so it's a 4MB cart with no DSP to keep costs down (and a feat of programming brilliance). So it wasn't a simple option to just stick a DSP in there as developers - but if the core machine had been faster any developer and all games would have benefitted and we would have got more varied games on the system, and classics like Super GnG, UN Squadron, Castlevania IV and more probably wouldn't have had much if any slowdown!

Remember that the SNES was also capable of using FAST ROM cartridges which would have seriously sped up some games, but these were more expensive and not many games used them. Plus early games suffered from slowdown by writing in the 'wrong' language for the machine and as developers learned the ins and outs later SNES games were far less likely to exhibit slowdown. But this might have been mitigated with more processor oomph if it had been a faster CPU!

Ha looks really good! 20fps looking slick!

The SNES and it's array of DSPs really was bad ass. The tech marvels on that machine are so cool - SF Alpha 2 being another one.

Still peeved that Ninty knew from the start the processor was too puny and that they'd have to use DSPs for a lot of games and were speaking to Jez San about it even before the machine launched. Why didn't they just beef it up when they knew they weren't including back compat for the Famicom as an option? Doh, the cheapskates. Can you imagine the SNES with the same processor speed as the MegaDrive?! Would have been insane! Oh well, just have to enjoy the DSP/Fast ROM enhanced versions of classic games ppl are putting out today!

Gimme gimme gimme!
Hope this has a big enough print run to snag a copy!
and +1 for a HD remaster of Type 4 please Namco!

I bet C64 racing fans are in XTC for this....

Looks intriguing, and great to see a SNES version! (The SNES mock up box seems to amusingly have a variant of the SEGA Seal of quality on it and not a variant on the Nintendo one?! Oops. )

Tbh, I've been stung too many times with bad experiences backing games on KS, but will still check it out the campaign page when it launches.

@KingMike IKR! Bring Kamek back as well!
I haven't got a Switch 2 yet, but I did laugh when I saw Kamek was in MKW (kinda) and immediately thought of MK64 and those early shots. When he was added to MK8 Deluxe it also made me think of them...

Weird how those screenshots and things from that period are imprinted on my brain!

Cool - love the fly overs on each track. Presume you can mod Rainbow Road to take away those silly fences...

I was literally scanning through some old issues of CVG (reading Rage Racer previews) and MK64 was just being covered and they were distinctly and rightly disappointed with it's single player mode and cheating CPU racers. Paul Davies wasn't quite sure why he sometimes got a boost turning corners as it was a new feature and clearly didn't know how to do it! They also v astutely comment how the game has gone from the SNES's 70/30 split of racing/combat to being more combat based - sadly a trend which has continued IMHO.

At the time I thought it was a missed opportunity and not as good as the SNES one - not enough shortcuts, no coins, some great tracks but far too many middling boring ones (Toad's Turnpike, Rainbow Road, Frappe Snowland) and how and why they didn't think to put a proper shortcut on Kalimari Desert by riding down the train tracks still boggles my mind to this day... ;P (you can ofc drive down the train track but it's not of any benefit.) And where's my boy Koopa Troopa from the SNES game!?

Still played the heck out of it though!

I'd forgotten about this, and just picked it up on Switch and it's brilliant!
But why isn't it on PS?! Boooo! I want to play it on my TV (I only have a Switch Lite...)

@DeciderVT You're right - I'd misremembered - the SMS book was released and is discontinued, it was the Megadrive one which got cancelled!

@Ellie-Moo Yeah I remember that... it was an odd one! There have been a few other SEGA related books as well which released without issue. Maybe smth happened behind the scenes we're not aware of?

I think this book is an official collaboration - that's how they got all that juicy artwork and blueprints etc.

Ha yes, oh to have more shelf space and a big enough house! I've totally filled up my bookcases and now have to be incredibly picky about buying new books. One day one day...

Love love that cover! The Japanese MD logo was the best.

Sadly couldn't justify paying again for this, I'll just have to stick to my OG copy.

Would absolutely love to see ROM do the equivalent type of book like this for the Super Famicom/Super NES! Sadly Nintendo never seem to greenlight this type of thing though?

@Guru_Larry They are doing a new game in the series though, so it does make sense to build brand awareness and make people think about the original game.

Maybe they also drop some info on the new game at this event?

Nice to see them celebrate this I loved the original - when I played it (going from an N64 to Dreamcast) I couldn't believe how big the play area was and how it was all inter connected!

@mr_benn Exactly what I was going to say. No Rainbow: no deal!

Gorgeous! I got the SFC version of this and the Japanese artwork and formatting was an easy choice over the other versions!

I've always preferred the more daring and arty Japanese artwork and formatting produced over the years, at least until box art became the same regardless of region. No doubt the influence of Mean Machines and Super Play back in the day... but it's often far more daring and artistic. More stylistic. IMO. The Box Art Brawls on NL seem to disagree with me and often pick the Western versions and I often (not always!) seem to be in the minority picking the Japanese artwork! ;P

What a shame I'm not near there otherwise I would have loved to go. Bravo for trying...

Ohhh Peter Molyneuex... at it again...

I have too many amazing memories playing Bullfrog games in the 90s to not have a certain level of respect for this guy... but man oh man the Milo demo is him going full Wizard of Oz levels of deception.

Stark admission that they were basically lying through their teeth - which we all worked out years ago but to be so candid all these years later?! Lol. Pour fuel on the fire Peter why don't you! No wonder he has the reputation he now has. And yeah he's not alone in this space; E3 presentations can be notoriously dodgy and fake. Killzone 2 eh Sony and Guerrilla?! But he did seem to make a bad habit out of it.

I watched this live online back in the day and was blown away by the concept. It's still fun to look at today and wonder 'what if?!' He said they were demonstrating it behind closed doors - considering it was so stage managed did this happen and if so did people fall for it?! The guy even gave a friggin TED talk about it even though he knew it wasn't completely true?! That takes some nerve I'll give him that!

What a story of smoke and mirrors. I wonder if it could be achieved with today's tech as it genuinely looks fascinating.

Amazing Kim Justice doc on the rise and fall of Molyneux - well worth anyone's time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFZ92jySWe0&ab_channel=KimJustice

This is brilliant - I love and despair at this. Bloody hilarious actually.

I liked both the Saturn and Playstation. Only owned the latter but my flatmate at Uni had a Saturn and we had a lot of fun with it, plus I've been buying a lot of Jap Saturn releases recently over their PSX versions as they are superior (mostly 2D games.)

But this reeks of desperation from SEGA and it seems they knew the writing was on the wall before they'd even started.
Saying that the PSX doesn't have Daytona, VF and others is so funny. Ofc technically that's true, but Ridge Racer and Tekken say 'Hello! Hold my beer!' And considering how bad the Daytona conversion looked compared to Ridge it's even more egg on their faces. Toe curlingly desperate and embarrassing!

Although it does remind me of an article in C+VG where they were previewing the upcoming 32-bit machines - and they were very dismissive of Sony as they had no track record in the industry which is what this piece alludes to, so there was that general sentiment - at least at the beginning. Everyone thought that SEGA would carry on from where the MegaDrive left off. At first no one knew what was coming, but boy did Sony soon prove a lot of people wrong.

Good times good times.

@NeonPizza Mmm yeah well I live in hope for a PSX version release as well! It also had the extra cars to beat which I never managed to do when I was younger. That tech demo they released with with Type 4 of the original Ridge Racer track running at 60fps was so good - shame they haven't seen fit to re-release it as the full playable game!

I'm just going to be super happy to have arcade Ridge Racer on my machine and presumably moving forwards will be able to play it on future systems. It's no Forza in terms of content, but I absolutely love it and for me it's so iconic. I think it was Edge magazine #6 that had an image from it on the front cover and me and my mates all thought it was a real life photo it looked so good at the time. So many memories - and then yeah the PSX release was epic and completely pooh-poohed on Saturn Daytona from a great height!

Speaking of which - my copy of Daytona is annoyingly platform locked to my PS3 - come on SEGA, put all your arcade classics out there on current systems! Why wouldn't you?!?!?!

I absolutely adored Pyschonauts 2 - unbelievable game. Total delight.
I really need to play the first one as well.
Hoping for a third game at some point!

This looks really cool!

I doubt I'll back it on Kickstarter though - been burned far too many times on KS with developers missing deadlines, bad communication not keeping ppl up to date and then not releasing/giving out codes for the platform of my choice despite them saying they would. (In particular looking at you Victory Heat Rally...)

Not gonna risk that again.

I'll wait and see how it does and if it reviews well will definitely take the plunge, but not before.

Reminds me of the scaremongering in NMS magazine where they printed reports that cartridge converters that allowed you to play imported USA/JPN games on a PAL machine could damage your machine or wipe games with battery back ups. Always had the smell of Nintendo making them print that!

YES! Finally.
Hope this also comes to other platforms....

@Andee yeah that would be cool. I have a complete set of the 24 issues and most are in very good nick but they are quite fragile around the staples/binding!

@Andee https://www.outofprintarchive.com/catalogue/meanmachines.html

@MysticWangForce

Gibber....
Hoping something happens - I'll be wearing my special anticipation trousers till then.

Ha that's excellent - the tiny figures are kinda sweet - like a chibi version!

@city952 I do know who Timmy Mallett is (hell I even met him - I was on Wacaday) and I couldn't disagree more with you.

I loved the video and found it informative, entertaining and very well put together.

Why make a cynical comment that just dumps on someone's hard work, and more than that make a personal attack on the guy? Too easy to snipe from the sides hiding behind your monitor - let's see something you've made and then compare eh?

Fantastic - cannot wait to watch this!

edit - Absolutely loved it - fantastic video and OMG what a saga...

OK fine whatever - but please just give me an arcade perfect port of Ridge Racer....! Failing that the PS1 game would be friggin ace! And how about making Rage Racer available on the Classics label as well!?!?!??!?!? Eh?! Eh?!

Great article and also fair enough replies.

BUT the proof of the pudding is in the eating and as LRG seem to consistently make big amateurish mistakes, these cannot continue if they want more brand trust. If they're in the business of making old games which run on OG hardware, they should really know better and have more specialist knowledge and expertise in this field. It does reek of incompetence - especially as it's not a one off.

Personally I've ordered around 6 or so games from LRG and aside from the interminably long wait whilst they've been manufactured, they've all eventually arrived and I've been pleased with them.

Currently waiting for Castlevania Dominus Collection Classic Edition which I pre-ordered last September and it's due by end of April - 8 month wait. Not brilliant to be honest but as there are no alternatives have no choice.

Oh smhow I missed this....
Reading it now and loving it. I'm glad to see Jaz's signature writing style hasn't been diluted down! The words really do just flow off the page.
And another book in the future?! Gimme gimme gimme! I await with baited breath!

Reading this, I honestly just checked the date to make sure it wasn't 1st April...

Seriously WTH!?

Speaking of 1st April (and nothing to do with this article lol) - would love to see a TE article on the classic April Fool's jokes/tom foolery magazines used to pull. The AmigaDrive and a 'miracle port' of MarioKart on the OG GameBoy are 2 which immediately spring to mind!

@Deuteros +1 for a book on the grey import scene in the UK in the 80s and 90s!

@CraigGrannell It's definitely been mentioned on podcasts that both Jaz and Steve have been on. If memory serves Steve was more candid but pretty sure Jaz has spoken more openly about it.
I won't repeat what I've heard about it here (avoid spoilers!) but if you google podcasts for both of them you'll find out more if you want.
I was a big fan of both Jaz and Steve (loved Total!) so naturally interested to see what Jaz has written about in the book.

Gibber.

Been pant wettingly excited about this book ever since it was announced - cannot wait to tuck in.

As Damo says, Jaz (including his co-conspirators on C+VG/Mean Machines) is a total legend in my eyes and if he's reading this, THANK YOU for all the really amazing mags over the years - truly a halcyon time for me playing games which you played a massive part in!

This guy always reminded me of Andross' polygon face in SNES Starfox's final battles, albeit with some extra polygons!
The flat shaded polygons definitely have that same vibe. Makes sense that Kutaragi was so outraged by no textures - hardly makes the PSX look much better than a SFX chip!

Well this just looks amazing - congrats to everyone involved. I'll enjoy digging into this.

Ahh Astro Go Go - one of the first SFC games I bought from CEX Rathbone Place when they had the most insane and brilliant import department.
Good times - and a wonderfully weird fun game.

Colour me not surprised....

Didn't realise Iain Lee had a YouTube channel - love reading his column in RetroGamer each month.

UN Squadron/Area 88 on SNES/SFC.
TMNT Turtles in Time SNES version as well.

Always find it so weird on this British based website from a English writer the persistent use of the name Genesis. Sure that's it's name in the good ol USA but personally never liked it.
Megadrive much cooler IMHO.
Gotta get those American clicks I guess...

No matter, this looks impressive!

Really want one of these... one day one day!

@KitsuneNight Hahahaha - bravo.

I'd sooner invest in a "splat of Percy's purest GREEN" before this thing!!!

Baldrick levels of incompetence.

Who on earth releases a video where there's someone openly questioning if this thing sucks!? This child clearly has more common sense and intellect than the adults in the room.

What 'delights' await us next!?