It’s amazing how most gamers tend to have fond memories of games they had played when they were younger, even when they weren’t that great. This is particularly true for games which came with the system you bought as you inevitably played them a lot if they were good or not.

One game I have fond memories of is Altered Beast. It was a very average game but when my brother got it packaged with the Sega Megadrive I was amazed at how good the graphics and sound were (compared to the NES I had). I did quickly realise that it wasn’t a very involving game but I still enjoyed going back to it every now and then.

Another game I have fond memories was also on a Sega system which I didn’t own. Most of my friends had the NES or even Commodore 64s but one of my friends had the Sega Master System. The NES was undoubtedly a better system but I liked the Master System, probably because no one else had it so everything felt new.

I don’t remember my friend having too many games for the system but he did have Alex Kidd in Miracle World. The game was originally released in cartridge form but the console my friend owned had the game built in and you could play it simply by turning on the system without a cartridge in it. I didn’t play the game until around 1991 but the game was originally released in Japan in 1986.

Sega didn’t create too many platform games during the 80s but Alex Kidd was actually not bad. Granted it isn’t a classic game and looks very poor when compared to the likes of Super Mario Bros, however it was a decent game. It certainly ranked very well compared to other Master System platformers.

In the game you control Alex Kidd, a monkey looking boy who hails from the Planet Aries. His main strength is his ability to smash through rocks with his freakishly strong hands. The storyline is very similar to the Super Mario Bros series. In this game some a’hole called Janken the Great has kidnapped your brother and your fiancée. So Alex sets out to defeat him and save them.

At the end of most levels you face one of Jankens goons. To beat some of them you need to play them at rock, scissors, paper. I’m confused why they don’t add this to more games!!

If you’ve never seen the game before I recommend viewing the video below, part one of a walk through of the game.

The game has been released on the Wii console so if you like the look of the game you might fancy downloading it. Alternatively, the pirates among you might fancy downloading an emulator and playing it that way

• %%Alex Kidd in Miracle World%% is a post from: Retro Gaming Consoles • Want to chat with fellow gamers? If so, please drop by our retro gaming room at Electric Bandits.

I’m not very technical and I’m kind of lazy too, so I have a lot of respect for those who take old systems and improve them in some way, even if the improvement is somewhat strange!

Here is a list of 7 cool Nintendo Modifications. Enjoy

1. NES DVD Player

First up is the NES DVD player. The original NES casing was used to create a fully functional DVD player. The power LED lights up when it’s switched on and the tray opens just like a normal DVD player too. The 2nd controller port is used as a receiver for the remote control.

2. Nestari

Ben Hecks Nestari has to be one of the coolest fan made portable systems ever made. The device lets you play original Atari 2600 and NES games. Check out BenHeck for a full explanation of how the device was built.

3. Super Nintoaster – Super NES in a Toaster

The Super Nintoaster has to be one of the strangest Nintendo mods ever built. It is a fully functional Super NES within a toaster casing. The toaster level turns the system on and the toasting setting switch, which usually sets how well your bread is toasted, is used to turn the orange LED light within the unit up and down.

4. SNESp: Portable Super Nintendo

Brian Hendersons is a fantastic portable system which lets you play original SNES cartridges. It looks a little like a large Nintendo DS but this bad boy has a slot in the back for your SNES cartridges. Not sure how good battery life is but it’s a cool looking device nonetheless.

5. Darth64 – The portable N64 Handheld

The Darth64 is an obscure portable device which plays Nintendo 64 cartridges. The design is based on a ‘Laser Doodle’ and uses a 5 inch screen and a Hori joypad for the joystick and buttons etc. It looks like it would be difficult to play some 64 games but it’s still pretty good how he managed to squeeze a full Nintendo 64 into the casing.

6. Gamecube Portable

The Gamecube Portable is a great looking portable device which lets you play original Gamecube discs. The discs spin on the back of the device. Since the discs are quite small, the device is a little smaller than most of the SNES and N64 mods around.

7. Giant NES controller coffee table

Whilst most of the other mods in this roundup took the original device and fit it into a smaller casing, Kyle Downes did the opposite with his gigantic NES controller coffee table. It’s maybe not as practical as the other mods for playing games, but it sure does look like a lot of fun. And it would surely be a conversational starter for anyone who visited your house.

You can read more about the table at Kyles blog.

Hope you enjoyed the list

• %%7 Cool Nintendo Mods%% is a post from: Retro Gaming Consoles • Want to chat with fellow gamers? If so, please drop by our retro gaming room at Electric Bandits.

There are lots of great emulation scripts available which let you play classic games from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Generally speaking, playing games in this matter is illegal. Some companies are happy for you to play an old emulated game on your computer if you own the original game itself though other companies disagree with this (e.g. Nintendo).

I will assume that most of you already know this so I will not go into this in too much detail in this article. I will also assume that many of you do use emulators to play games from time to time. Playing emulated games is very easy; all you need to do is plug in your USB controller, download an emulator and then download the ROMs of games you want to play.

If you do play classic games through your pc then it may be worth upgrading to a better joystick. Whilst reading a games site the other day I saw an advert for an arcade joystick from a company called X-Arcade. The joysticks aren’t cheap but they are very impressive so I thought I would tell you all a little more about it.

Here is a brief look at their 4 main controllers.

X-Arcade Solo Joystick

Their basic controller is the X-Arcade Solo Joystick. This study 10 button arcade joystick retails for $99.95.

X-Arcade Trackball

Their trackball controller also retails for $99.95. The button configuration is similar in style to a golf arcade machine with 3 buttons at either side of the trackball. Would be good for playing some sports games, simulation games and games from the 70s which used paddles.

X-Arcade Dual Joystick

Their 2 player controller offers the best value in my opinion, coming in at $129.95, which is only $30 more than the solo arcade joystick.

X-Arcade Tankstick + Trackball

Their most expensive joystick is the 2 player Tankstick, which retails for $199.95. The joystick has a similar style to the regular 2 player joystick except it also has a trackball in the middle.

Being $70 more expensive than the regular 2 player joystick, my initial impression was that their premium joystick wasn’t worth the money. Why pay $70 more for a trackball?

It’s only when you see the two joysticks side by side that you see how much bigger the Tankstick is, the thing is massive!!

Overview

All of the X-Arcade joysticks use USB so will connect to your pc or mac easily. You can also purchase adaptors which let you use the joystick with Playstations (1,2 and 3), Xbox (including the 360), Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo Gamecube and Wii.

There’s no getting away from the fact that buying an arcade joystick costing $100+ is an indulgence, but if you have the cash you might want to splurge out. It’s actually not too expensive when you realise that it can be used on computers and on several systems (via adaptors). I haven’t personally used the joystick myself but all of the reviews have been positive. Seems like a good way to recreate the fun of playing an arcade machine without actually buying an arcade machine!

• %%Retro Gaming with an X-Arcade Joystick%% is a post from: Retro Gaming Consoles • Want to chat with fellow gamers? If so, please drop by our retro gaming room at Electric Bandits.

As I have mentioned a few times on Retro Gaming Consoles already, Street Fighter II was one of my favourite games growing up. I played it regularly in the arcades with my friends and the number of hours I spent playing the game went through the roof once I got it for the Super NES.

As I’m sure you well know, the Super NES version of Street Fighter II was revered as an almost arcade perfect port of the game. Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition on the Sega MegaDrive (Genesis) and Street Fighter II Dash on the PC Engine were great ports too.

Unfortunately, not all ports did this great game justice. Many developers released the game on machines that just couldn’t cope with the graphics, sound or speed the game required to play the game.

Here is a list of 5 of the worst Street Fighter II ports you are ever likely to see.

5. Master System

Tec Toy released a version of SFII in Brazil for the Sega Master system in 1997. I was actually a bit hesitant of including the game in this list. The sound is poor but the graphics are actually impressive, certainly better than any Master System game I have seen.

Alas, I have no time for any Street Fighter II game which only has 2 buttons so this graphically impressive Master System port just made it into the top 5.

4. Game Boy

The GameBoy version of Street Fighter II was released in 1995. Due to a limited amount of cartridge space, Dhalsim, E. Honda and Vega were all left out of the game. Since there were only two buttons on the GameBoy users had to touch a button quickly to perform a light attack and quickly for a stronger one.

3. NES

A pirated version of Street Fighter II arrived on the Nintendo during the 90s. Strangely, the game was entitled Street Fighter III.

Like the official GameBoy version, only 9 of the original 12 characters were included in the game. The game had some interesting quirks. For example, Ken was simply Ryu with a red gi instead of a white one so therefore had black hair instead of blonde (even though the intro screen suggested otherwise).

2. Commodore 64

British game developers US Gold released a port of Street Fighter II way back in 1992. The game looks more like a modified IK+ than a Street Fighter game. Awful!

1. ZX Spectrum

Although the graphics are in green rather than in colour, I am going to stick my neck on the line and say that the Spectrum port of Street Fighter II had better graphics than the Commodore 64. Unfortunately, this US Gold game was as slow as a week in Jail, it looked like you were playing the game in slow motion!

The sound was terrible as well. I’m impressed that anyone would even attempt to put Street Fighter 2 on the Spectrum but the finished article reminds you how old the Spectrum is!

Hope you enjoyed this list of poor Street Fighter II ports. Know of any other poor Street Fighter II translations?

• %%5 Awful Street Fighter II Ports%% is a post from: Retro Gaming Consoles • Want to chat with fellow gamers? If so, please drop by our retro gaming room at Electric Bandits.

UniRacers, known as UniRally here in the UK, was a fantastic two player racing game which was released on the Super NES in 1994. I played the game a lot when I was younger with my brother and in my opinion, it was one of the best games for the system.

Strangely, I also played this game against the Scottish Nintendo Champion at the Adidas StreetBall basketball tournament event (he beat me on the third round at SFII Turbo with less than 5% energy – very annoying!).

In the game you control a unicycle, in which you need to navigate around bendy courses with lots of bumps, hills, slopes, loop the loops and more. You can do a variety of tricks and when you do, you get a speed boost.

The graphics were pretty basic (read poor!) but it didn’t effect the enjoyment of the game in any way. Perhaps the basic graphics were required so that you weren’t put off by the incredibly fast gameplay.

It had a good one player mode but I much preferred the two player mode, which pitted you against a friend at the same time.

There have been many F1 racing games, futuristic racers and fun based racing games over the years. Though Uniracers was really unique, both in the choice of vehicle (can you remember another unicycle game) and the style of play.

If you haven’t played Uniracers before, I encourage you to try it out. You can pick it up very cheap on eBay. Alternatively, why not download an emulator and give it a try.

• %%Uniracers AKA UniRally%% is a post from: Retro Gaming Consoles • Want to chat with fellow gamers? If so, please drop by our retro gaming room at Electric Bandits.

I noticed the other day that the Sega Mega Drive: Ultimate Collection (known as Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection in North America) was down to £14.99 on Play. I mentioned this to my friend Joe and he told me I was crazy and would be throwing my money away if I purchased it. Before I talk about that, let’s look at the game itself.

The game was released for the Xbox 360 and the PS3. Games have apparently been updated to HD but they haven’t really. The game screen can be expanded to fit on modern televisions but the games have not been given a modern makeover like Bionic Commando Rearmed, Street Fighter II HD or Wipeout HD. So some of the games look very dated.

Still, it’s still a very cheap way to play some classic Sega games through your Xbox or PlayStation.

In total there are 40 games included from the start:

1. Alex Kidd In The Enchanted Castle
2. Alien Storm
3. Altered Beast
4. Beyond Oasis
5. Bonanza Bros.
6. Columns
7. Comix Zone
8. Decap Attack starring Chuck D. Head
9. Dr. Robotnik’s MBM
10. Dynamite Headdy
11. Ecco The Dolphin
12. Ecco II: The Tides Of Time
13. E-Swat
14. Fatal Labyrinth
15. Flicky
16. Gain Ground
17. Golden Axe I
18. Golden Axe II
19. Golden Axe III
20. Kid Chameleon
21. Phantasy Star II
22. Phantasy Star III: Generations Of Doom
23. Phantasy Star IV: The End Of The Millennium
24. Ristar
25. Shining In The Darkness
26. Shining Force
27. Shining Force 2
28. Shinobi III: Return Of The Ninja Master
29. Sonic 3D Blast
30. Sonic And Knuckles
31. Sonic Spinball
32. Sonic The Hedgehog
33. Sonic The Hedgehog 2
34. Sonic The Hedgehog 3
35. Streets Of Rage
36. Streets Of Rage 2
37. Streets Of Rage 3
38. Super Thunder Blade
39. Vectorman
40. Vectorman 2

By beating certain games you can win trophies and unlock interview videos of the people who created the original game. You can also unlock an additional 7 Sega arcade games and two master system games.

1. Alien Syndrome
2. Altered Beast
3. Congo Bongo
4. Fantasy Zone
5. Golden Axe Warrior (Sega Master System)
6. Phantasy Star (Sega Master System)
7. Shinobi
8. Space Harrier
9. Zaxxon

Is it worth buying Sega Mega Drive: Ultimate Collection?

Since I am playing modern warfare 2 religiously, I have time to see whether this collection is worth buying. My friend Joe was of the opinion that I’d be throwing my money away.

I have purchased several older games via the PlayStation store before so for me, £14.99 is actually good value for a collection of nearly 50 games. I can still remember when many of these games were released in the UK for £39.99 so maybe that is making me think this is good value.

The reviews for the game have been fairly positive, averaging a 7 or 8 out of 10 for most reviews. Some games like Sonic and Streets of Rage are still fun to play but some of them look a little dated now (Altered Beast etc). Plus it seems like Sega were a little lazy with the PAL release of this game as the screen shows Genesis carts instead of MegaDrive ones.

As I said, since I’m still actively playing the new Call of Duty game, I have time to consider whether this is a game worth buying. £14.99 seems like a bargain to be able to play 50 great Sega games. However, when you think about it, is it really worth it?

You are not playing these games on the original console, these games are simply being emulated. Therefore, they play the same way a Sega Emulator would play them. My laptop is hooked up to the same television which my PS3 uses and I could use this driver to use my Playstation Controller through my laptop so it’s perhaps a little silly to pay for the pleasure of playing these games via my PS3 as they haven’t been changed or improved in any way.

Sure, you can unlock trophies, but I’m a 30 year old man, and unlocking a trophy is something that just doesn’t interest me. So when I think about it logically, it seems silly to pay money for games which haven’t been improved as I could play the games using the same controller and on the same television for free. Yes, I know that emulation isn’t very legal but realistically, Sega aren’t going after old gamers who want a quick 30 minute blast of a game they used to play 20 years ago.

I’m still kind of in two minds about the game. £15 isn’t a lot of money and, being as lazy as I am, it would be handy to be able to just insert a disc and play some classic Sega games, plus it would be fun to play games like Streets of Rage or Sonic 2 on two player too. But, there’s no denying that you are just paying for emulated games, and you can easily download the whole MegaDrive collection within 30 minutes if you really want to play some classic Sega games.

What’s your opinion on the Sega Ultimate Collection disc and paying for emulated games in general. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this

In the meantime, check out this video review of the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection from James Woodcock.

• %%Sega Mega Drive: Ultimate Collection%% is a post from: Retro Gaming Consoles • Want to chat with fellow gamers? If so, please drop by our retro gaming room at Electric Bandits.

Last week I participated in a discussion over at DigitPress. The thread started off talking about what people thought was better: the SNES or the MegaDrive (Sega Genesis); however the argument changed direction nearer the end with myself and a few others debating over which console had the best controller.

I liked the original 3 button MegaDrive controller. It was larger than the SNES and NES controllers and fit comfortably in your hand.

The Super NES controller was a good controller too. The extra 3 buttons over the Sega controller allowed more functionality in games. True, many games didn’t really require 6 buttons but it came in particularly useful for fighting games like Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct.

In 1993, 4 years after the Sega Genesis deputed in North America, Sega released an upgraded official 6 button controller to coincide with the release of Street Fighter 2. The controller was slightly smaller and featured 3 smaller buttons (X,Y,Z) above the original buttons (A,B,C).

Although I did see the new 6 button controller in shops when it was released, I never used it. Therefore I am not able to compare the new 6 button controller to the original 6 button Super NES pad. However, should they be compared anyway?

In DigitPress some members believed that it’s fair to compare the upgraded controller to the original Super NES one because it was an official upgrade from Sega.

Though I don’t know if it’s right to compare these controllers. The 6 button controller was released 4 years after the console was released in North America and was only released to address the button limitations of the original controller, which wasn’t suitable for fighting games (very few games utilised the additional buttons on offer apart from fighting games such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat).

The Super NES had lots of third party controllers released for it though the original official controller was never replaced, so is it fair to compare to it to a controller which was brought out late in a consoles life?

I’m of the opinion that it’s not fair to compare them. I believe that if you compare the SNES controller to the Sega MegaDrive one then it should be the original 3 button controller. I do really love the original 3 button Sega joypad. It was perfect for beat em ups like Streets of Rage but it was limited with more advanced fighting 1 on 1 fighting games like Street Fighter II.

What do you think: Should you compare the SNES controller to the original 3 button MegaDrive Controller or the updated 6 button one?

• %%Should you compare the SNES controller to the original 3 button MegaDrive Controller or the updated 6 button one?%% is a post from: Retro Gaming Consoles • Want to chat with fellow gamers? If so, please drop by our retro gaming room at Electric Bandits.

As I mentioned last week, I’m a big fan of the Nintendo 64. The follow up to the Super NES had a great library of games and boasted 4 controller ports on the console whilst it’s rivals only had 2.

Over 30 million Nintendo 64s were sold worldwide. Which is just slightly more than the number of PlayStation 3s which have been sold since it was launched in 2006 so it should be considered a success. However, when you consider the Super NES sold 50 million units and the NES sold around 60 million, it doesn’t appear as successful as it’s predecessors. More importantly, it’s main rival at the time was the Sony PlayStation, which sold a whopping 125 million units worldwide. Ironically, Sony only developed the PlayStation after a joint project with Nintendo to produce a CD ROM for the Super NES fell through (known as the SNES CD).

So why didn’t Nintendo get a bigger share of the market during the mid to late 90s? One of the biggest factors was Nintendos choice of using cartridges instead of CDs, which was used by the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn, both of which were out a year or two before the 64.

Nintendo were obviously concerned about piracy, which they had experienced before with the Famicom Disk System in Japan in the 80s and early 90s, so decided against optical media.

Cartridges were’t all bad. There would be virtually no loading times and batteries could be included in games to save scores, saved games etc. However, developers had less space to develop games. Most of the first games released used 64mb cartridges though some later games, like Perfect Dark, had 256mb of storage. Though this was still way less than the 750mb which rival CD based consoles could use. CDs were much more cheaper to produce as well.

The Nintendo 64 was a much more advanced machine than the Saturn and PlayStation boasting a processor speed of around double it’s rivals but did cartridges limit developers? Would we have seen better graphics and improved gameplay in games had game designers had more storage?

It’s difficult to say however I do think the Nintendo 64 would have sold more had units had it used CDs as people could have used the system to play their music CDs or VCDs (Video Compact Discs: Essentially films on CDs, this format was incredibly popular in Asia). No doubt Piracy would have been more common though Sony showed that it doesn’t need to cripple a consoles success.

There were other reasons why the Nintendo 64 didn’t sell as well as the PlayStation (e.g. too few 3rd party games) however I do believe that the decision to use cartridges instead of CDs was a major factor in Nintendo losing the number 1 position which they had held for the best part of 10 years (it was also a reason why they had less 3rd party support than previous systems).

What do you think, would the Nintendo 64 been more popular if it used CDs instead of cartridges?

• %%Would the Nintendo 64 have been more popular if it had used CDs?%% is a post from: Retro Gaming Consoles • Want to chat with fellow gamers? If so, please drop by our retro gaming room at Electric Bandits.

I am pleased to bring you an interview today with gaming blogger an author Brett Weiss. Brett has written for several popular retro websites and magazines and blogs regularly on his own blog Brett Weiss Words too.

He is also the author of two great gaming books: Classic Home Video Games, 1972-1984: A Complete Reference Guide and Classic Home Video Games, 1985-1988: A Complete Reference Guide. Both of which are available on hardback for $44 via Amazon.

For those who don’t know you, can you tell everyone a little about yourself?

I live in Fort Worth, Texas with my wife, two kids (a thirteen-year-old boy and a twelve-year-old girl), a crazy dog, and a fat cat. I work from home and enjoy hiking, cycling, playing basketball and tennis, reading, writing, collecting and playing videogames (natch), and hanging out with the family.

I’ve worked at Waldenbooks and Lone Star Comics and have been co-owner of two comic book stores (Fantasic Comics & Cards). I was also an editor and writer for the All Game Guide. Currently, I’m working on my third book, I’m an archivist for mycomicshop.com, and I’m on the Comics Buyer’s Guide Review Crew.

I’m a freelance writer and have had articles published in Game Informer, Video Game Collector, Classic Gamer Magazine, Video Game Trader, Scary Monsters Magazine, Alter-Ego, Back Issue Magazine, Toy Cars & Models, Toy Shop, and various other magazines.

Can you remember what your first games console was?

During the late 1970s and early ’80s, I was a nuisance at anyone’s house who owned a Fairchild Channel F System, an Atari VCS (2600), an Intellivision, or any other game system. Finally, in 1982, when I was 15, I got my own ColecoVision for Christmas, but I did have to kick in $100 of my own lawn mowing money. Santa couldn’t (or chose not to) afford the $189 plus tax that the ColecoVision was going for back then. I sat up all night playing Donkey Kong, which came with the system, and Mouse Trap. I was thrilled beyond belief.

What systems have you owned over the years. Which one is your favourite and why?

Currently, I own around 50 systems or so and am still adding to my collection. My nostalgic favorite is the ColecoVision. Not only does it take me back to Christmas of ‘82, it has lots of great games, such as Lady Bug, Frenzy, Slither, and numerous other excellent ports of relatively obscure arcade classics. My favorite current system is the PlayStation2 (which also encompasses the PS1 since it’s backward-compatible). I love third-person 3D action games like the Maximo and God of War series, and it’s got a ton of classic arcade compilations.

You have released two books: Classic Home Video Games, 1972-1984: A Complete Reference Guide and Classic Home Video Games and 1985-1988: A Complete Reference Guide. What has the feedback been like for these books?

Very positive. People like that I include write-ups for every game for every system and not just the more popular games. Initially, some are turned off by the price (Amazon currently sells the books for $44 each), but once people look at the quality of the hardcover binding, the wealth of information, and the literate nature and quality of the writing (I’ve been a freelance writer for almost 20 years), they change their tune. To my knowledge, no one who has bought either book has regretted it, and I’ve had some very complimentary reviews show up on the web and in gaming mags.

Do you plan on continuing your book series and releasing a book which covers consoles beyond 1988?

Currently, I’m working on a book that will cover the Genesis, Neo Geo, and TurboGrafx-16. A fourth volume will cover the SNES (among others). I’ll probably continue the series after that if nothing drastic changes in my professional or personal life.

Do you own any modern gaming systems?

I enjoy playing the Wii with my kids. I beat Mario Galaxy, and we’ve had a great time with Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, Beatles Rock Band, Guitar Hero III, Carnival Games, and a number of others. I plan on getting a PS3 for God of War III (among others), and my son has talked about buying an Xbox 360.

In the 70s and 80s many great games came from very small companies. In the gaming world today it is becoming increasingly difficult for smaller companies to work in the industry at all. Do you think this is a bad thing or just a natural progression as gaming has become more mainstream?

I think it probably limits creativity in some respects. There were some ridiculous (in a good way) gaming conceits for the Atari 2600 (food themes alone could fill a shelf) that wouldn’t be possible today.

Lastly, in short. Can you tell us your top 10 favourite games of the last 30 years?

The least may be a little different depending on what day you ask me, but here are the 10 that come to mind:

• Mr. Do! (arcade, SNES)
• Maximo: Ghosts to Glory (PS2)
• Maximo vs. Army of Zin (PS2)
• Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
• Tron (arcade)
• Lady Bug (ColecoVision)
• Miner 2049er (ColecoVision)
• Resident Evil 4 (GameCube)
• Galaga ‘90 (TurboGrafx-16)
• Baby Pac-Man (arcade)

Many thanks to Brett for taking part in this interview. If you would like to know more about Brett or his books, please check out his blog Brett Weiss Words.

• %%Interview with Brett Weiss%% is a post from: Retro Gaming Consoles • Want to chat with fellow gamers? If so, please drop by our retro gaming room at Electric Bandits.

I was 11 when I got my NES for christmas (which I loved). Within the next year my older brother got the Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis). It was a great console whose graphics were much more advanced than the ageing Nintendo.

My bother mostly had sport games for the system. It came bundled with Altered Beast, which was fun for a short whilst but was suited more for the arcade and didn’t have any longevity. However, he purchased the ground breaking Sonic the Hedgehog and imported some great 2 player sports games from the USA like Lakers vs Celtics, EA Hockey and John Madden 92; all of which happened to be developed by gaming giants Electronic Arts.

Another Electronic Arts game he purchased was Road Rash, an iconic motor bike game in which you could run your opponents off the road or beat them up with clubs and crowbars.

The original Road Rash was released on several platforms including the Sega Mega Drive (Sega Genesis), Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, 3DO, Sega Master System and Sega CD. It was even released on the Game Boy and Sega Game Gear.

The game also spawned many sequels including Road Rash II, Road Rash III, Road Rash 3D, Road Rash 64 and Road Rash Jail Break. I’ve played Road Rash II on the Mega Drive and Road Rash 64 on the Nintendo 64. I’m not sure what people consider to be the best game in the series but my fondest memories are playing the original on the Mega Drive.

The original game was only a 1 player yet we used to play it in the living room. It was fun watching others play it as well and we would sometimes race a level each. There was nothing more satisfying than watching someone else get whipped off their bike with a metal chain!

In many respects the game was similar to other motor bike games that had been around before like Hang On. However Road Rash was a lot more fun. You could ram your bike into opponents and force them into incoming traffic or even obstacles like cows. You could also punch your opponents. Rivals had weapons but if you timed it right you could snatch the weapon off them and then use it against them.

It wasn’t just other racers you had to worry about. You also had to worry about the Police. The police would try and ram you off the road as well and if you got knocked off your bike and didn’t get back on quick enough you stood a chance of getting busted which means all the money you earned would be lost.

To earn money you had to finish in a race. This could be used in between levels to upgrade your bike in for one which was faster and had better handling.

You started off with the Shuriken 400, which had 60 HP and weighed 400lbs. Other bikes included the Banzai 750 for $6,500 (100HP and 465 lbs), Ferrari 850 for $11,000 (110HP and 470 lbs) and the famous Diablo 1000 for $25,000 (150HP and 450 lbs).

The game had 5 courses, all of which were set in the USA. The tracks included Sierra Nevada, Pacific Coast, Redwood Forest, Palm Desert and Grass Valley.

Road Rash was by no means perfect but it was an enoyable arcade style racing game which is rightly remembered as one of the best games on Segas best selling console.

What are your memories of Road Rash?

Kev

• %%Road Rash%% is a post from: Retro Gaming Consoles • Want to chat with fellow gamers? If so, please drop by our retro gaming room at Electric Bandits.