RETRO SPIRIT GAMES: INTRO

Hi, thanks for stopping by. Hopefully, like me you are an avid indie and retro gamer and have not just stumbled here accidentally while looking for a DIY store or sushi restaurant. OK, good. Having established that you are indeed a fan of games with a retro spirit we can continue.

You are probably thinking 'Yeah, but do we really need another blog about cool new Indie games and retro classics from the 80's, 90's and beyond?' (you have a bad attitude Mister!) and I don't really have an answer for you. There are quite a few places on the interweb to read about the games we love, but I hope that I can bring some lesser known titles to people's attention, or just wax lyrical about ones we all know about, and my passion for the games will shine through. This in turn will hopefully result in me becoming an online sensation, surrounded by hot babes and large stacks of cash, which I will dive into and swim around in, much like Scrooge McDuck. The ensuing cocaine fueled sex orgies will obviously leave me with no time to play or write about games until I hit rock bottom and check into rehab, which will then free up enough of my time to write many more reviews and features. Bravo!

As an introduction, I think I should give you a brief rundown of my gaming past. I have been a gamer since the Commodore 64 days (as a late starter in 1990) so grew up with cassette tapes, budget games that costs less than £2, one button joysticks, and waiting 20 minutes for a game to load (or not, depending on the tape's mood that day). However this also meant I was lucky enough to be around in the 8-bit era where things were new and exciting, where one person could develop an amazing game about a mole jumping over a teapot. Where the Commodore 64's SID chip pumped out mind blowing dance tracks and new games took you by surprise, as opposed to being written about to death online before release. Indeed it was an exciting time to be a kid. Saving up your paper round money so you could sit in front of your tv controlling a boy on a bike as he delivered newspapers.. ah this paradox makes my head throb so let's quickly move on.

The 16-bit era brought a fresh coat of graphical paint, games now looked and sounded even better, with beautiful pixel art that still captures the imaginations of gamers to this day. The aesthetics had changed but the same formulas for games remained. 2D platformers and shoot-em-ups continued to reign supreme, & continued to do so until the Sony Playstation arrived to pop our minds and take our money with its spectacular 3d graphics. With this arrival the 2D genre retreated into a cave and hibernated for a decade or so (yes I realise there were great 2d platformers like Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Little Ralf, and Klonoa on Playstation but I am trying to create dramatic effect so just go with it).

In the early 2000's, if you wanted your fix of 2D platformers and simpler games, you had to go to the handheld consoles. The Gameboy Advance was king, with titles like Wario Land 4, Ninja 5-0, Drilldozer, Astro Boy and more, it was as if the 16-bit era had never ended, just been shrunk into handheld form, like a ship in a bottle. Sony's new console, the PSP, also had its share of retro goodness, with JRPGs in the style of Final Fantasy, and many 2D reboots of known franchises such as Ghosts & Goblins, and Mega Man. Nintendo's follow up handheld, the DS, was also important in the continuation of the 2D genre. Fantastic titles such as the Castlevania series, and a new Super Mario Bros Game made it an automatic winner with Platformer fans, and proved that the DS wasn't just about doing touch screen crosswords and exercising your brain.

Now here we are in 2012 and the retro and indie gaming scene, along with the genres of yesteryear are back full swing and being enjoyed by both haggered change-o-phobes like myself, and the new breed of younger gamers. Games like Rayman Origins and Sonic Generations stormed the charts, Rising Star continue to release 2D shmups in territories outside their native Japan, the Xbox (& Playstation) download services continue to dish up a fine selection of amazing 2D and retro styled titles as well as HD remakes of classic games. Indie titles like Fez, Spelunky, and Dust: An Elysian Tale developed by small teams, are snapped up for XBLA and given a fresh lick of paint.

Yes it is still a great time to be a gamer and especially for those of us who love games with that Retro Spirit.

Happy Gaming !

Rob

Retro Spirit Games

So how will you know if your tastes match mine? I present to you my Top Games of All Time, so you can judge me accordingly. And of course, who doesn't enjoy a good list to read?

Some of the games may be considered poor, but many hold a special nostalgic element for me. Besides, these rose tinted spectacles are very hard to get off. Also, I went off consoles during the Gamecube / PS2 / Xbox era, preferring instead to use my PC for the awesome first person shooters of the time, so my favourites list for those consoles is quite small.