Retro Gaming Australia

Ten years ago, Grand Theft Auto III took the world by storm. For most, the game came out of nowhere – it seemed like there was little to no hype, the game’s E3 2001 appearance was sketchy, and the previous games, albeit hits, were not breakaway successes.

For a while, we were concerned that Rockstar would not do anything to celebrate the major milestone for the series which arguably put the company on the map and made them the major industry force that they are today.

First of all, the game is getting ported to iOS and Android devices. Whoopee!

More interesting is the 10th Anniversary limited edition figure of GTAIII‘s protagonist Claude. Sideshow Collectibles will be producing the figure, which is limited to 1,500 units and priced at $150. $150 bucks for a figure might seem crazy (and to most it is), but this is the usual price range from premium collectibles.

The bitch is back!

Alien Trilogy was an early 3D era first person shooter developed by Probe Software for Acclaim. The notion of it being based on a trilogy is something of a misnomer, since the game clearly draws the majority of its inspiration from the middle chapter of the trilogy, Aliens (but then just about every first person shooter under the sun does, no?). Pretty cool at the time, but it didn’t really age well. This ad was for the slightly belated Saturn release.

Search for Alien Trilogy on eBay

Out of the thousands of ads we have, I think this has to be among the worst I’ve seen.

Knife Edge was a forgettable rail shooter where you played as the gunner of an advanced helicopter. It was about as interesting as this advertisement.

From that awkward 2D to 3D transitional period.

3D Lemmings was an attempt to bring the classic puzzle gameplay of Lemmings into a fully realised 3D world. As 3D gaming was in its infancy at the time, the extra dimension wasn’t quite as well implemented as one would have hoped.

A guilty pleasure.

The Simpsons: Bart’s Nightmare was the family’s first original outing for 16-bit consoles. Bart falls asleep while studying for a test or writing a paper or something, and you have to round up the lost pages from his work in a variety of mini-games that range from good to downright terrible. This ad is for the later Mega Drive release – the game was exclusive to the Super Nintendo for a short time.

I’m too old for this shit!

Lethal Weapon is another in a long line of bad games based on decent action movies (well, the first two, anyway). The game is based on the rather crappy third entry in the series, and is just a straightforward run & gun platformer with little redeeming value – standard fare for Ocean.

They left out “Four times as hard!”

After the success of Double Dragon II: The Revenge on the NES, Technos decided to create an original version of Double Dragon III, rather than port the far more technically accomplished arcade version to the home systems. However, unlike The Revenge, the two versions of Double Dragon III share nothing in common beyond the same title.

Before The 3DO Company went crazy.

Army Men started life as a real-time strategy game that some would argue drew a lot of inspiration from the soldiers in Toy Story. Despite the mediocre to poor quality of later games in the series, the original RTS game isn’t actually that bad.

Clear the way!

Blast Corps is an oft-overlooked gem from Rare’s peak era. Players control various demolition equipment and must clear the way for a truck which is carrying enough nuclear armament to destroy the world. It’s one of those games that’s relatively easy at the basic level, but has some downright dastardly challenges if you’re going for full completion. This ad is from the UK release of the game.

Search for Blast Corps on eBay

What’s old is new again! Here are your digital and retail re-releases of classic games for the last week (or so).

Good Old Games
Sim City 2000 Special Edition

3DS Virtual Console
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Catrap

PlayStation Network (US)
God Hand
GrimGrimoire
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory
Odin Sphere
Ring of Red
Sega Bass Fishing
Space Channel 5: Part 2
Chrono Trigger

PlayStation Network (PAL)
Sega Bass Fishing
Space Channel 5: Part 2
Arc the Lad
Sonic Wings
Cho Aniki
Gex 3D: Enter the Gecko

Xbox Live Arcade
Sega Bass Fishing
Space Channel 5: Part 2