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Uncanny Ani
Talking to StarWars.com on the 20th anniversary of the first Star Wars prequel film, George Lucas was clear that, "The films were designed for 12-year-olds." Big Ape Productions mustn't have got the memo when developing PS1 Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace though, because a steep difficulty curve, and bewildering design ensures...
Game of the Year Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2023
Sintillating
Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers to share their own personal PS5 and PS4 picks for 2023. Today, it's the turn of reviewer Jamie O'Neill. 5. Cannon Dancer - Osman: I've waxed lyrical many times about how Capcom's 1989 Strider is one of my personal favourite games ever, so the long awaited...
Mini Review Flashback 2 (PS5) - Disastrously Buggy Sequel Diminishes 1992 Classic
From Con-rad to Con-traversal
Flashback fans curb your enthusiasm, because Microid's 2023 Flashback 2's not even a 2D cinematic platform game. This PS5 pseudo 3D adventure doesn't have any of the subgenre's gameplay traits that Push Square noted when reviewing a title like Another World. It also doesn't continue in the tradition of great sci-fi...
More than token replaya-Billy-ty
Speaking to Push Square during Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons' July 2023 release, developer Secret Base's Raymond Teo described adding highly replayable roguelite elements to create a brawler with an ingenious way of counteracting the beat-'em-up genre's innate repetitiveness. It takes just under two...
Review Ridge Racer Type 4 (PS1) - The Pinnacle of PS1 Ridge Racer Games
I want to be R4-ever young
Republished on Saturday, 18th March, 2023: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of March 2023's PS Plus line up. The original text follows. Push Square has pondered the infancy of 3D console graphics during the 32-bit era, and reflected that the ageing process was not always...
Game of the Year Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2022
Recalling Dad's trips to seaside arcades
Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers to share their own personal PS5 and PS4 picks for 2022. Today, it's the turn of retro reviewer Jamie O'Neill. 5. Sonic Frontiers: I was looking for a surprise comparable to Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy from last year, so I...
Gaps in the Wonder years
In Retro Gamer Issue 124's 'A Westone Retrospective' feature, Westone co-founder Ryuichi Nishizawa stressed that he wanted to create a feeling of pressure for the player when developing 1986's arcade game Wonder Boy — the first of four retro games in Bliss Brain Corporation's Wonder Boy Collection, which compiles two...
Review Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PS1) - Iconic Survival Horror
Jill sandwich, please, petrified with mixed herbs
Republished on Thursday, 23rd June, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following Resident Evil: Director's Cut's inclusion in All PS Plus Games. The original text follows. Originally published on Sunday, 25th November, 2018: Spencer Mansion, set deep in Raccoon Forest, looming...
Review Jumping Flash! (PS1) - Unique 90s Platforming from a First-Person Perspective
Buy it, don't Robbit
Republished on Wednesday, 22nd June, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following Jumping Flash!'s inclusion in All PS Plus Games. The original text follows. Originally published on Sunday, 4th November, 2018: The 16-bit console wars were merciless. During the early concept stage of the PlayStation...
Mini Review Cotton Fantasy (PS4) - The Shoot-'Em-Up Fan's Cute-'Em-Up
A tea-rrific time, or too much Silk cut?
You wait ages for a Cotton game, and then six arrive on PS4 at once, celebrating the series' 30th anniversary in 2021. Welcome to the Fairyland, where developer Studio Saizensen has in the cauldron boiled and baked Cotton Fantasy: Superlative Night Dreams (Cotton Rock 'n' Roll in Japan) as an all-star...
Game of the Year Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2021
Memories make me want to go back there
Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers to share their own personal PS5 and PS4 picks for 2021. Today, it's the turn of retro specialist Jamie O'Neill. 5. Turrican Flashback: Like in the Weezer lyrics, whenever I replay the first two Euro-style 2D run-and-gun Turrican games...
Mini Review Gynoug (PS5) - Another Ratalaika 16-Bit Shmup with Two Easy Platinums
He's not the Masaya, he's a very Wor-ty boy
A distinctive art style can elevate a retro game into becoming engraved in our memories, for example many shoot-'em-up fans vividly remember the visual design of the Bydo Empire, with its biomechanical theme, and bosses like Dobkeratops as a defining part of R-Type. In 1991 magazines, like Issue 113 of...
Mini Review Panorama Cotton (PS4) - Technically Impressive 16-bit Rail Shooter in Unloving Port
Welcome to the infamy zone
It's pleasing that United Games Entertainment is working alongside ININ Games, and Ratalaika Games on port programming to bring Japanese only retro games to modern consoles, like the Mega Drive's Space Harrier-esque rail shooter, Panorama Cotton. It's magical to witness on ageing 16-bit hardware — which unimpressively...
Mini Review Gleylancer (PS5) - Solid 1992 Mega Drive Shmup Shines Again
Bust out the Busterhawk for two easy Platinums
From its July 1992 release, Masaya's Gleylancer didn't initially shine as a single player shoot-'em-up. It received a mixed reception, with Issue 2 of Mean Machines SEGA magazine describing it as unoriginal and tedious in a 48/100 scoring review. For years Gleylancer was more renowned for its reputation...
Mini Review Actraiser Renaissance (PS4) - SNES Remake Is a Game of Three Thirds
Generous, gabby god game
Praised for being "A Game of Two Halves" in issue two of Super Play, gaming magazines like CVG and Mean Machines were consistent in applauding SNES ActRaiser in the early 1990s for combining two contrasting gameplay styles. This effective structure is preserved in PS4 Actraiser Renaissance, as this remake retains the...
Mini Review Cotton Reboot! (PS4) - Spooky Cute-'Em-Up's an Elaborate and Accessible 2D Shooter
Bless your Cotton shmups
Even if you're in the middle of a scorching summer, there are games that remind you of other seasons, and with a story that follows Cotton as a broomstick riding witch, PS4 Cotton Reboot! conjures up images of moonlit autumn nights. It's Cotton's sweet tooth, and love of candy wrapped WILLOW, which persuades her over seven...
Mini Review Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl (PS4) - Mallrats Brawler with Nine NES Chapters Nootch
NESnootchie bickety bam beat-'em-up
Can a retro modern game be too retro for its own good? This is a question we asked ourselves while playing Interabang Entertainment's Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl as a PS4 beat-'em-up restricted by the limitations of additionally being released on a cartridge for the original NES hardware. We also questioned...
Review Capcom Arcade Stadium (PS4) - Capcom-asters of 32 Arcade Games from 1984 to 2001
Worth every Zenny
The widespread use of CD-ROM formats during the 32-bit era allowed space for decent retro game compilations on the PS1, but the potential of retro collections blossomed into larger libraries and extra features on the PS2 and PSP. The likes of Taito Legends, SNK Arcade Classics, and especially the various volumes of the
Mini Review Battle Axe (PS4) - Top-Down Mix of Brawler and Run-'n'-Gun with Henk Nieborg Pixel Art
Not an old battle-axe, a new Battle Axe
Considering that Makoto Uchida's work on Golden Axe was inspired by combining a fantasy backdrop with Double Dragon's gameplay — alongside the fact that Golden Axe was originally going to be named as Battle Axe or Broad Axe instead — the greatest compliment we can give Numskull Games' PS4 Battle Axe is...
Review Turrican Flashback (PS4) - Four Turrican Thrills in One No-Frills Package
X-Factor 5
16-bit home computer retro games are welcome on the PlayStation 4, especially as there has not been an abundance of Commodore Amiga games available, with a few exceptions being versions of Another World, Flashback, GODS Remastered, and Shadow of the Beast. Therefore, it's particularly pleasing to have the first two classic A
Game of the Year Jamie's Top 5 PS5, PS4 Games of 2020
Emotions running high
Alongside our staff-voted Game of the Year awards, each of our writers have crafted their own personal lists, covering their top five PlayStation 5 and PS4 titles of 2020. Today, it's the turn of retro specialist Jamie O'Neill. 5. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales: My favourite part of Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the...
Mini Review Blazing Chrome - JoyMasher's Homage to the Best 16-Bit Run-'n'-Gun Games
Joy machine masher
In a similar way to scrolling shooters, there's a purity to the gameplay in side-scrolling run-and-gun games, which has kept retro gamers coming back since Contra in 1987. Developed by JoyMasher and released in July 2019, Blazing Chrome's success comes from taking inspiration from the best 16-bit run-and-gun games -- with...
Game of the Year Jamie's Top 5 PS4 Games of 2019
Memory lane
Alongside our staff-voted Game of the Year awards, each of our writers have crafted their own personal lists, covering their top five PlayStation 4 titles of 2019. Today, it's the turn of reviewer Jamie O'Neill. 5. The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors: In a similar way to Blazing Chrome, the pixel art in The Ninja Saviors:...
Review The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors - A PS4 Remake of a Classic Beat-'Em-Up
Tengo's game works
Developed by NatsumeAtari's Tengo Project team, The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is a remake of a 1994 SNES beat-'em-up, The Ninja Warriors Again, which in itself felt like a mixture of sequel and remake of TAITO's 1987 The Ninja Warriors arcade game. With gameplay that expands upon the template set by the likes of
