Retro reviews, vintage hardware, classic PC builds, and modern ways to keep old games alive.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World launched with the Sega Master System II baked directly into the BIOS, making it the default boot game for millions of kids who never owned a cartridge. Sega’s original mascot before Sonic took over, Alex Kidd punches through enemies and rocks, takes on bosses in Rock-Paper-Scissors matches, and tears through … Read more
Warlock: Master of the Arcane is a 4X turn-based strategy game developed by Ino-Co Plus and published by Paradox Interactive. Released in 2012, it is a spiritual successor to the Majesty series and draws heavily from the Civilization framework, replacing historical empire-building with fantasy combat across a procedurally generated world. Players select a warlock avatar, … Read more
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap is an action-platformer developed by Westone Bit Entertainment and published by Sega for the Sega Master System in 1989. Players begin the game cursed by the Meka Dragon and must explore an interconnected world, defeat bosses, and collect animal transformations to restore their human form. A landmark of open-world … Read more
Watch Dogs is an open-world action-adventure game developed and published by Ubisoft. Players control Aiden Pearce, a vigilante hacker navigating a fictionalized Chicago while manipulating the city’s interconnected infrastructure. Released in May 2014 across multiple platforms, the game was one of the most hyped releases of the early current-generation transition period.
XBlaster is a browser-based player-versus-player arena game developed and published by Bigpoint. Players pilot one of three mech classes in randomly generated arenas, collecting crates and eliminating opponents to earn skill points and credits used for upgrades. The game ran entirely on Bigpoint’s servers and required no client installation. It is no longer available online.
Tekken Revolution was a free-to-play fighting game released exclusively on PlayStation Network for PS3 in June 2013. Built on the Tekken Tag Tournament 2 engine, it introduced a character upgrade system using in-game currency (Fight Money) and offered Ranked Match, Player Match, and Arcade Battle modes. It was the first free-to-play entry in the Tekken … Read more
R-Type is a seminal horizontally scrolling shoot ’em up originally released in arcades by Irem in 1987. Ported to the Sega Master System in 1988, the game tasks players with piloting the R-9 fighter craft to take on the bizarre Bydo Empire. Known for its punishing difficulty and heavy reliance on memorization, R-Type stands out … Read more
Kenseiden is a side-scrolling action platformer released by Sega for the Master System in 1989. Set in feudal Japan, the game puts you in the sandals of Hayato, a samurai on a quest to defeat an army of demons and reclaim stolen sacred scrolls. The gameplay draws heavy inspiration from Konami’s Castlevania, trading whips for … Read more