Retro Spectives

In 1994 the immersive sim genre was born with the release of System Shock.  Developed by Looking Glass Technologies, it set the standard for gameplay and story structures for future games in the genr…

During the era of the PlayStation 2 three iconic series defined their generation of 3D platformers: Jack and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, and finally - Sly Cooper.  
With its strange cell shaded graphic…

The Tribes series has always delivered a unique and high octane multiplayer experience, with players zipping along at breakneck speed across massive maps.  The combination of jetpacking, skiing, and …

Archimedean Dynasty takes place in a dystopian future where mankind has been forced to retreat deep underneath the Earth’s oceans.  A literal crust of dead organic matter coats the surface of the oce…

When Sonic the Hedgehog was first released in 1991 it blew everyone's minds.  Featuring gorgeous graphics, fast paced gameplay and an iconic mascot, Sega finally had a title that could compete with M…

Originally released in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Crystalis was not a smash hit upon release.  It was considered just another action rpg, another zelda-clone. But in the years that f…

First released in 1999, Heroes of Might and Magic 3 is widely considered to be one of the best turn based strategy games ever made.  To this day it has a fanatical online following who strive to unde…

In 2004, an insane man named Keita Takahashi was given an enormous bucket of money and was told he could make a video-game with it. He decided to make a game about God getting drunk and destroying ea…

In 2019 we played a lot of games. Some of them were brilliant classics that easily stood the test of time. Others were mediocre and outdated, and deservedly forgotten. Most of them, however, fall som…

Over the past year, the Retro Spectives Podcast has started to see a small community of gamers join up to our discord server.  We talk old video-games, new video games, and tend to get into a lot of …

From Software is amongst the most critically acclaimed software developers of all time. Since 2009’s Demon’s Souls, they’ve released nothing but incredible titles and Dark Souls 2. But long before Hi…

Long before PlatinumGames was revolutionising the 3D brawler space with titles like Devil May Cry 3, Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, they worked on a title called Viewtiful Joe.  Taking…

On the 15th of November, 2001, the Xbox launched with a tremendous bang.  Not since Super Mario World for the SNES had a launch title been so well regarded.  Halo invented, and went on to define how …

Vagrant Story is one of the dark horses of the JRPG genre.  Its exposition-light storytelling is rooted in Shakespearean dialogue rather than adolescent chosen ones.  Its RPG systems are complex, but…

Back in the early 2000s, World War 2 shooters were in vogue.  The broader gaming audience had moved on from the more abstract settings of Quake or Doom, and were demanding real world locations, guns …

What happens when you fuse two different genres together? Sometimes you discover something special, like action-rpgs, which go on to become a dominant force in the industry at large. But there are ot…

Diablo 1 laid the groundwork for the action-RPG genre way back in 1996. We have Diablo to thank for genre staples like colour-coded loot, elite mobs and town-portal scrolls. But since then, ARPGS hav…

Back in 2004, the Indie gaming scene as we understand it today was non-existent. If you were an independent game developer you were more likely to be at home on ad-infested websites like Newgrounds t…

Originally released for the PlayStation 2, Psychonauts achieved its status as a cult classic through bizarre Tim Burton-esque visuals and a novel approach to environmental story telling. Bursting at …

Before Metal Gear Solid, there was Policenauts. A buddy-cop meets science-fiction adventure about drugs, women and the vastness of space. While it was released to critical acclaim, it only truly came…