1992 in gaming was well showcased albeit without fashioning the baggy pants, flannel shirts and Doc Martins of the era (we might need to step it up there). The fear that every console would be playing Street Fighter II Turbo was not realised – existing almost singularly on Peter K’s Super Famicom. Angela and Robert H demonstrated the game of the month ‘Alien Soldier’ via their Sega Megadrive (with Sega CD attached); they multiplayer-linked 2 Neo Geo Pockets; and they rid the world of Nazi’s via DOS Wolfenstein on their brutally designed yet beautiful Toshiba Techra 550CDT laptop. Robert H performed his usual magic of streaming and capturing the meeting on Facebook and Twitch (check it out!). Matthew P, David and Luke brought the miniature wonder that is the SNES Classic. Marc A had his Super Nintendo play Axelay on a unique 4:3 lcd rgb scart monitor. Rob C (aka ‘hellfire64’ from the excellent Youtube channel ‘Beyond the Scanlines’ – check him out!) demonstrated a number of 1992 Commodore 64 releases (yes 1992) including one called ‘Arnie’. Mal W brought a Philips CD-i playing the slightly more obscure and historically interesting ‘Hotel Mario’. Karl L demonstrated ‘Mario Kart’, ‘Turtles in Time’, ‘Street Fighter II Turbo’ on a Super Famicom and Shane B presented the highly influential racing game Geoff Crammond’s ‘Grand Prix’.
During the showcase we enjoyed 8-player Virtua Racer on a projected screen.
David L kept us informed with the Retro News including updates on the Jag SD, FPGA MSX2+, Jay and Silent Bob Mall Brawl on the NES, Evercade’s Piko Interactive Collection, and Intellivision’s Amico. Further updates from the group included the 8-bit Symphony Orchestra, Link’s Awakening remake, Lynx’s 30th birthday, ISOs released for the Sega Saturn’s prototype Star Wars game (including related scanned documentation), and Modern Vintage Gamer finishing off a prototype XBOX game called FreeFall 3050AD.
In ‘Show and Tell’ Rob C discussed a cool and weird Sci Fi Megadrive game called Bloodshot, while Mal W recently purchased some Fusion magazines including a signed copy by the Oliver Twins. Handed out to members were items ordered from ‘G’ who recently returned from Japan, including Kid Dracula, Eindhander, In the Hunt, 100 Yen coins, an MSX game, and a camera for David H (that turned out to be a miniature eraser).
Mal W claimed the $5 challenge with GBA’s Gunstar Super Heroes. Angela H has been playing Guitar Hero Metallica, Rob C has been playing a Megadrive Japanese shooter called Dangerous Sea, and Matthew P has been playing Uncharted 4 on the PS4. David L won a Steam game prize for reaching the highest level (level 10) in August’s game of the month Alien Soldier, and Kid Chameleon was voted for September’s game of the month.
Reminder of the GO Game Market on the 29th September at Collingwood Town Hall and Pixel Alley on the 26th of October.