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90s Video Games

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In 90s Gaming Nostalgia

Top 10 Best 80s and 90s Consoles Ranked by Sales, Impact, and Innovation

25 Mins Read

The best 80s and 90s consoles fundamentally shaped modern gaming. The NES sold 61.9 million units and invented home console standards. The PlayStation moved 102.5 million units and launched the disc-based era. The Game Boy achieved 118 million sales and proved handhelds could dominate. These systems competed fiercely, innovated relentlessly, and created the gaming industry we know today. This ranking evaluates the best 80s and 90s consoles by lifetime sales, cultural impact, technical innovation, and…

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In 90s Video Games

Playing Sonic 2 Online With My Buddy Just Like 1992 All Over Again

6 Mins Read

You know that exact moment in Sonic 2 when Tails shows up? That orange blur suddenly appearing on screen, and you realize you’re not running through Green Hill Zone alone anymore. My friend Mike and I probably logged a thousand hours fighting over who got to be Sonic during those endless summer afternoons in ’92. Though honestly, playing Tails wasn’t terrible – you could fly around, at least until Mike inevitably speed-ran ahead and left…

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In 90s Video Games

Why NBA Jam on Genesis Made Me Believe Basketball Could Be Magic

6 Mins Read

That arcade cabinet sat right there between a busted Galaga machine and a Street Fighter II that perpetually reeked of cigarette smoke and whatever mystery substance someone had spilled on the joysticks. I must’ve fed that NBA Jam machine twenty dollars in quarters over the course of summer ’93 – enough money to actually buy the Genesis cart, but you know how it is when you’re fifteen and logic takes a backseat to pure arcade…

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In 90s Video Games

Why MK3 on Genesis Made Me a Fighting Game Believer (And Gave Me Permanent Thumb Calluses)

6 Mins Read

My buddy Jake claimed he could nail Sub-Zero’s spine rip fatality every single time. This was 1995, we’re crammed into his basement rec room that always smelled like stale pizza and that weird musty carpet smell, and Jake’s going absolutely nuts on his six-button Genesis controller like he’s trying to break it. Here’s the thing about Mortal Kombat 3 on Genesis though – it wasn’t just about button mashing. You couldn’t just flail around and…

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In 90s Video Games

Burnout 3: Takedown Review: The Racing Game That Made Crashing Fun

5 Mins Read

I came to Burnout 3 expecting a competent arcade racer. What I found was a complete philosophy shift about what racing games could be. Coming from construction, I understand something about breaking things down and rebuilding better. Burnout 3 took racing game conventions and completely rebuilt them around destruction as a core mechanic. Instead of avoiding crashes, you embrace them. You ram opponents. You create massive pile-ups. The wreckage becomes the point. This is design…

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In 2000s Video Games

The 10 Best Xbox Games of All Time (According to Five Guys Who Watched Microsoft Crash The Console Party)

13 Mins Read

Microsoft showed up to console gaming in 2001 and immediately proved they understood how to compete. The Xbox was aggressively marketed. The online infrastructure was built-in from day one. The third-party support was unprecedented – major studios were developing for Xbox from launch. And most importantly, there was Halo. A game so good that it didn’t just justify the console’s existence – it redefined what console gaming could be. We spent three weeks arguing not…

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In 90s Video Games

Why the Mega Drive’s RPGs Were Proper Mental Brilliance That Everyone Missed

7 Mins Read

Right, so picture this – I’m rootling through this grotty charity shop in Ancoats last Tuesday, yeah? Proper old-school place that still smells like your nan’s house, and there’s this cardboard box tucked behind some knackered VHS tapes. Bloke behind the counter goes “fiver for the lot, mate” without even looking up from his Daily Mirror. Five quid! For what turned out to be a treasure trove of Mega Drive carts, including – and I’m…

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In 90s Video Games

How the Six-Button Controller Made Genesis the Ultimate Fighting Game Console

7 Mins Read

That chunky six-button controller showed up at my friend Mike’s house on a random Saturday in 1993, and I swear it changed everything about how we thought about fighting games. Mike had been bragging about it all week at school – three extra buttons, he kept saying, like that somehow made him gaming royalty. I figured it was typical Mike exaggeration until I actually held the thing. The weight felt different, more serious somehow. Instead…

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In 90s Video Games

How Sonic on Genesis Made Everyone Else Look Like They Were Moving in Slow Motion

7 Mins Read

Back in 1991, I was twelve years old and completely convinced that my Genesis was about to change the world. I’d been defending Sega since getting my Master System three years earlier – you know how it is when you’re the weird kid with the “wrong” console – but Sonic felt different. This wasn’t just another exclusive game to add to my arsenal of playground arguments. This was ammunition. I still remember unwrapping that first…

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In 90s Video Games

Why Desert Strike on Genesis Made Me Feel Like a Real Combat Pilot

6 Mins Read

You know what’s funny? I’ve been gaming for over forty years now, and I can still remember the exact moment I realized helicopter games were something special. It was 1992, I was fifteen, and my friend Dave had just gotten Desert Strike for his Genesis. We’d spent most of that summer trading games back and forth, but when he popped this cartridge in and handed me the controller, everything changed. Most games back then were…

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