Hey!

Happy Thursday! This week’s excellent Sega arcade fighting game video has got me wondering: what’s your favorite 3D brawler? I’m sticking with Tekken 3.

Thanks for reading!

Benjamin @ Thumb Punks

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Zombielievable: Lucasarts classics Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ghoul Patrol are headed to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, Steam, and GOG! Costing $14.99, the enhanced versions include save states, achievements, both soundtracks, local co-op, an art gallery, and developer interviews. Out June 29th, a physical version, courtesy of Limited Run, will be released later this year.

The 1 and Only: A rare SA1 demo cart for the Super Nintendo has be found, and video posted online. The SA1 was a special on-cartridge chip that enhanced the technical capabilities of the SNES. A mysterious individual bought the demo from eBay and passed it on to Vitor Vilela, who goes into the nitty-gritty of the code on his Patreon.

Musk Play: It’s news to nobody that Elon Musk hosted SNL this past week, but his Super Mario themed skit is worth watching, if only to see one of the world’s richest people dressed as Wario.

Every Cancelled Game Boy Advance Game (Mario, Zelda, Pokemon + more) (DidYouKnowGaming?, 69 minutes)

Clocking in at over an hour, DYKG’s video is an exhaustive look at cancelled games for the GBA. The heavyweights (Zelda, Pokemon) are here, as well as lesser known titles (Eternity’s Child, anyone?).

Games That Push Hardware Limits 7 (Game Sack, 33 minutes)

Joe shows off some technical showcases here, with the details behind Gauntlet on the NES and Golden Axe on the Master System being eye-opening. Our favorites have to be the Jurassic Park games for the Genesis however: the chance to sail down a river firing a machine gun as Jeff Goldblum is too much to resist.

Remember when Sega made fighting games? (Matt McMuscles, 20 minutes)

Mr McMuscles takes us down memory lane, from Sega’s early attempts at fighting games, to revolutionizing the industry with Virtua Fighter, and their eventual downfall. While some games will be familiar, like Fighting Vipers, others are more obscure, like Dark Edge and Last Bronx. A new listing for Virtua Figher 5 Evolution for the PS4 has our hopes up.

The Strike Series: The Complete History (DESERT, JUNGLE, URBAN, SOVIET, NUCLEAR) (Slope’s Game Room, 33 minutes)

Probably the best helicopter games ever, the Strike series was a sensation in the 90s. We have fond memories of Desert Strike and Jungle Strike on the Amiga 500, and are baffled as to why the series was scrapped.

Building a Killer Arcade & Neo Geo Collection with Limited Experience (RacketBoy, 30 minutes)

A real bucketlist item, building an arcade collection is the dream for many people. But how do you actually do it? This interview with collector Joe is packed with useful information, and worth a read for seasoned pros and wannabe collectors alike.

Fresh takes on old favourites (Kimmi The Game-Eating She-Monster, 8 minutes)

The handheld ports of fave games are always worth checking out, as they can wildly deviate from the home version. Kimmi looks at the Game Gear iteration of Ristar, which gets… weird.

Learn to plant bears in the ground in Koneko Monogatari (Destructoid, 7 minutes)

Koneko Monogatari is kusoge of the highest order: awful controls backed with some of the most horrific ‘music’ you’re likely to hear. This article, for Destructoid, details this dumpster fire in a delightfully witty way.

Vexx (Hardcore Gaming 101, 9 minutes)

The 2000s had a variety of ‘edgy’ platformers, but Vexx slipped under the radar for most people. Released on the original Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Gamecube, it’s a solid entry into the genre and worth a second look.

X3: Farnham’s Legacy (PC, $9.99/$FREE)

Made by fans with the blessing of the original developers, X3: Farnham’s Legacy is the first entry in the series in many years. It’s free to owners of X3: Albion, and $9.99 to buy the latter.

Turbo Sprint (Amiga AGA, £10.99)

From the website: “Turbo Sprint is based on the classic arcade game Super Sprint. The game features 8 tracks that range in difficulty, up to four players can take control of either a Blue, Red, Yellow or Green car. Cars that are not controlled by players are computer controlled. When all 8 tracks have been completed the game loops back to the first track but the difficulty is increased with various obstacles and increased speed of the computer controlled cars. New players have the opportunity to join a race after each track has been completed.”

Liberator (Game Boy Color, $FREE)

Originally appearing on the Commodore 16, Liberator is a classic shoot ‘em up similar to Uridium. There’s a gameplay trailer, too.

Blork (Unreleased) (Amiga 500, $FREE)

Blork only has three levels, but they’re a treat; there was so much promise in this cancelled Amiga shoot ‘em up, and Games That Weren’t have the lowdown as well as the game itself to download.

Quiz Time: In the original Street Fighter, who is the penultimate opponent?

Answer at the end of this email!

• Artovision’s new shadowboxes look amazing

• StrikerDC, a new-fangled Dreamcast controller, doesn’t look bad either

• In more joypad japes, Hyperkin have released the Ranger paddle for the Atari 2600

• Someone has unearthed this cool video of a 1995 Fighting Vipers cosplay tournament

• The Astyanax, a 1989 arcade fantasy title, is out now for the PS4 and Switch

• Conker has been modded into Super Smash Bros. Let the foul-mouthed shenanigans begin

• The Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance port for the Switch has been delayed ‘a few days’

• A Miya 2000 has been unearthed. What’s that, you ask? It’s a NES peripheral letting you use a real golf club to play Jack Nicklaus’ Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf

• This will knock your block off: a PS1 made of Lego

• Along with this chap who makes the most incredible pixel art cosplay

• Modders have squeezed a whole Nintendo Wii into a Gameboy Advance SP

• And the new Xbox Series X/S background apes the original Xbox dash. Awwwwwww

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

Quiz Answer: Adon.

Thanks to Joe for the question! Have a better one? Send it over and I’ll put it in a future edition!

(Image Credit: armyoftrolls)