LD!

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O

164 OF ICO
PAGES AMES
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NIC
Edition
Digital
VOLUME 6
 WELCOME TO

Can you remember the first time you played Skool Daze, or the
moment you received your first Game Boy? Perhaps you can
effortlessly recall that brilliant goal you scored in Speedball 2, or
can remember reading the first issue of Amiga Power like it was
yesterday. If all of those things are still fresh in your mind then you’ll
find our latest book an essential read. We’ve scoured the last 13
issues of Retro Gamer to fill this tome with the very best content,
from gigantic cover features to essential articles that give fascinating
insight into the creation of popular classic games. So run home, put
the kettle on, grab a slice of cake and enjoy the ride as we chat to key
developers about some of the greatest videogames of all time.
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 THE
ULTIMATE
GUIDE TO
CLASSIC
VIDEOGAMING

CONTENTS
8 ULTIMATE GUIDE:
SKOOL DAZE
46 THE BITMAP
BROTHERS
Everything you need to know about Discover how the popular coders helped make
Microsphere’s sandbox school simulator videogames cool

14 THE MAKING OF 54 30 YEARS OF THE

THE EIDOLON GAME BOY 8
We speak to the developers about dragons, We look at the colossal impact of Nintendo’s
fractals and spelunking incredibly popular handheld

18 50 YEARS OF KONAMI 64 THE MAKING OF

Discover how the Japanese publisher has AMIGA POWER
continually evolved over five decades Stuart Campbell, Cam Winstanley and others
discuss the popular Amiga magazine
28 ULTIMATE GUIDE:
SOLOMON’S KEY 70 THE HISTORY OF
We look back at Tecmo’s excellent platformer MORTAL KOMBAT 18
and revisit its many home conversions Ed Boon revisits one of the most popular one-
on-one fighting franchises of all time
34 THE MAKING
OF COLUMNS 80 THE TALE OF SNK
Learn how an after-work project turned into one We chart the highs and lows of the popular
of Sega’s most popular puzzle games Japanese arcade specialist

38 T
 HE MAKING 92 INSIDE THE
OF FANTASY PLAYSTATION 28
WORLD DIZZY Learn how developers were able to take
The Oliver twins reveal how they made the best advantage of Sony’s powerful 32-bit console
game in the popular 8-bit series
102 THE MAKING OF
42 THE MAKING YOSHI’S ISLAND
OF STORMLORD Hideki Konno and Takashi Tezuka explain how
We go behind the scenes with Raffaele Cecco they took 16-bit platform games as far as they
and revisit his controversial adventure could go with this fun sequel
38
6 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL
110 THE HISTORY
OF FALLOUT
Feargus Urquhart explains how the apocalyptic
RPG came to be, and how it evolved

120 THE MAKING OF

SONIC ADVENTURE 70 80 92
Discover how Sega pushed the Dreamcast to
make its first 3D Sonic game

130 RESI-RECTING
RESIDENT EVIL 2
We revisit Capcom’s excellent 32-bit sequel and
reveal how it inspired a brand-new remake

140 THE STORY

OF SHENMUE 102 110 120
Yu Suzuki on the successes and failures
of his ambitious Dreamcast series

150 THE HISTORY

OF BURNOUT
Alex Ward explains how Criterion Games
reinvented the arcade racer
130

46 64 140 150
RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 7
 ULTIMA TE
GUIDE:

8 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 ULTIMATE GUIDE: SKOOL DAZE

» If Eric gets penalised with too many lines,

he’ll get expelled and it’s game over.

35 years ago, publisher Microsphere took

us back to the classroom with its tale of
errant schoolboy Eric and his damning
school report. Pick up your catapult
– it’s time to… hit some shields?
Words by Graeme Mason

E ric has been a naughty boy.

Unauthorised absences, scribbling on
blackboards and the use of an offensive
weapon have all led to an appalling
term report. Should Eric knuckle down and study
hard so that he can improve his grades? Or should
he try and make sure that the derogatory report,
locked away inside the school safe, never reaches
his parents? We think we know the answer.
Set up not long after Sinclair announced the
ZX Spectrum, north London software house
Microsphere quickly established itself as a home
for quality games on the popular computer. Run
by the husband and wife team of Dave and Helen
Reidy, the pair began by publishing utilities before
realising the Spectrum’s potential as a games
machine. After The Train Game, Microsphere’s
breakthrough hit came with the motorcycle
smash Wheelie in 1983. When thoughts turned
to their next effort, the Reidys drew on both their
experiences as school teachers, plotting and
planning a game based around the so-called
‘happiest days of your life’. With Dave writing
the code down on paper, Helen typing it in and
their colleague Keith Warrington providing the
graphics, there was a cosy feel to development at
Microsphere. But the result was a classic 8-bit title
that broke the mould with its sandbox-style game
design before that term even existed.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 9

 CONVERSION
CAPERS
Which version earns extra credit,
and which gets detention?

ZX SPECTRUM
■ The original version of Skool Daze on the Spectrum is,
quite rightfully, the best remembered one. Coded by Dave
Reidy, with help from his wife Helen, the game’s charming
graphics, full of personality and quirkiness, were designed » Playtime is predictably frenetic, and keep an eye
by their colleague Keith Warrington. It’s not perfect – the out for Angelface!
push scroll can be annoying at times, and the sound is
sparse at best – but there’s no doubting that Skool Daze’s
In a move of genius, Skool Daze begins with playtime, and our hero is surrounded by the cast
iconic gameplay entirely justifies its position as one of the
each member of the cast strolling into the centre of his school, friends and enemies everywhere.
finest games on the Sinclair computer.
of the screen with an option to rename them in During this break, the teachers stalk the building,
turn. Einstein, the bespectacled child know-it-all making sure Eric and his cohorts maintain some
can become the school swot from your own semblance of good behaviour, and they’re named
class. Pudgy bully Angelface is transformed into in a quaintly amusing Bash Street Kids style.
your personal nemesis from the playground, There’s Mr Rockitt, the nerdy science teacher;
alongside Mr Wacker the patriarchal headteacher, Mr Creak, the history teacher who looks like he’s
and of course you can cast yourself as the star teaching most of history from his own first-hand
of the story. The game then commences with experiences; and Mr Withit, the younger and
friendlier geography teacher who addresses his
pupils as ‘chaps’ and strolls around with his hands
PIXEL PERFECT in his pockets. Finally, straight out of the pages of
The Demon Headmaster is Mr Wacker the cloaked
Welcome to the school of
hard knocks
COMMODORE 64 The Headmaster, Mr Wacker
■ With the Spectrum version of Skool Daze proving a Bookcase
smash hit, Microsphere began working on a port to the
Commodore 64. Released in the following year, it retains Headmaster’s office
all the elements that made the game such a hit, only
with improved sound. While the C64 Skool Daze’s similar
graphics didn’t endear it to some critics, the core sandbox
design worked just as well despite a few minor tweaks.
Sadly, sales were not as outstanding as on the Spectrum,
and it became Microsphere’s lone Commodore 64 game. The School Safe
Schoolboy The Sc
Blackboard
» Luckily, copies of Skool
Daze aren’t expensive so
you can experience this
great game quite easily.

The Swot, Einstein

The Bully, Angelface

10 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 ULTIMATE GUIDE: SKOOL DAZE

Gaining lines is an inevitability as Eric’s days at

school pass by. Determined to extract the report
from the headmaster’s safe, each of the school’s
shields must be struck in order to make them
flash. Only when all of them are flashing will the
teachers become disorientated enough to reveal
their secret combination letter, each one of which
is required to prise open that safe. That’s not all
however, as Eric must then cover his tracks and
‘unflash’ the shields by hitting them once more.
Only when this is done can our hero breathe » The remake features new graphics, but retains the feel of the original.
» [ZX Spectrum] That blank blackboard
is absolutely perfect for easily, until the next term that is.
writing a rude word on. You have to reach
it first, though.

dark lord of the establishment, gliding menacingly

throughout the classrooms, brandishing his cane
As with another 8-bit sandbox classic, Ocean’s
The Great Escape, Skool Daze has a set timetable
and routine to each cycle. Beginning with playtime,
Eric’s day proceeds with a geography lesson,
BACK
SKOOLTO
and dispensing lines to any schoolboy foolish revision in the library, science, dinner time and so
Skool Daze Reskooled brings a
enough to misbehave in his presence. on. Failure to adhere to this schedule results in
flavour of old school cool
These lines, given in random lots of hundred, the relevant teacher chasing after the young man,
are the unwanted currency of Skool Daze: accrue itching to give out a stack of hateful lines. And to Faced with recreating a revered classic for the
too many and Eric is expelled. Lines can be given make things even trickier for Eric, there are several modern age, Alternative Software has combined
for a variety of reasons, and not just the obvious random events that occur throughout the game, the timeless charm of the original with a
ones, such as punching a fellow student or firing presumably inspired by Helen and Dave’s real-life contemporary sheen in Skool Daze Reskooled.
your catapult at a teacher. Sitting on the floor, teaching experiences. For example, in one event, Many of the original’s characters are present
being in the wrong classroom and wandering into boffin Einstein has deduced your plan and is off to and correct: there’s the blonde Boy Wander,
the staff room will all net you a punishment, and tell the head; the only way to prevent the resulting a creaking Mr Creak, bespectacled Mr Rockitt
sometimes it’s not even your fault. In the time- 2,000 lines should he reach Mr Wacker is to make and, of course, Eric himself. And while the
honoured tradition, Skool Daze enables its youthful sure the swot doesn’t make it to his study in one sound effects have been jazzed up, the famous
inhabitants to be naughty and then get the rap piece. Or Boy Wander is at it again, labelling an two-tone siren that indicates lines are being
pinned on another pupil. Alas, this works both incriminating weapon (a pea-shooter) with Eric’s given out remains nostalgically in place. Eric’s
ways as Eric is often collared for the antics of Boy name and leaving it on the fire escape. Stop the first task is still to obtain his report by activating
Wander (the tearaway) or school bully, Angelface. headteacher before the tearaway can retrieve all the school’s shields and he now has a new
range of antics to get involved in. For example,
waiting by the school gates is his scooter, upon
“To have fun you didn’t need to which he can perform stunts. Also included is

the game, you could just live abeat a revamp of sequel Back To Skool (featuring
the neighbouring girls’ school), and another
play around within its own worldnd new adventure, Nu Skool, ensures that Skool
Daze Reskooled represents excellent value. It’s
” Roger Hulley
available on PC, iOS and Android.

The Geography Teacher, Mr Withit

The History Teacher, Mr Creak The Hero, Eric
World Map

cience Teacher, Mr Rockitt Climbing Frame

School Desk

Ropes
Shield
Dinner Table
Exercise Horse
The Tearaway, Boy Wander

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 11

 SWOTTING UP
Eight tips on surviving Skool Daze
OBTAINING
CODE PART THE
2
■ If you’ve been paying attention in class, you’d
have seen the answer to Mr Creak’s question,
‘Which battle occurred in the year I was born?’
Write the answer and he’ll reveal the letter.

HITTING
SHIELDS THE
PART 1
■ The shields on the top floor can easily be
reached by jumping at them, whereas the ones
on the middle floor are trickier. These require Eric
to knock a kid over and then jump on them.

BEWARE THEROOM
GEOGRAPHY
■ There’s a bug in the map room. Because there » Eric contemplates his latest escapades
away from the teachers
on the school’s fire escape.
aren’t enough seats, Eric will keep getting lines
as he’s knocked off his chair. Fortunately there’s
a workaround: follow Mr Withit and stand behind
him. He fails to notice, contradicting his name. “rItigiwnaals siudceha aant
HITTING
o the time”
SHIELDS THE
PART 2
■ While some of the shields on the ground floor
Roger Hulley
can be hit from the stairs, most of them need it or cop another 2,000 lines. But the worst is
Eric to catapult a teacher once to knock him over, thanks to Angelface, who, in this pre-vaccine era
followed by a ricochet off his head and onto the has contracted the highly contagious mumps.
shield above. Should Eric come in contact with the bully during
this playtime, he’s sent home, resulting in game
SWOT ATTACK over for our plucky work-shy hero.

PLAYING THE
BLAME GAME
■ Occasionally during playtime, one of the little
schoolboys will inform Eric that the swot is on
his way to the headmaster to grass him up.
Intercept and detain Einstein by any means at
your disposal. Basically, punch his lights out
until the bell goes.
U pon release, Skool Daze became a
smash hit for Microsphere. The game’s
colourful and chirpy graphics, coupled
with its groundbreaking sandbox game
design ensured that both critics and ZX Spectrum
owners alike flocked to the tale of Eric and his
incriminatory report. A year later a Commodore 64
version appeared and was met with a little more
indifference, probably because of its Spectrum-
■ There’s a lot of fun to be had by timing Eric’s esque graphics and roots. With Microsphere busy
misdemeanours so that Boy Wander, Angelface on a sequel, Skool Daze failed to make it to the
or Einstein are reprimanded instead of our hero. Amstrad CPC until a 2015 homebrew effort. The
It’s straightforward to achieve, as the teachers Spectrum-only sequel, Back To Skool, proved just
dole out lines to whoever is nearest at the time. as popular, adding a girls’ school and a neat twist
on the plot of the original, as Eric must place his
SHIELD REVISION
■ Given that Eric gets lines if he’s found absent
forged report into the school safe in order to avoid
another telling off.
from class, there are limited opportunities Back To Skool (and its spiritual follow-up,
to explore the school and prime the shields. Contact Sam Cruise) raised the bar, yet it was
Revision time is one such time, as long as the with 1984’s Skool Daze where the mould was well
diminutive protagonist doesn’t wander into a and truly broken. With its then-complex layers of
class he shouldn’t be in, or the staff room. interaction, and the ability to move freely within
a living and breathing world, most gamers
found entertainment with going about their day
OBTAINING
CODE PART THE
1 as normal, avoiding lines and just having fun
immersing themselves in school life. Microsphere
■ When all the shields have been activated, it’s may have called time after Contact Sam Cruise,
time to get the combination letters from the yet it leaves behind a game that is not only hugely
teachers. The headmaster must be done first, compelling but also, in many ways, a definition of
followed by the others. Mr Creak’s letter might the plucky nature of the ZX Spectrum itself. Now
prove problematic, but we’re here to help… which one of you scoundrels wrote that rude word
on the blackboard!?

12 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 ULTIMATE GUIDE: SKOOL DAZE

SKOOL DAZE
FACT FILE
Take notes, there might be a test!

There have been several remakes

of Skool Daze, most notably the PC
game, Klass Of 99.
Skool Daze’s success led to budget
re-releases from Elite on its £2.99
range and Alternative, as well as
compilation appearances such as
Beau Jolly’s 10 Computer Hits.
The game loops around until the
player either accrues 10,000 lines
or contracts the mumps.
In addition to the mumps and
pea-shooter events, a ‘mob’ of the
smaller children, attacking anyone
in sight, can sometimes riot on the
ground floor.
In the days before the internet, an
DEVELOPER Q&A
We talk to Roger Hulley of Alternative Software about Skool
encyclopaedia was a player’s best
friend in solving the game’s battle
date riddle.
Daze and Alternative’s remake, Skool Daze Reskooled An inspired piece of game design
was the ability to write on the
Why did you choose Skool Daze for course you could write rude words on the blackboards. Of course, no one ever
re-release back in 1987? blackboards. We can now safely say it was typed in rude words...
We looked for quality games that had years ahead of its time.
received good reviews, and some that Points in Skool Daze are awarded
had not got the shelf space they should Why did you change the cover? for feats of naughtiness, activating
have through lack of distribution and so We were keen to give it a new lease of life shields and getting your friends
on. The Microsphere catalogue was a little so [we] decided to move away from the Tom into trouble.
different as several of their titles had already Brown’s School Days look and give it a more
been released at a budget price, and on cartoony and wacky cover. It worked; it went Disenfranchised with the rampant
compilations. But I was very keen on Skool back to number one on the budget chart and pirating of their products, the
Daze and as such thought we could give it a hung around the top 30 for some time. Reidys left games development after
further lease of life within our range. Contact Sam Cruise, which sold
Why did you choose to go down the poorly despite glowing reviews.
Did you contact Microsphere directly? route of remaking Skool Daze?
Yes, I called Helen and Dave and asked if Well if you’re going to do a remake, it might as With neither Dave or Helen Reidy
they would like to sell the game. Dave was well be for a true classic, as is the case within particularly proficient at graphics,
surprised at my interest as first as he thought the film and music industries. And of course artist Keith Warrington joined the
it had run its course. During the call he also it’s one of my very favourite games. team to design the game’s look.
mentioned that he was planning to pull out of
developing games altogether, so I asked if we What can gamers expect to find in your The game features a novel speed
could buy all his games. We discussed a price, new version? loader and a neat border effect
and a deal was done. We have kept most, if not all, of the original that flashes in time with its
characters and puzzles, including one or two opening ditty.
What do you think makes the original more tasks. Plus Skool Daze Reskooled also
such a classic? includes the remake of Back To Skool, and an Skool Daze came in at number 23
It was such an original idea at the time, indeed new additional game called Nu Skool. in Your Sinclair’s readers’ top
one of the first sandbox games. To have fun 100 games list, with its sequel
you didn’t need to beat the game, you could Finally, does Alternative have featuring at number eight and
just live and play around within its own small any plans for more remakes of Contact Sam Cruise at 66.
world, causing mayhem and mischief and Spectrum classics?
blaming it on the other characters. Plus of Yes, we would love to, if this one does well.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 13

 THE MAKING OF

After joining Lucasfilm Games and helping out with Rescue On

Fractalus!, Charlie Kellner repurposed the game’s engine for a
new project. Charlie tells us how this innovation paved the way
for his fantasy shooter, The Eidolon
Words by Rory Milne

IN THE
KNOW
I n 1983 Apple Computer, Inc was
preparing to usher in an exciting new
era for personal computers in the shape
of a product called the Macintosh.
However, one of the team members developing
software for the system, Charlie Kellner, had
received an invitation that would lead to an even
more exciting career. “I was working for Apple
at the time, and had learned some things about
me over for an interview and hired me. My first
task was to help Loren Carpenter to speed up his
fractal drawing routine for Rescue On Fractalus!.
After Rescue, we were looking for other things
to do with it, and I figured out a way to turn the
mountains upside down to generate caves.”
Of course, Charlie’s first-person cave systems
required some actual gameplay, and so the
coder wrote up his initial thoughts in a design
» PUBLISHER: Activision how to speed up 6502 code,” Charlie says of document with the placeholder title: The Dragon
» DEVELOPER: his time with the renowned tech firm. “I was Game. “It was a tournament with a dragon versus
Lucasfilm Games invited to a party by David Fox, and he handed a knight, where you played the dragon,” Charlie
» RELEASED: 1985 me his new business card, which said: ‘Lucasfilm remembers. “ But the problem was that it needed
»P  LATFORM: Various Games’. I just did a double-take, I said: ‘What use a lot of scenes. At minimum, it would need the
»P  LATFORM: First-person does George Lucas have for videogames?’ But caves – which were the dragon’s home, a maze,
shooter it sounded really exciting, and Lucasfilm invited some sort of open field – where he would do
jousting, and a castle – where he would get stuff
and bring it back to his lair. But the number of
scenes gradually diminished as we realised that
we were very limited in how much artwork we
could do and how much time we had to do the
coding. It eventually got down to just caves, but
just a dragon walking around caves didn’t seem
very interesting, so we created a whole bunch of
interesting creatures, and I put a sci-fi shell around
it with a nod to HG Wells.”
An additional change saw the makeshift title
The Dragon Game replaced with something
that Charlie felt better reflected his evolving
project’s visuals and its Victorian theme. “I’d been
fascinated by mythology for what seemed like my
whole life,” Charlie recalls, “and there were certain
words that I stumbled upon while I was reading.
One of them was ‘eidolon,’ which is an imaginary
» The odd-looking Grep avoids conflict, but you image that carries power. Basically, that was what
have to dispatch him to obtain his jewel. we were doing with the computer graphics; they

14 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE MAKING OF: THE EIDOLON

» This blue monstrosity is indestructible, and has to be

transformed into a less-durable form.

» Hitting a wall instead of an opponent will drain your

energy if a fireball bounces back at you.

“The Eidolon’s control panel was a little each other every frame. That was the only way
we could store that many graphics in the available
cryptic, but the idea was that after memory. We didn’t have proper drawing tools at
playing once or twice you understood what the time, so our artist Gary Winnick drew outlines
of the characters on pieces of celluloid film that
each gauge did” Charlie Kellner he would tape to the game monitor, and then use
the joystick to colour in the pixels underneath. He
were insubstantial images that were meaningful, was able to optimise the graphics on the screen
and you needed to interact with them. ‘Eidolon’ because he could make every pixel count.” THE
also suggested to me some sort of steampunk- Gary’s creations combined sci-fi, fantasy and EIDOLON 101
powered machine that you could travel in.” the surreal, and included everything from trolls ■ Although it doesn’t
But in order to portray this Victorian craft within to houseflies with helicopter rotors, but equally feel like an FPS, The
a first-person engine, its depiction had to be important were the dragon bosses he designed. Eidolon is depicted using
limited to a control panel covered with dials and “Gary was into dragons, and I guess I was too, a first-person perspective
gauges. “The look of the Eidolon’s control panel so dragons wound-up being a natural inclusion,” and shooting its surreal
wasn’t really intended to be sophisticated,” Charlie Charlie reasons. “We tried to make the dragons characters is a core
argues, “it was Victorian style, in keeping with the as diverse as we could. Each one looked different, objective. Exploration
genre in which the game was set. Back in those and they represented a different kind of magic, but of The Eidolon’s
days, players would usually determine what a I guess that didn’t really come off in the gameplay. sprawling caves is
certain gauge did by how it was affected by the The story was that an inventor was exploring the equally essential, as
g gameplay. People didn’t usually read the manual, depths of his own mind, and that the dragons is experimentation
» Charlie Kellner was the drivin
force behind Lucasfilm’s innov
ative they just launched in and played the game. So represented the limitations that he thought were to determine the
ter.
first-person adventure/shoo the Eidolon’s control panel was a little cryptic, but stopping him from succeeding, so he would need effects of your
the idea was that after playing once or twice you to use different strategies to defeat each one.” coloured fireballs.
understood what each gauge did.” However, Charlie’s innovative animation engine

» Blue fireballs freeze time,

which is useful in your race
against the clock.
A s well as the Eidolon’s control
panel, further design duties awaited
Lucasfilm Games artist Gary Winnick,
who subsequently struck upon
a brilliant solution for creating creatures for
Charlie’s game. “Our characters were done by cell
animation, where the body, legs, tail, wings and
head were all separate pieces,” Charlie reveals.
“Each creature was maybe ten different pieces of
placed limits on the strategic elements of The
Eidolon’s boss fights, and so he devised a system
where firing blindly would result in fireballs
ricocheting off bosses’ projectiles and back at the
player. “It was a way to make the contest seem
fair,” Charlie points out. “You couldn’t just walk
up to the dragons, shoot them and win, you had
to use strategy. We had a very limited amount of
dodging that you could do, but you could aim and
decide where and how to hit them. They didn’t
animation that all needed to be drawn on top of move around, but that was mostly a limitation

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 15

 HERE BE DRAGONS! How to beat The Eidolon’s eight dragon bosses

LEVEL 2
■ A green jewel is required to enter LEVEL 4
the domain of the second boss. Once ■ Collect red and green jewels
in battle, fire off yellow fireballs, to enter the fourth stage’s arena.
collect what’s fired back and repeat Maintain half your energy by
until four shots connect. collecting the boss’s fireballs, and
land six blue fireballs to beat him.

LEVEL 3
■ Find a blue jewel before locating
LEVEL 1 level three’s dragon. When he
■ You need the red jewel to breach fireballs you collect all you can, then
the first dragon’s lair, which takes between volleys fire green fireballs.
a bit of exploration to find, then Five hits will bring him down.
blast the boss with three red
fireballs before he retaliates.

of the graphics, as it cost concedes. “So I chose to make the mazes

everything we had in the storage complex, but not too complex, so that you could
of the game to be able to put all of those solve them by wandering around. The caves
different dragons on the screen.” were actually random. There was a cave-building
Additional concessions followed, including routine in there that would generate caves. The
plans to have multiple creatures moving around idea was that we wanted to have an algorithm that
the screen, which proved too much of a stretch could generate caves that were difficult to explore
for Charlie’s animation routines. “I tried hard to because they were different each time.”
get these variably-sized creatures to be as fast But while Charlie’s code rendered distinctive
as possible and managed to get them up to one- caves for each of The Eidolon’s core stages, the
quarter of the speed of a fixed-size drawing, which designer took inspiration from the arcades when
was pretty fast considering,” Charlie ponders. “But it came to designing the game’s final level, and its
DEVELOPER still, it was barely fast enough to have one creature boss ended up being just as unique. “One of the
HIGHLIGHTS
RESCUE ON
on the screen at a time. Of course, we had no
hardware assist at all, so it was a battle to try and
other games that I found fascinating back in that
day was Tempest,” Charlie enthuses. “There was
FRACTALUS make something that was moving fast enough that a level high up where the grid that the creatures
SYSTEM: VARIOUS you could actually have fun playing.” were climbing around on was invisible. So I
YEAR: 1984
THE EIDOLON
SYSTEM: VARIOUS
YEAR: 1985
LABYRINTH (PICTURED)
SYSTEM: VARIOUS
YEAR: 1986
A nother concept was scaled back
rather than being dropped altogether,
which started out as peaceful
character interaction and ended up
with creatures that were docile until fired on.
“The idea was that any creature would try to
defend itself when it was attacked, but you didn’t
necessarily need to attack it,” Charlie explains.
“We were trying to extend the whole idea of
wanted to have a level in The Eidolon where the

computer games; we wanted our games to be

more film-like than you had seen before. There
wasn’t any way we could give players a movie-like
experience on such a small screen with such a
small processor, but to the extent that we aspired
to it I felt that we made it a better game.”
A design decision of a different sort revolved
around the difficulty of The Eidolon, which Charlie
resolved by carefully gauging the challenge of
the game’s cave systems. “It was a constant
battle between simplifying the game and making » The surreal nature of The Eidolon’s gameplay is matched
it complex enough to be interesting,” Charlie by its equally strange animated ending.

16 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE MAKING OF: THE EIDOLON

LEVEL 6
■ Red and blue jewels get you
access to the sixth boss. Eight blue
fireballs will topple him, but they eat
through energy, so fire two, collect LEVEL 7
enemy fire and repeat. ■ Get the red, green and blue jewels
to confront stage seven’s boss. He
constantly attacks and takes nine
red fireballs to fell, so tackle him
with time on the clock.
LEVEL 5
■ Use blue and green jewels to
unlock level five’s boss. Land yellow
fireballs when he rests, until he’s
taken seven, and collect return fire
when you’re not blasting.

“You couldn’t just walk up to the dragons,

shoot them and win; you had to use some
sort of strategy” LEVEL 8
■ Jewels aren’t needed to face the
Charlie Kellner
final boss. Hit him with this sequence
of fireballs, changing colour each
time he does: red, yellow, green,
cave maze was invisible, and you could only find excitement about The Eidolon’s graphics was blue, yellow, blue, red.
your way around it by bumping into the walls. We down to Gary’s extraordinary artwork,” Charlie
wanted the final boss to be a tough opponent, so remarks. “I was really worried about the game
we had a multiheaded dragon, and that was a real being a total flop because I wanted to do so tried to make a more meaningful
animation nightmare. But Gary did a wonderful much with it and wound up, in my opinion, combat system. I definitely would have
job, and it wound up being bewildering to look at doing so little. So I was just really thankful that made a more peaceful way of interacting with the
considering the limitations of our graphics.” people liked it.” other creatures. But looking back on The Eidolon

T he Eidolon’s stunning visuals, not to

mention its hybrid genre gameplay, also
drew praise from magazine reviewers
and players when it came to the game’s
release, but Charlie’s memories of The Eidolon’s
reception are incredibly humble. “Really the
Time has given the developer a different
perspective, however, and although there are
aspects of The Eidolon that Charlie would change
given hindsight, he ultimately has nothing but
pride for his team’s creation. “I think it wouldn’t
have cost very much to make the dragons move
around a bit,” Charlie notes, “and I would have
after so many years, I’m proud of what we did. I
think it’s kind of amazing that we were able to do
that much back then with those machines. Our
little team of pioneers loved to try the untried
and to explore what was possible, and I think that
everyone that was involved with The Eidolon can
be proud of it.”

CONVERSION CAPERS A comparison of the various Eidolon ports

C64 APPLE II AMSTRAD CPC ZX SPECTRUM MSX2 PC-88

■ The C64 Eidolon was ■ Another Lucasfilm Games ■ One of four conversions ■ Like the Amstrad iteration, ■ Despite lacking speed, ■ Although not perfect, the
produced in-house, so adaptation that faithfully handled by UK developers the Spectrum Eidolon runs a although no more than the PC-88 Eidolon is just as fast as
unsurprisingly it plays just like translates the original’s design. Tony Adams and Tony Porter, little slower than the original. CPC and Spectrum versions, the original. Its drawbacks are
the original. It has different The Apple II’s less-powerful the Amstrad Eidolon is slower Also in keeping with the the MSX2 Eidolon is a good that it lacks colour in certain
rather than better sound hardware restricts the port than its Atari inspiration, but CPC version, the Spectrum translation of the original places, doesn’t quite match the
effects than the Atari version, to lower-res, less colourful on the plus side it’s rendered port retains the Atari game’s in terms of visuals and its Atari version’s sound effects
and its control panel isn’t as graphics, single-channel with a brighter palette. The high-res visuals, although opening tune. It’s shy of a few and suffers from flickery
attractive when time is frozen, pregame music and less CPC adaptation plays a nice predictably it uses less colours. sound effects, which leads character animation. These
but the visual effect it renders impressive sound effects, but rendition of the original’s intro That aside, the ZX Eidolon’s to spells of silence, but its minor quibbles aside, the
when you find a dragon’s lair is more importantly it runs just music, but its sound effects are only failing is that each level gameplay is identical to the PC-88 conversion feels and
more aesthetically pleasing. as fast as its Atari counterpart. far more basic. has to be loaded in separately. Atari original. plays just like its inspiration.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 17

 KON
KON
50 Y E A R S OF

FROM ARCADE INNOVATION TO MASTERY OF

LICENSED GAMES AND HOME CONSOLE EPICS,
KONAMI HAS CEMENTED AN INDELIBLE LEGACY
IN THE GAMING BUSINESS. WE LOOK BACK AT
THE COMPANY’S MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Words by Nick Thorpe

S
ometimes, a company can mean many of videogames it released and scored some major
different things to different people – and arcade hits as a result.
in Konami’s case, we’d argue that it’s just One of the big releases was Frogger. “It looked
a sign of success and longevity. colourful, sounded cheerful, and was popular.
You might know it as a producer of excellent However it was proper difficult, and super
licensed beat-’em-ups, or a leading light in music sneaky,” remembers Paul Davies, former editor
games. You might have grown up putting coins of C&VG. “I remember being hacked off by the
into Scramble and Frogger, or the Konami Code sinking turtles and quickly deciding that I wasn’t
into Gradius and Contra. If asked what the defining smart enough to endure the challenge. When the
Konami series is, you could answer Castlevania, crocodiles appeared that was me out. Dastardly.” » Konami veteran Nobuya
Metal Gear or Pro Evolution Soccer and back any Jaz Rignall, another veteran games writer known Nakazato is known for his
work on the Contra series.
of those options up with a credible argument. for his tenure as the editor of Mean Machines,
Konami’s roots go back to 1969, when it was was a fan of the game. “I recall feeling that the
founded by current Konami chairman Kagemasa frog was really vulnerable because it had no
Kozuki as a business renting and repairing karaoke way of protecting itself – it was a game all about
machines. The company was fully incorporated as avoidance. That made it completely different to
Konami Industry Co, Ltd in 1973, when it shifted its pretty much everything else out there at the time.”
focus to the general manufacture of amusement The gameplay wasn’t the only thing that made it
machines. Many of its earliest videogames distinctive, either. “Something else I noticed – and
were simple shooting and block games, but the this is anecdotal - but a lot of female gamers in
company’s developers started to implement their my local arcade really enjoyed playing Frogger.
own original ideas and broaden the possibilities of Along with Pac-Man, Frogger seemed to have that
gaming. It’s arguable that Konami’s breakout year quintessential je ne sais quois that gave it broad
was 1981, when it massively increased the number appeal to gamers of all ages and sexes.”

18 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

NAMI
NAMI
50 YEARS OF KONAMI

Nobuya Nakazato, a veteran of Konami who with a string of hits in diverse genres. “Purely
has worked on games such as Rocket Knight based on my personal nostalgia, I think the early
Adventures, Contra: Hard Corps and Vandal to mid-Eighties was a the greatest period for
Hearts, is less clear on his introduction to the Konami games,” says Jaz. “They produced some
company’s work but names two of the company’s absolutely amazing coin-ops that featured really
other big 1981 releases. “I don’t have a clear interesting and unique gameplay innovations -
memory, but probably the arcade games Amidar titles such as Frogger, Pooyan, Guttang-Guttong,
or Scramble,” he explains. “In particular, Scramble Track & Field, and Nemesis were all highly original
is the one that established the genre of belt and great fun to play.”
scrolling shooting games and it really amazed me This success allowed Konami to move into
at the time.” The game was a big leap forward the market for home games in 1983, with a
for shoot-’em-ups thanks to its distinct stages and number of proven arcade hits converted to the
forced scrolling, which were quickly incorporated new MSX home computer, as well as the original
into other games in the genre. The company was Antarctic Adventure – a game that combined
firmly established in the market and followed up the faux-3D action of racing games with a cute

» Amidar was an early hit for Konami, at a time when the maze » Many of Konami’s early hits including The End, Scramble and » Scramble was a significant evolution of the genre
game genre was booming. Gyruss (pictured here) were shoot-’em-ups. and was succeeded by Super Cobra.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 19

 KONAMI COMPILED If you’re looking to sample Konami’s library, try these five compilations

KONAMI ANTIQUES MSX GRADIUS COLLECTION KONAMI ARCADE CLASSICS METAL GEAR SOLID: THE
COLLECTION ULTRA PACK PSP DS LEGACY COLLECTION
SATURN ■ This compilation includes Gradius, Gradius II, ■ This compilation includes 15 of Konami’s PS3
■ After three PlayStation compilations of ten Gradius III and Gradius IV, as well as the excellent Eighties arcade hits, such as Scramble, Time ■ This compilation covers most of the Metal Gear
games each, lucky Saturn owners got this huge PlayStation game Gradius Gaiden, which hadn’t Pilot, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Green Beret and Contra. series, including both of the MSX2 games, the
compilation of 30 early Konami games. Many previously been released outside of Japan. As well as the games themselves, you get a good first four MGS games, VR Missions and Peace
are arcade conversions, but you’ll also find MSX Similar PSP compilations also covered the deal of information to provide historical context – Walker. The games are delivered across two
originals including Penguin Adventure and the Salamander, Parodius and TwinBee series, but not a surprise, as the development was handled discs, but Metal Gear Solid and VR Missions are
first Parodius. Sadly, it was a Japanese exclusive. were only released in Japan. by the excellent M2. provided as download codes.

“I HAVE THE IMPRESSION THAT KONAMI

HAD THE GLOBAL MARKET IN MIND WHEN
DEVELOPING MANY OF THEIR GAMES”
Nobuya Nakazato

penguin character. Konami also moved into Gradius, and both made an impact on the NES
the burgeoning console market by releasing its and other home systems. But the biggest of the
first Famicom games in 1985, making it one of the lot was Castlevania, which introduced us to the
first companies to be granted a publishing licence Belmont clan of vampire hunters. The initial game
by Nintendo. The company’s choice of target was a straightforward horror-themed platformer,
platforms truly maximised its audience, as the but subsequent entries in the series became
MSX became very popular in the Japanese market more elaborate by incorporating alternate routes,
and Nintendo gained a virtual monopoly on the character-swapping and eventually large nonlinear
console market. maps and RPG elements. Although the series has
By getting into those platforms as they were been dormant for a few years now, it remains
growing, Konami was able to grow as they did, beloved by gamers and is a popular Netflix series
and combined with its arcade successes, the too. “I still think the series is a very important
company was able to expand throughout the early one for the company,” says Jaz. “The series has
Eighties. The company had begun the decade definitely had its ups and downs over the years –
with ¥40 million in capital, and after a March as you’d expect with something like 30 different
1982 investment from Osaka Small and Medium releases over the past almost three decades – but
Business Investment & Consultation, that became overall, the Castlevania line has delivered some
¥120 million. Konami opened its American office really memorable moments, especially during the
in November 1982, and by November 1983 the 8-bit and 16-bit periods.”

N
company had ¥300 million in capital. 1984 brought
even further growth as Konami opened offices in akazato joined the company during this » Castlevania quickly became one of Konami’s most popular
the UK and Germany, and the company was listed period of rapid expansion. “I was an games, as it arrived with most of its key ideas intact.
on the Osaka Securities Exchange in October. artist and I found the graphics quality
From there, Konami’s growth rate went from rapid of Konami games really impressive,”
to explosive – the company’s capital was ¥2.9 he explains when asked why he found
billion in October 1984, ¥5.2 million the following Konami to be an attractive employer.
November and ¥8.1 billion by November 1986. “After I joined Konami, I realised they did
Konami began to expand its slate of properties in-house development of graphic tools
with new titles, many of which would go on to (including hardware) implemented
become long-running series. In the arcades, with pen tablet input. Considering
TwinBee started a lengthy line of cute-’em-ups the standard for graphic production
and Mr Goemon set the stage for the console still used a mouse and keyboard,
Mystical Ninja series. Salamander spun off from it was very advanced for the time.”

20 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 50 YEARS OF KONAMI

CASTLEVANIA
ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION
VARIOUS
■ This release contains eight games – the first
four games in the series for NES and SNES, plus
two Game Boy games, the Mega Drive game
and the previously Japan-only NES version
of Kid Dracula. There’s plenty of historical
material included, too.

» Who’s that in the crowd? Why, it’s Penta! Konami games often reference one another.

Nakazato also felt that the company’s advanced

tech was matched by its ambitious developments.
“I have the impression that Konami had the
global market in mind when developing many of
PERIPHERAL POWER
their games and gave them a sense of movie-like There’s more to Konami than games, as its
realism. Also, since the industry was new at that adventures in the peripheral business prove
time, the average age of employees was very low
and our bosses and department heads were much Konami isn’t the first company you’d think of the Nineties, and Konami’s HyperBoy
younger than I am now. In this way, the company as a hardware manufacturer, but it actually version offered screen magnification and
had bombastic energy.” entered the gaming peripheral business illumination as well as a joystick. Then
Konami definitely had an ‘all hands on deck’ back in the Eighties and continued to be there’s the HyperShot, a controller with
culture back in the late Eighties. “Nowadays, there involved in it for over two decades. One of two buttons and nothing else, designed for
are many companies that specialise in debugging the earliest and most surprising was the home conversions of Track & Field.
games, but at the time no such company existed, Game Master, an MSX utility cartridge that But of course, most of Konami’s
we didn’t even have a department dedicated to essentially functioned as an official cheating hardware was manufactured to aid in the
it ourselves,” Nakazato explains. “It was normal device for Konami games. However, most home translation of its arcade hits. The
for the development team to check the game they of its controllers were variations on the Justifier lightgun was created for use with
had worked on themselves. In fact, especially standard joystick and joypad, such as the the home conversions of Lethal Enforcers,
new employees were tasked with checking all HyperBeam wireless SNES controller and and the Hyper Blaster was the first
the games within their division as part of their the Konami HyperStick for the PlayStation. lightgun to be released for the PlayStation.
training.” This meant that in addition to his duties Some of the company’s offerings More recently, many of Konami’s special
as a graphic artist, Nakazato spent plenty of time have been a little bit more eccentric. The controllers were designed for music
as a tester. “I belonged to the development team LaserScope, a voice-activated NES lightgun games – home conversions of games like
of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES version), compatible with Zapper games, is notorious Beatmania and DDR were accompanies by
but I helped out with the debugging of many titles amongst fans of oddball gaming items due turntable controllers and dance mats. In
such as Bayou Billy, Gradius II and Blades Of Steel. to its unusual concept. For some reason fact, the home version of GuitarFreaks was
I look back on it as a very valuable experience.” Game Boy docking stations were tried even accompanied by a plastic guitar,
But it was with the emergence of the next by more than one manufacturer during years before Guitar Hero.
generation machines that Konami made another
giant leap. Nakazato agrees that the machines of
the 16-bit era were important not just for Konami,
but gaming as a whole. “I think they played a
vital role in ensuring that game consoles, which
first started in the 8-bit era, were not forgotten
as some passing fad but instead became a more
long-lasting form of entertainment.” Despite this,
Konami wasn’t incredibly quick to leap on new
technology this time around. In part, that was
because it didn’t need to – while it had Gradius III
ready for early adopters of the Super Famicom in » The Laser Scope is, let’s be honest, a odd creation. Still, » The Justifier lightgun revolver was made specifically for
1990, the NES was still the machine with the how else can you fire weapons with your voice? home conversions of Lethal Enforcers.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 21

 » Contra was a popular arcade game, but the series quickly associated
primarily with consoles. » The Gradius series became Konami’s most popular shooting series.

established audience and international reach. Rocket Knight Adventures and Contra: Hard Corps.
In 1991, Konami released 14 games for Nintendo’s While the company had arrived about four years
8-bit machine, and just two for the SNES. With after each machine’s debut, it delivered games
its commercially appealing mixture of original that forced players to sit up and pay attention.
properties and popular licensed properties such as During this era, it seemed as though the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, developer was on a different level to others,
X-Men and Tiny Toon Adventures, Konami which meant that the arrival of a new Konami
could afford to rely on the NES and game generated considerable press
arcades for a little while. excitement. “The Mean Machines
» Jaz Rignall is the former The other reason for the slow team had all grown up playing
editor of Mean Machines. adoption of new console Konami arcade games – the
technology was that it didn’t company released a ton of
have much choice in the absolute classics throughout
matter. Due to Nintendo’s the Eighties – so for us,
restrictive third party the Konami name was
licensing contracts, Konami synonymous with the good
had been forced to wait for times we all had playing
the SNES rather than trying stuff like Gyruss, Track &
out next generation systems Field, Hyper Sports, Yie Ar
earlier. But as legal pressure Kung-Fu, Green Beret, Shaolin’s
forced Nintendo to relax its Road, Nemesis, and all the other
restrictions and the MSX market great coin-ops that the company
declined, Konami was able to branch had released during that period,” says
out. In 1991 the company made its debut on Jaz. “Even in the Nineties, Konami was still
the PC Engine, where it delivered outstanding manufacturing excellent coin-ops like Teenage
conversions of arcade shoot-’em-ups and Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men, and The Simpsons,
Snatcher, plus the excellent original Castlevania: and that prestige rubbed off on its console games.
Rondo Of Blood and the first entry of the popular It helped that most of what they released for home
Tokimeki Memorial dating sim series. The systems was pretty good – I’m thinking titles like
company released its first Mega Drive games Legend Of The Mystical Ninja, Super Castlevania IV,
the next year, and would deliver major arcade Tiny Toon Adventures and Parodius. All were
ports including Sunset Riders and Lethal excellent and helped raise anticipation for new
Enforcers as well as exclusive classics like Konami games considerably.”

“KONAMI’S 16-BIT GAMES FELT LIKE

BLOCKBUSTERS; THE HALO OR THE LAST
OF US-TYPE EXPERIENCES OF THEIR DAY”
Paul Davies

22 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 50 YEARS OF KONAMI

CHARACTER SELECT
Konami has introduced a number of favourite characters to the
gaming world over the years – here are some of the most famous

FROGGER PENTA MOAI HEAD GOEMON

» DEBUT: 1981 » DEBUT: 1983 » DEBUT: 1985 » DEBUT: 1986

» SERIES: FROGGER » SERIES: ANTARCTIC ADVENTURE » SERIES: GRADIUS » SERIES: MYSTICAL NINJA
» LOVES: ZEBRA CROSSINGS » LOVES: PENKO » LOVES: ??? » LOVES: A GOOD SCRAP
» HATES: HUNGRY CROCODILES » HATES: VISITING THE GYM » HATES: ??? » HATES: WEALTH INEQUALITY
■ Though most people know him for his ■ This penguin would do anything for ■ We don’t know where it came from. ■ Loosely based on a real-life folk hero,
arcade hit, Frogger was also an active love – he’ll cross the Antarctic, find a The only thing we can tell is that it the lovable Goemon steals from the rich
star in the late Nineties and Noughties. golden apple or even go on a big diet. seems to want to destroy Vic Viper. to give to the poor.

SIMON BELMONT SOLID SNAKE BILL & LANCE SPARKSTER

» DEBUT: 1986 » DEBUT: 1987 » DEBUT: 1987 » DEBUT: 1993

» SERIES: CASTLEVANIA » SERIES: METAL GEAR » SERIES: CONTRA » SERIES: ROCKET KNIGHT
» LOVES: GARLIC BREAD » LOVES: CARDBOARD BOXES » LOVES: MICHAEL BAY FILMS » LOVES: SMOKY BACON
» HATES: TAKING THE STAIRS » HATES: ANTI-SMOKING LAWS » HATES: BEING SEPARATED » HATES: FUEL COSTS
■ If you need a vampire killed, find a ■ This sneaky soldier is beloved for his ■ Nobody is in command here, there’s ■ This jet pack-wearing opossum was
member of the talented whip-wielding combat and infiltration skills. He’s also no ‘main guy’ – just two impressively the star of Konami’s contribution to the
Belmont family. not the only Snake in the series. muscular soldiers. mascot platformer genre.

SHIORI FUJISAKI POWER PRO-KUN PYRAMID HEAD

» DEBUT: 1994 » DEBUT: 1994 » DEBUT: 2001

» SERIES: TOKIMEKI MEMORIAL » SERIES: JIKKYOU POWERFUL » SERIES: SILENT HILL
» LOVES: YOU, POTENTIALLY PRO BASEBALL » LOVES: MANNEQUINS
» HATES: BEING IGNORED » LOVES: CYBORG TECHNOLOGY » HATES: YOU
■ Shiori is your friend, but she’s pretty » HATES: CARELESS DRIVERS ■ He’s big, he’s strong and worst of all,
demanding – if you want to date her ■ The aspiring ace of this baseball he’s almost certainly born from your
you’ll need to be great at everything. series isn’t one character, but many. subconscious thoughts.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 23

 » Blades Of Steel proved Konami could excel in any genre.

CRACKING
THE CODE
The most famous cheat code in gaming
was born in Konami’s titles – but what it
actually does changes depending on the
game you’re playing. Here’s a look » Konami showed it could handle licensed properties well, with classics like The Simpsons.
at some of the things it can do
“Konami’s 16-bit games felt like blockbusters; sequels as well as new games such as Guitar
GRADIUS the Halo or The Last Of Us-type experiences Freaks and DrumMania, all tied together under
NES of their day. You’d be dusting off the office a wider Bemani brand. “I loved how happy
■ This was the first game to introduce thesaurus to search for words to describe them, this entire series made people feel. The game
the code, and using it confers awesome they were so ambitious,” says Paul. “Contra III centres/arcades were transformed. I did feel like
destructive power upon Vic Viper by and Super Castlevania IV especially were epic a complete prat hopping around on them myself,
giving it a full set of power-ups. quests, beautiful to look at, incredible soundtracks, but would have such admiration for those that got
bursting with ideas, perfect in execution. Even everything right,” says Paul. “It was surprising
brighter titles such as Tiny Toons, Parodius and how swiftly the crowds warmed to the idea of
CONTRA TwinBee were immaculate. Whatever that formula music-oriented coin-ops, and how genuinely
NES was, it was impossible for others to imitate. They ‘edgy’ and exciting it was when Konami started
■ This arcade conversion was one of the were momentous, each one, and so rewarding making versions for the consoles.”

T
most famous games to include the code, to play – to put the time and effort into mastery.”
as it gave the player 30 lives with which to How does Nakazato feel about the high esteem he most popular games in the series
surmount its mighty challenge. in which Konami’s games were held during this would ultimately prove to be Dance
time? “Hearing that brings a smile to my face, and Dance Revolution – or Dancing Stage,
I hope that we will continue to be seen that way by in its early European releases – and
KID DRACULA fans for the next 20 or 30 years,” he says. Beatmania IIDX. “My fondest memories, though,
NES For all the success that Konami was are of the game Pop’n Music because I loved Puffy
■ By this point, Konami was wise to the experiencing on consoles, it was still an arcade AmiYumi so much at the time,” says Paul. “In the
widespread practice of trying the code to game manufacturer, and that’s where its next Nineties, you could allow yourself to have whole-
see what happened. So this Castlevania major hit series would begin. Beatmania thrilled hearted fun, as though nothing else mattered.
spin-off recognises it, but that’s all. players in Japanese arcades by giving them the Konami made the world a better place with that
chance to play DJ, and the company was right series.” The Bemani division is still active within
on the forefront of the boom in music games. Konami and accounts for much of its modern
GRADIUS III The company quickly followed up Beatmania arcade output, so Pop’n Music also continues to
SNES this day, alongside newer games such as Jubeat,
■ The code here does the same as in Sound Voltex and Nostalgia.
the NES Gradius, except that it also kills In the home, Konami was a dependable
you instantly. Use the shoulder buttons presence on Saturn and N64, but did its best
instead of left and right, and it won’t. work of the late Nineties on the PlayStation. The
company was turning out great games in existing
series like Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night,
CASTLEVANIA: International Track & Field and Gradius Gaiden, as
BLOODLINES well as excellent original games such as Suikoden
MEGA DRIVE and Vandal Hearts. Beside those games, the
■ The code is normally used to make company set itself up for the next generation
things easier, but entering it on the title by transforming one series, reviving another
screen of this game unlocks the ability to and starting a third. The transformed series was
choose Expert difficulty mode. International Superstar Soccer, which underwent
» Games like Axelay were graphically outstanding.

24 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 50 YEARS OF KONAMI

» Konami’s Game Boy output shouldn’t be overlooked as games like Motocross Maniacs are excellent. » Konami often made bespoke games for each 16-bit system.

“IN THAT ERA, [KONAMI] REPRESENTED

SOPHISTICATION ON A LEVEL THAT MY FRIENDS
AND I HAD NEVER IMAGINED”
Paul Davies

a branding change to ISS Pro Evolution as the out to be Konami’s biggest new series to debut on
» Paul Davies is the former generation went on – ultimately leading to the the PlayStation. Rather than the traditional formula
editor of C&VG magazine. retirement of the old brand in favour of the Pro of a warrior battling monsters that was employed
Evolution Soccer series we know today. in Castlevania, Silent Hill used a psychological
Konami’s biggest game of the generation was horror theme. Protagonist Harry Mason was a
an extraordinary return for one of its old MSX civilian without much in the way of combat skills
properties, Metal Gear. The new entry in the series or athleticism, and the town of Silent Hill was a
was a fully 3D PlayStation game that expanded modern American town, so the setting was one
the stealth gameplay of its predecessors, with a that players could relate to with ease. Reviewers
lavish production including full voice acting and were bowled over by the atmosphere of the game
cinematic cutscenes. “In that era, it represented and it went on to sell over 2 million copies, setting
sophistication on a level that my friends and I the scene for future entries in the series.
had never imagined nor knew that we wanted,” As a result there was a great deal of anticipation
says Paul. “It had a look and feel, and pacing, around the company’s output on the next
and refinement, that most of us didn’t associate generation of systems, and Konami capitalised on
with videogames.” The game received universal this by pioneering an early form of crowdfunding.
acclaim and sold very well, even receiving an Fans in Japan could buy into ‘The Game Fund’,
expansion pack in the form of Metal Gear Solid: which would go towards creating Tokimeki
VR Missions – a rare achievement for a PlayStation Memorial 3 and another game (later revealed to be
game. Paul even credits it with an increase on the Tokimeki Memorial: Girls’ Side). It wasn’t cheap to
quality of PlayStation games as a whole. “Your invest, as units cost ¥10,000 each and a minimum
game just needed to be better after Metal Gear purchase of ten was required, but these were
Solid on PlayStation – which was great for gamers, real investments. Unlike with modern Kickstarter
tough on studios and publishers.” The success projects, people who bought into The Game Fund
of Metal Gear Solid ultimately made a superstar were entitled to a share of the profits from the
out of its director Hideo Kojima, who quickly games – Mizuho Securities, one of the companies
became one of the most well-known involved in delivering the scheme, estimated that
developers in the business thanks to his investors would gain ¥5,500 per unit if the games
ability to frame action and his knack for sold a combined 800,000 copies, and would suffer
playing the publicity game. losses if the combined sales of the two games
Metal Gear Solid was packaged with a were under 300,000 units. The fund ultimately
demo of a game called Silent Hill, which turned raised ¥770 million from over 2,700 investors.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 25

 » Even Konami’s lesser known games often provide great fun – Dragoon Might is a forgotten arcade gem. » Despite his niche appeal, Goemon still has his fans in the west.

E
lsewhere in the world, attention was experimented with an ultra-wide projection
focused on how Konami would follow screen. On PlayStation 2, the Zone Of The Enders
up its PlayStation hits – and players games were beautiful if somewhat brief mech
were floored when they actually got a battlers, Shadow Of Memories offered an unusual
glimpse of what Konami was working on. “The time travel adventure and the innovative Ring Of
trailer for Metal Gear Solid 2 left you feeling Red combined turn-based strategy with real-time
incredulous, and of course the game itself combat elements. On the GBA, Boktai: The
raised expectations to a place that few Sun Is In Your Hand took advantage of
publishers ever managed to attain,” the portable nature of the hardware
says Paul, who felt that the game by including a solar sensor in the
“was earth-shattering on cartridge, which powered up
arrival and truly landmark”. the hero Django’s gun.
Over the course of the Moving into the latter half
generation, Silent Hill would of the Noughties, Konami
develop its identity further worked with western
with the introduction of new developers to create new
characters and concepts like entries in its older franchises
the iconic Pyramid Head, and on the DS, including Contra 4
Pro Evolution Soccer rose by WayForward Technologies
to prominence as the primary and New International Track
competitor to EA’s FIFA series. & Field by Sumo Digital. The
For Paul, they’re a defining part of company had a major Japanese hit
Konami’s output. “I got obsessed with with LovePlus, a DS dating simulator.
Pro Evolution Soccer, which reached its peak The game hit headlines internationally when a
around PES4 and PES5. Those titles were sublime, Tokyo resident ‘married’ his favourite character
there’s no other word for it. I’m going to use the Nene Anegasaki in a ceremony streamed live
word beautiful as well, though.” online – though it wasn’t an official or legal
Beside its tentpole releases, Konami introduced marriage, despite being overseen by an actual
a number of fascinating new games in the early priest. Meanwhile on the PSP, Konami released
Noughties. In arcades, the developer tried a variety excellent retro projects like Gradius Collection and
of different ways to enliven the lightgun genre – Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, as well as
Police 911 had a height sensor that allowed players original games such as Silent Hill: Origins. Konami
to physically crouch to avoid shots, and Warzaid did try to broaden the international appeal of some

“AS THE DEPTH OF WHAT WE CAN DO

HAS IMPROVED THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE
INVOLVED HAS ALSO INCREASED”
Nobuya Nakazato

26 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 50 YEARS OF KONAMI

of its Japanese hits at this time, localising the

Jikkyou Power Pro Baseball series as MLB Power
Pro and creating the Americanised dating sim
Brooktown High, but neither was able to replicate
the success of their Japanese counterparts.

G
oing into the HD era, Konami began to
focus even more intently on the likes of
Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Castlevania, Pro
Evolution Soccer and its music games.
This resulted in a leaner release schedule, but
one which still gave us some absolute classics
– PlayStation 3 sales spiked when Metal Gear
Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots released in 2008,
and Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow revitalised
the series. Konami also added a huge number
of classic properties to its catalogue in 2011
when it purchased Hudson Soft, giving the
company control of games including Star Soldier,
Bomberman, Bonk and a huge chunk of the PC
Engine catalogue. The acquisition had taken
a long time, beginning in 2001 when Konami
purchased 5.6 million shares to become the
largest shareholder in Hudson Soft. The deal did » Fans love Metal Gear Solid games for their refined stealth as much as their bizarre plotlines.
involve Konami selling its Sapporo development
studio to Hudson Soft in exchange. The company of what we can do has improved, the number of parted ways under contentious circumstances
increased its shareholding to a majority stake people involved has also increased, giving us more following the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The
in 2005, becoming the exclusive distributor for time to dedicate to the creative side of things. This Phantom Pain, resulting in the cancellation of the
all of Hudson Soft’s games. Following the full makes the time management of tasks much more promising Silent Hills project. As a result Konami
acquisition in 2011, Konami moved to absorb important as well.” But while the development has been fairly quiet on the home console scene
Hudson’s operations into the wider business and process hasn’t changed, the target platforms have. during the current generation, sticking to its
retired the old brand completely in 2012. Konami’s arcade games rarely make it outside proven properties – mostly annual updates of
According to Nakazato, working on games at of Japan today, though impressive cabinets its football and baseball franchises, as well as a
Konami hasn’t changed much over the years. “The like Dancerush Stardom and Sound Voltex Metal Gear Solid spin-off, Metal Gear Survive.
basics of the job are pretty much the same as they can be found at select venues in the western In 2015, the company openly stated that it was
have always been,” he tells us, “but as the depth world. Additionally, Konami and Hideo Kojima shifting to a mobile-first strategy for games.
Despite that, there have been things for
Konami fans to be excited about in recent years.

BEYOND VIDEOGAMES The Power Pro Baseball series has become the
official esports game of the Nippon Professional
Baseball league. Super Bomberman R became a
You might be aware that Konami has business interests outside great case for revisiting games, as it underwent
of the videogames industry – here’s a look at some of those a quiet year-long transformation as extra content
was added via free DLC, and included plenty of
Though Konami doesn’t publish nearly as many home during the Nineties. Konami acquired the company in classic characters like Dracula and Goemon. And
console games as it used to, the company is still a very 2001, and operates dozens of facilities across Japan. The with the company now celebrating its history
large business because it has many interests. Most company even sponsors the Konami Sports gymnastic and as it reaches its 50th anniversary, Konami has
of these are connected to its heritage in gaming and swimming team, which includes Olympic medallists such released retro-themed digital compilations
amusement. For example, Konami Digital Entertainment - as Kohei Uchimura, gold medallist in men’s individual all- including the Castlevania Requiem bundle and
the bit that is primarily responsible for videogames – also around gymnastics at London 2012 and Rio 2016. this year’s Anniversary Collections, as well as the
handles the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, while brilliantly celebratory picross game Pixel Puzzle
Konami Amusement does pachislot machines as well as Collection on mobile.
Bemani arcade games. So if it’s fair to say that fans have wanted to
Konami Gaming is the side of the business that handles see more of Konami on home consoles lately,
machines for gambling establishments, from regular that itself is a testament to its legacy in the
slot machines to elaborate systems like the Fortune Cup gaming world. The compilations highlight how
mechanical horse racing game. Some of these are even great the Konami games of the Eighties and
themed around videogames, including Castlevania: Valiant Nineties were, and the fact that fans crave more
Guardian, Frogger: Great City Wilds and Neo Contra: from franchises like Castlevania, Contra and
Warrior Reloaded. The company also promotes a system Silent Hill is proof of how much those games
called Synkros, which is a tool for casino management. mattered to them and the wider gaming world.
Where the company deviates from its other interests Whatever Konami does over the coming
is in its sports and fitness clubs. These were operated years, its contributions over the first 50
by People Corporation, which began as a single store years of its existence have secured it a
in Nishinomiya in the Seventies and rapidly expanded » Yu-Gi-Oh! is a huge franchise for Konami, especially the TCG. crowing place in gaming history.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 27

 , tho se that persevered
nd quirky g in
Idiosyncratic a ame found themselves fallin nd
og sa
with this Tecm nd of cute fantasy character its
s
love with its ble design. Retro Gamer readie m
unusual game more on this underrated ge
l
wand to revea Words by Graeme Mason

A
quick glance at the list of arcade games able to include the likes of skateboarding sim 720°,
released in 1986 reveals a few surprises, Breakout upgrade Arkanoid, Bubble Bobble and the
and demonstrates an industry that urban destruction of Rampage. And nestled between
was at least attempting to bring some these iconic cabs, a magical hue emanating from its
originality to its product. In among the customary incongruous artwork would sit Tecmo’s Solomon’s Key.
roster of shoot-‘em-ups (Salamander), driving games Formerly known as Tekhan, Tecmo’s biggest hits
(Out Run) and run-and-gunners (Ikari Warriors), is before 1986 had been the explosive platformer Bomb
a selection of imaginative titles that were distinctly Jack and football arcade sim Tekhan World Cup. The
different from the rest. In a virtual arcade where the former’s creator, Michitaka Tsuruta, was determined
aforementioned genres are banned, you would be to create another original game design, one that would
mix genres to form something new and refreshing.
Partly inspired by Lode Runner, the designer twisted the
famous Brøderbund game, adding a fantasy theme and
focusing on creating blocks rather than digging holes.
Solomon’s Key is the story of a wizard called Dana,
who has the small task of saving the world from a
horde of demons. Accidentally released by an undefined
incident, these monsters pepper the world which
Dana ventures into in order to reset the eponymous
seal that protects all of existence. Summoned by the
fairies, Dana, dressed in a green cloak and time-worn
pointy hat, must enter 12 chambers, each containing
a collection of increasingly oblique screens. The chief
goal of every screen is to collect its glistening key which
opens the exit to the next level, taking the hero a step
closer to Solomon’s chamber. Also littered around is a
range of items that Dana must collect in order to aid
his progress. These include fireball spells, score bonus
symbols and a bell, the collection of which releases

» You need to amass a lot of points to earn your third life.

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 ULTIMATE GUIDE: SOLOMON’S KEY

CONVERSION CAPERS
Which of the ports were burning classics, and which were misfires?

AMSTRAD CPC ZX SPECTRUM COMMODORE 64

■ Not a great deal was expected of US ■ Coded by Raff Cecco, working ■ Edging out its 8-bit home computer
Gold and Probe’s conversion, given freelance for Probe Software, this peers, this is a solid port. The
the pair’s recent collaborations for the version contains the coder’s usual graphics are functional, rather
8-bit computers, and while the weaker neat graphics and impressive than outstanding, but there’s much
of the three, this Amstrad port is still gameplay. The arcade game’s sprites enjoyment to be had from the zippy
passably fun and colourful. Only some are replicated well, but much of its gameplay. It also got a rare thumbs up
slightly juddering controls let it down. colour is inexplicably lost. from the Zzap!64 reviewers.

NES MASTER SYSTEM

■ Coded by the original arcade team, this NES port has ■ This Sega port of Solomon’s Key, is a little curio. Released
colourful graphics and tight, responisive controls. On a only in Japan as Solomon No Kagi, its publisher, Salio,
console full of platformers, Solomon’s Key is a refreshing was essentially a dummy corporation created by Tecmo
must for NES fans, and it even matches its hero on the box to enable it to sidestep Nintendo’s exclusivity policies. It’s
art (something the home computer versions didn’t do). another decent port, though not as good as the NES game.

ATARI ST DOS
■ While Dana’s block-making/destroying range is oddly ■ Like many PC games of the Eighties, Solomon’s Key is a
longer, much of the original game is replicated faithfully bit of a horror show visually, despite a laudable attempt at
here by Probe and US Gold. With a squatter screen display, recreating the screens accurately. Fortunately it plays okay,
the game feels claustrophobic in places, but it’s a good stab with the main character moving well and the core gameplay
and well worth investigating. intact, but it’s still demanding on the eyes.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 29

 PLAYING TIPS Learn how to beat Soloman’s Key

BLOCK PRODUCTION DIFFERENT METHODS EXPERIMENT FOR BONUSES

■ Dana is pretty nifty at creating blocks. Not only does ■ Each screen in Soloman’s Key can be tackled differently, ■ Solomon’s Key encourages the player to experiment
pointing to the left or right create one right in front of him, although generally there is one obvious solution. Take this within its levels, creating blocks and then destroying them
if he crouches down, he can also plug holes in the floor. first level: the turtle in the centre can be avoided completely, to reveal hidden bonuses. The best way to chase high
The cunning wizard can even magic up blocks while sailing or dropped to its doom by taking out the block beneath it. scores is to learn the layouts of the game’s stages and
through the air, which comes in useful more often than you As long as you acquire that key, the door will be open and pocket these hidden extras, which also include helpful extra
would typically think. escape is possible. lives and fireballs.

» It may look simple, but levels such as these ones

are deviously constructed The sound effects
are great and it has
some really novel
design elements
Raffaele Cecco
a fairy who can be rescued for extra points, and
because it’s a nice thing to do.

N
aturally, each level houses a
progressively devious variety of enemies.
Often respawning, and always deadly to the
touch, these creatures can be eliminated
by the fireballs that Dana stores and unleashes with a
tap of the fire button. The key weapon in the wizard’s
armoury, however, is his golden wand: wave it at a
vacant space and it summons a block. Use it on one of
the many brown blocks that appear in every level and
the block is destroyed, sometimes revealing a bonus
item behind it. While Dana can also destroy blocks
above him with his head, it is with this block-creating
ability that he can negotiate his way around each level,
rescuing fairies, collecting bonuses and progressing
to the next stage. Different strategies can be adopted
to combat each of the complex levels. For example,
deadly sparks, which run along walls and blocks can
» These mages pepper the latter levels, creating new
blocks and mayhem of their own. either be contained, blocked off or simply avoided.
Blocks can also be used to temporarily obstruct other
enemies or destroyed underneath them to eliminate
them via falling. In the time-honoured fashion, the
early screens offer a simple, uncluttered path to the
exit. Yet after a mere handful of levels, the player will
be confronted with claustrophobic, enemy-infested
puzzles that require both manual and mental dexterity
in order to solve.
Fortunately there is help at hand, and often on
the tip of Dana’s powerful wand. Rather than a
spell book, the wizard holds a magical scroll,

30 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 ULTIMATE GUIDE: SOLOMON’S KEY

MY HEART IS A FIREBALL MOBILE WIZARDRY FAIL TO PREPARE, PREPARE TO FAIL

■ Fireballs are Dana’s primary defence against the assorted ■ Dana is a very spry chap, capable of leaping up and across ■ It’s important to always remember that Solomon’s Key
nasties, and are best conserved for his hour of need. two blocks at a time. Enemies can also be jumped over is, at its heart, a puzzle game rather than a platforming
Initially the wizard’s scroll can only store three, but this (albeit cautiously) and even his direction altered mid-flight. adventure such as Super Mario. Each of the game’s screen
can be expanded with the right power-ups. The constantly He’s no slouch on the ground either, and will need all of has a particular path, of which there is normally one correct
respawning enemies somewhat neuter their effect, but you these skills and more in the face of the game’s incessant way of tackling. Choose unwisely and Dana could end up
never know when you might get cornered. deluge of opponents. stuck… or worse.

PIXEL PERFECT The strange things you’ll encounter in the 12 chambers

Deadly Blue Flame 20,000 Bonus Dana Demon Head Devil Emblem Locked Door Dragon
Bonus Points Powerful Fireball

Earth Mage Extra Fireball Fairy Bell Gargoyle Ghost 50% Hourglass Key Unlocked Door
Range potion

Smart Bomb Smashable/ Solomon’s Key Deadly Spark Enemy Spawn 200,000 Unsmashable Wyvern
Potion Creatable Block Point Point Bonus Block

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 31

 CONTINUING
THE ADVENTURE
If you’re after more Soloman’s Key, you’re in luck
Originally developed as a separate, new IP, the NES title Fire ‘N’ Ice
was morphed into a Solomon’s Key prequel in 1992 when that game
became a success for Tecmo on the Nintendo console. Taking its cue
from the Game Boy’s Catrap, AKA Pitman, Fire ‘N’ Ice ramps up the
puzzle elements as Dana extinguishes flames throughout each level
using his ice-creating wand. Loose ice blocks can be pushed and slid
(giving the game an added Pengo dimension) while blocks formed
in midair fall to eliminate fires below. While fans of Solomon’s Key
may find the lack of a jump annoying, Fire ‘N’ Ice is a fantastic game,
with a charming central character and a real sense of achievement
when some of the trickier stages are solved. An actual sequel to
» Dragons must be approached with caution,
Solomon’s Key had already appeared in 1991 on Nintendo’s Game unless you fancy being toasted.
Boy. Solomon’s Club replicates its predecessor’s gameplay far more
accurately over its five levels, each containing ten rooms. The ability
to select your starting level is a big plus, and despite a cluttered
display, it’s a sound, if overfamiliar, tread once more into
the world of Solomon’s Key.
I had this
humongous arcade
machine delivered to
my living room!
Raffaele Cecco

within which he can hold three destructive fireball

spells, used to eradicate enemies that obstruct his
path. Parchment extensions increase the amount of
spells Dana can hold, while picking up a fire potion
increases his fireballs by one. A super fire potion gives
the wizard a souped-up fireball while the fire growth
potion upgrades a spare regular fireball into a super one.
Also, each fireball will travel a certain distance before
dissipating; collecting green and red jewels extends this
further, yielding even more destruction. Rounding off the
standard pickups are a pair of hourglasses, one usefully
restoring all time to the level’s meter while the other,
coloured a more foreboding crimson, puts the time at
half the original allocated amount, a boon when low on
time, but to be avoided at the start of a screen.

F
inally, two more elixirs, one red, the
other orange, destroy all enemies on-
screen and give the wizard an extra life
respectively. In addition to these collectables
are hidden bonus items, each bestowing the player a
mega score bonus. Alas, they are tricky to discover,
concealed behind blocks or even in the scenery itself,
only apparent when a block is created and broken over
them. Miss one of these and it will never appear again.
Standing in Dana’s way stand a range of opponents
from the imagination of Michitaka Tsuruta. Whirling
demon heads drop from the monster spawn nests;
hideous gargoyles breathe fire, as do dragons and
salamanders. Green and orange slime gloops around
the stone walls and floors while sparks travel across all
surfaces, stopping only when they fatally touch Dana.
Curiously, the NES version of Solomon’s Key was
developed alongside the arcade game by the Tecmo
team. Unlike many NES arcade conversions, the
» Dana contemplates the nimble platforming skill and fireballs needed to traverse this stage.
gameplay remains more-or-less the same despite

32 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 ULTIMATE GUIDE: SOLOMON’S KEY

» This scoring chart helpfully breaks down the

bonuses in Solomon’s Key.

» Elegant background graphics feature on many

of Solomon’s Key’s screens.

Q&A RAFFAELE CECCO

We chat to the prolific Spectrum coder about his
conversion of Solomon’s Key for Probe and US Gold
How did you come to work with Probe?
It was a fairly small industry at the time, and I’d
chatted to Fergus McGovern – owner of Probe,
sadly deceased in 2016 – about the possibility
of freelance work. He knew about my Hewson
Consultants titles so it was just a case of waiting
for the opportunity to come up.

Did you work with anyone else when creating

Solomon’s Key ?
All of the coding was done by myself, although I
don’t remember if I had any help with the graphics
or if they supplied the original graphics for me to
copy. Certainly, the ZX Spectrum graphics look
» Skill is needed in order to navigate this particular stage.
like my style.
and coding it. In fact, I wish I’d done more arcade
What did you think of the arcade game? conversions like Solomon’s Key – my life would
an odd alternate opening level and the addition of I wasn’t familiar with it, and I really liked it when have been a lot less stressful. I don’t think it took
some eclectic items such as 12 zodiac panels, golden I played it. It’s a really neat platform/puzzle game longer than three months, whereas something like
wings that warp the player forward six levels and, in a – the kind of thing I liked to design myself. The Cybernoid was more like nine.
hard-to-find cameo, Mighty Bomb Jack himself. Home sound effects are great and it has some really
conversions to the Amstrad, Atari ST, PC, C64 and novel design elements. I believe I may have Were there any converting issues?
Spectrum computers also followed, developed by Probe pinched a couple of ideas for my own games, for Not really – it was a perfect game for conversion
Software and its publishing partner, US Gold. Rounding example, the weird aliens that track around the to the Spectrum, with its static screens and
up the releases of the time is the Sega Master System edges of the platforms appeared in Cybernoid II. grid-based level layouts, so no problems with
port which, like the NES game, was created by Tecmo performance or worrying about colour attribute
itself, and is very similar to the Nintendo game. The How did the conversion process work for you? clashing. There were a few sprites on the screen
inevitable Virtual Console version came to the Wii in Basically, I had this humongous arcade machine and that was about it. Each level was converted
2006 before finally, in 2013 3DS gamers finally got delivered to my living room! I just played the game faithfully and there were no compromises in
their chance to rescue fairies and save the world by from start to finish, taking notes and sketches terms of gameplay. I may have missed a few of
destroying and creating blocks. or photos as I went along. Luckily, the game the later levels, but there were ample levels for a
From an era not always renowned for originality, is composed of conveniently grid-based static ZX Spectrum game.
Tecmo’s Solomon’s Key represents a fascinating screens with no scrolling, so replication of the
exception, when developers were willing to try level layouts was quite easy. How do you think you did in retrospect?
something different. Within each shrewdly crafted I was really pleased with Solomon’s Key as I
level lays a route that must be discovered, with each You were famous back then for your thought I captured the arcade machine gameplay
subsequent screen more challenging. Not with pure brilliant original games – what was it like faithfully. The original is a brilliantly designed
reflexes and muscle memory can the player succeed working on a licensed game, converting game, somewhat underrated in my opinion, so
here: a quick mind and eye for an escape route are the someone else’s design? it was very educational being able to scrutinise
only way to guide this brave wizard to the final seal and It was a nice break not to have to think about it so closely for a while. And obviously, having a
pull the world back from the brink of darkness. designing anything! I just coded what I saw. I big arcade machine in the living room was quite a
found this much easier than designing a game talking point, too – especially on freeplay!

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 33

 T HE M A K ING OF

Sega’s answer to Tetris proved to be a good alternative on the

platforms it landed on, but it almost didn’t make it to market.
We talk to its original creator, Jay GEERTSEN, to learn more
Words by Adam Barnes

E
veryone has a retro title that meant the But while the obvious comparison with Nintendo’s
world to them. For some it may be the puzzler is there, the story of Columns is rather
game they played the most throughout surprising, forgoing the typical tales of developer
a machine’s life, for others it may be the endurance or a determination to do something
one they could only play over the weekend after new with videogaming. In fact, Columns wasn’t
renting it from the video rental place down the
road. When it comes to Sega’s Mega Drive, those IN THE even going to be released at all.
“Around 1989, my family and I were living
games could be anything from Sonic and Streets KNOW in Colorado Springs where I was working for
Of Rage through to Earthworm Jim or Road » PUBLISHER:
Hewlett-Packard as a software engineer,” says Jay
Rash. Few games, however, have the complete, Sega Geertsen, the brain behind the jewel-matching
unanimous recognition of Columns, a game that »D  EVELOPER: game. “The team I was on was developing
Sega, Jay Geertsen
every Mega Drive owner must’ve whiled away the a graphical application and I was given the
»R  ELEASED:
hours on at one point or another. This is thanks in assignment to port the application to the X11
1989
large part to the Mega Games 1 bundle – which Window System. I had found an X11 tutorial
»P  LATFORM:
came packed with Super Hang-On and World online and was plodding through it, but before
Various
Cup Italia ‘90 – and is arguably the reason that the long I became a bit bored with the exercises in
» GENRE:
Tetris clone became such a staple of the console. Puzzle the tutorial. I thought that programming a simple
real-time game would be more interesting and
fun.” Believe it or not, but that’s where the story
of Columns begins, not with a desire to release an
interesting product onto the games market, but
rather as a way of practicing programming for a
software engineer. “I don’t recall going through a
long thought process about the initial concept.”
says Jay, who admits that he just wanted to
“transition from the X11 tutorial to a game”. From
this came the concept of manipulating falling
» Columns started off life as
tiles into three or more rows. “Soon after that,
a side project for Jay Geertson
I decided to use colours for the tiles and that
aligning colours would be the objective.”
It’d be easy to make the Tetris comparison, of
» One of Jay’s friends at HP converted his X11 version of Columns course. But while the landmark puzzler released in
to the Mac, while another created the DOS version. 1984 on various platforms, it wasn’t actually until

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 THE MAKING OF: COLUMNS

ESSENTIAL
SEQUELS
Columns sequels worth taking the
time to solve
COLUMNS II
■ Though the console
version of Columns released
in 1990, the arcade version
had been around in Japan
since 1989. This sequel – initially exclusive to both Japan
and the arcades – released in August of 1990 with the
subtitle of The Voyage Through Time. This didn’t amount
to much outside of a variety of backdrops from across the
ages and jewel sprites to match.
» Nothing felt more satisfying than having the Game Over sign
explode onto your opponent’s screen during a tense battle.
COLUMNS III
■ Unlike its predecessor, the
third game in the series did

“at the time my intent was release in the west in 1993.

This time it was released for
simply to gain some experience both arcades and Mega Drive, though very little was done
to adapt the gameplay beyond the foundation that was
programming with X11” set in the original. This time an Egyptian setting had the
player combat against AI in single-player as they delved
Jay Geertsen
deeper into a pyramid.

COLUMNS ’97
the same year that Jay started on the concept of
■ So called because it was
Columns that Tetris was released and it became
released in 1997 (shocking,
the smash hit we know it is today. While Jay
right?), this arcade-only
was aware of the game, however, he wasn’t
entry revamped the
really looking at videogames for inspiration.
visuals to add a bit more jazz to the experience. It was,
“Distinguishing the game from Tetris was never
otherwise, exactly the same as others, but the way the
really a goal,” says Jay. “I mean, I wasn’t trying
jewels gently spun on the screen did at least give the
to mimic Tetris, but I never consciously thought,
game a little more flair. The cabinet ran for four years in
‘Because Tetris does that, I’m going to do this.’”
Japan before it was discontinued.
As it happens, the initial inspiration behind
Columns was in fact Tic-Tac-Toe, he adds. “Back
SUPER COLUMNS
then I appreciated games with a relatively simple
■ Considering the popularity
concept, and ‘three things in a row’ seemed
of Tetris on Game Boy, it was
like a simple concept.” Jay adds that he wanted » The Mega Drive and arcade versions were practically identical, naturally a smart move for
the premise to be simple because “at the time though the latter included modes like Duo.
Sega to bring the original
my intent was simply to gain some experience
game over onto Game Gear. However, Super Columns
programming with X11” rather than to create a the hardest level, all six colours were in play and
was the first game of the series to be made exclusively for
marketable game. available, and all three tiles in the column had to
a portable device, and added in a heap of new features:
However, this doesn’t mean that there was be distinct colours.” It was a different approach to
new types of blocks, different columns with special
nothing of Tetris that had worked its way into how Tetris handled its difficulty but Jay explains
effects and even the ability to rotate the columns.
Columns, or rather had worked its way out. “One that it was “enough of an ultimate challenge for
thing I didn’t like about Tetris was that the pieces me”. Though this would go on to be changed
dropped faster and faster as it was played until once the game left Jay’s hands, a similar function COLUMNS CROWN
defeat was inevitable,” recalls Jay. “I never myself appeared in some versions of Columns that ■ Releasing in 2001 some
implemented a similar speedup in Columns. I allowed the player to pick how many jewels would years after its predecessor
wanted people to feel like they could play forever appear, controlling the difficulty for themselves. Super Columns, this Game
if they were just good enough.” His solution to It’s interesting that Jay had no grander vision Boy Advance release was
allow for an increasing difficulty, then, was to for his game than merely to learn the intricacies of a case of too little, too late for Sega and the Columns
instead alter the columns themselves. “Instead the HP-UX operating system. “I had no hopes for franchise. Despite being a decent version of the classic
of the speedup, I implemented increasing levels the game other than to learn X11 programming,” Columns gameplay, the GBA was already rife with similar
of difficulty. At the easiest level, there were only he says, adding that “when I shared it within puzzle titles and it was just hard for the classic Mega
three colours in play, and potentially all three of HP, I simply hoped that people would enjoy it. Drive brand to catch up.
the tiles in a column could be the same colour. At The thought of commercial potential never

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 35

 CONQUER COLUMNS
How to build it up to knock it all down “ I had no input
into anything that
Sega did”
Jay Geertsen

crossed my mind.” The game at this point

wasn’t quite the same as the one that would later
make its way over to Sega’s console. Though
the core idea of sets of tiles dropping from the
top of the screen was there, it only used colours
to differentiate between tiles and had no speed-
based difficulty. Nor was there any of the music
that many would nowadays associate with the
C-C-C-COMBO TWO-WAY game. It had fulfilled its purpose of helping Jay to
■ Since tiles will drop after clearing beneath them in Columns, ■ On top of planning and building combos ahead of time, understand programming on the X11 version of
the scoring system is built around the idea of building combos. maximising the points scored in a single drop is also crucial the operating system, sharing the end result with
This is your bread and butter in the game, so carefully planning in Columns. This means you need to be mindful of placing fellow Hewlett-Packard employees. “I had a HP
ahead and building patterns that will easily lead to combo columns in such a way that the right column setup will score colleague in California who maintained a collection
points is essential. two – or more – sets of three. of HP-UX X11 apps and games and access to the
collection was available to any employee in the
company. After I created the game, I shared it with
him and he posted it on his server.” This was the
beginning of how Columns would come to gain
wider visibility, with internal developers eventually
picking up on the tile-stacking puzzle game. “Two
HP colleagues later contacted me and expressed
an interest in porting the game. One wanted to
port it to the Mac and the other wanted to port
it to DOS. They, in turn, shared their versions of
the game with the public, which I was okay with.”
These two ports were essentially identical to Jay’s
original, though he admits that “one of them did
implement a speedup to the game” despite his
original idea preferring to avoid such a feature. The
STACK OF THREE MAKE IT COUNT Mac version naturally had to forgo the colourful
■ While you’ll be tempted to use the rare three-tile column to ■ The special flashing column is powerful, but while you’ll blocks, and instead used different patterns to help
score a four or five-tile set, remember that it is much more likely score more points by landing on – and destroying all distinguish the different tiles from one another.

J
valuable than that. You need to use it smartly rather than just of – the jewel colour with the most on the screen, keep in mind
throwing it away by building off it to allow for a high-scoring that this useful tool can also help you clear away bothersome, ay ultimately didn’t pay much heed to the
combo later on. hard-to-clear tiles, too. progress of the game at this point, since
he had no aspirations for the game to go
beyond his little work project. His task had
been achieved and though the wider world could
now have access to the title through shareware,
it wasn’t something that Jay was especially
interested in. “I had no interest [in becoming a

ONE STEP AHEAD DON’T PANIC

■ As things start to stack up, you’ll want to start picking away ■ As with most of these games, when the speed picks up,
at the single colours sitting beneath other jewels. To do this and you’ve little real estate to work with, remember to plan
you’ll need to build a diagonal combo, so choose one to destroy smartly. Rather than slamming columns in the first suitable
and focus on getting rid of this. If you’re methodical, you’ll clear place you see, hold off and use the fall time to glance at what
away some table space with little trouble. you’re getting next and plan accordingly. » The addition of a two-player mode was actually a huge
advantage over the likes of Tetris.

36 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE MAKING OF: COLUMNS

» A novel Duo mode was added into the Mega Drive version,
whereby players would take turns to drop columns.

game developer],” says Jay, “I was a pretty happy

software developer and didn’t want to take time
away from my career or family.”
But the game did manage to get some traction
on DOS and Mac, and it was here that Sega – in a
roundabout way – ended up getting involved. “A
lawyer had learned about the game – presumably
from having seen one of the two ports of it shared
publicly – and tracked me down. The ported
games gave me attribution as the originator.”
The lawyer was independent, but had seen the
potential in the game and was looking to buy
the rights to it. “I felt that because I had used
corporate resources to create the game, I ought to
let them know what was going on,” explains Jay, » Competitive multiplayer is a huge draw
in puzzle games like Columns.
who adds that as a result he ended up taking the
request further up the chain to his management
and their higher-ups. “They seemed a little unsure HP management due to having used my work
of how to proceed and it took them about six computer to create the game.”
months to decide what to do. As it turned out, HP Of course, the rest of the story comes down to
sold non-exclusive rights to the fellow. The money Sega who, having lost its rights to publishing Tetris
he paid for it was donated to the Mile High United in the arcades, had set about looking for a puzzle
Way. HP retained the rights to distribute my X11 game that could replace and maybe even compete
version of the game with HP-UX.” Admittedly with Nintendo’s hugely successful title. Sega
this all seems a little anticlimactic for the game managed to find out about Columns and tracked
that Columns went on to become, though Jay at down the lawyer, buying the rights through him
least acknowledges that he was awarded with a and turning it into a marketable product that
plaque by the X11 team within HP as praise for gamers might want to pay for. Initially this meant
their contribution to their distribution. “I never a release in arcades in 1989, but inevitably it came
intended to make a commercial endeavour of the over to Mega Drive and Game Gear by 1990. The
game,” adds Jay. “Even if I had wanted to, I still core gameplay remained, though the overlay
would have felt compelled to consult with my of jewels – rather than coloured blocks – gave
the title a little more pizazz. “I had no input into While he may not have meant for such popularity
anything that Sega did with the game,” says Jay for his little work project, Columns went on to
of the process of the game officially releasing as become a significant release for Sega, eventually
a product. “They just ran with it as they chose. leading to its own distinct breed of tile-based
It was they who decided to replace the coloured puzzling. It was a hit, unexpectedly so for Jay, but
column tiles with jewels and to invent the lore went on to become the de facto puzzle game for
about the ancient Phoenicians.” many Sega fans. “I took notice when the game
There were other additions, too, such as a started to appear in gaming stores,” recalls Jay.
two-player mode or magic jewels that could “It did pump my ego a bit.” Despite its familiarity,
destroy all the gems of the same colour. Sega also there continues to be a humbleness about its
reinstated the quickening of columns as the game original creator, even all these years later. “On
got harder. “It was kind of gratifying to see the occasion I thought it would be fun to go into a
Sega implementations and packaging,” says Jay gaming store and proclaim myself as the creator of
of witnessing his game turned into a fully realised the game,” he admits, “but since I had no means
» Some versions of the game allowed players to change the product. “I thought the coloured jewels instead of of proving it, I figured it wouldn’t be a worthwhile
appearance of the jewels. just coloured squares was a good enhancement.” nor rewarding endeavour.”

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 37

 THE MAKING OF

Dizzy’s original outing was a slow-burn success, but the

follow-up was an overnight sensation. The Oliver twins tell
Retro Gamer how they capped their trilogy with arguably
Dizzy’s greatest adventure – Fantasy World Dizzy
Words by Rory Milne

R eleasing a sequel to a popular game

was far from a given in the Eighties.
That’s not to say that developers
were adverse to following-up chart-
topping titles, but this approach was tempered
by the knowledge that sales of a well-reviewed
original game would typically eclipse those of a
poorly-reviewed sequel. That said, a follow-up with
good write-ups could potentially attain bestseller
egg-shaped hero in a junk food-themed Pac-Man
clone, as Philip explains. “It was pretty obvious
from Treasure Island Dizzy being so successful
that we had a lot of Dizzy fans, but Fast Food was
a weird kind of accident,” the developer says of
the Dizzy spin-off. “We loved Pac-Man, and so
one Friday night, we just said, ‘We could knock
out a Pac-Man game really quickly, we can have
it finished by Monday morning if we just knuckle
status, and 8-bit coders Philip and Andrew Oliver’s down!’ And that’s what we did. But the reason
Treasure Island-set successor to Dizzy had done just Dizzy was popular was because of the adventures,
that. But as popular as their titular hero Dizzy’s first and we wanted to move Dizzy on. We wanted to do
two adventures had been, the twins next put their the biggest, best Dizzy adventure that we could.”
The plan had to wait, however, as the twins’ next
IN THE three games were non-Dizzy projects. But once they

KNOW had cleared their slate, they looked to a favourite

BBC Micro title for ideas on how to begin Dizzy’s
» PUBLISHER: third adventure – Fantasy World Dizzy. “Dizzy being
CODEMASTERS locked in a dungeon came from Castle Quest for
» DEVELOPER: the BBC,” Philip says. “It was an interesting game
THE OLIVER TWINS
where you started in a single room where you had
» RELEASED:
1989 been imprisoned, and you had to get out, and we
»P  LATFORM: just thought that was a really nice intro. But we
AMSTRAD CPC, VARIOUS also needed to lock Dizzy in a single location to
»G  ENRE: teach players to pick an object up and take it where
ADVENTURE it needed to be used. If we had allowed
» Certain obstacles in Fantasy World Dizzy require precise timing, such as this
people to explore too much, they might
malfunctioning portcullis. not have realised what they had to do.”

38 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE MAKING OF: FANTASY WORLD DIZZY

CONVERSION
CAPERS How the different versions of
Fantasy World Dizzy stack up
AMSTRAD CPC
■ As it was designed for the Amstrad,
it’s not surprising that the CPC original is
top-notch. Its environments are designed
around the chosen four-colour palette, so
they look great. Responsive controls make
the game’s platforming a joy, and its lively
tunes are never repetitive.

ZX SPECTRUM
■ Converted by the Olivers, the Spectrum
iteration is as close to the original as you
could expect. On the downside, there’s a
little colour clash, but the game has more
» A more complicated plan for Fanta
sy World Dizzy’s beanstalk is detail colours on the Sinclair systems than on the
the game’s design documents. ed in
CPC. The Spectrum 128K version also has a
spoken welcome message.
The Olivers wanted to encourage players to
explore, and so they designed a bigger world for COMMODORE 64
their latest Dizzy project. “Our belief was that if we ■ Like the first two Dizzy adventures, the
were going to improve on Dizzy and Treasure Island C64 Fantasy World was ported by Ian Gray.
Dizzy then we needed to be a little bit bigger, but This adaptation is a faithful one, although it
also a little bit richer in every aspect of the game,” turns the upside-down Australian stage the
Philip considers. “So everything had to be better, right way up. It adds a border graphic and
we had to improve every area. There had to be death animation that the original doesn’t
more interesting locations, more narrative and have, though, and it sounds great.
more characters.”
But rather than making these additional
characters opponents for Dizzy to overcome, the
AMIGA
■ The team that brought Fantasy World
twins instead decided to give him allies that could
Dizzy to the Amiga, ST and DOS delivered
help him solve puzzles. “While working on Treasure
everything you could hope for an upgraded
Island we were surprising ourselves, because by
conversion. All three versions have much-
being clever we could actually get a lot in, so we put
improved visuals, more collectibles and
in some enemies,” Andrew says of the characters
extra screens, but the Amiga port is the
in Fantasy World Dizzy’s predecessor. “But they
best thanks to its superior soundtrack.
were just things to kill, and we wanted a game that
was about puzzle-solving, not killing, so for Fantasy
World Dizzy we said, ‘We need to make characters ATARI ST
■ In-game music quality aside, the ST
that are obviously Dizzy’s friends,’ so we made
them look like Dizzy.” Fantasy World Dizzy is identical to the
As well as handing out advice and items, one Amiga version. As with the Commodore
of Dizzy’s friends – the eternally sleepy Dozy – also port, the new levels in the ST game contain
added a pinch of humour, which Philip insists pick-ups that net you points. There aren’t
wasn’t inspired by a deckchair related ‘accident’ that any new puzzles in them, either, but they do
Andrew had. “We had the idea that Dozy would test you with some tricky platforming.
be at the furthest edge of the map, and so we had
to make sure that there was something there that DOS
stopped players going any further,” Philip reasons. ■ This is the poor cousin of the 16-bit
“So we decided to make it a pier. It was Dozy at the versions in terms of audio – there’s single-
seaside, so why not stick him in a deckchair? That channel chiptune music pregame and
made sense. Not that I’m referencing the fact that I sparse sound effects in-game. Otherwise,
did this to Andrew! I mean, I did horrifically injure it replicates its Amiga and ST counterparts,
Andrew in a deckchair once, but that’s another including their cutscene interactions
story. So when we put Dozy on the end of the pier, between Dizzy and his friends.
we just thought, ‘Hah! Wouldn’t it be funny if
you could kick him in?’ We didn’t have room for
more graphics, but it didn’t need any more, we
just moved the sprite to kick him off!”

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 39

 GUIDE TO FANTASY
CROSSING THE
WORLD
BROKEN BRIDGE
■ Find a boulder and the bone, and then swap the
bone for the boulder next to the Armorog. Zoom past
the hawk, drop both boulders into the water under the
broken bridge to raise the floating platform, and then
use that to cross the water.

ESCAPING
DUNGEON THE CALMING THE DRAGONS
■ Get the sleeping potion from Dozy – he’s three
■ Bribe the troll with the apple, and he’ll tell you to screens to the left of the broken bridge. Once you have
throw the jug of water on the fire to put it out. Next, done that, drop the potion next to the wide-eyed dragon
walk through the fireplace, give the stale bread to the in order to slip your way past him. Take the dragon egg
hungry rat and he will run off, leaving a clear path to from the Cloud Castle to the dragon’s lair to get past
the dungeon exit. the lair’s inhabitant.

This one act of amusing violence aside, the ideas for Fantasy World Dizzy’s puzzles. “We
Olivers wanted Dizzy to be a pacifist focused on wanted to make the puzzles relevant to a story,
puzzle-solving in order to avoid overcomplicating and the Looney Tunes cartoons set out very clear
his latest adventure. “Dizzy was not about combat,” objectives,” Philip recollects. “So in Tweety Pie,
Philip asserts. “We had done that in Super Robin Sylvester had to catch the bird. But the thing that
Hood and Ghost Hunters, and this was deliberately made the comedy was that what you thought
a non-combat game. We also wanted to have would happen didn’t, and Sylvester’s failure opened
the fewest number of buttons, because having up other opportunities.” Andrew agrees, and
another button would make the game twice as explains how these opportunities inspired the twins
complicated. The idea of somersaulting and landing to link their game’s puzzles together, “We thought,
on something’s head was not a concept that we ‘What we’ve got to do is link opportunities together
had thought of – we hadn’t seen Super Mario Bros so that when you do one thing it will enable
at that point.” something else.’ That was a chain, and it became far
» The Olivers are listed in 2019’s
Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition But while Philip and Andrew hadn’t yet more interesting when you had a chain of events.”
as the most prolific 8-bit developers. encountered Nintendo’s seminal platformer, the Many of Fantasy World Dizzy ’s chained puzzles
» The Olivers’ original map for Fantasy World brothers had been exposed to classics from a boiled down to unlocking access to more of the
Dizzy shows a right-way-up Aussie section. different medium, and these helped inform their game, but the Olivers decided to compliment these
with a core challenge that channelled a classic

40 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE MAKING OF: FANTASY WORLD DIZZY

How to beat Fantasy World Dizzy’s most memorable puzzles

GROWING
BEANSTALKTHE
■ Crowbar open the well and jump down, then trade the
cow with the shopkeeper for the magic bean. Jump back
up the well, get the bucket and fill it with water from
near the volcano. Lastly, plant the bean in the fertiliser
and water it.

RESCUING DAISY
■ Get the rug from the dragon’s lair, then jump your
way up the beanstalk, and then from cloud to cloud
until you reach the lofty Cloud Castle. Throw the rug
over the daggers so that you can cross them, and
then finally pull the lever to lower the lift and free
your beloved Daisy.

fairytale. “Obviously the big chain of events in everything look interesting, but it also
Fantasy World Dizzy was Jack And The Beanstalk,” played differently because we changed the
Philip points out. “So you needed the cow and controls around so that ‘up’ was ‘down’. We
had to swap it for a magic bean, plant it, grow a were putting the market down there, so we
beanstalk and climb it to get into the Cloud Castle needed a shopkeeper. It was the other side
so that you could rescue Daisy and get out.” of the world, so we made him an Aussie
Andrew qualifies his brother’s summation, “But and put one of those hats on him with uing
lopment notes suggest subd
» Fantasy World Dizzy’s deve
you would be thinking halfway through: ‘Why do corks on strings! It was a cheap trick, but it on with a drugged apple.
the game’s wide-eyed drag
I need a bucket?’ You thought you had beaten the provided comical entertainment.”
puzzle by planting the magic bean, but that didn’t Perhaps less amusing was that the twins were
work. The bucket was empty, but there was water. under pressure to complete Fantasy World Dizzy
So very quickly we could make little stories out of in time for the festive sales period, and although
key-and-lock puzzles chained together.” it wasn’t reviewed until the new year, the quality

G iven that their game’s puzzles relied

on carrying objects to obstacles, the
twins realised that by putting a limit
on the items that Dizzy could carry
they could add tactics and additional platforming
to Fantasy World Dizzy’s challenge. “Players
had to think when they found a new object: ‘Do
I want to take it?’ So they had to use strategy,”
Philip argues. “It also allowed the player to think
of Dizzy’s previous adventures ensured that this
didn’t affect his latest game’s sales. “It was pretty
important to hit the deadline and get it out quickly
because that was the last good Christmas for the
8-bit machines,” Philip says of gaming’s changing
landscape at the dawn of the Nineties. “The sales
were spectacular, as expected. Codemasters, the
distributors, retail and both of us knew that it would
be a bestseller.”
Decades after the release of their third – and likely
» We never knew Dizzy had a soft spot for hard boozing,
that Dizzy’s pocket was only a certain size – even best – Dizzy adventure, the Oliver twins look back no wonder he rolls everywhere.
if it could fit ladders and buckets in it, and a cow! on the puzzle-filled platformer with pride. Andrew
Although we did call it a Pygmy Cow, because views the game as an evolution that marked the
were you really going to fit a cow in your pocket? end of an era. “It moved Dizzy on significantly, and
So it was an attempt to make people think: ‘Do I it was pretty much all our work,” he says. “Beyond
need it now?’ And if they did pick it up what did that, we started getting more teams and we moved
they have to put down, plus the thought: ‘Am to an office, so we’re really proud that we did
I going to screw myself putting it down in the Fantasy World Dizzy at home in our bedrooms.”
wrong place?’” Philip gets the last word on Fantasy World Dizzy,
In addition to limiting Dizzy’s inventory, the Oliver and singles the game out as a career high. “I’m
twins also differentiated Fantasy World Dizzy from fond of and proud of what we managed to create.
its predecessors by turning some of the game It was one of our best,” the designer enthuses. “It
upside-down. “It was the right way up when we was a really enjoyable time where there were no
hand-drew it,” Philip recollects. “It was only later distractions. Our heads were down working long
that we said, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if the well was hours but loving it and loving the feedback and the
really deep, and then you fall out onto the other side praise. Everything was awesome; Fantasy World » Dizzy encounters a problem that we’ve all likely had, in
of the world? We can do it upside-down!’ It made Dizzy just hit the sweet spot, really.” some form or another.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 41

 THE MAKING OF

After producing a trio of hit sci-fi titles for Hewson

Consultants, Raffaele Cecco decided to go in a different
direction. Retro Gamer learns how this led the celebrated
developer to create his fantasy puzzler Stormlord
Words by Rory Milne

R affaele Cecco’s late Eighties’ sci-fi

shooters Exolon, Cybernoid and
Cybernoid II were loved by gamers
and the press alike, and so you might
imagine that the designer would’ve been tempted
to continue this run with a fourth sci-fi title.
When asked, however, he explains that this wasn’t
really a consideration. “I was simply bored with
the whole sci-fi space genre, as my last few games
had been of that type,” Raffaele admits. “Although
when I designed the games I was more concerned
with how the game objects interacted at a more
abstract level, rather than allowing the ‘space’
environment to guide the design of the gameplay. » The many puzzles that feature in Stormlord often involve a long trek to find
So the sci-fi graphics were just decoration really. a required object.
However, as I was still drawing my own graphics
at that point the thought of being able to explore game whereas Exolon was flip-screen. There was
some different styles was appealing.” probably more similarity to Equinox, thinking about
The different style that Raffaele settled on for it, as that had more of an open environment to
his latest project was fantasy, which the developer explore than Exolon or Cybernoid. Looking at the
largely credits to his reading and listening habits games, you can see a kind of similarity, as all the
at the time. “I’d read Lord Of The Rings, and I graphics were drawn by me and I adopted a style
was listening to a lot of early Queen music at that that fit my limited abilities as an artist.”
point,” Raffaele notes. “Along with their popular One artistic ability that the developer considered
commercial releases, they made quite a few more to be beyond him was the animation of Stormlord’s
obscure songs alluding to fairies and other fantasy Viking-like player character, and so he secured the
ideas. I thought that whole fantasy environment services of the artist who had created the main
was packed with nice ideas, so I decided to run with sprite for Exolon – Nigel Brownjohn, although
it. As usual, Hewson was very supportive and didn’t the animator was subsequently asked to give
mind taking risks with something different.” his first draft of Stormlord a bit of a makeover.
With a genre in place, Raffaele’s thoughts “It looked a bit like Shrek!” Raffaele says of the
next turned to gameplay, and although it’s often initial appearance of his protagonist. “I’d have to
supposed that the speculate about what happened with the character,
designer’s work in but I’m guessing it was a rejected first draft from
progress – Stormlord the animator, Nigel Brownjohn, who also animated
– took his earlier title the Exolon character – I couldn’t animate people. It
Exolon as a starting looked more like a baddie than a hero, and I have a
point, this wasn’t vague recollection that Hewson didn’t like it. I don’t
the case. “I can’t say think his rocket backpack actually did anything,
that Stormlord was a especially if it was an early draft, so it would have
successor to Exolon,” been a straight graphics-swap. The final character
Raffaele argues. “For was more of a generic, bearded fantasy hero, but I
a start, Stormlord guess the horns poking out of his helmet gave him
was a scrolling that Viking vibe.”

42 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 » The springboards featured in Stormlord
can catapult the game’s hero great
distances across the night sky.
» Interestingly, a couple of Stormlord ’s
opponents are chess pieces that fit nicely into

IN THE the game’s surreal world.

KNOW
» PUBLISHER: Aside from Stormlord’s main character, Raffaele of the environment. So the feature was put in as a
HEWSON CONSULTANTS handled all of the other animation duties for useful game design tool.”
» DEVELOPER: his evolving game himself, which thanks to the But even in situations where springboards
RAFFAELE CECCO AND
NICK JONES
designer’s then favourite rock band included waves weren’t available, Raffaele ensured gravity wouldn’t
of deadly pawns and knights. “Again, going back be too much of a problem for his hero by giving
» RELEASED:
1989 to me listening to early Queen music, there was him both a standard and a supercharged jump.
»P  LATFORM: a track called March Of The Black Queen,” the “I liked the R-Type energiser, but I don’t think that
ZX SPECTRUM, VARIOUS developer recalls. “That track always made me was the influence,” Raffaele muses. “I don’t really
»G  ENRE: think of a chess game for obvious reasons, so I remember what influenced the variable height
RUN-AND-GUN popped in some chess pieces. I actually thought jump, but the idea was probably based around
they went rather well with the fantasy/fairy based making the character more responsive and giving
ideas. Also, the fact that they didn’t require any me more flexibility in how I could design levels.
animation made them extra appealing, as I could For example, I could force the player to make quick,
just slide them along the ground.” short jumps in certain areas, whereas in others they
However, animation was definitely required for would need big leaps to clear an obstacle.”
one particularly innovative mechanic that Raffaele The designer also had another mechanic under
devised, where springboards launched Stormlord development that worked in a similar
into a night sky filled with stars allowing the hero way, with its purpose being to arm
to travel great distances over the fairy realm his game’s hero with short-range
that his quest took place in. “Underneath thunderbolts and long-range swords
the fancy flying animation, this feature activated by tapping or holding
was really just a teleporter – the same down the fire button. “Rather like
as the ones in Equinox and Exolon,” the variable height jump, the different
Raffaele contends. “Being able to weapons allowed me add more
move instantly from one area of the gameplay variety,” Raffaele reasons.
worked
» Raffaele Cecco has map to another opened up all sorts “The idea was that the player could
classics for
on a number of 8-bit of nice puzzle/gameplay options pretty much complete the game with
Hewson Consu ltants.
and allowed me to use all the areas one weapon, but by being a bit smarter

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 43

 CONVERSION
CAPERS COURTING CONTROVERSY
How all the different Stormlord
versions stack up

AMSTRAD CPC
■ Given that the CPC Stormlord
was developed by the same
team that made the Spectrum
original, its no surprise that the
two games are similar. Besides
its colourful visuals, the main
difference with the Amstrad port is that some of its waves of
opponents are triggered earlier while others are less angry.

C64
■ Coded by the original’s
LEGEND
AMAZON OF THE
WOMEN GAME OVER
■ Inspired by Ghosts ‘N Goblins, and every bit as hard, Game
cocreator Nick Jones with ■ Besides having a cover depicting practically naked Amazons, Over became better known for the partially exposed nipple on
graphics by Hugh Binns. The US Gold’s beat-’em-up was advertised for six months before its cover. The controversy was soon nipped in the bud, however,
C64 Stormlord has a catchy its release. Complaints over delays and deformed nudes might as complaints over the game’s initial magazine adverts
chiptune, but its biggest have faded had the game been good, but Amazon suffers from resulted in subsequent advertisements and the box art for the
departure from the original is decidedly dull gameplay. UK release being censored.
that it has far less enemies, which naturally makes it a bit
easier than the game its based on.

ATARI ST
■ Rather than coloured
versions of the bitmaps from
with their weapon choice they might find some
sections less frustrating to complete.”
“THERE WAS
NOTHING MORE
the Spectrum, as earlier 16-bit As well as weapons and jumping – and the
Hewson ports used, the ST shoot-‘em-up sections and platforming that these
TO SEE
YOU’D THAN
GET IN
Stormlord has new visuals that mechanics facilitated – Raffaele implemented a third
take advantage of the Atari
system’s graphics hardware. Besides improved aesthetics,
gameplay strand in the form of cause-and-effect
puzzles. “The puzzles fitted nicely with the fantasy
ANY RENAISSANCE
PAINTINGART”
OR
the ST Stormlord adds two extra levels set in a castle. ‘quest’ style of the game and the exploration that
was required to complete the levels,” the designer
FANTASY Raffaele Cecco
AMIGA
■ Essentially a better-sounding
points out. “Exolon and Cybernoid were almost
totally linear, although you did have to work out the coloured pass-cards in Equinox. However, having
version of the ST Stormlord, safest way off each screen. So it was novel to drop a different graphical effect, like the bees flying
the Amiga version boasts the the pace of the game a little and get players to think. towards the honey, made for a more satisfying
same two additional levels and I hadn’t made a game before with proper puzzles, experience when you solved the puzzle. I felt the
redesigned visuals. Like the ST so it added interest to my work.” simple puzzles punctuated the action nicely but
iteration, the Amiga Stormlord But despite the addition of puzzles to Raffaele’s without being too distracting.”
has less intense waves than the Spectrum version, which
often bare little resemblance to the creatures in the original.

PC
■ Although it looks like the
Amiga version, the DOS
Stormlord sounds like the
Spectrum original. The DOS
port replaces the original’s
flying through the night sky
proven formula, his latest project still reflected his
preference for arcade titles over arcade adventures.
“Stormlord was fundamentally an action game,
so I didn’t want to go off-road too much. Also,
action games were my own preference,” Raffaele
considers. “In most cases, the puzzles were merely
variants of lock-and-key puzzles, a bit like the
A second punctuation of Stormlord’s
action followed, as Raffaele introduced
romantic bonus rounds between
stages where his hero could gain
lives by sending hearts to fairies and collecting
their tears. “Ha! I really liked that little subgame,”
Raffaele says with a smile. “Maybe I was trying to
show a softer side of the main character? I think
it just fitted in nicely with the whole fairy theme.
mechanic with being carried by an eagle across levels, However, peel away the graphics of that sub-game
which lets you assess the forthcoming challenges. and what do you have? It was really a simple shoot-
‘em-up where the ‘bullets’ were hearts, the ‘aliens’
MEGA DRIVE
■ Just as the ST, Amiga and
were fairies and the ‘pick-ups’ they dropped when
‘shot’ were tears.”
DOS Stormlord versions are While Raffaele was adding Stormlord’s sweet
an evolution of the Spectrum shooter, and polishing the game’s core levels, his
original, the Mega Drive publisher Hewson Consultants was conducting
adaptation is an enhanced a blitz of prerelease marketing, but the magazine
version of the 16-bit iterations. screenshots and cover tape demos that resulted
As well as improved sound, this version adds four stages from Hewson’s publicity drive proved somewhat
that combine elements of the existing fairy and castle levels. » Often a choice is given in Stormlord to platform or blast your way through a controversial. “I remember the naked fairies caused
particular section. a few raised eyebrows,” Raffaele acknowledges.

44 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE MAKING OF: STORMLORD

More 8-bit games that caused a stir

ATHENA
■ Considering how cute Athena’s in-game graphics are, its
BARBARIAN
■ The decision to put a scantily clad Maria Whittaker on
VIXEN
■ Following Barbarian’s successful marketing ploy, Martech
ironic that the coin-op conversion’s front cover provoked such a the front cover of Barbarian was a stroke of genius, as the Games followed suit by giving Vixen a cover featuring a
heated debate. Besides concerns over the box art’s near-naked ensuing furore completely overshadowed the game’s graphic barely dressed Corinne Russell. Despite impressive digitised
Athena, Ocean Software also received a complaint that a decapitations. Perhaps to avoid accusations of sexism, animation, the game itself was bland, and after Boots refused
section of the armour worn by the Minotaur on its cover looked Barbarian also had a half-naked guy on its cover, but this did to sell it, Martech released a version with just a headshot of
like a giant phallus. little to quell the controversy. Corinne on the cover.

DEVELOPER
HIGHLIGHTS
EXOLON
SYSTEM: VARIOUS
YEAR: 1987
CYBERNOID » Freeing Stormlord’s last fairy isn’t difficult, but getting to her prison is a
SYSTEM: VARIOUS serious challenge.
YEAR: 1988
DELIVERANCE (PICTURED) “But I don’t know what all the fuss was about to
SYSTEM: VARIOUS be honest, as there was nothing more to see than
YEAR: 1990 you’d get in any Renaissance painting or other
fantasy art. I thought it fitted in well with all the and remarking how great the graphics looked. In » A recurring
challenge in
other graphics and there was nothing gratuitous many ways, the 16-bit versions manifested what Stormlord involves
about it. It certainly wasn’t my intention to cause I saw in my mind when I was developing the tempting bees away
from somewhere
any kind of controversy or publicity because of it. Spectrum version.”
with honey.
Fun fact: I just couldn’t draw the lower parts of the In reviewing his game decades after its release,
legs on the big fairies properly, so that’s why they Raffaele is satisfied that Stormlord couldn’t have
ended up stood in pots!” been improved much in the time allowed for its
Potted or otherwise, the fuss caused by development and proud that it’s rated just as highly
Raffaele’s naked fairies in the run up to Stormlord’s as his earlier sci-fi titles. “I don’t know what I could
release didn’t negatively affect the response to his have changed within the time I had – ultimately, that
game when it ultimately came out. “I remember was the limiting factor,” Raffaele concedes. “With
that Stormlord reviewed very well, albeit without more time, I would have included more puzzles and
the impact of Exolon and Cybernoid,” Raffaele different baddies, more levels, more graphics and
recollects. “I was pleased, as the game was quite a so on. But I’m quite proud of Stormlord, as it was
diversion from my successful previous titles. I didn’t something different for me. There was certainly an
know what the sales figures were like – remember element of risk in releasing such a game after the
that the game was released quite late in the ZX success of Exolon and Cybernoid, but it’s great to
Spectrum’s life. However, Hewson did release the see it listed alongside all the sci-fi titles. And with all
game and/or licence the game for other platforms. the different platform versions that came out later,
I remember seeing some of the 16-bit versions it’s good to see a bit of a legacy there too.”

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 45

 How the 16-bit
developer made
gaming cool

46 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE BITMAP BROTHERS

When The Bitmap Brothers burst on to the scene, it did

so in style, not only making a series of stylish games
but becoming familiar faces in the media in their bid to
becoming gaming’s first rockstars
Words by David Crookes

M
ike Montgomery, London, the small team did things their
cofounder of The own way from the very start, quickly
Bitmap Brothers, looks rallying against the trend for publishers
to be in a good mood. to promote themselves at the expense
It matters not that our Skype connection of the coders, artists, musicians and
keeps cutting out, leaving long periods designers who put in the hardest work.
of frustrating silence. He is patient, This, as Mike says, was entirely
understanding and keen to talk about deliberate. “The publishers were taking
the company he cofounded with Eric all the credit and nobody really knew
Matthews and Steve Kelly in 1987. who the developers were at that time,”
The mood, however, changes ever so he explains. “They just didn’t want to
slightly when we put it to him that The promote the people who created the
Bitmap Brothers was probably the first games because they feared it would
rockstar developer. He immediately picks make them too strong which was
up on a single word. “You said probably,” completely wrong.” It didn’t take long for
he answers immediately. “Let’s get one The Bitmap Brothers to change that.
thing straight, we were the first rockstar Indeed, just a few months later, in
developers. And it was a conscious 1988, the developer’s first game was its second game, Speedball, a violent » The award-winning
decision to make us so.” released – the shoot-’em-up Xenon, derivation of handball and American Speedball took just six
weeks to actually code
There is no doubt that The Bitmap created on the Atari ST. The Bitmap football with a stark glint of reflective but four more months to
Brothers was achingly cool. Based in Brothers was credited on the intro screen steel, and the fledgling company flexed fine-tune.
while Eric’s face appeared in at the start its muscle like no other developer had
declaring “level one”. On the back of the done before when it began to tout the
box, in the bottom left-hand corner, there title around various publishers.
was mention of Xenon being a “mega Although a few turned the Bitmaps
creation from the Bitmap Brothers”. This down, Image Works, a publishing label of
was just the start. Mirrorsoft which was, in turn, a division
Before long, it became obvious that of Mirror Group Newspapers owned
Xenon had become a hit, not only on all by media proprietor Robert Maxwell,
of the major 8-bit and 16-bit computers decided to take Speedball on. Mike then
» Xenon had graphics by Eric Matthews and scored highly
of the day, but in the arcades too. This listed his demands and soon Image
with reviewers. gave the Bitmaps bargaining power for Works had agreed to give the

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 47

 “If Image Works didn’t put
our name on the box, then we
wouldn’t have worked with them”
Mike Montgomery

S
Bitmaps full control over all aspects peedball was, in many
of the game, from the title itself to the ways, a perfect game on
way it was sold in shops. It even allowed which to continue building
the Bitmaps to determine the size and a reputation. Making use of
» Dan Malone is a very resp
position of its logo on the packaging. the artistic talents of Welsh artist Mark The Chaos Engine characte
ected artist: this concept draw
ing of
“If Image Works didn’t put our name Coleman, a student at the Royal College rs shows his talent runs deep
.
on the box, then we wouldn’t have Of Art, it had a unique style The Bitmap
worked with them,” Mike reveals. “And Brothers would call its own and a moody Mirrorsoft had something else in mind.
if that sounds bolshy – or at the very bass line courtesy of David Whittaker. Aside from owning a boat, Robert had
least determined – then, yes, I guess What’s more, by this point, the core possession of a helicopter which would
that’s what we were.” Bitmap team had taken up residence park on a landing pad atop the Mirror
A marker had been laid and it wasn’t in Metropolitan Wharf, a converted offices in Fleet Street three-and-a-half
long before the Mirrorsoft marketing warehouse on the north bank of the miles away. Rumours were that Robert
team was being told The Bitmap Thames. It was a large space in Wapping would urinate from this pad on to the
Brothers was made up of rockstar devs, that Mike had picked up on a cheap street below but the marketing bods at
prompting a major push to ensure they annual rent and, while it meant more Image Works had something far less
really were treated as such. It was, money could be put into game design, vulgar in mind for the Bitmaps (as rock ‘n’
» Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe was a big improvement on the
original and a critical hit. in many ways, a far cry from Mike’s it was also edgy if not a little grimy – the roll as pissing on unsuspecting members
beginnings as a former Woolworths perfect workspace for a developer keen of the public may appear at face value).
manager but as a firm friendship with to shake away the notion that games It had Mike, Eric and Steve pose with
graphics artist Eric and coder Steve grew were made in small suburban bedrooms. chopper, Eric exuding a pop star charm
ever closer, usually over beers in the pub, Today, such a setting would make with his Ray-Ban shades, leather jacket
it was time for the trio to step up a gear. for an ideal photoshoot, but back then fitted over a T-shirt tucked into a pair

The DNA Of A Bitmap Brothers Game

High difficulty
Identifiable ■ Unless you’re an extremely

Characters proficient gamer, chances

■ The Bitmaps created are that you struggled with
many memorable in-game The Bitmap Brothers’ games.
characters across their titles. Mike Montgomery says the
Who could forget Zod in Z, difficulty was deliberate: the
Barry, Colin, Justin et al in developer felt nobody would
Speedball 2 or the Preacher, enjoy easy games.
Thug, Navvie, Gentleman,
Mercenary and Brigand in
The Chaos Engine?

Science Fiction
■ Most of the Bitmap games
were a nod to science fiction
and fantasy, from the space
shmups Xenon and Xenon II:
16-bit Megablast to Speedball, Gods,
machines Magic Pockets as well as
■ The Bitmap Brothers’ heyday The Chaos Engine, with its
came during the 16-bit era, Victorian-era steampunk
its games setting standards – styling and time-travelling plot.
graphically, technologically and
and in terms of gameplay – for Unique styling
the Amiga and Atari ST. ■ Xenon, Xenon II: Megablast, Speedball and
Speedball II: Brutal Deluxe heralded a familiar
chrome-like graphical style while The Chaos
Engine nailed down an industrial look.

48 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE BITMAP BROTHERS

Where Are
They Now?
Eric Matthews
■ Eric Matthews left The Bitmap Brothers after designing
Z: Steel Soldiers in 2001 and he became the design and
content manager for Sony Computer Entertainment
Europe. After working on a string of EyeToy and SingStar
titles, he became SCE’s creative director for the London
and Cambridge Studios and took his place as senior
director of SCEE’s Worldwide Studios Europe, eventually
becoming vice president, a role he remains in today.

Mike Montgomery
■ Montgomery retained the rights to
the Bitmap Brothers’ games and he
has overseen the release of Speedball 2
Evolution, Z and The Chaos Engine in
recent years. In 2004 he teamed up with his long-
standing friend, Sensible Software’s Jon Hare, and John
Philips to found Tower Studios, porting Sensible Soccer
and Cannon Fodder to mobile phones and releasing
of skinny jeans. Steve stood to the left, the all-too sensible gaming whiz-kids » The original The Chaos British Lions Rugby. Jon Hare took sole control in 2009
Engine was going to allow
learning on the machine, while Mike, – became accepted as truth. “But we and, since then, Mike has worked as a consultant and
three players to co-operate
assumed a moody look of indifference. never actually had enough money,” says with each other through freelanced for Slightly Mad Studios on Project Cars.
levels rather than two.
Suddenly, rather than just have a bunch Mike. “Sadly we may have been the
of screenshots to print, editors had faces popstars but the David Darlings of the Steve Kelly
and the kind of shot music mags would early industry were the multimillionaires. ■ Kelly worked as a programmer on

print. These guys weren’t hunched over We put so much money into Z: Steel Soldiers and left The Bitmap
keyboards in their tiny, dimly-lit rooms, development that we didn’t make much Brothers shortly afterwards. From that
the narrative went. They were flying high. personal money. I was driving around in point on, he didn’t code another game
Rich. Successful. And cool. an old banger when that photograph with and he is understood to be currently works in web

I
the helicopter was taken.” » This was the image that technologies. There is very little information about him
highlighted to gamers just post-Bitmap: indeed, like Matthews, he did not consent to
t could have been different. Eric Despite that, the Bitmap’s star had how cool it was to be part of
told Amiga Power magazine that risen and the developers were enjoying The Bitmap Brothers. interviews in the excellent The Bitmap Brothers: Universe
C&VG had wanted to perch the their time in the spotlight. Speedball book published by Read-Only Memory, leaving a few
lads on top of an arcade machine earned itself a prestigious Game Of The potential stories untold.
and have them wear space helmets for Year award for the best 16-bit title at the
a photo to accompany Xenon. By doing Golden Joystick Awards in 1989 while
things their own way and having their the developers themselves were named
own photographs taken, they were able the best 16-bit programmers.
to manipulate their own positive image The same year also saw the release
and not, as Eric said, look like “plonkers”. of the vertically scrolling shoot-’em-up
In reality, however, life was a different Xenon 2: Megablast, originally for the
beast and what was also intended as Atari ST and Amiga. Published by Image
a little mickey taking – a swipe against Works again, The Bitmap Brothers’ cool
credentials were cemented thanks to
the game having a blistering soundtrack
courtesy of Tim Simenon, a DJ known
for his work as Bomb The Bass.
Like the Bitmaps, he’d emerged on
the scene in 1987, his debut single, Beat
Dis, consisting largely of 72 samples. It
reached number two in the UK Singles
Chart and Simenon followed it up with
Megablast (Hip Hop on Precinct 13)
used for the Xenon sequel as both the
loading music and, in more simplified
form, as the background tune during the
game. The hard work in sampling and
» Magic Pockets, released in 1991, featured some amazing resequencing the song for use in
sprite animation.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 49

 Music Maestros The musicians that enhanced
The Bitmap Brothers’ games

John Foxx (GODS) Bomb The Bass (XENON 2) Betty Boo

■ Having started his career as the ■ Created by Brixton musician and producer Tim Simenon whose (MAGIC POCKETS)
original lead singer of Ultravox, breakout single was the samples-based Beat Dis which charted at ■ Perhaps the best-known of the
Chorley-born Foxx signed to Virgin number two in the UK, Bomb The musicians collaborating with The
Records and enjoyed moderate Bass’ blend of house and hip-hop Bitmap Brothers, Betty Boo burst
success as a solo artist with singles exploded on its debut album Into on to the scene on The Beatmasters’
and albums that charted in the The Dragon. Megablast (Hip Hop On Hey DJ / I Can’t Dance (To That Music
Top 40. After a brief spell away, he Precinct 13) was used in Xenon 2: You’re Playing). Her solo debut,
formed Nation 12 with Tim Simenon, indulging in electronica, and Megablast (hence the name). Bomb Doin’ The Do however, peaked at number seven in the UK charts
releasing Remember and Electrofear (Beast Mix) before creating the The Bass went on to produce five and remains her most memorable hit. Featuring on the album
music for Speedball 2 and Gods. more studio albums. Boomania, this song was remixed for Magic Pockets.

the game was completed by David

Whittaker and went down a storm. “We were constantly going out in
This mixing of the music and game
was groundbreaking and Martin Heath,
the evenings after work, hanging
who founded Rhythm King Records,
was keen to keep the relationship going.
out with whoever was around”
Dan Malone
“We used commercial musicians and

D
pop stars because they knew what they
were doing – they were professionals at His graphics perfectly complemented an’s first work for The
doing these things,” says Mike. “They that of Mark Coleman’s and he hit Bitmap Brothers was
also helped to promote our games and off immediately with the likes of Eric on Speedball 2. “I spent
they gave us an edge: an edge in terms Matthews and Graeme Boxall. about two or three weeks
of the games we were making and the “We were constantly going out in just messing around with stuff and I
kind of marketing and promotion we the evenings after work, hanging out remember working really hard to figure
sought.” The vibe ensured the Bitmap’s with whoever was around,” Dan says. out the perspective which I just couldn’t
had the X-factor. “Graeme liked to go out so he was a get right,” he says. “The idea was to be
“The link with Rhythm King was regular and we’d usually bump into the bigger and better, with a kind of isometric
great,” says artist Dan Malone, who press: we’d hang out with Gary Penn view at a 45-degree angle and that was
worked for Palace Software before [editor of The One] when he was in tough. We needed the pitch to be twice
ending up at The Bitmap London and, if there was a night on, the size. I had a lot of creative freedom.”
Brothers in 1989. “I was we’d go along. From my perspective, He was able to develop his own style
really into music and clubbing it wasn’t a conscious effort to be which emerged as the use of a flat
and I could sense a real rockstars or anything like that. It was just colour with a few shadow layers. “I didn’t
vibe around the place.” Indeed, what it was.” really have a particular look that I felt I had
he fitted like a glove from both a Dan Malone had long been attracted to adhere to,” he says. “We were basing
professional and social standpoint. to The Bitmap Brothers. “When I saw it on the original game and evolving
Eric’s graphics on Xenon what Mark had done.” Richard Joseph
and what Mark had been provided the audio and effects, working
doing with the other with music written by a former member
games, I really wanted to of The Fall, Simon Rogers, who was
work with them. I loved working with John Foxx as part of the
Mark’s style and while group Nation 12. “Richard did a brilliant
our colour palettes were job on the soundtrack,” Dan affirms.
different and our work Speedball 2 was a standout game
is dissimilar, it worked – “pure, no fluff,” says Dan – and it
well together. His work received near-perfect reviews. It was
and my work created a released around the same time as
Bitmap look and it was Cadaver, an isometric fantasy adventure
just a natural evolution.” that had players navigate through levels
» Gods was awe-inspiring thanks to its superb graphics, an
amazing soundtrack and challenging game design.

50 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE BITMAP BROTHERS

Joi (THE CHAOS ENGINE)

■ Made up of brothers Farook and Haroon Shamsher, Joi was an
alternative dub/dance music duo from Bradford who formed from a » Here’s Dan Malone’s
desire to promote Bengali culture in concept artwork for
Speedball 2’s cover.
East London. At the time The Chaos
Engine was released in 1993, the » More great artwork from
pair had released its debut single the brilliant Dan Malone.
This time it’s focusing
Desert Storm and set up a club on the stadium design of
night in London. Friends with the Speedball 2.
Bitmaps, the group composed the
game’s original title tune.

» Rather than have two players co-operating,

The Chaos Engine’s sequel pitted player versus player.

by collecting and combining objects,

solving puzzles and dispatching enemies.

E
» There were plenty of different strategies to ensure success in Speedball 2.
ric said the Bitmaps were
aiming for the complexity Designed by Eric Matthews and Steve music by Betty Boo, was
of a text adventure but Tall, Gods was released by Renegade, published by Renegade
with arcade-style play. a new company set up by The Bitmap in 1991, and designed by
It didn’t perform as well as other games, Brothers in conjunction with Heath and Sean Griffiths who had
however. “What we were aiming for Adele Nozedar of Rhythm King Records been friends with Dan from their days at
was something like Dungeon Master and a former employee of Telecomsoft Palace. “I had started bumping into Eric,
– an adventure game that appeals to and Mirrorsoft, Tom Watson. It was Mike and Steve on nights out, and when
arcade players – but because it looks like in-part a reaction to Mirrorsoft’s demise, the Bitmaps needed a new project, Dan
Knight Lore or Treasure Trap, that’s what one of the many fall-outs of Robert said, ‘Get Sean in’. One quick interview
people thought it was going to be,” Eric Maxwell’s untimely fatal plunge from his and they offered me a job,” he says.
explained to Amiga Power. yacht, and in-part a continued desire for Sean was a huge fan of Xenon 2 – “a
Not that it dented the studio’s image. better treatment of developers. masterpiece which I played start to
In 1991, the platformer Gods was Renegade, like the Bitmaps, did finish” – and he soaked up the office
launched and Nation 12 once again things its own cool way: developers got vibe. “Eric was quite an enigmatic
provided the game score. Meanwhile, a 50/50 deal which Mike was adamant character. Very designer clothing, chain
comic book artist Simon Bisley drew the would work, telling The One that it smoking, smooth talking. Being based
cover while the developers worked on AI would do for the software industry what in a warehouse, it was a stylish place to
that would take into account the player’s Rhythm King had achieved for the record work. There was a deliberate culture of
position and their level of skill. industry. Magic Pockets, which included being creative and different.”

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 51

 TV Spotlight
How The Bitmap Brothers invaded your
Saturday morning viewing
Young television viewers quickly became » Speedball 2100 was a 3D Even so, there was a struggle of a title theme composed by the British
rendition of Speedball 2 for
acquainted with The Bitmap Brothers’ work sorts. “Mike was always pushing for the alternative dub/dance music DJ duo Joi.
the PlayStation but it didn’t
when its debut game, Xenon, was picked up by go down very well. deadline and Eric the quality,” Sean says. “Music enhanced the graphics and
a Saturday morning kids’ television show called “Eric won the argument generally until it gameplay and there is nothing more
Get Fresh. Produced by Tyne-Tees Television for started to become ridiculous with delays powerful than sound to create mood,”
the ITV network, the programme was presented by of years rather than months and weeks.” says Dan who recalls working with Phil
Gareth ‘Gaz Top’ Jones, Charlotte Hindle and a puppet Like Dan, Sean loved the freedom. “I Wilcox on the game. “He didn’t stay
called Gilbert The Alien, and it asked viewers to call was an absolute ideas machine and my for the full length of the project but that
in and issue instructions down the line as the game creativity ran riot,” he says. game fell out of our minds. He came

S
played on their television screens. up with this Victorian thing and we just
Given the edgy teen vibe that was emphasised oon Renegade was also followed our noses.”
Get Fresh – particularly in comparison to the BBC’s working with Sensible Socialising remained crucial. Dan and
more wholesome Saturday Superstore and Going Live! Software and Bullfrog Eric would go to the South Bank and
– it proved a hugely successful move. Xenon became Productions, two more skate together and the sessions in the
the first Amiga game to enter the all-formats Top 40 developers with the Bitmap outlook. pubs and nightclub bonded the team.
and viewers at the time were struck by the defining, “I think the closeness with Sensible Yet although Dan produced additional
standard-setting graphics. added to the allure of The Bitmap artwork for Z in 1996, he left soon after,
“It was important that our games were top quality Brothers,” says Jamie Barber who joined saying he yearned for the same creative
otherwise it would otherwise undermine the brand in 1997. “I remember being at E3 having freedom he’d had earlier. But this was a
we were trying to build through self-promotion,” Mike a smoke outside a pub and a journalist hard time for the developer.
Montomery says. In 1991, Magic Pockets had a similar couldn’t believe he was smoking with Indeed, such was The Bitmap
starring role, this time on Motormouth, another ‘The Jon’, Mike and I – to him it was a Brothers’ troubles, that PC Zone was
Saturday morning television show that ran from really big thing.” even asking, “Whatever happened to
1988 and 1992, initially presented by the likes of Neil It helped that the games were them?” in 2000. The death of the Amiga
Buchanan, Andrea Arnold, Caroline Hanson, Tony top-drawer. In 1993 The Chaos Engine and the move away from 16-bit games
Gregory and Julian Ballantyne. was released, followed by The Chaos had taken effect although the studio
As with Xenon, people would call and shout ‘walk’, Engine 2 three years later. Working to had stuck to its guns and remained
‘zap’ or ‘jump’ in order to win prizes. “With Renegade, a design by Eric Matthews and Simon independent. “There are a lot of suits
we had a close relationship with TVS, based in » Gods on the Mega Drive Knight, Dan produced the graphics while around now,” Mike told the publication.
Maidstone, Kent and it was a case of helping other was much faster than the Richard Joseph made the earliest use of “A lot of companies are being run by
people out – there was no money in it,” remembers computer versions, but it
arguably made the game interactive music, creating a title that was accountants instead of creative people.”
Mike. “I was interviewed on Motormouth live and it more difficult. acclaimed. The game benefited from Still, The Bitmap Brothers battled
was the most frightening thing I have ever done in my on. Ed Bartlett joined in 1999, working
life. No one else wanted to do it but I really enjoyed it as a tester on Speedball 2100 before
in the end.” becoming a designer on Z: Steel Soldiers
and coming up with the concept and
level design of Xenon 2000: Project PCF.
He was a big fan of the Bitmaps – “It’s
no exaggeration to say that they were
my heroes growing up,” he tells us.
“Working at The Bitmap Brothers felt
like being part of a family rather than a
business,” he says. “Many of the original
team and collaborators were still active
when I joined but there was a lot of
talented new blood arriving, keen to forge
ahead and write new chapters.” Among

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 THE BITMAP BROTHERS

» Speedball 2’s popularity

ensured that it received a
HD update for modern PCs.

“There was a lot of talented new

blood arriving, keen to forge
ahead and write new chapters”
Ed Bartlett

those was Anthony Bowler who became reference for what it was like until I was
a programmer for the Bitmaps in 2001. relocated to Eon’s Soho office, soon
“I recall it being quite old school and after Z: Steel Soldiers was finished,” says
the team spirit was definitely there,” Jamie Whitworth, who was taken on as » Dan Malone’s concept art
for the mansion in The Chao
s Engine looks sinister and
he says. “The Bitmaps had a fantastic a junior level designer in 2001. foreboding.
reputation for making incredible games “It definitely had a personality of its
and I was really excited to be involved in own that I haven’t seen since and you not deemed possible regardless of the
whatever their next project would be.” could split the staff into two groups, economics but we were eventually able

A
the first being those that had been to negotiate a position where we could
nthony worked on developing games since the Eighties and finish development and place it with the
Speedball Arena, a follow- early Nineties, and the next generation then-fledgling Deep Silver.”
up to the flop 3D title of developers who had only been in the To help make ends meet while it
Speedball 2100. Ed says industry for a few years.” sought a deal for the development of
he had a vision of reviving Speedball as Jamie worked on World War II: a new title, the Bitmaps also ended up
an esport and he struck a deal with Epic Frontline Command which proved to be porting three Namco games, Kill.Switch,
that allowed the Bitmaps to make use of The Bitmap Brothers’ last major release. Dead To Rights and Pac-Man World 2, » World War II: Frontline Command showed The Bitmap
the Unreal Engine (“they were desperate It had been created in collaboration to PC, a lifeline that had been thrown by Brothers could turn its hand to real-time strategy.
for it to break out from being a simple with Codemasters but it hit an impasse Boxall when he worked at Hip.
FPS engine,” he says). Bowler tells us at a fairly late stage so Ed, who Eventually, the good days ended our address but people tracked us down
Speedball Arena had got to a playable was by now business development but there have been some releases in and came for autographs and all sorts of
prototype stage with players, animations, manager, attended a meeting with recent times, including a mobile version things. But the thing is, I’ve done a lot of
early AI, replays, big TV screens and the Codemasters’ finance director and of Z in 2011, Speedball 2: Evolution in consultancy and contract programming
basic sounds/music but it was canned. handed over three scenarios written on 2012 for Android, The Chaos Engine in in recent years and when I go to a new
Even so, the magic was still there and scrap paper and told him to choose one. 2013 for PC, Linux and Mac and Gods company, I’m amazed at the number
anyone who worked for the Bitmaps “Only one showed a positive outcome Remastered for the Xbox One in 2018. of people who say, ‘you’re from The
could sense the cool vibe until it drew for both parties which was continuing What’s more, Mike is still recognised Bitmap Brothers’. It’s the same when I
its last breath. “I began my career at with development as planned,” he says. today just like he was back then. go to a retro show. People are all over
the Bitmap’s offices in Metropolitan “Unfortunately, the relationship had “Oh it would be ridiculous at times,” you sometimes.” We sense he wouldn’t
Wharf so I really didn’t have a frame of broken down to a point where that was he says of the past. “We never gave out have it any other way.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 53

 30 Years Of The

THREE DECADES AFTER

ITS LAUNCH, THE GAME
BOY HAS BECOME MORE
THAN A GAMING ICON –
IT’S A TRUE CULTURAL
PHENOMENON. WE TAKE
A LOOK BACK AT HOW
NINTENDO’S MACHINE
ACHIEVED SUCH A RARE
FEAT, AND SPEAK TO
THOSE WHO ARE STILL
FLYING THE FLAG FOR
THE HANDHELD TODAY
Words by Nick Thorpe and Martyn Carroll

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 30 YEARS OF THE GAME BOY

» The Game Boy’s array of licensed games were

» Avenging Spirit is one of the great rare games for Game Boy collectors to hunt down. popular with younger gamers.

W
hen the modern handheld console software was a worthy sacrifice. As a result, scepticism at Nintendo prior to launch. Even
market developed in the late Eighties more than most pieces of videogame hardware, those who would later come to be associated
and early Nineties, it quickly became the Game Boy is a product of compromise. with the platform didn’t always get a great first
clear that one of the manufacturers Where other handhelds had colour screens, the impression. “I do remember when a neighbour
was significantly more attuned to the challenges Game Boy had four greyscale shades (or green, classmate showed off his Game Boy to me.
of creating a portable platform than the others. if you’re staring at that original screen). The other I’d guess this was summer 1991, since he was
The designers of the Atari Lynx focused on machines were backlit, and Nintendo’s hardware playing Blades Of Steel,” says Johan Kotlinski,
pairing the familiar 6502 CPU with relatively relied on getting just the right level of light. author of the Game Boy music tool Little Sound
high-end custom graphics technology, with Nintendo even opted for a custom processor DJ. “Being outdoors in the sun, it was rather
Epyx giving the system arcade-style graphical based on the Z80, rather than the 6502 used in difficult to see what was [happening] on the
features like sprite scaling. Sega and NEC the NES, meaning that its developers couldn’t screen, and it did not come off as a particularly
focused on how they might leverage their simply reuse code. But it didn’t matter if it compelling entertainment option. As you might
existing hardware in a new environment, couldn’t play Super Mario Bros – Nintendo could remember, there were a lot of competition at the
ultimately basing the Game Gear and PC Engine just make a new Mario game tailored to what the time – most of us kids had a Commodore 64,
GT on the Master System and PC Engine machine could do. NES or even an Amiga, and for mobile gaming
respectively. All of these consoles seemed to Not everybody was impressed – it has the Atari Lynx seemed more desirable, even if
be born of similar thinking: they were consoles been said that there was even some deal of too expensive. I already had my Tetris needs
designed in service of the games. served by an original C64 tape, and
They allowed players experiences
close to what they’d get elsewhere,
BOY WONDERS the Game Boy did not seem like an
improvement at the time. Certainly
and allowed developers to continue the load times were much faster on
using the techniques they had the Game Boy, but we kids had lots
elsewhere. With the Game Boy, of time to waste anyway.”
Nintendo approached the problem But Nintendo had made a
from the other end – the company judgement call, and it paid off.
designed the hardware in service of “Even though it was underpowered
the gamer. and its screen had issues with
Nintendo reasoned that the ghosting and no lighting, all those
ability to actually play the machine Gaz Thomas, Jeremy Parish, Mathew Boyle, things that kind of worked against it
was more important than what it Developer of Author of Game Boy also worked in its favour – it made
could play, and that less impressive Owyn’s Adventure Game Boy Works collector a very economical system,” says

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 55

 MINI MAKING OF...

PRINCE
“It was the first time I had
ever seen a console, let alone a
OF PERSIA handheld, and it was very exotic”
ED MAGNIN CONVERTED Gaz Thomas
JORDAN MECHNER’S
CLASSIC TO THE GAME BOY
Jeremy Parish, a veteran videogames showing my dad and I,” says Gaz Thomas,
How did you end journalist and creator of the Game Boy Works an indie developer whose work includes
up working on the video and book series. The Game Boy was half Owyn’s Adventure as well as contributions
Game Boy and coding the price of the more impressive Atari Lynx, to Hydroventure and Stealth, Inc. “It was the
Prince Of Persia? and would run three times as long on fewer first time I had ever seen a console, let alone a
My boss woke up one day and decided batteries. This made it attractive to parents, and handheld, and it was very exotic. I was only five
to swap me from the NES to the the built-in display meant that it didn’t tie up the at the time but I could understand the game and
Game Boy. It was the best thing he ever did. The Game Boy TV. It was a viable purchase, even for families the music was entrancing!” Indeed, Tetris could
represented freedom for me. When I’d go to GDC or E3 I could that already owned a console. “I first received be universally understood and its new handheld
carry my work in my pocket and walk up to a booth and show a Game Boy for Christmas when I was a kid. I’d home proved to be conducive to spreading the
it to someone, no appointment necessary. I did Caesars Palace been trying to play my brother’s NES and so game’s appeal. Plenty of young players would
first, then Prince Of Persia. I got my own portable system to keep peace frequently find their systems being borrowed by
in the house,” says Mathew Boyle, a Game parents and grandparents.
Were you a fan of Jordan Mechner’s Boy fanatic whose game collection consists of Indeed, while Sega and Sony get much of
original game? approximately 800 games. “Of course, I was the credit for bringing older audiences into
I quickly became one. I played the PC version but knowing he a bit too young I think to really appreciate it, the videogaming market during the Nineties,
did the original on the Apple II was even more impressive. I but I would play Kirby’s Dream Land until the Nintendo’s machine had a killer app that appealed
played the PC version constantly to make sure ours worked as batteries ran dry!” to players across all demographics. “It definitely
well or better on the Game Boy. As good as games like Kirby’s Dream Land did reach a broader spectrum of gamers than
were, one game overshadowed the rest when it the NES did, and Nintendo recognised that from
Did you have any say in the cart size came to selling the system to players – including the very beginning,” notes Jeremy. “Some
selected for the game, and was it a those with no previous gaming experience. of their early ads were targeted at working
struggle to make it fit? “The first time I laid my eyes on a Game Boy professionals and adults, promoting games like
Publishers were cheap. They didn’t want to pay for a larger was at my cousin’s house, he had gotten one Tetris and saying, ‘Hey, you can enjoy yourself
cartridge or a battery to back-up RAM in the cartridge. for Christmas. It had Tetris on it and he was when you’re waiting at the airport – it’s not just
It would have cost a dollar or two, but then multiplied by
their mark-up that would have added five or six dollars to
the price of the game. If you look back, only Nintendo and
maybe one or two publishers ever released games on larger
cartridges or with memory backup – the rest of us had to
make convoluted password save systems. And yes, it was a
struggle to make it fit.

You later did a second version of the

game for the Game Boy Color. Did
the updated hardware make for an
easier conversion?
Not really. In addition to adding colour, Nintendo required
developers to add additional levels or features, so we added a
training level. At the very end of the project the Nintendo colour
police (Club Wario) asked us to make every level a different
colour. We had worked hard to make the palace and dungeon
levels look really good, so we resisted changing colours. On
a conference call I asked Nintendo, ‘Do you want it to look
good or do you want obvious use of colour?’ They answered,
‘Obvious use of colour.’ That was it. We had to give them what
they wanted or they wouldn’t let us publish it.

» Significant adjustment was needed in order to

bring existing properties like Contra to Game Boy.

56 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 30 YEARS OF THE GAME BOY

» Puzzle games like Pipe Dream

worked well with the Game Boy’s
blur-prone display.

for kids, even though

it’s called the Game Boy.’”
That campaign had the tag line their way west in
“Have you had your fun today?” 1998 and 1999.
and deliberately targeted non-gaming In the financial year
media, appearing in magazines such as ending March 1998, the
GQ as well as on TV. Even then-First Lady Game Boy was old hardware » Bespoke Game Boy projects like F-1 Race sold in their millions, despite
Hillary Clinton admitted to buying a Game (the Game Boy Color still having generic branding.
Boy for herself in a 1993 interview with Time yet to be introduced) and the world was fixated
magazine, after having become a fan through on home consoles with 3D graphics. But even
playing her daughter’s machine. at what should have been its loweest ebb, the
The Game Boy had a long tail, too. While low cost and timeless library of the Game Boy,
the first couple of years played host to more combined with the absence of any serious
major hits than later years, the hardware saw at competition in the handheld console space,
least a few games hit the 1 million sales mark meant that Nintendo managed to sell through
every single year. That’s pretty remarkable, as 10.37 million hardware units. The Game Boy
Game Boy owners didn’t buy a lot of games. Color was introduced just months later and
Nintendo’s figures show that just 4.22 pieces revitalised hardware sales – and even though that
of software were sold for every piece of Game model saw plenty of exclusive software, major
Boy/Game Boy Color hardware – a low number releases including Pokémon Gold & Silver and
compared to the 8.07 games sold for each NES, Dragon Warrior Monsters still supported the old
or the 7.72 games for each SNES console. It model. Only when the Game Boy Advance was
didn’t hurt that the system had a late hit in the released in 2001 did the classic system truly ride
form of Pokémon Red & Blue – the games gave off into the glorious greyscale sunset.
the format a shot in the arm in Japan when That level of reach alone gives Game Boy
introduced in 1996, and plenty of hand-me- nostalgia a much wider resonance than most » Games produced by Shigeru Miyamoto don’t tend to fly under the
down systems were dusted off when they made other machines can claim. But there’s something radar, but Mole Mania has.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 57

 » Pokémon kept the system from
flagging when most machines
would run out of steam.

» Owyn’s Adventure was born from an organised

effort to make Game Boy-style games.

more to it – the hardware choices Nintendo

made gave the Game Boy a very distinctive
identity, a look and feel that its competitors
can’t match. Show most people a screenshot
of Lemmings on the Atari Lynx or the Game
Gear, and they’d be hard-pressed to identify
the platform. But when you show people a
screenshot of the same game running on the
Game Boy, there’s no hesitation – the four shades
(green if you’re original, grey otherwise) are a
defining characteristic of the platform. And the
Game Boy sounds unique amongst Nintendo
systems too, not inheriting its sound hardware
from the NES or having anything in common
with the SNES. Combined with its overwhelming
commercial success, these unique distinguishing
factors have turned the Game Boy into a true
cultural icon, recognisable even to those who
weren’t around to experience the system’s birth
30 years ago.
Take the form factor of the system, for
example. When Nintendo chose to reintroduce
its Game & Watch classics in mini keychain
size in the Nineties, it did so in Game Boy-
style casing. The machine has also been the
basis for all sorts of novelty products, from
shampoo bottles to drinking flasks and alarm
clocks. Though Nintendo would abandon
the vertical orientation beginning with the
Game Boy Advance, it was widely imitated by
manufacturers of lower-level handhelds in the

58 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 30 YEARS OF THE GAME BOY

MINI MAKING OF...

ALIEN 3
JAS AUSTIN REVEALS THE
STORY BEHIND HIS UNIQUE
INTERPRETATION OF ALIEN 3
You worked on the
Spectrum before
moving over to the
Game Boy. Was it a
smooth transition?
Yes, it was pretty smooth. Both the
Game Boy and the Spectrum are Z80, so I already had a head
start. What was new to me was hardware support – scrolling
and sprites for example.

Were you able to watch the Alien 3

movie prior to starting development?
Sadly no, but the team did get to attend a private screening
in a small cinema in Leicester Square shortly before the
film was released, which was pretty exciting for me. For the
design we only had a copy of the script.

There must have been a temptation to

do a typical 2D run-and-gun, like the
other versions of the game?
A side-view game was the obvious choice but we purposely
avoided doing that. My last few games had all been side-
scrollers and I was a bit sick of doing them, so I pushed
for the idea of doing something top-down with a little less
straight action. Plus at the time I had a feeling the other
versions of Alien 3 would be side-scrolling actions games and
thought this would help our game stand out.
» Game Boy games often offer unique takes on existing properties, like Super Mario Land ’s shooting sections.
Did you receive any feedback – or
interference – from the movie studio?
“Both the Game Boy and the Fox had no feedback or input into the game design, I’m not
sure back then that the film companies saw the games
Spectrumhadarea head
Z80, so I already industry as anything important. However any larger graphics

start” Jas Austin

of the actors had to be signed off by Fox and the stars.

How long did the development last,

and was it a smooth development?
It wasn’t the smoothest development. I started on the
Nineties, from cheap ‘block game’ handhelds to The existence of an unofficial jam suggests game and made a very quick prototype to demonstrate the
the likes of the Mega Duck and the Supervision. that there’s no shortage of people interested top-down scrolling view. But then I got pulled off the project
Even today, contemporary machines such as the in making Game Boy-style games, and a look to work on another game, Spider-Man 2 if I recall. Sadly my
Playdate draw clear inspiration from the Game around the indie scene bears that out. Browse replacement on Alien 3 had to stop due to health reasons, so
Boy’s classic design. the online store for the Nintendo Switch and after finishing the Spider-Man game I jumped back on board.
The limited display of the system has also you’ll find games like Save Me, Mr Tako and The previous coder’s work wasn’t something I could use so I
been a visual inspiration for many, including Gaz, Awesome Pea that lift their limited colour went back to my original code. Because the development was
whose game Owyn’s Adventure uses the Game palettes and green hues directly from the now running late the pressure was on to get it finished. It was
Boy visual style. What inspired this choice? “I original model of the Game Boy. It’s not just tough but I managed to finish the coding in about five weeks,
started Owyn’s Adventure as an entry to the on the handheld platform that you’ll find this which even back then was pretty quick.
Unofficial Game Boy Jam run by my friend reverence for Nintendo’s original machine, either
Jamie, who convinced me to take part away from – PC games like Madcap Castle and Squidlit also
another personal project that I’d gotten a creative pay homage to the system’s distinctive display,
block on,” explains the developer. If you’re a while others like Evoland 2 and PlataGO! include
regular reader of our Homebrew section, you’ll the Game Boy as one of many retro gaming
likely be familiar with such development drives. styles. The look even goes beyond games,
“It was two weeks to make as much as you could as mobile apps like Retrospecs, Bitstagram
so long as the game featured just four shades and Retroboy offer camera filters designed to
of the Game Boy green. After two weeks I had produce images like the Game Boy Camera
some systems in and a rushed level, so I thought add-on. So what makes the look of the machine
I’d spend a couple of weeks working on the level so popular with indie developers? “A couple
design but kept going as I was enjoying working reasons as to why the Game Boy aesthetic is
on it so much.” popular come to mind,” says Gaz. “Firstly the

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 59

 instant nostalgia back to when we were by Ambassadors Of Funk, and Tetris by Doctor
younger – fun, easy-to-learn games. Secondly, Spin (in actuality, musical theatre composer
for me especially, it lets you worry less when Andrew Lloyd Webber and record producer Nigel
drawing the artwork. It takes a bit to get into Wright). British readers will also likely remember
the mindset of four colours but once you draw an Ariston advert which featured the title music
with them for a bit you learn to know when from the Game Boy conversion of RoboCop.
you’ve done enough.” There are limitations, of Those achievements are pretty astonishing,
MINI MAKING OF... course. “You can’t go overly detailed or things considering that the console’s sound capabilities

MONSTER just appear noisy and unreadable, less becomes

more as players fill in the gaps.”
were very limited even by gaming standards at
the time, and speak more to the system’s massive

MAX
A
popularity than its musical merits.
s well as the four shades, many But the Game Boy’s sound remains iconic way
JON RITMAN ON CREATING developers choose to employ the green past the system’s commercial heyday. With the
HIS MINI ISOMETRIC OPUS screen – this is in spite of the fact that rise of flashcarts, anyone can use homebrew
FOR THE GAME BOY many players will have experienced programs like Nanoloop and LSDJ (Little Sound
Game Boy games on other systems that DJ) to turn their childhood handheld into a
Did you find it easy represent the system’s graphics differently, such powerful instrument. But why create LSDJ in the
moving on to Game Boy as the Game Boy Pocket, Super Game Boy and first place? “The stars were aligned,” says Johan.
development, due to the Game Boy Color. Indeed, even this magazine uses “I had put my heart into making music on the
Z80-like CPU? the green look for its Game Boy screenshots. Amiga for a couple of years and was looking for
Z80-like? Yeah, if they had castrated a Why is this such a crucial part of the look? something new. For a long time I had imagined a
Z80. No exchange registers, no index For Gaz, it comes down to simple nostalgia. portable music-making tool, that would allow me
registers, no 16-bit additions or subtraction instructions. It was “The green is what people who have played to try out and annotate music ideas on the go.”
doable but also horrible. on the original console think of when they hear The choice of platform was more coincidental
‘Game Boy’. I’ve seen some great games with than deliberate. “Some of my friends were
Were you asked to create an four shades but green represents the original starting with Game Boy Color programming,
isometric game in the style of Head console for me.” Of course, one of the things that I thought it seemed fun and assembly
Over Heels, or was it something you comes with imitating the style is that you can programming might even be a useful skill when
wanted to do? cherry pick the best bits of it, and one thing that looking for jobs. The Game Boy music programs
I had just finished my own development program that Rare tends to be left out is the motion blur that was at the time seemed rather limited and I thought
used for many games, and at that point I just wanted to use characteristic of the early Game Boy systems. making the best Game Boy music program could
it for something myself. There were no isometric games for “I think developers don’t chase the motion blur be my humble claim to fame – not that I imagined
the Game Boy during that time, so I thought it would be an effect as it’s not an aesthetic that lends itself to many would ever use it.”
interesting challenge. all gameplay types,” explains Gaz. “A player who Johan’s software did become rather popular,
never used the console might even think it was a as chiptune artists have adopted the Game Boy
The monochrome screen was probably bug or glitch!” as a favourite platform. What is it about the
the Game Boy’s biggest shortcoming. As you’ll likely remember if you were around system that makes it so attractive? “The Game
Did you have to mitigate for it during at the time, the sound of the console was popular Boy sound is technically not that extraordinary
the design? too. In 1992, two of the Game Boy’s flagship titles and is maybe best characterized by its limited
To be honest, as far as an isometric game was concerned the inspired singles that reached the top ten in the 4-bit dynamics. Time has shown though, that
Spectrum was also monochrome, so no change there. The UK singles charts – SuperMarioLand ft MC Mario it is a rather good music system,” he says.
biggest problem with the screen on the Game Boy was that
there wasn’t a proper hi-res mode, so I had to mess about a lot
to create one using interrupts to change modes as the raster
“The green is what people who have
passed over the screen. played on the original console think
The issues you had with the publisher
are well known. Do you think the
of when they hear ‘Game Boy’” Gaz Thomas
game would have had more impact if
its release had been handled better?
If reviews made no difference at the time why would anyone
bother to submit a game? Monster Max got great reviews
when we finished it, but how many would remember it when it
was eventually released nearly a year later?

Is it correct that Nintendo was

interesting in publishing the game at
one point?
Don’t remind me that I made the biggest mistake of my
career. Yes, Nintendo was interested but we would have had
to remodel the main character to be one from the Nintendo
stable. I can only plead tiredness for my failure to do so.

Finally, was a Game Boy version of

Match Day ever considered?
I didn’t think it would be possible to make a football game that
I would be happy with on the Game Boy. I did think about it, but » Mario often turned up to boost the appeal of early games with generic » The music of Tetris has inspired a number of musical tributes, including
only for a very short time. branding, like Tennis. a top ten single.

60 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 30 YEARS OF THE GAME BOY

» Chipzel’s Game Boy tunes were the soundtrack to

indie hit Super Hexagon.

» Squidlit goes further than other Game Boy-inspired games,

sticking to sprite restrictions and other limitations.

» Games like X proved that the a little programming wizardry could overcome the hardware’s limits.

“The capabilities are well balanced between the Game Boy library in chronological order,
two square wave channels, a programmable and cultural significance is a big reason for the
wave table and a noise generator, so it lends choice of platform. “Ever since Game Boy Color
itself equally well to many music genres. It is and Neo-Geo Pocket Color I’ve been a big fan of
easy to program and the Game Boy has ample handheld gaming, and during the
RAM, ROM and decent processing power, so DS and the PSP’s lifespan, I was a » Various indie developers
interpret the Game Boy green
it’s possible to splurge on things like nice UI, big advocate of those in the press. differently, as seen in Madcap
samples, soft synthesis, even going overboard So I felt that maybe I should go back Castle.
with effects so that one can sculpt the sounds to and look at the roots of portable
ones desire. The serial port is a nice bonus, and gaming, the first major portable
crucially those square wave basses just happen system to come out – and it still
to sound great in a big sound system.” has so much heritage in gaming at
LSDJ has gone on to become a key tool in this point,” says Jeremy. But there’s
the repertoire of many chiptune musicians – another factor that makes the library
those who use it include popular acts such as attractive too, and that’s the fact
Anamanaguchi, Toriena, Chipzel, DJ Scotch Egg that despite all the nostalgia, it still
and Trash80. “I’ll mention Covox, Lo-bat and represents relatively fresh ground
Goto80 since I did a lot of shows with them back to cover. “There’s not really that
in the day,” adds Johan when asked about his much coverage of Game Boy – even
favourite acts. Like the Game Boy graphical style, now, outside of the major titles
the Game Boy sound has even found its way
back to games – Anamanaguchi did the Scott
Pilgrim game soundtrack, Chipzel provided music
for Super Hexagon and Toriena contributed to the
recent Team Sonic Racing.
But while the hardware itself has had a
considerable impact on our gaming culture, the
Game Boy is like every other console in that the
primary draw remains the games themselves.
And the library manages to attract both old hands
and new faces. Jeremy’s Game Boy Works covers

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 61

 – so it seemed like
something interesting
to do,” he points out.
“It’s been a journey
of discovery, which is
what I really wanted to
do because I missed
MINI MAKING OF... out on Game Boy

DONKEY for most of its life.

This is the chance for

KONG me to go back and

experience the things

LAND III that I didn’t get to

experience when they
IAN MANDERS CODED THE THIRD were new.”
AND FINEST DONKEY KONG LAND Going back and
taking every release
How did you land the in turn has allowed
job of coding Donkey Jeremy to gain insights
Kong Land 3 for Rare? on the system that he
I started at Rare in 1994 and my first wouldn’t necessarily
project was the SNES game Ken have reached
Griffey Jr’s Winning Run. After that otherwise. “It had a lot
finished in early 1996, I was assigned to work on Donkey of puzzle games, which
Kong Land 3. It used the same engine that Rob Harrison I didn’t really realise at
wrote from the ground up for Donkey Kong Land 2, but with the time,” he tells us. » The Game Boy’s display is part of its character, but players always
lots of new gameplay features, as well as new map screens “When I would play desired colour solutions like the Super Game Boy.
and bonus games. puzzle action games like Adventures Of Lolo or
Toki Tori, I was like, ‘Wow, this is really novel’ and
What were the main challenges you now that I’ve spent a lot of time with the Game
faced from a coding perspective? Boy library I realise that these were really common
It was a new platform, to me, so I had to get up to speed with and this was a huge genre, especially in Japan on
a different CPU, and the tighter constraints of the Game Boy – early computers.” Indeed, looking at the Japanese
slower speed, less memory and the small pages of the Game library is a gateway into a world of games that
Boy cartridges. It was an interesting challenge, though, and originated on the likes of the PC-88 and FM7, and
the immediacy of working with portable platforms resonated plenty of other games made similar transitions.
with me. For most of my career since that point I’ve developed Since consumers expected simple, easy-to-grasp
software for portable games consoles and mobile phones. games on the Game Boy, developers used the
console as a means of bringing classic games
The first two Donkey Kong Land back to market. Arcade games like Mr Do!,
games are quite close to their big Heiankyo Alien and Donkey Kong were revived
brother SNES versions, whereas on Game Boy, as were computer classics such
Donkey Kong Land 3 does deviate as Lode Runner.
from Donkey Kong Country 3. Was this The project has also allowed Jeremy to
a conscious decision? discover plenty of new favourites. “Mercenary
We weren’t given any significant directives one way or Force was a great one, it’s kind of like a horizontal
another and we were generally left to get on with it. Most shooter but you’re controlling a team of
attention at that time was paid to the Nintendo 64 games in mercenaries in feudal Japan. The Sword Of Hope
development. We had the benefit of having a good starting was developed by Kemco, and Kemco made its
point in the existing engine, so that gave us some breathing mark on the NES by taking the ICOM MacVenture
room to add some original elements. games and converting them, and The Sword Of
Hope takes that framework and combines it with
The original Game Boy’s monochrome a Dragon Quest-style RPG. It’s really interesting
screen wasn’t amazing. Was there and distinct. I also like Balloon Fight and it didn’t
much you could do as a coder to really occur to me until I started this project
improve clarity? that Balloon Kid was a sequel and follow up
I think that was mostly in the hands of the artist. I don’t to Balloon Fight, so I really enjoyed that one.”
remember having much influence over that. The artist, Keri It’s fascinating that even for a long-time games
Gunn, had lots of experience with creating great Game Boy journalist with a notable interest in retro games,
graphics so it was in capable hands. there’s so much unexplored territory. “There
have been quite a few games since I’ve started
The first Donkey Kong Land on Game this project that have been pleasant surprises or
Boy reportedly sold in huge numbers. genuinely great. I don’t think the Game Boy gets
Were you privy to how well your its fair due, honestly,” he tells us.
sequel sold? One of the long-term devotees of the system
I remember hearing that Donkey Kong Land 3 sold more is Mathew, who graduated from Kirby to Super
than a million, which was great to hear for only the second Mario Land, and later to RPGs like Pokémon and » The Game Boy saw a lot of support from Nintendo, with big
game I’d worked on. Dragon Warrior Monster. “I’ve been collecting franchises making waves on the handheld console.

62 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 30 YEARS OF THE GAME BOY

» The Game Boy editions of R-Type are impressive, and well

worth picking up.

MINI MAKING OF...

R-TYPE DX
BOB PAPE RECALLS THE BUMPER
R-TYPE PACKAGE THAT DELIGHTED
ALL GAME BOY OWNERS
Did having the ZX
Spectrum version of
» Mathew Boyle’s collection is enough to make any R-Type on your CV help
retro gamer Game Boy green with envy.
you get the Game Boy
R-Type II gig?
“The games are very simplistic and Well the original R-Type for the Game
Boy was converted by Jas Austin but he was busy on another
there’s a purity in that – devs game, while I was free and had the experience of coding

couldn’t rely on visuals” Mathew Boyle

the Spectrum version. I don’t know if it had been offered to
anyone else but for my self-confidence I’d like to think my
name was somewhere near the top of the list!

for the Game Boy since I was about 11,” says the [original Game Boy] and some games to a six- The pair of you later updated your
collector. “I used to go to car boot sales and local year-old and they’ll still have fun playing them!” R-Type games for R-Type DX on
retro stores with friends at the weekends. To be The Game Boy was never Nintendo’s flagship the Game Boy Color. What was the
honest, it pretty much happened by accident – as product, yet there’s a case to be made that it impetus there?
I grew up with the system and its successors, I had the biggest impact of any of the company’s It was a quick money-spinner. The DX versions replaced
ended up with a pretty solid base of games and hardware ventures. After all, what became the mono sprites and backgrounds with colour versions
discovered new ones via emulation. I started of the adults who got hooked on their kids’ and I also added a brand-new backdrop to the third stage of
filling in the gaps because honestly it’d stretch the copies of Tetris? They’re the bedrock of today’s R-Type II. We found out that it was very easy to convert an
money I’d get from my paper round a little more casual gaming market, and they’re probably existing four-colour Game Boy game to a full(ish) colour one,
than buying a SNES game. Unboxed carts were still playing Tetris on their mobile phones. so much so that perhaps the console should have been called
usually only a couple of pounds, so it was worth What became of Pokémon? It’s still one of the the Game Boy Color-ised.
gambling on games with interesting labels!” biggest entertainment franchises in the world.
Eventually, this casual collecting turned into a What became of handheld consoles? They Besides the colour versions, R-Type
more focused effort. “It wasn’t until I moved to were established as viable alternatives to home DX also included the original mono
Denmark that I decided to go for a full set,” he devices, and Nintendo has been the driving force games that could be enjoyed on both
explains. “I managed to get the full European set in their continued evolution. The company enjoys Game Boy and Game Boy Color. How
a few years back (467 carts) and then I mopped a similarly commanding position in that market did that work?
up the hundred or so US exclusives last year. I now – even though the Game Boy line has been I had to add a piece of code to the mono Game Boy versions
think I’m somewhere around 200 of the Japanese inactive for over a decade, the Nintendo DS line that checked if it was running on a Game Boy Color. If it was
exclusives, so I’ve probably nearing the 800 carts went on to even greater sales and the Switch is then it set the first four colours of the Game Boy Color palette
mark if I haven’t already!” more or less unopposed today. to an approximation of the Game Boy, with a slight yellow
So what is it that keeps players coming back Because of that impact, we’re still in love with tinge. Disregarding the differences in colour the Game Boy
to the Game Boy library? “I honestly think it’s the system today. You can see that in the people Color versions are pretty much identical to the originals.
because the system’s limitations made for great who still cherish the collections they amassed Nintendo did ask for some minor tweaks such as asking for
gameplay. The games are very simplistic and when growing up, as well as those who are the level one boss to be made harder to kill.
there’s a purity in that – developers couldn’t discovering the library today. You see it in the
rely on visuals (or even colour), so it makes the Game Boy kids that have grown up and are now R-Type DX includes a cryptic
experience all about play,” Mathew replies. “I bringing the console’s distinct style into their own messages on the end credits: ‘For Arch
guess it also helps that the Game Boy came projects – a style that exists purely because of Stanton, The World Is Yours?’ Was this
around at a time when games were in their the choices Nintendo made in service of creating down to you?
infancy. Much like the indie games of today, a a viable handheld console. If there’s a lesson to Yes, that’s another of my little messages at the end. Arch
small team could make an experimental game be learned, it’s that the best hardware will turn Stanton plays a key part in the finale of The Good, The Bad
with relatively little risk involved. I think it’s a real heads in the moment, but the best hardware for And The Ugly, while ‘The World Is Yours’ is the motif that
testament to those studios, that you can hand an the job will create a lasting legacy. drives the protagonists of both versions of Scarface.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 63

 me Park?
» Or Sinister The Four
Not to mention The se.
Apocalyp
» A picture Cyclists of the
of th
there are so e AP office… but, yo
about in this many more things we u know,
article. Rem co
ember Cano uld talk
e Squad?

THE MAKING OF

g inn in g , the re was Amiga

In the be hty beings
d lo , th e se m ig
Power. An E S SENTIAL
S E M IN A T E
did DIS e re, th e y reveal the
IO N . H
INFORMAT a pp ened behind
o f w h a t h
TRUTH m u ch - loved, and
a t th e
the scenes agazineood
much-missed, m
s Packwood
Words by Lewi

» Cam was the Cyclist at the

he’s
back, by the way. He says
still got the sledgehammer.
[Are you actually going to write
proper captions? – Ed]

64 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 » FINE. Here’s a normal caption: A sketch by Jamie Hewlett of the character
that was set to appear on every AP front cover. HAPPY?

The staff’s life, after Amiga Power

MATT BIELBY
■ After birthing Amiga
Power, Matt says he’d
“become one of the
go-to guys to launch
anything that was
games-y”, and Future
offered him the chance
to helm either a Mega
Drive or a Super NES magazine. He picked the latter,
launching Super Play in 1992. He went on to launch PC
Gamer, .net, SFX, Total Film, Arcade and the Official
PlayStation 2 Magazine before eventually leaving
Future. Currently, he says he’s “desperately trying to
write some novels – they’re not finished yet, but they’re
getting there” while running a food mag called Crumbs.

» They nicked some backdrop cloth from the photo studio to make the cloaks. STUART

M
CAMPBELL
y biggest disappointment,” begins Jamie’s green-haired character and her alien ■ Stuart left AP to work
Matt Bielby, Amiga Power’s first sidekicks resurfaced later in 1991, the year of for Sensible Software
editor, “was that we had a very Amiga Power’s launch, when they graced the during the production
different cover design at the start.” covers of several EPs and an album by the British of Cannon Fodder 2,
Later Amiga Power staffers would gently mock the punk band Senseless Things. And Matt eventually Sensible World Of Soccer
initial incarnation of the magazine, with its clean did get to have his comic book-style magazine and Sensible Golf. After
white look and word-spattered covers, referring to covers. He later became launch editor for another that he did “all kinds
it as the ‘Matt Bielby Golden Age’. But Matt reveals fondly remembered magazine, Super Play, and of things in journalism and games development”.
that he never wanted those dull cover designs. commissioned Wil Overton to draw anime-style art He now edits the “world’s biggest Scottish politics
Originally, he had called in Jamie Hewlett, for every single front page. website, Wings Over Scotland, which advocates Scottish
the artist behind Tank Girl and Gorillaz, to draw independence and gets around a quarter of a million
the covers for every issue of Amiga Power. “He readers every month from a country of 5 million people.
developed a character for us,” says Matt. “She was Despite his questionable taste in covers, Greg did Coincidentally that’s around the same number as total
a bit like Tank Girl but had green hair, and she had at least contribute one of the lasting aspects of sales of the Amiga 500, so I guess proportionally Wings
kind of blobby floating alien sidekicks [you can see the magazine. “He said it should have a subtitle: is about five times as popular as AP was. All those
a sketch at the top of this page]. And Jamie was ‘A Magazine With Attitude’,” remembers Matt. “I other losers were clearly just holding me back”.
going to draw them for every cover in the outfits of think he decided that was a good thing to kind of
whatever the lead game was. So if it was Sensible distinguish it from the more serious and slightly
Soccer they’d be in football outfits, and if it was a straight-faced magazines that Future Publishing JONATHAN
car racing game they’d be in racing outfits, and so had at the time. It helped define the magazine, DAVIES
on.” The suits soon put a stop to all that, though. but a lot of what we did over the next few years ■ After AP, Jonathan
was working out what moved to PC Gamer,

There was a section at the front

‘A Magazine With and later helped to
Attitude’ meant.” launch N64 Magazine.

where we said there’s no point One of the things it

meant, as it turned out,
He did a couple of years
at the BBC on the Top

buying any other magazine was subverting the

subtitle ‘A Magazine
Gear website, before
launching Gamespress.com. Both Jonathan and Cam
Cam Winstanley With Attitude’, which married an Amiga Power art assistant called Lisa. “But
variously appeared not the same one, if that makes sense,” he says. “It was
“Greg Ingham [Amiga Power’s publisher] hated on the cover of later issues as ‘Ein Magazin Mit quite a while after AP that I got together with my Lisa
it,” continues Matt. “He saw it at the last minute and Stellung’ and ‘The Magazine With No Future’. (Nicholls). We stayed friends post-AP, and she used to
thought it was wrong for the magazine. And so we Whether by chance or design, Amiga Power water my plants when I was working down in London,
suddenly had to come up with another way of doing became a roiling cauldron of wit and anarchy, a and she did such a good job of it that it only seemed
the covers, which is why we had these sort of Q magazine that steadfastly refused to conform to the right to pop the question. We’re now sharing a house
magazine-influenced text and pictures.” Generally, norms of Nineties games publishing. with a couple of mini-mighty beings beneath an attic
however, Matt recalls that the management was And it had a devoted following. There was full of obsolete computers.”
hands-off in its treatment of Amiga Power. no better illustration of this than the letters

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 65

 …and here’s the rest of them
RICH PELLEY
■ After Rich left
Future Publishing he
vowed never to play
a videogame again
(although he says he “DID
» ISSUE 0 WAS A 32-PAGE » A SOFTWARE COMPANY
PLAY MARIO KART ON SAMPLER INCLUDED IN EXECUTIVE APPEARS
THE WII AGAINST MY AMIGA FORMAT ON THE FRONT COVER.
AP2 NOTES THAT “THE
NEPHEW ONCE, AND HE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES
BEAT ME”). He decided WERE TAKEN OUT
to become a men’s magazine journalist. After writing for AND QUIETLY
MACHINE-GUNNED”
magazines like FHM and Loaded, Rich finally decided it
was “ALL A BIT EMBARRASSING” and started working for
The Guardian instead.

CAM
WINSTANLEY
■ Amiga Power was the TH
first (and only) games » Remember that time when Rich
T H E M AT T B I E L B Y G O L D E N A G E
magazine that Cam drove a car into the sea?
worked on. In 2003, he

1991 1992
» Or The AP Files, a 14-page
married former AP art feature on the paranormal that
assistant Lisa Kellett had exactly nothing to do
with Amiga games?
after bumping into her
at a party. Cam says » Office Joust was the
best. That was when IS SUE S 0-8 I S S U E S 9-2 0
that “like most freelance writers, I now sit in my spare they worked out they
room cranking out copy for B2B journals and internally- could use a camcorder
distributed magazines for European IT consultancy firms and a screen-grabbing
machine to take their
while writing screenplays in my spare time”. His first own photos without
(and only) novel, B-spine, is “languishing at 2,312 in the booking a photographer.
[This is your final
‘Cyberpunk sci-fi’ category of the Amazon Kindle store”. warning. – Ed]

page, ‘Do The Write Thing’, in which regular average games a massive perks and freebies and nice trips. And
correspondents became minor celebrities in their score around the 50% because we didn’t do that, we just didn’t get any of
own right, and where in jokes were born and mark. This caused upset. “If a that. So we kind of lost out on a lot of cool trips and
subsequently spread their seed through the entire game is bad, you say it, you say their game is bad,” T-shirts by actually writing reviews.”
magazine. Who can forget the saga of Bob The recalls Cam Winstanley, long-time Amiga Power
Hamster, for example, a gender-tripping epic that staffer and editor from issue 51 to 55. “And then the
culminated in the line ‘BYE-BYE BOB. YOU WERE advertisers threaten to pull their advertising, and
A GIRL HAMSTER’ being printed along the spine of then you go ‘pull your advertising’, and then they Amiga Power ’s commitment to vigorous scoring
issue 55 of Amiga Power? pull their advertising, and then we wrote about how resulted in a long-running feud with Team17,
One of the regular letter writers was they pulled their advertising.” apparently caused by the developer taking issue
C-MONSTER, the pseudonym of one Kieron Gillen, Indeed, Amiga Power went on a mission to call with Amiga Power giving its games ‘low’ scores.
who later went on to write The Wicked + The Divine out what was rotten in the state of review mark. “It was all a bit strange, and rather a shame,”
and the Marvel Darth Vader comics, among many “There was a section at the front where we said recalls Jonathan Davies, who was the magazine’s
others. “Amiga Power’s letter page was a wonder,” there’s no point buying any other magazine, here editor from issue 37 to 50. “Team17 were one of
he recalled in 2014. “People writing in recurring are the scores that the other magazines have given,” the Amiga’s greatest games publishers, but even
characters to proper full on rants to people who you says Cam. “We actually did a little grid every they produced the occasional stinker, which Amiga
loved to hate.” And the loss of Amiga Power still month, and we actually put a star next to it that Power wasn’t afraid to call them out on. Plus, of
stings. “We will never see its like again. At its best, it said: ‘appears as an exclusive, cover disk or a cover’. course, Amiga Power scored games properly, rather
was as good as anything.” And it would be like ‘70%, 70%, 70%, 99%’, and than giving them 98% just because the PR guy was
there would be a little star next to it. a mate or whatever.”
“For all of this stuff about Gamergate that Cam notes that Amiga Power actually scored
When asked what set Amiga Power apart from came up recently, you know, ethics in the games Team17 games fairly highly: “We once added up all
other gaming magazines at the time, Amiga Power industry, I just found that hilarious, because going the scores, and we worked out they had an average
writer Stuart Campbell responds with a single word: back, game reviews were just bought and sold. of 76% or something [Subsequent fact checking
“TRUTH”. The writers insisted on using the full Absolutely without doubt, flat out, bought and sold. reveals it was 73%, coincidentally the ‘number of
percentage scale when scoring games, awarding Not with money that I know of, but certainly with the beast’ – Ed], which is actually pretty good for

66 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 » RAINBOW ISLANDS » SENSIBLE SOCCER COMES » GRAVITY POWER IS GIVEN » SENSIBLE WORLD OF
COMES NUMBER ONE NUMBER ONE IN THE AWAY ON THE COVER DISK SOCCER HITS NUMBER ONE
IN THE AP TOP 100 AP TOP 100 IN THE AP TOP 100

» THE CANNON FODDER

» STUART CAMPBELL GIVES POPPY COVER IS PULLED » THE ENTIRE AP STAFF IS
INTERNATIONAL RUGBY AFTER PRESSURE FROM » AN ADVERT FOR F-MAX,
» SENSIBLE SOCCER THE LIGHTLY SPARKLING KILLED UNDER MYSTERIOUS
CHALLENGE A SCORE OF 2% THE BRITISH LEGION CIRCUMSTANCES
RETAINS ITS PLACE AT FISH DRINK, RUNS ON
NUMBER ONE IN THE THE BACK COVER FOR
AP TOP 100 SEVERAL ISSUES
» THE BUDGET REVIEW OF » THE FIRST ‘WHATEVER
RAINBOW ISLANDS GIVES IT HAPPENED TO…?’ FEATURE
96%, THE JOINT HIGHEST AP LOOKS AT CYBERPUNK
REVIEW SCORE ALONG WITH
SENSIBLE WORLD
OF SOCCER 95-96

T H E J O N AT H A N D AV I E S E R A
THE S TUART CAMPBELL ERA T H E C A M W I N S TA N L E Y E R A
THE LINDA BARKER ERA THE COLLEC TIVE ERA
H E M A R K R A M S H AW E R A THE TIM NORRIS ERA
T HE S T E V E FA R AGHE R E R A

1993 1994 1995 1996

I S S U E S 21-3 2 I S SUE S 33-44 I S S UE S 45-56 I S S U E S 5 7- 6 5

The glorious eras of gaming’s

most rock’n’roll magazine

We once added up all the scores,

a magazine that rated an average game at 50%.” gentle sedition, with job
But the falling out seemed to be sparked by Amiga titles doctored and names
Power’s review of Alien Breed 2. “We loved Alien
Breed because it was a really tight game,” says and we worked out they had an cheekily edited. In issue
50, for example, Jonathan
Cam, “and then Alien Breed 2 wasn’t, and got a
bit of a kicking. In the first game, all of the maps average of 76% or something Nash’s job title was given
as ‘Harry Dean Stanton’.
looked like sets, they looked like places: there were Cam Winstanley Cam says one of Amiga
corridors… whereas Alien Breed 2 just had these Power’s big influences
nonsense mazes that were just entirely arbitrary. fixed all our complaints. Then, we were seemingly was Viz, which “everyone was reading in the office
Everything about it was just stupid. It was bigger, alone in the world in finding Worms a bit tedious. at the time”. The other was a book by Mark Leyner
but it just wasn’t as good.” (What were we supposed to do? Pretend we liked called Et Tu, Babe. “It’s the funniest book I’ve ever
Cam says that things escalated from there: it?) It was all downhill from there on, really.” read, and I strongly recommend it,” says Cam. “And
“There was this conviction that it was personal.” if you’re familiar with Amiga Power and you read
Team17 eventually stopped all contact with it, you’d go, ‘Ahh, okay now I see.’ It came out in
Amiga Power and started including the names Scoring controversy aside, Amiga Power is probably 1992, and we kind of stole a lot of the stuff from it:
of Amiga Power staffers as dim-witted computer best remembered for its humour. Every inch of the it’s a book about megalomania, and it purports to
opponents. Still, Jonathan notes that for a while “it magazine was crammed with absurdisms, from be written by a megalomaniac, and he talks about
seemed like we’d patched things up, culminating in cryptic messages etched down the spine to running his megalomaniac lifestyle. And it’s ridiculous. A lot
a cracking Super Stardust cover”. gags in the ‘Next Month’ section on the back of the style choices that we made were because we
Unfortunately, the peace didn’t last. “Then there cover. Memorably, the same picture of Hired Guns were reading that at the time. And because it’s a bit
was a succession of unfortunate happenings,” featured in this section for months on end as the obscure, no one else got that we’d kind of stolen it.
Cam says. “For example, they accidentally sent us review copy repeatedly failed to arrive. Then after So there you go, big secret there.”
a buggy version of Arcade Pool to review, and we it eventually did arrive, the picture still remained, But much of AP’s humour originated from the
accordingly gave it a thumbs down in Amiga Power, with the editors claiming it was stuck and no one fact that, in Cam’s words, “A lot of the time you
which was a shame because when they sent the knew how to get it off. Even the ‘flannel panel’, the just got to piss about.” He mentions aspects of the
real version shortly afterwards it was excellent and list of contributors to the magazine, was ripe for job could’ve been better, “but it didn’t matter

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 67

» In The Style Of… was great, too. » And the letters page! Llars Erik Johnsrod, Isabelle Rees, Reader Millington…

because you were playing videogames for a little office to itself, and I think that fostered a team through the building like some sort of idiot parkour
living”. And that sense of a group of people simply spirit that was a little tighter than most and felt gang to get to them first – if you’ve ever played
having the time of their lives while being very silly special. Obviously there were ups and downs and the chaotic four-player Amiga game Base Jumpers
spilled over into the magazine, says Cam. “You tensions like you’d get on any team – at one point, it was kinda like that – then bring them back and
piss about, you write about it, and then people find for example, Mark and I had a fall-out that saw him spend an hour sitting reading the finished magazine
that funny and they send in letters and photos, and trying to break down the front door of the house we to each other and laughing at our own jokes like
then you write about that. And you’ve got this silly both lived in, while I waited in the hallway with a total wankers. We absolutely loved what we were
little club going.” massive kitchen knife to stab him if he succeeded – doing and were ludicrously proud of what we’d
but they were short-lived.” made, and that’s an intoxicating feeling.”
And Stuart emphasises that each member of Jonathan Davies has similar fond memories of
Stuart recalls that there was brilliant chemistry the team really cared about the magazine that they the Amiga Power years. Among them, “Jonathan
between all of the Amiga Power writers. “I hit it off were making. “The best illustration, I think, is how Nash’s never-ending supply of satsumas, the
with Mark Ramshaw [Amiga Power’s second editor] we used to react when a new issue came back from Gravity Force 2 duels, the Friday afternoon cinema
very early, and the company in general had a really the printers,” he remembers. “As soon as we got trips (shh), Cam’s scratch-built Frontier 2 cover
strong culture at the time. But Amiga Power had a the call from the post room we would literally race model, getting to enjoy all of the best Amiga

Editions of Amiga Power worth racing through the office for

ISSUE 21 ISSUE 32 ISSUE 48

SENSIBLE SOCCER WITH CANNON FODDER THE HANDMADE COVER
HILARIOUS CONSEQUENCES CONTROVERSY ■ The cover of issue 48 was a
■ Amiga Power cover disks often ■ The Cannon Fodder poppy masterstroke of last-minute
featured bespoke games, like cover was changed after The bodging, according to Cam:
Sensible Soccer Meets Bulldog Daily Star saw it in an Amiga “We were locked into doing
Blighty in issue 21. “The ball would Power advert and ran a scathing a Frontier 2 cover on the
explode randomly, [it] was just article entitled ‘Poppy Insult To understanding that there would
a unique game because it only Our War Dead ’, while The British be some artwork or some sort
existed on that cover disk,” says Legion threatened legal action. of preproduction things. But
Cam. Gravity Power was another Stuart pointed out online in AP2 we got closer and closer to the
exclusive: “We paid them a few hundred quid and we said, ‘Do us a that the “knee-jerk reaction” was at odds with the game itself: issue, and we realised that it simply wasn’t going to happen. So I
version where it looks exactly the same, but we want these major “The facts here are that Cannon Fodder was […] probably the most stayed up three nights and bought, like, five model kits and some
changes: we want the gravity halved, and we want the inertia sensitive addressing of the issue of war ever seen. […] It’s in fact, balsa wood and made a spaceship. And then we photographed it,
changed to this, and we want the shields changed to this.’ We ironically, the only game I can ever recall to treat its protagonists as then someone created a star field for it and put the laser beams in
played it all the time.” anything other than cannon fodder.” and stuff. […] It was just some shit model that I’d made.”

68 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 » Hey, what about that time when
they did The Secret Garden in the
style of Reservoir Dogs? [This is
your final, FINAL warning! – Ed]

games, of course – like Sensible Soccer and

Guardian – the good pals I made while working
on it, the endless cups of tea… and generally just
escaping with my life.”

Above all, though, Amiga Power was brilliantly

written. As Matt says, “The magazine became a
magnet for the kind of more inventive writers in the
industry.” This talent manifested in what the team
called ‘concept reviews’, where they’d review a
game in the style of a Choose Your Own Adventure
story or a film script, to name two examples. Partly,
says Cam, the concept reviews were an attempt to
stave off boredom: “If you’re writing six or seven
game reviews per issue, you just kind of go, ‘Urr, I
just want to do something else now.’” » And F-Max, the lightly sparkling fish drink! [Right, you’re fired! – Ed]
It wasn’t all chips and gravy, though. Rich Pelley
recalls that he was relegated to writing the tips in upper case. “THEY THOUGHT I SHOUTED ON to do an elaborately staged photoshoot. That’s
page “BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE WANTED TO DO IT. THE PHONE. SO THAT’S WHY EVERY TIME I SAID why it got out of control, because we were always
AND I SECRETLY HATED IT”. He was still at school ANYTHING IN THE MAGAZINE IT WAS IN CAPITAL trying to hire costumes just to spend the budget so
when he began writing for Amiga Power. “I USED LETTERS. OTHER PEOPLE THROUGHOUT MY that they’d complain about it, and they’d say we’d
TO HAVE TO BUNK OFF SCHOOL ON A MONDAY CAREER HAVE SAID THE SAME THING.” never have to do the reader ads page any more.
MORNING AND GET TO BATH TO DELIVER MY Along with the tips page, says Cam, the reader But it never worked, and we just ended up doing
COPY ON A FLOPPY DISK, AND THEN GET BACK adverts were the other part of the magazine that silly photoshoots.” The Secret Garden became
TO SCHOOL BEFORE ANYONE NOTICED THAT I the Amiga Power staff hated to work on – and The ever more elaborate as the issues rolled by, to the
WAS GONE.” Secret Garden was actually an elaborate plot to point where Cam once stayed up all night making
Rich did occasionally work in the office though, try to get the page dropped by the management. dinosaur models for a prehistoric diorama.
which is the origin of why he was always quoted “They had this thing where if you didn’t spend Ultimately, though, as the Amiga games
your budget, they’d cut it. inevitably dried up, the silliness had to end. Amiga

We absolutely loved what we

So the reason for doing Power went out with a triumphant, yet poignant,
The Secret Garden was final issue – and when it was done, the staffers held

were doing and were ludicrously that it was the single

most expensive way
a Viking funeral, setting a copy of the magazine
alight and sailing it off down the River Avon. Then

proud of what we’d made we could do reader ads,

because every three or
they went to the pub. All except Rich, that is. “I
HAD TO GO HOME EARLY BECAUSE MY MUM
Stuart Campbell four months we’d have WOULDN’T LET ME STAY OUT.”

ISSUE 52 ISSUE 55 ISSUE 65

DOOM, BUT IN REAL LIFE THE JFK SPECIAL THE END
■ Cam has fond memories of ■ By issue 55, the features were ■ Stuart on the final issue: “Well,
running around Future’s corridors getting sillier and sillier. “You closure was pretty inevitable at
with BB guns for issue 52 of Amiga just reached a point where there that point – there weren’t any
Power: “Doom in real life was weren’t any games coming out,” Amiga games any more. But it was
totally my idea, and it was the most says Cam. “So then what happened an enormous privilege, granted to
ripped-off feature I have ever seen,” was that all of the crazy things that very few magazines, to get enough
he remembers. “We were really put had just been smaller aspects of warning of it to do a proper goodbye
out, because every other games the magazine suddenly became issue, and I think the last AP is a
magazine also did it, but we were quite big, because you just had very fitting tribute and a pretty great
just going, ‘Well we did it first.’ Bath is absolutely covered with quite a lot of pages to fill. We did a thing about the Kennedy microcosm of everything the mag had been over the previous five-
subterranean passages, so we did this amazing photoshoot in assassination, because conspiracy theories were big at the time, and-a-half years, all tied up in a brilliant underlying narrative. Steve
these passages under the Georgian buildings, where we had and we were just like, ‘We’ve got ten or 12 pages, and we’ve got no [Faragher] and Sue [Huntley] did a terrific job of holding AP’s hand
someone dressed up with BB guns. We also did the photoshoot content, let’s just do something about the Kennedy assassination.’ on the Green Mile, and the final page with the team and the Four
with the guy with the enormous minigun.” And so we did it as Amiga Power as we could.” Cyclists is so perfect it brings a wee tear to my eye even now.”

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 THE EVOLU T ION OF

There are few gaming joys greater than decapitating your humbled
foe, but there’s much more to this classic series than that. Ed Boon
explains why Mortal Kombat has been a lethal competitor in the
fighting game scene for over 25 years
Words by Nick Thorpe

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 THE EVOLUTION OF: MORTAL KOMBAT

» Shang Tsung was demoted from boss to regular fighter, » Scenes like this gave Mortal Kombat a dangerous edge.
and proved extraordinarily difficult to master.

T
here are very few games in history that at NetherRealm Studios. This technology allowed
could be described as having achieved the developers to use filmed images of real
true notoriety, but Mortal Kombat is objects to create sprites, rather than drawing
definitely one of them – after all, it was them from scratch. The fighting game part of
a lightning rod for controversy in its earlier years, the pitch was based on the trends of the time.
thanks to being the fighting game where you “Street Fighter II was very big in 1991, and we
could kill people. Concerned moral guardians originally wanted to make a Jean-Claude Van
didn’t want kids anywhere near the series, but Damme fighting game because he was also very
they could hardly avoid it because Mortal Kombat popular at the time. When he passed on our idea,
has been a genuine cultural phenomenon, we decided to make a fighting game using
with a multitude of games as well as characters we would create.” The
film, TV and comic adaptations. setting that was created centred on
It’s easy to get caught up in a fighting tournament, in which
all of that, but to do so is to the warriors of Earthrealm (our
ignore why the series has world, essentially) fought to
achieved such longevity. save it from the sorcerer
Very little is constant in the Shang Tsung. Through
world of Mortal Kombat, the sequels, we’d learn
and if your impression of more of the story – Shang
the series is still a vision Tsung was attempting to
of rainbow-hued ninjas take over Earthrealm on
differentiated only by orders from Shao Kahn, the
their special moves, you’ve supreme ruler of supernatural
missed a couple of decades of realm called Outworld.
evolution. For a series so often Midway wasn’t the first studio
judged by its grizzled exterior, it’s the to attempt to combine digitisation
guts underneath that are truly fascinating. technology with the fighting genre, as fans
The Mortal Kombat series can be broadly of Atari Games’ Pit-Fighter will tell you. But that
categorised into a few different eras, the first game had come before Street Fighter II, and as
of which was naturally the 2D era. Despite well as kickstarting a boom in popularity for the
using 2D sprites like every other fighting game fighting genre, Capcom’s game provided a key
had at the time, Mortal Kombat was in part point of comparison for Mortal Kombat. “Street
defined by its look. “The idea for the first Mortal Fighter had an anime art style and we wanted our
Kombat came by combining a (relatively new) game to look different and stand out more. Mortal
digitisation technology that Midway Games Kombat’s visuals played a critical role in making
had with a fighting game,” explains Ed Boon, the game stand apart from Street Fighter, as well
cocreator of Mortal Kombat and creative director as other arcade games. Mortal Kombat looked

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 H E R E ’S J O H N N Y !
Daniel Pesina portrayed Johnny Cage and the ninja characters in Mortal Kombat
real and its imagery was of real people and
real objects,” explains Ed. “The realistic look of
our digitised characters prompted us to add other
realistic elements like blood and it kind of took
and Mortal Kombat II – we speak to him about his experience with the series off from there.” This digitised art style would
be Mortal Kombat’s signature look, and would
idea. For example, John based the Johnny Cage character eventually come to influence a number of games
on Daniel Rand for Iron Fist. He told me to act like a such as Way Of The Warrior, Tattoo Assassins and
movie star. I came out waving to the camera and blowing even Street Fighter: The Movie.
kisses. John liked it and said to do more, so I came out While the Midway team carved its own path
with the sunglasses, blew kisses, flexed my biceps and when it came to the technological side of the
threw the glasses. game’s appearance, there was plenty of pop
This was the basic creative engine for the first three culture influence when it came to the theme and
characters. Cage, Kano, Raiden. We started taking outside style. “Mortal Kombat was inspired by many
the group ideas after that. People working on the game movies that we grew up seeing. Big Trouble In
started getting the vision! Little China certainly was one of those movies. The
© Daniel Pesina

Asian theme and setting was John Tobias’ idea,”

How much input did you have into Ed tells us. “That, along with Dan Forden’s music,
the game’s moves? really gave Mortal Kombat a lot of its feeling and
» Daniel is front and centre in the cast picture, with the Cage knuckleduster. As far as moves go, day one of creation John and I spent overall tone.” This look was very strong in the first
about eight hours filming while I performed martial arts game, and gained more fantastical elements in
How did you become involved with moves, creating a path for the game. Day two, eight the second game, which took place in Outworld,
Mortal Kombat? hours again but we learned a few things, and we started another realm of the game’s universe. Mortal
In short, I became involved in Mortal Kombat through a to organise high, medium and low techniques. On the Kombat 3 instead focused on urban locations to
friendship planted in a group of friends. A friend of mine, third day we started adding things like knees, headbutts sell the story of Outworld’s invasion of Earthrealm,
who later went on to help draw the first Mortal Kombat and sweeps along with reactions. Including falls on but the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 update added
comic and did the artwork for Nintendo’s home version concrete – ouch! On the fourth or fifth day we had the main more fantastical locations such as Scorpion’s Lair
of Mortal Kombat, put together a creative group – a group programmer come to tweak the moves so they would to balance the themes a little better.
of friends who loved the arts and are geeks! We would work for the game. Character design was a little trickier. “We had
go to movies together, collect comics, play Dungeons My other credits include insisting the ninjas be Lin Kuei, never made a fighting game before, so we did
& Dragons, draw, mix records, break dance, go to the the first fatality, and the use of props to help us video the a lot of experimenting. We did know that we
arcade, etc. One of the group was John Tobias. project. Plus the kiss of death for Sonya and Katana and wanted to make our characters do more ‘magic’
Years later he gave me a call and asked if I could help Mileena’s fatalities, to name a few things. based special moves, rather than strictly martial
him on a fighting game. He wanted to videotape myself, arts,” says Ed. This developed over the course
Rich DiVizio and my brother Carlos Pesina displaying Why was Mortal Kombat II your last of the original trilogy – while the characters were
martial arts moves and play fighting together. He had appearance in the series? realistic in appearance, moves such as fireballs
some basic drawings of some characters and would I was promised that we were only going to produce 200 and energy waves added the fantasy element.
present them to the company he worked for, Midway arcade cabinets. I mentioned if they were going to make Only the four-armed penultimate boss Goro had a
Games. I agreed. We went to Midway Games on the hush. more, I would get a game. They told me, ‘No way, only 200 truly outlandish design, and as a result he was the
John wanted no one to know about this project until his will be produced.’ When its success exploded I asked what only character to be created with a clay model and
presentation. We filmed some things and he presented was going on and was promised a bonus. I did not receive stop-motion animation. But many of the original
them. The company was interested and wanted to see that, but I thought they would get to it. It went to the home cast are the amongst the series’ most beloved
more and hear about our ideas so a meeting was made. systems and again I mentioned our agreement. They told characters. “Scorpion and Sub-Zero are probably
During that meeting the group spoke about Kung Fu me not to worry, as we would be taken care of. Near the the most iconic and recognizable of all the Mortal
movies we like including Enter The Dragon, Big Trouble In end of Mortal Kombat II they presented me with a new Kombat characters,” says Ed. “Raiden and Shang
Little China, 5 Deadly Venoms as well as comics such as contract, basically signing my rights away with the basic Tsung are up there too.”
Iron Fist and Shang Chi Master Of Kung Fu. dollar amount I mentioned to them when we first started

A
As we were leaving I heard John ask the rep what he the game – the cost of a game. I thought this was not fair ll four of the characters Ed mentioned
thought and the rep shook his head and made a sour face. and never helped them again. were retained for Mortal Kombat II,
Later on John called me and said that they liked the idea of alongside Liu Kang and Johnny Cage,
a fighting game, but not our fighting game – basically, ‘No.’ Why do you think Mortal Kombat remains and the new female fighters Mileena
A new idea came up focusing on a mainstream fighting so loved by so many gamers? and Kitana used the same colour-swapping
game with Jean-Claude Van Damme. The game made connections and friendships. People technique as Scorpion and Sub-Zero’s sprites
recall playing with friends or making friends playing the had in the original, saving space while adding
Did you have much knowledge of fighting game – escaping to the basement or their room to play more variety. But there were advances to be found
games beforehand? the game for hours, alone or with friends. Skipping school – the game began to add crazier elements to the
I do not play fighting games that often. The fighting is to play and getting in trouble. There are so many stories. character designs, like Baraka’s bladed arms and
not attractive to me, there are certain elements that I Friendships continue even today. Some still play the game the incorporation of actual reptilian elements into
think are missing. together with the same friends. the design of Reptile. Mortal Kombat 3 developed
the cast further, introducing the series’ tradition
Did you have to do any sort of research for Do you have any final message for the of major cast refreshes by dropping five of the
your role of Johnny Cage? Mortal Kombat fans out there? previous game’s characters and adding seven
Most of the creation was done while filming and was a Tell your fans to keep creating and sometimes in life new ones. This was partially because Midway had
collaboration or competition to come up with a better you must FIGHT! ended up in disputes with a number of the actors

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 THE EVOLUTION OF: MORTAL KOMBAT

» Ed Boon has been involved in the » Mortal Kombat II ’s newcomers like Kitana quickly became popular mainstays of the cast.
MK series since the beginning.

that had portrayed characters in the first two – attack strings that kept a vulnerable opponent
games – some were recast, like Liu Kang, while in the air for further hits. These were refined
others were removed. The game had even more further in Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat 3
fantasy elements, from the cyborg duo of Cyrax added chain combos, preset inputs allowing
and Sektor to Sindel’s hair attacks. Digitisation did players to inflict huge damage with a rush of
prove to be a limiting factor later on in the 2D era, blows. Combined with the run button, these
though. When the previously omitted characters additions made the third game far quicker and less
were returned in updates of Mortal Kombat 3, defensively oriented than its predecessor.
the nature of the existing footage limited what Of course, the most spectacular attacks were
the team could do – for example, Mortal saved for ending a fight. The original
Kombat Trilogy included new Mortal Kombat gave each character
moves for Baraka, Kintaro and a single Fatality move, a gory
Shao Kahn, which had to be special technique that would
constructed using old sprites kill the opposing fighter.
from Mortal Kombat II that These were a huge source of
had been left unused. controversy at the time, but
But as much as the they were also a key part of
characters and setting the game’s appeal – while
were appealing factors the moves themselves
in Mortal Kombat, they were completely over the
wouldn’t have gained top, it was still shocking
players’ attention if the to see them performed on
fighting hadn’t been solid. relatively realistic character
The initial game established sprites. Surprisingly, these
the series’ five-button system – weren’t a priority in development.
high and low punch buttons, high and “Creating Fatalities back then mainly
low kick buttons and a block button. “We involved us trying to construct them by
wanted the player to be able to walk backwards reusing existing art. We had a very limited amount
without blocking during their opponent’s of storage remaining in the game, which meant
attacks. We wanted to be different from Street very little space for Fatalities,” Ed explains. “You’ll
Fighter,” says Ed. “We also felt like the joystick notice that a few characters’ Fatalities (Raiden,
should be used strictly for movement, while the Johnny Cage, Sub-Zero) all involved removing
other actions should be triggered via buttons.” the opponent’s head and having their body fall
In Mortal Kombat 3, a run button was added, to the ground. Johnny Cage’s Fatality reused
allowing players to rapidly close the distance his uppercut animation, and we just had the
between fighters. Advanced players would learn opponent’s head pop off. So, we didn’t have as
the potency of juggle combos in the first game much room to create original Fatalities for each

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 T IM E L IN E
Here’s the entire Mortal Kombat line
of games, from start to finish

MORTAL KOMBAT
1992

MORTAL KOMBAT II
1993

MORTAL KOMBAT 3
1995

ULTIMATE MORTAL KOMBAT 3

1995

MORTAL KOMBAT TRILOGY

1996

MORTAL KOMBAT 4
1997

MORTAL KOMBAT MYTHOLOGIES: SUB-ZERO

» The zombified Liu Kang doesn’t normally carry a giant hammer – he picked that up mid-battle.
1997

MORTAL KOMBAT GOLD

1999
fighter. But players never really knew this, and and by that evening he was in the game. I didn’t
everything turned out okay I suppose.” tell anyone he was in the game and was hoping
it would be seen rarely enough that most people

T
MORTAL KOMBAT: SPECIAL FORCES
2000 he original Fatality moves were all quite would think he wasn’t real.”
dark, but as the 2D era progressed The green-hued ninja combined Scorpion and
MORTAL KOMBAT: DEADLY ALLIANCE finishing moves became a source of Sub-Zero’s moves, and before long his existence
2002 levity in the series thanks to Friendships was confirmed. By the sequel, the developers
and Babalities. They were no easier to perform were actively working to create urban legends
MORTAL KOMBAT: DECEPTION though, and the developers didn’t explain how to – the service menu for Mortal Kombat II had a
2004 do so. “From the beginning we wanted to have a counter for ‘Kano transformations’, fuelling the
lot of mystery elements in the game, rumour that Shang Tsung could become the
MORTAL KOMBAT: SHAOLIN MONKS which is why we never documented otherwise unplayable character. Actual
2005 how the special moves and secret characters Jade and Smoke
Fatalities were performed,” Ed would peek out from behind
MORTAL KOMBAT: ARMAGEDDON recalls. “Players had to discover trees in one stage, and a third
2006 the moves by themselves. inclusion named Noob Saibot
That mystery element was completely black in
MORTAL KOMBAT: UNCHAINED heightened the interest colour. Mortal Kombat 3
2006 from players who kept took this to its ultimate
wondering what else was conclusion with Kombat
ULTIMATE MORTAL KOMBAT in the game that they Kodes, six-digit strings
2007 hadn’t seen.” That sense of which could be input before
mystery was a huge draw matches to alter rules and
MORTAL KOMBAT VS DC UNIVERSE for the arcade crowd, and unlock secrets.
2008 was heightened by another The 2D era was a time of
long-running Mortal Kombat explosive popularity for Mortal
MORTAL KOMBAT tradition established in the 2D Kombat. The original game was
2011 era – a proliferation of secrets. “I a huge success in arcades, and
personally have always been a big fan of Acclaim capitalised on this with a raft of
MORTAL KOMBAT ARCADE KOLLECTION game secrets and Easter eggs. Mortal Kombat was home conversions backed by a huge marketing
2011 our chance to go crazy with that,” confesses campaign, promoting the ‘Mortal Monday’ release
Ed. “The original hidden character Reptile was date in 1993. In a review of the SNES version,
MORTAL KOMBAT X my favourite. Street Fighter had a ‘Sheng Long’ which had a lack of blood and fatalities due to
2015 rumour that some people thought was a hidden Nintendo’s content policies at the time, Edge
fighter or boss. So how cool would it be to actually complained that “the lack of blood ‘n’ guts goes
MORTAL KOMBAT 11 have a hidden fighter in our game? The idea a long way to reducing what gave the game its
2019 came to me one day while taking a lunch break weird appeal” and opined that the underlying

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 THE EVOLUTION OF: MORTAL KOMBAT

team’s first 3D game and where it had led the way Alliance developed on the theme massively by
with digitisation, it was now essentially playing incorporating them into new selectable fighting
catch-up. Additionally, the series had lost one of its styles. Each character could choose from three
distinguishing factors as it was no more realistic fighting styles, two unarmed and one armed
than the competition. Despite these growing – these shared special moves, but the basic
pains, the series caught up with the competition techniques of each were completely different and
considerably with its first PS2 instalment Mortal could be swapped out on the fly. This system
Kombat: Deadly Alliance, and by the end of the persisted through Deception, but was scaled back
generation Mortal Kombat: Armageddon looked as to two styles for Armageddon. Other gameplay
good as any other fighting series around. innovations included the Breaker, a technique
The new graphical technology allowed the game introduced in Mortal Kombat: Deception allowing
design to evolve. Mortal Kombat 4 introduced the player to interrupt their opponent mid-combo
the ability to dodge attacks by sidestepping, in order to regain the initiative.
an obvious but worthwhile use of the new 3D

T
space. Environmental interaction became more he major cast refreshes that had started
important starting from Mortal Kombat: Deadly with Mortal Kombat 3 became a key
Alliance as stages could be different sizes and theme of the 3D era. Mortal Kombat
shapes, and occasionally contained objects. Mortal 4 didn’t include any of Mortal Kombat
Kombat: Deception upgraded the arenas further 3’s newcomers, and Deadly Alliance
by including death traps – a variation of the ‘ring went even further, discarding almost
out’ concept with a grisly twist, whereby if an every character that had debuted
unfortunate player was knocked into a designated in the previous game and even
area, they would instantly be killed and lose dramatically killing off series hero
the round regardless of their remaining health. Liu Kang. Deception dumped
Another major development in the series during slightly less of the Deadly Alliance
the 3D era was the introduction of weaponry. cast, but by the time Mortal
» Bo Rai Cho fights with human vomit. Lovely. Weapons were a limited and gimmicky inclusion Kombat: Armageddon pulled
in Mortal Kombat 4, but Mortal Kombat: Deadly together a full cast reunion,

fighting wasn’t as good as Street Fighter II. Mortal

Kombat II tightened the game design considerably,
and was much closer competition – evaluating it
head to head with Super Street Fighter II Turbo, From the beginning we
CVG felt that Midway’s game had the advantage,
assessing it as “a more exciting escapist game wanted to have a lot of mystery
with more variety between characters and a
far superior atmosphere”. Mortal Kombat 3 elements in the game
was also critically acclaimed, but that wasn’t so Ed Boon
unanimous as with the previous game. In the US,
Next Generation magazine described the new
characters as “desperately in need of something
endearing” and complained that “in an industry
which depends on innovation to keep it fresh and
interesting, MK3 just doesn’t deliver”. That didn’t
stop it performing admirably in arcades and at
home, and two updates were released. Ultimate
Mortal Kombat 3 originated as a free upgrade for
arcade operators, which rebalanced the game and
added fan favourite characters like Scorpion and
Kitana. The home-exclusive Mortal Kombat Trilogy
included every existing character, plus stages and
music from the first two games.
By this point in time, Mortal Kombat had gone
about as far as it could in 2D. The industry was
changing and though digitised sprites arguably
looked more convincingly human than the 3D
models of Virtua Fighter 2 and Tekken, those
were the games that Mortal Kombat 3 had been
in competition with. The decision was made to
utilise 3D graphics starting from 1997’s Mortal
Kombat 4, beginning a new era for the series.
This was initially a mixed blessing for the artists.
On one hand, working in 3D allowed for any
sort of movement the team wanted – there was
some motion capture, but also a lot of manual
animation. On the other, Mortal Kombat 4 was the

» Kratos feels right at home here as a guest character.

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 F IN IS H H IM
Mortal Kombat offers many ways to deal with your unfortunate
opponent at the end of a match. Do you remember them all?

FATALITY FRIENDSHIP STAGE FATALITY

MORTAL KOMBAT MORTAL KOMBAT II MORTAL KOMBAT
■ The original finishing move, and for many fans the best. Mortal Kombat’s Fatalities ■ Instead of killing your opponent, why not offer ■ Certain stages offer unique ways of killing your
let you murder your opponent in cold blood, often in an amusingly creative manner. to try to make a friend of them? This definitely opponent, like a plunge into acid. The Pit’s spiked
wasn’t a pointed response to controversy. floor is the original and most famous of the lot.

BABALITY MERCY ANIMALITY BRUTALITY

MORTAL KOMBAT II MORTAL KOMBAT 3 MORTAL KOMBAT 3 ULTIMATE MORTAL KOMBAT 3
■ If you can beat your opponent while using a ■ When you feel like you haven’t beaten your ■ These are like regular fatalities, except your ■ These 11-hit combos end with your opponent
restricted set of moves, you can turn them into a opponent badly enough, you can sacrifice some fighter turns into a fearsome animal like a polar exploding in a shower of gore. They’re harder to
baby. What a lovely way to mock your friends. of your own life to let them fight on. bear, shark, giant tarantula or rabbit. perform than regular fatalities, and less fun.

HARA KIRI KREATE-A-FATALITY HEROIC BRUTALITY FACTION KILL

MORTAL KOMBAT: DECEPTION MORTAL KOMBAT: ARMAGEDDON MORTAL KOMBAT VS DC UNIVERSE MORTAL KOMBAT X
■ Your fighter can commit suicide – but only if ■ Rather than having individual finishing moves, ■ You couldn’t have Superman kill someone, so ■ Each of Mortal Kombat X’s five factions has five
you get the right command in before the winner this system allowed a gigantic cast of fighters the DC lot have access to these comparatively unique and simple death blows, which can be
of the match performs their own. access to the same suite of mutilation methods. tame and disappointing nonlethal finishes. utilised no matter which character you’ve chosen.

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 THE EVOLUTION OF: MORTAL KOMBAT

» The series has picked up quite the roster over the years. » The arenas are a big part of Mortal Kombat’s appeal.

I personally have always been a big fan

of game secrets and Easter eggs. MK was
our chance to go crazy with that
Ed Boon

there were over 60 characters to include – an to differentiate between them, the fact that so movement and arena interaction in the
impressive number. That wasn’t the only way many characters look and play alike is still very form of mini-segments like Free-Fall, but
the 3D era games impressed with content, as the much in your face.” Armageddon still did well in the fighting style system was out and an
single-player Konquest mode provided an action- shops, shipping over a million copies before the excellent new story mode was added,
RPG quest for players to sink their teeth into. The Wii conversion was even released. These were which served to introduce players to
3D era also introduced the concept of the Krypt, solid numbers, but it seemed that the series was the characters. The game was reasonably
a vault of unlockable goodies, as well as robust experiencing diminishing returns. well received thanks to improved
minigames. The falling block game Puzzle Kombat The introduction of the HD combat mechanics and a
and Chess Kombat appeared in Deception, and the consoles was an opportune time compelling story mode,
kart racer Motor Kombat debuted in Armageddon. for a change of approach. Ed but there was criticism
Mortal Kombat’s 3D era was interesting and intimated that the tentatively of the reduction in
experimental, and despite not being the pop titled Mortal Kombat 8 would gore and lack of unlockable
culture phenomenon it had been during the early be darker and grittier, with secrets compared to
Nineties, the games were still positively received visuals inspired by Gears Of previous games. The game
by both critics and audiences. Typical review War. Ed had promised that still sold 1.9 million units
scores for Deadly Alliance hovered around the the team was “reinventing within just a few months,
8/10 mark and in a 2011 interview with NowGamer, everything from the ground but that wasn’t enough
Ed mentioned that it had sold 3.5 million copies. up” in an interview with to save Midway from
Deception fared similarly well critically and sold Game Informer at the time, bankruptcy in 2009.
1.9 million copies in a year. Mortal Kombat: as “we really think that’s The Mortal Kombat series
Armageddon didn’t fare quite as well critically, needed”. That ultimately came was bought by Warner Bros,
receiving scores that were more solidly in the 7/10 to pass, but a licensing deal put which also acquired the Mortal
range. Part of the reason for this was a sense that it on the backburner while Mortal Kombat team’s Chicago studio. This
the series was bloated – “While fans of the series Kombat Vs DC Universe was developed. ultimately became NetherRealm Studios,
may struggle not to drown in their own drool over The game saw Batman, Superman, Wonder the developer of the games today. Under this new
this massive cast, anyone even marginally less Woman and The Joker doing battle with a ownership, the HD era began properly, marked
fanatical won’t recognise at least half of them,” selection of the Mortal Kombat cast, and served with a ‘back to basics’ approach that has delivered
noted Luke Albigés in a 5/10 review for Eurogamer. as a bridge between the 3D fighters and the HD critical acclaim and strong sales. The cast and
“While there’s obviously been some attempt era proper – the fighting still included full 3D setting were both revamped in 2011’s Mortal

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 77

 » Sub-Zero – in his different incarnations – is a series mainstay.

Kombat, in which Raiden sent visions to his past

self – allowing the story to reset to the characters
and settings of the 2D era. Why did the team go
backwards? “The original games are seared into
Mortal Kombat fans’ memories,” according to
Ed. “Plus, the team loves to revisit that era.” The
game’s story mode followed the template laid
down by Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe, with each
chapter focused on a single character, and this
became a staple of the series. Mortal Kombat X
was set 25 years later and ensured that some of
the newcomers retained connections to the classic
characters – Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade’s
daughter Cassie and Jax’s daughter Jacqui being
the most obvious. Time is also the theme of the
latest game in the series. “MK11 does not return

FATA L D IS T R A C T IO N
to the past. Rather it brings past characters to the
present to meet their older counterparts. This is
part of the magic of what happens in the Mortal
Kombat 11 story. It’s crazy,” says Ed.
While the main fighting franchise has always done well, Mortal 2011’s Mortal Kombat also revamped the
Kombat hasn’t always fared well with side-stories fighting style of the series, returning the action to
a 2D plane and adding a three-level super move
It’s fair to say that Mortal Kombat spends a lot more time multiple staff departures, and Sonya Blade was cut from the gauge. This enabled the use of enhanced special
on plot and worldbuilding than most fighting game series. project entirely. Reviewers mauled the game, and In a 2008 moves at the first level and combo breakers at
With that in mind, the idea of spin-offs starring popular interview with GameDaily, Ed Boon cited it as the only game the second, but it was the new X-Ray moves that
characters might sound like a good one, but the results have in the series that hadn’t made money. drain a full gauge that proved to be a perfect
been decidedly mixed. Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero After two fairly disastrous attempts you’d have forgiven addition to the series. As well as doing massive
was a particularly poor start. Exploring the history of the the team for giving up, but Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks damage, they showed detailed injuries in grisly
Lin Kuei assassin prior to the events of the original game, it is reason enough to be grateful that they didn’t. This close-up detail – shattered skulls, broken ribs and
introduced important storyline characters such as Shinnok beat-’em-up starred Liu Kang and Kung Lao, and mined all. Mortal Kombat X retained them and added
and Quan Chi before they appeared as fighters in Mortal Mortal Kombat II for nostalgic characters and settings. interactivity to arenas, with players able to throw
Kombat 4. Unfortunately, the attempt to mix Mortal Kombat’s The series’ trademark violence was present and correct, or jump off objects from the background. Those
fighting style with 2D platform gameplay and RPG elements and co-operative multiplayer action contrasted well with changes might seem at odds with the return
proved disastrous, and the game was reviled by the press. the competitive nature of the main games, and the game to fundamentals, but it’s business as usual in
Mortal Kombat: Special Forces fared even worse. Going deservedly received a positive critical reception and sold the context of the series. “Our approach with
back even further in storyline terms, this action adventure over a million copies. Unfortunately, a sequel starring all the Mortal Kombat games, including Mortal
followed Jax as he hunted down the members of the Black Scorpion and Sub-Zero was cancelled early in development Kombat 11, has been to always introduce a lot of
Dragon gang, who had been freed from prison by Kano. as the game couldn’t be delivered to Midway’s desired new elements and features – change things up
The game suffered from a troubled development marked by deadline and budget. – so the games always feel fresh,” Ed says. “This
was certainly the approach with MK11.
“We switched our fighting mechanic quite a
bit by introducing Krushing Blows, changing the
meter so it splits offense and defensive moves,
and tying the Fatal Blows to the player’s health
meter. This has dramatically changed up the pace
and tension of the fight,” says Ed, explaining
the changes in Mortal Kombat 11. “The fighting
is closer up which makes it feel even more
intense.” The two new move types are the most
notable additions. “Krushing Blows are ways to
dramatically increase the damage certain moves

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 THE EVOLUTION OF: MORTAL KOMBAT

» Ronda Rousey provides the voice for Sonya in MK11. » Of course, Scorpion returns in the latest game.

The original games are seared into

Mortal Kombat fans’ memories, plus, the
team loves to revisit that era
Ed Boon

will inflict and come with a great X-ray looking games. Sometimes those fighters are ‘guests’ the prestigious Evolution Championship Series
visual effect,” Ed tells us. “Every fighter has from other universes, and sometimes they are in 2012, and players such as Perfect Legend and
multiple Krushing Blows and each is triggered returning Mortal Kombat fighters who haven’t SonicFox have made their names competing in
differently. This adds yet another layer of strategy been seen in a long time,” says Ed, who also notes Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat 11 is available to
to the fighting and makes the variety of fights that “you shouldn’t be surprised to see both in MK11.” play now and is another solid game in the series.
much less predictable.” Fatal Blows are the new 2011’s Mortal Kombat began the series’ That’s where Mortal Kombat is today.
super moves, replacing X-Ray attacks, and Ed is return to prominence. Review scores The gore is still there, but the
very excited about them. “They are now available were a good step ahead of Mortal controversy has largely gone – and
when your health meter drops below about 30 Kombat Vs DC Universe, with knowing that notoriety will only
percent. This dramatically increases the tension GamesRadar’s 4/5 review get you so far, NetherRealm
of the fight and changes both players’ strategy praising it as “a successful has refined Mortal Kombat
once a Fatal Blow is made available. Suddenly you sequel that both reboots into a game that rivals
have this crazy powerful move at your disposal, and redeems the wayward anything else in the fighting
and your opponent knows it!” There’s also a new series.” The game sold scene. But there’s no sense
system of gear – each fighter can equip three close to 3 million copies in that the team is resting on
pieces which will affect the way they fight. four months, and according its laurels. “I personally
to Warner Bros covered the believe the series has

T
he NetherRealm team clearly got a taste entire cost of the Midway remained popular because
for crossovers after Mortal Kombat Vs acquisition on its own. Mortal we are not afraid to change
DC Universe, as the HD era has been Kombat X fared just as well things up with each version of
distinguished by the trend of crossover critically, being described as “an Mortal Kombat. Every game has
fighters finding their way into Mortal Kombat. accomplished fighter as well as a something new to offer fans of the
Kratos made the journey from the God Of War gruesome theatre of punishment” in Play’s series, and they have stuck by us because
series to the PlayStation versions of 2011’s Mortal 9/10 review. It did even better than its predecessor of that,” says Ed. “I don’t know many game
Kombat, and Mortal Kombat X featured classic at retail, becoming the fastest selling entry in the series that have been around for over 25 years
horror movie characters as DLC additions – the history of the series by shifting 5 million copies in and whose most recent versions have been their
Alien, Predator, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger six months. The HD era has also seen the Mortal biggest sellers.” He’s certainly got a point – and
and Leatherface. “We always try to have some Kombat series embraced by the esports scene. we’ll be fascinated to see the places the series will
kind of ‘surprise’ characters for DLC in all of our The series first appeared as a featured game at go with another decade or two of evolution.

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 T H E TA L E

FROM ARCADE MACHINES TO

CONSOLES AND FROM FIGHTING
GAMES TO THEME PARKS, SNK
HAS DONE IT ALL. WE SPEAK TO
STAFF FROM THE COMPANY’S
PAST AND PRESENT TO FIND OUT
ABOUT THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF
THE LAST FOUR DECADES
Words by Nick Thorpe

80 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

OF

W
ith 2018 being SNK’s 40th
anniversary year, the company is shooting and levels which scrolled in different directions.
celebrating as its fans would hope. The game didn’t just hit big in Japan, as Centuri licensed
SNK is healthy and creating brand-new it for the North American market and the game’s
games, as well as celebrating its heritage with a mini success there saw it licensed for home conversion
Neo-Geo and a compilation of early arcade games. by Atari. This success was followed by more games
But its road to this milestone hasn’t always been a including Lasso, Marvin’s Maze and Vanguard II.
smooth one. The company has been one of the arcade The early years of SNK were characterised by the
industry’s top players and was the first to prove that explosive growth of the company. By the end of 1983,
a market exists for luxury consoles, but it has also the company had ten times its starting capital. In
experienced bankruptcy and even seemed to have left 1984 it moved its headquarters to Osaka, where the
the videogames market behind in the not-too-distant company grew at a rapid pace. In September 1985
past. But whatever its fortunes, SNK has always been a it had increased its capital by 18 million yen, another
fascinating company to follow. 60 per cent growth in less than two years, and the
SNK was founded as Shin Nihon Kikaku (New following year was a landmark. 1986 saw the company
Japanese Product) in 1973 by Eikichi Kawasaki, but its officially change its name to SNK, which it had been
history as a videogame developer only dates back to using on marketing materials for some years prior, and it
its incorporation as a stock company in July 1978. The introduced some notable hit games that proved popular
company started with capital of 3 million yen (less than with gamers such as Ikari Warriors and Athena. Both
$25,000 at the time), with the company setting up games received follow-ups to capitalise on their success
its office in Higashiosaka. SNK’s earliest games were in the form of Victory Road and Psycho Soldier. The
Ozma Wars and Safari Rally, but its first major hit was a company also moved into the development of games » Ozma Wars is a fantastic early take on the shoot-’em-up
shoot-’em-up called Vanguard which offered four-way for home systems, most notably the NES. genre and it still presents a challenge today.

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 HARDCORE HARDWARE
SNK released four distinct home systems in the Nineties - here are the fast facts on each

NEO-GEO AES
RELEASE DATE: 1990
FINAL RELEASE: Samurai Shodown V Special, NEO-GEO CD
2004 RELEASE DATE: 1994
LAUNCH PRICE: ¥58,000 / $649 / £399 FINAL RELEASE: The King Of Fighters ’99, 1999 NEO-GEO POCKET
GAMES: 117 LAUNCH PRICE: ¥49,800 / $399 / £399 RELEASE DATE: 1998
NOTES: Initially offered as a ‘Gold System’ bundle GAMES: 97 FINAL RELEASE: Samurai Shodown!, 1998
with two controllers and a game. Later models NOTES: Three versions of the console were LAUNCH PRICE: ¥7,800
included the Controller Pro joystick. released – a front-loading model, a top-loading GAMES: 9
model and the CDZ. NOTES: 39 Neo-Geo Pocket Color games also
support the original Neo-Geo Pocket hardware.

“GAME CONSOLES One of the developers that joined during this

IN THE EIGHTIES period was Kasatoshi Yoshino. “I would say there were
roughly 100 people working at SNK when I joined the
excitement went hand in hand with hard work. “I also
remember being busy, sleeping for a few hours in a
HAD VERY LIMITED company,” remembers Yoshino, who joined in April
1985. Hiroko ‘Minako’ Yokoyama, who joined SNK in
hotel close to the company, and working from early in
the morning until the middle of the night searching for
DISPLAY SPECS” April 1987 as an illustrator and graphic artist, provides a
little more detail. “I mostly remember the development
eventual bugs and issues on titles just before release.”
Yoshino’s recollection of SNK as a place where
Hiroko Yokoyama
division, which was divided at that time into four enthusiastic gamers worked hard explains how
planning, one sound and one software departments he ended up doubling up as a sound composer
for approximately 30 employees. There were four to on ASO and other games. Despite the size of the
five people in each planning department.” Although company at the time, there was a surprising degree
videogames tends to be considered a male-dominated of flexibility around each person’s job. “As the sound
industry, Yokoyama wasn’t the only woman at SNK. department had no staff when I joined SNK along with
“There was at least one female staff working in every a programmer, we started working at creating sound.
development department, but also at the sound and I was later promoted as ‘super adviser’, which allowed
the marketing divisions.” me to give my opinion and advice on sound creation.”

Y
Continuing from that, Yoshino later became SNK’s PR
oshino’s job as a developer was a varied manager. “I was mainly doing marketing research. I
and enjoyable one. “I took care of the was in charge of events in collaboration with game
follow-up on the planning and debug on magazines, planned game strategy books, community
all the titles released between 1985 and fan books such as ‘Video Game Land’, telephone
1987,” he explains. “I was really excited to be involved services, and many more projects.”
in game development. I had a lot of fun and good Yoshino wasn’t the only one who found that
times when I went for lunch with my coworkers, and SNK was a place to experience new challenges.
talked with them about videogaming.” However, this “I remember it was very hard at the beginning as I
had to learn and remember tons of things,” explains
Yokoyama. “I was from design school, which means
drawing was the only thing I was able to do when I
joined SNK. I had no experience at all with computers,
and had a lot of busy days at SNK.
“It depended on the game, but I was usually
involved from half a year to one year per project I also
remember working two full years on a project. Dot
pixels before the Neo-Geo were mainly made with
Sony’s SMC-777 development tools. SMC-777s were
used to create Ikari Warriors on MSX-2. We had a lot of
difficulties and headaches when porting arcade games
to home consoles, due to the technical limitations of
those systems. Game consoles in the Eighties had
very limited display specs.”
» [Above] Fantasy was an impressive early release Yokoyama’s explanation of the design philosophy
from SNK that featured all sorts of varied levels and a
strong narration. behind SNK’s games at this time goes a long way to
explaining their success. “Mr Oba [Koji Obata] made
» [Right] Alpha Mission is known as ASO: Armored
Scrum Object in Japan.

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 THE TALE OF SNK

» [Left] An early arcade flyer, showing of

SNK’s interesting isometric take on
Pac-Man, Marvin’s Maze.

» [Below] SNK’s flyers did a great job at

making arcade owners excited about
stocking its latest games.

NEO-GEO POCKET COLOR

RELEASE DATE: 1999
FINAL RELEASE: SNK Vs Capcom: Card Fighters
Clash 2 Expand Edition, 2001
LAUNCH PRICE: ¥8,900 / $69.95 / £59.99
GAMES: 73
NOTES: Backwards compatible with all nine
original Neo-Geo Pocket games.

sure when he was working on titles such as TNK III,

Ikari Warriors and Guerilla War that the enemy positions
as well as the game difficulty will slightly change at
every try for endless replayability. He also made sure to
add an ‘exit way’ to every in-game situation that looked
unescapable. These difficult games were not just
giving frustration to players, but hid also the pleasure
to see enemies changing their position and behaviours
depending on [how] these games were played.”

A
s it reached its tenth birthday, SNK
was in a strong position. The company
had just moved into a new headquarters,
and 1988 saw the company release more
arcade games than any previous year. The momentum » Garou: Mark Of The Wolves is considered by many to be one of the finest
continued right through to the end of the Eighties, with looking 2D fighting games of all time. It’s hard to disagree.

plenty of arcade releases including the company’s

first ever one-on-one fighting game, Street Smart. Originally intended for rental use only,
The company was also becoming a more ambitious the Neo-Geo Advanced Entertainment
developer of games for home systems, starting work System was launched in Japan in 1990.
on the Game Boy with Dexterity and finding receptive This proved so popular that SNK quickly
audiences on the NES with original projects such as realised that there was a market for a
Baseball Stars and Crystalis. retail release, which followed in 1991
However, it was in 1990 that SNK’s arcade division along with launches in other regions.
took its next major step into the future. The company The console was a powerhouse that
introduced a popular lightgun game called Beast provided uncompromised arcade games,
Busters that year, utilising a unique cabinet with with massive sprites and voice clips » Yasuyuki Oda joined SNK as
three mounted guns. It’s notable not just because that owners of other consoles could an artist and has served as a
planner and now a producer
of its heritage, but because it marks the end of the only dream of. That power came at a
pre-Neo-Geo era. The Neo-Geo range kicked off price, though – the console itself was
with the MVS arcade board. Games were offered on £400 and the game cartridges cost £150 or more. For
relatively affordable replaceable cartridges, and boards comparison, in 1991 £400 could buy you an Amiga
featured up to six cartridge slots, allowing for owners with 1MB RAM, ten games and accessories. £150
to add more games without taking up additional floor would have bought you a Mega Drive and a game to
space. Other companies had previously marketed play on it. As a result the AES achieved a status as
similar systems, but these had generally been based a luxury console, owned only by the most dedicated
on home console hardware, which lagged far behind players. It still worked for SNK, as AES games had a
what could be found in arcades. SNK approached the negligible development cost due to using the same
situation from the opposite direction, as the MVS was code as their arcade counterparts.
a thoroughly modern arcade board – and the home While the Neo-Geo AES had a naturally limited
console equivalent was, too. market, the Neo-Geo MVS was a big success.

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 “AT THE TIME IT WASN’T UNCOMMON FOR
PEOPLE TO PULL ALL-NIGHTERS. THERE WAS
ALWAYS SOMEBODY AT THE OFFICE”
Yasuyuki Oda

Apart from being very convenient and affordable

for arcade operators, the system offered a good mix
of games. Early titles included such diverse games as
NAM-1975, Puzzled, King Of The Monsters, Magician
Lord and Super Baseball 2020. One early hit that
proved pivotal was Fatal Fury, a fighting game from
former Street Fighter creator Takashi Nishiyama.
Following up on the success of the game and
popularity of the genre, SNK started a number of
series including Art Of Fighting, Samurai Shodown
and eventually the crossover King Of Fighters series,
and gained a formidable reputation as a developer
of fighting games. These were all successful games
that allowed the company to grow rapidly, and as » Showing off some impressive fiery effects in the enjoyable fantasy
time went on SNK specialised in the genre. “Since platformer Magician Lord.
I studied animation in school, I thought I’d work in
either the games industry or the animation industry,” that the culture of hard work also persisted. “The
says Yasuyuki Oda, who joined during this period laws are very different now, but at the time it wasn’t
of expansion and worked on many fighting games uncommon for people to pull all-nighters. There was
for SNK until 2000, before returning to the company always somebody at the office,” Oda recalls. “There
in 2014. “I’m from Osaka, and in Osaka you’ve got was a time that I was so busy that I was only allowed
Konami, Capcom and SNK. I applied to all three in two hours on Sunday to go home and get clothes for
1993 and was accepted at SNK.” the week. One week, the train fare from Shin-Osaka to
You might be surprised to learn that even working the office in Esaka was 160 yen. When I came back,
with the Neo-Geo, developers still felt limited by the the fare was 180 yen and that was when I was finally
hardware. “The specs for the system weren’t actually able to read that there was a new prime minister.”

B
that high, so we had to develop tricks to get the games
to display as we wanted them to display,” says Oda. uoyed by its success and aiming to bring
“For example, to create a weak punch, you’d have its games to a wider audience, SNK
three frames of animation, and display them one, two, announced the Neo-Geo CD console
three, two, one to show the arm coming back. For a at the Tokyo Toy Show in June 1994
heavy punch, you could reuse the first two frames and and released it in September. The theory behind
then finish with a new fourth frame for the hit, then go this move made sense. Although CDs were slow
backwards from three to one as the arm comes back.” to load (especially with the console’s single-speed
Despite the company’s growing success, the CD-ROM drive), they were cheaper to produce than
culture at SNK remained the same, with creators who the smallest Neo-Geo cartridges and offered greater
were passionate about what they made. “There was storage capacity then the biggest. A bit more work
competition between the teams, but it was a positive was required to convert the games but they could be
kind of rivalry. My favourite game from the other teams enhanced with CD audio and sold much more cheaply,
was Samurai Shodown II.” Of course, that meant with prices ranging from 4,800 yen to 7,800 yen.
Greater third-party involvement and dedicated home
games were also slated for the system, including
reports of an updated version of Crystalis. With its
sights firmly set on mass market success, there was
no rental trial for this machine – instead, SNK embarked
on a promotional tour of six cities, starting in Hokkaido.
» [Above] Ikari Warriors
was on of SNK’s first big
The Neo-Geo CD hardware itself was introduced at
surprise hits in the west. a high price because the system required significantly
more RAM than its cartridge counterpart, but that
» [Right] It might look
superficially similar, but didn’t stop the system selling out its initial stock of
The Last Blade is very 30,000 on day one. The Neo-Geo CD had over 30
different to the Samurai
Shodown series.
games by the end of 1994, and in 1995 it started to
receive games like Puzzle Bobble that didn’t appear in
cartridge form, and received exclusive developments
such as Crossed Swords 2. However, these were
thin on the ground and the flagship game Samurai
Shodown RPG was heavily delayed. What’s more,
the Saturn and PlayStation both launched within a few
months of the Neo-Geo CD’s introduction, and both
consoles were cheaper and capable of displaying

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 THE TALE OF SNK

SNK’S STARS
SNK has produced some iconic characters over the years.
TERRY BOGARD How many of these do you recognise? G-MANTLE
■ Whether he’s wearing his iconic red jacket or ■ This masked fellow is an oddity – though
his stylish Mark Of The Wolves outfit, the ‘hungry he’s never been the star of his own game, he
wolf’ is SNK’s most noteworthy hero. He originally was frequently seen in early Neo-Geo
pursues revenge against Geese Howard, and later advertising and has cameos in games
becomes an adoptive father to Rock Howard. such as The King Of Fighters 2000
and Card Fighters Clash.
MAI SHIRANUI
■ Introduced in Fatal Fury 2, Mai is one of SNK’s NEO POKE-KUN
most popular fighters. She’s smitten with Andy ■ A Neo-Geo Pocket mascot and
Bogard, who trained with her family, and she’s the star of Ganbare Neo Poke-Kun!,
recently cameoed in Dead Or Alive 5: Last Round. a game in which Neo Poke-Kun
ry d tle o -K un lives in your console and makes
GEESE HOWARD
■ The most recognisable villain in
TBeorgar G -M a n e
NPok e minigames. He also cameos with
Yuki in Neogeo Battle Coliseum.
the SNK universe is emblematic
of difficult fighting game ATHENA
bosses. Despite his propensity ■ A princess who lands in the Fantasy World as a
for falling off of tall buildings, result of boredom and curiosity. Her descendant
he’s a constant thorn in Terry’s Athena Asamiya is in Psycho Soldier, and she’s a
side and even makes a cameo secret boss in SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos.
appearance in Tekken 7.

n ui sed na KYO KUSANAGI

HAOHMARU
■ This swordsman is the most
ai
MShira GHeoewar At h e ■ Introduced as the face of The King Of
Fighters ’94, Kyo is a student who has
recognisable character of the Samurai Shodown the ability to create flames, which
series, and is a lover of food and sake. He has a makes him a devastating fighter
deadly rivalry with his former training partner – and a target for organisations
Genjuro Kibagami. which wish to clone or kill him.

NAKORURU IORI YAGAMI

■ A reluctant fighter who is dedicated to her ■ Introduced in The King Of
mission of protecting nature. Though her aru a gi i Fighters ’95 and quickly became
weapon has a short range, Nakoruru
is fast and has the assistance Ha oh m o
KKyusa n IYaogrami popular. He bears a personal grudge
against Kyo, and his purple flames are
of her hawk Mamahaha or her caused by the curse of the evil Orochi.
wolf Shikuru.
RUGAL BERNSTEIN
AMAKUSA ■ A ruthless arms dealer and the organiser of the
■ A vengeful spirit resurrected King Of Fighters tournaments in 1994 and 1995, this
by the malevolent god Ambrosia. villain likes to preserve the bodies of foes in liquid
Amakusa’s goal is to bring
Ambrosia into the mortal realm.
r ur u
u sa g alstein metal as statues. He was created to be the ultimate
boss, and he’s tough as nails.

MARCO ROSSI N ak o
Am ak RBuern RYO SAKAZAKI
■ The combat leader of PF Squad, the heroic ■ Art Of Fighting introduced us to
faction of the Metal Slug games. His resignation this serious karate practitioner,
was denied after the events of the first game, and as he searched for his kidnapped
surprisingly he’s also a talented programmer. sister Yuri. His dojo is always
looking for recruits, and he’s got a
TARMA ROVING bit of an eye for his former foe King.
■ A member of the PF Squad and a friend of
Marco’s, Tarma is less serious than his
rcsoi o z ak i
b erat
i ROBERT GARCIA
comrade. He had intended to set up a
MRos y
RSak a RGoarc ■ Another Kyokugen karate user,
a motorbike shop after Morden Robert joins his best friend Ryo in the search
was defeated, but his superiors for Yuri. He’s hot-headed and wealthy, unlike Ryo,
coaxed him back into service. and despite being from Italy he speaks Japanese
with the Kansai dialect, which is commonly
GENERAL associated with comedians.
DONALD
MORDEN MR KARATE
■ The main antagonist of the
n eradl ate ■ A fearsome fighter wearing a Tengu mask, and
Metal Slug series, he was driven
ar minag l
GDoerndaen K ar the final boss of Art Of Fighting. He’s later revealed
to insanity after his son was killed in a
bombing, and joined the rebel army. Morden
TRov Mo Mr as Takuma Sakazaki, a karate dojo owner working
for Geese Howard because of threats against his
has been known to make odd alliances, including children Ryo and Yuri.
teaming up with Martians.

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 DESIGNER
PIXELS
Hiroko Yokoyama explains the graphical development
of some of SNK’s most recognisable games

How much support did you have from the

Ikari Warriors arcade team when working on
the MSX2 version?
Mr Oba [Koji Obata], who was the main leader of the
team in charge of the arcade version of Ikari Warriors,
helped us a lot when porting the game to MSX2. He
shared with us the dot pixel data of the original game.
Unfortunately, the map data was missing, and we had a
lot of trouble because of this.

What sort of materials did you use for reference

and inspiration when working on Guevara
(Guerrilla War)?
There were almost no books about Che Guevara in
Osaka in 1987. I had to go to one of the biggest book
stores in Osaka, where I finally found three books
about Che Guevara’s life. There was also very little
documentation about Cuba at that time, but I found
a few pages about this country and its streets in a
magazine for men. It was way after I thought I should
have searched in secondhand bookstores for books
“I WASN’T A BIG FAN
about Che Guevara that were published in Japan in OF THE HYPER NEO-
GEO 64. I WOULD’VE
Sixties and already out of print.

Crystalis had a fantasy theme, unlike the

military games you worked on beforehand. PREFERRED TO WORK
How did you come up with the character
designs for this game?
ON THE PLAYSTATION”
Yasuyuki Oda
The development of the game had already started
when I was involved in this game, and I was told by
the original team members that I could draw freely, Unfortunately for SNK, that bright future was a
as long as the main character had red hair and was false dawn. Part of the problem was that the Hyper
wearing blue armour. I used manga and anime that » SNK’s first portable console didn’t last long before it was given a Neo-Geo 64 failed to succeed the Neo-Geo MVS.
were popular in Japan at that time for my reference, brand-new colour upgrade. One key reason for this was that it sacrificed one of
and proposed to the planners three variations of the key selling points of its older hardware. The arcade
Mesia. After being informed on the details of the 3D graphics. SNK introduced the Neo-Geo CDZ in market was shifting away from games with joysticks
Four Sages, I started working on their design. I December 1995, which delivered faster loading times, and buttons, towards dedicated driving and lightgun
also made sure to draw Athena and Kensou as but it couldn’t halt the format’s decline – there were cabinets. The Hyper Neo-Geo 64 had to support them,
adult versions of Psycho Soldiers. I drew monsters fewer games released in the Neo-Geo CD’s last four and it did. But the beauty of the MVS was that it was
in dot pixels, but also some imagined from the years than its first four months. a universal platform, and Hyper Neo-Geo 64 boards
game settings and atmosphere. After the planners Even as early as the mid-Nineties, the original weren’t – hardware designed to play driving games
chose and approved the design of the Four Sages, I Neo-Geo hardware seemed to be nearing the end of wouldn’t play the fighting games, for example.

H
polished and added details to these characters until its natural life as a flagship product. Still, SNK made
their final design get approved. advances in other areas, as the company launched a owever, there were bigger problems
chain of Neo-Geo Land arcade locations. The first than that. “I wasn’t a big fan of the Hyper
Neo-Geo World was launched in Tsukuba in December Neo-Geo 64. I would’ve preferred to work
1995, offering a variety of attractions including on the PlayStation, it had better specs,” says
simulator rides, bowling, karaoke rooms, restaurants Oda. However, the board wasn’t just underpowered
and plenty of arcade games. In 1996, the Neo Print – its 3D interpretations of Samurai Shodown and Fatal
amusement photo booth was introduced, which Fury failed to achieve the same acclaim as the 2D
allowed users to decorate their photos and print them originals. “This is just my opinion, this isn’t an official
to stickers. The company also began to develop games line from the company, but the people who worked on
for other platforms again, beginning with Neo-Geo the Hyper Neo-Geo 64 weren’t the same people who
conversions for the PlayStation and Saturn in 1996. worked on the original Neo-Geo. I think that was the
SNK had plenty of reasons to think that the future main problem.” Hyper Neo-Geo 64 game production
would be bright. In order to prepare for that future, a never overtook MVS production, and the board saw its
number of changes were made in 1997. Neo-Geo AES final release less than two years after its debut. This
and CD consoles were discontinued, though game left SNK in an awkward situation, reliant on the aged
production would continue as the MVS continued to MVS hardware, and without the resources to attempt
receive support. In the home, SNK would continue to a second successor.
produce arcade conversions, but also original projects One area in which SNK could still leverage its
for the PlayStation. For arcades, SNK launched an MVS expertise in creating 2D games was the handheld
» SNK is known for its stellar sprite art, and that’s been a fact successor: the 3D-capable Hyper Neo-Geo 64, with market, and it developed the Neo-Geo Pocket for
since its early games like Guerrilla War. the driving game Road’s Edge as its debut release. introduction in 1998. However, the console, a black

86 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE TALE OF SNK

able to make the operation profitable.

“With third-party support, we could
have hit three per cent in three years.
It’s all about the games,” says Ben.
That opportunity would never come,
as SNK was in trouble. In January
2000, pachinko manufacturer Aruze
purchased SNK and absorbed it as
a subsidiary. By April, the company
employed 185 fewer people than » Ben Herman spent two
spells at SNK in the USA
it had a year prior, and in June the between 1999 and 2008
company withdrew the Neo-Geo
Pocket Color from non-Japanese
markets. Boxes and manuals were pulped, and
cartridges were intended for reuse in the Japanese
» It doesn’t have a vast library of games, but the NGPC does have market. This wouldn’t come to pass and most stock
some cracking titles.
wound up back in the wild via liquidation.

S
and white handheld, launched just as Nintendo finally NK enjoyed a high profile in 2000
moved the Game Boy line into colour. Early sales were thanks to its crossover projects with
brisk, but the console would never leave Japan – the Capcom, which saw both companies
rest of the world would receive its successor. “In 1998 produce great games. But as its characters
I met with John Barone who showed me a prototype fought for supremacy in fighting games and trading
of the Neo-Geo Pocket Color,” says Ben Herman, who card games, SNK was fighting to survive. “Aruze
joined SNK America in 1999 as vice president of sales bankrupted SNK,” opines Ben, and it’s certainly true
and marketing. “The opportunity to set up sales and to that the company went into rapid decline under its
sell the product with its great titles was too great of an ownership. Arcade game production diminished to the
opportunity to pass up. And a salary too!” point that The King Of Fighters 2001 was contracted
The Neo-Geo Pocket Color was a serious attempt out to external developers, and in Japan the Neo-Geo
to gain a foothold in the market, with wide distribution Pocket Color turned into an outlet for Aruze-branded
and visible marketing. When the console arrived pachislot games. In October 2001, SNK went bankrupt.
in 1999, it was cheaper than the Game Boy Color, However, the SNK story was far from over.
offered better visuals and similar battery life. Versions “Playmore was a brilliant move. SNK overcame
of its arcade classics including King Of Fighters, Metal the bankruptcy situation in court,” says Ben. SNK
Slug and Samurai Shodown were all made available founder Eikichi Kawasaki had seen the bankruptcy
within the first year. What’s more, SNK established coming, and established a holding company in August
partnerships to bring Pac-Man, Sonic The Hedgehog 2001. The first step to overcoming the collapse of
and Puzzle Bobble to the platform, although it did have the original company was purchasing SNK’s
to develop some of these internally. By E3 2000, the properties, allowing the company to
Neo-Geo Pocket Color had claimed a two per cent resume production of Neo-Geo arcade
share of the North American handheld market – a small games. These still had to be developed
percentage, but it represented an audience that was externally – Playmore worked

» Samurai Shodown VI was one of several games that SNK released on Atomiswave hardware.
RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 87
 NEO-GEO WORLD TOUR
A guide to global SNK hotspots

11

08

13

05
06
10

04
07

01 OSAKA, JAPAN 04 TORRANCE, CA, USA 09 KOWLOON, HONG KONG 14 OSAKA, JAPAN
■ The home city of SNK, and a frequent ■ SNK’s first American office opened here ■ 1992 saw the establishment of SNK Asia, which 15 NAGAKUTE, JAPAN
background location in the King Of Fighters series. on Kashiwa Street in the early Eighties. The kept the same offices up until the branch was 16 NARA, JAPAN
The company has had a number of offices in the company moved back to an office on Earl Street dissolved following SNK’s bankruptcy. SNK Asia 17 KATO, JAPAN
area over the years. in the early Nineties. was re-established here in 2015. ■ These cities all hosted Neo-Geo Land arcades.
These typically offered a mixture of games,
02 TSUKUBA, JAPAN 05 SUNNYVALE, CA, USA 10 SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL karaoke and pool, although smaller locations had
■ The first Neo-Geo World location was opened ■ When SNK formally established its ■ SNK’s first branch in South America was fewer offerings. SNK held events at these arcades,
here in December 1995. This indoor theme park American subsidiary in 1986, its first office was in established in 1993, and the MVS was very the most popular of which were the location tests
offered a variety of attractions including Q-Zar Sobrante Way. popular here. Some of the Neo-Geo World of new arcade games. Osaka was lucky enough
laser tag, Drift King cart racing and a horror locations it opened still exist, albeit under to have two, one of which remained open under
attraction called The Walk. Additionally, you could 06 SAN JOSE, CA, USA different companies. Sun Amusements until 2004 – you can see it in the
enjoy a game of bowling, karaoke, games and ■ SNK returned to the Bay Area in 1997, relocating background of King Of Fighters games often.
a variety of cafes, and there was even a Tsutaya to Great Oaks Boulevard in San Jose. 11 LONDON, UK
video rental shop. ■ SNK Europe was established here in 1994, 18 YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
07 CYPRESS, CA, USA initially occupying an office in Albemarle 19 CHIBA, JAPAN
03 TOKYO, JAPAN ■ SNK NeoGeo USA Corporation, the arcade Street before moving to Regent’s Park Road in 20 FUKUI, JAPAN
■ The second Neo-Geo World opened here in distribution arm of SNK in the late MVS years, was Finchley in 1996. 21 NATORI, JAPAN
March 1999. The rides at this indoor theme park located here. 22 FUKUOKA, JAPAN
included the car chase simulation New York 12 SINGAPORE ■ Each of these cities had a Neo-Geo Bowl facility,
Getaway, the shooting adventure Agent Metal and 08 WALL, NJ, USA 13 DUBAI, UAE offering bowling, games, karaoke, pool and cafe
a hostage rescue walking attraction called No ■ SNK operated out of a very small office during ■ Other offices including SNK Singapore and SNK facilities. Sun Amusements kept the large out-of-
Fate. The company has also had local offices here the Playmore years. Established in 2003, this was Middle East operated from these locations, but town facilities in Chiba and Natori running for a
at various points in time. far from SNK’s traditional California locations. both subsidiaries were closed by 1999. few years after SNK’s 2001 bankruptcy.

88 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 “I HAD MORE AUTHORITY TO THE TALE OF SNK
MAKE SNK STRONG AGAIN
IN THE USA”
Ben Herman

09 21

20 02 » Cool Cool Tune with Eolith on The King Of Fighters 2002 and had
03 was a sequel
Mega Enterprise develop Metal Slug 4. But in 2003,
15 19 to the Neo-Geo
17 18 Pocket’s Cool Playmore was able to sue Aruze. The former SNK
01 Cool Jam. owner continued to use the SNK properties in spite of
16
12 22 14 the rights having been sold. Playmore won the case
and was awarded 5.64 billion yen in damages.
With its security assured by this judgement,
Playmore pressed ahead with a full-on revival by
regaining the rights to the SNK name and rebranding
as SNK Playmore. “I received a phone call and was
asked to come to SNK HQ in Osaka. I did not know
why and was offered the position as President to
reopen USA HQ. It was an honour.,” recalls Ben. “I
had more authority to make SNK strong again in the
USA.” The American operation at this time was based
in Wall, New Jersey and had a tiny staff of just five
people. How does a company run with so few people?
“I outsourced everything from warehousing to sales
reps, which was very efficient,” replies Ben.

U
nfortunately good things can’t last
» The Neo-Geo Mini
forever, and Neo-Geo game production
has just been released was discontinued in 2004 with the
and features 40 release of Samurai Shodown V Special.
classic games. Look
out for a review in a “What kept it alive was the fans,” says Oda. “But
future issue. there were a lot of Chinese copies of the cartridges,
that ended up hurting the system.” If you want to
know how SNK Playmore felt about that, the plot
for 2005’s NeoGeo Battle Coliseum concerns an evil
corporation called WAREZ with the ability to clone
powerful fighters. New arcade game development
moved to the Dreamcast-based Atomiswave platform,
and the company also entered the lucrative pachislot
market with a Metal Slug machine in 2004.
In the home market, the company continued to
convert its arcade games to consoles, although it
occasionally ran into problems – in particular with Sony,
which wouldn’t approve certain games for standalone
release in the North American market. “We did
combo packs for PS2 to overcome that,” remembers
Ben, although some games couldn’t be combined –
most notably SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos. Ben also
remembers problems with the competition. “Xbox
was a headache as mid-stream Microsoft started
360 while we were developing for Xbox,” he says.
The company also experimented with 3D versions of
Metal Slug and The King Of Fighters on the PS2, and
published the mobile dating sim series Days Of

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 89

 IN AND OUT
SNK has absorbed a number of companies
over the years, others have split off from it, and
some even went full circle

IN ADK
■ Alpha Denshi was a
prolific developer for all
SNK hardware, producing
games such as Twinkle Star Sprites, Beast
Busters: Second Nightmare and Crush Roller.
The company closed in 2003 and its properties
were bought by SNK.

IN NAZCA CORPORATION
■ This group of former
Irem staff only had its logo
on two games – but those
two were Neo Turf Masters
and Metal Slug, two of the very best Neo-Geo
games. SNK wisely folded the team into its own
ranks before long.

OUT & IN BREZZASOFT

■ Formed during SNK’s troubles in
2000, Brezzasoft launched its own
cartridge-based arcade board and
was credited on games including The King Of
» King Of Fighters XIV is an impressive return to form and features nearly 60 playable characters.
Fighters 2001. It was purchased by Playmore not
long after formation in 2002.

OUT & IN SUN AMUSEMENT “A LOT OF KIDS PLAYED THESE GAMES AT

■ This company took
over Neo-Geo Land and
RELEASE, AND MAY STILL HAVE MEMORIES
Bowl operations following
SNK’s 2001 bankruptcy,
ABOUT THEM SOMEWHERE IN THEIR HEART”
Hiroko Yokoyama
as well as distribution of Neo-Geo MVS and AES
games. It was purchased by Playmore in 2003.
in arcades first (though it remains active in the market
OUT DIMPS today). It was ported to PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2011.
■ Takashi Nishiyama What followed was a period where SNK focused on
and Hiroshi Matsumoto pachislot machines and mobile games. That changed
formed this company in in 2015, though. “For quite a while the company had
the run-up to SNK’s 2001 bankruptcy. It has been invested itself into pachislot,” explains Oda. “The laws
a prolific developer, working on games including changed and it became much more difficult to thrive
the Sonic Advance series and Street Fighter V. in this market space, so the leadership decided they
wanted to return to console game manufacturing,
OUT NOISE FACTORY which is what allowed me and a lot of other former
■ Former SNK and Atlus staff to come back.” The majority shareholding in SNK
designer Keiko Ijuu Playmore was also acquired by Ledo Millennium for
founded this developer, » Metal Slug continues to be a strong franchise for SNK that’s $63.5 million in August of that year.

T
which worked closely appeared throughout its history.
with SNK for many years on games including he first major project under SNK’s
Sengoku 3, Metal Slug games from Metal Slug 4 Memories featuring its popular characters. As the new focus on games was The King Of
onwards and The King Of Fighters Neowave. generation continued, the company found success Fighters XIV, released in 2016. The game
in publishing retro-focused compilations on the shows SNK’s current approach to game
PlayStation 2, PSP and Wii. development – it’s for home platforms first, and the
The next generation proved to be difficult. Though first in the main King Of Fighters series to go 3D. Both
digital distribution enabled SNK Playmore to distribute changes have required some adjustment for Oda.
its back catalogue, the high costs of developing “One of the biggest differences is that the volume per
packaged games meant that few were released, and game for consoles is much greater. You’ve got a bunch
those were usually arcade conversions. Even this of different modes that you have to worry about, plus
was a struggle, as Samurai Shodown Sen was poorly the options menu and things like that,” he explains.
received on Xbox 360 and The King Of Fighters XII However, there are some advantages. “Because
was beautiful but limited in content. Original titles were you don’t have to worry about getting players to
instead created for the Nintendo DS, including SNK put in another 100 yen, you can actually lower the
Vs Capcom: Card Fighters Clash DS and Metal Slug 7. difficulty level a bit.” Given his animation background,
The King Of Fighters XIII released in 2010 and would the change of graphical technology has also been a
become the company’s final original game to launch challenge for Oda. “The cool thing about 2D is that

90 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE TALE OF SNK

FEARSOME FEMALES
Producer Yasuyuki Oda discusses the design of SNK’s latest
fighting game, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy

How did the SNK Heroines project who aren’t so good at pulling off
get started? combos. Is it fair to say that you’re
Soon after The King Of Fighters XIV was aiming SNK Heroines towards an
released, we decided to start with a new audience that is less familiar with
project with popular female characters from fighting games?
throughout the whole SNK library. That’s Yes, the idea is to be as broad as possible
where this came from. with who is able to play this game. Of course
there’s practice involved, you still have to
There was a game on the Neo-Geo practice and learn how to play the game well,
Pocket Color with a similar theme, but it’s very welcoming for everyone.
depending on how good your artist is, you only need » The latest brawler SNK Gals’ Fighters. Was any inspiration
to draw the cool stuff. The way 3D works is that from SNK features drawn from that for this concept? King Of Fighters XIV had features to
an all-female cast.
everything has to be rendered. The hard thing with 3D Actually, it was kind of an opposite influence. help newcomers, such as autocombos,
is how you hide the parts that don’t necessarily look as Because we had already made a game like and SNK Heroines is geared towards
cool.” The game has been positively received and was that, we wanted to make sure SNK Heroines players who are new to fighting games.
followed by SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. wasn’t just a rehash of what that was, but How important is it to get new players
Today, SNK is celebrating its heritage with a number a complete differentiation and a new game invested in the genre?
of projects. Its early years are being celebrated in SNK within that concept of using female fighters. We still plan on making games for the more
40th Anniversary Collection for Nintendo Switch, and hardcore audience, but especially at demo
a dedicated mini console has been created for fans of How did the team decide which events or games shows, most people are just
the Neo-Geo era. But what is it about the company characters to include in the game? going to grab the controller and start pounding
and its games that keeps players’ interest? “Games There were three different categories – the buttons. Being able to have something
made before the Neo-Geo were created at a time popular characters from SNK, characters that cool happen when they do that is pretty
where there were plenty of technical restrictions, we want to make more popular, and what we important to keeping them interested in the
which led game creators to think a lot about how to call the ‘special box’. game overall, so that’s part of our strategy to
make enjoyable games,” says Yokoyama. “A lot of increase the amount of fans.
kids played these games at release, and may still have We’re curious, what does the ‘special
memories about them somewhere in their heart.” box’ entail? What modes are included?
For Yoshino, it’s also nostalgia. “I’d say that players If you’ve played The King Of Fighters XIV, you Story mode, versus mode, survival mode,
probably now over their forties will enjoy games such might know that everyone gets revived at the training mode, online mode – and there’s an
as ASO, Athena and Ikari Warriors the same way end of the story. So it was kind of a way to option within the online mode to watch other
they did when they first played these games three bring back Shermie. players and bet points on their battles.
decades ago,” he says. Ben agrees, citing “Great retro
products, great IPs and great gameplay.” The concept of a tag-team fighting What is the purpose of the points that
But for Oda, who has the chance to shape SNK’s game is familiar to most players, but you accrue?
future, we’re wondering which parts of its past might be the Dream Finish system is a new Those are used for customisation – there’s lots
part of his plans. If he could bring some old series back, concept. Could you please explain a bit of costumes, lots of accessories, you can buy
which ones would he choose? “One is Ikari Warriors, about that for us? different backgrounds and take screenshots
and the other is Athena,” he answers. “But this is just The only way you can win is with a Dream using them. The in-game currency is the way
what I’d like to do! These were games that came Finish, so even if you get your opponent’s to get all this stuff, the betting is just a quick
out when I was in middle school and high school, energy meter all the way down to zero, way to get it so you can unlock more things
and I played them a lot.” Best not start the that opponent will not be defeated until you that you’d like to use.
rumour mill turning, then: these are not use a Dream Finish. The reason that this is
concrete plans. However, the company important is because rather than a traditional SNK has been giving ongoing
has announced the return of Samurai fighting game where you’re using many support to its competitive games. Is
Shodown for 2019, so it’s clear that SNK’s combos or trying to chain things together, it’s that something you plan to do with
past is still a big part of its future. for people who maybe are not particularly SNK Heroines?
SNK is many things to many people. great at that. It’s more of a timing thing In addition to the Neo-Geo World Tour, we also
Some will associate it with the rotary joysticks – waiting to build up your Dream offer support to esports communities, and we
of the Ikari Warriors era, while others can’t think Finish, and then waiting to get your plan to continue doing that with SNK Heroines
of the company without picturing its sprite art enemy down to low energy, and then as well as The King Of Fighters XIV.
or expensive cartridges. None of these are things unleashing it at the right moment.
that SNK does today, yet the company retains a Or maybe your playable character
distinct identity – when you look at Terry Bogard, has used all of their stamina gauge,
you know he’s the Fatal Fury protagonist. When you and so you switch out to your
see that the Neo-Geo Mini replicates an arcade cabinet character in reserve who has the
rather than a console, it’s easy to see the spirit of a Dream Finish, and do it right then.
company that didn’t have to produce £150 cartridge
games, but did so because it could. And that’s why You mentioned that the
we hope to see SNK celebrate many more birthdays – Dream Finish system was
ultimately, there’s not another company like it. tailored towards gamers

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 91

 Few consoles can claim to have success of Virtua Fighter in Japanese arcades.
revolutionised videogames in The simple fact that a company of Sony’s stature
the way that the PlayStation did. was taking an interest in the console market was
Sony’s brand power and marketing a noteworthy development in itself. “It was a big
clout widened the console market demographic part of us getting started,” says Lorne Lanning
and ended the dominance of its traditional of Oddworld Inhabitants. “Sony was a company
games-focused competitors. But it wasn’t just a that really made quality hardware, and it was an
marketplace revolution – the PlayStation was an entertainment company as well – it owned movie
exceptional piece of technology, coupled with studios and record labels. Sega and Nintendo
an approach to third-party development that weren’t that. The idea that a wide spectrum
supported a huge range of hit games. multimedia entertainment company was stepping
As many of you will know, Sony’s decision to in was really interesting, and it was happening right
enter the console market dates back to its work at that time when the industry was projected to
with Nintendo on the SNES. Sony created the have tremendous growth.”
sound chip for the console and then developed First impressions count, and PlayStation
the add-on Super Disc CD-ROM format for the developers remember the impact that the system
system. However, disagreements over CD software made when they first laid eyes on it. “It was in
licensing caused Nintendo to abandon Sony in Las Vegas at CES; Ken Kutaragi was personally
favour of Philips. The engineer central to all of doing developer PR for the new console,” says
this was Ken Kutaragi, who used this incident to Mark Cerny, then president of Universal Studios’
convince executives to back his work on a Sony videogames division. “He had a nifty demo of a
console. Rather than competing with the SNES and walking dinosaur, and it was absolutely clear that
other established machines, Sony would eventually this was the beginning of something very special
develop a 3D-capable console, inspired by the indeed.” Mark wasn’t the only person to be

“IT WAS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THAT THIS

WAS THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING
VERY SPECIAL INDEED...” M A R K C E R N Y

INSIDE THE

PLAYERS MIGHT HAVE LOVED SONY’S CONSOLE

DEBUT, BUT THANKS TO ITS REVOLUTIONARY
HARDWARE DESIGN, DEVELOPERS LOVED
IT JUST AS MUCH. WE SPEAK TO PLAYSTATION
DEVELOPERS TO FIND OUT WHAT MADE
IT SUCH A JOY TO WORK WITH
Words by Nick Thorpe

T
p2urn t
92 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

8 o
INSIDE THE PLAYSTATION

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 93

 YOU’VE BEEN WIREFRAMED Since the
PlayStation GPU
doesn’t have any hidden
The PlayStation’s graphical hardware was a major step change from previous surface removal functions,
generations – here’s how 2D and 3D scenes were constructed the console actually still draws
polygons that the player can’t
see. Note that you can see
the internals of the well
Here’s a scene from Croc: Legend Of The and what’s behind
Gobbos. Key elements to focus on in this the door.
scene are Croc, the collectable items,
the path on the ground and the objects
further in the distance.

Shading
and colour are
used to provide extra
environmental detail in the
background, around the lava
and on the crate, walls and
well. Gouraud shading is
utilised, giving a smoother
appearance than flat
shading.

The huge
white surfaces here The
show how heavily texture wireframe shows
us that the flat, repeating These flat
mapping is used to add boxes representing
environmental detail. Even in grass areas are made up
of regular polygons. The the items are always
arcades, this was a new form of facing the camera directly,
technology – the first textured Croc himself is irregularly shaped stone path
is achieved by distorting the as they’re 2D objects drawn
3D games had only largely intact, as his in a 3D space. As each object
appeared in 1993. cartoonish appearance polygons, altering the path
without needing extra is represented with minimal
allows for most of his detail polygon usage, this approach
to be conveyed in colour alone. textures.
allows extra detail
However, his backpack and elsewhere.
tail are missing their details,
which were added
with textures.

impressed by this particular demo. huge Ridge Racer fan (I even have the
“It would have been about 1994 arcade machine), I was blown away
and I received a phone call from that it was virtually identical to the
Phil Harrison, someone that I had arcade version, which only appeared
commissioned to write some game a year or so before! They also had a
designs in the late Eighties,” recalls T-rex demo controllable via a gamepad
MARK CERNY
Charles Cecil of Revolution Software. Lead architect, which also looked very cool. Such a
“Phil told me that he was working PlayStation 4 small machine, so much power – it
for Sony and they were planning to was an instant hit with me.” The
launch a new console, codenamed PSX – would famous dinosaur demo was an impressive display
I like to come down to their offices to take a look? of a detailed character that could be controlled in
Of course, I jumped at the opportunity. A few days real time, but Ridge Racer is arguably the more
later they showed a demo of a dinosaur moving in important indicator of the kind of leap PlayStation
3D and we were absolutely blown away.” offered. The arcade game, released in October
“I first saw the PSX at a Sony developer 1993, was revolutionary in its own right thanks to its
conference prior to launch in 1995, they had a few introduction of texture-mapped polygons. That the
demos running – and Ridge Racer,” remembers PlayStation came close to an arcade game running
Mike Dailly, then working at DMA Design. “Being a on considerably more costly hardware, just one
year and two months later, was a minor miracle.
This was all the more impressive considering
» As well as providing what other 3D-capable consoles offered. “At the
amusing bonus games for time, the only remotely comparable hardware
demo discs, Net Yaroze
launched a fair few coding was the 3DO, but that was just too expensive
careers. from the get-go and outside of PCs with the newly
» Even subtle lighting
fangled graphics cards the PlayStation was a game
can add a lot to scenery, changer,” says Paul Hughes, who worked at EA
as seen on the fighters and Warthog during the PlayStation years. “The
in Tekken 3’s expressive
theme park stage. Sega Saturn was probably its closest rival but was
a real bugger to program – you really had to get
deep down and dirty to get close to PlayStation.”
This assessment is confirmed by Chris Roberts,
who worked on Sega’s console prior to moving

94 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 It’s easy to mix
2D and 3D elements
on the PlayStation, and
you can see that the sea,
sky and clock tower in the INSIDE THE PLAYSTATION
background are all true
polygonal objects, albeit
simple ones.

In this scene from Castlevania: Symphony

Even Of The Night, the elements of the scene
though PlayStation that warrant attention are the sea and sky,
sprites are defined as the clock tower, the 2D foreground and
rectangular objects with Richter Belmont.
four points, the PlayStation PlayStation sprites
GPU can only draw triangular are basically just
polygons and thus internally rectangular objects with a
draws every sprite as texture mapped onto them, and
two polygons joined they can’t be shaded but are very
together. quick to draw. They can be 8x8,
16x16 like the foreground tiles
or free width and height
like Richter.

“PLAYSTATION, LIKE ALL CONSOLES TO

COME, HAD ITS OWN IDIOSYNCRASIES TO
DEAL WITH” P A U L H U G H E S
to Sony’s Liverpool studio. “First time I saw [the] Quake with a huge border to try and get the
PlayStation was while working at Silicon Dreams framerate acceptable.”
in Banbury – I’d been hired to work on Sega Saturn “Unlike other machines of its time, it was a
and was pretty jealous of the guys working on dedicated triangle renderer, using a constant delta
PlayStation,” remembers the coder. “The Saturn texturing system which allowed a high throughput
of polygons,” explains Mike. “Although it gave a
was technically challenging, but still cool in its own
way, but when I got chance to take a console home slightly coarser texture mapping, it didn’t matter
for the weekend I didn’t choose the Saturn.” once things were moving. Other systems like the
Sega Saturn and 3DO just couldn’t keep up, it was
The key to all of this was an amazing piece of work.” In fact, the PlayStation
the PlayStation’s custom didn’t just beat its counterparts. Though it didn’t
graphical hardware. The Geometry have quite the same raw polygon-pushing power
Transformation Engine was a dedicated of the likes of the Model 2 arcade board, it was
3D graphics coprocessor, residing within the easier to work with in other ways. For example, the
system’s CPU. “The big draw for the PlayStation PlayStation offered full colour texture mapping,
was the really quick turnaround to get something where the Model 2 board could only modify
up on screen and the raw 3D performance coloured polygons with greyscale textures.
compared to the Saturn and even PC “It was also able to blend textures and
games of the time,” explains Chris. featured true semi transparency
“This was the era of Quake and which even Sega’s arcade boards
Descent and very early PC GPUs couldn’t do at the time,” notes Martin
(along with the primitive versions of Edmondson, formerly of Reflections.
DirectX) so most developers were “It was truly cutting edge.”
still having to write custom triangle “PlayStation, like all consoles to
renderers on fairly expensive PCs to come, had its own idiosyncrasies
see any kind of useful performance.  LORNE to deal with in order to get the
We had folks in the office running LANNING best performance,” Paul
Cofounder, Oddworld
Inhabitants

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 95

 » The powerful 3D instructions used to create
Crash Bandicoot’s lush scenery were initially
kept from PlayStation developers.

» Lorne feels that Tomb Raider was the most

visually impressive of the PlayStation’s early
real-time 3D games.

“THE REAL STEP CHANGE HERE this was that despite the PlayStation’s strengths, its
WAS THE SWITCH FROM real-time rendering capabilities paled in comparison

ASSEMBLER TO C” C H R I S R O B E R T S
to what was possible in the VFX industry. “We had
extensive experience of 3D computer graphics.
What I knew, due to polygonal resolution, texture
mapping, memory footprint and all that stuff was
adds. “Nonetheless it was still a boon to be that overall the 3D quality of the PlayStation in the
able to offload texturing, lighting and blending scheme of computer graphics would be pretty lame
to the GTE and video to the MDEC processor.” looking,” says Lorne, and he’d know – both he and
For David Perryman of Attention To Detail, these Oddworld Inhabitants cofounder Sherry McKenna
idiosyncrasies had to be corrected by hand when had worked on visual effects in the film industry.
working on Rollcage. “I spent time stitching “To the gamer, it was a novelty to have 3D. On the
together polygons. The engine we’d developed PlayStation, the first Tomb Raider was the best
was unbelievably fast, but the nature of it meant usage of extremely limited computer graphics at
that a lot of design work was needed to ensure the the time. They really did a lot right to get the best
polygon meshes transitioned well between profiles. image quality you could get in those days.”
Otherwise there was a tendency for it to split as it
switched between levels of detail. This was visible However, Lorne and the team at
to the player as holes appearing ahead.” Oddworld Inhabitants wanted to make
Though the PlayStation’s graphics hardware something that looked good – not just
was revolutionary, it wasn’t perfect. “The lack good for a videogame. “For me it was
of perspective correction and Z-buffering on the like, ‘Our graphics can be much better than the
textured polygons (something which the later 3D rendering of the day, but it’s going to have to
Nintendo 64 featured in hardware) could make be played in 2D.’ When I told my partner that she
things visually very ugly with fighting polygons and was like, ‘What the hell are you talking about, it’s
warping textures,” says Martin, whose observation going to be a 2D game? We do 3D graphics,’ and
was common amongst our interviewees. “Solving I was like, ‘Trust me,’” recalls Lorne. Fortunately,
it in software was possible, to a certain extent, the market for such an approach was proven early
but [it was] extremely polygon expensive.” Chris on in development. “We were in production and
Roberts adds to that the unusual graphical memory already running on Abe’s Oddysee when Donkey
setup, which was split into texture pages. “The Kong Country came out, and it was like, ‘Oh,
VRAM was also a bit of a chore – when developing perfect – they just showed us a couple more tricks
the original WipEout, the team had opted to write that we could learn from.’ They made the same
a visual VRAM editor so that the artists could choice – they said, ‘If we prerender the characters
hand-place textures and colour palettes,” he and the backgrounds, we’ll get that really
explains. “The tool was nice enough but 3D look but it’ll just be being pushed as
it was a unnecessary job for the artists sprites.’ We could prebuild everything
so it wasn’t long before we knocked in Maya, we could render it out in
together an automatic allocator.” whatever resolution we wanted, and
Of course, the PlayStation still then we could scale it down to make
offered 2D games, and even some it fit.” Many devs would ultimately
devs working with 3D graphics use some amount of prerendering
chose to exploit the hardware’s 2D for their games, although often this
capabilities. The primary reason for PAUL HUGHES would be mixed with real-time 3D. This
Cofounder,
Warthog Games

96 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 INSIDE THE PLAYSTATION

» Ridge Racer was an

incredible technical

PLAYSTATION
feat in 1994 – a
cutting-edge arcade
game in the home.

» Four years later,

Namco improved its
shading and texturing,
while doubling both
WITHOUT PLAYSTATION
the vertical resolution How Connectix and Bleem almost liberated your
and framerate. PlayStation games

The pace of technological progress during the late Nineties meant that
shortly before the turn of the century, it became possible for sufficiently
powerful computers to emulate the PlayStation – and two companies
actually released commercial emulators.
The first was Connectix, a big player in the Mac software market which
had a major success with its Virtual PC emulation software. The Virtual Game
Station was released in 1999 and boasted high compatibility and speed for its
time. Sony Computer Entertainment, unhappy with anything that could cause
it to lose control of its platform in such a fashion, sued Connectix and won
a temporary injunction halting Virtual Game Station sales. However, courts
increasingly found that Connectix’s behaviour had been legal and in 2000, Sony
bought Virtual Game Station and shut it down for good.
The other competitor was bleem!, a company with a flagship product
of the same name, which emulated the PlayStation on PCs and used 3D
graphics cards to enhance games with higher resolution graphics and texture
smoothing. The company also announced bleemcast!, a product which
would allow Sega’s competing Dreamcast to run PlayStation games. Sony
was similarly litigious regarding bleem!, suing for trademark and copyright
meant real-time 3D elements on top of prerendered infringement but losing on both counts, before launching a patent infringement
backgrounds, as seen in the Resident Evil and Final suit that bleem! was unable to financially defend itself from. The company
Fantasy series, though occasionally games like folded in November 2001, by which time it had released discs that enabled Gran
Klonoa used prerendered sprites on real-time 3D Turismo 2, Metal Gear Solid and Tekken 3 to run on the Dreamcast.
backgrounds as well.
Though few other parts of the PlayStation were
as revolutionary as its graphics hardware, the rest
of the console’s design was still driven by smart
choices. The MIPS CPU was generally well liked,
with Mike commenting that, “I still have the full
MIPS ROM I wrote somewhere, and MIPS remains
my favourite chip/assembler to this day!” Chris was
also a fan. “I was already pretty familiar with 32-bit
ARM assembler, so in some ways the MIPS and
Hitachi processors in the PlayStation and Saturn
were a small step backwards, but both of these
were fun processors.” However, he does note,
“The real step change here was the switch from
assembler to C which vastly improved development
in general.” The sound processor was much like the
SNES sound processor developed by Kutaragi. It
was capable of generating music from compressed
digital samples, but could play 24 channels

» This preview image of

Ridge Racer Type 4 shows
the enhancements that
Bleem offered – sadly, this
game’s pack never saw a
retail release.

» With its unfiltered textures

and lower resolution,
original PlayStation
hardware suffered next
to emulators.

» The kinked lines here demonstrate the PlayStation’s lack of perspective

correction – they should all be straight.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 97

 “WITHOUT THE CD STORAGE, WE
WOULD HAVE HAD TO COMPRESS THE
ASSETS CONSIDERABLY” C H A R L E S C E C I L

of audio simultaneously and had technology. The benefits of CD-ROM

512KB memory, compared to the for games had long been known, as
eight channels and 64KB memory the medium offered huge capacity
of its predecessor. Though this was and cheap production costs as
of diminished importance due to the compared to cartridges. For Sony, it
ability to play audio from the game was an obvious move – not only had
CD, it was often used in games where CHARLES CECIL it codeveloped the CD with Philips, it
disc space was at a premium. Cofounder, was already ordering millions of them
David does point out one area Revolution Software through its music division. However,
in which the console was severely it wasn’t a move without risk. Though
limited: “Memory constraints were also a console manufacturers had been experimenting
challenge, trying to fit everything into what with CD-ROM add-ons since 1988 and most
PlayStation gave us. But I think all the constraints manufacturers of next-generation consoles had
honed the design, without them it would have adopted it, it was an expensive technology that
been easier to come up with a less tight design.” drove up the initial hardware cost. What’s more,
Mike confirms this, noting, “It could have done the industry giant Nintendo had chosen to stick
with a bit more RAM, but most developers made with ROM cartridges, citing their speed, durability
it work.” With 2MB main RAM, 1MB for video and and resistance to piracy.
512KB for sound, the PlayStation was comparable
to its primary competitors, the Saturn and N64. Choosing CD-ROM would prove
However, both of those machines received 4MB fruitful for both Sony and its
RAM expansions during their lifetimes. In both roster of developers. For Lorne,
cases the expansions were typically used for CD-ROM was essential to the creation
graphical improvements with the Saturn typically of the Oddworld games. “That was part of the
using the extra RAM for better animation in reason for choosing to get into games at that
2D games, and the N64 using it for greater 3D time, just that games were going to CD-ROM
performance. Only a small minority of games on storage devices. When CD-ROM came out, it was
either platform strictly required the use of these like, ‘Ooh, well that’ll hold enough memory that
expansions, which ultimately limited their impact you can have 500 screens for the game, 1,000
– and by not releasing such an upgrade, Sony did frames of animation for each character,’ you
avoid fracturing its customer base. weren’t looking at the limitations of a cartridge.”
The other main area in which the PlayStation Broken Sword was another game that reaped the
was a leap forward was in its adoption of CD-ROM benefits of CD-ROM. “The CD storage was very
important because the game had large assets
– multilayered backgrounds, huge amounts of
sprite animation, and hours of music and speech.
Without the CD storage, we would have had to
compress the assets considerably which would
have compromised the gameplay experience,”
recalls Charles, though he’s also frank about the
disadvantages of the medium. “Of course, CD

98 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 » According to Chris, the
processing time needed for
WipEout 2097’s Akira-inspired
engine trails was gained by
avoiding Gouraud shading.

» CD-ROM storage allowed

for the detailed backgrounds,
speech and video sequences
of games like Broken Sword.

players in those days were slow at reading data,

so load times were quite high and videos really did
need to be compressed hard in order to stream in launch. “I remember showing the
real time.” Destruction Derby concept to them
There’s no doubt that CD-ROM helped Sony and they were thankfully excited so
to win victory in this generation. Developers we bagged a dev kit soon after that.
preferred it, most famously SquareSoft, which felt I remember those earliest dev kits
that the N64’s cartridges didn’t offer the capacity were almost [like a]photocopier in
necessary to realise its vision for Final Fantasy VII. size, but were soon replaced with
The cheap production costs also allowed for tactical more convenient units the size of an
discounting, such as when Sony introduced the old VHS recorder.”
Platinum range of games – older hit games at For all the revolutionary hardware, perhaps the
£19.99 – at the same time as the N64 hit the market. biggest step forward was Sony’s treatment of
However, CD-ROM was also one of PlayStation’s third-party developers, and this is what allowed
weaknesses. Part of the problem was that it caused Destruction Derby to hit a tight deadline. “It may
hardware reliability issues. The drive lens travelled have been considered ‘early’ by some but it still
along plastic rails in early models, which would be only left us with seven or eight months until the
worn away by friction until the lens began to dip, machine’s European launch so everything was
causing loading problems (often first experienced extremely tight,” Martin continues. “We worked
as stuttering FMV). The other problem was that fast and such was the well-designed hardware
as CD copiers became commonplace in the late and libraries that within a day we had a textured
Nineties, piracy became such a problem that the polygon spinning around on the screen, and not
standard copy protection was no longer enough, even a week later a circular track with a demo car
and developers had to include extra anti-piracy flying around it. Then the hard work began on the
measures in their games. physics for the crashes, AI and so on.” » David’s time stitching polygons was well spent, as Rollcage’s tracks
With such exciting hardware, it’s unsurprising Martin isn’t the only one who enjoyed Sony’s look very solid by PlayStation standards.
that developers wanted to work on the PlayStation. approach. “Up until that point you got generally
In the early days, that meant competition. got a fat document with a couple of tersely
“Reflections had a long publishing history with documented examples and then it was pretty
Psygnosis (who had recently been purchased by much over to you until you submitted your
Sony) through our previous catalogue of project,” explains Paul. “Unless you were
games. But even though the dev kits a serious player in the industry with
were on the ground we still needed connections right to the top of the
a compelling design to secure one totem, developer support was pretty
for ourselves. In fact, we were in basic at best. Sony really led the
stiff competition for those early kits revolution; they realised that helping
with quite a few other studios, and (and listening to) the developers
Sony’s internal dev teams too of benefitted their platform.” In fact,
course.” explains Martin, who had Sony wasn’t just open to commercial
one of the few UK-developed games DAVID developers. While it certainly wasn’t
ready for the console’s European PERRYMAN cheap, the Net Yaroze scheme
Track designer, Rollcage;
producer, Attention To Detail

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 99

 NEVER OVERESTIMATE
THE SIZE OF PLAYSTATION
The PlayStation Classic is now available – here are
our thoughts on the mini console
We’ve been fascinated by Sony’s first allowed hobbyist coders to make their own
venture into the world of plug-and-play PlayStation games. Many of these appeared on the
retro consoles ever since its initial demo discs of Official PlayStation Magazine, and
announcement, as there’s a huge potential launched the careers of a number of developers.
market for the system, but the original Still, not everything was wholly transparent, as
hardware presents some unique challenges. Sony initially seemed reluctant to let developers
As a miniature representation of the fully exploit the PlayStation’s graphics hardware.
PlayStation, the PlayStation Classic is very “The powerful 3D math engine was hidden behind
accurate. The details of the original are carried a library, which meant that anyone serious about
across with great care – everything is sized creating virtual worlds needed to have the real
proportionately, and even the rarely-used documentation leaked to them,” says Mark. “Luckily
expansion port is represented. In fact, the text- that happened rather early on in the development of
based buttons suggest the system is fashioned Crash Bandicoot, and we were able to create some
after the earliest models of the system. The amazing environments and characters!” The same
controllers are authentic recreations of the the availability of their remasters. However, thing happened to Chris and his team in Liverpool.
PlayStation’s original digital controller – apart the lack of any Tomb Raider representation is “I remember a Sony conference in London that
from their USB connectors, they’re externally a surprise, and we’d expected PaRappa The happened while we were working on WipEout 2097,
indistinguishable both in look and feel. The Rapper, too. and one of the presenters was talking about the
cables are of a good length, too. The boot The PlayStation Classic includes a virtual COP2 instructions (responsible for 3D vector maths)
screen includes the familiar booming bass of memory card for each game in the library, and how you shouldn’t call them directly. I recall
the original machine’s boot screen, and the meaning that you won’t have to worry about shifting uncomfortably in my seat since we’d been
system menu is fashioned after the original memory-hungry games like Final Fantasy VII using these pretty much non-stop from the outset,”
memory card/CD player interface (though it’s crowding out your other saves. Each game can he confirms. “I’ve no idea why this restriction was
the colourful Japanese and later export version, also store one suspend point, which is created there or where our COP2 instruction list came from,
not the original grey export version). by hitting the reset button. The system outputs but Sony did eventually make these public.”
The 20 games included in the collection at 720p over HDMI, and each game is presented What’s more, eventually the machine was so
makes for a pretty eclectic mix. There’s solid in its original 4:3 ratio with what appears to be well documented that it became possible to get
representation of the key third-party franchises a simple bilinear filter, providing a soft image. by without the help of Sony. “By the time I got to
from the PlayStation years, some of the better There are no display options, so common actually code a game on the PSX – and not just
first-party games and then some surprise CRT-style effects such as scanlines are not mess with a dev kit, I had moved to Visual Sciences
inclusions – most of which are welcome, such available, nor are enhancements such as the and it had been out for a while, so you didn’t really
as Mr Driller and Wild Arms. We’re surprised texture smoothing offered on PS2. It appears need Sony for tech support. I got vast amounts of
that some of the games were chosen over that there’s a mixture of PAL and NTSC versions info from the net,” recalls Mike. This enabled him
their superior sequels (Destruction Derby included, as some of the games showed to take a very creative approach to increasing the
and Twisted Metal in particular), but almost Sony Computer Entertainment Europe splash amount of development hardware available to his
every game included is at least solid – the screens upon start-up, and others showed Sony colleagues. “I reprogrammed an Action Replay
only game we’d really single out as a bit of a Computer Entertainment America. into a dev kit, and even did a snapshot cart for it.
stinker is Battle Arena Toshinden. There are Unfortunately, while Sony’s console certainly I was able to give all the artists ‘dev kits’ via a £10
some high-profile omissions, though. It’s no had potential, a number of baffling design cart so they could see their art on the TV, and even
surprise not to see Gran Turismo, WipEout or choices and its disappointing roster of games QA were able to get one and used it when the
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, all of which would have meant it didn’t leave a good impression on
been licensing nightmares, and we’d guess gamers. The good news is that you can now
that Crash and Spyro didn’t make the cut due to pick it up well below its £90 asking price.

» The reflection effect in Gran Turismo was impossible even on

contemporary arcade hardware.

100 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 » The PlayStation’s ease of use and wide install
base made experimental games such as PaRappa
The Rapper possible.

» The impressive music in the PlayStation’s

Final Fantasy games was actually generated via the
sound chip to save CD space.

“THIS WASN’T JUST MOVING TO A

NEW PLATFORM, THIS WAS THE MOVE
FROM 2D TO 3D” M A R T I N E D M O N D S O N
game crashed, downloading the whole 3D. This was a seismic shift as artists
program onto the PC so a coder could and coders needed to learn a whole
then upload it and find out where it new set of tools and technology.
crashed. It was great fun!” Teams ballooned in size, and many
Of course, making the most of found themselves unable to keep
all of this new hardware meant up,” explains Mike. “DMA had to let
that game development changed several good 2D artists go as they
fundamentally, with more manpower MARTIN just couldn’t make the transition, and
required to get things done. “In the EDMONDSON coders had to learn to use proper
very earliest days our team size only Cofounder, 3D maths, from points, vectors and
increased from four (Commodore Reflections matrices, to 3D model formats and of the games community. Suddenly, anything
Amiga) to seven for PlayStation so it DMA pipelines. It was a brutal switch.” could be a game… Parappa The Rapper, or Devil
wasn’t a huge increase initially. This was partly due Dice, or Intelligent Qube – these are some of my
to the relatively pared-back design of Destruction Still, the PlayStation era’s teams favourite PlayStation memories.” Though the
Derby, there simply wasn’t time for hugely complex were smaller than those making PlayStation conquered the console industry with a
and deep games to make the launch window,” games today. “I miss the small combination of power and ease of programming,
Martin recalls. “This all changed rapidly for the team sizes it afforded – and from that, its successors did not follow the same path. The
next releases however, we had around 30 or so flexibility,” says David. “When we were building PS2 was considered difficult to work with, and the
working on Driver. ” But despite the increased the final ‘Alpha’ submission for Rollcage Stage II, PS3 even more so. “We’d hoped that PlayStation 4
overall labour demand, the PlayStation reduced the it was late at night and a few of us were there. I’d would make it a bit easier to make games,
need for some skillsets. “This wasn’t just moving been plagued by a design problem for months: particularly as it came after the PlayStation 3 which
to a new platform, this was the move from 2D to how to soften the blow when players were beaten was such a beast to tame,” says Mark. “What I
over the line after being out in front for a long time. didn’t foresee is that once games were easier to
Geoff Browitt was ready to make the final build and bring to the console, there would be a return to the
made the mistake of asking if there was anything variety of game experiences that made the early
else to go in. It was at that point the idea of the Total PlayStation years so remarkable.”
Racing points system was born – Geoff knew there Mark is right. The PlayStation was great to work
were hooks into all the game’s events and with with – and when life is easy for developers, there
Gavin Cooper we thrashed out the details and got a are fewer barriers to trying new things. It offered
new game mode in at the last minute.” something for everyone, whether that was arcade
That’s what makes the PlayStation era so conversions and Japanese oddities, the Harry
exciting – a combination of boundaries Potter and dancing games your younger
being pushed and teams that were sibling liked, or the football and racing
still small enough to be able to take games that were just realistic enough
risks. And as Mark reminds us, the to catch your dad’s attention. Without
result of all that is an extraordinarily the extraordinary technology, that
diverse library of games. “The diversity wouldn’t have been possible
technology was great, of course, – and we might’ve found ourselves
but I think what PlayStation did best still waiting for the first console to
was unleash the frustrated creativity MIKE DAILLY reach 100 million players.
Cofounder,
DMA Design

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 101

 IN THE
KNOW
» PUBLISHER:
NINTENDO
» DEVELOPER:
NINTENDO EAD
» RELEASED:
1995
» PLATFORM:
SNES
»G  ENRE:
PLATFORMER

102 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE MAKING OF: YOSHI’S ISLAND

THE
MAKING
OF

Tasked with delivering a successor to Super Mario World, Nintendo’s

developers decided to entrust the starring role to a new hero and
knocked it out of the park. Takashi Tezuka and Shigefumi
Hino look back on the development of Yoshi’s Island
Words by Nick Thorpe

T here’s an enormous burden of

expectation that comes with
following up a game like Super
Mario World. Retro Gamer readers
voted it the greatest game of all time, and many
would argue that it was as close as you could
get to a perfect game, as it built admirably on
the already refined Mario platform formula
while adding the benefits of 16-bit technology. It
the developers explain. “Before Yoshi’s Island,
we’d only created games with Mario as the lead
character. We felt that changing the lead character
would give us a different perspective and different
gameplay possibilities, and so we started thinking
up a game with Yoshi as the lead.”
That makes sense – but the Mushroom
Kingdom is home to many interesting characters,
many of whom have also starred in spin-offs.
would be very hard to elaborate on the formula, What made Yoshi the character of choice over
especially given that delays to the Ultra 64 project the likes of Wario, Luigi or Peach? This goes back
meant that Nintendo was still tied to the 16-bit to the creation of the character for Super Mario
SNES. With player expectations guaranteed to World, as we discover. “The idea for Yoshi came
be through the roof, was there even any sense in about because Mr Miyamoto wanted to have
trying to create a traditional Mario sequel? Mario ride a horse. We thought it would be better
It turns out that Takashi Tezuka and Shigefumi to have a new character rather than a horse, so Mr
Hino didn’t think so. They were two of the Hino and I went about creating one,” Tezuka tells
directors of Yoshi’s Island, alongside fellow us. “Yoshi turned into quite the cute character, and
directors Toshihiko Nakago and Hideki Konno, with we were very interested in creating some kind of
Shigeru Miyamoto acting as producer. Working spin-off with him; that’s where it all began.”
together at Nintendo EAD, this team wanted to This wasn’t Yoshi’s first starring role in a game,
take a different approach instead. “We felt we’d of course. Mario’s trusty steed had previously
done everything we wanted to for side-scrolling appeared headlined three games, the puzzle
with Super Mario World, and so wanted to try games Mario & Yoshi and Yoshi’s Cookie and the
creating a platformer with a different angle to it,” Super Scope blaster Yoshi’s Safari. But none

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 103

 » Transforming into a helicopter is fun, but it’s
important to find a way to transform back – you
won’t get anywhere without one.

» The flutter jump is a very useful trick that can often save
Yoshi when a regular jump might see him plummet.

of these were platform games, and Yoshi’s only including helicopters, cars and submarines, but the game. “Having said that, though, fusing this
appearance in a platform game so far had been these could only be used in certain places. egg-throwing mechanic into a platformer helped
as a sub-character. So while Yoshi had certain However, the ability that most closely tied into us invent ideas that hadn’t been possible until that
established abilities such as his ability to grab Yoshi’s existing skillset was his unique capability point,” Hino points out. “It was a real boon for
enemies with his tongue and eat them, the team to create eggs. As in Super Mario World, Yoshi ideas for the game!”
had a great deal of freedom to decide on new could use his tongue to eat enemies and then While the egg-throwing mechanic would be
abilities and a new style of play that would provide spit them back out at other enemies easy to implement in modern games
a clear break from traditional Mario games. as an attack. However, by pushing thanks to the prevalence of dual
the down button with an enemy analogue sticks, achieving it in

T hat said, it wasn’t easy for the team

to come up with these new and
interesting ideas – according to Hino,
such things were quickly seized upon
when they did arrive. “I remember Mr Tezuka
coming in suddenly one morning and dropping
an idea on us,” he says. “The development team
were hungry for the seeds of an idea and so we
ran with it; we discussed them over and over
in Yoshi’s mouth, the player
could have Yoshi lay an egg.
Instead of containing items
or more Yoshis, as they
did in the likes of Super
Mario World, eggs could
be thrown, rebounding off
walls, breaking through
barriers, collecting objects and
smashing enemies.
Yoshi’s Island required some
ingenuity. The development
team managed to hit upon
an elegant solution that
managed to squeeze the
whole process into two
button presses. By hitting the
A button, the player would
reveal an aiming reticule that
moved back and forth along an
and polished them into something we could “We wanted to include arc in front of Yoshi – while still
implement in game.” Abilities that Yoshi gained egg-throwing as throwing actions allowing him to run and jump freely.
in Yoshi’s Island include the ‘flutter jump’ – an weren’t something that had appeared Hitting the A button again would cause
extended jump where the dinosaur struggles much in Mario games,” Tezuka tells us. Yoshi to throw an egg in the direction he was
against gravity in a cartoonish fashion – as well “Having said that, though, giving users the ability currently aiming for. It was the trickiest of Yoshi’s
as the ‘ground pound’ jumping attack that could to simultaneously control both Yoshi’s movement skills to get to grips with as a player, but it gave the
be used to smash stakes into the floor, something and the direction they throw eggs in proved game a unique feeling amongst platform games.
Mario would later adopt. Yoshi also gained challenging and gave us quite the headache!” One of the other things the new star allowed
a variety of possible vehicle transformations However, it proved to be a crucial element of the Nintendo EAD team to do was make an

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 THE MAKING OF: YOSHI’S ISLAND

YOSHI IN
MY POCKET
We wanted to include egg- How did Yoshi’s greatest adventure translate to the
small screen of the Game Boy Advance?
throwing as throwing actions The Game Boy Advance

weren’t something that had was often seen as

a perfect handheld

appeared much in Mario games home for SNES games,

and after Super Mario
Takashi Tezuka
World was successfully
miniaturised, it felt like
Yoshi’s Island would be
a natural successor. » Colours were lightened in this portable version to
Nintendo delivered account for the GBA’s dark screen.
on that expectation in
September 2002 with Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi’s Island, issuing
adjustment to the difficulty of the game. “Unlike a conversion that received a broadly positive reception. Many purists
the Mario series, we tried to give the gameplay a swear by the SNES original, but this version does have some unique
more gentle and relaxed pacing, as opposed to content worth investigating.
turning it into a platformer that requires players to The game is mostly faithful, but some changes were made in
master tricky techniques,” explains Tezuka. “So, order to lower the difficulty level from the original SNES version.
for example, there’s no time limit on the stages, The countdown to recover Baby Mario is noticeably slower in the
and it’s a little easier to control Yoshi’s jumps as he GBA game, and various minor level design changes were made such
flutter jumps unlike Mario. As we were adding in as the addition of Middle Ring checkpoints and Shy Guy spawning
these little adjustments, we came up with the idea pipes. The original game’s Extra Levels have been modified, and a
of having some exploration elements as part of the set of six new Secret Levels were added. One aspect of the game
gameplay and slowly the game took shape.” was made harder, though – red coins were made visually identical to

S ometimes the desire to provide

exploration elements and a relaxed
game experience were conflicting
goals, as was the case when deciding
on a progression system. Super Mario Bros 3
and Super Mario World had both used maps that
allowed the player to select the next stage. Why
did the team choose to return to linear progression
for Yoshi’s Island? “We looked at many different
» Fuzzy is probably a Class A controlled
substance in the Mushroom Kingdom,
regular coins prior to collection.
Changes were also made to the game’s presentation. Colours
have been lightened throughout to compensate for the original Game
Boy Advance’s dark display, and the colouring of the Yoshis has been
made more consistent with later games. The game also received a
new translation. However, this version isn’t quite perfect. The music
and sound effects don’t quite match the original quality, there’s
occasional slowdown and some graphical effects were downgraded
too (most notably in stage 1-7, Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy).

map styles for this game. Seeing as we had judging by its effect on Yoshi…
already used a board game-style map system in
Super Mario World, we settled on a linear path
as a way of returning to our beginnings,” Tezuka
replies. “The map used in Super Mario World
and other titles gives users the option to choose
the level of difficulty when there’s a branch

DEVELOPER
HIGHLIGHTS
SUPER MARIO
WORLD (PICTURED)
SYSTEM: SNES
YEAR: 1990
SUPER MARIO KART
SYSTEM: SNES
YEAR: 1992
SUPER MARIO 64
SYSTEM: N64
YEAR: 1996

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 YOSHI’S (HI)STORY
A look back at Yoshi’s other solo adventures…

1991 1992 1993 1996 1998 2001

MARIO & YOSHI YOSHI’S COOKIE YOSHI’S SAFARI TETRIS ATTACK YOSHI’S STORY YOSHI’S STORY (GBA)
NES/GAME BOY NES/SNES/GAME BOY SNES SNES/GAME BOY N64 GAME BOY ADVANCE

This puzzle game sees This is another puzzler, In this Super Scope game, It’s the excellent Yoshi’s second platform This short, looping version
you swapping stacks of items in which you mix and match Mario rides Yoshi around Japanese puzzle game Panel outing used prerendered 3D of the N64 game was a tech
to encase enemies between sweet treats in order to create rotating Mode 7 landscapes, De Pon, but reskinned with graphics and tasked Yoshi’s demo that was never released.
pieces of eggshell. It’s okay, but matching rows or columns. It’s blasting Goombas and Koopas a Yoshi theme that was with finding huge fruit quotas. However, it was shown to
not a top-tier game on either of another game that’s interesting out of the sky. It’s another deemed more marketable to It’s fun, but a bit easy and not journalists to demonstrate the
its platforms. but far from tremendous. strictly average spin-off, too. international audiences. quite as good as Yoshi’s Island. 32-bit handheld’s power.

in the path,” adds Hino. “With Yoshi’s Island, we “I don’t think we started out with the intention
designed the game so that players can play the of having the roles reversed,” reveals Hino.
courses over again with different objectives so “Once we decided to make Yoshi the lead, we
they can get better. So, with that in mind, rather thought he could have something ride on his
than users going through the game selecting what back and so decided Yoshi’s mission would be to
level of difficulty they want to play, as done with carry something through the game. We wanted
the board game-style maps, our intention was to to add something extra to the traditional side-
make it possible for users to progress through the scrolling gameplay of having players just proceed
game by setting their own goals.” to the right to reach a goal, and so having Yoshi

» Get hit and Baby Mario will float off in a bubble – recover him in
the time limit or the Magikoopas will get him.
A s well as the ability to set your own
level of challenge, one of the key
aspects of the game’s gentle pacing
was the ability for the player to get hit
without being in too much danger. In the Mario
games, the player was only ever a couple of hits
away from losing a life, with finite opportunities to
grab power-ups in order to prevent that outcome.
In Yoshi’s Island, getting hit would cause Yoshi
need to carry something across the map was a
good fit.” That makes sense given Yoshi’s original
role as a mount for a certain plucky plumber, but
why did Mario need to be a baby? “We decided to
have Yoshi carry Mario because that’s what he’s
always done, but we made Mario into a baby as it
wouldn’t make sense for the game if Mario could
walk around by himself,” Hino explains. “This
setup was also a big help for writing the story for
the game.”
to lose his cargo, and the player had a short That story started with a stork attempting to
amount of time to recover it – but if they did so deliver Baby Mario and Luigi to their parents, only
successfully that time limit would reset, meaning to be attacked by Bowser’s henchman Kamek, a
that it was possible to take an unlimited number Magikoopa who could foresee the great problems
of hits per stage. And in a surprising role reversal, that these brothers would cause for his boss.
that cargo was Baby Mario. While he succeeded in kidnapping the Baby

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 THE MAKING OF: YOSHI’S ISLAND

2004 2005 2006 2014 2015 2019

YOSHI’S UNIVERSAL YOSHI TOUCH & GO YOSHI’S ISLAND DS YOSHI’S NEW ISLAND YOSHI’S WOOLLY WORLD YOSHI’S CRAFTED
GRAVITATION DS DS 3DS WII U WORLD
GAME BOY ADVANCE SWITCH
This experimental game This sequel to Yoshi’s While it tried to follow the This platformer sports a
This platformer was saw players drawing on the Island retains the style and success of the previous Yoshi’s knitted aesthetic and offered a Woolly World’s success
developed by Artoon, and had a touchscreen to guide Mario mechanics of the SNES game, Island games, this 3DS outing pretty good time, particularly earned Good-Feel the
gimmick in which you could tilt to Yoshi, before controlling but adds new babies – Peach, was a bit too easy and bland to when played in co-op. The opportunity to do another
the playfield using a tilt sensor. Yoshi’s egg-throwing in Donkey Kong, Wario and make the same impression as 3DS conversion is known as platform game. Read more
Unfortunately, it was very poor. scrolling segments. Bowser now join Mario. its predecessors. Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World. about it on page 30.

We spent a lot of time

trying to come up with a
new and different look for
the game
Shigefumi Hino
Luigi, Baby Mario was lost in the confusion and Hino. “Everyone agreed it was
fell to Yoshi’s Island. With the instinctive bond perfect and so we decided

Xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

that brothers have, Baby Mario could sense his to go ahead with giving the game a hand-drawn
brother’s location, and the Yoshis decided to take look. At the time, there were a lot of other beautiful

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

him to rescue Baby Luigi and reunite them both
with their parents. And for those of you unfamiliar
graphics out there, and we wanted to differentiate
our title from these. I also watched a lot of

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

with the game, that plural is no typo. “One of the
ideas that came out while we were creating the
children’s TV shows as well for inspiration.”
That wasn’t the only reason that the Nintendo
story, and which I’m particularly taken with, isXName
that XSurname
EAD team ultimately chose to use a deliberately » Although Yoshi’s Island has a gentler pace, there are still
there are many different Yoshis in the game,” says low-tech look. “At the time, our company was challenges like tricky moving platform paths.
Tezuka. “Normally, the lead character is a singular abuzz with talk of the graphics used in Rare’s
character in the game world, so personally Donkey Kong Country. There was definitely
I thought the idea of having different Yoshis a feeling that those sorts of visuals might go
working together and taking turns to carry Baby on to become the mainstream. I wanted us to
Mario through the game was really interesting.” come at things from a different angle,” says
This storybook presentation plays well with Tezuka. “Although there were some people in the
the game’s aesthetic – it sports a hand-drawn, company who were expecting us to follow Donkey
colouring book style with crayon backgrounds. Kong Country, a decision was taken that we should
While this wasn’t the plan from the start, the idea put our weight behind a completely different sort
of being visually unique was one of the team’s of visual look,” adds Hino. “It was around about
aims. “We spent a lot of time trying to come up the time that we decided on that direction that Mr
with a new and different look for the game. We Hisashi Nogami joined the company as a designer.
tried out many ideas and the most interesting was As we were competing together and having fun
one I drew as a last-ditch attempt: a cloud that coming up with different designs, we slowly
had this very rough scribbled look to it,” explains settled on the feel we wanted the visuals to

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 We competed in the team
to see what were the most
amusing or fun things we
could draw
Takashi Tezuka
» This snowball gets bigger as you roll it,
and can wipe out enemies in its path.

have.” In a 2018 interview with Kotaku, Nogami to use all new technology we could, and the other console to handle multiple rotating sprites on the
mentioned the game’s hand-drawn look was point was that this technology offered further screen, perform some psychedelic background
actually achieved quite literally – images were gameplay and visual possibilities (eg, object warping and even squash and stretch sprites.
drawn by hand, scanned and recreated as pixel art (sprite) rotation and a large increase in the number These were most frequently used in the game’s

O f course, the ironic thing is that

despite that rejection of Donkey Kong
Country’s look, Yoshi’s Island was a
game that did things that few other
SNES games could. It’s something that isn’t lost
on the developers. “Yoshi’s Island has this very
warm and friendly feel to it, but a lot of technical
effort went into making the game,” they note. “It’s
actually one of the later SNES games, so [it] makes
of screen colours possible).”
What was so interesting about the use of the
Super FX 2 chip? That would be the
way it was deployed – the original
chip, designed by the UK team
at Argonaut, had been used to
power the polygonal graphics
of Starwing. All of the
subsequent Super FX games,
like Stunt Race FX and
boss battles, which routinely featured some
absolutely colossal sprites.
Koji Kondo was behind the game’s
sound and music, and delivered
another set of memorable themes.
Although still present, there was
less focus on the bongos and
other additional percussion
that had marked Yoshi’s
presence in Super Mario
use of all the developmental know-how we’d built Vortex, had been 3D games World, and there were some
up to that point, as well as what was considered too. Few gamers would have pretty bold musical choices
the latest in technology with the Super FX 2 chip.” guessed that the first outing of – most notably the music
The use of the enhancement chip is a curious the updated version would be box tune that played during
one, and we were interested to know where the in a 2D game, but it proved key the game’s intro sequence. Of
decision to use it came about. “In principle, we to some of the most impressive course, the most memorable
look at what the software and hardware can do visual effects in Yoshi’s Island. sound in the game was that of the
and look at what sorts of visuals or gameplay we Some of those were actually polygonal crying Baby Mario, which triggered
can create with that technology. It was mentioned special effects, such as falling walls and rolling whenever he was separated from his dinosaur
one day that the Super FX 2 technology was platforms. But the Super FX 2 was primarily guardian – we’d avoid getting hit just to make
available, and a suggestion was made about using used here for manipulating 2D sprites, a sure that we didn’t hear it. The Japan-only
it,” explain the developers. “We were very excited technique that Nintendo called ‘Morphmation’ official soundtrack CD is now a prized item
and decided to make use of it for two reasons: the in advertising. As well as adding extra layers in its own right, with used copies selling
first was that as software developers we wanted of parallax scrolling, the chip allowed the for extraordinary prices.

DINOSAUR DISTRACTIONS
Yoshi’s Island has six bonus games and four mini battles – here’s the complete guide to them

FLIP CARDS ROULETTE

■ Flipping cards on this board reveals ■ This one’s dangerous – you can
items. If you reveal Kamek, you’ll lose wager lives in order to add extra lives,
the lot, but flipping seven good ones or even multiply your life total. You can
wins you ten lives. triple it, but you might lose everything!

DRAWING LOTS MATCH CARDS SCRATCH & MATCH

■ This game’s the simplest of the ■ This is a simple game of pairs in ■ It’s a scratchcard! The more Baby
lot – you pick one of the six cards, and which you can win items. You’ll need Marios you reveal, the more lives you
receive whatever’s on it. If you reveal a good memory, since you’re only get – one for one, two for two and five
Kamek, you get nothing. allowed to make one mistake. for three.

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 THE MAKING OF: YOSHI’S ISLAND

MORPHIN’
TIME
Yoshi can take five different forms
after entering a Morph Bubble – but
what do they all do?

» You’re not going to get past the massive

Nep-Enut by jumping, so it’s best to feed him an egg.
CAR
■ Four wheels are faster than
two legs. In this form Yoshi can
also dodge enemies and reach
Yoshi’s Island was released in August 1995 in right and is still considered to be one of the greater heights by adjusting his
Japan, and releases in North America and Europe greatest of all time, frequently showing up in lists wheels’ suspension.
followed in October 1995. The game received of the best games ever, including Games™’s top
universal acclaim upon its release. Nintendo 100 in 2010 and our own readers’ top 150 in 2015.
Magazine System gave it 97%, with Simon Clays
commenting that it was “about the best game
I’ve ever had the pleasure to play,” with his only
complaint being that the graphics were “slightly
immature”. Tony Mott awarded the game 94%
for Super Play and praised it for its variety, noting
that “You never know what’s just around each
corner, but you know that it’ll be something worth
seeing.” However, he felt that the game’s linear
progression was disappointing by comparison
W ith that in mind, we’ll leave the last
word to the developers – why do they
think that the game is still so beloved
by players? “I think maybe it has
something to do with the appeal of the gameplay;
Yoshi offers this unique ability to gobble up
enemies, turn them into eggs, and then throw
those eggs,” says Tezuka. “For the Yoshi series,
we wanted to convey Yoshi’s warmth of character.
MOLE TANK
HELICOPTER
■ Who needs a blue winged Yoshi
when you’ve got rotor blades?
This form can fly freely through
the air for a limited time, though
you do need to beware of inertia.

■ We really dig this particular

to Super Mario World’s wealth of secret exits The adorable voice and our leaning towards transformation. [Nick, please
and stages. Edge’s review scored the game hand-made visuals has all added up to create the collect your P45 from reception
9/10, crediting the Super FX2 chip with “some character’s uniqueness, and I think it’s maybe – Ed.] As you’d expect, it allows
wonderfully inventive touches which make each these things that players are drawn to.” Yoshi to create tunnels.
new level a reward to the player.” “It wasn’t easy creating Yoshi or Yoshi’s Island,”
The game was later converted to Game Boy says Hino. “We competed in the team to see what
Advance as Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi’s Island, were the most amusing or fun things we could SUBMARINE
and that version has since been made available draw, and laughed together as we thought up ■ This one’s a bit of a belter – not
for 3DS and Wii U. Of course, despite Yoshi’s solo strange enemies and level features, knowing we only does Yoshi get freedom
success Mario was soon back on top. Although had a bit more freedom to do so because it wasn’t of movement underwater,
the developers felt that they’d pushed Mario to his a Mario game. Even the programmers jumped he also gets the ability to fire
2D limit, new hardware meant that Nintendo had on board and worked really hard to achieve our torpedoes at his enemies.
already figured out what to do with its headline ideas. I think the fondness people have for the
star. Less than a year later, Mario returned in the character and the game is because we managed
groundbreaking Super Mario 64, which many of to give form to all this passion we had. A long time TRAIN
the Yoshi’s Island staff also worked on. But as a has passed since then, but even now designers ■ Becoming a train allows Yoshi
swan song for an era in which 2D gaming was continue to develop Yoshi with all kinds of to travel along tracks. Thankfully
still the primary concern of the world’s most different interpretations, such as handicrafts, realism is left to one side, so it
prominent game developers, you couldn’t ask worlds made of yarn and so on. I’m really doesn’t cost him all his coins and
for much better than Yoshi’s Island. The game happy to see people still continuing to enjoy he’s never replaced by a bus.
established Yoshi as a platform star in his own playing with Yoshi.”

SLOT MACHINE POPPING WATERMELON

■ This fruit machine will give you extra BALLOONS SEED SPITTING
lives if you can match the symbols on ■. Your job is to pop these baloons to CONTEST
the reels. You don’t even need to pay try to find a hidden item before your ■ Battle against a foe by shooting
10p to play – bargain. opponent does. watermelon seeds at them.

GATHER COINS THROWING

■ Coins are fired out of a cannon high BALLOONS
above the arena, and it’s your job to ■ Input button commands to throw a
collect them. You can jump on your water balloon at your enemy. If it pops
opponent to hinder them, too. in your hands, you lose!

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 T H E H I S T O RY O F

E N 2 2 Y EA R S S INC E THE BOMBS

IT’S BE A N D TH E Y’VE SHOWN
FIRST D RO PP ED
IG N O F S TO P PIN G. FALLOUT IS A
NO S M A N Y CHANGES IN
SERIES T HA T’S SE E N
, M A N Y OF F -S H OO T S AND MANY
ITS TIME S . W HO K NEW THE END
FAILED P R O JE CT
OF THE WORLD COU LD BE SO
FULL OF LIFE?
ld
Words by Ian Dransfie

PLEASE STAND BY

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 THE HISTORY OF: FALLOUT

» VATS has been present in ridiculous acronym form since day one. The
ability to shoot things in the groin was removed for the Bethesda era, though.

C
onsidering the fact war never changes,
it might be surprising how much the
Fallout series has transformed over the
past two decades. Beginning life as an
isometric CRPG bathed in the glow of both tabletop,
pen-and-paper role-playing games and its spiritual » One thing that’s striking about the original two games is just how good the
voice acting is. None of your Matthew ‘Phone It In’ Perry rubbish here.
antecedent Wasteland, the franchise has developed
from these niche beginnings into – somewhat
ironically – a world-beater. Alright, not quite a ‘world- Sitting down with the development team, Brian
exploder’, which would have been quite fitting. But Fargo and his crew at Interplay analysed what
close enough. made Wasteland tick – what it was about the then-
Going back to the first game now is an initial decade-old PC RPG that had kept people playing it
exercise in frustration – 1997’s Fallout was, and so much over the years. “It was a matter of getting
remains, a brutally difficult, uncompromising game. If a small team to start bringing the project to life. To
you mess up, you die. If you make the wrong decision, breathe humanity and charm into the game,” Brian
you die. If you don’t mess up or make the wrong remembers. “We created a sensibilities document
decision, you still die. It’s dark, it’s (generally) presented that spoke to points such as moral ambiguity, tactical
with a straight face, and it wants you to know that the combat, a skills based system and the attributes
end of the world via nuclear holocaust is as cruel and system. After we nailed down what was important,
vicious a thing as it sounds. development went off and began working on ideas
“I had been a post-apocalyptic fiction fan since I that hit the touch points.”
was a kid,” Brian Fargo, executive producer on Fallout Tim Cain is credited as the creator of Fallout –
(and founder of Interplay) tells us, “And Wasteland was after all, it was his work on the game’s engine that
my first attempt at bringing something to the genre. brought the world to life, with a dedicated stretch
Shortly after finishing the Wasteland game, Interplay of months working alone to get the project off the
became a publisher and we no longer created games ground. Early versions saw time travel, and use of the » On a scale of one to DON’T AGGRO THEM, we’d say
this is up there. Super Mutants are a mainstay threat
for other people. I tried to get EA to license me the GURPS ruleset that was implemented and ultimately of the Fallout series for good reason.
rights back, but I was unable to succeed despite abandoned (more on that in a minute). “I was working
trying for many years. I finally decided we’d do our on different engines while nominally tasked with
own post-apocalyptic game and call it Fallout.” making game installers,” Tim explains. “I made a voxel
engine, a 3D engine and finally an isometric sprite
engine that I really liked. From there, I started making
a combat engine based on GURPS, which I was
playing paper-and-pencil with a group two or three
evenings a week. That started getting some people
interested in after-hours work on the game, and that
grew into Fallout.”
It sounded straightforward, but development
was impacted by the fact Interplay didn’t put much
stock in the project. “The game did not follow a
formal development process at Interplay,” Tim says.
“It sort of grew organically, collecting people as it
did so and avoided two near cancellations as the
administration felt those resources would be better » Brian Fargo continu
es to dabble with the
spent elsewhere.” The ‘elsewhere’ in question apocalypse with the
Wasteland series.
being big licences the studio had acquired, which
it saw as the better financial option for a potential
release. But Tim continued, as did a team of
around 30 people, on crafting something new and
original – albeit something that originally began life
riffing on Wasteland.

ruined, dangerous
ut demonstrating a
» Concept art for Fallo that have to survive in it.
hum ans
wasteland, and the

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 F
THE HISTORY O

SURVIVORS OPFSE KING

“WE WERE ALL WEOSRAME
THE APOCALY at populate the ruined hu
sk of our world
TOGETHER IN TH E WAS
DIRECTION. THER EGOS”
The odd folk th

LITTLE CLASH OF
HUMANS
■ Not just your regular folk, but dwarves, beastfolk and
swamp people, among others. Humans are the most Tim Cain
widespread species of the post-apocalyptic futurescape,
even though it was humans who caused all of this nuclear
nonsense to begin with. One thing’s for sure in the One system introduced in the original Fallout
wasteland, though: human nature isn’t very kind. was a bespoke creation, and has remained one of
few constants in the series: SPECIAL. Strength,
Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility
GHOULS and Luck all came into play in shaping your character –
■ Folks who forget to slip, slap and slop with their factor
you might have gone for a brute with low IQ, making
5 million in the wasteland end up a little worse for wear as
you unable to converse with smarter NPCs, or maybe
irradiated, skinless ghouls. Many you encounter maintain
you wanted to solve everything with your wit and
their faculties and operate largely as normal human beings.
suave, charismatic nature: the tools were set with this
For some, prolonged exposure to radiation has eaten up their
deceptively simple formula.
brains, and they roam the lands as feral zombies.
And it almost wasn’t to be. “Fallout was originally
a GURPS game,” says Chris Taylor, lead designer on
» Tim Cain still Fallout. GURPS was a tabletop system developed by
works on RPGs
Steve Jackson Games; standing for Generic Universal
SUPER MUTANTS today and is
Role Playing System, it was made to be used across
currently based
■ Humans ‘dipped’ into Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV) goo at Obsidian all forms of role-playing, and the folks behind Fallout
sometimes – not always – result in super mutants: gigantic Entertainment.
thought it would be a great fit. GURPS was licensed,
brutes, usually dumb, sometimes smart, always extremely
and work began on Fallout: A GURPS Post-Nuclear
dangerous. A mainstay of the series since day one, super
Adventure, as it was called early on.
mutants tend to be on the antagonistic side of things, but
Things didn’t turn out well, though. “We showed
every now and then you get a friendly one.
the opening movie with the prisoner being shot in the
head while waving at the camera and Steve Jackson
was not fond of it, to say the least,” says Brian Fargo,
ROBOTS “I knew the kind of world we were building and that
■ Robots come in all shapes and sizes and are everywhere
opening scene was just a warm up to the brutal world
throughout the entire series, friend or foe, and the Fifties
of Fallout, so I terminated the deal.”
sci-fi feel of Fallout is helped a great deal by them – none
Needing a replacement, Chris Taylor turned to a
more than by the Protectrons: your standard security bots
nascent ruleset he’d been working on in his own
who just happen to look strikingly like Forbidden Planet’s
time. “I wrote my own RPG system on the back of
Robby The Robot.
three-by-five cards, in notebooks and on scraps of grid
paper. My game was called MediEvil. It was not good.
» When society So [my friend and I] played D&D instead. But I kept
ALIENS crumbles, it’s the those notes and would work on the game every now
■ It wasn’t until the third game that the aliens made an degenerates who
take hold. How very and then for a decade – when it came time to replace
actual, living appearance, but plenty of spaceships of theirs prescient Fallout is. GURPS, I had something to work with,” he says,
crashed across the wasteland from the first game on.
Intelligent and cunning, these blighters are as mysterious
as they are rare – though the rumblings are they could have
been behind the Great War.

SYNTHS
■ The post-apocalyptic kids on the block, synths are one
of the few new technologies to arise after the bombs have
dropped. Based on prewar technology, synths were created
to mimic – and be indistinguishable from – humans. Nick
Valentine, arguably Fallout’s greatest companion, is a synth,
though it’s quite easy to tell.

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 S
WEIRD WASTELAND The easter eggs of
Fallout

RAIDER OF THE LOST FRIDGE

NEW VEGAS
■ A more realistic recreation of the scene
we’ve tried to burn from our memories, in
which Indiana Jones hid safely from a nearby
nuclear explosion inside a fridge. In this
version, all that’s left is a skeleton and hat.

UFO CRASH
FALLOUT 1-4, NEW VEGAS
■ If there’s a Fallout, there’s a UFO crash
somewhere along the way. And usually sweet
alien loot to bag, like the awfully useful and
high-powered Alien Blaster. Keep on crashing,
alien friends.
» Michael Dorn – Star Trek’s Worf – turn
as Marcus, the former follower of the
Master, proved a fine companion. His return
in New Vegas was much appreciated.

DON’T PANIC!
“The team took the system and made it work. We
FALLOUT 2
took it and adapted it; it had the statistics and skills we
■ The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy is your
needed, but Perks were created specifically for Fallout
usual reference point for ultranerds, and
to replace the GURPS advantage/disadvantage traits.”
Fallout 2 is no exception. The whale has fallen
This sort of synergy wasn’t something you got often
from a great height, though that’s not what
in development – it still isn’t – but it lent itself nicely
killed it – it was the sudden stop.
to the mythos behind what Fallout would become.
“The team on Fallout had a very special vibe,” Tim
remembers, “We were all working together to go in OLD-ISH SCROLLS
the same direction. There was very little clash of egos FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS
or desire to pull the game in a different direction. That ■ An acknowledgement of where the modern
is rare in development. Fallout games owe a lot of their existence:
“Fallout was always seen as a B project at some lampposts in Freeside have ‘TES-04’
Interplay,” he continues, “At least until the last few engraved on them, referencing the then-
months of development. It is frustrating to see upcoming Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim.
something in your game that no one outside the
team can see until almost the last moment before
it is complete.” THE OTHER GUYS

T
FALLOUT 3
he team could see it, though, and those
■ For all the legal issues and a certain fall from
who played Fallout were treated to
grace, Bethesda still managed to give props to
a deep, original, and incredibly bleak
original publisher Interplay with this structure
look at a world ravaged by nuclear war.
looking the spitting image of the latter’s logo.
Survival was hard, but you were presented with more
Just don’t mention Fallout Online.
than just guns and knives to make your way through
the world. Your words were just as deadly, and the
game’s final boss encounter could see players with MONTY PYTHON
high enough charisma talk the big bad into killing FALLOUT 2
himself after convincing him of how wrong he was. ■ You run into odd folk in the wasteland, like
This was unprecedented in computer gaming at the a bunch of so-called knights headed by a chap
time, and was testament to the incredible work Tim called Arthur on their way to find a ‘holy hand
Cain and the team carried out. grenade’. You can pretend to help, but they still
Before the original had even released, however, don’t know where the GECK is.
work on the sequel began – “Fallout really caused
a buzz in the studio about six months before it was
released,” Tim explains, “QA staff were coming in MAD MAX
nights and weekends, on their own time without pay,
FALLOUT 1-4, NEW VEGAS
to play it. So Fallout 2 was started even before Fallout
■ The leather armour in the Fallout series is
shipped.” A small project for Interplay had become a
synonymous now with the games that it’s easy
labour of love for those working on it, and when the
to forget it was based on the outfit worn by
review scores – and money – did start coming in for
Max Rockatansky in the Mad Max films. Shame
the first game, it became a labour of business love for
that the Interceptor doesn’t show up, though.
the brass at the publisher, too. Fallout 2 would launch
exactly one year after the original.
Safe now in the realms of 20-year-old rose-tinted THE TARDIS
reminiscence, we remember the sequel fondly and FALLOUT
laugh at its more light-hearted take on the series. But ■ To say this encounter is a bit on the nose
revisiting the time of its inception, development, and is an understatement: you’re in the wild, you
release brings back memories of a tumultuous stumble upon an old police box, its light starts
flashing and it fades from the scene. You just
got Doctor Who’d, kid.

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 F
THE HISTORY O

APOCALYPSE NOW Where Fallout take

s place

OREGON
FALLOUT 2
■ The game’s starting – and focal – village MOJAVE WASTELAND MIDWEST
of Arroyo, located in Oregon, was settled by FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS FALLOUT TACTICS
the original game’s protagonist after their ■ This wasteland enveloped Las Vegas – with ■ Taking in Chicago, Kansas, and Colorado, the BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
expulsion from Vault 13. That said, the journey Bethesda focused on the east coast, Obsidian Tactics spin-off might not be considered canon FALLOUT 4
of the second game’s character takes in many was free to return to the west, as many of its by Bethesda, but it does tell the tale of an ■ Back to the east coast, Bethesda took great
places from the original, almost a century later. staff had worked on with the originals. While expansionist group known as the Brotherhood pains to recreate many elements of the home
relatively untouched by nuclear war, the desert Of Steel which thinks its opinion is The One of witches and Sam Adams – you got plenty
proved a fine setting for a Fallout. That Counts. Which, honestly, sounds pretty of coastline, plenty of baseball (in city form),
canonical to us. and plenty of reference to the American
Revolution. Whatever your feelings on the
game as a whole, the setting was ideal.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
FALLOUT
■ It’s not recognisable as the California we
know, and the Vault Dweller’s journey doesn’t
take them through recognisably-named towns TEXAS WASHINGTON DC
– what was once Bakersfield is Necropolis, and FALLOUT: BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL WEST VIRGINIA FALLOUT 3
there’s part of what was Los Angeles in the ■ What better place to set a Fallout game FALLOUT 76 ■ Bethesda made the smart decision to pare
Boneyard. But that’s the appeal of the original: than somewhere that’s already a desert full ■ Being a multiplayer offering, Fallout 76 aims things back when it took over, with Fallout 3
the world ended, and here’s how it picked itself of guns? Texas probably hasn’t changed much not to recreate one city and its suburbs but focusing on a single city (and its outskirts)
up and restarted. after the bombs dropped, though the scorpions instead goes back to the classic method of rather than a vast geographical region in
are a bit bigger, and it would have made a making a whole region – maybe even state. the States. The statement of intent behind
superb setting for a core Fallout game. Such a West Virginia is the setting for players to go out featuring a devastated White House was
shame it was wasted on this poor spin-off. and recolonise the world, and to try not to nuke notably impressive.
each other into oblivion. Again.

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 THE HISTORY OF: FALLOUT

“FALLOUT 2 WASCAT
SLAPDASH PROJEOF
WITHOUT A LOT
OVERSAvellIGoneHT” Chris

time in development – and a fanbase backlash that

took many by surprise.
“Behind the scenes you will always find that it’s
very intense with the creative leads battling for their
perspective,” Brian says, “But that is nothing more
than the creative process at work. Getting Fallout 2 off
the ground was a bit painful but other than that I don’t
have any specific memories of negative things. It was
an all-star cast of talent all pulling in the right direction.” » A series about lonesome wanderers doesn’t seem right to feature a car, but
Fallout 2’s vehicle was absolutely necessary to get about.
While the then-Interplay boss looked back on the
experience as a positive with some ‘battling’, those
working in the trenches were privy to a much more work. I was working on Planescape: Torment at the
tumultuous, fatiguing experience working on Fallout 2. time, so my double-duty on two RPGs began.
One factor that stood out more than others was “It did feel like the heart of the team had gone,”
the fact Tim, along with two other big names in the he continues. “And all that was left were a bunch of
first game, Leonard Boyarsky and Jason Anderson, developers working on different aspects of the game
all quit developer Black Isle Studios during Fallout 2’s like a big patchwork beast – but there wasn’t a good
creation. While based on ideas from the three – “We ‘spine’ or ‘heart’ to the game, we were just making
just left work for a whole day and brainstormed until content as fast as we could.”

T
we came up with the right design, which, if I recall
correctly, was accepted as is without any revisions,” hat patchwork approach to
explains Leonard, art director on the first game – it had development led to a tonal clash
become a project pushed by corporate desire rather throughout Fallout 2. Where the first
than personal motivation, with an exceedingly short game was dark, the second included wacky
development timeframe for such a huge project, and a references to Monty Python, Hitchhiker’s Guide To
leadership vacuum in the wake of Tim and co’s leaving. the Galaxy, Godzilla and more. Some were genuinely
“We had no idea any of this was going on,” says funny, sure, but plenty were off-target. “I think the loss
Chris Avellone, designer and writer on Fallout 2 and of Leonard and Jason accounted for a lot of the loss of
New Vegas. “Next thing we knew, Feargus [Urquhart] the dark tone,” Tim Cain explains. “And my personal
» Turn-based was a choice in Tactics, but really this was a run-
was calling an emergency meeting in Black Isle and rule of ‘no jokes or cultural references that made no and-gun strategic shooter – and all the better for it.
rapidly passing out area designs for Fallout 2, splitting sense to the player who didn’t understand them’ was
the game areas up amongst the available – and even thrown aside after I left development.”
unavailable – designers. We all got drafted and got to Chris Avellone admits he was guilty of placing a
few gags and references, but the designer still wasn’t
a fan of how things were being put together, even
if it was fun to put in a joke you liked, or a reference
to a character you thought might be cool. “Fallout 2
was a slapdash project without a lot of oversight.
Management didn’t have the time,” he says, “As a
result, people just threw in things they thought were
funny – even things like character models you didn’t
know what you were going to get.”
The fedora and Tommy gun-toting thugs in New
Reno, whose character models don’t even look
like they belong in the game, were presented to
Chris Avellone without him even asking for them.
“They were just done,” he explains, “And I had to
make use of them even though they didn’t have
» Chris Avellone is a
the right ‘feel’… but then again, not much of New veteran game writer,
having worked on a
trove of well-received
Reno did, even though there were a lot of things RPGS and cerebral title
s.
you could do in town.”
There was a lot to do throughout all of Fallout 2.
The game itself hardly developed from what the
first had been – it was painting over the

version of Rivet City, the

ut 3 shows an early
» Concept art for Fallo .
the Capital Wasteland
biggest settlement in

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 F
THE HISTORY O

RE
“WE WANTED TOVMISOION
FULLY REALISE A LYPTIC
OF A POST-APOCA
FUTURE”
Gavin Carter

the concept of a game. Then reality usually steps in.

Compromises are made. In Fallout Tactics’ case, it
shipped earlier than it should have. It could have used a
little more time baking.”
While Tactics was appreciated by some, and has
grown in prestige as the years passed, the other
spin-off Interplay managed to get out – Fallout:
Brotherhood Of Steel – was less well-received. A
consoleified version of Fallout ala Baldur’s Gate: Dark
Alliance, the game was, at best, dull. At worst? A stain
on the reputation of the series. But Interplay wasn’t
just focused on the spin-offs – it was working on an
» Baldur’s Gate Dark original to create new content. But it was still superb actual Fallout 3.
Alliance translated very fun, and the tonal differences with the first game Codenamed Van Buren, Interplay’s take on
well to console. Fallout…
did not, even if the
actually amassed an army of diehards demanding Fallout 3 never made it to a finished state before
references were there. humour in their Fallout games to this day. And when it was cancelled. “Brian Fargo was gone by that
Fallout 2 wanted to do serious, or wanted you to see point,” Chris Avellone explains. “And the vision for
the consequences of your actions – well, just check the company went along with him. And while we
what happens when you get ‘slaver’ tattooed on your knew the company needed to turn a profit, we were
face for a lark (spoiler: you essentially ruin your game starting to feel it in the trenches.” The first Fallout 3
as hardly anybody of importance will deal with you). was cancelled, and ultimately the franchise moved on
Fallout 2 released after around a year of to new owners, with its original custodian Interplay –
development – compared to the original’s three years. eventually – losing all rights to Fallout.

I
In that time the team made a new part of the world
to explore, a vast amount of new stories to tell – they n 2008, we saw something unexpected:
even gave you a car. It was an impressive feat, yet the studio behind the Elder Scrolls series
still one that rubbed Fallout diehards up the wrong of first-person role-playing games had
way. Fallout’s creator, though, remained positive even released its own version of Fallout 3.
though he’d left the project: “I have always been It was an immediate hit, immersing players in a post-
impressed that the team could make a game that was apocalyptic wasteland (obviously) of Washington DC –
much bigger than the original in a third of the time,” changing things up significantly, while at the same time
Tim Cain says. “They should be enormously proud of keeping the fundamentals, like the SPECIAL and VATS
» After producing their achievement.” targeting systems, as they were. It was brand new and
Fallout 3, Gavin Carter
moved to work on Halo 4. The problems arising through Fallout 2’s confused exciting, while at the same time completely familiar.
development would set a pattern for the years to “There was always a desire in those days to make
follow at Interplay, and the second game would Bethesda Game Studios into more than just ‘the Elder
end up being the last core title in the franchise by Scrolls team’,” explains Gavin Carter, lead producer on
the publisher. Though that’s not to say it didn’t try Fallout 3. “There was a lot of musing about what might
launching a bunch of projects, but ultimately these
didn’t get off the ground. In the period between the
second and third games came a couple of releases:
one with some good ideas; one best left forgotten.
But whatever the case, Fallout was long from being
pronounced dead.
In 2001, Fallout Tactics arrived – a spin-off focusing
entirely on the combat aspects of the original two
games, it was a decent foray into a world like Jagged
Alliance, though the ‘tactical’ aspect went down the
drain a bit and it ended up being a lot more run-and-
gun than might be expected.
“I was very happy with what the developer Micro
Forte did with Fallout Tactics,” Chris Taylor, who acted
» Leonard Boyarsky has as senior designer on the game, says, “But I’ll admit
worked with Blizzard that it wasn’t exactly the game that we envisioned
in recent years on its
Diablo franchise.
early in the project’s preproduction. When games » The iconography throughout the whole Fallout series has been a constant high point, with
are nothing but ideas, it’s easy to get excited about many ads the sort of thing you’d want printed out hanging from your walls.

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 THE HISTORY OF: FALLOUT

NUKED The cancelled gam

es of Fallout

make a great second project. I don’t recall the exact

FALLOUT EXTREME
CANCELLED: 2000 / PLATFORM: PS2, XBOX
moment I found out that it was going to be Fallout,
■ A tactical shooter playable from a first or third-person
but it was definitely in our conversations. I remember
perspective, Fallout Extreme never made it past the conceptual
it moved quite rapidly from ‘wouldn’t it be cool if…’ to
stage. Which is a shame, as on paper it sounded like Hired Guns
‘maybe there’s a chance but don’t get your hopes up,’
in the Fallout universe. The planned storyline would take players
to ‘time to start project planning.’”
outside of the US, into territories such as Russia, Mongolia and –
Fallout 3 presented a detailed, vast world placed
ultimately – China, marking the first time a Fallout game would
right in front of the player – and a shift back to the
have left the States. Extreme was cancelled after little more than
more straight-faced serious tone of the original
an outline and some concept sketches were made.
game. After all, war is supposed to be hell. It was an
intentional move in tone, Gavin tells us, because –
while the second mainline Fallout game is an all-time
great – these things felt like distractions to the team FALLOUT TACTICS 2
at Bethesda. “We wanted to more fully realise a CANCELLED: 2001 / PLATFORM: PC
vision of a post-apocalyptic future,” he says, “And ■ Around the time the original Tactics released, preproduction

felt that too much humour pulled you out of the work began on a sequel. Sadly sales of the first game weren’t up
experience more than it contributed.” to expected levels, and Interplay cancelled the project. Surviving
The move into sci-fi, away from the studio’s today are some sketches of mutant crocodiles – it would have
usual fantasy, was a challenge the team was taken place in areas such as Florida – and a general idea behind
willing to take on. While its detractors would call the story, which would have incorporated an irradiated GECK.
it ‘Oblivion with guns’, the fact is Fallout 3 was a The resultant mutated Garden Of Eden would have been a cool
huge accomplishment for Bethesda and the series twist on Fallout’s eternal quest to restore a perfect world.
as a whole. And it was a positive experience for
the team working on it too, contrary to the years
previous over at Interplay: “I remember watching VAN BUREN
people work for months to get the ending Liberty CANCELLED: 2003 / PLATFORM: PC
Prime sequence just right,” Gavin Carter says, ■ Created using the engine Black Isle made for Baldur’s Gate 3
“The PS3 team crunching for weeks to fix a VATS (also cancelled), this original incarnation of Fallout 3 was under
crash bug, playing VATS after Todd [Howard] and a the stewardship of eventual New Vegas alums Chris Avellone
programmer and artist huddled on it for two weeks and Josh Sawyer. Set across Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and
and finally got it working well… concept art feedback Utah, the game would see players in the role as a prisoner and
meetings – ‘That minigun looks way too much like a some tweaks to established systems, like SPECIAL. A tech
Dyson vacuum, sorry,’ walking by cubicles and seeing demo was released, but ultimately Interplay decided to channel
our VFX artist with a curtain and a warning sign up funds towards Icewind Dale instead, and the project died.
because he was gathering gore reference, the first
time we got dismemberment working and were
blowing up 3D people over and over again.”
Bethesda had to return to its Elder Scrolls series,
FALLOUT: BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL 2
CANCELLED: 2004 / PLATFORM: PS2
moving on to what became Skyrim – but it didn’t
■ A bit of a double-edged one this: it’s sad that BOS2 never
want to leave Fallout behind, so it turned to Obsidian
released, as it was close to completion when development was
Entertainment, a studio made up of many folks who
shut down thanks to Interplay layoffs. On the other hand, the
worked on the first two Fallout games, as well as the
first game was pretty much awful, so it doesn’t feel like the
cancelled Van Buren. “The team was working on
greatest loss. The sequel did feature elements like Caeser’s
Legion and the Jackals – both borrowed from Van Buren and
both making an appearance in New Vegas – as well as another
appearance of the irradiated GECK. Still, it wasn’t to be.

PROJECT V13
CANCELLED: 2012 / PLATFORM: PC
■ V13 was the name of two projects from Interplay and a
reformed Black Isle Studios. The first was an MMO, Fallout
Online, which was put together by Masthead Studios with
Interplay as publisher – a legal dispute from Bethesda popped
up, and the project was cancelled. A second attempt saw V13
rebranded as nothing to do with Fallout, tried to raise money via
crowdfunding, then quietly disappeared some time after with
nothing to show for it.

» Imagine a mudcrab gone nuclear with its angry dad behind it, and
that’s all the explanation you’ll ever need for this situation.

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THE HISTORY O

ORLDS OF TOMORROW
W Six of the best Fallo
ut vaults

VAULT CLONING VAULT PROLONGED ISOLATION VAULT ENHANCE THE GENE POOL
108 FALLOUT 3 13 FALLOUT 2 75 FALLOUT 4
■ Cloning to perpetuate a populace makes sense in ■ The original Vault 13 was meant to be a control; ■ Built under a school, every student and parent
a limited genetic pool situation like being in a vault, but only if never opened in order to study the effects of prolonged had a place in Vault 75 – only when the door closed, adults and
more than one person is cloned. Sadly, Vault 108 ended up just isolation. It was opened up in the first game, though, and by children were split, the former executed, and the latter had
cloning Gary over and over again, resulting in a group of vault the time it’s revisited in the second game has been colonised experiments and intense learning experiments performed on
dwellers violently aggressive towards anyone not called – or by a group of intelligent, speaking deathclaws. They say more them to make them ‘better’ people. The experiment, you’ll be
saying, repeatedly – ‘Gary’. than just ‘Gary’. unsurprised to learn, failed.

» Fallout has come a long was since the

first game, but its emphasis
on survival in a hostile, familiar world still
endures.

Fallout 3 DLC and getting ramped up and excited

about Skyrim,” Gavin explains. “So they understood
we couldn’t do everything on our own. I think people
also realised that the choice to work with Obsidian,
given their history with the franchise and the quality
of work that they do, was a smart one.” Fallout: New
Vegas was the ultimate result, and ended up another
example of a fine game arriving despite almost
everything behind the scenes working against it.
“The biggest problem was just scope,” Chris
Avellone explains. “The game was too big and there
was too much added in the time frame – and as we
neared the ship date, the game still had a lot of bugs
that were unaddressed.” Patches came, but they
impacted the upcoming DLC, which required more
work – and the pattern repeated. “It was even more
difficult than it sounds,” he continues. “Because the
patches and the fixes became moving targets as
balancing changes started getting introduced with

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 THE HISTORY OF: FALLOUT

VAULT UNDERGROUND ALLOTMENT VAULT CONTROL VAULT RADIATION EFFECTS ON HUMANS

22 FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS 8 FALLOUT 2 12 FALLOUT
■ Making Vault 22 the place where its denizens ■ A vault designed and manufactured correctly, set ■ How to test the effects of radiation on people
would be kept alive just by using things grown inside it is to open on time and with a population that set about rebuilding where they’re in a radiation-proof bunker? Just don’t close the
another experiment from Vault-Tec that sort of made sense. soon after it received the all-clear? Where’s the fun in that? gigantic door and let the green stuff flow in. This horrific fate
Sadly, a mutagenic fungus managed to make its way inside Well, Vault 8 – and Vault City, which sprang from it – shows met the denizens of Vault 12, and those who survived were
and things went downhill, fast. Heed the sign outside that says just how well things could have gone were it not for all the turned into ghouls. They made the most of it, and the city of
‘THE PLANTS KILL’ – it doesn’t lie. wacky experiments going on elsewhere. Necropolis was formed after the war.

O
“THE GAME WAS TAOS
Bethesda did of course return to the sci-fi series in 2014, and at the time of writing work is underway

BIG AND THERE W IN

with Fallout 4 – another step away from the pure form on Wasteland 3, with none other than Chris Avellone
of the original, bringing in elements of construction contributing. “[There’s a lot of Van Buren in]

TOO MUCH ADDEDE”

and crafting… as well as paid-for mods. While well- Wasteland 3,” he says, “We used a lot of the pillars
received in its own right, the fourth game was never of Van Buren to guide design decisions in tandem

THE TIMEAvellFonRe AM
going to hit all the right notes with the old school with the Lead Designer, George Ziets, who took the
purists. A good game? Definitely. A great Fallout high-level concepts and then made them appropriate
game? That’s up for debate. for the Fallout universe.”
Chris Fallout is a series that has changed a gigantic Meanwhile, Bethesda has knocked together
amount since its inception – possibly more than any something we never thought we’d see: an online
patches, and sometimes those would break critical other series in gaming. At the same time, however, version of Fallout. Bringing together multiplayer
path quests.” its central themes of the apocalypse, the fundamental and the wasteland is something that’s been talked
New Vegas was riddled with bugs – released nature of humanity, and the need for some sturdy about – and tried – since day one, but it took some
too soon, it had some game-breaking issues and rope in a survival situation have all passed through 21 years to make it happen. This is a new era: one of
was immediately lambasted for performance issues the decades to make up core tenets of the series. exploration and discovery, less of reading walls of text
across all formats. While it went on to become one It’s different to what it used to be, but it is still loved and relying on tabletop mechanics. And if anyone can
of the most beloved entries to the series – with – even by the creator who abandoned it: “Fallout will truly set the world on fire, it’s probably going to be
deep systems of interaction and role-playing, it really always be my baby, even if it was adopted by another Bethesda. If only because Interplay legally can’t.
harked back to the original Black Isle titles – the initial family,” says Tim Cain.
reaction was enough to make people think this had An additional bonus of Fallout’s success has been
been a misstep. And then there is the infamous the resurrection of the series that inspired it. Brian
Metacritic scoring incident, where Obsidian had Fargo’s current studio, InXile, was able to crowdfund
been promised performance-based incentives for Wasteland 2 – “Everything I learned from Wasteland
achieving a Metacritic rating of 85 or above. New I put into Fallout and everything I learned from Fallout
Vegas ended up on 84. People lost their jobs as no I put into Wasteland 2,” Brian Fargo tells us – back
bonus came in.

D
espite all of that, New Vegas
went down as a cult classic and
has, over the years, cemented
itself as the best in the series
for a certain subsection of the Fallout
fanbase. Fixed with subsequent patches
and added to with some genuinely brilliant
DLC expansions, New Vegas served as
the balance between Bethesda’s new 3D
approach, and Black Isle/Interplay’s focus
on traditional RPG mechanics. But the
experience was fraught, and Obsidian’s crack » Few areas in the whole series capture the horror of a nuclear » That feeling when New Vegas’ town of Novac’s name suddenly makes
of the whip proved a one-off. wasteland quite like the fourth game’s Glowing Sea. sense to you.

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 T HE M A K IN G O F

120 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 IF THE DREAMCAST WAS GOING TO SUCCEED IN
ITS MAKE-OR-BREAK MISSION, IT NEEDED STAR
POWER – IT NEEDED SONIC. BUT SONIC NEEDED A
REVAMP. WE SPEAK TO TAKASHI IIZUKA AND
KAZUYUKI HOSHINO TO LEARN HOW SEGA’S
HERO WAS REINVENTED FOR HIS 3D DEBUT
Words by Nick Thorpe

T
he gaming audience can be a fickle
one, and by the late Nineties Sega was
certainly feeling the effects of having lost
its affection. In the early part of the decade,
the company had experienced explosive growth
thanks to the success of the Mega Drive, driven by its
charismatic mascot Sonic The Hedgehog. Sega broke
Nintendo’s virtual monopoly on the console market and
TAKASHI
joined it as a leader, before the company crashed down
IIZUKA
to earth as the over-engineered and expensive Sega
DIRECTOR Saturn failed to replicate the success of its predecessor.
Sonic had suffered in those years – Sonic Team was
busy on new projects like NiGHTS Into Dreams, and
Sega Technical Institute’s planned 3D platform game
Sonic X-treme was cancelled, having collapsed under » Flying allows Tails to take shortcuts, keeping him one step ahead of
the weight of its own ambition. By mid-1997 Sonic had whoever he’s racing at the time.
essentially been shuffled into the background, with his
most recent game being Sonic Jam, a compilation of making new games and not Sonic games, we saw
his Mega Drive adventures. Though the collection was Sonic’s popularity drop and felt like we let down all the
KAZUYUKI excellent, it was astonishing to see that just six years fans that had supported Sonic from the beginning,”
HOSHINO after his debut, Sonic was already retro. remembers Takashi Iizuka, director of Sonic Adventure
ART DIRECTOR That change in status was not lost on Sonic Team, and current Sonic series producer. But Sonic’s declining
which began work on a new Sonic project immediately popularity wasn’t just down to the lack of new games.
after Sonic Jam’s completion. “As we focused our time “My impression was that Sonic had lost that fresh, new
image he had when the character debuted. Almost all
of that was gone and the character felt very safe, boring
and conservative,” explains Sonic Adventure art director
Kazuyuki Hoshino. In short, Sonic needed a reboot. “We
all took it upon ourselves to make another Sonic game –
the best Sonic game to date – something that the fans
would feel was worth the wait,” says Iizuka.
Sonic Team knew that a new Sonic game would
have to be radically different to previous entries, as a 2D
game like the Mega Drive classics just wouldn’t cut it
with the audience of the late Nineties. However, Iizuka
had envisioned what a 3D Sonic game might look like as
early as 1996, with a ‘Sonic RPG’ proposal – little more
than a one-page sketch showing how typical adventure
game elements might work in a Sonic environment.
Unfortunately, actually trying to implement this soon
caused problems. “We made the first prototype for
Sonic Adventure on the Saturn. However, when we
set out to create a 3D world for Sonic to be able to run
around in freely we hit a wall with what the Saturn was
able to do,” explains Iizuka. “That’s when we heard
of the new Dreamcast hardware that would excel in
» This whale chase setpiece is a highlight of the very first action stage. representing a 3D environment. The Sega Saturn

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 121

 STAGE GOAL: FINISH THE STAGE
ADVENTURING PARTY
BEFORE YOUR OPPONENT
■ Tails can still fly, which is useful for taking
shortcuts. He’s now got a tail whip attack that
Who’s who in Sonic Adventure? Meet the cast here

allows him to take out enemies, too. If he picks

up the Jet Anklet he’ll increase his flying speed,
and the Rhythm Badge gives him the ability to
perform continuous tail attacks.

STAGE GOAL: REACH THE FINISH LINE STAGE GOAL: FIND THREE
EMERALD SHARDS
■ The blue blur is back with his trademark
spindash, and he’s got some new moves. He’s ■ The rough-and-ready echidna retains his ability

got a homing attack to help target enemies in 3D to glide and climb. Upgrading with the Shovel
space. With the Light Speed Shoes he gains the Claw allows him to dig into soft ground for buried
Light Dash – the ability to fly across any path of treasures, and the Fighting Gloves allow him
rings. The Ancient Light upgrades this to a Light to perform the extravagantly named Maximum
Speed Attack, which takes out all nearby foes. Heat Knuckles Attack.

“WE WERE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO

IMAGINE WHAT THE FINAL SPEC FOR THE
[DREAMCAST] MIGHT BE ”
Takashi Iizuka

was very good at utilising manipulated sprites to Indeed, even with the ability to request plenty of
present a display that represented polygons, but the memory, technical constraints were a real issue when
Dreamcast was a true 3D processing machine, so it creating Sonic Adventure’s stages. “Because the world
was perfect for developing Sonic Adventure.” you run through is a 3D world, all the stages had set
The timing of the new game with the new hardware heights and lengths. At the time, we all had Sonic’s
project turned out to be fortuitous, as Sonic Team height marked down at one metre, but having Sonic
could shape the Dreamcast to match its needs. “To that large and running that fast for a couple of minutes,
create a 3D stage where Sonic could run around at one stage would have to be many kilometres long and
high speed, we needed a lot of internal memory on the data required for a stage would get to very large
the hardware,” says Iizuka. “Since the Dreamcast was sizes,” explains Hoshino. “While it may seem obvious
still in the planning stages of development, we were to state that we’d have to split up the levels into pieces
able to spec out the design for Sonic and then were that would fit the allotted memory size we had to work
able to put in a request to the hardware team about in, then read in the data for the next part of the stage
the required memory we would need in the machine, on the fly and get rid of the parts of the stage that you
which really helped us execute on the design of the passed by, a lot of that know-how and technique took a
game.” Of course, working on incomplete hardware lot of time to research and figure out back in the day.”

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also has its disadvantages, as Iizuka reminds us. “We
started developing the game when the hardware was he art direction for the stages was easier
only about 30 per cent complete, so we were constantly to figure out. “As a Dreamcast launch
trying to imagine what the final spec for the machine title, we needed to be able to present the
might be as we were creating the content.” abilities of the machine in an appealing way
to consumers. That was what our team was ordered
» Amy can only temporarily disable to do. When we asked ourselves, ‘What graphics give
Zero with attacks, so running away
is the better strategy. you the impression of being high-spec?’ the answer
we decided upon were graphics that were realistic,”
» Just as in the 2D Sonic games,
getting hit results in a loss of rings,
explains Hoshino. Although Sonic would still visit forests
and getting hit with no rings will and coasts, he’d also run through cities and ruins,
cost you a life. without the abstract representations of previous games.
The game called for such environments due to its
story, which flashed between the present day and
an ancient echidna tribe’s past interactions with the
water spirit Chaos. In order to enhance the game’s
realism, Sonic Team took an international trip. “Game

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STAGE GOAL: EVADE ZERO AND FIND STAGE GOAL: FISH FOR FROGGY
THE BALLOON TO ESCAPE
■ He’s not fast or agile, but Big can still break
■ Amy relies on her hammer to bash enemies, down baddies with a swing of his fishing rod.
and can use it to launch herself when running at Of course, he spends most of his time fishing. A
her low top speed. She can also disguise herself variety of lure upgrades give him the ability to
with objects. The Warrior Feather gives her catch bigger fish, and the Power Rod increases
access to a spinning hammer attack, and the his casting distance. The Life Belt enables him to
Long Hammer does what it says on the tin. float in water, though he can dive by pressing A.

STAGE GOAL: DESTROY THE TARGET

■ E-102 is literally fuelled by destruction – he’s
always working against the clock, but can extend
his time limit by destroying enemies. The more
targets you take down at once, the greater the
time extension. Grabbing the Jet Booster gives
him the ability to hover after jumping, and the
Laser Blaster widens his attack pattern.

development up until then

was all done with artists
drawing all the textures by
hand, but when developing

IN THE on the Dreamcast, we were able to take real-life photos

and use them as textures”, Iizuka continues. “Because
KNOW this was possible, we planned to take a trip out to not
» PUBLISHER: only see ancient ruins that were a key story point to
SEGA the title first-hand, but also use it as a trip where we
» DEVELOPER: could gather assets for the game. We went to the very
SONIC TEAM famous ruins in Central and South America: Chichen
» RELEASED: Itza, San Gervasio, Tikal, Machu Picchu, the Nazca
1998
Lines, and more. We took photos of the walls and
»P  LATFORM:
DREAMCAST materials in the real ruins and used those real photos as
»G  ENRE:
the assets in the game.”
PLATFORM Having figured out how to create a large and
detailed world for Sonic to explore, a bigger problem
remained. Sonic had never inhabited a full-3D world
before, and working out the game design required to
make that enjoyable was a challenge. “For 2D classic
Sonic games, if you kept going right, you’d be able to
clear the goal line. Because there was that defined
direction inherent in the gameplay we were able

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 123

 progression than the player’s direction of travel. You’ll
be pointed around bends as the camera turns to face
your next destination, and the camera often pulls out for
spectacular shots during loops or other obstacles.
Although the stages were primarily designed around

GET A-LIFE Sonic’s need for expansive locations, the game features
five other characters with their own styles of gameplay.
“It took so much more time to create the 3D worlds for
How Sonic jumped on Sonic to run around in than we ever imagined. We felt it
the virtual pet boom was a waste if Sonic just quickly ran through the levels
One of the more popular diversions in Sonic that we spent so much time creating, so I thought
Adventure is the ability to raise the small of ways we could leverage our assets effectively,
Chao creatures – a concept that actually and from that was born the six playable characters
has its roots in a previous Sonic Team title. » Wandering around a city environment and talking to humans was a pretty each with their unique playstyle,” says Iizuka. “Now
radical new direction for the Sonic series back in 1998. that we had unique characters, I figured they should
“The Nightopians (A-Life system) in NiGHTS
were put in to change the game in areas where each have their own stories to follow and goals to
there weren’t any obstacles. I think it was very to create the high-speed progression,” says Iizuka. accomplish, then I thought it would be interesting if all
successful in providing a fresh experience every “Once we went to a 3D world where you could run in the stories had some connection to each other, so we
time you play,” explains Iizuka. “I created the any direction, you ultimately were never sure of where wrote a story and then told that story through the six
Chao Garden as a way of applying the A-Life idea to go. This sort of gameplay required a completely perspectives of the unique characters.”

T
to the Sonic universe, to make sure there was different type of level design. In the very beginning we
some motivation to repeated playing of the same were building out the model for the stage, playing, then he first three characters were all familiar
stages. That’s why you get the small animals in throwing out to remake, replay and throw it all out again to Sonic fans. Tails’ gameplay typically
the action stages, and that’s why the Chao can and again till we got it right.” adapted portions of Sonic’s stages into
be raised and cared for.” The Chao can be found Solving the problem required the use of a tool that one-on-one races. Knuckles’ game was
and raised in three Chao Gardens, each of which hadn’t been particularly prominent in 2D game design. designed to contrast with Sonic’s. “Since the gameplay
is connected to an Adventure Field. By bringing “When we were right in all the trial and error for level for Sonic was about running through the various set
the small animals you find in regular stages to design, I picked up on the role and functionality of the routes, I wanted to add gameplay elements where you
Chao, they’ll gain statistical boosts and change in camera,” Iizuka recalls. “2D Sonic would always be could move around in any direction inside of the 3D
appearance, often taking on the characteristics of moving to the right of the display, and in a similar way, space. Since Knuckles’ original bio had him as a treasure
the animals they meet. if we had the camera showing the direction that 3D hunter, I instantly had the idea of making some treasure
Since the game arrived during the height of the Sonic should be running towards (into the world) in hunting gameplay in the 3D universe,” explains Iizuka.
Tamagotchi craze, it’s also possible to take your front of you, I thought we should be able to make any Amy Rose also became playable for the first time, with
Chao out with you on the Dreamcast’s VMU, via sort of complex 3D stage that you could get to the end Iizuka choosing a less combat-oriented style despite
the minigame Chao Adventure. This simple game of by continually going ‘up’ on the controller (moving her squeaky hammer weapon. “The other characters
allows your Chao to encounter Sonic and friends forward in the world). After thinking up this camera all engage in aggressive behaviour as the core ‘fun’
and get into fights. In the GameCube version, system, we tried it out on Speed Highway and found and emotional satisfaction in the game, so I wanted to
the Game Boy Advance is used to host the more it was successful!” Where other 3D platform games include some gameplay that was more about the thrill
involved Tiny Chao Garden. Once you’ve got a always show a view from behind the character, Sonic of technical gameplay,” explains the designer. “Hiding
world-beating Chao, you can take it to the races in Adventure’s camera system is more heavily directed by out of sight from pursuers, having to run and hide after
the main game and try to win some emblems. the game designers, corresponding more to the stage an enemy pops out of nowhere – I wanted this game to

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 THE MAKING OF: SONIC ADVENTURE

“ IT TOOK MORE TIME

TO CREATE THE 3D
CONVERSION CAPERS
The adventure continued after the Dreamcast – how did it progress?
WORLDS FOR SONIC TO GAMECUBE (2003)
RUN AROUND IN THAN ■ Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut adds revamped

WE EVER IMAGINED ” character models, some bonus missions, the ability

to play as Metal Sonic and 12 playable Game Gear
Takashi Iizuka games. The Chao system has also been upgraded
in line with Sonic Adventure 2. However, it suffers a
have thrills and tension that wouldn’t exist if the playable number of graphical downgrades – the lighting and
character was Sonic.” many effects have been downgraded or removed,
Two new characters were also added, including and texture quality is generally inferior. The game
E-102 Gamma – the first playable character to explore now targets 60fps but frequently struggles to
Eggman’s side. “The first thing I thought about for maintain it. This also causes bugs with game logic,
Gamma was gameplay. I wanted some type of as the timing code for many objects wasn’t adjusted.
satisfying gameplay that couldn’t be done with Sonic
– that was shooting. When thinking about what sort
of character would shoot, having one of Eggman’s
PC (2004)
■ The original release of Sonic Adventure for PC was
robots be a playable character first came to mind,” says
based on the GameCube version, and offers the best
Iizuka. “Looking back, the story was very interesting
quality FMV of all releases as well as support for
because we were able to express the feelings of a
high-res displays. However, it suffers from texture
robot following Eggman’s orders, as well as showing
downgrades and incorrectly handled lighting. Music
the animals locked inside.” The most unusual inclusion
doesn’t loop as files use the WMA format, which
was that of Big The Cat, who brought something truly
also offers inferior compression, and some sounds
unique. “We had high-speed action, treasure hunting,
also play too quietly. This version is popular with
shooting – tons of content to really challenge the level
modders, who have managed to use the Dreamcast
designers and creators, so I wanted one of the games
files to circumvent most of the downgrades, as well
that was going to be something fun and completely
as adding widescreen support, bug fixes and more.
different from the other types of gameplay being
offered,” explains Iizuka. “That’s when I thought, if we
have water on the map we can present the player with XBOX 360/PS3/PC (2010)
a fishing game. I told the character designer I wanted a ■ These console versions are both based on
giant, relaxed character so the players wouldn’t mistake the PC version, and fix up its lighting and lack of
the gameplay on the level as something intense.” mipmapping. The framerate is also stabled due
In order to provide hub worlds to join up those action to the use of modern hardware. However, some
stages, the team implemented Adventure Fields, which sounds are too loud and the sound effects and voice
were a new concept in the Sonic series. These also clips also have quality issues. The Xbox 360 version
provided locations for story events and boss fights. is available as a standalone release or as part of the
“Sonic Adventure, just as the title suggests, was a Dreamcast Collection, alongside Crazy Taxi, Space
platform action game with the addition of adventure Channel 5 Part 2 and Sega Bass Fishing. It also works
elements, and we wanted to deliver that feeling of with Xbox One. The PS3 version was only released
experiencing an epic story and epic adventure,” Iizuka digitally, and a Steam PC release followed in 2011.
explains. “We implemented the Adventure Fields as
somewhere you could ask locals about things,

» E-102 Gamma’s lock-on shooting gameplay is highly explosive and often results in
some quite spectacular scenes.
 » This wobbly road is completely absent from the finished version, which more closely resembles a race track in the sky.

gather power-up items, and create places to explore

LOST VALLEY
and get lost in. The Adventure Fields were there to draw
the players deeper into the world.” These power-up
items were also a new concept, giving characters
What’s the story behind Sonic Adventure’s most famous deleted area? new attacking and movement options as the game
progressed. “In the spirit of an action RPG, we wanted
For many years, it was known that the Windy to make locations that could only be accessed after
Valley stage had undergone a pretty radical receiving some new power, or by making certain
redesign late in its development, as early difficult areas passable with a new ability – that was the
screenshots and footage showed something inspiration behind the power-up items,” Iizuka continues.
very different to the final game. The final “I was probably inspired in some way through the
stage is centred on a sequence in which Sonic Legend Of Zelda series that I loved so much.”
is pulled into a tornado, and features a number The existing characters had been tricky to represent
of pathways where he’s carried between well in 3D. However, the feeling that Sonic’s design
platforms by the wind. Though the stage was was dated allowed the art team to give the entire
broadly similar in theme and flow in its prototype cast a refresh. “Space Invaders and Pac-Man were
incarnation, the layout and visual treatment are becoming popular again as retro games and characters,
completely different – the original version had » The prototype version of Windy Valley offers greater scope and they were popping up in indie music and urban
many blue elements, plus arches and columns for exploration than the more linear finished stage. ‘street’ fashion, so they were very interesting and
suggesting an old civilisation. attractive,” Hoshino recalls. “It made us jealous, and we
What wasn’t well known was how and why but our schedule was running tight and we had wanted Sonic to also become popular with this edge
the stage received its redesign. As it turns out, no one available who could clean up the partially of subculture, or at least have some cool T-shirts being
Takashi Iizuka was the one behind the changes. completed Windy Valley, so I stepped in and made with Sonic on them. I was thinking that, and there
“At the time I was the director on this title so remade it from scratch,” he replies when asked were other designers that were thinking the same thing,
there was never a plan for me to do level design, about the stage. so we all got together to try and find this new graphic
The models for the old version were style for Sonic.” New illustrations were produced, with
eventually found in the Sonic Adventure
Autodemo, a rolling demonstration disc intended
for store displays, and fan ItsEasyActually
has restored the stage using a mixture of the
existing assets and recreated ones based on
early screens and footage. It’s easy to see why
the changes were made – unlike the race track
style of the final game’s levels, the prototype
Windy Valley is open and sprawling, and your
destination is not as immediately clear as it is
when playing the stages in the final game. Still,
it remains a fascinating example of how the
» The scrapped level geometry was taken from the demo game’s level design philosophy evolved during its
intact, and is rougher than anything found in the final game. development period.

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 THE MAKING OF: SONIC ADVENTURE

» Despite Big’s relatively low number of series

appearances, he retains a cult fan following.

“CHARACTERS POSING IN 2D
» The twists and loops that made the characters sporting longer limbs and twisted styles.
original game famous returned, and
were arguably even more
“What it boiled down to be was a graphic style and
exciting in 3D. pose that was more aware of the fashion trends. The
artwork was a good fit for the club music I was really CAN BE VERY EASILY FAKED TO
into at the time,” says the art director. LOOK COOL”

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Kazuyuki Hoshino
hese weren’t the only adjustments made
to characters, as Sonic Team decided to
try to introduce common international explains. “An example would be Sonic crossing his
naming – which controversially meant arms. That was so difficult.”
renaming major characters, including Dr Robotnik. Artistic design was also of key importance when
“In Japan, his name was always Dr Eggman, so as creating the game’s antagonist. The team wanted to
Sonic became more popular, we wanted to try and unify create something that could only have been realised on
the names across regions,” explains Iizuka. “The same the Dreamcast, and came up with a creature named
actually applies to Miles ‘Tails’ Prower, who was known Chaos, who appears as a boss throughout the game.
more commonly as ‘Miles’ in Japan – we changed it “What I was most excited about was the ability to
from the Japanese standard and started using ‘Tails’.” represent semi-transparencies in-game. On the previous
Though the illustrations were 2D drawings, their generations of hardware, it was difficult to represent
new style helped when representing the characters in something beautiful, so all the semitransparent effects
3D. “The new Sonic design had longer arms and legs, we made for Burning Rangers took a lot of time to
but one could say the bigger solution to the problem implement. However, this new machine was able
was the ability to pose the character where everything to easily implement and use these effects wherever
looked good from a variety of angles,” says Hoshino. you wanted them,” explains Hoshino. “One of [the]
» Knuckles gained the ability to dig This is a common issue when adapting character key benchmarks for quality videogame graphics is the
through the dirt for treasure – here,
he’s managed to unearth
designs into full 3D. “Characters posing in 2D can be representation of water. No matter what hardware
a single ring. very easily faked to look cool, but there are a lot of generation you are developing games on, we have
instances where you try and represent the same pose been working on techniques for representing water,
with a 3D model and it really can’t be reproduced,” he and are always looking at how other companies and
other teams are representing water in the games they
make. We thought Chaos, who is a strong, yet fluid and
beautiful representation of water, would be a perfect
symbol for the game on this new hardware.”
For audio, the decision was made to include
full voice acting for the first time, with Jun’ichi
Kanemaru and Ryan Drummond chosen to voice
Sonic himself. Musically, lead composer Jun
Senoue decided to retain some of the classic
Sonic sound while adding a harder edge. Jingles
he’d composed for Sonic 3, including the act
clear music returned, and a couple of his tracks
from the Mega Drive version of Sonic 3D were
repurposed for Twinkle Park and Windy Valley.
» It’s possible to see some very nice views when Sonic gets some height However, the original tracks showcased Senoue’s
using a spring or a trampoline. background as a guitarist with a new hard rock

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 127

 “I WAS SO NERVOUS I THOUGHT MY
HEART WAS GOING TO BURST OUT
OF MY CHEST ”
Takashi IIzuka

Sonic Adventure drew critical acclaim from the

press. Arcade praised the game for “performing
graphical trickery at a level never before seen on a home
console,” while CVG liked the fact that the six characters
allowed you to enjoy the same stages in different
ways. Dreamcast Magazine praised the action stages,
noting that they “really can take your breath away,”
and Edge also felt that “level design is strong, although
the best moments […] are left until later areas.” Some
DEVELOPER
criticisms were offered – Dreamcast Magazine noted HIGHLIGHTS
» Not everyone was a fan of sound, with character themes featuring vocals from that “the 3D camera angle fails at times”. Arcade NIGHTS INTO DREAMS
the inclusion of fishing in the
game, especially as it
Ted Poley (Danger Danger) and Tony Harnell (TNT). felt that “occasionally you feel like a passenger on a SYSTEM: SATURN
can be quite tricky. Hardline’s Johnny Gioeli provided the vocals for the rollercoaster”, and Dreamcast Magazine described YEAR: 1996
main theme, titled Open Your Heart, beginning a long Big’s minigame as “slightly less exciting than looking BURNING RANGERS
partnership with Senoue – they continue to perform at grass”. In summary, Edge noted that “Sega hasn’t (PICTURED)
together as Crush 40 today. made the mistake of attempting to turn Sonic into Mario, SYSTEM: SATURN
Sonic Adventure was released in Japan on 23 instead building on what made the previous Sonic titles YEAR: 1998
December 1998, arriving within the first month of the a success, and in the process recreating the true feel of PHANTASY STAR ONLINE
hardware’s release. But it wasn’t quite the game that a classic 2D platform game in 3D for perhaps the first SYSTEM: DREAMCAST
Sonic Team had wanted it to be. “Sonic Adventure was time.” Review scores include 90% from Dreamcast YEAR: 2000
a launch title for the very first release of the Dreamcast Magazine, 5/5 ratings from both CVG and Arcade, and
hardware in Japan, so the schedule for the title was 8/10 from Edge. While the Dreamcast was ultimately
tight. Even though there were issues we wanted to fix not a commercial success, Sonic Adventure definitely
with the game content and more polish we wanted was – it was the format’s bestselling game, selling 2.5
to put into the title, but the position we were in made million copies.

S
us give up on addressing everything we wanted to –
we had to deliver the game on time,” laments Iizuka. uch an important project is bound to
However, Sonic Team had the chance to improve the have some sentimental value attached
game post-launch, a rare opportunity to it, and both Iizuka and Hoshino
in those days. “Shortly after, when have fond memories of making Sonic
we were creating the English version Adventure. “For me, the location scouting trip
of the game, there was plenty of time to Central and South America is a very important
before the release of the Dreamcast experience. While the trip was extremely valuable to the
in the western market and we had a lot development of the title, I was able to go to countries I
of staff who were eager to work. So we wouldn’t easily be able to travel out to, and I was able
» Casinopolis is an interesting nonlinear
didn’t just do a straight-up localisation of the to see just how people live in these countries,” says stage in which your goal is to win 400
title, we included a lot of improvements and Hoshino. “I gained a lot of knowledge from that trip and rings by playing pinball tables.
polish to the game that wasn’t in the original
Japanese release.” This version accompanied
the American release of the console on 9
September 1999, and was rereleased in
Japan as Sonic Adventure International.

» Later stages introduce trickier challenges

– this stone snake must be ridden between
switches, each raising the water level.

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 THE MAKING OF: SONIC ADVENTURE

felt like it enabled me to break out of the cultural and

societal norms I grew up in, which has enriched my
personal and professional life ever since.”
For Iizuka, the game’s announcement at Tokyo
International Forum was a highlight. “The most
memorable moment for me was the announcement
of Sonic Adventure. The hall fit 5,000 people and I was
up there three times, but that was the first time I had
ever been on stage in front of consumers and I was
so nervous I thought my heart was going to burst out
of my chest,” recalls the director. “I was on stage to
play Speed Highway in a live environment. On my first
stage event I was able to play really well and made no
mistakes, so I was able to calm down, but the other
guys told me, ‘Hey, if you are too good, people are
going to think we are just playing back a recorded demo
video. Can you make a mistake next time?’”
20 years on, plenty of fans still have fond memories
of Sonic Adventure too. But what do the creators think
keeps people coming back? “If I think of what the
appeal of the title is, as a fan myself, I would have to say
it is because each of the characters has such a deep
story,” says Hoshino. “The story continues still to this DOWNLOADABLE
DELIGHTS
day and seems to be expanding instead of coming to
an end. For example, one could probably still think, ‘I bet
Big is probably fishing right now.’ In addition, I’m sure
there is also the expectation that someday in the future Sonic Adventure made use of the Dreamcast’s modem
we would make a sequel or continuation in the series.” to download extra content – here’s a look at what was available
Iizuka believes that it’s the totality of the game,
rather than any individual aspect. “It was the first high- SEASONAL
speed 3D action game that also featured a scenario CELEBRATIONS
highlighted with six different stories, the A-Life Chao, ■ Events were held to mark special occasions,
six unique styles of gameplay – it is a unique game beginning with a Christmas celebration for the
offering even 20 years after its release. At the time, it game’s 1998 launch which placed trees and
also wasn’t just a solitary software release, it was the music in Station Square. A New Year’s Day
title to bring people to the Dreamcast and we were 1999 event followed, and the first worldwide
given the budget to make something to showcase the events celebrated the international Dreamcast
hardware,” says the director, clearly proud of the team’s launches. Twinkle Park received a Halloween
accomplishments. “However, it was the very first 3D makeover in 1999, and the final event
game that we worked on and looking at it now I can see celebrated New Year’s Day 2000.
the rough edges it has, which really makes me want to
remake it again,” he adds with a laugh. That comment COMPETITIONS
is sure to bait the fans – and can you imagine Sonic ■ These themed events allowed skilled players
Adventure’s ambition realised with today’s tech? It’s a to win prizes. Japanese players could play
tantalising prospect. Consider us on the hook, too. item-finding contests in Station Square and
Mystic Ruins, sponsored by Sega and Famitsu.
American players received three cobranded
AT&T/Official Dreamcast Magazine time attack
events in Speed Highway, Red Mountain and
Sand Hill. European players could hunt Reebok
trainers in Emerald Coast.

SAMBA GP
■ In celebration of the release of Samba
De Amigo for Dreamcast, this extra course
for Twinkle Circuit was made available for
download. Interestingly, this is one of six
Twinkle Circuit courses that are on the disc,
but normally unavailable in the game – the
other five are completely unused. This was
the final DLC made available for the game,
released on 27 April 2000.

ALSO AVAILABLE…
» Boss fights play an important role in Sonic Adventure, and Chaos (currently
■ After collecting a certain number of emblems in the game, users could download shiny Chao in rare
frozen) is often your opponent.
colours. It was also possible to download menu themes that replaced the default announcer with character
voices, but most of these files were only released in Japan.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 129

 S I- R EC T IN G
R E

130 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 po pu lari sed surv ival ho rror,
Resident Evil might have qu el to ok th e style to
d-so ak ed se
but Capcom’s bloo -m or tem examination
We perfor m a po st
new heights. rr ecti n g it for a new
th e man resu
on the game with yashi
generation, Yoshiaki Hiraba
Words by Nick Thorpe

riter
oru Sugimura, a scriptw
apology to the fans. Nob

S
players to fall into the on TV sho ws, was
ometimes, it’s easy for with many years of exp erie nce
seq uels are easy games development supervisor
trap of thinking that drafted in by Capcom’s plot.
to make – and that’s far
from the truth. to fix pro blems with the game’s
Yoshiki Okamoto that
ces sfu l enough to warrant d ma ny of the con cep ts
If your game is suc t Though it already feature ting
identify exactly why tha to the final game, the exis
a follow-up, you have to p tha t ma gic while would ultimately make it ng sen se of
e, the n kee lack ed a stro
happened in the first plac s to story was unpolished and the
content and improvement of the first game. While
delivering enough new ers . And while connection to the world eve ry asset was
pro spe ctiv e play , just abo ut
justify the spend to ty concepts were retained er
that regard, there are plen – the backgrounds, charact
many were successful in ers and faded redeveloped from scratch
have disa ppo inte d play s.
of sequels that Heart models and enemie
Tomb Raider II there’s a the first game, where
into obscurity – for every a Spa rkst er. Following the events of
ry F-Zero X the re’s zom bie outbreak in a
Of The Alien, and for eve hard players had to survive a
Resident Evil 2 is a fine exa mp le of just how seq moved events to
uel
secluded mansion, the
uel. Today, the game is – a mid-sized town of
it can be to develop a seq neighbourin g Rac coo n City
of the best games not just in its The story begins with
considered to be one time. about 100,000 people.
host platforms, but of all
series, or even just on its in a series with
st belo ved ent ries
It’s one of the mo
itage, so popular that it has
over two decades of her
ake wit h the resources of a wholly new
received a rem
it cou ld have been so different,
production behind it. Yet t
its development Residen
because almost a year into iya, a promising
cris is. Hid eki Kam
Evil 2 was a project in nt of
sen to lead the developme
developer had been cho . Shinji Mikami,
his firs t dire cto rial role
Resident Evil 2 in a
e, oversaw the game as
the director of the first gam ers clashed over
dly, the two dev elop
producer. Reporte
Mikami eventually took a
the creative direction, and
requesting monthly updates
hands-off approach, only
But with months to go until
on the game’s progress. being
that the game that was
release, it became clear sor.
n’t a wo rthy suc ces
developed just was
over from scratch, with
Development was started
cto r’s Cut put into production as an
Resident Evil: Dire

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 131

 unchanged from the
» Unlike Claire, Leon’s design remained mainly
.
concept phase through to the final version

immediately message to the player just how much

bigger in scale the situation is.” Moving the action
to Raccoon City allowed the developers to instantly
convey the difference between the first game’s
relatively contained zombie outbreak and the complete
catastrophe of the sequel
Of course, while the city streets are a great place to
convey the scale of the outbreak, they lend themselves
much more effectively to action than they do to the
» The Licker is one of Resid
ent Evil 2’s most disgusting puzzles that were also an integral part of the first
and tougher than a two dolla creations,
r steak.
game. Additionally, the original game’s mansion was
such an iconic location that regular city streets just
including its setting. “When the game was originally wouldn’t match up. Luckily, Resident Evil 2 has the
released I had yet to join Capcom – I was still a Raccoon Police Department. Although you’ll progress
university student, and enjoyed it simply as a player. into the sewers and an underground laboratory before
Resident Evil 2 was actually my first Resident Evil the game’s end, it’s this signature location that you’ll
game, so at the time I didn’t have any reference point spend most of your time in. Your modern cop shop
of the original game being set in a mansion compared might not sound like the scariest place (your own
to Resident Evil 2’s city,” explains the Resident Evil criminality or the local police corruption aside), nor like
veteran. However, his first work in the series was on a natural place for obscure puzzles, but it works within
» Leon and Claire are reunited in the STARS office, where Claire
the remake of the original game, so he’s well-placed the context of the game. “As some fans may know,
discovers that her brother has already left town. to explain how the games contrast with one another. the RPD building featured in the game is supposed to
“When I subsequently played Resident Evil, I thought have been a former museum,” Hirabayashi explains,
the different settings brought out different strengths in before addressing the unusual puzzles. “We are still
scientist William Birkin, a researcher working for each game – the atmosphere and claustrophobic single making a game here, so there will of course be some
Umbrella Corporation, the villainous pharmaceutical location of Resident Evil, and the larger-scale drama devices and so forth that you wouldn’t see in real life,
company and bioweapon research organisation behind and entertainment of RE2,” he continues. but don’t you think that mixture of realistic elements
the original game’s events. William is working on and game-like elements is one of the great things

I
the G-Virus, which is capable of turning humans into t’s easy to see his point, as Resident Evil
incredibly powerful and monstrous mutants. Fearing was fairly sedate after its action-packed
betrayal, he’s planning to defect to another company. introductory FMV. The designers gradually
Having got wind of this double-cross, Umbrella sends ramped up the tension by introducing a missing
agents to confront Birkin and retrieve both the G-Virus team member, blood and then the first zombie – a
and samples of the T-Virus that was responsible for the shocking moment that doesn’t come until a few
first game’s outbreak. After being shot, Birkin infects screens into the game. Resident Evil 2’s introduction
himself with the final remaining sample, mutating was also explosive – quite literally, as the two
himself into a monstrous creature bent on vengeance, protagonists are separated by a blast caused by a
then chases down and kills the Umbrella agents. zombified truck driver. But once the game begins,
In doing so, the briefcase containing the T-Virus is they’re dropped straight into the streets of Raccoon
destroyed, leading to the infection of some nearby City and surrounded by the flesh-munching undead.
rats. Within days, the town’s drinking water supply is “I think that Resident Evil used its setting of being
contaminated and most of the population is undead. trapped in a single location to build up tension as
As the director of the Resident Evil 2 remake, the nature of the situation was revealed gradually,”
Capcom’s Yoshiaki Hirabayashi has to know the says Hirabayashi. “But when it came time to make
original version inside out, and therefore possesses a the sequel, that was an established part of the » This is your first encounter with the big, bad William Birkin – the
keen insight into what makes the sequel so special – story and it was probably seen as more effective to game’s primary antagonist.

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 RESI-RECTING RESIDENT EVIL 2

GOOD
“A POLICE STATION IS ANGER OF THE LAST SURVIVORS
CONTRAST WITH THE DAARACTERS These people need to get out of Raccoon

THE SITUATION THE CHS IN”

City alive – and it’s your job to help them

FIND THEMSELVE Yoshiaki Hirabayashi

LEON S KENNEDY
■ Leon arrives in Raccoon City to find complete
chaos, rather than the welcome party for his first
day of work at the Raccoon Police Department. He’d
chosen that department because of the mysterious
about Resident Evil?” Absolutely. But it turns out there murders in the nearby Arklay Mountains, so he was
was one oddity that Hirabayashi couldn’t get past: “I going to meet zombies anyway. In case you were
have always thought it was strange that the police curious, his middle name is Scott.
station didn’t have any toilets!”

T
his story helps to make a unique gaming ADA WONG
location, albeit one lacking in certain ■ When we first meet Ada, she claims to be
convenient facilities. By choosing to looking for her boyfriend John, an Umbrella
deliberately fashion the RPD after something researcher. However, she’s not who she claims
other than a modern police station, the background to be, and the only thing we know for sure is
artists were able to create a location that serves a that she’s a spy who is attempting to obtain a
number of purposes. It can believably be seen as a sample of the G-Virus. She mostly assists Leon
» Yoshiaki Hirabayashi
police HQ, but could conceivably house oddities that has been associated throughout his story.
wouldn’t be found in a purpose-built station. Its Gothic with the Resident Evil
architecture is simultaneously striking and intimidating – series since 2002.
even before you realise that it’s also crawling with the
living dead. And as Hirabayashi notes, the very idea of CLAIRE REDFIELD
a zombie outbreak in a police station is psychologically ■ The other main playable protagonist, Claire is a
jarring. “I can’t speak to the original development student and motorbike enthusiast who comes to
process – please don’t think I speak on behalf of the Raccoon City in search of her brother Chris after
original developers! – but my opinion is that a police losing contact with him following the events of the
station is a good contrast with the danger of the first game. Her survival skills, including armed
situation the characters find themselves in,” says and unarmed combat training, were passed on to
Hirabayashi. “It should be a safe place, so finding it to her by her older sibling.
be such a dangerous place is a very interesting motif.”
It’s also worth noting that Resident Evil 2’s
backgrounds were a significant step forward from
those of the original game. As before, these
SHERRY BIRKIN
■ Sherry is the somewhat neglected daughter
of Umbrella researchers William and Annette
Birkin, and Claire’s companion. Being a child, she’s
survived thus far by crawling into small areas. Over
the course of the game, she receives the parental
attention she craved – in the worst way imaginable.

show up in the
the original game, but
more associated with
» Zombie scientists are
ry late on.
underground laborato
 iar, but it features a lot of cut
Resident Evil 2 may look famil
» The prototype version of
such as this spider-like mutant enemy.
content

T ES T S U B J EC T 1
We exhume the rejected
version of Resident Evil 2

It’s not often that a game receives such a complete

retooling as Resident Evil 2 did during its development –
almost every single in-game asset was recreated from
scratch once Capcom decided to restart the project.
Despite this, the rejected prototype shares many similarities
with the game that eventually came out. The plan was always
to offer two playable characters, as in the original game –
Leon S Kennedy or Elza Walker – and the plot of the game
follows a broadly similar outline. Starting from the Raccoon
City Police Department, players were to make their way to
a factory via the sewers before finishing up in Umbrella’s
secret underground laboratory.
Leon was still a rookie cop whose first day on the job went
horribly wrong, and he’d still meet Ada, who was working
as a scientist in this version. The main point of divergence
for Leon was his secondary companion, fellow cop Marvin
Branagh, who would accompany Leon and Ada through the were prerendered to provide the maximum so memorable? “Zombies are, visually speaking, an
game. In the final version, he plays a much reduced role as possible visual quality, but this time the scene extension of normal humans, but the Lickers takes the
he is already fatally infected by the time you meet him. Elza complexity was far greater – evident from the very internals of the human body, which we all know we
was a motorbike enthusiast who was travelling to Raccoon first scenes, where the streets are strewn with have inside us but rarely, if ever, see for ourselves; and
City to start university when the outbreak occurred. Along crashed cars and broken glass, alleyways are piled [it] lays them bare in a way that’s a great, shocking
the way she’d meet Sherry Birkin, who made it to the final with rubbish and covered in graffiti, and remnants of contrast with the more human-looking zombies,” says
game in redesigned form. Elza’s secondary companion military blockade operations are visible. Throughout Hirabayashi. “Its ability to climb over walls and ceilings
was a man named John, who has no equivalent in the final the game there’s more detail in every scene, fluidly also contrasts well with the zombies.” Indeed,
game, although his model was ultimately used as the ill- compared to the wallpaper and indoor decorations the creature’s intro is one of the most memorable
fated gun shop owner Robert Kendo. of the original mansion. The game also incorporated moments of the game – as you wander through a
Alongside your standard Zombies, enemies included CGI sequences for FMV throughout the game, corridor in the police station, you can see something
infected gorillas, a freaky human-spider hybrid and of ditching the live action elements of the original. darting in the distance. You round a corner and see
course William Birkin – who is still an oversized brute But it wasn’t just the prerendered visuals that blood dripping from the ceiling, before a cutscene plays
but lacks the trademark giant eyeball of the final game’s got a major upgrade. Character models received and shows you the Licker in full, gruesome detail.
an increased polygon count, and the new enemy

R
design, and has a nasty tendency to smash Leon and
Elza into the walls with a big metal bar. Thankfully, new designs are amongst the most iconic to be seen in esident Evil 2 provided plenty more
weapons were available to deal with these threats. You the series. One of the most terrifying is the Licker – a memorable encounters, from the sewer
could upgrade your last-ditch melee weapon to a metal blind, skittering nightmare with an exposed brain and fight with a gigantic alligator to the secret
pipe, offering additional range and damage compared visible musculature, with a signature long tongue that encounter with the zombified STARS
with the standard knife, with other options including hand is used to attack players. What is it that makes them helicopter pilot Brad Vickers. But two more in
grenades and a variety of guns. particular stand out as highlights. The original Resident
Shinji Mikami had felt that this version of the game Evil concluded with a fight against the incredibly
had good individual assets but wasn’t feeling right, resilient Tyrant, and the enormous humanoid creature
and would all come together in the last few months returns in the sequel – this time pursuing the player as
of development. However, it became clear that this they make their way through the game’s B scenario,
wasn’t going to happen – with the locations in particular often appearing by surprise. This was so good that
criticised as “dull and boring”. While we wouldn’t go Resident Evil 3 was built wholly around the concept
quite that far, it’s clear from the incomplete version of being hunted by a single relentless pursuer. Then
we’ve got that the rejected Resident Evil 2 wouldn’t have there’s William Birkin, whose mutations become
been as exciting as the game we ultimately received. progressively more severe throughout the game
The modern police station design doesn’t have the due to the influence of the G-Virus. At first, his main
character of either the first game’s mansion or the distinguishing features are his oversized right arm and
final police station and there are far too many bland a gigantic eyeball that has developed within it, but he
corridors to run through. The new monsters don’t soon starts to lose the vestiges of his humanity – his
inspire the same sort of fear as the Licker, and even face and hair slip from his skull, he grows additional
William Birkin was much improved in the finished » Just as before, it’s not just zombies that need fighting – this weird arms and eventually develops a bestial appearance,
game. The scrapped version is a fascinating piece of plant creature is a pain, too. before ending up as little more than a shapeless mass
history, though, and many of its ideas ultimately did
find a place in the series.

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 RESI-RECTING RESIDENT EVIL 2

NEW FACES OF FEAR

Here’s a selection of the biohazard boss
es in Resident Evil 2

G-TYPE
■ Not everyone is susceptible to the
G-Virus – if the host of the implanted
embryo doesn’t have the right DNA, the
resulting spawn will burst forth from its body
in a most violent fashion. Once it has grown to
maturity, it becomes quite powerful and can
spawn more of its young in an attempt to further
spread the infection, but lacks the intelligence of
an infected host such as William Birkin.

GIANT ALLIGATOR ‣
■ This beast dwells in the sewers, where
it was exposed to the T-Virus and grew
to an enormous size. How did it get there in
the first place? We’d prefer not to think about it.
» Concept artwork for the omin You can choose to unload ammunition into it until
ous main hall of the Racoon
Police Department. it flees, but the better option would be to steal
a page from the Jaws playbook and lodge a gas
canister into its mouth before blowing it up.

“YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BALANCE

THIS VISUAL REALISM WITH GIANT MOTH
■ Since neither Leon nor Claire is carrying a

THE AMOUNT OF STRESS IT

particularly large jumper to feed to this oversized
lepidopteran, you’ll have to deal with it by firing
lots and lots of bullets at it. But it’s not the only

WILL CAUSE A PLAYER” thing you have to deal with, as its larvae are also
present when you encounter the moth in the
Yoshiaki Hirabayashi computer room.

of flesh and teeth. It’s the first time we see a single

TYRANT ‣
■ While it’s not the most vicious enemy on
character undergo such changes from start to finish,
the block anymore, the Tyrant still poses a
and it makes a big impression.
considerable threat to you whenever it strikes
Graphical additions were also used in conjunction
– and you’ll have to be prepared for it to strike,
with game mechanics to improve the overall feel of the
because it does so frequently and without
game. One of the clear goals throughout development
warning. After a while it sheds its overcoat
was to more visually represent the damage characters
and unleashes its full power, making it even
took throughout the game, and the method finally
more dangerous.
employed was to alter movement. At first, players
can run around as normal, but after a few bites they’ll
clutch at injuries and even start to limp if they’re
severely wounded. Of course, a limping character is WILLIAM BIRKIN
less effective at zombie-dodging than a healthy one, ■ The game’s big baddie, and the main

increasing the likelihood of further damage and adding carrier of the G-Virus. A bioweapon
to the tension of the game. “All of the Resident Evil research scientist betrayed by Umbrella,
games [since RE2] have used character animation to he takes vengeance in spectacular fashion by
indicate threat to the player, as it’s an effective way infecting himself. Now seeking to spread the
of increasing the immersion, but you always have to virus, he hunts down his daughter due to
balance this visual realism with the amount of stress her compatibility as a host. You’ll meet
it will cause a player,” says Hirabayashi. “In a horror him throughout the game in a variety of
game, some stress is necessary, so it’s a matter of different forms.
how you balance the two.”
One of Resident Evil 2’s other strengths was that
it offered a strong cast of survivors, which is always
a necessity in a good horror story. These weren’t just
characters that you wanted to protect to avoid having
to restart the game – they had individual plights that
you could relate to, and connections to the characters
you already cared for in the original game.

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CONVERSION CAPERS
The infection quickly spread beyond
here’s what it did to different hosts the PlayStation –

HIS
“THE SERIES HAS COMEELTLING
PLAYSTATION
(DUALSHOCK VERSION) ‣

FAR BY USING STORYT WANT

1998
■ As well as adding support for the DualShock controller,

WHICH MAKES PEOPLE

this revised edition of Resident Evil 2 added the Extreme
Battle minigame, as well as a ‘Rookie’ difficulty mode

TO KEEP GOING”
which made the main game significantly easier. The
Japanese version also gained a ‘USA Mode’ which
increased the difficulty.
Yoshiaki Hirabayashi
GAME.COM
1998
■ This wholly unique 2D monochrome version is a “Since the first game in the series, the appealing
valiant attempt to convey the spirit of Resident Evil 2 onto characters and the storylines they are involved in
hardware that is wholly unsuited to doing so. You can have been one of the most popular elements of the
only play as rookie cop Leon in this handheld version, franchise,” says Hirabayashi. “I think that by having
and the action is stripped back to item management a cast of characters related by blood or organisation,
and zombie shooting, but the pixel art is actually quite we’ve been able to increase both the consistency of
nice to look at. the series storylines and the connection players feel to
the characters.”
PC ‣ Like its predecessor, Resident Evil 2 offered the
1999 choice of a male or female protagonist – but unlike the
■ Based on the DualShock version of the PlayStation characters of the prior game, these weren’t special
game, this version of Resident Evil 2 features various operatives with heaps of combat training, making
graphical settings including optional shading and them somewhat easier to relate to. Though he was
high-resolution modes. Unfortunately, there are no a trained police officer with his own weapon, Leon
high-resolution backgrounds. An extra Data File option Kennedy was a rookie, arriving for his first day on the
is provided, however, featuring a selection of concept job to find a situation beyond all expectations. “Leon
artwork and movies. is an appealing character in terms of his personality
and looks, and also I think he’s been in games which
may have been many people’s first Resident Evil
N64 games. So they may feel a special connection to him
1999
in that sense,” says Hirabayashi. Indeed, even when
■ Angel Studios handled this conversion and did a pretty
the development of the game was restarted, Leon’s
stellar job. The entire two-disc PlayStation game is
character design and backstory were changed very
jammed onto a single cartridge through strategic quality
little. It seems like Capcom’s staff knew they were
reductions on FMV, speech and background images. The
onto a winner with him, so it’s no surprise that he has
game includes an optional revamped control scheme, a
returned in games such as RE4 and RE6.
randomiser mode and extra costumes, plus bonus files
The game also expanded the use of partner
expanding the story content.
» The spark shot is a characters over the original, as each could be controlled
valuable weapon against during key points in the story. Leon’s partner was Ada
DREAMCAST ‣ the game’s toughest
enemies, but its ammo is
1999 strictly limited.
■ The version for Sega’s console is based on the PC
version, even running via Windows CE, and runs in high
resolution with the low-resolution backgrounds. The
Data File is retained, and FMV quality is very high. Your
character’s health and ammunition status are displayed on
the VMU, saving you the occasional look at the menu.

GAMECUBE
2003
■ This odd conversion feels slightly out of time,
released after the Resident Evil remake and Resident
Evil 0 in order to make the whole Resident Evil story
available to GameCube owners. It’s a straight port of
the DualShock version, with high resolution 3D models
and the same low-res backgrounds.

136 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 » Much like the original Resid
ent Evil, it is wise to save amm
situations like this. o for

Wong, a mysterious woman whose motives are never

entirely clear, and who serves as a friend, foe and protecting Sherry Birkin, the daughter of the
love interest. Her appearance within the game raised game’s hideously mutated antagonist. “Family
more questions than it answered – but as Hirabayashi is one of the most important themes in the
points out, such characters serve a key purpose in a story, so having a child character really adds
series like Resident Evil. “It’s satisfying to have a story to the ability to tell a story like that,” notes
where everything is explained, but you can also leave Hirabayashi. Indeed, one of the primary fears
open some possibilities for the future by having a story of zombie horror is seeing your loved ones
which is generally resolved but leaves some mysteries. not only killed, but turned against you – and
The series has come this far by using storytelling the fact that William Birkin retains just enough
which makes people want to keep going and find out of himself to doggedly pursue his daughter
what happens next,” the developer explains. makes him that much scarier. Uniquely, Sherry is
unarmed but is small and quick enough to dart around

T
he other main character was Claire Redfield, most of the enemies she’ll encounter.
whose character was evolved from the One of the biggest game design innovations
original Elza Walker concept. She retains in Resident Evil 2 was a ‘story zapping’ system.
most of the backstory and personality traits of “Resident Evil let you choose from two characters to
the original design, including her love of motorbikes play as, giving you multiple perspectives on the story.
and status as a student, but was rewritten as being I imagine the team wanted to go even further than
the younger sister of Chris Redfield in order to better Resident Evil did in mixing the story and gameplay
tie the game into the overall Resident Evil story. system together to create the zapping system,” says
She’s the first civilian protagonist in the series, but Hirabayashi. Each character could play through A and
remains a tough and capable fighter. She finds herself B scenarios, examining what would have happened if
the car crash at the beginning of the game had turned
out differently, stranding the characters on the other
side of the truck. But it’s more than just a storytelling
trick – the actions you take in the A scenario affect
subsequent sessions in the other character’s B
scenario. For example, the A scenario character can
make things harder for the B scenario character by
taking key items like the submachine gun, or make
things easier by destroying certain unique enemies
that won’t appear later. This is certainly innovative,
though as Hirabayashi notes, “It’s definitely a
tough challenge to design a game around such a
feature.” The increased scope of the game meant
that two discs were needed to deliver the full
game, even with space-saving measures such as
» The police station’s history as a museum better frames its
eccentric art-based puzzles. the use of chip-generated music rather than a CD
 G embryo, as well as
» Claire desperately tries to fend off an adult
its offspring.

certainly have played a part in that decision too. The

game eventually came to PC, N64 and Dreamcast in
1999, achieving critical acclaim across all three formats.
A GameCube release in 2003 was less well-received,
mostly due to the fact that it was a straight conversion
of a five-year-old game, arriving after the wonderful
remake of the original.

A
ll these years later, Resident Evil 2 stands
the test of time. Readers of Retro Gamer
voted it the greatest PlayStation game in issue
» What’s worse than a Tyra
nt? A flaming Tyrant and a 127’s top 25 list, and they also placed it highly
This game doesn’t skimp on time limit.
drama.
in issue 150’s countdown of the top 150 games of all
time. The game has an enormous legacy, too. “It has
soundtrack (not that you’d notice the difference if been an inspiration for the entire series ever since it
you weren’t told – the quality is superb). came out, and of course, for the reimagined Resident
When Resident Evil 2 was released in 1998, it drew Evil 2, it’s the main source of all our inspiration! What
widespread critical acclaim. The game was awarded we are trying to do is design a modern game system
96% by Play’s Alan Rausch, who praised the game which matches up perfectly with the key pieces of the
for its “varied and exciting” locations as well as its original game which we want to try to keep intact as
setpieces. He also compared its relationship to the much as possible,” says Hirabayashi.
original with that of the movie Aliens – “the adventure Indeed, the success of the game did much
has progressed from tense, gritty origins to all-out to determine the future direction of the series –
action.” In CVG’s 5/5 review, Steve Key noted that particularly its setting, as proven by how often the
“Our forum page on Game Online has differing views destruction of Raccoon City has been expanded
on RE2, many complaining that it’s too short,” but upon and revisited. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis follows
disagreed with that assessment, noting the replay the story of the original game’s Jill Valentine as she
value offered by the two characters and their A and attempts to escape the city, pursued by the almost
B scenarios. Edge’s review scored the game 9/10, unstoppable Nemesis creature. The two Resident
with particular praise given to its advances in plot Evil Outbreak games for PS2 also explored different
delivery – the magazine felt that it was “a videogame
more akin to a movie than almost anything else that’s
been attempted”, and that “the sequel has a script
that – while not exactly Shakespeare – isn’t far short of
something like the X-Files.” The Official UK PlayStation
Magazine also scored the game 9/10.
Resident Evil 2 was Capcom’s best-selling game
in over five years. The PlayStation version sold 4.96
million copies, which put it behind only the SNES
version of Street Fighter II in Capcom’s all-time
list, and just beats out the combined sales of the
three PlayStation versions of the original game. The
game was re-released later in 1998 with DualShock
compatibility. The first conversion of Resident Evil 2
announced was for the Saturn, but it was
cancelled in mid-1998 due to apparent
concerns over quality – though the
» As in the original, puzzles often involve taking complex steps to
system’s rapidly declining fortunes would acquire key items.
 RESI-RECTING RESIDENT EVIL 2

“IT HAS BEEN AN P IE C E

INSPIRATION FOR THE M U TAT IN G A M A S T E R of
to us about remaking one
Yoshiaki Hirabayashi speaks
ENTIRE SERIES EVER Resident Evil’s most celebr
ated gam es

SINCE IT CAME OUT” Thanks to the 2002 GameCube reimagining

of the original, Resident Evil is already home
Yoshiaki Hirabayashi to one of the great videogame remakes – so
it’s no surprise to learn why the sequel has
now been remade. “We had requests from
aspects of the town’s destruction with a cast of civilian the fans for many years to create a remake of
characters. The on-rails shooting spin-off Resident Evil: Resident Evil 2,” says Hirabayashi. “We wanted
The Umbrella Chronicles retells the events of Resident to not only respond to our passionate fanbase
Evil 3, with Ada Wong and HUNK’s background roles but also deliver a whole new zombie horror
explored in sub-chapters, and its sequel Resident gaming experience that utilised the Capcom
Evil: The Darkside Chronicles retells the events of in-house proprietary engine, RE Engine, to
Resident Evil 2 directly. Finally, the spin-off Resident bring it to life on current gaming consoles and
Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a third-person also attract a whole new audience that may
shooter, offering an alternative retelling of the events not have been around for the original release
surrounding the city’s destruction. Even though the in 1998.” of development,” explains Hirabayashi. “It
series has moved away from Raccoon City, the plot Much like the remake of the first Resident was certainly unique, but we felt it would
still frequently features the Resident Evil 2 cast, with Evil, which added new elements, the new make the game difficult to control for a lot of
Leon and Claire taking starring roles in later games. Resident Evil 2 makes some changes to the people, especially those more accustomed
But just what is it that allowed this game to make 1998 original. “We have been balancing to modern game experiences,” he admits.
such an enduring impression on players? It’s hard to respect for the original designs with Without care, such a change could dampen
single out any one thing. As a sequel, it was a dramatic reimagining and restructuring them for the atmosphere of the game, as key moments
upgrade over the original – but that doesn’t account a game coming out in 2019. This includes such as the first Licker encounter rely on
for the game’s impact on newcomers. To focus on combat, the route through the game, as well the camera perspective to create tension.
the compelling story presentation is to ignore the way as the designs of characters, locations and However, creative thinking appears to have
the game design amplified the feeling of dread, and enemies,” Hirabayashi tells us. “We know mitigated these problems. “We decided to use
vice versa. So we’ll leave the final word to Hirabayashi. that since the original game came out 20 a RE4-style over-the-shoulder camera, and
“Resident Evil 2 was able to keep the survival horror years ago, players have become accustomed we felt we could reproduce the kind of effect
atmosphere of the first game while substantially to differences in the gaming environment, the original RE2 got from its fixed angles
scaling up the dramatic and entertaining story and and want to bring them the ultimate survival – fear of off-screen enemies – using level
gameplay for an all-round incredible experience,” he horror experience.” If you’ve followed the design, lighting effects and sound design,” he
concludes. “Different players enjoy the series in their progress of the game so far, you’ll know continues. “This let us deliver the key point for
own different ways, but Resident Evil 2 was a game that characters such as Claire, Ada and the us – the fear of being bitten by the zombies –
which had pretty much all the different aspects of Tyrant have been redesigned – and it’s not just in a very effective way.”
Resident Evil that fans love.” characters that have received a refresh. “We It certainly seems remarkably effective
don’t want to give too much away and spoil – we’re happy with zombies staying as far
the final game experience for fans but there away from us as possible, and the gruesome
are new areas in the remake that fans won’t visuals are a little too believable for comfort.
have seen before! The layout of the RPD has But this technological advancement allows
changed as well so things won’t necessarily the gore to be more than just window
be where players remember them being.” dressing, as we’ve seen a zombie trying to
Where the GameCube remake of Resident crawl around after a well-placed shot severs
Evil updated the visuals and content but its leg at the knee. Another gets shot in the
retained the fixed camera presentation and arm, only for the rotten limb to limply hang by
tank controls, Resident Evil 2’s remake is a thread. What else does modern technology
presented in full 3D. “We tried out a fixed bring to the table? “There are so many things,
camera like the original game at the start but one example is the movements of the
Licker are much more three-dimensional
now,” responds Hirabayashi. “In the original
game we could show it moving across
the ceiling in the cutscenes, but it wasn’t
possible to achieve this during gameplay.
It’s extremely scary and fun how it’s able to
attack players from all sorts of places now!”
Resident Evil 2 is available to buy now and
we can safely say it’s a truly excellent update
that effortlessly captures the spirit of the
original PlayStation classic. Here’s hoping
» The photorealism of Capcom’s RE Engine has Capcom use the same engine and revisits
recaptured that fear we felt back in 1998. Resident Evil 4 next.

hold her own against

s of the game, and can
s playable during part
» Ada Wong become
the biohazards.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 139

 WHEN ONE OF GAMING’S MOST CELEBRATED DESIGNERS DECIDED TO CREATE
A CUTTING-EDGE CONSOLE RPG, THE RESULT WAS ONE OF THE MOST
AMBITIOUS PROJECTS OF ALL TIME. YU SUZUKI TELLS US HOW THE ORIGINAL
CLASSICS WERE MADE – AND HOW HE’S REVIVING THE SERIES TODAY
Words by Nick Thorpe

onsidering its short life, the Dreamcast is hardware, rather than the cutting-edge arcade hardware it
a machine with no shortage of excellent was accustomed to. At the time, that meant working with
games, but none of them have quite the the Saturn. Very little information about the Saturn version
same association with the console as the of the game has been made available to the public, with
Shenmue games. Part of that is practical the most revealing being some video footage included as a
– for almost 20 years, the Dreamcast was bonus feature in Shenmue II. Much of the available footage
the only machine on which you could is comprised of cinematic scenes (displayed in-engine, as in
experience the original game, and therefore the complete the Dreamcast game) with a little environmental exploration
tale. But the association goes deeper than that, as the game thrown in too. Though some details are naturally different,
is reflective of the console that hosted it. Both Shenmue and plenty of recognisable characters and scenes are shown,
the Dreamcast were incredibly ambitious projects that were from the initial confrontation with Lan Di in the Hazuki
ahead of their time in many respects, and both left players family dojo to Ryo’s first encounter with Guizhang, and the
with the feeling that business was definitely unfinished, discovery of the hidden basement. Some designs look rather
thanks to the premature discontinuation of the Dreamcast close to the final vision, and it’s amazing how many scenes
and the unresolved cliffhanger ending of Shenmue II. But were developed.
where Sega’s return to the hardware market feels as distant While much about the game is a mystery, one thing
a prospect as ever, Shenmue is on the brink of a remarkable is obvious – Shenmue would have been a graphical
revival thanks to the undying support of its fans. masterpiece by the standards of the Saturn. Character
The Shenmue games are 3D action adventures, which models and environments showed a level of detail that puts
are based on an original story concept by Yu Suzuki – the most of the system’s 3D games to shame, and there’s a
founder of Ys Net, and best known for his time at Sega, cinematic flair to the story scenes that few developers of the
where he was a programmer, director and producer on hit time possessed. We’ve often wondered how such visuals
arcade games such as Space Harrier, Out Run and Virtua were possible on a console which is notoriously difficult to
Fighter. When asked what the very earliest influences on the work with, especially when it came to displaying 3D graphics.
creation of Shenmue were, Suzuki replies “They would be the “I would think one main factor was that I personally did the
games of Apple II such as Wizardry and Mystery House, as direction and coding by myself,” says Suzuki. “At the time,
well as Virtua Fighter.” Suzuki had enjoyed the Apple games very few tech people understood the true meaning of 3D.”
while studying, and wished to create a game in that spirit. Ultimately, the Saturn version of Shenmue was never
However, the Virtua Fighter connection goes beyond that completed, as Sega was already planning a new console. In
simple inspiration. The first two Virtua Fighter games were 1997, Suzuki decided to move the game to that system. “We
smash hits in Japan, and many projects were in the works to started to see various possibilities in the Dreamcast while
capitalise on this success – spin-off games, merchandise and the development moved forward. We decided to move to
even an animated TV series. However, the big Virtua Fighter the Dreamcast because we were confident the potential
side project was Suzuki’s own desire to create a Virtua Fighter of Shenmue would increase tremendously with it.” While
RPG, which would follow the story of Akira Yuki. it’s not uncommon for games to switch generations during
» Yu Suzuki is the creator of Shenmue,
Of course, RPGs aren’t a tremendously arcade-friendly alongside other classics such as Out Run, development, Shenmue looked to be in a fairly advanced
genre so AM2 would have to work with home console Space Harrier and Virtua Fighter. state as the footage also shows off plenty of material

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THE STORY OF: SHENMUE

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 141

 » Ryo’s home offers wide-ranging » This button prompt indicates » A cinematic intro sets up the
interactivity, but this is pared back to more a quick time event – the player game’s events, with Ryo cradling
moderate levels in the wider world. must hit B or Ryo will get hit. his dying father following an
attack by Lan Di.

that we would only see in Shenmue II – saw, and enter any

Hong Kong environments, the introduction building (or at least
of Ren’s gang, and Ryo’s first journey with knock on the door).
Shenhua. With that in mind, we had to ask If you saw a vending
how close to completion the Saturn game machine selling drinks
was. “It’s hard to say how many per cent or capsule toys, you
complete it was, because when we changed should be able to
» The unreleased Saturn from Saturn to Dreamcast, we also changed use it.
version of Shenmue looks
like it would have been what we wanted to do. It was maybe 30 to
graphically astonishing 50 per cent complete.” henmue
for the time.
Upon moving to the Dreamcast, would be
Shenmue became known to the public as a broad YU SUZUKI
‘Project Berkley’ before assuming its final adventure
name. The game also lost its Virtua Fighter taking in a variety of concepts – a stark is a thought-driven game, we judged that
connections, with Akira Yuki being replaced contrast to much of Suzuki’s previous work, requiring time-sensitive game skill would not
by the young man Ryo Hazuki, who sets which had been focused on simulating match the game, and we invented a game
out on a quest for vengeance after seeing single concepts such as motorbike racing or system called QTE which could be enjoyed
his father murdered in front of him in late martial arts fights. “When I decided to make by game players with low time sensitive
» The Xbox version of 1986. The game was announced not as an an RPG, I decided, ‘Why not create a game game skill.”
Shenmue II featured RPG, but as a new type of game called FREE with multi-concept content?’” Suzuki recalls. But as well as drawing on his previous
graphical changes such as
bloom lighting at night, to
(‘Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment’), which “I wanted to make a game with a mix of what work in the arcades, Suzuki wished to
mixed response. was an acronym that unsurprisingly didn’t I could do. For example, because I loved surpass it. “Before Shenmue, I developed
catch on. Explaining this decision on the fighting games, I wanted to have some fight Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter, which were
Project Berkley preview disc included with scenes. I also love driving, so I wanted some 3D games. When I started the development
Virtua Fighter 3tb, Suzuki said that since driving scenes, and I also love cinematics.” In of Shenmue, I wanted a new dimension. I
his concept of what an RPG should be was this way, the concepts that Suzuki had been wanted to create a 4D game,” he explains.
quite different from that of other developers, involved with over the course of his career “For me, the new dimension was time. When
it could be called a Suzuki-style RPG, but would be brought together into one grand time disappears, 3D objects also disappear.
it was probably better not to call it an RPG project. There was even an attempt to work For example, when time flies, the weather
at all. His stated goal was to create a game gameplay into the cinematic scenes, with the changes. And when you see reality, people
with more freedom and fewer restrictions ‘quick time event’ system – essentially simple don’t stay in the same place all day long –
than any game before it. The idea was button prompts that would allow players to they also have lives, they go to work and so
that when the player explored the game, perform complex cinematic actions, rather on. So the 3D world evolves because of time,
they should be able to talk to anyone they like in Dragon’s Lair. “Because Shenmue so I wanted to include this kind of notion.”

WHEN THE GOING GETS SLOW AND

RYO HAS TO KILL SOME TIME, THERE
ARE PLENTY OF WAYS TO DO IT

n Early on in Shenmue, you meet a kitten n You know the drill – chuck the pointy things n Once you’ve played a game of pool n As well as fictional cabinets like ‘Excite
whose mother was run down by Lan Di’s car. at the board to score points. This minigame is for information in the MJQ Jazz Bar, you QTE 2’, Shenmue’s arcades offer real AM2
You can choose to raise it if you like, with cat quite tough, as Ryo’s hand movements can be can play a quick game with some of the games like Hang-On, Space Harrier, along with
food available in the convenience store. pretty erratic. American sailors whenever you return. Out Run and After Burner in Shenmue II.

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 » Much of the game involves
investigating leads by talking to the
various people Ryo meets.
THE STORY OF: SHENMUE

ALTHOUGH RYO TOOK A LENGTHY

HIATUS AFTER SHENMUE II, HE DIDN’T
DISAPPEAR FROM GAMING ENTIRELY
t can be hard for a fan to keep the faith when a favourite series
becomes dormant, but cameos will give them at least a little
Time was therefore an important factor in ended up succeeding the Saturn, but also something to cling to – and Ryo Hazuki has fit in a few over
Shenmue. Where traditional RPGs featured succeeded the existing Model 3 board in its the years. The earliest actually came pretty soon after the release
24/7 shops and ever-present townsfolk that arcade NAOMI form. This close involvement of Shenmue II, as he was featured as a free agent in ESPN NFL
always stood in the same spot, Shenmue’s ultimately helped the game’s development Football 2K4, alongside other Sega characters. He later made an
world would change. The sun would set process. “I knew the hardware of the appearance in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, riding the motorbike
as night drew in, and seasonal decorations Dreamcast very well, and I also knew very he borrows during the later scenes of the original game. He didn’t
would go up as you approached Christmas. well what I could or could not do. But of make the main roster of the sequel Sonic & All-Stars Racing
If you wanted to buy something from a course, I had in my mind a very deep game Transformed, but managed to make it in as DLC in the PC version. In
shop, you’d have to turn up during opening idea. So what I couldn’t do in hardware, I this game, he drives an Out Run cabinet converted into a car, flies an
hours – and if you watched the staff of those tried to do using software techniques like After Burner cabinet and uses a floating Hang-On cabinet as a boat.
shops all day, you’d see them leave their automatic generators. With programming Since then, Ryo has appeared exclusively in pocket-sized
homes, walk to work, open up and put their skills, you can avoid some difficulties. form. He was included as a solo unit in the 3DS
shifts in, and eventually walk home. As well Because of our progress with generators, multi-franchise strategy RPG Project
as creating a great sense of immersion, this we were able to put Shenmue on only three X Zone 2, which allows Ryo to team
validated the various distractions the game discs, instead of maybe 50 discs – if we had up with the man he could have been,
world had to offer – just like in real life, you made Shenmue the old way, it would have Virtua Fighter’s Akira Yuki. In 2018,
can’t make time go any faster so you have to taken 50 discs.” Ryo made an appearance in the
fill it. As well as the aforementioned vending Shenmue just managed to squeeze itself Japan-only free-to-play mobile RPG
machines, you were able to practice your into the Nineties, releasing on 29 December Kotodaman, as an incentive to drive
fighting moves, play games of darts and 1999 in Japan, with releases in North early sign-ups to the game, and most
pool, and even enjoy full arcade versions of America and Europe following in October recently Ryo has appeared in the
Space Harrier and Hang-On. and November 2000. A special edition titled mobile match-three puzzle game
Suzuki’s interest in the console market US Shenmue was later released in Japan in Sega Heroes, where he can be
allowed him input over the design of the July 2001, which essentially added Japanese recruited to join your team.
hardware he was targeting. “I was in charge, subtitles and notebook text to the English You’ll need some patience
along with other people, of developing localised version. Some publications felt that though, as he’s at the
the Dreamcast hardware. 3D games were the hype had not been warranted. Game Epic rarity level and
very well done in the arcade market, the Informer decided it was only worth 6/10, takes considerable
motherboards were ready. I wanted to put and Video Gamer gave it 7/10, with reviewer time and/or money
the really advanced arcade systems to the Nick Jones claiming it was “painfully slow at to unlock.
consumer market.” Indeed, the Dreamcast times” and had “very little substance”,

n Just soft drinks, of course! But if you get a n If you come across a jukebox, you can play n It’s entirely possible to waste all of Ryo’s n You can’t actually win any money playing
winning can, you can exchange it for a prize some sweet tunes. Alternatively, Ryo has a hard-earned money on these little toys, which the slots in Dobuita, due to Japan’s gambling
at the convenience store – even if you want to portable cassette player, but you’ll need to buy feature historical Sega characters and other laws, but you can exchange tokens for prizes,
gamble further on a lottery ticket. the tapes and batteries for it. cool little designs. which is neat.

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 SHENMUE FANS ARE FINALLY
GETTING THE REVIVAL
THEY HAD HOPED FOR WITH
SHENMUE III, BUT IT’S NOT THE
FIRST ATTEMPT TO CONTINUE
THE SERIES SINCE SHENMUE II
or over a year after the release of the
Xbox version of Shenmue II, there
was no news about a potential third
instalment in the series, but in the summer
of 2004 fans were whipped into frenzy by
the announcement of Shenmue Online. This
project was announced with a flashy CG trailer
showing Joy getting taken captive by Lan Di
and his goons, with Ryo and Xiuying mounting
a rescue effort eventually aided by online
players. Unfortunately, the game stumbled
into trouble in mid-2005 with the withdrawal
of JC Entertainment, a Korean company that
had partnered with Sega on the project. The
game re-emerged at the China Joy expo in
2006, with both new and old CG movie scenes
and a lengthy look at gameplay, which showed
off familiar Hong Kong environments and
a revamped battle system. However, the
project failed to reach the promised open beta
stage, and Shenmue Online was quietly, but
ultimately, cancelled.
Yu Suzuki later tried to revive the
Shenmue series outside of Sega. Inspired
by the success of casual social games like
Mafia Wars, Suzuki worked with Sunsoft to
create the mobile game Shenmue City for
Yahoo Games in Japan. Although this was a
considerable step down in scale compared to
the flagship, cutting-edge nature of the main
games, had it been a success, the plan was
to use it as a basis to relaunch the series.
However, Shenmue City was only active for
just over a year, from its September 2010 beta

YU SUZUKI
launch to its closure in December 2011.

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 THE STORY OF: SHENMUE

but was “just about worth getting, if only owever, this was by no means the
to show your mates”. Other magazines were end of the story for Shenmue – it
more positive, but with notable reservations. wasn’t even really the end of the
Edge awarded Shenmue 8/10, praising the project, which explains why the
world simulation as “the closest a game second game was also released for the now-
universe has come in giving the impression doomed Dreamcast. “The development of
of independence outside of your actions”, Shenmue II started and was done in parallel
but criticising the game as being surprisingly with Shenmue,” says Suzuki. “By using
restrictive – “there is not enough distraction common systems, its development was
in the Shenmue world”, the reviewer much faster than the one for Shenmue.” Just
lamented, noting that “subquests would like on the Saturn, Suzuki and his team had
have greatly enhanced the experience” been working quite a way into the story, and
and concluding that it was “more than an early preview shots of Shenmue had even
interactive movie, but does not deliver the shown Ryo in Shenmue II ’s environments.
freedom expected”. Dreamcast Magazine Having successfully discovered where Lan
scored Shenmue 85%, with Chandra Nair Di was heading after he left Yokosuka, Ryo
noting that it was “a good RPG mixed in ended the first game on a boat departing
with brief elements of arcade action” and for Hong Kong. A chapter on the boat was
“not as ground-breakingly original as it developed but ultimately cut for space
makes out to be”. reasons, instead being released as a comic
But broadly speaking, the game was featuring Chai’s attempt to take a little girl
critically acclaimed – the Official Dreamcast hostage and defeat Ryo. When Ryo begins
Magazine scored the game 10/10, with Shenmue II, he arrives at Aberdeen Harbour
reviewer Ed Lomas claiming that, “You’ll in Hong Kong and soon ventures out into
» Weather effects are generated via algorithm, and are
based on real weather data from the game’s setting. see where all the years and all the millions Wan Chai. With the familiar faces of his local
of pounds have gone when you play it, as it suburban community now hundreds of miles
genuinely sets new standards in just about away, Ryo quickly learns that he can’t blindly
every way.” Reviewers in other publications trust the people he meets in the big city, as
were similarly impressed – CVG awarded he attempts to save a boy from a beating
the game 5/5, DC-UK gave it the full 10/10 only to end up with his bag stolen. This leads
and GamesMaster went for a 94% score. into a series of QTE sequences and fights,
Shenmue went on to sell 1.2 million copies which establish Shenmue II as a much more
– a phenomenal number by Dreamcast action-packed game from the outset. We had
standards. The problem for Sega was that to know if this was a natural consequence
this was not enough to break even, as the of the story direction, or a response to the
game was the most expensive ever made criticisms of the original game’s somewhat
to that point, with contemporary claims of a sedate pace. “Maybe both,” Suzuki responds.
$70 million budget and Suzuki’s lower 2011 “In the first one you were in Yokosuka and
estimate still coming in at $47 million for in the second one you go to Hong Kong,
development and marketing. Just months but Hong Kong is bigger, with much more
after Shenmue made it to the western world, people and more action. Everything is
Sega announced that it would discontinue bigger than Yokosuka, so we had to put
Dreamcast production and become a third- more life and action into Shenmue II. Then
party game developer. of course, during Shenmue we were

» The stakes are raised considerably

in Shenmue II, as Ryo faces deadly
» As well as the major foes more frequently.
investigation and fighting
elements, Shenmue
included other game
styles such as
driving.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 145

 also improving our skills, and what we “We developed a very useful tool called
couldn’t do in the first one, we were able to ‘Magic Room’. This automatic generator tool
do in the second.” enabled us to create a room in a very short
The additional action sequences weren’t amount of time – we were able to create
the only thing that changed the feel of more than a thousand rooms in less than a
Shenmue II. For a start, the impatient could second, maybe four milliseconds.
now arrive at the location of an important “We also developed another generator
event early, and choose to skip time. There tool called Magic Maze which allowed us to
was also a considerably greater sense of create a forest in a very short time,” Suzuki
freedom – the player could now choose what continues. This would come to be used in
questions Ryo would ask NPCs, and more the final area of Shenmue II, which takes
of them were able to help. Where failing a on a markedly different pace from the rest » The final disc of almost all of the original Japanese voice
Shenmue II is spent
QTE sequence or fight in the original game of the game. Having settled his business in strolling through the
acting. Like its predecessor, the game
often necessitated a retry, Shenmue II would Kowloon, Ryo travels to mainland China and beautiful Chinese received critical acclaim. GamesMaster
more regularly let the player figure out an meets Shenhua, the girl who he has been countryside with scored the game 90%, and Dreamcast
Ryo’s new friend
alternative way to achieve their goal. Perhaps destined to meet. The urban environments of Shenhua. Magazine 94%, with the latter commenting
most importantly of all, Ryo’s means of the prior chapters are discarded in favour of that it was “much less linear than the
securing an income were left up to the player a large natural environment, where Ryo and original” and opining that “even haters of
– a particularly crucial point, as Ryo spends Shenhua learn about one another through the original Shenmue will probably have
much his time in Wan Chai living in a hotel. relaxed conversation as they walk back to some fun with this”. Edge offered 8/10,
After finding the person he seeks in Wan Shenhua’s home village. Some players were praising the story as “more enthralling and
Chai, Ryo visits Kowloon – specifically, the perplexed as to the decision to end the game exciting” and noting that “the sheer scope
notorious Walled City, famed as much for on this note, rather than after the climactic and beauty of Yu Suzuki’s sequel is at times
its lawlessness as for its dense network of battle in Kowloon that provided a sense of breathtaking”. Microsoft secured the game
tall, interconnected buildings. This had been resolution. “It was because of the scenario,” as an Xbox exclusive in North America,
demolished in 1993, so a location visit was Suzuki says of the decision to finish the game so fans in that region had to wait until that
not possible. “We used photo materials here. “When you start your adventure in conversion was released in October 2002,
and books as references,” says Suzuki. “We Yokosuka, it’s a middle class area, and Hong with a European Xbox release following
decided to make its outlook as a standalone Kong is a fast and speedy city. And then in March 2003. The Xbox version featured
castle on the mountain top in order to create because of the scenario, you also go to the graphical enhancements including improved
images of the Deathbringer’s Citadel.” countryside of China, and now it’s a very water effects, bloom lighting at night and
Suzuki wanted to create a representation of slow life, a very peaceful environment.” visual filters, and came packaged with a
Kowloon in which the player could visit all of Shenmue II was released for the DVD movie showing the events of the first
the rooms, but building so many would take Dreamcast in September 2001, and a game. This version was also broadly well
an enormous amount of time on the part of European release followed in November, received critically, though received some
the development team. These were instead with a much quicker localisation turnaround criticism for having dated visuals. However,
created using another generator system. thanks to the fact that the game retained the game was not a commercial success as
had been hoped.

nfortunately, Shenmue II ended

on a cliffhanger, and fans would
soon become frustrated as no
progress was made on advancing
the series. Though a couple of failed
attempts to revive the series were made,
Shenmue essentially fell dormant. Although
Ryo Hazuki would show up in projects like
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, many players

n This one’s mandatory in the original n You’ll have to do at least one shift in this n The lax law enforcement in Hong Kong
Shenmue, as it’s an important part of the plot. job during Shenmue II, and it’s a relatively leads to plenty of opportunities to have a little
HOW EXACTLY DOES RYO MAKE A You do at least get to race the forklifts before tedious but dependable way to earn money, flutter. This is a risky proposition, but if it pays
LIVING? LET’S FIND OUT… each shift starts, which adds a little fun. particularly if you’re good at quick time events. off you’ll obtain money pretty quickly.

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 THE STORY OF: SHENMUE

assumed that there was no serious prospect the crowdfunding platform that had been » The Shenmue games
were astonishing
of a third game – and the chances seemed set by Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night graphical achievements
to diminish further when Yu Suzuki left earlier that year. A ‘slacker backer’ campaign on the Dreamcast – it’s
hard to believe they’re 20
Sega. During this time, fans decided to make ran following the closure of the Kickstarter years old.
their voices heard, taking to Twitter on the campaign, bringing the final total of fan
third day of every month to campaign for funding to $7,179,510 from 81,087 people.
a third game in the Shenmue series, using One thing that is particularly interesting is
the #SaveShenmue hashtag. Eventually, at that Shenmue III has attracted the return
Sony’s memorable E3 conference in 2015, of a number of key figures from past
Yu Suzuki was able to stand on stage and Shenmue games. “Everyone who
announce that a Kickstarter campaign to fund has supported came with full of
Shenmue III had begun. The game would love of Shenmue. We feel even the
release for PS4 and PC, and was targeting tough memories of hard times
a December 2017 release date – which support our deep relationship,”
would eventually get pushed back to 19 says Suzuki. “I believe some
November 2019. The response from fans was may have joined the project
enormous. “Because everything we did was thinking, ‘Is it okay to leave
a new challenge, we were concerned about Suzuki alone?’” Both Ryo’s
‘being able to do it properly,’” says Suzuki. Japanese and English
“It was hard to imagine it would become voice actors, Masaya
the most successful.” But the campaign Matsukaze and Corey
raised $6,333,295 from 69,320 backers, Marshall respectively,
breaking the record for gaming products on reprise their roles.

n How about a game of Lucky Hit? Ryo gets n If Ryo can use his strength (by which we n A variety of tough folks can be found in Hong n If you’ve got a bit of Del Boy in you, you can
two hours to entice players into competitive mean your button-bashing and some quick- Kong, many with their own quirks like missing sell capsule toys and other collectable items to
Lucky Hit games, and keeps 50 per cent of any time event skills) to defeat menacing, eyes and incredible fortitude. If Ryo can defeat pawn shops – just make sure you shop around
profit he makes muscular men, he’ll win a good deal of cash. them, a cash prize awaits. to get the best price.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 147

 A GUIDE TO THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS OF THE SHENMUE WORLD

n Your character is an 18-year-old high n Ryo’s father is a middle-aged martial n This stony-faced chap is a leader of the n This bizarre and decidedly unkempt man
school student who sets out for revenge after arts instructor, who is murdered during the villainous Chi You Men cartel, and Iwao wants to join the Chi You Men and work for
witnessing his father’s murder. He’s pretty introduction sequence of Shenmue. He’s often Hazuki’s killer. He seeks to gain possession Lan Di. To this end, he is a thorn in Ryo’s side
oblivious to the affections of women and often seen in flashbacks, providing Ryo with words of the Phoenix and Dragon mirrors, and fights throughout the original Shenmue, attempting
acts a little quicker than he thinks, but he’s a of wisdom, and apparently killed a man named using the Tiger Swallow style favoured by to steal the mirrors and thwart Ryo’s attempts
formidable fighter and very tenacious. Sunming Zhao. Virtua Fighter’s Lau Chan. to leave Japan.

n Ryo’s classmate also happens to serve as n Though he’s a businessman first and n Ryo meets his first friend in Hong Kong n The leader of the Heavens gang in Aberdeen
his love interest for the first game, and at one foremost, Guizhang is a formidable fighter after almost being run down by her beloved is a brash counterpart to Ryo – though
point ends up being kidnapped by a dockside who aids Ryo during the events of the first motorbike. She proves to be an important he’s capable of looking after himself, he’s
gang. She’s originally from Vancouver, and game. His father, Master Chen, is well aware ally, as she’s well connected – both driven entirely by wealth and not particularly
plans on leaving Yokosuka to return to Canada of the significance of the mirrors and Lan Di’s within respectable society and within the concerned with any notion of justice. He’s
and live with her parents. pursuit of them. local gang scene. rather more charismatic, too.

n The head of the Man Mo Temple in Wan Chai n Despite appearances to the contrary, Yuan n This gargantuan individual is a powerful n This Chinese girl grew up in a small,
is also a martial arts expert. Although she is Dou Niu’s right-hand man and an utterly figure in Kowloon’s criminal underworld. picturesque village of Bailu surrounded by
aids Ryo during his travels in Hong Kong, she terrifying individual. He has a distaste for As well as possessing terrifying physical nature, and is rather innocent. She shares
attempts to dissuade him from seeking anything he perceives as dirty, and loves strength, he’s the leader of the Yellow some sort of bond of fate with Ryo, and
revenge, fearing that his quest will lead him cutting up foes with knives and far, far more Heads, a large gang that works with Lan Di’s frequently appears in his dreams prior to their
towards an evil path. dangerous tools. Chi You Men cartel. first meeting in Shenmue II.

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 THE STORY OF: SHENMUE

» The arcade returns in Shenmue

III – we’re excited to see what games
will be contained within.

The original game director Keiji Okayasu to the original scenario, because if I wanted » Lan Di will
is overseeing development, scriptwriter to go to the end, I would need more than one definitely appear
in Shenmue III,
Masahiro Yoshimoto has returned to develop life!” Suzuki explains. “It’s not shortening but what role he’ll
the game’s story, and Hiroaki Takeuchi will the story, but making some changes to tell take is currently
unknown.
return to advise on animation and cinematic it more efficiently.” When it is released,
scenes. The main character designer Kenji Shenmue III will pick up Ryo’s journey the
Miyawaki has also returned, stating in an day after the conclusion of Shenmue II, and
interview that Shenmue was “the one title chronicle his journey through Guilin with
in my life that I have the strongest personal Shenhua. The main areas of the game are
attachment to”, even going so far as to say, Bailu, Shenhua’s home village, Choubu and
“I don’t think I can die in peace until the next a fortified castle area. Villains such as Chai
Shenmue comes out.” and Lan Di will appear and presumably come
Although Suzuki can no longer draw on face to face with Ryo, but he won’t be alone
the resources of a hardware manufacturer as allies such as Ren will return too.
seeking a killer app, many of Shenmue’s But although progress through the
innovations are now relatively standard story is being accelerated and highly
features, making development less of an anticipated showdowns look likely, one
exercise in research and development. thing Shenmue III won’t do is provide a final
But Suzuki still desires more of today’s conclusion to the saga. “If it’s possible, I’d
technology. “Of course, because of the like to make the next step,” says Suzuki.
hardware improvements and engine And in an odd way, we find that enormously
improvements, games are easier to develop reassuring. The Shenmue games were born
than before. But I also regret that we are from Yu Suzuki’s belief in a grand vision,
not further ahead in time, because I want to and were easily the most ambitious games
create a game a hundred times more easily of their generation. The plan to continue the
than now. If I could I would! Some things series, in spite of the enormous difficulties
we couldn’t do before, but with other things that have been faced in creating the third
we still can’t do what I have in mind.” In game, is all the proof we need that Suzuki
particular, one problem the team struggled retains the ambition that he brought to
with in the Nineties persists – the one that those Dreamcast games. Shenmue and
caused Lan Di to lose the long, flowing Shenmue II were released as a double pack
hair that was originally part of his design. for modern platforms in 2018, and revisiting » Chai returns to attack Ryo
“Clothes physics, we developed from scratch the games now is fascinating – they still and Shenhua, having last
been seen on the boat from
with Virtua Fighter and Virtua Fighter 3,” possess an amazing ability to draw you Japan to Hong Kong.
Suzuki tells us. “There is still a lot to do to into another place and time, and the open
improve the physical part of engines. Of world concept feels decidedly modern, yet
course, they are better than ever before, but the execution is clearly from a different era.
we still can’t make some realistic movements But the fact that a 20-year-old Dreamcast
with clothes and hair, it’s still hard to do.” game can feel modern in any respect is a
Shenmue III won’t quite follow the original major achievement, and we shouldn’t expect
plan laid down back in the Dreamcast days. anyone to follow Shenmue’s path when its
“At first I had in my mind that Shenmue creators were so determined that it shouldn’t
would be chapter one, Shenmue II would follow the RPG standard. Ultimately, there’s
be chapter two and so on. But sadly, there nobody quite like Yu Suzuki in the games » Bailu village is the least urban
was a 20-year lag between Shenmue II and industry, and there are no games quite like area Ryo has visited to date.
What will he find there?
Shenmue III. So I had to make some changes the Shenmue games.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 149

 ISTORY OF
THE H

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 THE HISTORY OF: BURNOUT

ALEX WARD
Concept designer,
Burnout series

RES T R A INT WER’SE

HE N REALISM ANGDAMES, CRITERIORNILL
AT A TIM E W E IN RACING C HA RGED TSHHES.
O NA BL UR B O-
FASHI ES OFFERED A T D MASSIVE CRA OF A
BURNOU T SERI AJOR SPEED ANE DEVELOPMENT RIES
RIDE WIWTH M ISCUSSES TH DE RACING SE nes
DD CA
ALEX ATRRULY CLASSIC AR Words by Nick Thorpe & Darr
an Jo

ve will ha
imosity
u tp o u ring of an r th e whole o
f
ctive o to powe
the colle h e n e rg y
put a pe
rson d enoug
at if you generate onth. tion to th
is

D
id you k
n o w th
trap ti o n
Wales for a m
o s t fun solu od y
etal con ately, th e m
d, and n o b
shiny m st, they Unfortun le to get you kille
inside a v ery fa b re p ort
to go s likely is lia news ck
designed come 12 times a problem bject of a ss the ba
d e n ly be q u ir k of an ts to be the su ‘s p la tt e red acro th e re
d e w rase is
su ’s a strang g the ph Burnout
ss hostili
ty ? It
n our e n tire ly
containin o ’. T h ankfully, g ga m es,
to expre u t based o ’s dling Vo
lv
ost racin
sycho lo g y , b
e evid en c e , it of a daw unlike m volved
human p xamination of th h th at itch – a t aren’t in s that
r can to s c ratc a rs th
tifice e el of a ca es whe re th e c th ne
e o
un sc ien th e w h
gement it’s a seri rtant as lled
tting b eh in d a n a
t anger m onster. But ju s t as impo b lic roads fi
true – ge st p a tie n
ge m in the ra
ce a re
p lace on p
u
v e
n the mo trained ra a simple e race s ta ke
ing you to dri
turn eve to an unres actually are. All th traffic, encourag ne of the
couns ell o r in
g is th a t th e re ’s
et a whole h re g u lar
ad . It b ecame o ring
ying thin worse. G wit g e t a h e m g du
in
e terr if e ra b ly e reby usly to ries in ga
th
ake it co
nsid place, th dangero c in g s e
way to m into one ring laimed ra
f people
in c a rs
traffic and
en s u most acc
bunch o ad s w it h n h our,
up the ro Within a
clogging u s e th e things.
ody can
that nob

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 151

 » Burnout was inspired by
es.
high-speed chases in movi

the Noughties, but has since been left alone as other games were about simulating motorsports.”
its publisher has chosen to focus on other games. As a result, few of the other games that the team

T
looked at were traditional racing games, instead
he original project started at Criterion being driving action games that offered the
Software as a PlayStation 2 game by the ability to dodge and weave through traffic. “From
tentative name of Shiny Red Car, which the arcades, games like Thrill Drive, Crazy Taxi,
was inspired by a French short film by Emergency Call Ambulance and even Jambo
the name of Rendezvous, and the movie Ronin. Safari were all things that had an influence.”
The films showed cars being driven through the But Burnout’s unique selling point was
streets of Paris at high speed, and this provided developed after a meeting at EA Canada, while
the basic concept of driving through dangerous Criterion was shopping the game around to
urban environments. “We looked at a lot of movie potential publishers. Hanno Lemke challenged

“REAL ROADS.
car chases,” says Alex Ward, the concept designer Alex and studio head Fiona Sperry to create
of the Burnout series. “The DVD market was just a compelling reason for players to drive into

MEAN TRAFAFIC
starting out so we imported a lot of American oncoming traffic. The result was the boost
movies. The chase from Basic Instinct and a chase mechanic, which rewarded dangerous driving with

TRAFFIC ME ”NS
sequence from the film Against All Odds were two extra speed. Dangerous actions such as drifting,
sequences we pretty much put into the software.” going airborne, driving into oncoming traffic and
The silver screen wasn’t the only source from passing close to other cars built up the boost bar,

CRASHES
which Criterion drew inspiration, though, as plenty while crashing would reduce it. Once it had been
of other games were drawn from. “Traffic was filled, you could spend the boost bar for a limited
there because I was wanting to make something burst of additional speed – and if you managed
Alex Ward like EA Canada’s original 3DO Need For Speed – it to use the whole thing in one go, you were
was about ‘high-speed driving’ on real roads. Real rewarded with even more, alongside anything you
roads mean traffic. Traffic means crashes. All the accumulated while boosting. Skilled players could

DRIVING MISS CRAZY

to wreck
Cool vehicles you’ll want

FIRE TRUCK
■ Burnout 3: Takedow
n’s Fire Truck
COP CAR is not only the fastest Cras
h vehicle,
■ First introduced in Bur
nout 2, the it’s also blessed with trem
endous
speed with plete all ten
Cop Car has excellent top Crashbreaker power. Com
tion. Win it.
great handling and accelera Crash Headlines to unlock
in order to unlock it.
Pursuit 1
MADDEN
DRIVER’S ED CHALLENGE BUS
BUS ■ Slow and steady may
help you pass ■ You unlock this weig
hty tie-in vehicle
’t help you ely having
■ This bus is clearly insp
ired by the your driving test, but it won in Burnout Revenge by mer
The Bus on all Offensive 200 6 save gam e when
Keanu Reeves action film, in Burnout 2 . Get Gold a Madden NFL
Unlock it by is yours.
That Cou ldn’t Slow Dow n . Driving 101 lessons and this you make your profile.
beating Face Off 4.

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 THE HISTORY OF: BURNOUT

» The series’ technical

performance is always execute a burnout chain, draining and refilling the
rock-solid, no matter how boost bar as long as they didn’t crash.
what objects are flying
about on-screen. Of course, avoiding crashes was easier said d
» The high-speed crash-fille
than done. There was little margin for error in out
game design made the Burn
the original Burnout – the slightest brush against released for PS2 in November 2001 with Acclaim series stand out from its more
simulation-focused rivals.
traffic was liable to send your car into a graceful doing the publishing duties, and versions for the
pirouette down the road, or just as likely a flipping, GameCube and Xbox followed in the spring of
messy wreck. They weren’t pleasant to get into, 2002. All three were received positively by the
but the Criterion team made the most of them press. Edge scored the initial PS2 release 8/10,
anyway, showing off your failure from a variety of cautioning that it “isn’t the longest game in the
angles and even providing a ‘Worst Drivers’ high world” but that a lap of successful risk-taking
score table showing who had caused the most “ranks alongside the best moments this pastime
damage during races. These certainly helped has to offer”. Play gave the game 77%, offering
soften the blow, but in a game where crashing the criticism that “Burnout’s unique selling point
was so ruinous, why was so much effort invested (namely its ‘horrific’ crashes) exists only in direct
in crashes in the first place? “It’s because they opposition to the primary requirements of success
are entertaining and exciting to see,” replies Alex. – namely the intention and ability to avoid
“Only a few games had them. Out Run and Thrill
Drive in the arcades, and 3DO Need For Speed.”
The original Burnout was a rock-solid
arcade racer, featuring the usual
checkpoint-based
single race and
championship
modes, plus fun
extras like a survival
mode. The game was

REVENGE RACER LOW RIDER

cle features in CUSTOM COUPE terrible choice if
■ This insanely fast vehi that features ■ This is an absolutely
a top speed of ■ You’d expect a vehicle it’s great if
Burnout Revenge and has
to be good, and you’re choosing a race but
,
s to 240 mph when on Bur nou t 2 ’s cover e spic y takedowns.
209 mph (which rise you’re plan ning som
disappoint.
nee d a 100 per cent the Custom Coupe doesn’t Unlock it in Revenge by com
pleting
WORLD CIRCUIT
drift jumping). You’ ll
four other
completion rate to unlock
it, though. It would go on to appear in Angel Valley Challenge She
et.
Burnout games. RACER
ASSASSIN MUSCLE ■ Got a death wish? The
n let us
cles are good h is the last
■ All the Assassin vehi recommend this beast, whic
spot for n’s Race
options, but we’ve got a soft vehicle to unlock in Takedow
ant. It excels in ht aren’t the
Takedown’s mus cle vari mode. Its control and weig
s.
Road Rage events and race best, but by gum it’s fast.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 153

 other vehicles.” Official PlayStation 2 Magazine
and XBM also both scored the game 8/10.
A sequel quickly went into production and once
again, there was cinematic inspiration for the team
at Criterion. “Funnily enough we saw The Fast
And The Furious right before we started. We had
a feeling it would be huge and pretty influential,”
says Alex. “So we thought we’d ‘have a bit of
that’ in the game. I’m not quite sure we did. Still,
it became something that me and Chris Roberts
[designer] laughed about a lot over the years.”
Burnout 2: Point Of Impact improved the visual
appearance, that being a goal in particular with
Alex confessing, “I don’t think any of us were
happy with the HUD and level of presentation we » The original game focused
got to for the first game.” While the racing stayed on avoiding crashes, but
e
Burnout 2 indulged your desir
pretty similar between games, the sequel did attention of an industry behemoth. “For various to create huge pile-ups with
expand on the ideas of the original. Point To Point reasons we signed with EA for the third game,” Crash mode.
races were added as a change from the circuit- Alex recalls. “Don Mattrick’s nephew Bruce
based tracks, and the new Pursuit mode was a McMillan came to see us after we’d walked
Chase HQ-style affair, which saw players given a away from working on a reboot of Skate Or Die
cop car and tasked with chasing down criminals with [an] ill-fated Chertsey group for a year.”
in order to unlock their cars. This was the first The negative experience of that project caused
element of combat introduced to the series, a part Criterion to request a high degree of autonomy
of the design that would become a much bigger with Burnout 3, and EA largely granted it – but
deal later on. ultimately, Alex credits them with helping to focus
But the most important new mode was the the game’s vision. “The EA folks were pretty smart
Crash mode. “It started off by seeing people play and helped us push to find what they called ‘the
the game at E3 and just have no idea what was big X on the wall’ – something to align everyone
happening on-screen,” Alex explains. With the and everything behind. That X was ‘aggressive
original game’s emphasis on spectacular crashes racing required’ and takedowns became the name
and monetary values assigned to all of your for the best thing you could do in our games,
damage, it’s easy to see people could misinterpret which was smack someone into oncoming traffic.
the aim of the game. “A few games had tried some I think Paul Glancey called them ‘knockouts’ but
sort of ‘arena crashing’ mode but we didn’t think ‘takedowns’ sounded a lot more American.”
much of them. Chris Roberts found a PC game Burnout 3: Takedown overhauled the racing
mode featuring toy cars that looked interesting. model of the series into a much more combat-
It sort of spawned from there really.” The new oriented experience. Takedowns were the biggest
mode actively encouraged the player to cause the new factor – instead of avoiding collisions, you
spectacular pile-ups that the game was capable were now encouraged to cause your opponents to » People uninitiated into the
ways of Burnout might call
of displaying, with the goal of causing the most crash by smashing them into walls and traffic. To something like this a ‘near
damage possible. Alex describes it as “akin to ten- aid and encourage takedowns, the boost bar could miss’ but we call it ‘filling up
our boost bar’.
pin bowling with a car,” and that’s a pretty good be used at any time and would be extended and
way of describing it.

D
espite the UK government’s
condemnation of its marketing
campaign, which saw publisher Acclaim
offer to pay all speeding fines on the
game’s launch day (“That sort of stuff was
nothing to do with us,” Alex clarifies), Burnout 2
sold well and impressed the critics. The game
launched in the autumn of 2002 for PS2, and
versions for the Xbox and GameCube followed
in the spring of 2003. In an 8/10 review, Official
PlayStation 2 Magazine stated “many of the ideas
at work here are hardly revolutionary, but they
succeed because they’re so well executed”. Edge
was just as impressed, scoring the game 8/10
and praising it as “the perfect embodiment of
the ‘bigger, better, more’ sequel mentality”. The
versions on Microsoft and Nintendo’s consoles
were similarly successful with the press, and the
stage was set for another game.
The first thing that changed with Burnout 3
was the publisher, as Criterion had attracted the

154 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE HISTORY OF: BURNOUT

SCENES OF DESTRUCTION isfying

s of Burnout 3 were a sat ours
The signature takedownto your destructive endeav
way to add a little spice

ttling under
While you’re baay tracks in
the railw your
Dow nt ow n, send one of lock
lla r to un
rivals into a pi d memory.
this treasure

g
t, it’s important to keep drivin
» Even while using the boos .
t and start a burnout chain
dangerously to earn more boos

frustrations

“EVERYONE WORINKGED
Take out your transport
with the public fully guiding
by ca re

HARD AND GO A
system , at about
a car into a tram hour.
120 miles per

TO E3 FELT LIKEION”
MILITARY OPERAT Alex Ward
from Top Gea
crap.
d anything
If we’ve learner,
Yo
it’s that
ur rivals
caravans are o, once they’re
will think so to bedded in one.
refilled with each successful takedown. The new em
focus even allowed for new modes like Road Rage.
Surprisingly, the game was up and running
very quickly. A games™ retrospective noted that
the game was “presentation and effects aside,
shockingly close to the finished game” after just
sports car
six months of development time. “I think it was the A high-powered ve r any road
must easil y co
only Criterion project where we had stable tools
p – right?
and a stable codebase after two previous titles,” toll, even as scrae toll booth to
says Alex. “Plus we had the whole company on Gift on e to th
oto.
the project. We had something to prove to EA and receive this ph
we wanted to show them that we truly were one
of the best teams on the planet at that moment
on PS2. That game shows that we were.” That
level of confidence was justified by the fact that
etend that
We’d love to prat Riviera is
development was going so smoothly. “We had
a lot of stuff done in the first few months and n
this takedow reason, but
here for a goode could print
started ‘the ship year’ in a good place. After

we did it so w ‘roustabout’.
that it got better and better and we were so
ready for E3 it was incredible,” Alex reminisces.
the word
“Everyone worked hard and going to E3 felt like a
military operation. I’ll never forget us rolling into

king down an
downtown LA in a fleet of three Cadillac SUVs in
convoy. We went to rule that E3 and we did.” Earn this by tasnow plough in
The finished game had every bit of the big opponent on a lso, sing:
budget sheen you would expect from an EA game Winter City. Ahe brings pain,
of that time. The game was visually astonishing, ‘Call Mr Plow, is Mr Plow.’
offering a true step up while maintaining the 60fps that name again
update of its predecessors, with crashes that put
even those of the previous games in the shade.
The soundtrack was rammed full of licensed
artists from Franz Ferdinand to My Chemical
Romance. The game even included online play,
after EA’s well-publicised spat with Microsoft over
smashed on
It’s easy to get Vineyard it’s
Xbox Live ended. “We were the first game at E3
that EA had on Xbox Live. They told us in April
wine, and in the
ashed into a
easy to get sm van. Be the
and the show was in May. Their internal teams

wine delivery e smashee.

knew back in December yet none of them had

smasher, not th
anything online at that show,” recalls Alex.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 155

 » The camera comes away
g
from the player vehicle durin
admire
takedowns, allowing you to
k.
your destructive handiwor

B
» Burnout 3 was a big Once again, though, this development would urnout Revenge developed the formula
visual upgrade – cars and
environments and special have been more difficult without the assistance of with the introduction of the traffic
effects were given a new the publisher. “The networking side of the game check – a move which allowed players
lick of paint.
was handled by Paul Ross and Amy Phillips. They to use civilian cars to their advantage.
used and adapted existing EA technology that had By ramming traffic from behind, you could send it
been used for the sports games. Things were a lot careening across the road, taking out further cars
different back then and they did a very good job.” and potentially your opponents. “That came from
Burnout 3: Takedown was released in wanting to explore how many cars we could draw
September 2004 for PS2 and Xbox, and became on-screen at once, and what density of traffic we
the series’ best reviewed game and one of the had,” Alex explains. The game also emphasised
most critically acclaimed games of any kind. The the ‘revenge takedown’, a takedown performed on
game earned 9/10 from Edge, which praised the the last car to perform a takedown on you – and
“confidently revised dynamic” of the racing model this was largely a branding decision. “The original
and described the game as “Criterion Games’ name for the game was Burnout 4: Rush Hour.
finest hour”. The game also received the full 10/10 We were overruled by some posturing American
from games™, which noted that while it wasn’t a idiot who told us that ‘no successful game could
realistic game, nor one which offered much in the ever have a four or a five after its name’ and then
way of customisation, it was “the most fun we’ve they didn’t like ‘Rush Hour’, so then they said ‘get
ever had with any racing game”. Burnout 3 went your revenge on rush hour’ and ‘revenge’ stuck. I
straight to number one in the all-formats chart and didn’t like it then and still don’t,” says Alex. “The
hung around the top ten for a couple of months. mode was a bit messy but I have good memories
More than any other, this game would become the of working through the night with Hamish
reference point for future Burnout games, and it Young, Chris Roberts and Richard Franke trying
was so good that EA acquired Criterion. to fix the many things that went wrong on that

PREPARE TO RACE
of the Burnout series
Our favourite game modes

ELIMINATOR
T3
SURVIVAL INTRODUCED IN: BURNOU
T ■ More pedal to the met
al racing, but
INTRODUCED IN: BURNOU away from
■ While the Burnout seri
es has always here you’ll want to stay far
the pack by
been about mayhem , Surv ival takes a last position. Stay ahead of
ing is still ns possible beca use if
h. Rac whatever mea
mor e caut ious app roac
of each lap CRASH
but here you have you come in last at the end T2
INTRODUCED IN: BURNOU
the order of the day,
out getting RACE you’re not going to be give
n a chance to
to get as far as possible with T ■ This highly entertain
ing mode has
ROAD RAGE a lot harder INTRODUCED IN: BURNOU finish the race.
T3 in a collision of any kind. It’s racing games become a firm favourite with
fans and
INTRODUCED IN: BURNOU ■ There are plenty of core,
than it sounds. ad of your in multiplayer. At its
s, this game where you have to finish ahe is great fun
■ As its name suggest high
Bur nou t 3 is all about opponents, and the Bur nou t series is Crash is all about getting the
mod e from ering
h carn age as possible. no different. The differenc
e, of course, score, and you do that by care
causing as muc vily
usly. Hell, is that Burnout encourages
you to take your chosen vehicle into hea
Drive flashy, drive dangero ing as
e how ever you like. Just risks and drive dangerously
, which populated crash zones, caus
you can driv possible.
downs might not be very sporting
, but does much insurance damage as
be sure to score as many take
in the requ ired time limit. become a lot of fun.
as possible
available.
Multiplayer variants are also
156 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL
 THE HISTORY OF: BURNOUT

LITTLE LEGENDS
Burnout Legends took thery
series into portable territo –
with a ‘best of’ compilation
» Traffic Attack was centred
was it a smash hit?
on Revenge’s signature
traffic check mechanic,
and challenged you to Sony’s PSP promised
cause chaos. to bring console-quality 3D
gaming to the handheld arena, and

LED BY S OME
EA’s attempt to deliver on that promise came

“W E WERE OVERRU in the form of Burnout Legends. Rather than

T”
POSTURING AMERICAN IDIO
attempting a conversion of Burnout Revenge, the
developer chose to compile some of the best bits
of the series’ first three games. Most of the tracks
came from Burnout 2 and Burnout 3, with a single
Alex Ward one from the original game, and the driving model
was carried over from Burnout 3. The game was
development. I did like the progressive scoring that and came up with a cool ‘save and share’ well received, scoring 9/10 in games™ and 7/10
Hamish implemented – hot shot, trick shot, money experience where you could upload all in Edge, with the latter’s biggest criticism being
shot – that stuff was brilliant.” your best moments to Xbox Live.” Xbox that “there’s nothing here to keep you away from
Burnout Revenge was launched in September World 360 scored the game 87%, praising it the bigger brother versions, unless you’re always
2005 for PS2 and Xbox and went straight to the as a “showcase version” but noting it offered playing away from home”.
top of the charts again, as well as earning praise little over the previous generation’s versions. Legends also appeared for the Nintendo DS.
from the press. While GamesMaster felt that the With the next major Burnout game for The conversion was handled by Visual Impact,
new Traffic Attack mode wasn’t too great as “the HD consoles still some way off, Burnout a team which had made a name for itself by
way to win tends to be driving slower and making Dominator was released for PS2 and PSP in creating a variety of 3D games on the Game Boy
sure you hit everything”, it praised the game as the spring of 2007. This game attempted to Advance. Unfortunately, the DS version of Burnout
“virtually flawless” in a 95% review. PSM2 felt blend the mechanics of the earlier Burnout Legends was akin to the smouldering wreckage
that the new traffic check was “un-Burnout” as games with the combat sensibilities of the that is so commonly seen in the series, as the
it removed the element of danger from much of more recent ones. Takedowns were included game featured a woeful handling model, dodgy
the game’s traffic, but still praised the game for and featured prominently, but the traffic check collision detection, a poor sense of speed and
being “hugely exciting and laden with instantly- was ditched and the burnout mechanic was very little traffic.
rewarding fun,” scoring the game 93%. Burnout revived – you could still boost at any time, but
Revenge also showed up on Xbox 360 six months if you waited until you had a full boost bar, you » The PSP version of Legends
shoots ahead of its DS
later. “This was because the market was tough at could earn boost while boosting and start a counterpart by a mile.
that time. New platforms came out, and naturally burnout chain. The new Burnout Challenge
EA wanted all their games on every platform. mode emphasised this mechanic, while the
That became our first HD game,” says Alex. But it Maniac mode encouraged players to rack up
wasn’t the next-gen experience that its successor a high score by driving dangerously without
would ultimately offer – with development time crashing. The game was reviewed well, but
being limited, only so much could be done to not to the same extent as previous games.
improve the game. “Hardware didn’t really allow Edge awarded the game 7/10, calling it
us to do that much without starting all over again. “undeniably exciting and well-formed” but
We ‘spanked’ all the textures, fixed a few bugs felt that the game was a stopgap and

CRASHBREAKER BURNING LAP

T3
EVENTS INTRODUCED IN: BURNOU
COPS AND ROBBERS ■ Ever y arcade racing
game needs a
INTRODUCED IN:
INTRODUCED IN: BURNOUT REVENGE great time attack mod to e keep the
BURNOUT PARADISE crashbreaker leve ls up, and we love how
Cops And ■ This mode adds the exci tement
■ In the old days, playing Race and nout series.
teams mechanic to Eliminator, GP, it’s implemented in the Bur
Robbers meant you split into out as to complete
r your mat es on your Road Rag e even ts. The y play Burning Lap requires you
and chased afte up your a Bronze,
Burnout normal, except you can blow a lap in a specific time, with
BMX until only one was left.
roach vehicle along the way , taki ng rivals with FACE-OFF Silver or Gold medal being
awarded
Paradise takes a different app T finish.
flag. This GRAND PRIX you. Careful though, as you
can only INTRODUCED IN: BURNOU depending on how fast you
and is effectively capture the enough to
police skins INTRODUCED IN: BURNOU
T2 deto nate your vehi cle once . ■ Sometimes it’s not just
exclusive DLC also added - you
e’s cars. ■ As you’d expect, this
is a selection beat your opponent in a race
for 33 of the gam too. Face-
of races that awa rds you with a trophy want to rub their face in it,
you up
upon completion. You have
to score Off caters for this by putting
ngly tougher
the mos t points to win the Gran d Prix against a string of increasi
d their
(of which there are eight in
Burnout 2) opponents who have to han
to finish the you upo n bein g beat.
and handily you don’t have vehicle over to
ship in a sing le sitting.
entire champion

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 157

 » Burnout Paradise has some
on our
fantastic art. Look out for it
cover in 2023.

’t clean
dise City where the cars aren
» “Take me down to the Para
and the roads are gritty.”

criticised the omission of Crash mode, which and not one we’re sure we’ve heard of before. But
it felt was “sure to baffle and infuriate long-time before any developers reading this get any ideas,
fans”. PSM3 gave it 81%, complaining of a sense Alex is quick to note that the intended result was
that it was “trying to shoehorn two separate types not achieved. “But looking back that was because
of racer onto one disc to please everyone.” the tools and workflows were horrific,” he says.
The next game in the series was the true “We were totally not ready to move to PS3 and not
leap into the HD era. Instead of featuring closed ready to do anything other than ‘make PS2 games
circuits and point-to-point races, Burnout Paradise on PS3’ so it became a massive headache. It was
took place in Paradise City, a full open world okay in the end, but not quite worth the hardship
environment which hosted a variety of both classic endured by everyone who worked on it.”
Burnout events and new challenges. “The game In fact, Alex remembers the game being a
was really about learning and exploring the city. difficult development in general. “That one is all
The game was just something that you did whilst about HUD and navigation really. We weren’t that
doing that,” says Alex. “My mantra for it was ‘not great at those things,” he explains. This was a
playing the game is the game’ (which was pretty hugely important factor, as the racing model of the
risky) – I’m lucky that Fiona, Hamish, Matt, Craig, game didn’t specify routes within the open world –
Pete and PG all went along with it as well.” you were free to reach the goal any way you liked.

G
This meant that traditional directional indicators
iven that he has said how radical and were useless, and the team had to come up with
risky a shift this was, we couldn’t its own solution. “I think we sort of got there in
help but wonder why Alex and the the end. I liked what we did with the overhead
team would choose such a design. road signs and I remember making the decision to
“Two reasons,” says Alex when asked. “Firstly, make all the races end at compass points on the
I was really into open-world games, especially map.” Limiting the number of finish lines helped to
Mercenaries by Pandemic. It dawned on me that reduce the burden on the player, as they typically
‘the world is the game’ and you could have many, knew where they were going and mostly had to
many hours of fun just exploring and doing things keep an eye on how they were getting there.
different ways.” That’s not so surprising, as 3D Despite the difficulties in developing the game,
open world games had become enormously Burnout Paradise blended core Burnout features
popular over the course of the early Noughties. with the open-world concept very well – the
The second reason is more surprising, though. new Showtime mode was a reimagined version
“After four games most of our artists didn’t quite of Crash mode, focused on gaining distance by
get on with each other,” Alex reveals. “Tracks keeping your car bouncing, while Stunt Runs let
tended to be made by a single person for the you show off your driving skills by performing
whole development. An open-world game would tricks for points. Cars now had different boost
force them to collaborate and communicate and
hopefully we’d get a better result, better game and
» The cars weren’t
licensed, but they evoked better team.” Using the game design to resolve
real-world designs. internal studio tensions is an interesting approach,

gh
s to find while cruising throu
» There are lots of cool thing r Jumps.
Paradise City, including Supe

158 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL

 THE HISTORY OF: BURNOUT

CRASH AND BURN t was Burnout’s

The strange departure tha
last original game to date
Although Burnout Paradise was the last Autolog challenges did add some lasting value. that “gamers looking for a test of skill would
full-fledged Burnout game, a download-only Unfortunately, the servers for the game are be better off playing Angry Birds”. Official
game by the name of Burnout Crash was now offline, diminishing the game’s appeal. PlayStation Magazine split the difference and
released for PS3 and Xbox 360 a few years Reviews of Burnout Crash were mildly positive scored it 7/10, with the reviewer feeling that the
after that. The game took the Crash mode of upon its release in September 2011, with game “strikes just the right balance between
past games and reframed it as a top-down critics typically finding that it was fun, but addictive and repetitive”. Burnout Crash also
affair, with the aim still being to score points merely served to whet the appetite for a more received a release on iOS devices in April
by causing as much damage as possible. The substantial Burnout experience. Play offered 2012, and that version found a better critical
game was a slight package, offering just seven one of the most positive reviews, scoring it reception, however the game was pulled
cars and six intersections, although the online 79%, while a 6/10 review in games™ suggested from sale in 2015.

’s
out Paradise as part of the game
» Bikes were added to Burn
tes and DLC.
extensive campaign of upda

» Burnout Paradise
Remastered shot to
the top of the charts
when it was released
last year.

types, with Speed being similar to the early

“WE DID A LOT OUFFF”
GROUNDBREAKING ST
games, Aggression being similar to Burnout 3
onwards and a Stunt type that encouraged
performing tricks. Open-world elements were
smartly worked into the game design – damage Alex Ward
to your car persists between events and you need
to seek repair shops to fix it (this is less onerous ‘second sale’ thing was huge in the US at the helicopters, multiple players [in] a car and bike,
than it might sound, as it’s an instant process) time. We decided to create a reason for people we had lunar challenges on the Moon… again all
while driving through gas station forecourts would not to trade our game,” explains Alex. “We also groundbreaking stuff,” Alex reveals. “I don’t think
award you with a full boost bar. knew that EA sales people sold our game for a you’ll ever see anything like it ever again really.”
In January 2008, Burnout Paradise arrived for week or two, then went onto The Sims, then Tiger Perhaps fittingly, it seems that we’re unlikely
Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Edge described the game Woods golf etc. Few of them really understood to see Burnout again. Criterion moved on to
as a “build-your-own Burnout” where “if you our work or believed in Burnout as a franchise. revitalise the Need For Speed series, bringing
don’t like what lurks around one particular corner, We wanted to create a reason for the game to much of the Burnout experience to that series.
you just drive along to the next and score some continue to sell so all the updates fell out of that.” And apart from the downloadable game Burnout
leisurely points en route.” Praising it as Criterion’s Features added included new game modes, day/ Crash, there hasn’t been a new game in the series
“most courageous game to date”, the magazine night cycles, motorbikes, and even a whole new for over a decade. Though Burnout Paradise
claimed that it was “hard not to see it as the birth stunt-friendly area called Big Surf Island. “We Remastered went to the top of the charts when
of a new era” and awarded it 9/10. Other critics did a lot of groundbreaking stuff and everyone it was released in 2018, there’s no sign of a new
broadly agreed – the game scored 9/10 in X360 stepped up, artists, programmers, the ops people, game in the series, so Burnout fans wanting
Magazine, 90% in GamesMaster and 9/10 in everyone. We broke new ground with the format their fix on current systems have limited options
Official PlayStation Magazine. Not everyone was holders as no one had ever done so much DLC – though one of them is Dangerous Driving, the
quite so impressed though, with games™ scoring at the time.” This ultimately led to the release of spiritual successor developed by Alex’s current
it 7/10 and Play awarding it 74%, criticising it for Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, a package company Three Fields Entertainment. But if you’re
being too repetitive. that collected the game and its expansions. In reading this, then you likely have access to the
But that wasn’t the end of the Burnout Paradise fact, there was more Burnout Paradise content hardware needed to run the thrilling originals, and
story, as the game received a considerable amount than players ever saw. “We also did a lot of they hold up beautifully today – so go pick one up
of DLC. “We only did that because the whole stuff that never came out – we had planes, and have a smashing good time.

RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 159

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