Retro Gamer

Retro Gamer is the only magazine in the UK that’s fully dedicated to the halcyon days of classic gaming. If you’ve ever fondly blasted away at the Bydo Empire in R-Type, swung Bowser by the tail in Super Mario 64, or navigated all 20 levels of Matthew Smith’s Manic Miner, then this is the magazine for you. Created by a dedicated team of experts, Retro Gamer’s mission is to deliver constantly engaging and passionately written articles that cover a wide range of subjects. We offer our readership in-depth looks at classic games and franchises, behind-the-scenes glimpses of the software houses from yesteryear, and one-on-one exclusive interviews with industry veterans such as Archer Maclean and Hideo Kojima. Stylish, entertaining and beautifully presented, Retro Gamer is the ultimate guide to videogaming’s rich and diverse history.

THE RETROBATES • WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE CODEMASTERS GAME?

LOADING…

PLAY HAS LIMITS • Sony plans to kill its physical discs and gamers aren’t happy

Flow state

HOWELL IVY PASSES • PAYING TRIBUTE TO A GAMING PIONEER

This could be our year

The end game

Pixel Arcadia • Alasdair Hibberd on a new online game show that’s dedicated to retro

MARCH 1980 • Atari ventures out and Acorn splits the Atom

THE MONTH’S HIGHLIGHTS

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF MARCH 1980

Siege • WE WILL ROCK YOU

40 Years of Code Masters • CODEMASTERS WAS LAUNCHED AS ‘ANOTHER’ BUDGET-GAME PUBLISHER IN 1986, BUT THE FIRM WOULD SOON ESTABLISH ITSELF AS A UK DEVELOPER OF DISTINCTION, EXPANDING INTO THE CONSOLE MARKET AND STILL GOING STRONG TODAY, FOUR DECADES ON. JOIN US AS WE REMEMBER THE ERAS THAT DEFINED THE STUDIO

A Q&A WITH DAVID DARLING • DAVID WAS THE COFOUNDER OF CODEMASTERS ALONG WITH HIS BROTHER, RICHARD, IN 1986

A Q&A WITH PHILIP OLIVER • PHILIP AND ANDREW OLIVER PRODUCED MANY SIMULATORS FOR CODEMASTERS AND MANY MORE GAMES BESIDES

A Q&A WITH ANDREW GRAHAM • ANDREW WROTE MICRO MACHINES FOR THE NES AND WORKED ON THE GAME GENIE CHEAT PERIPHERAL

A Q&A WITH GAVIN RAEBURN • GAVIN HEADED UP THE DIRT, GRID AND F1 SERIES OF GAMES AND IS NOW CEO AND HEAD OF STUDIO AT LIGHTHOUSE GAMES

A Q&A WITH ROD COUSENS • ROD WAS CEO OF CODEMASTERS FROM MAY 2005 TO MARCH 2015.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND ENJOY GREAT SAVINGS!

AMSTRAD ACTION #74 • COVERTAPES LET YOU TRY ALL KINDS OF INTERESTING GAMES, FROM SMASH-HIT ARCADE CONVERSIONS, TO SLOWER ADVENTURES AND BIZARRE EXPERIMENTAL ONE-OFFS. ALL OF THOSE, AND A COUPLE OF KILLER APPLICATIONS, ARE ON SHOW FOR THE AMSTRAD IN THIS MONTH’S COVERMOUNT CORNER. ENJOY

HIGHLIGHTS • THE BEST OF THE REST

GAMES TO DISCOVER • FROM CONVERSIONS TO FLIGHT SIMS

ROWAN SOFTWARE • Starting off as a small developer and publisher of educational games for the 32K BBC Micro, H&H Software evolved into the UK’s leading developer of 16-bit flight simulators. Learn how Rowan Software took off and conquered superiority in the air

DUSTING OFF • THE FORGOTTEN STORY OF DUSTER, THE LOST PROJECT BY REALTIME GAMES

GAMES TO DISCOVER

THE DNA OF ROWAN SOFTWARE • WHAT MADE THE STUDIO TICK?

WHERE ARE THEY NOW • HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED TO ROD AND DAVE AFTER ROWAN SOFTWARE CLOSED

Sensible Soccer • FITTING IN WITH FOOTBALL

THE MAKING OF FISH • HAVING ESTABLISHED ITSELF WITH FANTASY-BASED ADVENTURES, MAGNETIC SCROLLS DIPPED ITS TOES IN ABSURDIST COMEDY WITH THIS PISCINE TALE OF INTERGALACTIC INTRIGUE. WHO BETTER THAN YOUR SINCLAIR’S CHIEF PUN WRITER PHIL SOUTH TO HELP BRING IT TO LIFE?

FURTHER FISHING: THE ONGOING TALE OF FISH • RETRO GAMER THROWS OUT THE NET AND CATCHES UP WITH STRAND GAMES’ HUGH STEERS

BAILING OUT • HOW MAGNETIC WINDOWS...