JamieO

Fair play, I've already thanked Sammy, because it's cool that my personal picks have been published on New Year's Day. Back in 2013 I included Red Dead Redemption as one of my choices for the PS3's Games of the Generation - Jamie's Five Favourites feature, so I’ve been looking forward to Red Dead Redemption 2 for a long time.

I decided to wait to use money received from my Christmas gifts to buy RDR2, but my family very kindly surprised me with the game on Christmas Day. Therefore, I'm in a position that is a little bit similar to what @Nightcrawler71 mentions above, because I don't have much space on my PS4's hard drive, so I want to spend more time with God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man before deleting them to make space for RDR2. I'm sure that RDR2 will rank highly amongst my 2018 Game of the Year picks once I've actually played it.

Anyway, as is clear from Liam Croft's What to Expect from PlayStation in 2019 feature published on Push Square today, the future is looking great for gaming in 2019. I'm especially excited about Resident Evil 2 (25th Jan. 2019), Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (21st June 2019), and the possibility of a PS5 announcement, so I wish a Happy New Year to everyone at Push Square. All the best!

I explain about Ridge Racer Type 4's lastability in my review by detailing that, "You can unlock a total of 321 racing vehicles (including a hidden car that is a large Pac-Man on wheels), as well as an Extra Trial mode, and reverse tracks for Time Attack and Vs Battle multiplayer showdowns".

** Note that there is also a completely fantastic and quirky tune called Eat 'Em Up!, so that you can race along to a musical homage to Namco's original 1980 arcade Pac-Man. **

However, I should have described it more clearly as there are "reverse tracks for Time Attack, and there is extra replayabilty in the Vs Battle multiplayer showdowns".

The reverse courses are a welcome addition that are available in Time Attack, but you can't play the reverse racetracks in Vs Battle, as far as I’m aware.

I set-up my European PS3 to play my PAL PSone disc for this R4 review, and I played a lot of Vs Battle with my girlfriend — where she preferred the external car view, and I preferred the internal car viewpoint, because it has the rear-view mirror.

I'm conscientious about being accurate when discussing details in my retro reviews, so I wanted to be clearer here by explaining that my understanding is the reverse circuits are not available in R4’s split-screen multiplayer.

@hi_drnick Great question, but unfortunately I didn't own any special controllers for the original PlayStation. I was a student in the mid-to-late 1990s, so I didn't have any spare money, and the first PlayStation I had access to was a joint purchase in our student house. We did the same thing with the Nintendo 64, and we didn't even buy a GunCon for our PlayStation.

The best part about being a gamer and a student in the 1990s was that most of the people I knew owned a PlayStation in their student house, so there were lots of games to swap, lend and borrow. I ended up buying a SEGA Saturn for myself — which did include a Virtua Gun — and I got my very own PSone a few years later.

It's interesting that Namco advertise the twist controlled steering neGcon inside the EU case for PSone Ridge Racer Type 4, but only mention the Jogcon in the instruction manual.

It's cool that you got to try the Jogcon though, from the pictures I would guess that the Jogcon's steering dial is more practical for a racer than the neGcon's twist steering. Still, going only on photographs, I could be wrong.

@Futureshark The video you shared interests me, because it opens up a few more questions about the future possibilities of the PS Classic. I'm more of the type of gamer who buys a console, and doesn't really mess around with it. Ever since I moved from a 16-bit Amiga to a Mega Drive in 1990 I've always liked the convenience of a console to plug-in and play, without concerning myself too much about how everything is running in the background. I don't even own a USB keyboard, I'm afraid.

The reason this intrigues me is because I want to see if Sony takes any steps to improve the PS Classic in an official capacity for its retro PlayStation fans. I bought a Neo-Geo X handheld with a docking station a few years ago, and it was not very well received when it launched. To try to correct this error Tommo sold an extra Game-Card with more Neo-Games included on it. Alongside the Game-Card was a Rocket Cable that connected by USB for a firmware update, which improved aspect ratio preferences, audio quality, save options, and the responsiveness of the controls.

I’m just wondering if Sony could take similar action. For example an official update to the PS Classic could improve the emulator's settings for frame-rates, and screen resolutions. It could also add options like changing to display scanlines, rewinding gameplay when you die in a game, a music menu, extra historical information about each title, and perhaps even being able to turn on cheats for bonuses such as getting extra lives in a challenging game like Rayman.

I'm not as technically minded as gamers like the Digital Foundry crew, but if an official PS Classic USB firmware update is technically possible through the controller ports, then Sony could turn this all around to a positive to show that they listen to feedback from the gaming community.

@Ristar24 Thanks mate, I was wondering about this. Also, it's a shame if Ridge Racer Type 4 has been pulled from the EU PS Store for PS3 and PS Vita. Like I said, I couldn't find it to buy and download, but it could be hidden away. The store for both PS3 and Vita is not great to search and navigate nowadays, and shopping on PS3 could really do with a full PSone list. I think R4 may be available on the NA PS Store instead, but I haven't looked into this to confirm it.

@hi_drnick and @gingerfrog I was hoping someone would bring this up, because I've noticed more gamers are saying that one of their favourites in the series is Rage Racer (1996 in Japan and 1997 EU/ NA).

Rage Racer has an interesting career and credits system for updating or buying cars, and as you mention it has a darker tone, with more realistic graphics including a few more grey skies. However, I personally feel that Ridge Racer Type 4 had more impact as a PSone game, and I think R4 made technical leaps in the graphics, too.

Rage Racer was a great game, but I personally adore R4. Everything from R4's May to New Year's Eve 1999 story setting and lighter tone, like the four soap-opera team stories in the Real Racing Roots '99 Grand Prix. The fantastic R4 soundtrack is quintessential Ridge Racer too, plus R4 has a mixture of brighter courses for fans of colourful arcade racing, as well as darker, night-time visuals.

Likewise, R4 has nicer and more colourful presentation in general, with the striking yellow styling of its menus and story sequences. There are eight circuits in R4, but only four courses in Rage Racer, and Rage Racer is single-player only, but R4 has Vs Battle two-player split-screen multiplayer, too.

Don't get me wrong, Rage Racer is brilliant, and it's a very solid pick for anyone's favourite PSone Ridge Racer game.

I got my PlayStation Classic yesterday — on its Monday 3rd December 2018 EU release date — but only after submitting my Ridge Racer Type 4 review to Push Square. Last night I compared the image and performance directly between my PAL PS3 running R4 via disc and the PS Classic's NTSC version by pausing the game, and immediately flicking the TV channels between the two consoles.

To start with R4 on PS3 was brighter, with more vivid colours, but I don't know if that’s because PAL originates as a higher resolution standard. For some reason the PS Classic's NTSC image for R4 is very dark in my experience, so I had to turn up the brightness on my TV. In regards to performance, the PS Classic's framerate slightly judders now and then in a way that makes the gameplay seem not quite as smooth as when racing using my PSone PAL disc through my PS3. I noticed this more with graphically busy tracks like the aforementioned Heaven and Hell, and with faster cars.

I’m much better at the game when subtly steering into corners using a DualShock analogue stick, so I wasn't driving as well when confined to the D-pad on the PS Classic too. Perhaps I was just too used to playing it through the PS3 over the last few weeks. It's possible that the differences won't be as noticeable to other gamers, but they stood out to me, because I was directly comparing two versions on the fly.

I'm still enjoying the PS Classic, though, and R4 is fun and playable on the mini console. However, I wouldn't want people's only impressions of this game to be from some degree of faltering performance. Younger gamers may wrongly think that PSone games are less bright, slower in the case of PAL versions, or a bit more jittery than how they were first designed if they only experience the PS Classic's emulation.

It's still really good news that R4 is included on the PS Classic though, because I’ve searched for 'Ridge Racer Type 4' on the EU PS Store, and it's not available to buy for PS3 or PS Vita.

@get2SammyB Great stuff, Sammy! What is especially cool is that I've reviewed two of my favourite PSone games for Push Square now. Both Ridge Racer Type 4 and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night have a guaranteed spot whenever I think of my top 10 PSone list, and as you know I was able to cover SoTN as part of my Castlevania Requiem review. You guys spoil me at Push Square!
@KALofKRYPTON Sorry if my point wasn't clear, it could be as a result of my own personal edits. I mainly aimed to discuss how John Linneman had praised the 30fps performance of R4 on DF Retro in the past, but he was disappointed in the performance of the PS Classic version on Eurogamer. As long as it was relevant to explaining about R4's great graphics for a 1998/ 1999 game, I also wanted to give a shout-out to Linneman's excellent technical breakdowns, because I really enjoy his retro coverage.

@themcnoisy I made a note about how amazing The Ride is on the soundtrack, but my review was getting a bit lengthy, so I cut that bit out. The Ride is perfect for the Heaven and Hell course, because the tune shifts between a gruff opening guitar riff to a lighter, and really uplifting part later. I absolutely love building speed in the downhill section of Heaven and Hell while listening to The Ride. Amazing comment, thank you.

Anyhow, I look forward to reading people's thoughts about R4 in the comments section. I'm interested in hearing if the PlayStation Classic includes any of the readers' personal top 10 PSone games, and if R4 is one of their favourites too.

@Verm Thanks for sharing your knowledge about the PC version, I always enjoy learning new things about retro games, and I had no idea Battle Arena Toshinden was converted to PC. The last time I used a personal computer for playing games was on the Commodore Amiga 500 in early 1990, but I sold it to buy a Mega Drive.

I should learn more about retro gaming on a PC, because I'm completely clueless, but I've heard that you can buy retro games from stores like Steam and Good Old Games (GOG).

Your comment intrigued me, I remember that SEGA ported Saturn titles like Panzer Dragoon to PC in the late 1990s, but I don't know if many third-party PSone games arrived on PC. I noticed from your YouTube link that Battle Arena Toshinden on PC was developed by Digital Dialect and not Tamsoft, plus it was published by Playmates. This means that over time and across different regions Battle Arena Toshinden has been published by Takara in Japan, then by SCE in Europe and NA on PSone, as well as by SEGA for Battle Arena Toshinden Remix, and lastly by Playmates on PC. It makes me wonder which company holds the publishing rights for Battle Arena Toshinden today.

I don't know if Steam or GOG sell games like Battle Arena Toshinden to download for PC gamers to play in 2018, but I imagine retro gamers could buy the original PC disc from eBay and retro shops, if it's not too hard to run an older game.

Since the PSone original is not on the EU PS Store, the PS Classic is a welcome way for gamers to play Battle Arena Toshinden again. It's great when I learn new things about retro games on the comments for my reviews, cheers!

@KingdomHeartsFan I absolutely love being able to review PSone games for Push Square, and comments like this make it even more worthwhile.

@Deljo You'll probably find that Battle Arena Toshinden is still fun for a quick play-through on your PS Classic over Christmas. I'm sure that anyone who developed skills from playing it at launch will be able blast through Normal difficulty and beat Gaia in less than 25 minutes. Take into account that when I review a game I’m careful to follow Push Square's scoring policy, and I compare it to other games in that specific genre on the same console. Therefore, it's harder for a launch game to stand the test of time against titles from later in the generation — especially during the 32-bit era as games were evolving quickly and exploring the possibilities of 3D graphics — plus when you factor in so many revered classics in a large library. Hopefully, if you rekindle how you felt about the original PlayStation's launch, with a bit of nostalgia you'll still find plenty of charm in the visuals and especially the music, so it'll recall good memories of gaming in 1995.

@Verm I didn't even realise it was ported to PC, I wonder if that means PC gamers can still download and play it, because I think it's a shame that PSone Battle Arena Toshinden is not available for PS3 and PS Vita on the EU PS Store. I played the Platinum PSone PAL disc, boxed with instructions for this review. The instruction booklet was actually quite handy for character profiles, fighting strategies and a basic story overview. I also enjoyed watching the Battle Arena Toshinden anime to get a feeling for the larger story, too.

Below are a few additional discussion points about my review:
-- Cheat codes: I actually used cheat codes in PSone Battle Arena Toshinden to play as Gaia and Sho Shinjo for this review.

-- Tamsoft: I don't know much about the Japanese developer Tamsoft, except that they make Senran Kagura games like PS4 Senran Kagura Estival Versus. Incidentally, Battle Arena Toshinden was published by Takara in Japan, but by SCEE in Europe.

-- The 5/10 score and difference between gamers praising Battle Arena Toshinden in early 1995, compared to people's perception of the game today: I definitely don’t want to stomp on anyone's nostalgia for this game with the average score. I've covered how magazines like EDGE Issue 18 rated it highly as an 8/10 in March 1995. EDGE explained that the textures, graphical tricks and details in the backdrops were a step above Virtua Fighter on Saturn. I love the catchy music in this game, too.

-- The 50Hz PAL version of Battle Arena Toshinden on PlayStation Classic: I played a PAL PSone disc in 50Hz, which should be a comparable experience to when I get the PS Classic on Monday. I remember first importing NTSC consoles in the early 1990s to avoid what magazines of the day described as a 17.5% drop in speed. This will affect the feel of a fighting game, especially in a slower paced title like Battle Arena Toshinden.

I also love punk and alternative rock, so I included a reference to The Wonder Years 2011 song 'Came Out Swinging' in the last line of my conclusion.
I’m working on my next PSone review, but I'll drop by here to read your comments. I'll also return to this comments section next week when the PS Classic has released, just in case anyone has extra thoughts once they own Sony's plug-and-play console.

@get2sammyb Thanks for another kind comment about my reviews, and cheers to you for again for the meticulous detail you put into your PlayStation Classic review. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and while I understand the mini console's shortcomings, your analysis still leaves me enthusiastic about jumping between the 20 PSone games like a retro gaming jukebox on Monday.

@Deljo There is a very logical reason why I'm playing certain PSone games right now, even though they'll be included with my PlayStation Classic on 3rd December.

Perhaps it was a bit less fun that I mentioned two specific titles here, because as @get2sammyb says, "Technically I'm not allowed to explain why or how, but you can probably figure it out".

In any case, there are plenty of other PSone games that are true classics that I'm waiting for nine days to play on my mini console.

Over the next week or so it'll be clear that my thought process is focused on Push Square regarding my retro choices for this edition of WAYP. Hopefully I'll be redeemed soon enough to show that I didn't necessarily have backward thinking at all.

@Gremio108 I bought the OutRun 2 cover of gamesTM Issue 100. I absolutely love that game, it would be really ace if SEGA released any of the different versions of OutRun 2 on PS4, but a remaster with the same engine, with overhauled, yet colourful graphics would be especially exciting.

I think that the pixel-art of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike showing Ken fighting Chun-Li made for a striking cover as a bonus magazine for you too, although great choice, the Okami art is stunning for Issue 100's cover. I looked them both up.

Years ago, I remember taking photographs of my first 100 issues of gamesTM spread over the floor, and I made a montage of them all for Twitpic. Unfortunately, Twitpic doesn't really exist anymore, so I can't find that picture on the Internet. D'oh!

@Gremio108 I hear you, like I mentioned I don't know how much time gamesTM's team would have been given to prepare the final issue, so as you say it's possible that the news hit them by surprise.

If the closure of the magazine was out of the blue, then the news seems even sadder to me, because I imagine it would be a hugely sinking feeling for the editors, writers and all the staff. The team may well have preferred to have prepared the final issue as a celebration of their own magazine history, but there simply wasn't time. I'm purely speculating, though.

Good call about the content of Issue 100, too. All of my older magazines are stored away, but this conversation is making me want to dig out the 100th issue. I've been having my own little celebration of gamesTM this weekend.

My most recent read has just been the '100 Hottest New Games' cover feature in Issue 163. It's the July-August 2015 issue, and I always enjoy reflecting on how amazed I was at the triple-hitter news about Final Fantasy VII Remake, Shenmue III, and The Last Guardian.

Reading the E3 2015 issue of gamesTM has also led me to recall Push Square's Soapbox: Was E3 2015 Just a Dream? feature.

I guess the positive thing is that the older magazines are still there to refer to our good memories. I also really enjoy it when both gamesTM and Retro Gamer's articles are released in compilation books and annuals, so fingers crossed that we still get more gamesTM content in the form of a 'best of' bookazine in the future.

@Gremio108 Agreed, I'm really sad to see gamesTM end, too.

As well as the retro articles I've mentioned in this WAYP above, I've enjoyed reading gamesTM Issue 206's Cyberpunk 2077 feature where they talk to Patrick Mills, the Quest Designer at CD Projekt Red. I also really liked the huge ten-page cover feature on Rage 2, where they speak to the team at id Software and Avalanche Studios. The colourful cover and page layout looks great — presumably its design was by gamesTM's Art Director staff of either Andy Salter or Warren Brown.

This got me thinking about all of gamesTM's interviews and studio visits in the past. The only thing I wish about the final issue is that I hoped that gamesTM could have included more of an archive of their own past articles. The first issue of gamesTM was December 2002, so I would have liked retrospective pieces about the magazine’s history in the final issue – for example they could have compiled all of the games that scored a 10/10, a top 100 games list of the last 16 years based on their own reviews, or a collection of their best features with developer quotes etc.

I don't know how much notice a magazine has to prepare for the final issue, but I think it would have been cool if they could have organised a round table where all of their previous editors discussed their experiences at the magazine.

I own every issue and I’ve enjoyed reading gamesTM for 16 years. The way I see it is that gamesTM has been celebrating video games since 2002, so I wish the very last issue could have dedicated more space to honouring the magazine's own contribution to gaming.

@b1ackjack_ps and @SegaBlueSky — Nice shout-outs to the animation by you both above, fair play. I mentioned Netflix's animated Castlevania TV series in my Castlevania Requiem Halloween Soapbox when I linked to Nintendo Life's season 2 review, where they discuss how the second season improves on the first season's four episodes.

I have no idea if Netflix release box sets of their TV shows in the UK, but I read on Forbes that VIZ Media plans to release the Castlevania TV series on Blu-ray and DVD this December.

I also found an interesting Destructoid interview where Sam Deats, Creative Director at Powerhouse Animation Studios, mentioned that Symphony of the Night is his favourite game in the Castlevania series, and he explained that the awesome art work by Ayami Kojima was a reference point for the TV series. Note that my understanding is that Symphony of the Night is when she first started providing her vivid art and striking character designs for the gaming industry.

The link to Destructoid’s 'Interview with the vampire' article is below:
https://www.destructoid.com/10-years-of-purgatory-wasn-t-enough-to-keep-netflix-s-castlevania-down-447906.phtml

@carlos82 I'm glad you’re singing the praises of Rondo of Blood, I hope people play it first in the correct chronological order. I agree there's a certain fun purity to tackling a challenging, conventional Castlevania game by remembering enemy positions, finding the best sub-weapons, and learning boss patterns a stage at a time. Richter Belmont is a cool looking character sprite too, plus you actually fight monsters using a whip from the outset.

@waluigifan1 I agree, this generation has been full of treats for retro gamers. There has been such a high standard to the remasters available too, and some of the eighth generation's remakes have been stunning. You've just reminded me that I need to set aside some time to play The Disney Afternoon Collection when I get the chance, as well.

@Tasuki Man, you're such a gent, I don't really know how to respond to such a kind comment, except to say thank you for the positive responses and extra retro know-how, plus interesting discussion points, you bring to the comments sections of these retro articles.

I want to share a couple of my recent Symphony of the Night trophies that made me completely buzz. The first was called Chock Full, because I knew that Alucard would pose when you pressed up on the D-pad, but I had no idea he could catch peanuts in his mouth.

The second completely stunned me. It’s a Trophy called A Bird’s Life and I’ve been stuck on it for ages. The Trophy details tell you to head to the telescope, which is easy to find at the bottom of the Outer Wall. The trouble is looking through the telescope wasn’t helping me. The extra Trophy information gives a helpful hint to view the ‘circle of life underneath’ the telescope, and once I leaned what it referred to my jaw dropped at the tiny, incidental details that are hidden in this game.

Konami's original development team must have been a bunch of artistic geniuses, this literally puts the eggs into an egg Easter egg that I never would have found by myself. The Trophy objectives in Castlevania Requiem are awesome!

@waluigifan1 I really like your point about how the release of Castlevania Requiem on PS4 will make Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night accessible for newcomers to play for the first time – the lucky things!

I e-mailed @get2sammyb recently about how much I'm grateful to be able to share knowledge and learn new things about old games through Push Square's retro articles. In that sense I cover a lot of specific details and tidbits in my reviews, which are targeted at core gamers, but hopefully provide the essential information for newcomers too.

It's worth considering that the PS4 will be five years old this month, so it will be the first console for plenty of youngsters who never owned a PS3 or a PS Vita.

I love how pixel-art, indie games bridge the gap between modern releases and original retro games. There could be a modern gamer who loved Axiom Verge (2015), Dead Cells (2018), or Owlboy (2018 release on PS4), so the graphical style and Metroidvania gameplay of Symphony of the Night directly compares to their presentation and structure. I really think that the sprites, animation and backgrounds are so beautifully detailed in Symphony of the Night that it holds its own when compared to the best looking modern pixel-art games, especially considering it was released in 1997.

Similarly, I appreciate that plug-and-play mini consoles like the PSone Classic are fantastic at introducing new people to old games.

This all links to @Tasuki's point above, about how the recent release of the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle, Castlevania Requiem, and SEGA Mega Drive Classics compilations make old games accessible for gamers today on PS4. It's pretty cool that all three of those bundles were released in 2018, which is a good sign for the future.

@Onion The thing is, the way the Trophies set out targets and clues in Castlevania Requiem meant that I sincerely believe they add value by encouraging you to more thoroughly search for secrets in both games — but especially in Symphony of the Night.

They're not only about Trophies pinging just because you beat Normal mode, so you get an Easy mode Trophy too. They're not especially easy to achieve either, but they provide enough hints to focus you in pushing forward through Symphony of the Night's map.

I have not used walkthroughs with either of these two games in the past, so I was intrigued as to how to 'Test the Ferryman's patience' in Rondo of Blood, and I knew that I'd get a reward for paying attention when I got the chance to 'Visit the confessional in the Royal Chapel'.

The Trophies are based around you becoming more proficient at the game, for example in learning to cast spells, equip varied clothing, and selling items etc. It turns out that the Trophies gave me extra incentive to explore this game more thoroughly, so they are a selling point, because they actually link to the core exploration theme of the Metroidvania sub-genre.

I'll remember Castlevania Requiem as a great example of how a list of Trophies can enhance gameplay in a retro game. It says a lot that the hints and clues from the Trophies on how you approach and tackle different tasks — plus the targets they set for me — actually improved my enjoyment of two games I had already played lots before. I learnt new details about two classic games from these Trophies.

We've actually provided our own clue to a Trophy based around lethargy in one of the images included in this review. Whoever it was at Konami who set-out the objectives for the Trophies is clearly a big fan of Symphony of the Night.

@Ristar24 Good point, and thanks for sharing it. I actually made a note when I booted the PAL PSone Classic version on my PSTV that it was running more slowly in 50Hz. I found the speed difference jarring, too.

I meant to mention that the version of Symphony of the Night with Castlevania Requiem is the preferred, faster speed at 60Hz in this review. It's an important difference, I'm pleased you brought it up.

I actually have pages and pages of notes about both Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night, there is so much to discuss and learn about these games.

@playstation1995 Cheers for asking about my favourite PSone game, mate.

I love the PSone's library, and I'm especially a fan of arcade based genres, such as blue-sky or fast drift racing in games like the various Ridge Racer and the WipEout titles-- note that I have fond memories of the first WipEout (1995). Special mention must also go to Crash Team Racing (1999).

I also have an affinity for side-scrolling, 2D and 2.5D retro games - so take into account that I love the likes of Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (1997/1998), and Mickey's Wild Adventure (1995), plus even stuff like the hack-and-slash game Disney's Hercules from 1997 is fun. One of my real personal favourites is actually Strider 2 (2000).

Therefore, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is unsurprisingly my number one game out of the PSone's vast catalogue.

It's actually a shame that Konami just didn't take the time to include an option to change between the original PSone and PSP versions of the SoTN script and voice acting in Castlevania Requiem. Konami dropped the ball, because people would be talking about the multitude of good points regarding SoTN, but the majority of the conversation is about gamers missing the original voices and dialogue now. I wonder if Konami will update the menu options to counter this in the future.

As a side-note — and as a response to @Fath above — Konami should have just fully ported the PSP's Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles to PS4, too.

@Tasuki I actually appreciate that there are different versions of the script between the PSone and PSP versions of Symphony of the Night, because it fleshes out how I view the events in the story. Similarly, the PSP's Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles remake expands the story in Rondo of Blood too, and tells it using cut-scenes with the 2.5D engine.

As we've discussed before, it's the brilliant gameplay, and fun progression through well-designed stage and map layouts that is ultimately more important.

However, I still like that there is more than one version of both SoTN's dialogue and the voice acting. I can go back to the PSone Classic version anytime, anyway.

Thanks again for your kind words about my reviews and articles, mate, it's much appreciated.

@NintendoFan4Lyf I set up my PlayStation TV, and I had a play around with the PSone Classic version of Castlevania: Symphony or the Night, but it seemed a bit more jittery in the opening section with Alucard entering the castle than I remembered. Perhaps the PSTV was doing background tasks, as I know it had a System Update when I started it up.

I used to play the PSone Classic on PS3 and I still boot it up on my Vita. The PSone Classic version is cheaper than Castlevania Requiem at £7.99, if gamers just want Symphony of The Night and not Rondo of Blood.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles is also only £7.99 and it's another game I play on my PS Vita, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it is PSTV compatible, too. I had wrongly presumed the PSP version didn't work on PSTV.

I hope you enjoy Castlevania: Rondo of Blood when you get the chance. Its traditional, stage-based gameplay adds a nice balance to the bundle, and a contrast to the Metrodivania-style in SoTN, so I hope more gamers check it out.

Hi everyone, as always you're all welcome to send me any questions about Castlevania Requiem on PS4 — or queries referring to specifics regarding either Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (PC Engine CD-ROM, 1993), or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSone, 1997). I enjoy reading your general thoughts on the Castlevania series, too.

My many thanks to Push Square for assigning me such enjoyable retro reviews as the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle and Castlevania Requiem.

Sending big cheers to @get2sammyb for his comment above, as well.

@Tasuki I am completely with you, the Mega Drive is one of my favourite retro consoles too. Back in 1989 I had a Commodore Amiga 16-bit computer, gaming had been a hobby all my life, and I regularly read a UK multiformat magazine called Computer and Video Games (CVG or C&VG). There was console section inside CVG called Mean Machines, which convinced me to save up for an import PC Engine. However, by the time I had enough money stashed away, it made sense to buy the more powerful Mega Drive.

Subsequently, the 16-bit console era of owning a Mega Drive and later a SNES changed gaming from a hobby for me, into a bit of an obsession.

Nice one for sharing the tidbit about Konami having a sequel planned after Castlevania: Bloodlines on SEGA's 32X. I think it is cool that the idea wasn't discarded, so they were able to continue the 20th century timeline setting in the story for Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. It is ace when retro gamers pass on knowledge and specific details about old games to each other. Great stuff!

@Ristar24 Mate, I'm also a fan of PS3, PS Vita, and my PlayStation TV for playing PSone games, especially the portability of retro PlayStation on the Vita lately.

My SEGA Saturn console and collection was actually stolen eighteen years ago. It was only a PAL Saturn without a mod — and it's a bit of a long story — but I lost games like the Japanese Dungeons & Dragons Collection and a PAL version of Guardian Heroes, as well as peripherals like the blue Virtua Gun that came with Virtua Cop 2, and the 4MB RAM Cartridge (perhaps it was an Action Replay, I forget).

I managed to keep a few issues of the brilliant SEGA Saturn Magazine, though. I remember that magazine had excellent coverage of the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night.

Cheers again for your comments here.

@Milky_Bandit and Ristar24 – I actually bought the PAL version of PSone Castlevania Chronicles years ago for cheap, but just as the disc, with the instruction booklet missing its cover. I haven't played it in ages, so if my memory's correct it's based on the original NES Castlevania, but with an opening cutscene, changed stage layouts, rejigged tunes and updated graphics. It originated on the Japanese Sharp X68000 computer. I should dig out the disc and boot it up when I get the chance. Sorry to hear that Milky_Bandit missed out on a bargain copy of Symphony of the Night in the past, too.

@Ristar24 and @Tasuki – It's cool that you both own Castlevania: Bloodlines, it must be a nice game to have in your Mega Drive/ Genesis collections. I've only just learned that the name change to 'The New Generation' for PAL regions was because the censors didn't like the word blood in the subtitle. 1994 was a more innocent time, for sure, imagine Bloodborne’s name being changed to 'Souls-esque Game: The New Generation'.

I have fond memories of Virtual Console Reviews too, although as a reader, because I wasn't writing reviews until 2009.

I'm eager to get my hands on the PlayStation Classic, I've had it pre-ordered for a while, even though I own almost half of the titles from the 20 games available, either as original discs or on PS3/ PS Vita. I've had the honour of reviewing three of the games for Push Square: Jumping Flash! (1995), Rayman (1995), and Resident Evil: Director’s Cut (1997). From what I can tell, many of the games are earlier PSone releases to account for the lack of the analogue sticks that came later in 1997, with the first DualShock controller. I loved the early launch years of the 32-bit era — the focus upon 3D polygon graphics was such a striking change, but there was extra power for animating sprites, detailed 2D effects and pixel-art. Hopefully this means that later PSone titles will feature on a second PlayStation Classic further down the line, presuming it sells well.

I think @get2sammyb is already putting things into place to prepare coverage of the PlayStation Classic games.

Thanks very much for the nice comments and constructive feedback above, everyone. Cheers!

@Ristar24 and @Tasuki — I'm pleased to hear you were both enjoying Castlevania games during Halloween, too. I think that one reason I appreciate Castlevania: Rondo of Blood so much is that it was not practical for me to buy a PC Engine CD-ROM in 1993. I'd put Rondo of Blood on a pedestal, especially since it was exclusively a Japanese import for so long, and it was slightly unattainable to me. I was completely chuffed when I finally played it on PSP as part of Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles in 2007.

I've also been enjoying Castlevania and Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest on the Nintendo Classic Mini: NES. As long as they have good emulation, a decent library of games and allow time between releases, I'd love Nintendo, Sony and SNK to release follow ups to their mini consoles. It would be cool to see a release of Castlevania III, and Super Castlevania IV is excellent, as Ristar24 mentioned. It'd be preferable if the inclusion of the third game would complete all four numerical Castlevania games as a chronological order of their original release dates, all represented on the mini consoles.
**** Edit: I realise Super Castlevania IV is on the SNES Classic Mini, I posted an incomplete sentence, so I've elaborated on my point. Sorry! ****

I talk about Konami's 16-bit heyday in this piece, so just imagine if SEGA got the quality right on a miniature console and it had the likes of Rocket Knight Adventures, Castlevania Bloodlines, and Contra: Hard Corps included. The Mega Drive has been exhaustively represented with retro compilations and plug-and-play consoles, but the same games have been appearing for many years. It's time for a few less-known gems to get their time in the limelight.

You both always have interesting thoughts to share on my articles, I really appreciate it, by the way. Nice one!

Any questions regarding points in my Soapbox, please send them my way. I'll keep an eye on this comments section to read your thoughts on Castlevania Requiem, and Halloween gaming in general.

My evening's plans are to carve a pumpkin with my girlfriend, and then as the candle light flickers we’ll watch the latest season 9 episode 4 of The Walking Dead called The Obliged, where I’m hoping big changes are going to happen. After that we’ve got season 11 episode 4 of Doctor Who, which has a silly pun on the Sex Pistols' single, called Arachnids in the UK, and promises to feature huge spiders attacking Sheffield.

We've got a pumpkin bucket full of sweets, a box of Mr Kipling's Fiendish Fancies to go with a latte, and once we’re high from sugar and caffeine we’ll probably check out something light, like Scared Shrekless. Happy Halloween, everyone!

@get2sammyb Thank you kindly, as always, Sammy.

@Ristar24 Hi mate, you are absolutely right, the presentation is lacking in the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle. The screen options are limited to a choice of simple wallpapers for the left and right of the screen, there are no filters for scanlines or to replicate a coin-op monitor, and you can’t change the screen size. The actual pixel art still looks bright and crisp, though, which is testament to the talented Capcom artists.

Like you mentioned, I also remember the creative screen displays for Final Fight: Double Impact on the PS3. It was nice to have the option of an arcade monitor view, with the surrounding cabinet art, just for fun.

I get what you’re saying regarding both Capcom Classics Collection Remixed and Reloaded, as well. I still play those PSP games on my PS Vita today, they were much better for extras than this PS4 bundle, plus there was even a slot machine in Reloaded where you could make bets to unlock music, art and cheats.

In the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle there are no developer interviews, it does not have any extra historical information, or a music library to listen to the awesome tunes. It actually states in the game’s gallery that you can view movies, but it’s as though the developers forgot to include the videos. There’s just a bunch of admittedly wonderfully drawn artwork.

Cheers for your comment, too.

@dellyrascal I had lots of fun playing all seven games on a standard PS4 in co-op through the online mode, and it reminded me of the old arcade days where gamers would just drop in-and-out of coin-op playthroughs, but I rarely had a smooth experience. I tried adjusting both ends of the frame delay settings in the network options menu, but it didn’t make a huge difference.

I noticed that I was enjoying a smooth two-player game of Captain Commando, but when a third player joined the session it became all choppy. I didn’t get to find any four-player games for Captain Commando or Battle Circuit, though.

I think that choosing the ‘Same Region’ option when joining a game was steadier than selecting ‘All Regions’, but that could be a coincidence. I still actually enjoyed persevering with online mode, because I love co-op brawlers, but the twitchy sounding music was irritating.

The actual gamers joining the session seemed to be mostly beat-‘em-up fans too, with the brawler etiquette you’d hope for. I thought it was cool during many three-player games when other players would save food on the floor for people with the lowest health, and the co-op players didn’t hoard treasure or weapon pick-ups.

Hi everyone, any questions at all, and I will try my best to answer them in this comments section.

I obviously enjoyed the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle very much indeed. My definite highlights of this PS4 collection are Armored Warriors (1994) and Battle Circuit (1997), both of these previously unconverted games surpassed my expectations. I was deliberately vague about the specifics of these two games in my review, because I want people to feel surprised when they discover them. Perhaps the second lease of life for Armored Warriors and Battle Circuit may even result in gamers considering them as contenders in their Top 10 beat-‘em-up lists in the future.

One possible talking point is the potential for a Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle 2. The main barrier for a sequel compilation is that so many of Capcom’s brilliant arcade retro brawlers are dependent on licenses. It’s not impossible though, after all Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara was released on the PS3 in 2010. Perhaps Capcom could release a sequel that bundles console beat-‘em-ups, as well as coin-ops.

Below are a few possible games for a sequel:

Realistically possible Capcom arcade beat-‘em-ups: Dynasty Wars (1989), and Magic Sword (1990). Note: Dynasty Wars is actually based on a manga, but Warriors of Fate still featured in this collection. Magic Sword is not strictly a brawler game, though.

Restricted due to licensing Capcom arcade beat-‘em-ups: Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (1992), The Punisher (1992), Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (1994), Alien vs. Predator (1994), and Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara (1996).

Realistically possible Capcom console beat-‘em-ups: Mighty Final Fight (NES, 1993), Final Fight 2 (SNES, 1993), and Final Fight 3 (SNES, 1995/1996).

This comment is a side note to explain that I initially spelt Garv Corbett's name wrong here, so cheers for the heads-up from Lucid Games on the correct spelling.

It is definitely important to me to accurately spell the names of developers and artists. I am really proud that I was able to discuss Firesprite’s history for this interview, especially since I come from Birkenhead.

I feel that an interview about a developer’s experiences becomes a record in video game history, and it is beneficial for video games as a young medium to keep an accurate archive of as many past developer recollections as possible.

Also, I owned a Commodore 64 in the mid-1980s, but during 1987 or early 1988 I got to see 16-bit computer graphics on a friend's Atari ST for the first time. That game was Psygnosis’ 1987 Barbarian, and it was a side-scrolling fantasy adventure, platform game — not to be confused with Palace Games' one-on-one fighter Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, which I was also playing in 1987 on my C64. On the title screen for Psygnosis' Barbarian it actually states, "By David H. Lawson and Garvan Corbett."

It is pretty cool in my eyes that I was buzzing from Garv's sprite design when I was kid, thirty years ago, and just last week Firesprite were showing me his original AR Bot artwork from The Playroom. Psygnosis' Barbarian was an early 16-bit title, so the trees, stone walls and wooden ladders were set against a black background, but it had expressive sprite animation for the time, like a fantastic red-eyed phantom skull cloud when enemies died.

@LieutenantFatman Based on what Lee Carus discusses here about learning from working with Japan Studio, I feel that Firesprite has been courageous with its “experimental mentality” during the development of The Persistence. It sounds as though that attitude has paid off by the game mixing horror with roguelike level layouts, and varied stealth and FPS gameplay. I wholeheartedly agree, I wish Firesprite great success, too.

@twenty90seven Thanks for the compliment. I hope you don’t think I'm being finicky, but I find that Eurogamer has superb content. Just one example is Digital Foundry. Not only is it always ace to check out Richard Leadbetter's work – I've been reading his reviews since early 1990s CVG and Mean Machines – but John Linneman is one of my favourite retro writers of modern times. His technical breakdowns of retro games are stunning, and first-class. Honestly, if anyone here likes retro games and you see the name John Linneman on a Eurogamer or Digital Foundry article, read it fast. If it’s a video, click on it sharpish!

@Cornaboyzzz I hear you, I have such nostalgia from playing Psygnosis' 1989 Shadow of the Beast on the Amiga. I was in awe of its top-notch graphics and presentation in my younger days, but I was rubbish at actually progressing through the tough and abrasive gameplay.

@KALofKRYPTON I wish that SEGA would bring their arcade Super Scaler games to PS4. There is an excellent 3DS compilation called Sega 3D Classics Collection with arcade versions of Galaxy Force II, Power Drift, and Thunder Blade. Each one of those coin-ops would be fully boss on PS4.

I still have my original, very well worn issue of the red CVG special ‘Complete Guide to Consoles: Volume Two’ from 1990, where I first read an analysis of the original Atari Lynx version of Blue Lightning. On page 37 of that magazine – people would probably call it a bookazine nowadays – there is a 79% scoring review by the legend that is Julian 'Jaz' Rignall, where he describes it as, "A technically stunning Afterburner-style game."

Quite a few years ago now, my girlfriend and I were waiting for a tram after Play Blackpool, and just through luck I got the chance to chat to Jeff Minter – as you do! Amongst other things, he was talking about his memories of the Atari Lynx, and I’m sure he mentioned playing Blue Lightning.

Asides from my not-so-classy name dropping, my point is that I love learning about retro games that I had never heard of before. I had no idea the Jaguar CD had a Blue Lightning game, so I was chuffed when Stuart Tilley described it here.

I wish that Attention to Detail could have somehow ported it to the original PlayStation during the 1995 to 1996 launch period. Blue Lightning on Jaguar CD was published by Atari, so I am essentially wishing for the impossible, but I guess that sometimes games released on less-popular consoles can be more easily forgotten over time.

I may sound like a bit of a caveman saying this, but a sprite-scaler arcade game like Afterburner and Thunder Blade may have even aged better than some of the first 32-bit polygon titles. Especially if its style was similar to SEGA’s classic Super Scaler coin-ops.

Thanks lots again to both Lee Carus and Stuart Tilley for this interview. All of their history with Psygnosis and Studio Liverpool fascinates me, and Lee's explanation of the earliest fridge-sized PlayStation dev kit was brilliant. They are PlayStation pioneers these guys, no doubt. Great stuff!

Man, reading Sammy’s review makes me want to play The Persistence all of the way through, for sure. I really like his introduction about the game being built upon the need to persist — not just in the way you survive the horror — but in how each deck design is procedurally generated to keep you on your toes, and how battling through to earn upgrades and new abilities rewards the player’s persistence. I found the parry mechanic of the block satisfying when I played it, too. Great review, Sammy.

In answer to a couple of questions in the comments section, first of all when I visited Firesprite they mentioned a 6 – 8 hour playthrough time from start-to-finish. However, they said that this time will differ, because stealth and action approaches are “chalk and cheese”, so some players will take longer using a stealth play-style. Sammy mentions in his review how it is cool that The Persistence has moments that make you feel overpowered in short bursts, and Firesprite described to me that the game was deliberately designed that way.

In regards to the PS Move and PSVR Aim controller questions above, I have copied Stuart Tilley’s answer in from my Firesprite interview here:

Push Square: Did Firesprite consider including a PlayStation Move option for motion-based aiming controls during development?

Stuart Tilley (Game Director, The Persistence): "We designed the game to work with DualShock 4, the DualShock is perfect for first-person games, you’ve got both the sticks and we know that everyone who has got a PlayStation definitely has a DualShock 4, so we designed the game for that. A lot of players, and people online have asked for the potential of doing support for Move controllers, so we will see how it goes. I think basically what the public’s perception is to that? We’re not averse to doing it, but it’s going to be quite a challenge for us to do. If we’re going to do it, we want to do a brilliant job of it, rather than to just throw it in, essentially".

Thanks for the comments everyone, reading about your first experiences of PSVR and your thoughts on motion sickness have made me reflect more upon my time with The Persistence, too.

If you notice from my descriptions here, I approached tackling the first deck very slowly and steadily. Considering direct quotes from my recount above I was “edging around each corner”, and “using a torch to cautiously brighten dark corners”, which was “making me pause to reflect.” I was conscious of “my mindful steps”, and “I would stop at length”, so there was even one point where “I froze on the spot.” I concluded that “I’d first play The Persistence using stealth.”

I definitely didn’t feel one bit of nausea, but my trepidation meant that there was a deliberate control over how much motion was involved, and my approach was certainly much slower than fast moving gameplay in something like Vanquish.

Perhaps approaching it so carefully — precisely because I was apprehensive about jump scares — actually made playing a horror game my ideal first introduction to adjusting to motion in PSVR.

Also take into account that my hands-on play was possibly over an hour, but part of that time was spent trying out the Solex companion app on a tablet. The Solex companion app surprised me in some ways, because it provided a light, fresh and playful perspective on a scary game. It turned The Persistence into a couch co-op game – or ‘couch uncooperative’ if you cunningly prefer to obstruct the main player – and Solex was a fun addition that I wasn’t really expecting.

@Tasuki Your point about the release price of Transformers: Devastation is valid for me, because I bought it new for £30 on its first week of release, which is about $45 in the US. I've easily found good value for money from it after repeated plays, plus I'm planning to complete it again in the holidays.

@sinalefa I agree with you, the replay value of mastering techniques still applies to Transformers: Devastation with skills like activating slow-motion by dodging, mixing up light and heavy melee combos, using unique character abilities, and shooting down ranged enemies. Players can also charge around as a vehicle, and use a smart bomb type ultimate attack on L3 and R3. Note that I really enjoyed The Wonderful 101 on my Wii U, too, so I'd be happy if TMNT surprised us by somehow adopting its isometric view for a four-player cooperative mode.

@themcnoisy I'm actually still choosing my favourite three games for your Forum Members GOTY 2015 list. My top choice is a lengthy open world game that I spent many hours completing for its unlockable ending, but I'm confident with a much shorter game as my second choice. I'm struggling to choose my third pick, though. A hectic year meant that I only played about 10 hours each of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, but I pretty much only ever choose games that I've completed as my Game of the Year picks. I’m actually buzzing from having the three classics on PS4 in Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection at the moment, and I think I'll complete Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune again tonight, so it's likely that I'll have a remaster as a contender for third place.

It's fun to speculate about this TMNT title, especially as it’s developed by PlatinumGames, but it's still very early days, of course.

@get2sammyb Yep, this excellent news for me, plus it makes complete sense following Transformers Devastation. PlatinumGames already have a beautiful looking cel-shading engine to capture the look of an eighties' cartoon, and they've proven that they can deliver more accessible Bayonetta fighting mechanics, but still maintain plenty of depth.

This is all perfect for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, although I hope that gamers don't obsess too much about a short game length, and start focussing more on the importance of replayability with these games instead. A four or five hour game length for a title that I repeatedly complete is ideal for me.

This news will draw further comparisons between PlatinumGames and classic arcade, SNES and Mega Drive era Konami, too. Just like @Rogue76 mentioned above, I instantly thought of Konami's side-scrolling beat-'em-up games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Arcade Game and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time.

Whenever I see the 16-bit Konami logo sweep down onto the screen – and hear the chime as colour is added – I instantly think of quality. The name PlatinumGames makes me feel the same way, Transformers Devastation is me second favourite game this year after Batman: Arkham Knight.

Admittedly, this game will need a new hook – the transformations into vehicles were cool in Transformers Devastation – so perhaps its time for PlatinumGames to add a bit of co-op into their brawler games.

Thanks for the compliments on my review in this comments section, it's always appreciated.

@carlos82 Spot on, I've been playing Super Star Wars the old-school way, too. There’s no need for me to save at all on easy difficulty, because I can blast through the entire game comfortably without even thinking about saving. I like controlling Han whenever possible, and using the homing shots of the seeker is fun. However, I played brave difficulty without saving last night, but I lost my last two credits on the Mode 7 Death Star Attack stage again. I don't have an effective X-wing technique to avoid squandering lives before taking down the 20 towers and the 20 TIE fighters. If I reach the final Trench Battle level I can complete it without losing any more lives. I'll never beat Jedi difficulty the traditional way, though, I need to save often on the hardest difficulty.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi It wasn't my intention to dislike or loathe the prequel trilogy, my point was that there was much more positivity around Star Wars in 1992 when the original trilogy was the core story, and the fans adored those characters. I watch Revenge of the Sith all the time, because I really enjoy it. It has an action packed opening, Order 66 is shocking and epic, plus the Mustafar lightsaber duel is atmospheric.

@dnky666 Funnily enough Issue 97 of Retro Gamer magazine that I discuss above also has a feature called The Making of Zzap!64 on pages 62 to 67.

Some games are simply a complete treat for a reviewer. I love covering the PSone here, and analysing PlayStation retro games, but this Super Star Wars review is my personal favourite piece of writing this year. Thank you as always to the kind folks at Push Square.

Below are my references to a selection of the many retro magazines I read to research this review:

• Control, Issue 5, January 1993, Super Star Wars preview, pages 10 to 13. Control includes a nice quote about the visuals, they said that "Graphically, one can only call Super Star Wars amazing. From the cute animation of Luke, with his flowing locks and beaming smile, through to the slickly presented flying stages, it oozes quality".
• Nintendo Magazine System, Issue 5, February 1993, Super Star Wars review, pages 74 to 77. Tim Boone and Jaz Rignall scored it 93/100.
• Retro Gamer, Issue 97, December 2011, pages 34 to 39, The Making of Super Star Wars Trilogy by Mike Bevan. An awesome feature covering Kalani Streicher working at LucasArts, find it and read it.
• Retro Gamer, Issue 148, October 2015, SNES 25 Years: Playing With Power feature, pages 58 to 67. Written by Push Square's very own Damien McFerran, there are discussion points about the SNES' "sluggish CPU" and a cool quote from Chris Sutherland's time at Rare, where he reflects upon Mode 7. Sutherland explained that "We actually stayed clear of Mode 7 for the most part, because the ability to scale and rotate was so new and shiny, it felt like it was obligatory". I became frustrated with the X-wing shoot-'em-up Death Star surface section on the Jedi difficulty, so this quote felt apt to me.
• Super Play, Issue 4, February 1993, Super Star Wars import review, pages 34 to 37. Matt Bielby scored it 89%.
• The Super NES Book/ The Mega Drive Book. This Retro Gamer bookazine is currently available, and includes a second print of The Making of Super Star Wars Trilogy by Mike Bevan on pages 74 to 79.

@Tasuki, @AhabSpampurse, and @LieutenantFatman: Thank you for showing an interest in the Push Square review of Super Star Wars, and cheers for your kind words about my retro reviews specifically, Victor. I am always interested to read about the classic titles that Tasuki revisits in What Are You Playing? features, and on Push Square's forums.

I am also disappointed that Super Star Wars has not been released on the European PlayStation Store, yet. I am based in the UK, and I have been checking for it regularly on our PSN today without any success.

My understanding is that PS4 Star Wars Battlefront is released in Europe on Thursday 19th November, so I have a bit of a new hope that Super Star Wars has only been held back in the UK to coincide with DICE's game being released.

I will check for Super Star Wars on PSN again up until Friday, and in the meantime I will just keep playing my SNES cartridge. Keep your fingers crossed this week European Star Wars PS4 and PS Vita retro fans, plus I hope everyone in North America is enjoying it.

@Quintumply Thank you, it is kind of you to say that you are loving these retro pieces, I have more side-scrolling PSone reviews planned for Push Square in the future.

@get2sammyb Cheers, my friend, I love learning and sharing smaller details about these retro games.

Below are a few links to articles that I have referenced in this review:

• Evan Wells talking to Game Informer, taken from an interview in Issue 227, this feature is called My First Game: Evan Wells – ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron. In the credits for GEX Evan is listed as a designer of secret levels, and for creating 3D spaceships.
• Gregg Tavares discussing GEX and his experience as a programmer on the game.
• Lyle Hall’s Gamasutra piece called Playing Catch-Up: GEX’s Lyle Hall, taken from 2007. Lyle Hall was the producer of GEX, and he is noted as being responsible for the character concept of GEX in the credits of the game.

Just like @Azikira has contributed here, I am interested in hearing gamers share their thoughts and experiences of PSone GEX, or finding out if they played it on 3DO, Saturn, or PC. If anyone has trouble with PSone GEX’s password system, remember to keep returning to the Tomato Soup level in the first Cemetery world, because GEX can find an easy video tape collectible for a password every time. This VHS tape at the end of Tomato Soup is essentially a way to constantly save your progress.

@JoeBlogs There is no harm in sharing the link to The Mean Machines Archive twice, mate, it's a quality resource, so it's always worth telling other fans of Mean Machines about it.

@Churchy Thanks, the way in which you still played Mickey's Wild Adventure even though you're not a fan of Disney reminds me of how I tried to learn the rules of American football in 1990, just so that I could play John Madden Football on the Mega Drive.

@electrolite77 My laptop is over-the-hill and cranky, with very little hard drive space, so I mainly read my old physical copies of magazines. I understand that keeping storage of lots of gaming magazines becomes a real space issue, though, because I lose space in my flat because of it, but I really enjoy sitting and flicking through a well-worn gaming magazine. I remember that there is a site called The Out of Print Archive that works to preserve classic gaming publications, too. Cheers.

@AG_Awesome Thank you very much clearing this up for us, and sharing it with @audiobrainiac here, it was kind of you to take the time to check the release status of Mickey's Wild Adventure on the North American PSN. It's a shame that the PSone version of Mickey Mania didn't make it to the US. I know that on the UK's PSN we received Japanese import PSone games like GaiaSeed that have an NTSC 60Hz display, but I don't really understand the technicalities of reversing the situation to run a PAL 50Hz game on an American television.

@RawShark I'm with you all the way here, it was the Mean Machines section in CVG around about 1988 and 1989 that really kicked off my heightened interest in gaming magazines. I have a decent collection of CVG — my magazines take up a lot of my flat's space though — and Nintendo Magazine System, but less issues of Mean Machines SEGA.

The issue five of Mean Machines that I referenced in this review has fantastic SNES Final Fight art, by the way, not just for its cover, but in a tips sections too.

SEGA Saturn Magazine is one of the stand-out publications that was able to expertly express the passions of core gamers in its coverage of genres like shmups and one-on-one fighters. MAXIMUM is another example of this, you're right to mention Richard Leadbetter, the detail of his work has consistently impressed me. I agree that it's brilliant to still read modern articles by Rich and Jaz today, the column in Retro Gamer by Paul Davies is similarly great, although I couldn't find Paul Davies' piece in the latest Retro Gamer issue 147 when I bought it today.

I also have a complete collection of the SNES magazine Super Play, it was definitely one of my favourite 1990s gaming publications.

It's awesome that you were able to appear in a classic magazine during a tournament, mate. I think it’s great to hear retro gamers discuss such fond memories. Cheers.

@themcnoisy That button spelling of the cheat code for Mega Drive Aladdin is genius, thanks for sharing it. I know that many retro gamers debate about whether the Capcom SNES or Virgin Games/ Disney Software Mega Drive version of Aladdin was better, but I think that we were lucky in the 16-bit era to have two great Aladdin games. Then again, none of the gamers I knew in 1993 owned both a SNES and a Mega Drive, so we would have to visit a friends' house to play a rival system. It's cool that Shinji Mikami worked on the SNES' Aladdin, though. As a side-note, take into account that PSone Mickey's Wild Adventure is noticeably more challenging than Mega Drive Castle of Illusion at first, especially when you initially adjust to keeping Mickey’s distance from a barrage of hits. It doesn't take too long to master, though, and it becomes a satisfying game to complete.

@RawShark Cheers, I still own all 24 issues of Mean Machines, and I read them quite often. I even bought duplicates of some issues, because my originals had become so worn and tattered from me over-reading them. I'm sure you know this already, but just in case you haven't heard of it, you should definitely check out The Mean Machines Archive if you are a fan of the legendary UK magazine.

@gingerfrog Yep, my nostalgia for the Mega Drive version of Castle of Illusion is through the roof, too. Spot on.

@JerriKoe I am glad that you enjoyed my review, thanks right back at you for the compliment, Push Square will try our best to keep the retro content coming.

@audiobrainiac I don't have access to the American PSN through my PS Vita, PS3, or PSP. I'm based in the UK, so the review was written from playing the European PSone game. My understanding is that it finally received a US release on PSN in 2012. Instead of only searching for Mickey's Wild Adventure, try searching PSN for its alternative name of Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse. I imagine that it will be very nicely presented in NTSC with 60Hz for American gamers. Good luck if you decide to search for it.

@mookysam I agree completely, the art style in this game looks beautiful on the PS3, but it especially shines on my PS Vita.

As always if anyone would like a natter about this game, I will check in on the comments here.

I also reviewed the SNES version of Mickey Mania five years ago for Nintendo Life, and I have completed it on SNES and PSone, if any of you are interested in discussing the differences between the console games.

Even if you don't want to chat about Mickey's Wild Adventure specifically, but enjoy talking about other related subjects like retro gaming magazines, classic gaming publications are another subject that captures my interest.

This is a really excellent feature, I was especially excited to read it as soon as I noticed it was written by Paul Davies, his perspective as a games journalist who covered the transition from 16-bit to 32-bit, plus the boom of the fifth generation is fascinating. I've been reading Paul's work for over 20 years now, his writing style is so affable and welcoming, and he conveys his memories of one of my favourite eras in such a warm-hearted way.

I was also reading Paul's Retro Radar column in issue 146 of Retro Gamer recently, and this month's Play it Loud piece on how much he loves gaming music complements what he's describing about the tunes in WipEout here really nicely.

Big cheers to Push Square and to Paul Davies, I'm flicking through my fingerprint worn July 1996 issue 176 of CVG now in honour of this article. I'm reading this magazine in a new context now, it must have been at the point that the CVG team were starting to take the PSone more seriously, because it's brimming with PSone content. Highlights for the original PlayStation in CVG #176 include a 1996 E3 show report, two pieces on Jumping Flash! 2, and reviews of International Track & Field, Resident Evil, Return Fire, and Rockman X3.

Just as Paul is describing CVG's early impressions of Crash Bandicoot in this article, issue 176 has a small E3 '96 box-out on it that describes Naughty Dog's game as "Not as alternative as Sonic X-Treme, nor ground-breaking as Super Mario 64, but SCEA’s new mascot is arguably more sumptuous than either to behold". Good times, for sure.