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<channel><title><![CDATA[JUICY GAME REVIEWS - Retro Game Reviews]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews]]></link><description><![CDATA[Retro Game Reviews]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2026 20:14:04 +0100</pubDate><generator>Weebly</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Lara Croft's Legacy: 30 Years of Tomb Raider]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/lara-crofts-legacy-30-years-of-tomb-raider]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/lara-crofts-legacy-30-years-of-tomb-raider#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2026 13:05:19 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[PS1]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/lara-crofts-legacy-30-years-of-tomb-raider</guid><description><![CDATA[       Blog by Gemma @ Juicy Game Reviews / TheGebs24Check the 30 Years of Lara Croft Exhibition Video linked in this blogWhen you finish a full playthrough of a 30-year-old game live on stream, you do not just beat a game; you step into a time machine. I recently finished the original 1996 Tomb Raider on stream, enduring fifteen brutal, atmospheric, and utterly gorgeous levels filled with blocky puzzles, aggressive wildlife, subterranean rivers, towering ancient ruins, and of course, the ever-p [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div id="980387497383244318" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div><div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Blog by Gemma</span> <a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a> <span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">/</span> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSS7ic97Y_dGiRCIpzTXSCw" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/lara-croft_orig.png" alt="Lara Croft Cosplay outfit" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Check the 30 Years of Lara Croft Exhibition Video linked in this blog</div></div></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A">When you finish a full playthrough of a 30-year-old game live on stream, you do not just beat a game; you step into a time machine. I recently finished the original 1996 <em>Tomb Raider</em> on stream, enduring fifteen brutal, atmospheric, and utterly gorgeous levels filled with blocky puzzles, aggressive wildlife, subterranean rivers, towering ancient ruins, and of course, the ever-persistent Pierre DuPont. I have streamed plenty of retro titles, but none stirred up such a powerful wave of pure nostalgia for both myself and the entire chat. As we navigated Peru, Greece, Egypt, and Atlantis together, we kept coming back to the exact same question: what made the original <em>Tomb Raider</em> so extraordinarily special, and why does Lara Croft still matter so much in 2026? It is time to take a proper swan dive into the groundbreaking history, mechanical precision, and enduring legacy of Core Design&rsquo;s masterpiece.<br><br>The journey begins in total isolation. After your guide meets a sudden, grisly end outside the frozen gates of Vilcabamba, you are left entirely alone in the dark caves of Peru. That sense of quiet, claustrophobic solitude set <em>Tomb Raider</em> apart from every other action title of the era. There was no radio chatter, no mini-map cluttering your screen, and no companion character guiding your steps. You were alone in the silence, broken only by the echo of Lara&rsquo;s boots and the distant growl of a hungry wolf. Core Design built a movement system based on absolute grid mathematical precision. Crossing a treacherous, vertigo-inducing chasm required real discipline. You had to walk Lara to the absolute edge of the drop, execute a precise one-block hop backward, and then run forward to launch into a mid-air leap while holding action to grab the opposing ledge. That mechanical predictability meant every death was entirely your fault. Falling into a spike pit or watching Lara plummet down a shaft was never a game glitch, but a failure of execution. Once you trusted the grid physics, the game rewarded you with an incredible sense of mastery.<br><br>A common trope among retro gamers is complaining about <em>Tomb Raider</em>&rsquo;s swimming controls, yet during my stream, swimming proved to be remarkably natural. The real challenge lay on dry land. Coming off the ultra-fluid, free-form mechanics of <em>Shadow of the Tomb Raider</em>, jumping back into 1996 required a complete mental reset because tank controls demand extreme patience. Tapping backward by mistake near a cliff meant instant death, sidestepping required deliberate button combinations, and misjudging a run-up by a single pixel meant bouncing off a wall straight into lava. Once my mid-1990s muscle memory kicked back in, the stiffness melted away into a satisfying, rhythm-based dance of side-flips, back-flips, and dual-pistol strafing.</font></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/lara-croft-2_orig.png" alt="Lara Croft Statue" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Check the 30 Years of Lara Croft Exhibition Video linked in this blog</div></div></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A">You cannot discuss 1996 without addressing the elephant in the room regarding Lara Croft&rsquo;s iconic design. Early 3D hardware was severely limited, forcing Core Design to rely on sharp geometric primitives. A misplaced value during character modelling famously inflated Lara&rsquo;s bust line by 200 percent, and instead of fixing it, the team kept it, sparking an immediate pop-culture firestorm. The low-polygon geometry spawned endless playground urban legends and slang terms across the UK. Yet, controversial marketing aside, Lara was an absolute gaming revelation. In an era dominated by male action heroes, she was an intellectual, aristocratic, independent, and immensely capable lead character who outsmarted every enemy she faced. Lara proved that a female protagonist could carry an international AAA blockbuster franchise, opening doors for future icons like Aloy from <em>Horizon</em> and Ellie from <em>The Last of Us</em>.<br><br>Growing up in the UK during the 1990s, foreign travel was not an option for everyone. Before I ever set foot on an airplane as an adult, <em>Tomb Raider</em> was my window to the planet. The game offered genuine escapism as you stepped through snowy ruins into hidden, lush prehistoric valleys in Peru, navigated the sprawling verticality of St. Francis Folly and the Golden Touch of Palace Midas in Greece, explored the towering, sun-baked monuments of Khamoon in Egypt, and confronted alien, organic architecture in the deep subterranean nightmare of Atlantis. Playing through those environments made you feel like a true explorer discovering lost history right from your living room floor.<br><br>Revisiting the game decades later changes your perspective on difficulty. Levels I remembered dreading as a kid, like the multi-tiered puzzle room of St. Francis Folly in Level 5, turned out to be surprisingly smooth when tackled with a mature problem-solving brain. However, the final stretch of the game remains an absolute trial by fire. Level 7 at Palace Midas offered devastating instant-death traps alongside the constant threat of turning Lara into solid gold. Level 13 in Natla's Mines stripped you of all weapons, forcing you through high environmental danger and bullet-sponge mini-bosses. Level 14 in Atlantis felt like playing <em>Doom</em>, featuring relentless flying mutants, pulsating walls, and endless vertical combat. Finally, Level 15 at The Great Pyramid delivered unforgiving timed platforming, meat-grinder traps, and the terrifying Scion monstrosity. Conquering Level 14 with a live chat keeping me sane was a highlight of the stream. Every time I cleared an arena and thought it had to be the end, another corridor opened up into fleshy horror. How any of us beat this game as children without guidebooks remains one of life&rsquo;s great mysteries.</font></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/angelina-jolie_orig.png" alt="Angelina Jolie" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Check the 30 Years of Lara Croft Exhibition Video linked in this blog</div></div></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A">The technical achievement of <em>Tomb Raider</em> becomes even more incredible when you examine how it was built. The original game was not created by an army of hundreds, but by a core team of just six people at Core Design in Derby, UK. Toby Gard served as the character designer and lead animator who envisioned Lara Croft, while Paul Douglas was the programmer who wrote the custom 3D engine from scratch. They were joined by Gavin Rummery, Jason Gosling, Heather Gibson, and Neal Boyd, who worked as level designers, artists, and programmers to construct the worlds and mechanics. Being born in Derby myself, claiming that Lara Croft and I were born in the same city has always been a point of pride. It is bittersweet to reflect on Core Design&rsquo;s physical legacy, as the studio at 132 Ashbourne Road in Derby was eventually closed, demolished, and converted into residential apartments. While the brick-and-mortar studio is gone, the digital legacy born inside those walls redefined global media forever.<br><br>If Core Design had never pitched that low-polygon action game in 1996, the entire entertainment industry would look fundamentally different. Modern cinematic action-adventure games like Naughty Dog's <em>Uncharted</em> series or <em>Assassin's Creed</em> owe their foundational DNA to Lara&rsquo;s traversal mechanics and tomb-puzzling. In Hollywood, the 2001 film adaptation starring Angelina Jolie brought the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia into mainstream global view. On a personal level, watching those films sparked a lifelong fascination with Southeast Asia that eventually led me to travel to Cambodia to teach English. Without six developers sitting in a Derby office in 1995, my life path might have been completely different.<br><br>Standing here in 2026, as <em>Tomb Raider</em> celebrates its 30th anniversary, Lara Croft&rsquo;s relevance is stronger than ever. Very few video game intellectual properties survive three decades, let alone remain at the forefront of digital culture. The franchise is currently executing a bold creative vision by unifying its timeline. Instead of choosing between the dual-wielding, witty acrobat of the 1990s and the grounded, gritty survivor of the 2010s reboot trilogy, the character has evolved into a single, cohesive figure who possesses the wisdom and scars of her origin story alongside the supreme confidence, iconic gear, and globe-trotting authority of her classic years.<br><br>Furthermore, as Crystal Dynamics and Amazon Game Studios forge ahead with next-generation experiences built on Unreal Engine 5, <em>Tomb Raider</em> continues to push technological boundaries. Just as the 1996 original pushed early 3D acceleration on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, current developments showcase breathtaking real-time lighting, complex environmental physics, and photorealistic archaeological preservation in digital spaces. Outside of consoles, <em>Tomb Raider</em> has transcended gaming to become a true multi-platform powerhouse with major television adaptations, expanded fiction, comics, and physical archives preserving the history of early game development, positioning Lara Croft alongside characters like Batman or Indiana Jones as an immortal pop-culture archetype. Streaming classic games in 2026 is also a vital act of game preservation, as experiencing the raw challenge of grid-based controls, unassisted puzzle-solving, and hand-crafted level geometry reminds us of the design purity that started it all.<br><br>Revisiting the original <em>Tomb Raider</em> live on stream was more than just a trip down memory lane; it was a reminder of why we fall in love with video games in the first place. It was difficult, uncompromising, majestic, and brilliant. Thirty years after her debut, Lara Croft remains the undisputed queen of gaming. Here&rsquo;s to the low-poly roots, the precision jumps, the Derby creators, and the endless adventures still to come.</font></div><div class="wsite-youtube" style="margin-bottom:10px;margin-top:10px;"><div class="wsite-youtube-wrapper wsite-youtube-size-auto wsite-youtube-align-center"><div class="wsite-youtube-container"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DbQ6e6SdG1Y?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Chaos Engine (Amiga) Review]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-chaos-engine-amiga-review]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-chaos-engine-amiga-review#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2026 17:01:23 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Amiga]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-chaos-engine-amiga-review</guid><description><![CDATA[Blog by Gemma&nbsp;@ Juicy Game Reviews&nbsp;/&nbsp;TheGebs24      The Chaos Engine Amiga Review       Released in 1993 by the Bitmap Brothers,&nbsp;The Chaos Engine&nbsp;is widely regarded as one of the finest action games on the Commodore Amiga. Arriving late in the Amiga&rsquo;s lifespan, it represents a culmination of the platform&rsquo;s strengths: striking audiovisual presentation, smooth performance, and thoughtful game design. More than just a straightforward shooter,&nbsp;The Chaos Engi [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Blog by Gemma&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSS7ic97Y_dGiRCIpzTXSCw" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"> <a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/alien-breed-special-edition-92-amiga-review'> <img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/the-chaos-engine-review_orig.png" alt="The Chaos Engine" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%">The Chaos Engine Amiga Review</div> </div></div>  <div>  <!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div>  <div class="paragraph"><font color="#2a2a2a">Released in 1993 by the Bitmap Brothers,&nbsp;The Chaos Engine&nbsp;is widely regarded as one of the finest action games on the <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/roguecraft-is-an-upcoming-amiga-game-but-what-is-it">Commodore Amiga</a>. Arriving late in the Amiga&rsquo;s lifespan, it represents a culmination of the platform&rsquo;s strengths: striking audiovisual presentation, smooth performance, and thoughtful game design. More than just a straightforward shooter,&nbsp;The Chaos Engine&nbsp;blends action, exploration, strategy, and atmosphere into a distinctive experience that has earned its reputation as a true Amiga classic. I had so much fun meandering through the levels back in the 90&rsquo;s and what&rsquo;s more, the pixel art caught me as&nbsp;incredibly striking.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s hard to think about the Amiga without considering The Chaos Engine as one of the Pinnacle games. The Chaos Engine was available on the Amiga and the <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/alien-breed-special-edition-92-amiga-review">Amiga CD32</a>. Notable other releases include The <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/michael-jacksons-moonwalker-arcade-sega-mega-drive-retro-game-review">Sega Mega Drive</a> and <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/5-super-nintendo-games-you-need-to-play">Super Nintendo</a>.&nbsp;</font><br /><br /><font color="#2a2a2a"><u><span><strong>The Chaos Engine: The Cultural Impact</strong></span></u></font><br /><br /><font color="#2a2a2a">At first glance,&nbsp;The Chaos Engine&nbsp;is a top-down run-and-gun game, but it quickly becomes clear that it offers more depth than its genre peers. The game is set in an alternate Victorian-era England, infused with steampunk science fiction. A renegade machine&mdash;the Chaos Engine&mdash;has gone rogue, warping reality and unleashing hordes of mechanical and mutated enemies across the land. While the narrative is lightly sketched, it provides a strong thematic backbone that informs everything from the character designs to the environments and enemy types.</font><br /><br /><font color="#2a2a2a">One of the first and most important choices players make is selecting their character. The roster includes six distinct personalities, such as the heavily armed but slow Navvie, the agile Gentleman, and the powerful but expensive Mercenary. Each character has different attributes for speed, strength, stamina, and starting weaponry, and these differences meaningfully affect gameplay. Some characters are better suited for cautious exploration, while others excel at aggressive combat. This system encourages replayability, as each play through can feel notably different depending on the chosen character. The&nbsp;character select screen&nbsp;provides a glance at the type of weapons, stat breakdown and cost. Once your character is selected, your counterpart character will automatically be selected (assuming you are player a one player game). It&rsquo;s at this point, that we begin our battle in to The Forest.&nbsp;</font><br /><br /><font color="#2a2a2a"><u><span><strong>The Levels&nbsp;</strong></span></u></font><br /><br /><font color="#2a2a2a">Gameplay unfolds across a series of large, scrolling levels viewed from a top-down perspective. There are four worlds to navigate, each with four levels. The worlds are: The Forest, The Workshop, Fortesque Mansion and The Cellars. Rather than simply pushing forward, players are encouraged to explore. Levels are packed with branching paths, hidden rooms, locked doors, switches, and secrets. Keys must be found to access certain areas, and thorough exploration is often rewarded with extra cash, power-ups, or vital upgrades. This design gives&nbsp;The Chaos Engine&nbsp;a semi-tactical feel, where rushing ahead recklessly is often punished, while careful movement and map awareness are rewarded.</font><br /><br /><font color="#2a2a2a">Combat is deliberately paced. Enemies do not overwhelm the screen with sheer numbers in the early stages, but they are often placed strategically, forcing players to think about positioning and timing. As the game progresses, enemy variety increases significantly, introducing faster foes, projectile-heavy enemies, and tougher mechanical monstrosities. Boss encounters are another highlight, often requiring players to identify patterns and exploit weaknesses rather than simply firing endlessly.</font><br /><br /><font color="#2a2a2a">Adding another layer of strategy is the game&rsquo;s currency system. Enemies and destructible objects drop coins, which can be spent at in-level shops or between stages. These shops allow players to upgrade weapons, purchase helpers like droids, or replenish health and stamina. The catch is that money is limited, and spending unwisely can make later stages much more difficult. This light resource-management element gives the game a subtle RPG flavour and adds tension to every purchase decision.</font></div>  <div><div class="wsite-multicol"><div class="wsite-multicol-table-wrap" style="margin:0 -15px;"> 	<table class="wsite-multicol-table"> 		<tbody class="wsite-multicol-tbody"> 			<tr class="wsite-multicol-tr"> 				<td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"> 					 						  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"> <a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2026-05-05-at-18-05-33_orig.png' rel='lightbox' onclick='if (!lightboxLoaded) return false'> <img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2026-05-05-at-18-05-33_orig.png" alt="Character on map The Chaos Engine" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Character on map The Chaos Engine</div> </div></div>   					 				</td>				<td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"> 					 						  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"> <a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2026-05-05-at-18-05-37_orig.png' rel='lightbox' onclick='if (!lightboxLoaded) return false'> <img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2026-05-05-at-18-05-37_orig.png" alt="The Chaos Engine Character Selection" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%">The Chaos Engine Character Selection</div> </div></div>   					 				</td>			</tr> 		</tbody> 	</table> </div></div></div>  <div class="paragraph"><font color="#2a2a2a"><u><span><strong>Choice is everything</strong></span></u><br /><br />One of&nbsp;<em>The Chaos Engine</em>&rsquo;s most celebrated features is its cooperative multiplayer mode. Two players can tackle the entire game together, sharing the screen and resources. Cooperative play fundamentally changes the experience, encouraging communication and coordination. Players must decide how to split money, which paths to explore, and how to support each other during intense firefights. While the difficulty remains high, co-op play feels more balanced and enjoyable, and it is widely considered the definitive way to experience the game.<br /><br />Visually,&nbsp;<em>The Chaos Engine</em>&nbsp;is a standout title on the Amiga. The Bitmap Brothers were renowned for their visual polish, and this game is no exception. I&rsquo;ve said it before: I am a HUGE fan of Pixel Art. Whilst The Chaos Engine doesn&rsquo;t boast the brightest colour palette, the artwork looks mouth watering. The graphics are sharp, detailed, and stylish, with a muted colour palette that perfectly suits the industrial steampunk theme. Backgrounds are filled with pipes, gears, metallic walkways, and eerie machinery, creating a strong sense of place. Character sprites are chunky and expressive, and enemy designs are varied and imaginative. Smooth scrolling and solid performance ensure that the action remains fluid even during hectic moments.<br /><br /><u><span><strong>Banging Soundtrack</strong></span></u><br /><br />The audio design is equally impressive. The soundtrack, composed by Richard Joseph, is often cited as one of the best on the platform. Its deep, atmospheric tracks use heavy basslines and moody melodies to build tension and immersion. Rather than simply energising the player, the music reinforces the game&rsquo;s sense of menace and mystery. Sound effects are crisp and impactful, from the clatter of gunfire to the mechanical whirr of enemies, further enhancing the overall experience.<br /><br />Despite its many strengths,&nbsp;<em>The Chaos Engine</em>&nbsp;is not without its criticisms. The difficulty curve can be unforgiving, especially for solo players. Mistakes are costly, and losing progress can feel punishing, particularly given the game&rsquo;s length. Newcomers may find the early hours challenging as they learn enemy patterns, level layouts, and effective upgrade strategies. However, the difficulty rarely feels unfair; instead, it rewards patience, observation, and mastery.<br /><br />Another potential drawback is that the core mechanics remain largely consistent throughout the game. While new environments and enemies are introduced, players who prefer constant mechanical evolution may find the experience somewhat repetitive. That said, for fans of deliberate, skill-based gameplay, this consistency can be seen as a strength rather than a weakness.<br /><br />In the context of the Amiga&rsquo;s library,&nbsp;<em>The Chaos Engine</em>&nbsp;occupies a special place. It exemplifies the Bitmap Brothers&rsquo; design philosophy: stylish presentation, deep but accessible mechanics, and a focus on quality over gimmicks. The game has aged remarkably well, thanks to its tight controls, clear visual design, and strong cooperative focus. Even decades after its release, it remains enjoyable and highly playable, particularly for retro enthusiasts.<br /><br /><strong>In conclusion</strong>,&nbsp;<em>The Chaos Engine</em>&nbsp;is a landmark Amiga title that combines action, exploration, and atmosphere into a cohesive and memorable experience. The Chaos Engine is up there amongst the greats when it comes to&nbsp;<em>all things Amiga.</em>&nbsp;Its distinctive steampunk setting, excellent audiovisual presentation, and rewarding cooperative gameplay make it one of the system&rsquo;s finest offerings. While its difficulty may deter casual players, those willing to invest the time will find a richly crafted game that stands as a testament to the Amiga&rsquo;s golden era. For anyone interested in classic computer games or the history of the platform,&nbsp;<em>The Chaos Engine</em>&nbsp;is essential playing for any Amiga fan in 2026. Thanks for reading and happy gaming.&nbsp;<br /><br />&#8203;</font><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Blog by Gemma&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSS7ic97Y_dGiRCIpzTXSCw" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a><br /></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Brains behind Bitmap Books: Sam Dyer]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-brains-behind-bitmap-books-sam-dyer]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-brains-behind-bitmap-books-sam-dyer#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2026 15:43:53 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-brains-behind-bitmap-books-sam-dyer</guid><description><![CDATA[       Interview by Gemma @ Juicy Game Reviews&nbsp;/&nbsp;TheGebs24Bitmap Books: Sam DyerIf you're in to Retro Gaming, there is a high probability you've heard of Bitmap Books.&nbsp; Whether you're a fan of Pixel Art, Video Game Box Art, Gaming Controllers, or in fact, anything related to the world of Retro Gaming, Bitmap Books will have something to pacify your gaming palette.&nbsp;I reached out to owner, Sam Dyer, to dive in to his world; known to us as Bitmap Books, to try and understand wha [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div id="801844250177961788" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A">Interview by Gemma <a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a>&nbsp;/&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSS7ic97Y_dGiRCIpzTXSCw" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a></font></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/bitmap-bookds_orig.png" alt="Bitmap Books" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Bitmap Books: Sam Dyer</div></div></div><div><!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A">If you're in to <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/retro-gaming-is-here-to-stay">Retro Gaming,</a> there is a high probability you've heard of <a href="https://www.bitmapbooks.com/" target="_blank">Bitmap Books</a>.&nbsp; Whether you're a fan of Pixel Art, Video Game Box Art, Gaming Controllers, or in fact, anything related to the world of Retro Gaming, Bitmap Books will have something to pacify your gaming palette.&nbsp;<br><br>I reached out to owner, Sam Dyer, to dive in to his world; known to us as Bitmap Books, to try and understand what motivated him to conceive such incredible&nbsp;<em>coffee table&nbsp;</em>type books. I've been a fan for years and thankfully had the pleasure of leafing through some of the beautifully bound books myself. My personal favourite is The Definitive Book of SNES RPG's. As a huge <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-to-the-past-snes-3-reasons-why-this-game-is-so-powerful">Super Nintendo</a> girl, I found this book satisfied my love of Pixel Art combined with some rare SNES Role Playing Games.&nbsp;<br><br>Today, we hear from Sam Dyer in this interview:<u><strong><br><br>1/ Can you tell us a bit about yourself and who Bitmap Books are?</strong></u><br>My name is Sam Dyer, and I&rsquo;m the founder and creative director of Bitmap Books. I&rsquo;m a graphic designer by trade, and I started Bitmap back in 2014 as a bit of a passion project&mdash;something to enjoy during evenings and weekends alongside my day job. What began as me experimenting with designs for a book about video games has, 12 years later, grown into a publishing house with more than 30 titles.<br><br><u><strong>2/ What motivated you to start Bitmap Books in 2014?</strong></u><br>From the outset, the goal for Bitmap has been simple: to design and create beautiful books that celebrate the history of video games. Although I enjoyed my day job, I was often designing for clients and industries I had little personal interest in. Video games, on the other hand, have always been a huge part of my life, so the idea of creating something centred around them was incredibly appealing. After some initial experimentation, I developed the concept for our first book,&nbsp;<em>Commodore 64: a visual compendium</em>. When I began sharing early designs with the community, the response was overwhelmingly positive. That encouragement gave me the confidence to launch the project on Kickstarter&mdash;and it proved there was a real appetite for what we were doing.<br>&#8203;<br><u><strong>3/ What sets Bitmap Books ahead over the rest of the publishers of gaming books?</strong></u><br>I think one of the key things that sets Bitmap apart is our distinctive visual style. That comes from my background in design, combined with a deep appreciation for video game art&mdash;something that has always been my main passion and the aspect of games that evokes the most nostalgia for me. Alongside that, we place a huge emphasis on quality and innovation. We experiment with unique print techniques such as lenticular slipcases, colour-coded bookmark ribbons, oversized collector&rsquo;s boxes, and even slipcases with built-in sound effects.<br><br><u><strong>4/ You've secured contributions from some of the greats of gaming, such as Mark Cerny. How does Bitmap acquire such contributions</strong></u><br>Building relationships and trust has also been essential. If people can see that you&rsquo;re professional and committed to producing high-quality work, they&rsquo;re far more likely to collaborate. I have to mention Andy Roberts of Thalamus Digital here&mdash;back in 2014, when we were completely unknown, he generously introduced me to key contacts in the industry. Without that support, it would have been much harder to establish credibility and bring contributors on board</font></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/img-4264-1348x899_orig.webp" alt="Super Famicom The Artbox Collection" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Credit: Bitmap Books</div></div></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A"><u><strong>5/ Sam, can you tell us something about projects you've collaborated on in the past?</strong></u><br>Our first major collaboration was&nbsp;<em>Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection</em>. The author had initially attempted to launch the book on Kickstarter but hadn&rsquo;t been able to complete it. I reached out and suggested that, with Bitmap&rsquo;s experience, we could help bring the project to life. It was a great experience, and it marked the first time we operated more like a traditional publisher. That led to other projects such as&nbsp;<em>A Gremlin in the Works</em>. While I enjoyed those collaborations, my preference has always been to work closely with authors from the ground up, shaping a book together from concept through to completion.<br><br><u><strong>6/ Have you got a personal favourite book from your Bitmap Launch?&nbsp;</strong></u><br>One project I&rsquo;m particularly proud of is&nbsp;<em>Metal Slug: The Ultimate History</em>. We had previously worked with SNK on a NEOGEO book, but being entrusted with&nbsp;Metal Slug&mdash;one of their most iconic IPs&mdash;was a real honour. There was definitely pressure to do it justice, but I&rsquo;m incredibly proud of the final result, especially the graphic design. The response from both fans and SNK was fantastic, and it led to further collaborations, including a book on&nbsp;The King of Fighters.<br><br><u><strong>7/ You're very a accommodating&nbsp;in your approach to the gaming community. You've sponsored my content for years. What motivates you to do this?&nbsp;</strong></u><br>Before Bitmap, I was involved in the retro gaming community, particularly through the Retro Asylum Podcast around 2012. I spent a lot of time contributing to podcasts, design work, and the website. That experience gave me a real appreciation for the effort that content creators and community members put into keeping this hobby alive. It&rsquo;s something I still value deeply, and I enjoy supporting the community wherever I can.<br><br><u><strong>8/ If someone wanted to write their own book with Bitmap, what would that process look like? Where would people start?</strong></u><br>We also encourage new ideas&mdash;anyone can pitch a book to us through our website. We receive a lot of submissions, and while we can&rsquo;t publish everything, I make a point of personally responding to each one.<br><br><u><strong>9/ Where can people find you online?</strong></u><br>You can find us at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bitmapbooks.com/" target="_blank">www.bitmapbooks.com</a>,&nbsp;where you can explore and purchase our books, as well as follow links to our social channels. It&rsquo;s also worth signing up to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bitmap.news/" target="_blank">www.bitmap.news</a>&nbsp;to stay up to date with our latest announcements.</font></div><div><div id="219249383857197636" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Alien Breed Special Edition 92 (Amiga) Review]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/alien-breed-special-edition-92-amiga-review]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/alien-breed-special-edition-92-amiga-review#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 09:12:11 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Amiga]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/alien-breed-special-edition-92-amiga-review</guid><description><![CDATA[       Blog by Gemma&nbsp;@ Juicy Game Reviews&nbsp;/&nbsp;TheGebs24Team17 contributed heavily towards the Amiga scene back in the 1990’s. Producing show stopping titles like Superfrog, Project X and Qwak; it was no surprise that Team17 seemed to be a pioneer of the Amiga eco-system.Alien Breed was (and still is) a staple Amiga game in 2025. But back in 1992 Team 17 released an extended version of Alien Breed with the added “Special Edition” to the title. This version packs in more levels  [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div id="952095754443371448" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div><div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Blog by Gemma&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSS7ic97Y_dGiRCIpzTXSCw" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a><br></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/alien-breed-special-edition-review_orig.gif" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div></div></div><div><!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A">Team17 contributed heavily towards the <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/amiga-500-mini-review-is-this-the-best-retro-mini-yet">Amiga</a> scene back in the 1990&rsquo;s. Producing show stopping titles like Superfrog, Project X and Qwak; it was no surprise that Team17 seemed to be a pioneer of the <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/lotus-turbo-challenge-2-review">Amiga</a> eco-system.<br><br>Alien Breed was (and still is) a staple <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/roguecraft-is-an-upcoming-amiga-game-but-what-is-it">Amiga game</a> in 2025. But back in 1992 Team 17 released an extended version of Alien Breed with the added &ldquo;Special Edition&rdquo; to the title. This version packs in more levels compared to the original game. In fact there are twelve levels in the special edition as opposed to six. Even more fun right? As if Alien Breed could get any better? Well it did.&nbsp;<br><br>&ldquo;Shuttle Bay Two. Deck One&rdquo;. This is the fist line of text before we leave our drop ship to enter the first&nbsp;<em>level&nbsp;</em>or should I say swarm of aliens. Right off the bat, the first level is packed with Aliens. Now we need to note that the Alien in Alien Breed looks dangerously like H.R Giger&rsquo;s Xenomorph. Right down to the game art! A front facing Alien with razor sharp teeth amidst an open mouth that feels ready to snap at anyone who gets in her way! Writing that, made me think &ldquo;GET AWAY FROM HER YOU BITCH&rdquo;. The similarities are undeniable. But I digress. Back to Alien Breed Special Edition.<br><br>The game builds on everything we saw in Alien Breed but packed in to twelve levels. Taking a Top Down view, our marine has to navigate the narrow corridors of each level. The game looks and feels great at first glance and I&rsquo;d go as far to say that the Special Edition looks slightly better in terms of graphics too.&nbsp;<br><br><u><span><strong>Items</strong></span></u><br>Running around dodging and shooting Aliens is one thing but trying to find supplies adds a whole new challenge to Alien Breed (SE). Key cards, Credits and First Aid kits are amongst other items that need to be collected if we are to be successful in our endeavours. Key cards are used to unlock doors and can often seen quite scarce. Weirdly, managing my key card inventory often felt like it added a puzzle element to Alien Breed (SE). My advice: Spend them wisely. There were times when I used all of my key cards and could not access other rooms. I found it difficult to find other key cards to try and&nbsp;<em>complete&nbsp;</em>the level. Perhaps I am a perfectionist?&nbsp;<br><br>Credits can be used at the Intex Terminals to buy weapons and tool supplies. I found the Terminals difficult to find at first but rewarding once I&rsquo;d discovered them. Once activated, the green screen flickers reveal the menu of the terminal. It&rsquo;s a cool animation indeed. Don&rsquo;t get me wrong though, the terminal screens are&nbsp;<em>green on green&nbsp;</em>so they can be difficult to read at times! Ultimately, it&rsquo;s worth hunting for Credits throughout the levels, especially if you&rsquo;re keen on upgrading your arsenal. Weapons include: A Plasma Gun, A Broadhurst DJ Twinfire 3LG, A Flamethrower and more.&nbsp;<br><br><u><span><strong>Aliens</strong></span></u><br>The&nbsp;<em>Xenomorph&nbsp;</em>style aliens swarm the corridors in droves. They move quickly and are at their most dangerous when grouped together. They seem to appear randomly or out of the floors (from vents and holes) so you have to keep your wits about you at all times.&nbsp;<br><br>In the later levels,&nbsp;<em>Facehugger&nbsp;</em>type breeds start to appear. They are a lot quicker than the larger Aliens (as they are in the films). What&rsquo;s worse is that they are a lot more difficult to see as they blend in with the floor colour. I am unsure if this is a good or bad point to be honest. Either way, you need to watch out for the little critters.<br><br>Bosses seem relatively easy to beat. Their movements seem like the only threat and at best you might lose small amounts of health but nothing too taxing.&nbsp;</font><br><br></div><div><div class="wsite-multicol"><div class="wsite-multicol-table-wrap" style="margin:0 -15px;"><table class="wsite-multicol-table"><tbody class="wsite-multicol-tbody"><tr class="wsite-multicol-tr"><td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2025-12-19-at-09-08-50_orig.png' rel='lightbox' onclick='if (!lightboxLoaded) return false'><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2025-12-19-at-09-08-50_orig.png" alt="Alien Breed Shooting Alien" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Shooting Aliens for days</div></div></div></td><td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2025-12-19-at-09-09-23_orig.png' rel='lightbox' onclick='if (!lightboxLoaded) return false'><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2025-12-19-at-09-09-23_orig.png" alt="Alien Breed Killing boss" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">This boss is stacked</div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A"><u><span><strong>Sound</strong></span></u><br>The levels do not contain any music unless you&rsquo;re fighting a boss. Is this a missed opportunity? Not really. As you meander the levels, you will hear low hums of static and sound effects when you collect items. I personally believes this builds tension.&nbsp;<br><br>The introduction music is ICONIC! Created by the amazing Aliaster Brimble, the deep and dark tones that erupt as game text pops on the screen gives me goosebumps every time.<br><br>During the&nbsp;<em>Warning&nbsp;</em>countdowns (red screen), there is a female Voice Over shouting &ldquo;Warning, destruction imminent&rdquo;. Again, the game seems to lend itself to subtle voiceovers and sound effects rather than over-encumber levels with bellowing music. This amplifies the tension of the game without a doubt and I believe this is a smart move indeed! Just like in the movies. The almost deafening silence of the Marines meandering through the corridors of LV426 in search of lost colonists. It worked really well.&nbsp;<br><br>When our marine takes shot at the Aliens, and in essence kills them, we hear a terrible&nbsp;<em>scream&nbsp;</em>from the alien. Sadly, that same scream (death sound) repeats on every Alien. The same can be said when we pick up items. I can&rsquo;t help but feel this takes away from the immersion. Perhaps this is something you don&rsquo;t mind? Despite this one&nbsp;<em>grumble&nbsp;</em>about the sound, Alien Breed (SE) does not disappoint at it&rsquo;s absolute core.&nbsp;<br><br><u><span><strong>Graphics</strong></span></u><br>Beautiful! There I said it! I truly believe Alien Breed Special Edition looks great. It is very difficult to make environments pop from a 2D Top Down perspective but thanks to the use of shadows from the walls, drops hips and other various objects. The Drop Ship in particular always occupied a special place in my heart because it was the first thing you saw on the opening level! WOW! Back in the 90&rsquo;s, I remember thinking &ldquo;just wow&rdquo;. From there, I felt hooked. The drop ship had some excellent shadows and textures that gave the impression the devs really card about the look they were going for. I admire that.&nbsp;<br><br><span><strong>Final Thoughts</strong></span><br>Alien Breed Special Edition is incredible. Packed with twelve levels, frantic flurries of aliens, bosses and labyrinthian like levels; Alien Breed (SE) will keep you coming back to your Amiga for Years to come. It&rsquo;s worth noting that you can also enjoy the game on your Amiga CD32 consoles too.&nbsp;<br><br></font><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">This blog post was published in&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.computesgazette.com/" target="_blank">Computer Gazette.&nbsp;</a>&#8203;<br><br></div><div><div id="460796260220836763" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 Review]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/lotus-turbo-challenge-2-review]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/lotus-turbo-challenge-2-review#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 09:35:47 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Amiga]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/lotus-turbo-challenge-2-review</guid><description><![CDATA[       Blog by Gemma&nbsp;@ Juicy Game Reviews&nbsp;/&nbsp;TheGebs24“Marks, set, GO!”&nbsp;Those words were the start of something great in my childhood.&nbsp;The start of a time trial based race on Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 on the Amiga. I sat&nbsp;beside my friends as I watched them try to beat their times over and over. What an amazing part of my childhood this game was!Now, it would be easy for me to sit here and tell you all about the game for this&nbsp;entirety of this review and don’t [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div id="687913140978939045" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div><div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Blog by Gemma&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSS7ic97Y_dGiRCIpzTXSCw" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/lotus-tirbo-challenge-2_orig.png" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div></div></div><div><!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A"><span style="font-weight: bold;">&ldquo;Marks, set, GO!&rdquo;&nbsp;</span>Those words were the start of something great in my childhood.&nbsp;</font><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>The start of a time trial based race on Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 on the Amiga. I sat&nbsp;</span>beside my friends as I watched them try to beat their times over and over. What an amazing part of my childhood this game was!<br></font><br><span></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">Now, it would be easy for me to sit here and tell you all about the game for this&nbsp;</font></span><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>entirety of this review and don&rsquo;t worry, we will certainly be discussing the game&rsquo;s&nbsp;</span>pulling power. What matters though, is the cultural impact on myself and my journey in to the world of Amiga.&nbsp;</font><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>But first, what is Lotus Turbo Challenge 2? Put simply, we have a racing game that&nbsp;</span>takes place across eight track settings. Unlike the first game, we do not race against other cars. The general idea is to race to the checkpoint within the allotted time. Seems simple right? It is. Simple and highly e&#64256;ective. The courses have a&nbsp;<span>great variety of scenes and colour palettes too. We start nice and simple on&nbsp;</span><span>The&nbsp;</span><span>Forest Course&nbsp;</span><span>which incorporates a bright blue sky, white pu&#64256;y clouds, trees and&nbsp;</span><span>rocks. If we are successful in beating the&nbsp;</span><span>time&nbsp;</span><span>we are granted access to the next&nbsp;</span>course. The formula worked GREAT! Other track scenes included a City Course, Fog Course, Snow Course, Desert, Motorway, Marsh and finally a Storm course.&nbsp;</font><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>Upon beating each track, we are rewarded with a password. Naturally this makes it&nbsp;</span>easy to dip in and out of the game if you are unable to beat it in one sitting.<br></font><br><span></span><span style="font-weight:bold"><font color="#2A2A2A">Forest Course:</font></span><br><span></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">The first race arguably the most iconic. Awash with a blue sky, trees, rocks and&nbsp;</font></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">more twists and turns you can shake s tick at. When I think of Lotus Turbo&nbsp;</font></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">Challenge 2, the Forest Course is what reigns in my mind.</font></span><br><br><span></span><span style="font-weight:bold"><font color="#2A2A2A">City Course:</font></span><br><span></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">This feels like the perfect transition in to the second race. The City Race is set at&nbsp;</font></span><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>night. The glow of the skyscrapers in the background and the brightly lit road really&nbsp;</span>make for an exciting race. What&rsquo;s more are the addition of tunnels to add that extra&nbsp;<span>sense of grittiness. I also loved the little extra&nbsp;</span><span>Gremlin&nbsp;</span><span>advertisement boards that&nbsp;</span>lined the road.<br></font><br><span></span><span style="font-weight:bold"><font color="#2A2A2A">Fog Course:</font></span><br><span></span><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>We are now on to the third race. This is the Fog Race. It&rsquo;s my last favourite as the&nbsp;</span>colour palette is dim (naturally as we are in fog) and the di&#64259;culty is definitely&nbsp;</font><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>increased here. Why? There are only three lanes, compared to the previous two&nbsp;</span>tracks of four lanes. Your skills will be tested in this race.<br></font><br><span></span><span style="font-weight:bold"><font color="#2A2A2A">Snow Course:</font></span><br><span></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">Finally, the road seems wider again on the Snow Race; albeit lane markers are&nbsp;</font></span><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>missing. This always made me believe this race was more&nbsp;di&#64259;cult&nbsp;</span><span>but the more I&nbsp;</span>played it as an adult, the more I realised that was in my head back then.The aesthetic is pretty detailed considering everything is covered in snow. Trees,&nbsp;</font><span><font color="#2A2A2A">old signs and billboards line either side of the road, snow falls in the foreground&nbsp;</font></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">and mountains occupy the background. The challenge here felt like the terrain.&nbsp;</font></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">There are a lot of smalls hills combined with heavy twists in the road. Beware or&nbsp;</font></span><font color="#2A2A2A">you will fail!</font><br><span></span></div><div><div class="wsite-multicol"><div class="wsite-multicol-table-wrap" style="margin:0 -15px;"><table class="wsite-multicol-table"><tbody class="wsite-multicol-tbody"><tr class="wsite-multicol-tr"><td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2025-10-24-at-10-45-31_orig.png' rel='lightbox' onclick='if (!lightboxLoaded) return false'><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2025-10-24-at-10-45-31_orig.png" alt="Lotus Turbo Challenge Night track" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Lotus 2 - Night Time never looked so good</div></div></div></td><td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2025-10-24-at-10-45-19_orig.png' rel='lightbox' onclick='if (!lightboxLoaded) return false'><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2025-10-24-at-10-45-19_orig.png" alt="Lotus 2" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Lotus 2 - The iconic first race</div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div><div class="paragraph"><span style="font-weight:bold"><font color="#2A2A2A">Desert Course:</font></span><br><span><font color="#2A2A2A">This is my second least favourite of the game. Again, the colour palette is dull as&nbsp;</font></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">are the surroundings. Rocks and tumbleweed line the road which make for&nbsp;</font></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">increased di&#64259;culty.</font></span><br><br><span style="font-weight:bold"><font color="#2A2A2A">Motorway Course:</font></span><br><span><font color="#2A2A2A">Aesthetically, this race is awesome. The road is split so you can view oncoming&nbsp;</font></span><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>tra&#64259;c on the opposite side. It&rsquo;s a nice touch but it can be di&#64259;cult to concentrate at&nbsp;</span>times. Maybe the developers did this on purpose? Either way, the track looks&nbsp;</font><span><font color="#2A2A2A">great.&nbsp;</font></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">The road has three lanes, tunnels, and at times the city can be seen in the&nbsp;</font></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">background and additional obstacles line the way. So beware of large trailers&nbsp;</font></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">ploughing horizontally across some of the races.</font></span><br><br><span style="font-weight:bold"><font color="#2A2A2A">Marsh Course:</font></span><br><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>This is a three lane race with puddles everywhere. Packed with&nbsp;</span><span>S Bends&nbsp;</span><span>and some&nbsp;</span>serious flooding, you&rsquo;ll really have your reactions put to the test here.</font><br><br><span style="font-weight:bold"><font color="#2A2A2A">Storm Course:</font></span><br><span><font color="#2A2A2A">The lightning flickers throughout the race but thankfully we are back to four lanes.&nbsp;</font></span><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>Had this have been a three lane race, I would of disliked this race. This is definitely&nbsp;</span>the Mose atmospheric race of the game, and of course the final race. If you make it this far, you&rsquo;ve done well.&nbsp;</font><span><font color="#2A2A2A">Once you beat the game, there is a congratulations screen with a picture of&nbsp;</font></span><span><font color="#2A2A2A">Andrew Morris and Shaun Southern; composers of the game. It&rsquo;s a nice touch.</font></span><br><br><span style="font-weight:bold"><font color="#2A2A2A">Why do I love Lotus Turbo Challenge 2?</font></span><br><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>What fascinated me as a little girl, were there car statistics darting the introduction.&nbsp;</span>The attention to detail. The burnt Orange Elan SE and the Espirit Turbo SE, both&nbsp;</font><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>had their own charm but I much preferred the latter as it pumped out a much&nbsp;</span>higher speed, clocking a maximum of 163mph. I guess I was addicted to a higher speed back then!</font><br><br><span><font color="#2A2A2A">So why was Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 so significant? It was one of my first&nbsp;</font></span><font color="#2A2A2A"><span>introductions to racing games. Aside from Outrun, this felt like it was up there in&nbsp;</span>one of the best racing games of the time. I felt captivated by the intro music (which was is still excellent today), I thought the graphics looks slick and the cars looked incredible. My friends and I used to take turns in racing which led us to lose hours of our school holidays. Needless to say, I was not very good at the game. The more time I ploughed in the better I got. The game became a fascination from there. Sure, it would have been nice to have more cars in the game but I said at the&nbsp;<span>start of my review: Simple and highly e&#64256;ective. Lotus Turbo Challenge 2&nbsp;</span><span>knows&nbsp;</span>what it is. The developers seemed to have a clear vision and executed it perfectly.</font><br><br><font color="#2A2A2A">It is a fan favourite amongst many and when I think about the Amiga today, Lotus&nbsp;Turbo Challenge 2 is one of the fist games I think about.<br><br>This blog post was published in <a href="https://www.computesgazette.com/" target="_blank">Computer Gazette.&nbsp;</a></font></div><div><div id="718626414228185476" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Truth About Retro Game Hunting]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-truth-about-retro-game-hunting]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-truth-about-retro-game-hunting#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Mon, 06 Jan 2025 15:54:08 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-truth-about-retro-game-hunting</guid><description><![CDATA[       Blog by Gemma&nbsp;@ Juicy Game Reviews&nbsp;/&nbsp;TheGebs24Retro Game Hunting is the art of searching for Retro Games. I, as TheGebs24, have been Retro Game Hunting on YouTube for over ten years and it’s something that’s become a huge and influential part of my life. This year, I was fortunate enough to be invited to America to attend Southeast Game Exchange (SEGE), thanks to my buddy John Riggs. The Retro Games and all out Gaming paraphernalia is WILD out there. Not to mention, I m [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div id="214584764796532635" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div><div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Blog by Gemma&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSS7ic97Y_dGiRCIpzTXSCw" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/retro-game-hunting_orig.png" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div></div></div><div><!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A">Retro Game Hunting is the art of searching for Retro Games. I, as TheGebs24, have been <em>Retro Game Hunting</em> on YouTube for over ten years and it&rsquo;s something that&rsquo;s become a huge and influential part of my life. This year, I was fortunate enough to be invited to America to attend Southeast Game Exchange (SEGE), thanks to my buddy John Riggs. The Retro Games and all out Gaming paraphernalia is WILD out there. Not to mention, I met up with Retro Rick, Pixel Game Squad, JRPGLife, Gamer Ahmer and many more Retro Game Hunters. It was abundantly clear that the passion of my fellow Retro Game Hunters was equally as the thrilling. But why do we do it? Why do we travel thousands of miles in search of the next &ldquo;prefect retro find?&rdquo;.</font><br><br><font color="#2A2A2A">For me, there are two reasons. One: Survival. Survival? Back in the 90&rsquo;s I spent a lot of time outside (majority of the time through no choice of my own). During harsh weather, I would see solace and shelter in shops like Woolworths, WHSmith, Blockbuster and our local Second Hand Shop, Alfreton Sales & Exchange. I&rsquo;d stand for hours, looking at video games, VHS, toys and magazines. It helped pass the time and to feed my imagination. I believe I&rsquo;ve also loved video games so I guess these times were a way for me to be around video games when I was not able to play them. Plus it was pretty warm in the shops.</font><br><br><font color="#2A2A2A">Looking back, this was the start of my Retro Game Hunting career. I didn&rsquo;t know it then but this would become one of the biggest parts of my future life: Retro Game Hunting. I supposed nowadays, I take a lot of comfort in hunting for video games. It is, and always will be, a part of my coping. To stay well, to stay connected.</font><br><br><font color="#2A2A2A">Two: passion! I love it! If you&rsquo;re familiar with you YouTube channel, you&rsquo;ll know that I&rsquo;ve amassed one of the greatest Retro Game Collections in the UK. This is self proclaimed of course. I&rsquo;m certain there are many private collectors of course.</font><br><br><font color="#2A2A2A">Retro Game Hunting is a way of life for me. In the past week, I&rsquo;ve filmed in London, Leeds, Middlesborough and Pontefract. The thrill of the hunt is what drives me to use all of my free time to gather footage of some of the best Retro Games in the UK. If you know me, you&rsquo;ll know that one of my holy grails has been a Super Nintendo kiosk right? Well I filmed an entire garage full of varying editions of SNES Kiosks! It was a dream come true and not to mention, I walked away having purchased a Swedish SNES Kiosk. Pretty neat. My quest is to acquire the floor standing M80C store kiosk now.</font><br><br><font color="#2A2A2A">Over in America, the Super Nintendo kiosks are everywhere. Here in the UK, they are way more obscure. Although, I may have just sourced a shop in Europe that will quite possibly be one of the best Retro Game Stores in the world. At least in my opinion. I will be going to film there later in 2025. In the meantime, enjoy this episode.&nbsp;</font></div><div class="wsite-youtube" style="margin-bottom:10px;margin-top:10px;"><div class="wsite-youtube-wrapper wsite-youtube-size-auto wsite-youtube-align-center"><div class="wsite-youtube-container"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YfTXX3sUHHE?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Punisher 1993 Arcade Review]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-punisher-1993-arcade-review]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-punisher-1993-arcade-review#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Fri, 13 Dec 2024 08:52:29 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[arcade]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/the-punisher-1993-arcade-review</guid><description><![CDATA[       Guest Blog post by Adam&nbsp;@AngelicWiganer&nbsp;/&nbsp;@snoopfozziefozzThe Punisher Arcade Game (1993)Wow, I hadn’t realised that I had gone so long without even touching a video game of some sort until I actually sat down the other day and booted up my Raspberry Pi loaded with hundreds of thousands of games from the times gone by. My last gaming experience was playing Mario Kart 8 on the plane home from Tunisia in August.&nbsp;I can safely say life has definitely gotten in the way re [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div id="151649204372896170" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div><div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Guest Blog post by Adam&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/AngelicWiganer" target="_blank">@AngelicWiganer</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/snoopfozziefozz/" target="_blank">@snoopfozziefozz</a></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/the-punisher-1993-arcade-review_orig.png" alt="The Punisher Review Arcade game" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">The Punisher Arcade Game (1993)</div></div></div><div><!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A">Wow, I hadn&rsquo;t realised that I had gone so long without even touching a video game of some sort until I actually sat down the other day and booted up my Raspberry Pi loaded with hundreds of thousands of games from the times gone by. My last gaming experience was playing <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/video-game-reviews/mario-kart-8-a-shell-to-success-or-a-toad-in-the-hole">Mario Kart 8</a> on the plane home from Tunisia in August.<br>&nbsp;<br>I can safely say life has definitely gotten in the way recently. The last week or so I&rsquo;d been struggling with my own mental health issues, and I came to realise I haven&rsquo;t been making time for myself at all. I still have a sealed copy of Astro Bot waiting to be opened at home.<br>&nbsp;<br>Anyway, I digress. Once I had set up the Retro Box, I wanted to make sure that when I played it, I had a select number of titles which I was itching to play rather than scrolling aimlessly through thousands of ROM&rsquo;s<br>&nbsp;<br>I took some inspiration from various YouTubers on what their favourite arcade games were and it led me to make my decision that I wanted to play the majority of games from the Capcom CPS systems 1, 2 and 3. They seemed to have a lot of games and franchises which appealed to me.<br>&nbsp;<br>So, without further ado. I&rsquo;d like to bring you my review of the 1993 Arcade game The Punisher. The game marked the first collaboration of Capcom and Marvel, bringing beloved Marvel IPs to the arcades, and was a side scrolling beat em up. Capcom was tried and tested in this genre having brought to us the absolutely wonderful Final Fight a few years earlier.<br>&nbsp;<br>The game brings us the titular character along with a pre MCU Nick Fury to go through six stages of fast paced combat in order to bring down the Kingpin. For a game that was released over thirty years ago I had immense pleasure playing this, bringing back all those nostalgic feelings. Now it&rsquo;s a good thing that I can put multiple credits into the game and have multiple continues so I could beat the game, otherwise in real time money I reckon I would have spent like &pound;25. But that&rsquo;s the beauty of having these games on emulation, and just goes to show how difficult arcade games were in order to get them coins put into them all the time.<br>&nbsp;<br>The graphics look amazing even by todays standards where companies are favouring a more pixellated style in these games. Frank and Nick move effortlessly and are animated brilliantly as are the various cast of bad guys you will be attempting to bring down. Thankfully the game is as intended to play, as the 1995 Genesis port was way toned down in terms of violence and the outfits of characters.<br>Its typical fare moving along and doing your combo moves , but I was particularly impressed with the extra melee weapons you can pick up along the way, they all have a number of uses which are displayed in the bottom left hand corner and you can also pick up grenades along the way. I loved using the machine guns, flamethrowers and also the lance which was a subtle nod to Arthurs&rsquo;s weapon in Ghouls and Ghosts.&nbsp; As mentioned, it is pretty violent, and blood is shown whilst using various weapons which can cause puncture wounds like knives, swords and daggers.<br><br>The game possesses a lovely 90&rsquo;s style soundtrack, whilst there are no bangers like the ones found in Street Fighter 2, its certainly not bad at all.</font><br><br></div><div><div class="wsite-multicol"><div class="wsite-multicol-table-wrap" style="margin:0 -15px;"><table class="wsite-multicol-table"><tbody class="wsite-multicol-tbody"><tr class="wsite-multicol-tr"><td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2024-12-13-at-08-52-02_orig.png' rel='lightbox' onclick='if (!lightboxLoaded) return false'><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2024-12-13-at-08-52-02_orig.png" alt="The Punisher fighting enemies in the sewers" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">It's not just The Turtles that fight the sewers</div></div></div></td><td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2024-12-13-at-08-51-05_orig.png' rel='lightbox' onclick='if (!lightboxLoaded) return false'><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2024-12-13-at-08-51-05_orig.png" alt="The Punisher throwing an enemy in combat" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">The Punisher gets punishing</div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A">On reflection I am thinking to myself why don&rsquo;t I play these types of games more when I have some spare time. It doesn&rsquo;t always have to be a forty plus hour RPG to get through (although I have just bought the <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/video-game-reviews/dragon-quest-xi-echoes-of-an-elusive-age-ps4-review">Dragon Quest 3</a> remake and <a href="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/video-game-reviews/final-fantasy-vii-remake-ps4-review">Final Fantasy 7</a> Rebirth ha-ha). We can still enjoy a great gaming experience in less than forty-five minutes which is low long it took me to finish the game.<br><br>If you have the opportunity to play the arcade version of The Punisher, I would highly recommend that you do. I believe it is now on the compilation release of Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection which was released this year.<br>&nbsp;<br>Moral of the Story. Make time for yourself to do the things you like to do, even if its just for thirty minutes. I hope to be back soon with more retro reviews and a review soon of Astro Bot.<br>In the meantime, thanks for reading and keep gaming.<br><br>&#8203;</font><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Guest Blog post by Adam&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/AngelicWiganer" target="_blank">@AngelicWiganer</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/snoopfozziefozz/" target="_blank">@snoopfozziefozz</a><br></div><div><div id="390159605624506710" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Xeno Crisis GBA Pre-Orders Live!]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/xeno-crisis-gba-pre-orders-live]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/xeno-crisis-gba-pre-orders-live#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Wed, 16 Oct 2024 18:39:49 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Game Boy Advance]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/xeno-crisis-gba-pre-orders-live</guid><description><![CDATA[       Press release posted by:&nbsp;Gemma&nbsp;@ Juicy Game Reviews&nbsp;/&nbsp;TheGebs24Xeno Crisis for the GBA is available for Pre-Order NOW!PRESS RELEASEWe are very excited to announce that pre-orders are now live on both the&nbsp;Bitmap Bureau UK and EU Online Stores&nbsp;for the Game Boy Advance version of&nbsp;Xeno Crisis, releasing&nbsp;in Q4 2024!Check out the new&nbsp;GBA Gameplay Trailer&nbsp;above to see the game in action!The physical version includes the region-free GBA cartridge  [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div id="487478875782980057" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div><div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Press release posted by:&nbsp;Gemma&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGebs24" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/xeno-crisis-is-coming-to-gba_orig.png" alt="Xeno Crisis for the GBA is available for Pre-Order NOW!" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Xeno Crisis for the GBA is available for Pre-Order NOW!</div></div></div><h2 class="wsite-content-title" style="text-align:center;">PRESS RELEASE</h2><div><!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div><div class="paragraph" style="text-align:justify;"><font color="#2A2A2A">We are very excited to announce that pre-orders are now live on both the&nbsp;<span><a href="https://ihp.soundestlink.com/ce/c/66acf22f5b8ee903a1508533/66ed2b9e807dd867830b3297/66ed2bb9d92028f1a95b5c7a?signature=728bafcb72d2c791ecc927cfceb114b8b13e43a2e4f8671020e0aa6b13699b04" target="_blank"><u><strong>Bitmap Bureau UK and EU Online Stores</strong></u></a></span>&nbsp;for the Game Boy Advance version of&nbsp;<em>Xeno Crisis</em>, releasing&nbsp;in Q4 2024!<br><br>Check out the new&nbsp;<a href="https://ihp.soundestlink.com/ce/c/66acf22f5b8ee903a1508533/66ed2b9e807dd867830b3297/66ed2bb9d92028f1a95b5c7b?signature=728bafcb72d2c791ecc927cfceb114b8b13e43a2e4f8671020e0aa6b13699b04" target="_blank"><u><strong>GBA Gameplay Trailer</strong></u></a>&nbsp;above to see the game in action!<br><br>The physical version includes the region-free GBA cartridge with a full-colour label, as well as cardboard packaging with tray inserts and an instruction manual. Three packaging region options are available: PAL, USA, and JPN.<br><br>Additionally, downloadable digital ROMs will be available at launch to purchase on the Bitmap Bureau Online Store for use with flash cartridges and emulators.<br><br><strong>Please note that placing an order for the physical version of&nbsp;</strong><strong><em>Xeno Crisis&nbsp;</em>for GBA will also grant you a free download of the digital ROM version!</strong><br>&#8203;&#8203;</font></div><div style="text-align:center;"><div style="height: 10px; overflow: hidden;"></div><a class="wsite-button wsite-button-small wsite-button-normal" href="https://shop.bitmapbureau.com/collections/game-boy-advance/products/xeno-crisis-gba?omnisendContactID=66acf22f5b8ee903a1508533&amp;utm_campaign=campaign%3A+Copy+of%3A+Copy+of%3A+%28FINAL%29+Xeno+Crisis+GBA+pre-orders+%2F+SNES+restock.+Final+Vendetta+Neo+Geo+AES+demo.+Collection+out+now.+%2866ed2ac315e534797731804b%29&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=omnisend" target="_blank"><span class="wsite-button-inner">PRE-ORDER</span></a><div style="height: 10px; overflow: hidden;"></div></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A"><span><a href="https://shop.bitmapbureau.com/products/xeno-crisis-gba?srsltid=AfmBOoo4FE67_pKOedEf9Ckkx-XfpEEknT-3iBb7B6N1uB05dYvHAZxC" target="_blank">(Excerpt from Bitmap Bureau)</a><br>A boxed cartridge of Xeno Crisis compatible with the Nintendo Game Boy Advance handheld complete with instruction manual.<br>&#8203;</span><br><span>Xeno Crisis is an arena shooter in which you take control of a battle-hardened marine embarking on a deadly mission to confront an alien menace and get home alive! Run and gun your way through thousands of adversaries as you explore the research outpost, searching for survivors, and ultimately confronting the origin of the outpost's demise.&nbsp;</span>&#8203;</font></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/gba-xeno-crisis-pal-816eb564-fa98-455a-9808-c4f2786aeb0f_orig.webp" alt="Xeno Crisis GBA box art" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Xeno Crisis is coming to the GBA</div></div></div><div class="paragraph"><span><font color="#2A2A2A">Featuring seven areas and a legion of deadly enemies and intimidating bosses, Xeno Crisis is a formidable challenge, and you'll need to make wise use of the various weapons and upgrades to stand a chance. Only with a combination of lightning-quick reactions and guile will you be able to complete your mission, but be warned - only the most adept of players will be able to see the true ending!</font></span><ul><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Three game modes - Arcade, Infinite and Boss Rush</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Two difficulty levels</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Seven distinct environments, each with their own enemies</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">An arsenal of 10 weapons to master</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Over 40 enemy types to confront</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Upgrade system allows you to play the game your way</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Superlative pixel art from Henk Nieborg<span>&nbsp;and Catherine Menabde</span></font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Intense soundtrack by Savaged Regime</font></li><li><span><font color="#2A2A2A">Also includes a complimentary&nbsp;ROM download</font></span></li></ul><font color="#2A2A2A"><span><span style="font-weight:bolder">Game Information:</span></span><br><span><span style="font-weight:bolder">Genre:</span>&nbsp;Arena Shooter<br><span style="font-weight:bolder">Shipping Date:</span>&nbsp;8th of November, 2024</span><br><span><span style="font-weight:bolder">Language:</span>&nbsp;English, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain), Dutch, Portuguese (Brazil),<br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;*Japanese.</span><br><br><span>*the Japanese manual contains Japanese text only.</span><br><em>Xeno Crisis is an unofficial and unlicensed release for the GAME BOY ADVANCE handheld, and is not affiliated with NINTENDO Co., Ltd or its affiliates. NINTENDO and GAME BOY ADVANCE are trademarks of NINTENDO Co., Ltd or its affiliates.<br><br></em></font><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Press release posted by:&nbsp;Gemma&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGebs24" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a><font color="#2A2A2A"></font><br></div><div><div id="412093794319306578" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kev Bayliss: The Man who put the Kong in Donkey Kong]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/kev-bayliss-the-man-who-put-the-kong-in-donkey-kong]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/kev-bayliss-the-man-who-put-the-kong-in-donkey-kong#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Sun, 06 Oct 2024 12:27:40 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Super Nintendo]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/kev-bayliss-the-man-who-put-the-kong-in-donkey-kong</guid><description><![CDATA[       Interview by:&nbsp;Gemma&nbsp;@ Juicy Game Reviews&nbsp;/&nbsp;TheGebs24Kev Bayliss - The man tasked with bringing Donkey Kong to life on the Super NintendoKev Bayliss! What an industry legend. I first learnt about Kev Bayliss for his work on redesigning Donkey Kong for the Super Nintendo Release of&nbsp;Donkey Kong Country. Of course, Donkey Kong existed long before Kev had the pleasure of bringing him to Donkey Kong Country; a 16bit Super Nintendo staple title nowadays. Kev's industry e [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div id="887839496878395186" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div><div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Interview by:&nbsp;Gemma&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGebs24" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-hairline wsite-image-border-black" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/kev-bayliss-interview_orig.png" alt="Donkey Kong Country Demo" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Kev Bayliss - The man tasked with bringing Donkey Kong to life on the Super Nintendo</div></div></div><div><!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A">Kev Bayliss! What an industry legend. I first learnt about Kev Bayliss for his work on redesigning Donkey Kong for the Super Nintendo Release of&nbsp;<em>Donkey Kong Country</em>. Of course, Donkey Kong existed long before Kev had the pleasure of bringing him to Donkey Kong Country; a 16bit Super Nintendo staple title nowadays. Kev's industry experience also existed long before some of you were born.&nbsp;<br><br>You see, I recently learnt that Kev worked on California Games on the NES! That was my first Nintendo Entertainment System experience. You can also find Kev's work in Battletoads, Diddy Kong Racing, Killer Instinct, Perfect Dark and much more. Kev Bayliss was a RARE games legend and his reach in his work continues today. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0063096/" target="_blank">Check his IMDB here</a>.<br><br>Kev and I speak from time to time, and having met his at the 2023 Notts Video Game Expo, I decided to ask him for an interview.&nbsp;<br><br><strong><u>1/ So Kev tell us a little bit about your personal gaming history</u></strong><br>When it comes to games, and actually playing them, I really started out with a ZX81 in the early 80's. My parents bought it for me in the 'Tenner and Under' section in the Tamworth Herald. I loved it, even though it is rubbish by today's standards, it was great fun to learn to do a bit of basic programming and get an understanding of how games work. Prior to that, I'd only experienced games on my brother's Atari 2600 or wasting my cash in the arcades on holiday in Hunstanton! lol.<br>I eventually upgraded my Zx81 to an Acorn Electron, which was similarly great to work on and I was creating my own little games and bits of art software. But, I really wanted a Commodore 64 because the music and graphics were so cool at the time. I bought one when they were phasing them out, but shortly after that I started working at Rare, and was introduced to the NES. From then onwards, I was well and truly into the world of Nintendo. I bought myself a Sega Megadrive when I bought my first house, and it was the done thing to have a console at home for 'lad's night'. We'd spend all night watching martial arts movies or playing on the console. I don't really play games any more, I am too busy doing other stuff which I guess is related to them, or making them at Playtonic. But - it's in my blood now and I get all nostalgic whenever I see something that reminds me of how it all started.<br><br><strong><u>2/ I read that one of the first games you worked on was California Games. What can you tell us about working on that?</u></strong><br>I think I'd only been at Rare for a short while and they started me out with quiz show games for the NES. However, one day they received the go ahead to convery CG to the NES, and as I'd been a fan of it on my C64, I was really excited to be able to work on a 'proper game' that I'd bought with my own money a year or so earlier. It wasn't easy though, there were a lot of issues with colours and the dreaded 'sprite per line' issue (when more than 64 pixels appear in a horizontal line as sprites, that move around, pixels start to disappear and flash) - so I remember the BMX track being tricky. The bike was quite wide so it often flickered. Also - I remember the guys at MB games wanted me to make the characters blonde (for California) where possible, but I would have had to layer more sprites over the top of the palettes I'd used for the graphics - so I talked my way out of it, because I said it'd make things disappear. lol.<br><br><strong><u>3/ You&rsquo;ve worked on a lot of AAA Video Games, such as Donkey Kong Country, Diddy Kong Racing and Killer Instinct. What was your personal favourite to work on?</u></strong><br>That's a tricky one. I LOVED working on Ki because it was my main ambition to create a fighting game. I was a martial artist and so it was amazing that we also got the motion capture technology to beta test, and I was able to create moves wearing a suit we made ourselves that held all of the motion sensors. It was like magic watching yourself move around, and then seeing a Dinosaur that I had made mimic my movements. Ki was amazing, and there was no other time like it. But if I have to be honest, Diddy Kong Racing was so much fun to work on, because the whole environment was 3D and it was a new and exciting way to work, on a brand new console. We were all fans of racing games on the team, and we all just got on so well. It really wasn't like going 'to work' - it was just this amazing place where we were all working together in a brand new barn conversion, doing what we really loved. At the end of the project we all travelled to Japan to celebrate and visit the SpaceWorld show that year. So - I think yes, Diddy Kong Racing would be my favourite.<br><br><strong><u>4/ You were responsible for bringing the character of Donkey Kong to the SNES. Can you talk us through that process please?</u></strong><br>I'd been experimenting with building fighting characters for Killer Instinct, and when Nintendo saw what I had done, they immediately wanted to have graphics which were rendered in 3D on their Super Nintendo.<br>I had been given design faxes to refer to from Nintendo which were actually drawn by Shigeru Miyamoto. I still have the faxes at home. I never really looked at them though, and just started scribbling down compact looking little Gorillas which looked like they'd behave well in a 2D platformer. I made the eyes look like my Battletoad designs, and then began modeling the character using the 3D software and SGi hardware which Rare had just invested in. I was really the only person aside from Tim experimenting with the system at the time, which was lucky for me because I was the only one who knew how to build the characters at that point.<br><br><strong><u>5/ You&rsquo;ve worked on game animation from the 8bit, 16bit, right through to Yooka Laylee. What&rsquo;s been the most difficult console generation to animate on?</u></strong><br>I think it's harder now. Purely because there is so much more setup involved. Years ago if I wanted something to do a specific move, I just 'drew' it. You could always 'play with' or 'tweak' your graphics to make things look right, or to make the fist of a character reach something, even when the arm probably wasn't long enough. Just add a few pixels here and there. Make a character 'duck'? Easy - just chop off his legs and draw feet and usually his fists would cover any detail around the middle. But now, you have to make sure your character actually works. You can still play with things, but there is a lot of design that goes into the mechanics of making a character model now. Then, there's the whole 'setting it up' as mentioned, so that it can actually work in the game. It might work in your 3D software, but putting it into the game is also quite complicated sometimes and often you have to go back and look at the structure of your model to make it work in a better way. Again - years ago, this wasn't so much of a problem because you had less definition anyway and people couldn't see the holes in your work. Also, people were more forgiving because nothing looked that real, and although it was 3D, it was quite triangular looking and so people expected things to distort a little. But you can't get away with that now. Well, you can, but the standard of graphics is so much higher now, there's a lot more work that you have to put in.</font></div><div><div class="wsite-multicol"><div class="wsite-multicol-table-wrap" style="margin:0 -15px;"><table class="wsite-multicol-table"><tbody class="wsite-multicol-tbody"><tr class="wsite-multicol-tr"><td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:33.333333333333%; padding:0 15px;"><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2024-10-06-at-13-38-30_orig.png' rel='lightbox' onclick='if (!lightboxLoaded) return false'><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2024-10-06-at-13-38-30_orig.png" alt="Kev Bayliss interview" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Kev Bayliss and some of the old RARE devs</div></div></div></td><td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:33.333333333333%; padding:0 15px;"><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2024-10-06-at-13-38-11_orig.png' rel='lightbox' onclick='if (!lightboxLoaded) return false'><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2024-10-06-at-13-38-11_orig.png" alt="Thegebs24 meets Kev Bayloss" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Meeting Kev at Notts VGE 2023</div></div></div></td><td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:33.333333333333%; padding:0 15px;"><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a href='http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2024-10-06-at-13-38-49_orig.png' rel='lightbox' onclick='if (!lightboxLoaded) return false'><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/screenshot-2024-10-06-at-13-38-49_orig.png" alt="Kev Bayliss signing games" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Kev signed a ton of my Retro Games</div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A"><strong><u>6/ You&rsquo;re very active on Twitch. What do you enjoy about live streaming?</u></strong><br>I usually stream old video games that I've worked on. I particularly like playing Diddy Kong Racing because it's still a fun and exciting game to play. People love watching that around Christmas time becuase those people who owned it as a kid, mostly received it as a Christmas present. But recently I've discovered painting, and I'm spending some time painting characters that I've been involved with, which also makes for a good stream!<br>&#8203;<br><strong><u>7/ Diddy Kong Racing or Donkey Kong Country. You can only keep on?</u></strong><br>Diddy Kong Racing. I never played DKC. (SHOCK HORROR!) I was so focused on the games I was working on, I never really spent time playing the other games we created. I think that may have been true for a lot of Devs at Rare (perhaps it's just me) because we were so busy, and then onto the next game. Plus you really wanted to make that next game better, and for me I didn't want to look at the other games, because they weren't related to the kind of games I was working on. Even after DKC was released, I never played it. I appreciate it, and love it, but as a game - it's not the kind of game I'd play or have the patience to complete. I like fighters, old arcade games racers and the odd adventure game.(I have never played Mario Games other than Mario 64)<br><br><strong><font size="4">8/ What piece of work would you say defines your legacy as a video game artist?</font></strong><br>I guess, ironically after answering the last question, it's the re-creation of DK. I love that I've made a character that still looks the same as he did back then (almost).The Donkey Kong Country game was so significant in game development and I am SO lucky to have got the chance to do what I did. It'll never happen again, and I am so grateful for that. It's one thing I love about my life, I managed to step into the industry just at a time where 'it all started to happen' - generations of different tech, the console wars, the transition from 2D to 3D. It's all happened now, and I am a lucky guy to have got that job at Rare when I did back in 1987.<br><br><strong><u>9/ Pineapple on pizza?</u></strong><br>Yep. And Prawns.<br><br><strong><u>10 Kev, tell us where people ca find you online</u></strong><br><br><a href="http://twitch.tv/Kev_Bayliss" target="_blank">http://Twitch.tv/Kev_Bayliss</a><br><a href="http://instagram.com/diddykongsdaddy_kevbayliss" target="_blank">http://instagram.com/diddykongsdaddy_kevbayliss</a><br><a href="http://x.com/Kev_Bayliss" target="_blank">http://x.com/Kev_Bayliss<br><br>&#8203;</a></font><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Interview by:&nbsp;Gemma&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGebs24" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a><font color="#2A2A2A"></font><br></div><div class="wsite-youtube" style="margin-bottom:10px;margin-top:10px;"><div class="wsite-youtube-wrapper wsite-youtube-size-auto wsite-youtube-align-center"><div class="wsite-youtube-container"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/16iVsYI6XDs?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></div><div><div id="377747441926457443" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Tanuki Justice comes to Game Boy Color!]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/tanuki-justice-comes-to-game-boy-color]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/tanuki-justice-comes-to-game-boy-color#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Wed, 25 Sep 2024 19:02:10 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-game-reviews/tanuki-justice-comes-to-game-boy-color</guid><description><![CDATA[       Press release posted by:&nbsp;Gemma&nbsp;@ Juicy Game Reviews&nbsp;/&nbsp;TheGebs24Tanuki Justice is coming to the Game Boy Color SoonPRESS RELEASEHello Pixel friends,PixelHeart&nbsp;is delighted to announce the arrival of&nbsp;Tanuki Justice&nbsp;on Game Boy Color!Relive the adventure of one of our HITS released on next-gen consoles, now compatible on Game Boy Color.Get ready to dive back into the action-packed world of&nbsp;Tanuki Justice! This fast-paced racing and shooting game is a P [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div id="196556129830664652" align="left" style="width: 100%; overflow-y: hidden;" class="wcustomhtml"><!-- AddToAny BEGIN --><div class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 a2a_default_style"><a class="a2a_dd" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share"></a> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a> <a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a> <a class="a2a_button_email"></a> <a class="a2a_button_pinterest"></a> <a class="a2a_button_whatsapp"></a> <a class="a2a_button_tumblr"></a></div> <!-- AddToAny END --></div></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A">Press release posted by:&nbsp;Gemma&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a>&nbsp;/&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGebs24" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a></font></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-hairline wsite-image-border-black" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/tanuki-justice_orig.png" alt="Game Boy Color showing Tanuki Justice" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%">Tanuki Justice is coming to the Game Boy Color Soon</div></div></div><h2 class="wsite-content-title" style="text-align:center;">PRESS RELEASE</h2><div><!--BLOG_SUMMARY_END--></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A"><strong style="">Hello Pixel friends,</strong><br><br><strong>PixelHeart</strong>&nbsp;is delighted to announce the arrival of&nbsp;<strong>Tanuki Justice</strong>&nbsp;on Game Boy Color!<br>Relive the adventure of one of our HITS released on next-gen consoles, now compatible on Game Boy Color.<br><br>Get ready to dive back into the action-packed world of&nbsp;<strong>Tanuki Justice</strong>! This fast-paced racing and shooting game is a PixelHeart classic for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pixelheart.eu/?mailpoet_router&amp;endpoint=track&amp;action=click&amp;data=WyIyNTgxNiIsImZwM21tdDVsY3hrd3d3ODBnODQwY2c4Y2t3MHNzZzR3IiwiMTI0OCIsIjQ0MzI2NDI3ODhjYyIsZmFsc2Vd" target="_blank">Next Gen consoles</a>. Our talented programmer Maxime Schutz (who also worked on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pixelheart.eu/?mailpoet_router&amp;endpoint=track&amp;action=click&amp;data=WyIyNTgxNiIsImZwM21tdDVsY3hrd3d3ODBnODQwY2c4Y2t3MHNzZzR3IiwiMTI0OCIsIjNiNTc5ZGFhNzFlZiIsZmFsc2Vd" target="_blank">Lost Terminal</a>) has completely reworked the project to bring you a&nbsp;<strong>Game Boy Color</strong>-compatible version! Bringing the excitement of feudal Japan right into your hands.<br><br>The game is available for pre-order on the PixelHeart website.The game is scheduled for release on&nbsp;<strong>November 29, 2024</strong>.<br><br>The game is available in a limited edition of 500 numbered copies. The game box contains the game cartridge, its protective plastic box, a cardboard wedge, a manual, a certificate and two stickers. (An unnumbered standard edition, without certificate and goodies, will be available on release in selected partner stores.)<br><br><a href="https://www.pixelheart.eu/en/produit/tanuki-justice-gbc/?utm_source=mailpoet&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source_platform=mailpoet&amp;utm_campaign=CP%20Tanuki%20Justice%20GBC%20Release" target="_blank">A SPECIAL DISCOUNT IS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDERED COPIES on PixelHeart:&nbsp;<strong>&euro;42.90 INSTEAD OF &euro;49.90</strong></a></font></div><div class="wsite-youtube" style="margin-bottom:10px;margin-top:10px;"><div class="wsite-youtube-wrapper wsite-youtube-size-auto wsite-youtube-align-center"><div class="wsite-youtube-container"><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/XxEGbDkt_lw?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></div><div class="paragraph"><font color="#2A2A2A"><strong>About the game:</strong><br><strong>Tanuki Justice</strong>&nbsp;is an ultra-nervous run'n'gun in which you play as a tanuki brother and sister. You face hundreds of enemies in feudal Japan. Varied environments with all kinds of landscapes, dynamic retro music, sustained action, numerous original situations and a difficulty level reminiscent of good old arcade games. Simple yet rich gameplay for spectacular action.<br><br><strong>Story:</strong><br>Tanuki Justice is an intense action game in which you play as a ninja Tanuki on a quest for revenge. Fighting wave after wave of enemies in beautifully designed retro environments. Thanks to simple yet dynamic controls, you&rsquo;ll be able to pull off some incredible moves in this homage to classic arcade games.<br><br><strong>Features:</strong></font><ul><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Dynamic gameplay with visuals that match the atmosphere.</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Dozens of different enemies.</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Classic shurikens on the head and a giant shuriken for when the going gets tough.</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Playable solo only.</font></li></ul></div><div><div class="wsite-multicol"><div class="wsite-multicol-table-wrap" style="margin:0 -15px;"><table class="wsite-multicol-table"><tbody class="wsite-multicol-tbody"><tr class="wsite-multicol-tr"><td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/unnamed-2_orig.png" alt="GBC showing screenshot of Tanuki Justice" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div></div></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/unnamed-3_orig.png" alt="GBC showing screenshot of Tanuki Justice" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div></div></div></td><td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/unnamed-1_orig.png" alt="GBC showing screenshot of Tanuki Justice" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div></div></div><div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none" style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px;text-align:center"><a><img src="http://www.juicygamereviews.com/uploads/3/0/5/0/30501048/unnamed_orig.png" alt="GBC showing screenshot of Tanuki Justice" style="width:auto;max-width:100%"></a><div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div><div class="paragraph"><ul><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Release:&nbsp;November 29, 2024</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Plateform:&nbsp;<strong>Game Boy</strong></font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Genre:&nbsp;Action, Platformer, Runner</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Developer:&nbsp;Maxime Schutz, Wonderboy Bobi</font></li><li><font color="#2A2A2A">Publisher:&nbsp;<strong><span>PixelHeart</span></strong>, JoshProd</font></li></ul><br><font color="#2A2A2A">Kickstarter Trailer :<br><a href="https://www.pixelheart.eu/?mailpoet_router&amp;endpoint=track&amp;action=click&amp;data=WyIyNTgxNiIsImZwM21tdDVsY3hrd3d3ODBnODQwY2c4Y2t3MHNzZzR3IiwiMTI0OCIsImM0NGM3YWI3MTExOCIsZmFsc2Vd" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/XxEGbDkt_lw</a><br>&#8203;<br>Contact:<br><em>Press Relation:&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.pixelheart.eu/?mailpoet_router&amp;endpoint=track&amp;action=click&amp;data=WyIyNTgxNiIsImZwM21tdDVsY3hrd3d3ODBnODQwY2c4Y2t3MHNzZzR3IiwiMTI0OCIsIjlkNDRkOThlZDhiZiIsZmFsc2Vd" target="_blank">rodion@pixelheart.eu</a></strong></em><br><em>Business:&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.pixelheart.eu/?mailpoet_router&amp;endpoint=track&amp;action=click&amp;data=WyIyNTgxNiIsImZwM21tdDVsY3hrd3d3ODBnODQwY2c4Y2t3MHNzZzR3IiwiMTI0OCIsIjA0ODgxYWQ0OTYxNSIsZmFsc2Vd" target="_blank">contact@pixelheart.eu<br><br></a></strong></em></font><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">Press release posted by:&nbsp;Gemma&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/JuicyGameReview" target="_blank">@ Juicy Game Reviews</a><span style="color:rgb(42, 42, 42)">&nbsp;/&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGebs24" target="_blank">TheGebs24</a><font color="#2A2A2A"><em><strong></strong></em></font><br></div>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>