Hey!

Happy Thursday! In this week’s retro gaming round up we’ve got forgotten and lost games, 700+ PS2 prototypes to download, and several nice articles on video game preservation.

There’s a new addition to the newsletter – a weekly quiz question! Put your thinking cap on for a brainteaser in every email. Have a good one? Send it over and I’ll put it in a future edition!

Thanks for reading!

Benjamin @ Thumb Punks

P.S. Was this forwarded to you? Sign up!

WATCH

After 27 years you can now softmod a Sony PlayStation 1 (Modern Vintage Gamer, 11 minutes)

Finally, there’s a softmod available for the PS1. It’s a little tricky at the moment, as you need a way to write a save to a memory card, and a retail copy of one of the supported games to swap discs. But after almost 3 decades, it’s a godsend. MVG walks you through how to setup the mod.

Forgotten Sega Genesis Games (Sega Lord X, 17 minutes)

A small proportion of retro games seem to get all the love. Thank Sega Lord X, then, for shining a light on lesser known titles for the Genesis, from hidden gems to absolute dumpster fires.

Has This Game Been LOST FOREVER!? - The History of Double Dragon Zeebo (Top Hat Gaming Man, 17 minutes)

While Double Dragon Advance is considered the best of the franchise, there’s another title that may be even better. Sadly, however, it came out for the Zeebo, a Brazilian console that could only download games. With the servers long gone and no PC emulation in sight, this video is one of the few chances to catch sight of a lost classic.

The Jack Tramiel Trilogy: From Commodore to Atari (Kim Justice, 95 minutes)

Kim Justice chronicles the life of Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore and owner of Atari, in this feature-length documentary. And, lordy, it’s quite a ride.

Cancelled GameBoy Color RPG Infinity is being resurrected and is headed to Kickstarter. Find out more here!

READ

It’s time to get serious about game preservation – before it’s too late (Video Games Chronicle, 11 minutes)

With the discontinuation of the PS3/PSP/PSVita online stores, the preservation of video games is a hot topic. VGC highlight the issues involved, with Kotaku following up with a similarly excellent article about the need for piracy to maintain titles that would be otherwise lost to time. What do you think?

Um Jammer Lammy Review (Hardcore Gaming 101, 8 minutes)

Hardcore Gaming 101 is covering the PaRappa The Rapper games this week, and Um Jammer Lammy is the obscure Japanese cousin to the series. Featuring a slew of excellent songs and refined controls, it’s a must play for fans of the other games. Their reviews of PaRappa and its sequel are worth reading, too.

Review: Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 (Hardcore Gamer, 8 minutes)

The Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection is released for Switch this week, and features SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium, SNK Gals’ Fighters, Samurai Shodown 2, King of Fighters R-2, The Last Blade: Beyond the Destiny, Fatal Fury First Contact, Metal Slug 1st Mission, Metal Slug 2nd Mission, Dark Arms Beast Buster 1999, and Big Tournament Golf. A treasure trove of classic games.

10 Rare SEGA Genesis Games Secretly Worth A Fortune (Retro Dodo, 11 minutes)

With retro game prices climbing, which Genesis games are worth the most? That’s the subject of Retro Dodo’s article, with number 2 being a surprise, to us at least.

The MemCard Pro lets you use SD cards for your PS1 saves, and backups your old memory cards via Wi-Fi. Check out the review!

PLAY

Project Deluge: PlayStation 2 (PS2)

The headline news of the week: over 700 PS2 prototypes have been uploaded, including Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex and Shadow of the Colossus in early forms. There are also titles with debuggers, allowing you to experience them in whole new ways. Heady stuff.

Super Mario World Widescreen Hack (PC)

A patch for the bsnes emulator, this hack allows you to play Super Mario World in widescreen. The games feels a lot of different with the additional screen real estate, reason enough to give this all-time classic another spin.

Danterrifik III (ZX Spectrum)

Hellish sequel Danterrifik III is a platformer you’ll need split second reflexes to survive. With great visuals and sound, you must escape Dantemonium Cathedral to atone for your sins.

Electrobots (Acorn Electron/BBC Micro/BBC Master)

Covering three computers at once, Electrobots is an arcade platformer with very addictive gameplay. What’s your high score?

Quiz Time: What game featured Sonic the Hedgehog’s first video game appearance?

Answer at the end of this email!

Would you like your retro video game, website, zine, or other project featured here? Just hit reply and send us the details!

OTHER STUFF

• A remaster of N64 classic Shadow Man hits PC on April 15th, and console soon after

• Wear make up? These Tetris cosmetics will be right up your alley

• Limited Run are releasing Sega’s Astro City Mini in the West. Pre-orders start at $129.99

• An enterprising modder has Franksteined together a GBA/N64 hybrid. And it looks brilliant

• Video Dames is a forthcoming YouTube series about playable female characters in video games. Check out the trailer

• Classic arcade brawler Crime Fighter has landed on the Switch and PS4

• The Sonic The Hedgehog IDF comics are being rereleased on June 22nd

• Bitmap Books are releasing A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games. Coming in June, it’s limited to 2000 copies

• Someone’s unboxing a Nintendo 64 Disk Drive Development Kit on Twitter

• GamesMaster: The Oral History has hit Kickstarter! It’s a book featuring interviews with the key staff involved with the cult British show, features 320 pages, and you can back it now

• Want to know how to buy classic games from the foreign eShops on your Switch? Here you go

• 15 years later, Serious Sam 2 has received a massive update

Could you share this email? Forwarding it to just one retro game lovin’ friend helps us keep this newsletter free. And if you send it to 10 or share it on social media, we’ll love you forever.

Share

Quiz Answer: Rad Mobile, with Sonic as a decorative car ornament.