Retro Gamer Annual Volume 3

180 Pages·2016·32.82 MB·English

by  Retro Gamer

PC | SONY | SEGA | NINTENDO | SINCLAIR | SNK | ATARI | COMMODORE | COIN-OP | MOBILE
180

PAGES OF
ICONIC GAMES

WELCOME TO
The interest in classic computers and consoles has exploded over the
last few years, and gamers are keen to go back to their roots. We all
have classic gaming memories, whether it’s clearing the i rst stage of
Donkey Kong or remembering the i rst game we purchased for our ZX
Spectrum. It’s these moments that stay with us forever. With that in
mind, we’ve decided to scour the last 12 issues of Retro Gamer and
have compiled the best content from that period, just for you. From
the history of Out Run and Quake to the story of the Commodore 64
and Mega-CD, we’ve left no stone unturned to deliver the greatest
retro content. Enjoy the book!

Future Publishing Ltd
Richmond House
33 Richmond Hill
Bournemouth
Dorset BH2 6EZ
(cid:8) [phone]
Website www.futureplc.com
Creative Director Aaron Asadi
Editorial Director Ross Andrews
Editor In Chief Jon White
Editor Darran Jones
Senior Art Editor Greg Whitaker
Senior Designer Adam Markiewicz
Printed by
William Gibbons, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall,
West Midlands, WV13 3XT
Distributed in the UK, Eire & the Rest of the World by
Marketforce, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5HU.
(cid:8) 0203 787 9060 www.marketforce.co.uk
Distributed in Australia by
Gordon & Gotch Australia Pty Ltd, 26 Rodborough Road,
Frenchs Forest, NSW, 2086 Australia
(cid:8) [phone] www.gordongotch.com.au
Disclaimer
The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged
in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of Future Publishing Limited. Nothing in
this bookazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the
publisher. All copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism
and review. Although the bookazine has endeavoured to ensure all information is correct
at time of print, prices and availability may change. This bookazine is fully independent and
not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.
Retro Gamer Annual Volume 3
' 2016 Future Publishing Limited
Part of the
bookazine series
THE
ULTIMATE
GUIDE TO
CLASSIC
VIDEOGAMING
8 THE STORY OF 60 THE CHRONICLES
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG OF MIDNIGHT
Takashi Iizuki reveals how Sonic became Sega’s We look back at the impact of Mike Singleton’s
most important gaming franchise The Lords Of Midnight and its key sequels
18 THE MAKING OF COMBAT 68 30 YEARS OF
CODEMASTERS
Joe Decuir explains how he helped to create
114
one of the Atari 2600’s most iconic games David Darling explains how a budget brand
turned into one of the UK’s biggest publishers
24 INSIDE THE
COMMODORE 64 76 ULTIMATE GUIDE:
HEAD OVER HEELS
Learn how Commodore’s top engineer created
the world’s bestselling 8-bit home computer Jon Ritman spills the beans on his ridiculously
successful isometric adventure
30 ULTIMATE GUIDE:
RENEGADE 82 CELEBRATING THE
104
MACINTOSH
Everything you ever needed to know about the
bone-crunching coin-op from Technos We reveal how Apple’s brand on home
(cid:54)(cid:36)(cid:37)(cid:50)(cid:55)(cid:40)(cid:56)(cid:53)
computers keeps on evolving
36 ALL-TIME GREATEST
BBC MICRO GAMES 90 THE MAKING OF
BLUE LIGHTNING
Readers reveal their favourite games, while we
quiz the developers behind them Chuck Sommerville explains how he helped
create one of the Lynx’s best launch games
46 ULTIMATE GUIDE: 54
STAR WARS 94 SEGA(cid:146)S BIG GAMBLE
We interview Mike Halley about his classic Find out if Sega’s decision to create two
game and investigate its many conversions expensive add-ons for the Mega Drive worked
54 THE MAKING OF 104 THE LEGACY OF
SABOTEUR STREET FIGHTER II
Clive Townsend takes us behind the scenes of Yoshinori Ono and others explain the impact of
his excellent Spectrum game Capcom’s incredible arcade sequel 82
6 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL
114 ULTIMATE GUIDE:
BURGERTIME
Discover all the ingredients that turned this
classic coin-op into an essential experience
120 FROM THE ARCHIVES:
ACCLAIM
We go behind the scenes of one of gaming’s
most controversial publishers
128 THE MAKING OF WALKER
Learn how Psygnosis created its superb Amiga
mech-based shoot-’em-up
76 60 68
132 MINORITY REPORT:
AMIGA 500
Kim Justice is on hand to tell you about some WW II PP EEOO UU TT
of the Amiga’s quirkiest games
136 THE MAKING OF
WIPEOUT 2097
We reveal how an add-on disc turned into one
of the PlayStation’s best sequels 30 46 136
144 THE HISTORY OF OUT RUN
Yu Suzuki and others explain the enduring
legacy of Sega’s hit arcade series
154 20 YEARS OF QUAKE
Key developers explain how they created one of
id Software’s most explosive franchises
90
164 NINTENDO(cid:146)S 3D
GAME-CHANGER
The programmers behind some of the N64’s
greatest platformers pay tribute to Mario
174 RETRO REVIVAL:
INSIDE OUTING
If you’ve never had a chance to experience this
164 154
gem you’re really missing out
RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 7
With a quarter of a century now behind Sonic, Nick
Thorpe looks back at the impact of the original Mega Drive
platform games with Sonic Team head and Mega Drive
development veteran, Takashi Iizuka
8 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL
T
here aren’t many games that could
be described as revolutionary, and far
fewer series – yet the quartet of Sonic
The Hedgehog platform games on the
Mega Drive can justifi ably be described as such.
At the highest level, the Sonic games had a wide
impact that both drove and refl ected the changes the
videogame market was undergoing in the Nineties.
The original game intensifi ed the rivalry between
Sega and Nintendo, bringing the two companies to
an even footing for the fi rst time, as well as providing
an early example of celebrity involvement in game
development. The sequel signifi ed the growing
globalisation of the videogame market – the game
was the result of collaboration between Japanese
and American developers, and a full global launch
was managed within a week. For Sonic 3 and Sonic
& Knuckles, the concept of an expansion pack was
pioneered on consoles. However, fi rst and foremost
they were platform games featuring fantastic game
design and amazing technical achievements.
One of the people who best understands the differentiate itself from the competition, and to its » We’re glad
importance of Sonic’s 16-bit era is Takashi Iizuka, a credit it was already doing so. The Mega Drive was a lot of these
early concept
Sonic Team veteran who now heads up development already catering to older audiences with complex bosses were
of the series. “While I was seeking employment at RPGs and sports simulations. What’s more, Sega dropped. Why
Sega, I bought Sonic The Hedgehog to understand was aggressively advertising against Nintendo. on earth is Dr.
Robotnik a
the job and products of the company, and that was To advance Sega’s agenda of distinguishing its bee?
my fi rst encounter with Sonic,” he recalls. “At that offering from the competition, Sonic needed to
time, I only had Super Nintendo, so I was impressed achieve three things. Firstly, the game and character
by the vivid screen and speedy gameplay of Sonic, had to fi t into the plan to appeal to a slightly older
and I remember thinking that I wanted to make a demographic than the preteen audience associated
game like this if I got hired by Sega.” with Nintendo’s machines. Naoto Ohshima’s initial
The simple fact that Iizuka only had a Super designs of Sonic gave him sharp teeth, a human
Nintendo highlights one of the key reasons that Sega girlfriend and cast him as the vocalist of a rock
needed Sonic. After being slow to jump into the band. While these harder-edged attributes would
16-bit generation of consoles, Nintendo had arrived ultimately fall away, Sonic’s attitude remained – he
– and while Sega had a sales head start, Nintendo was impulsive, impatient and cool. “In the Nineties,
had a more powerful machine. Sega needed to Mickey Mouse, Pooh, all those animal-themed
RETRO GAMER ANNUAL | 9
THE MOD SCENE
The Sonic community has been producing interesting mods for the
Mega Drive games for years – here are fi ve of our favourites
» Sonic 2’s Chemical Plant Zone provided a fine opportunity for Sonic to show
off his extra speed.
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG MEGAMIX SONIC 1: THE NEXT LEVEL
characters were all friendly and cute, and that was
(cid:81)(cid:3)This ambitious team project is a complete overhaul (cid:81)(cid:3)If you want to see how far a Mega Drive can be the matter of course,” remarks Iizuka. “So seeing
of the original Sonic The Hedgehog game, featuring new pushed technically, take a good look at this short, but Sonic being speedy and edgy in that time, made me
visuals, music, bosses and gameplay mechanics, as incredible, effort. The animation in Sonic 1: The Next feel that he is a character whom has the exact same
well as a range of additional characters. What’s most Level is superb, the sampled music is amazingly clear, identity of the company Sega itself. Maybe everyone
impressive is that the entire thing has been ported to and some of the special visual effects call to mind felt that way at the time too.”
Mega-CD, allowing anyone with a blank CD-R to play it Treasure’s programming prowess – especially the The second thing that Sega’s new game needed
on actual Sega hardware. climactic final boss fight. to do was provide a strong demonstration of the
Mega Drive’s capabilities. The machine had been out
for a couple of years, and was a known quantity, but
there was no ‘killer app’ that new consumers could
associate with the console. “I think the fi rst Sonic
The Hedgehog, which was born in Mega Drive, was
the title that drastically expanded the possibility of the
Mega Drive hardware,” says Iizuka. “Although the
spec of the Mega Drive hardware was lower
than Super Nintendo, the graphics were as good as
the Super Nintendo games.” This was the joint work
of the experienced graphic artist Rieko Kodama,
whose previous work included Phantasy Star and
SONIC VR SONIC CLASSIC HEROES
the Alex Kidd games, and relative newcomer Jina
(cid:81)(cid:3)Do you consider yourself an expert on everything (cid:81)(cid:3)Remember the core mechanic of 2003’s Sonic Heroes, Ishiwatari, who would go on to help defi ne the look
Sonic? Beating this fiendish mod without cheating will where you controlled teams of three characters instead of the Sonic series. “It also achieved screen rotation,
prove it. This ‘virtual reality training’ game gives you of individual characters? This impressive technical mod which was never done in the previous Mega Drive
a variety a short challenges which test your speed, adds that function to the first two Sonic The Hedgehog games,” Iizuka continues. This was the responsibility
problem-solving skills and mastery of Sonic’s physics. games, allowing you to switch between Sonic, Tails and of programmer Yuji Naka, who had cut his teeth
Highlights include challenges such as ‘The Pain Train’ Knuckles on the fly in order to use their unique abilities, on high profi le arcade conversions for the Master
and ‘Roadkill Factory’. based around speed, flight and power respectively. System. As well as this technical feat, he was
responsible for Sonic’s advanced physics and the
effi ciency that allowed Hirokazu Yasuhara’s stage
BIG’S FISHING DERBY
designs to be brought to life.
(cid:81)(cid:3)This might just be the craziest mod that we have
ever seen – not only does it do away with the blue blur
(in favour of everyone’s favourite big purple cat), it
chucks the entire platform gameplay concept out of the
window and replaces it with a fun arcade-style fishing
game. When you’ve finished it, try Big’s Big Fishing
Adventure 3 for more fun.
» Sonic’s speed was more of a reward than a requirement – the original
game often slowed things down.
10 | RETRO GAMER ANNUAL