Standing in front of that burgundy CRT television in 1996, watching Mario's pixelated face stretch and scrunch in the file select screen, I had no idea I was witnessing the birth of something that would fundamentally rewire how we think about moving through digital space. My mum was somewhere behind me complaining about the "telly being upside down again" because we'd switched from the regular aerial to the N64's RF adapter, but I couldn't hear…
I've got this theory that the best cooperative games aren't the ones where you're constantly in sync, performing some beautiful ballet of coordinated moves. No, the really memorable ones are where you're both slightly out of step, bumping into each other, accidentally ruining each other's stealth approaches, and somehow still managing to pull off the impossible. That's exactly what made Bonanza Bros on the Mega Drive so bloody brilliant.Picture this: me and my mate Dave,…
You know what? I was digging through my old console collection last weekend, trying to find my copy of Mario Kart 64, when I picked up that distinctive three-pronged beast of a controller. My thumb automatically found that little divot in the analog stick—you know the one, where years of Mario's running had worn the plastic down to a perfect grip. And it hit me like a brick: this weird, alien-looking thing was basically gaming's…
You know what still makes my palms sweat? That first leap in Disney's Aladdin on the Mega Drive. Not the actual platforming—though that cave escape sequence was genuinely tense—but the moment I realized I was holding something that shouldn't have been possible on home hardware. This wasn't just another movie tie-in cash grab cobbled together in six months. This was hand-drawn Disney animation running at 60fps on a machine that cost less than a decent…
I've been staring at this thing for twenty minutes, and I still can't decide if it's brilliant or lazy. The Sega Genesis Game Flashback Collection sits on my coffee table like a time capsule wrapped in modern plastic – forty-two games crammed into a unit that's roughly the size of a paperback novel. No cartridges to blow on. No six-button controller debates. Just plug it into your telly and boom, you're transported back to 1991.My…
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…