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Well, it's not been easy, but we've managed to complete this issue just in time for distribution at Retro North! RGCD has seen a lot of changes since the last time I sat down to write an editorial - the development team has again doubled in size and we've recently started work on a GBA/DS homebrew side-project (see the RGCD online shop for details). As for the magazine itself, in addition to the usual game reviews and previews Issue #03 also contains part one our debut proper article (courtesy of Mike Bevan) detailing the history of indie-gaming hero Jeff 'Llamasoft' Minter - and we've even included our first serious peripheral review; a write-up of the MMC64 SD-card reader for the Commodore 64 (well, I bought it to play games on, so it still sort of fits the magazine's remit...)

Successfully completing the magazine within a tight deadline has proven that the possibility of RGCD becoming a bi-monthly publication is not as unrealistic as I'd previously imagined, and it's definitely a worthy target to aim for. We're not quite there yet, but with the size of the dedicated team increasing exponentially I doubt it'll take much longer. In just over 10 weeks we've amassed a total of 29 game reviews and 6 extra features, making this issue our biggest yet.

The content is of the usual high caliber, and yet again we've further diversified our platform range; inside Issue #03 you'll find reviews of new releases for the AGA Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari 2600, Atari XE/XL, Commodore 64, MSX, Nintendo GBA and DS, Sinclair Spectrum and VIC20 - as well as the usual line-up of PC/Mac remakes and retro-style indie games. In addition to this we've held in-depth Q&A sessions with Matt Carr (he of the featured Blast Arena Advance cartridge project and Lemmings DS fame) as well as prolific Spectrum coder Jonathan Cauldwell (who talks about his upcoming EggHead title and his passion for Sir Clive's 8-Bit opus).

Before anyone points out the obvious, I am aware that the last issue's featured game was a GBA release (which is a bit cheeky in itself because the GBA is not quite retro yet), but I make no apologies for featuring Blast Arena Advance in Issue #03; it's a cracking game and Matt Carr provided us with the inspiration to start our own cartridge project! Don't worry though; we'll re-address the balance in the next issue.

Other highlights include previews of Pumpkin Games' Doppelganger and the awesome work-in-progress Lead 8K for the humble 2600, reviews of top C64 releases (lost and found commercial gem The Rebels and the Indiana Jones-aping Joe Gunn), Cosine's latest projects (Kikstart C64 and Reaxion GBA) and our favourites from last year's MSX Dev competition (Traffic Jam, Daedalian Opus and Malaika). PC retro-gamers are spoilt for choice this issue, with impressive remakes of Turrican (Hurican), arcade favorites Centipede (Millenipede and Spiga) and Robotron (Mechatron) and of course there's a selection of top original releases such as the boss-battling Fraxy, visually-overwhelming Burn The Trash and turn-based X-Com tribute Urban Legend.

Well, that's another issue wrapped up! Now I've got to burn 100 CDs, print out the artwork and get busy with those scissors...

Blast Arena Advance [GBA]

http://www.mrdictionary.net/blastarenacart/

Reviewed By Dudley

At the risk of editorialising, there's something I've always thought that Nintendo understood about handheld gaming that virtually no-one who has tried to enter the arena has ever quite caught on to. The PSP's library largely consists of PS2 style games (only smaller), whereas the DS has a library full of *real* handheld style games. There's an art to writing a good handheld game, it should be clear, it should be playable on a screen as small as a couple of inches and it should be possible to enjoy it when you only have five minutes to spare. A decent proportion of the PSP library won't even load in that time, let alone award you with any quality game-play.

I bring this up because if there's one game I've ever played in my life that epitomises the well executed handheld experience it's this one. Blast Arena goes from power on to game in about 15 seconds, a typical game is going to be around a minute, it's never difficult to know exactly what's going on and with the high score saving there's always a goal to achieve. Even better if you act while they're still available you can have your very own cart in your hand for £5.50, a perfect handheld game price to boot...

Read the full review »