Retro Gaming Australia

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is a remake of Metal Gear Solid using the technology from Metal Gear Solid 2. The game is often criticised for its over-the-top cutscenes, which were directed by Japanese cult filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura. Some also feel that the accentless voices take away from the game, in spite of the fact that they are consistent with the rest of the series. I feel like I am in the minority since I actually like the game.

Astro Chase has an interesting story behind it – originally developed as part of the Atari Program Exchange initiative, it was later picked up by Parker Bros. for release on a variety of consoles and computer systems.

The Aquatic Games is a parody of athletics games featuring James Pond and a group of aquatic friends called the Aquabats. Like most parody video games, it ends up emulating what it’s meant to be making fun of – The Aquatic Games is a button mash-fest.

Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions is one of those really pretty looking games that plays like an absolute dog. When it was released, it was one of the most technically impressive games around, but the gameplay was insultingly basic and quite dull. Despite being successful, Activision neglected to bring over its sequel, making Double S.T.E.A.L. 2 one of only a handful of Japanese exclusive Xbox games.

Rugrats was one of the great animated shows of the 1990s. The Rugrats Movie, on the other hand, is part of the show’s second run, with the pointless addition of Tommy’s baby brother Dil and other assorted characters, and a distinct loss of charm. The video games are terrible, as one would expect.

This ad for HAL Wrestling highlights two things that don’t exist anymore: games developed independently by HAL Laboratory, HAL America, and wrestling games without licenses. It’d probably be more significant if HAL Wrestling was actually any good.

In 1996 and 1997, Sega decided to port 3D accelerated versions of some of their recent big hit arcade games to the PC. One such game was Virtua Cop, which was also released in some places as Virtua Squad. Of course, there was no light gun peripheral for Virtua Cop, so it lost some of the magic, but the mouse proved to be a pretty good substitute.

Nothing says Christmas like a bit of ultra violence. Enjoy the day!

Fatal Fury was the first fighting game to be released on the Neo Geo. It was designed by Takashi Nishiyama, the creator of Street Fighter, who had left Capcom for SNK in the late 1980s. This ad is for the Mega Drive version, which lacks a lot of the lustre of the Neo Geo version.

Crusader: No Remorse is arguably one of the best PC games of the pre-3D accelerator era. After receiving criticism from fans that Ultima VIII was too action heavy, Origin simply decided to build a full-on action game using the same technology.