Retro Gamer #146 Esta Aqui…

by

photo

Every month, we give you a spoiler-free run-down of what’s in the current (for the United States) issue of Retro Gamer magazine, letting you decide whether or not it’s worth buying.

 

This month we’re getting some culture up in this B’ by going bilingual.  Hopefully that doesn’t make people who see it in Google search results assume that this is a Spanish-language site.

This month’s Retro Gamer has the Neo-Geo on the cover, which more than makes up for the hot pink banner going across the bottom.  I see where they were trying to go with the whole Miami Vice look, but I would have preferred a more tradition black & gold Neo-Geo color scheme for the cover layout.  So what’s shakin’ this month?

  • Obviously, the big feature of the month is the Neo-Geo retrospective.  It focuses on the AES, going through its history and having some anecdotes by SNK folks.  I’m not going to do a point-by-point teardown of the article, because the folks on the Neo-Geo forums will take care of that.  I thought it was a cool article, so I’m happy.  Interestingly, for the “10 Great Games” segment of the feature, they decided to go with 10 non-fighting games, which is kind of cool.  Out of the 10 games listed, I own 5 (on the MVS) so that’s nice.  There’s an over-the-shoulder picture of a guy playing a Neo-Geo X who apparently doesn’t know how to hold a joystick.  Basically what I would expect from someone dumb enough to buy a Neo-Geo X.
  • The first of the “The Making of…” segments this month features H.E.R.O. on the Atari 2600.  I’m not familiar with this game, which makes the article a cool read.  I have yet to play it, but the game looks pretty freaking awesome.
  • “The 30 Greatest Weapons Ever”.  This reminds me of a BuzzFeed gallery.  Yawn.  At least they only wasted 10 pages on it.  It does have John Romero talking about the BFG 9000, so it’s not a complete waste.
  • “A History of Broken Sword”.  I am not familiar with this series of point & click adventure games, but they certainly look cool based on the screenshots.
  • “Ultimate Guide: Metal Gear Solid”.  This issue was pretty below-average (I skipped more features than I listed here), but this helps get things back on track.  The article covers the original PSX release, which was a HUGE deal when it came out.
  • Nothing else in this issue interests me.  Unless you’re a big fan of either the Neo-Geo or MGS, this one is skippable.  I spend the $15 so that you don’t have to.