Days Like This

I've got a penchant for collecting systems that are seen as failures or sold in very low numbers compared to their competition. Systems such as GX4000, Philips CD-i and the Bandai Pippin, amongst others. One of the biggest failures was the Aquarius computer released by Mattel in June of 1983. It was discontinued 5 months later due to poor sales.  Compared to the Vic-20 and the TI-99/4A, it had weaker graphics and limited memory. Shown in the picture below is a modern remake by Sean P. Harrington, utilising a real Z80 CPU, dual AY sound chips, and 512MB of system memory. It runs original Aquarius ROMs as well as new software taking advantage of its new capabilities.

The Aquarius+

Retro Games Limited rereleased their Mini 64, this time in black and with updated games such as Sam's Journey, A Pig Quest, Steel Ranger and more. There are 25 games in total, with the ability to add more via a USB flash drive.

The C64 Mini Black Edition

Retro Games Limited also rereleased their Spectrum computer as a white edition. No changes to the games list compared to the first release, but it does include a USB flash drive and a recreation of the CRASH magazine. It does look nice in white.

The Spectrum White Edition

Namco's conversion of Time Crisis on the PlayStation is one of my favourite ports, and I played the heck out of it on release. Last year, a company called Gaime raised funds via Kickstarter to release the arcade version on a closed-circuit console along with a gun and additional gun-based games. The campaign was successful, and I received mine last year.

The Gaime Time Crisis Plug and Play Gun

Atari have been on a bit of a roll with their hardware releases. Late last year, they introduced their handheld called the GameStation Go. It has a 7-inch screen with an integrated trackball and spinner, and a library of 200 games. Five games in the Atari Recharged Series are included, as well as Balls of Steel pinball tables and 2600, 5200 and 7800 console games. It can add games via a USB flash drive. A separate controller was also released for 2-player games or for use instead of the on-board controls.

Atari's GameStation Go handheld and separate controller

We do not remember days, we remember moments

Wow, it's been a year and 8 months since my last update. In that time, I was made redundant at my writing job after 13 years in May 2025. I was off work for 2 months and then happened to get a job at a retro game store very close to home. Then I was made redundant at the end of May this year. So yeah, a lot happened. And I did little to no gaming in that time. But I now have time on my hands to game, tinker with hardware, and dedicate some much-needed attention to this blog.

Even though I haven't been gaming, I've still been adding to the collection. This includes new hardware releases as well as retro hardware and games for various platforms. And there's more to come later in the year such as The A12000 from Retro Games Limited, the AES+ from SNK and the Vectrex Mini, which was funded on Kickstarter. Here are some of the purchases over the last 12 months.

Super Pocket Neo Geo Edition

Super Pocket Rare Edition

The Super Pocket Neo Geo Edition includes 14 games such as Blazing Star, Fatal Fury Special, Metal Slug X and Alpha Mission II. Some top-notch titles there. The Super Pocket Rare Edition includes 14 games such as Banjo-Kazooie, Battletoads, Cobra Triangle and Jetpac. The great thing about the Super Pocket devices is that you can play the Evercade carts on them.

The Intellivision Sprint by Atari

Back in 2024, Atari purchased the Intellivision brand and around 200 titles. The Intellivision Sprint is a modern remake with two wireless controllers, 45 built-in games and a USB port so you can add your own games library.

The Unico Pocket

The Unico Pocket is a limited edition handheld running Android and a Neo Geo emulator. It has 40 built-in games such as Metal Slug 3, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown II and Baseball Stars Professional. It has an excellent quality screen, and the controls feel great.

Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition

This is the second iteration of the 2600+, this time with a Pac-Man-coloured theme and joysticks that match the ghosts' colours. Also included is a conversion of the recent 7800 version of Pac-Man programmed by Bob DeCresenzo (an excellent homebrew developer), and the original 1982 release.

This is just a fraction of the new hardware added to the collection. More to come in the next post.

Look at all that hardware!

Apologies for the lack of updates. I can’t believe that my last post was a year ago and it’s now 2025. So, Happy New Year! The last few months have been quite busy. I listed my house for sale in March and I had to get it ready for inspections. This involved a spruce-up of the gardens and a replacement of the hot water system. It finally sold at the end of April, which was a massive relief as the cost of living and paying two mortgages for the last two years has been difficult. I had 30 days to vacate and spent the next few weekends packing my belongings. You don’t realise how much you have until you move house. 

While this was all happening, my long-term manager at work resigned after 25 years, which meant I was moved to a new team, and naturally this took a little while to adjust to. Now, enough of the personal stuff; let’s get onto some gaming news.

Some significant hardware releases in 2024: The 400 Mini and The Spectrum from Retro Games Limited. The 400 is a mini remake of the Atari 400, originally released in 1979. The Spectrum is a full-sized remake of the 48K model, including the rubber keyboard.

The 400 Mini

The Spectrum

Blaze, makers of the Evercade, expanded their Super Pocket range. The Atari Edition includes 50 Atari classics from the 2600, 5200, 7800, Lynx and arcade platforms.

The Technos Edition has arcade versions of Double Dragon, Double Dragon II, The Combatribes and Renegade for a total of 15 games.

I've had a brief play of these and the quality, execution and range of games available is excellent. The reproductions from Retro Games Limited keep getting better and better and I'm looking forward to the full-size Amiga coming out sometime in the first quarter.

Atari also released new hardware and a follow-up to the 2600+ released in 2023. The 7800+ is a smaller replica of the hardware originally released in 1986. The replica has a cartridge port so it can play the current library of games and includes a wireless joypad and a new game called Bentley Bear's Crystal Castle.

Several new and previously available titles were also released for the 7800 and 7800+.

Apart from Ninja Golf, Fatal Run and Food Fight, all the other titles were available as homebrew but are now officially released carts under the Atari banner.

New carts for the 2600 and 2600+ were also released as they can be played on the 7800.

I managed to get the 7800+ and the above games late last year but haven't had a chance to test-drive them yet. Hopefully soon.

The Spectrum Next

After three years and five months, the Spectrum Next that I backed on Kickstarter finally arrived today. It sounds wild that I paid for this after the campaign ended in 2020, and during that time, there was a COVID breakout that led to component shortages. Because of this, the developers had to use a new chipset and retest the operating system, amongst other issues. Fast forward to today, and it’s here, the packaging looks fantastic, and I can’t wait to do an unboxing video and run it through its paces.

The ZX Spectrum wasn’t officially released in Australia, but it was imported here by a select group of computer shops. I was exposed to the Spectrum via the computer magazines available here, such as Crash, Big-K, CV&G, Sinclair User and other titles. The multi-format mags were a great source of information as they typically compared a game title released for the different platforms, so you could see which version was best. Being a Commodore 64 owner, games such as Robocop, Chase HQ and WEC Le Mans tended to be better on the Spectrum. Having never used a Spectrum (I own a 48K and a 2+ but haven’t connected them to date), the Next will be used to finally sit down and play the library of fab games available.

Look out for my unboxing video very soon.

My Arcade Atari Gamestation Pro

Another addition to the collection is the recently released Atari Gamestation Pro by My Arcade. This console emulates the 2600, 5200, 7800, and Atari arcade titles. It also includes a Micro-SD card slot so you can add your ROM files, and as a bonus, it includes MAME to play arcade games for that particular build.

I quite like the design as it looks like something that Atari would have released in the early 80s, with its silver motif and big buttons. Included are two wireless joysticks, each with an integrated paddle controller and system buttons. The joystick is powered by 4xAA batteries, or you can connect it to the base console using a USB-C cable that's not included.

The system has 200 built-in games for the various Atari platforms (138 are Atari titles and 63 are from Piko Interactive) and includes classics such as Adventure, Asteroids, Yar’s Revenge, and arcade titles such as Tempest, Centipede, Food Fight, and I,Robot. It has an attractive menu system that includes box art, game information and control information.

Here's my unboxing & demonstration video - http://tinyurl.com/44jmvb3b.

It's all about Atari

Over the last two months, there’s been a flurry of hardware releases that have taken a heavy toll on the bank balance. One of those releases is the Taito Super Pocket by Blaze under the Hyper Mega Tech! brand. They also have the Capcom Super Pocket. The Taito one has 18 arcade games built-in, a 2.8” high-quality IPS screen, and a rechargeable battery. It also plays carts for the Evercade, so it’s a great way to play those on the go. Initially, I wasn’t going to invest in these (I’ve ordered the Capcom as well, but it hasn’t arrived yet) as I have an Evercade EXP, but I find the size of that a little too unwieldy to carry around. This seems to be the perfect size for portability. I will release an unboxing video for this hopefully next week.

The Taito Super Pocket has 18 built-in arcade games

The second purchase was the Atari 2600+, a modern remake of the VCS, a seminal classic originally released in 1977. This variant is the 4-switch woody from 1980. The thing about this model is that it allows you to play your original 2600 and 7800 carts and connect your original controllers. Atari has also released a new CX40 joystick and a paddle controller with a 4 in 1 cart. The 2600+ includes one controller and 10 games in 1 cart including Missile Command, Yar’s Revenge and Combat. Output is via HDMI, and it’s powered using its USB-C port.

The 4-switch woody gets a modern remake

 

Also released is Berzerk, an arcade conversion of the Stern original converted to the 2600 in 1982 and is considered one of the best arcade conversions on the system. The great thing about this rerelease is that it adds the missing speech, the robots can now fire diagonally, there are new explosion animations and some minor bug fixes.

An absolute classic gets enhanced

Along with Berzerk, is a homebrew-style game called Mr. Run and Jump, Atari’s first new official release for the 2600 since 1990. Guide Mr. Run and Jump as he chases after his dog Leap through a series of realms, each with their own obstacles and challenges.

Chase after Leap through a series of realms

The games included with the paddle controller are Breakout, Canyon Bomber, Night Driver, and Video Olympics.

The new paddle controllers are designed to look and feel like the original

I will have unboxing and demonstration videos on these hopefully next week.

Bitmap Books - PC Engine The Box Art Collection

The year is 1988, I am 15 years old, year 10 at high school. I have a Commodore 64 with a huge collection of games (mostly pirated) and a Sega Master System with a decent library of arcade conversions and original releases. Magazines were pretty much the only source of gaming news and reviews. Publications such as The Games Machine, ACE and Computer & Video Games dominated the shelves.

So, when the May 1988 issue of C&VG revealed to the western world this little white box called PC Engine, it blew gamers away. Three games were covered – Victory Run, The Kung Fu and Necromancer. Victory Run is an homage to Out Run with attractive graphics and a great soundtrack, and The Kung Fu is a side-scrolling Kung-Fu Master-style fighting game with large sprites.

Gradius II: Gofer No Yabou

The screenshots conveyed a machine capable of large, colourful, flicker-free sprites that wouldn’t look out of place in an arcade. Where did NEC conjure this up?! And more importantly, how can a 15-year-old earning $20 a week of pocket money able to afford one?

Throughout the coming months, there was increased coverage and reviews trickling out of Japan and into the various gaming magazines. Well-known arcade manufacturers such as Namco, Irem, Konami, and Taito were throwing their support behind it. Unfortunately, it was too expensive to buy a PC Engine and invest in a decent games library.

The History of the PC Engine

Fast forward to 1992, I was working at a video game store that sold grey imports. I finally purchased one with three games – Parodius Da!, Don Doko Don, and Legendary Axe. I was in gaming heaven. I won't go into detail about each game but suffice to say I had heaps of fun with each one.

Unfortunately, I stupidly sold the PC Engine and the games a couple of years after that. Now I have a Core II with the Terraonion Super HD System3 Pro and have access to pretty much the entire library. The library is huge, so having reference books like the PC Engine The Box Art Collection from Bitmap Books is a great way to discover titles that you may not know or give a chance to.

Garou Densetsu Special

This is my 18th Bitmap Books publication, and in my humble opinion, they produce the best video game books using high-quality paper materials. Written contents are well-researched and pleasing to read, and the photography of the game boxes, manuals and screenshots are meticulous.

Spanning across 372 pages and weighing just a little over 2kgs, PC Engine The Box Art Collection has a very pleasing layout. Each page presents the game's cover art as well as three screenshots showing the title screen and in-game action. The text is all white on a colour background with an easy-to-read font size. The first paragraph explains the origin of the game, while the second has a cover art description. Also included is the year of release, software developer, genre and media format. Games are listed alphabetically.

Bookending the box art is a foreword by The PC Engine Software Bible founder Paul Weller, a history of the PC Engine, a collector interview, and a games index.

As always with Bitmap Books, the quality is fantastic. From the simple but beautifully designed cover, the print quality, the photography and the design layout, it’s a book highly recommended for fans of the platform. As the library is quite substantial, these types of books are a great reference guide to discover its many different releases on HUCARD and CD-ROM.

Visit this link to purchase it directly from Bitmap Books.