by Brian Lesyk | Jun 21, 2026 | 1980s, 1990s, Magazine Preview
If you were yearning for a solid role-playing game in the late 80s and resided in North America and happened to own a Sega Master System console, you were certainly in the right place at the right time. As luck would have it, you were unknowingly on the cusp of being...
by Jeremy Parish | Jun 18, 2026 | 1980s, 1990s, 2010s, Magazine Preview
If you’re old enough to remember the NES launch in America, you’re likely old enough to remember residual hand wringing in Washington, D.C. about the so-called Cold War “missile gap.” In the 1950s and ’60s, that doctrine stated that the Soviet Union had a numeric...
by Old School Gamer | Jun 12, 2026 | 1990s, 2000s, Magazine Preview
Enix’s Dragon Quest is one of the most important Japanese RPGs, as it establishes many of the genre conventions that are used to this day. But it certainly wasn’t the first of its type, as Japanese gamers had been experimenting with their own ideas on computers....
by John Michonski | Jun 6, 2026 | 1990s, 2020s, Magazine Preview
Their frustrations are often built on the backs of nostalgia, an aching for a bygone era when they first saw Nidorino and Gengar do battle on their Game Boy. That yearning for a youth long gone is what inspired Satoshi Tajiri, Pokémon’s originator, to come up with the...
by Brian Lesyk | Jun 4, 2026 | 1990s, 2020s, Magazine Preview
As one-half of the aforementioned moniker, the Metroid and Castlevania franchises served as the bedrock upon which all other non-linear, multi-scrolling 2D platformer video games were built. When you play other Metroidvania titles like Guacamelee! (DrinkBox Studios,...
by Ryan Burger | Jun 2, 2026 | 1990s, 2020s, Magazine Preview
It was all about Time Crisis and The House of the Dead. Time Crisis hit me harder overall. This rail shooter takes you through different missions across the series. Each mission typically has three stages, and each stage has four areas you fight through. I have never...