No, in fact the game I talk of is one of those rare few titles that spans multiple generations of gaming hardware – from the humble BBC Micro to the ill-fated Amiga CD32 – and at each step, has retained its crown as one of the most epic arcade adventures that was ever created. Do you believe you can procedurally generate a world big enough to easily support tens of hours of action-puzzle exploration, and give that world a complete Newtonian physics engine, all in just 64KB of memory? That is what programmers Peter Irvin and Jeremy Smith managed to do. Oh… and did I say yet how bloody fantastic the Amiga version intro music is?

Zolyx’s Game Music Monday #13: Henry Jackman – Exile

Yes, you can tell it’s 4-channel MOD music and it has rough edges, but like a Vulcan mind-meld, it also imprints the feel of the game into you using nothing more than a few seconds of instantly memorable synth pad harmony. I’m really glad I chose this music for today’s episode because until now, the MOD version of this had been sitting in my library under “unknown artist”. Now I can finally give Henry Jackman proper credit for composing and arranging this bit of the gaming memory that is Exile.

Zolyx’s Game Music Monday #10: J Krafft – IK Hamburg Extravaganza RMX

Today’s arranger, J Krafft, takes one of Rob Hubbard‘s iconic songs from International Karate and changes it into a softer, more ambient mix that is perfect to just chill and unwind with. The vocal samples are a nice touch and don’t sound gimmicky as such additions often can.

Click play and tune out! Hope you enjoy and I’ll see you same time next week.

Yes, I know both of these tracks are the same tune, and you might wonder why. Well, simple really: They’re both so good that I couldn’t include one over the other, and since it’s a special occasion, I bundled them both into one feature so that you can decide for yourself which is your favourite.

Zolyx’s Game Music Monday #7: Halloween Ghouls ‘n Ghosts!

The original composer of this track was Tim Follin, a name that certainly ranks up there with the most respected 8-bit composers of all time. His work in games such as L.E.D. Storm, Black Lamp, and Bionic Commando – along with the two GnG games - is fondly remembered by many. Remixers Binster and Tim Forsyth have done well to preserve the classic feel with some modern flair.

Enjoy your Halloween and tune in next week!

The Bitmap Brothers game from which most people will know this track was a bit of a Marmite title. A lot of people loved it for the amazing gameplay but there were also those who thought it was just too difficult. I myself never did beat Gods, but I definitely enjoyed trying…

Zolyx’s Game Music Monday #3: daXX – Gods Intro (DaxxTRS Remix)

Richard Joseph made something pretty special when he adapted the original music by Nation XII. Daxx’s mix doesn’t mess it about – it simply waxes and buffs it up a bit without doing anything to ruin the beat. For me this is pretty much the perfect remix, and I was surprised to see that it didn’t appear to be on YouTube yet.

As always I hope it gives you a pleasant few minutes of listening to ease those Monday blues!

Quick note: click on the or icons for an appropriate download link, or  to visit the relevant thread on the TIGForums. Anything not safe for work is marked with a .

6nine by JMickle
Oh, good. A game packed with male reproductive organs. How original! This game isn’t just made of cocks – it is cock. Almost non-existant gameplay. In truth, a waste of perfectly good bandwidth. 15%

30 Bomb of Awesome Frags by C. A. Sinclair
“I seize my material!” Quite fun. Bonus points for nonsensical storyline. Short but tough gameplay in a style you could liken to  Meritous – navigate through a dungeon and kill enemies by charging your attacks to release bombs. 74%

87 Spiderbats go to the Inn by Sos
Points awarded for technical skill – this is a proper Atari 2600 game! Nice, but unfortunately the game itself is rather basic. Stop the dreaded spiderbats from invading your inn by killing 87 of them before you lose all your lives or too many get past you. 58%

Backworld by Juha Kangas & Anders Ekermo
An impressive game with an interesting gameplay mechanic. Guide the rabbit to the end of each screen in a grayscale world. To do so you will need to paint holes into the “backworld” to erase obstacles, reveal platforms or even reverse gravity. Good stuff. 84%

Expect more TAR over the weekend!

Breaking news! IT’S BACK!
RGCD #5 is now available!

And with it comes a spifftastic and star-studded selection of reviews, articles and extras covering a year’s worth of retro gaming. You thought it was dead, didn’t you? I’ll admit that I was thinking the same at one stage. Fortunately it is not so! James Monkman and his band of merry men have come up with the goods and, after some turbulent times, the mag should hopefully be back on a regular update schedule again.

Thrustburst is the featured game (though if I had my way it would’ve undoubtably been Qwak instead), with reviews of Rana Remake, Noitu Love 2, 3D Starstrike, Self Destruct and Rom Check Fail amongst the many PC titles you can read up about.

In the authentic “modern retro” corner there’s Sirius, Loops of Zen, Sub Hunter, Animal Party, Wizard of Wor (for the Speccy!), Plutos and the trip-off-the-tongue Crocodingus in Cube Island to name but a mere few.

This just scratches the surface! Honestly, there’s more stuff in it than I could cover in a week of posting – 45 articles and over 47,000 words, to be exact – so get your browser over to the RGCD homepage to download your copy today for a right proper blast from the past.

Oh, and if you look carefully, you’ll see some of this mysterious “writing work” that I was on about the other week, since yours truly is now a RGCD contributer. It was indeed a very cool thing to be given the chance to write for one of my favourite retro mags. Why James wanted to involve a nutter like me we’ll never know… I suspect it may be best not to wonder too much on that

Anyhow – happy reading, ’til next issue!