Christmas 1999 was approaching and my mum had that look—the one where she's holding a wrapped present behind her back and trying not to grin. "Don't shake it," she warned, which naturally made me want to shake it even more. When I finally tore through the wrapping paper on Christmas morning, there it was: Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue for the N64, complete with that distinctive yellow cartridge that looked like it…
You know what's funny? I was digging through my old GamePro magazines the other day—the ones with slightly sticky pages from spilled orange squash and excitement—when I stumbled across a preview that made me pause. There it was, in bold letters: "Nintendo Ultra 64." Not N64. Not Nintendo 64. The Ultra 64.It's weird how certain names stick in your brain, isn't it? Like hearing your mate's older brother mention "Project Reality" in hushed tones back…
You know what still gives me goosebumps? That opening crawl. Not just any opening crawl—the one from Star Wars Episode I: Racer on the N64. There I was, probably wearing my lucky Phantom Menace t-shirt (the one with Darth Maul's face that glowed in the dark, because 1999 was a simpler time), watching yellow text scroll up my fuzzy CRT while the 64's audio chip did its best impression of John Williams. It wasn't perfect.…
There I was, fifteen years old with a fresh N64 controller in my hands, expecting another colorful romp through whatever cutesy world Rare had cooked up next. I mean, come on—this was the studio that gave us Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country. Fluffy platformers with family-friendly charm, right? Then I booted up Conker's Bad Fur Day for the first time, and honestly? My teenage brain nearly short-circuited.The opening sequence alone should've prepared me. That cheeky…
Fallout 4 Joe’s writing this one because Carl made the mistake of saying “well, the Xbox One version runs basically the same” in our last Zoom call, and someone had to remind him that Sega’s ghost still haunts every conversation about hardware limitations, even when Sega’s not in the room. That’s not really relevant to Fallout 4, admittedly, since it never touched a Genesis or a Saturn or anything with the word “Sega” stamped on…
The rental shop on our high street had this bizarre policy where they'd put the most disappointing games right at eye level, like they were trying to trick you into a lifetime of trust issues. I remember staring at that Superman 64 box art—bright blue, cape flowing, all that heroic promise—while clutching my £3 rental fee like it was my last tenner. Should've bought a bag of chips instead. Would've been infinitely more satisfying.You know…
You know how sometimes you stumble across an old box in your mum's loft and suddenly you're twelve again, arguing with your brother about who gets to be Yoshi? That happened to me last weekend when I found my N64 controller collection—four original grey pads, one with a wonky stick that drifts left like it's permanently steering into a skid. The muscle memory kicked in immediately. That three-pronged alien spaceship design that everyone mocked until…
Marcus is writing this one because everyone else on the team is still arguing about whether Quantum Break counts as a game or a very expensive interactive television experiment. John thinks it’s one of the most underrated releases of the Xbox One generation. Joe dismisses it because it came out after 2010 and doesn’t have a single sprite in it. Tim liked the acting but got bored during the shooting sections. Sam spent forty hours…
You know that feeling when you stumble across an old photo album in your parents' attic? That's exactly what fired up the Sega Genesis Classics Collection for the first time felt like. Except instead of embarrassing haircuts and questionable fashion choices, I was staring at a treasure trove of 16-bit memories that immediately transported me back to Saturday afternoons spent hunched over a controller, desperately trying to beat Streets of Rage before tea time.I'll be…
My mate Dave used to have this theory about the Sega Genesis – sorry, Mega Drive to those of us who lived through the proper naming convention – that it was basically a sports car disguised as a games console. "Listen to that sound," he'd say, cranking up OutRun 2019 until his mum shouted from downstairs. That Yamaha FM synthesis chip didn't just make music; it made automotive poetry. Every rev, every screech of tyres,…