retro

While classic retro gaming often focuses on shooting things or jumping on platforms, the act of avoiding rocks in tunnels was pretty popular in the 1980s. Namco’s classic Dig Dug is the obvious example, while us real ones might prefer Mr. Do but every single format back then had some sort of […]

BOULDER DASH 40th Anniversary – PS5 Review

August 29, 2025 in PS5 tagged boulder dash / dig dug / gravity / mr. do / retro by Richie

Toaplan Arcade Collection Vol 1 is, as the name very much suggests, a compilation of games originally published by legendary developer Toaplan and it includes eight of their most beloved shoot ’em ups, ported over by Swedish studio Bitwave AB. Before we get into the eight shoot ’em ups offered here, […]

Toaplan Arcade Collection Vol 1 – PS5 Review

August 13, 2025 in PS5 tagged compilation / retro / taoplan / vertically-scrolling shoot em up by Richie

Maiden Cops is a proper old-school scrolling beat ’em up and it comes to us from indie developers Pippin Games. And while this two-man studio are Brazilian, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were absolutely Japanese when playing this game. Set in Maiden City, a place where everyone is female and […]

Maiden Cops – PS5 Review

August 12, 2025 in PS5 tagged anime / Beat em up / japanese / maiden cops / retro by Richie

Time Flies is a puzzle game from Swiss-based developers Playable and it’s quite unlike anything we’ve played before. The game sees you playing as a fly that has to try to complete a list of goals in its meagre lifespan before it dies. But if that sounds like a bad premise […]

Time Flies – PS5 Review

July 31, 2025 in PS5 / Reviews tagged playables / puzzle game / retro / time flies by Richie

Super Engine GT Turbo SPEC is a racing game by solo developer Josep Monzonis Hernandez and it’s been published by eastasiasoft and it offers up some straightforward motorsports action on a budget. Our initial impressions of the game were a little bit weird. There are very little options there on […]

Super Engine GT Turbo SPEC – PS5 Review

May 12, 2025 in PS5 tagged motorsports / racing / retro / super engine gt turbo spec by Richie

Shootvaders: The Beginning is, as the title suggests, a variation on the one-screen shoot ’em up style most obviously associated with games like Space Invaders and it comes to us by way of Thailand’s own 7 Raven Studios. Released in 2023, this one was a bit of a surprise when it showed […]

Shootvaders: The Beginning – PS4 Review

February 27, 2025 in PS4 tagged retro / shoot em up / shootvaders / space invaders by Richie

X-Out (pronounced ‘Cross Out’ apparently) Resurfaced is a remaster of an old horizontally-scrolling shoot ’em up which originally began life on the Commodore 64 before being ported to better computers such as the ZX Spectrum and the Amiga. Indeed, it is the Amiga version that seems to be the source for […]

X-Out Resurfaced – PS5 Review

February 21, 2025 in PS5 tagged remake / retro / shoot em up / x-out by Richie

Super Jagger Bomb 2: Go East is an arcade-style action platformer from uninspiringly-named Spanish soloist studio CheapeeSoft Games and has been published by eastasiasoft. A sequel to the 2022 original this game very much continues in the same vein as the previous title. As we said in our original Super Jagger […]

Super Jagger Bomb 2: Go East – PS5 Review

February 18, 2025 in PS5 tagged bomb jack / eastasiasoft / go east / platformer / retro / super jagger bomb by Richie

Tetris Forever is a digital documentary, a compilation of various Tetris and Tetris-inspired games that tells the history of one of the most important titles in gaming history. It comes to us by way of Digital Eclipse who have been carving a niche in this sort of gaming history area with what they […]

Tetris Forever – PS5 Review

November 14, 2024 in PS5 tagged documentary / forever / museum / retro / slava ukraini / tetris / timewarp by Richie

Irem Collection Volume 2 is a compilation of arcade games from legendary coin-op company Irem who have a history dating back to the ’70s. This, of course, follows up from Volume 1 which featured three shoot ’em ups (two vertical, one horizontal) but this volume now has a bit of a run-and-gun […]

Irem Collection Volume 2 – PS5 Review

November 14, 2024 in PS5 tagged air duel / arcade / compilation / gunforce / irem / retro by Richie

Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn is a scrolling beat ’em up from Tengo Project, best known for recently revamping old games like Wild Guns, The Ninja Warriors and Pocky & Rocky. We also fondly remember their work on the Xbox 360 shoot ’em up Omega Five, which is one of the greatest games ever made (and […]

Shadow of the Ninja: Reborn – PS5 Review

September 12, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged arcade / Beat em up / natsume / NES / retro / shadow of the ninja reborn by Richie

SUNSOFT is Back! is a retro compilation featuring three games from the kind-of-legendary-ish Japanese arcade and console developer. Okay, we’re not heaping a ton of praise on them but, they were never up there with Capcom, Namco and others but they did have some moments. Now, while their work might not […]

SUNSOFT is Back! – PS5 Review

September 7, 2024 in PS5 / Reviews tagged arcade / compilation / retro / sunsoft by Richie