Lets be honest, games based on Disney films are never good for the most part. They’re usually just cheap cash-ins, pandering to quite a young audience who, in all fairness, don’t play the games for their gameplay. They play them because they’re Disney games, contain their favourite characters, and look cute. Is Hercules...

It’s time for TGL’s first interview of 2013. Bruce Harwood, best known to Sci-Fi fans as John Fitzgerald Byers in the X-Files and The Lone Gunmen, he is an accomplished actor with other such projects as MacGuyver, The Outer Limits, and Kingdom Hospital under his belt. Bruce also appearred in two X-Files videogames as Byers,...

Coming via firmware update 1.80, the PS1 games on offer include Final Fantasy VII, Driver…

Hello everyone, Retroplayer here. I very recently had the pleasure of interviewing composer and sound designer Stuart Duffield. Stuart, an industry veteran, has composed for games such as Overboard, G-Police 1 & 2, RC Revenge, and Nations – Fighter Command. If the PS1 generation was important to you like it is to me, chances are Stuart played an important role in your gaming memories. For me, personally, his work while at Psygnosis perfectly encapsulated the feeling of that unique gaming era. It’s quite hard for me to put it in words, but listening to Stuarts music evokes such a strong sense of nostalgia, and brings me back to when the industry seemed simpler, more imaginative, with great potential on the horizon. A better time for gaming, I feel. Still, Stuarts work didn’t end with that era, dear readers. He’s as active as ever, providing atmosphere and soul to some of the games we play even today. But I’ll hand it over to the man himself…

Appearing on the store, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command all but confirms that the older titles will in fact…

With the release of the latest Muppet film recently, I thought it might be fun to review a Muppet related game. We all love(d) the Muppets, right? There were a few games to choose from, but I settled with Muppet Monster Adventure, a rather obscure PS1 title. I expected a below par platformer with the Muppets themselves hastily shoe horned in, to be honest with you. However, what I found was actually quite surprising- it wasn’t just good, it was great. It’s a wonderful little title that also happens to be a blatant rip-ff of Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot. Read on, read on…

Making a game based on the legendary Ninja is a tough nut to crack. It seems like the vast majority of games forget that the ninja of feudal Japan were shadows in the night and almost mythical in status. Most games that take on the subject pursue it as an all out action game rather than one of stealth, cunning and, if the situation arises, of expertly honed sword play. Tenchu was a game that pushed you to be stealthy and punished the player if they approached it otherwise. But hey, you live by the sword, you die by the sword, right?

A brave hero, loveable creatures, an ever evolving home town and a looming tower to conquer- one of the greatest PS1 RPGs awaits you. Not only is Azure Dreams one of the best PS1 games out there but it is also one of the most memorable gaming experiences I’ve ever had. At first I thought it was a generic Pokemon rip-off but soon realised that it could stand on its own two feet and high above the competition.

When I first played Fox Hunt I thought it was a terrible game. First off, the idea of FMV games always turned me off. Back in the early 90’s they seemed like they could be the “future” of gaming but that boat sank pretty quickly. I thought the game was cheesy, goofy, silly and relied too heavily on slapstick comedy. However, I did find that after awhile of playing I started to enjoy the game. You see, as I played Fox Hunt I took a step back and just accepted what I was playing. I didn’t analyze it or pick it apart. This isn’t a game like Shenmue where it can be examined and dissected for years. No. Fox Hunt is an interactive movie, nothing more. I don’t say that as an insult, mind you. In fact, out of all the FMV games that sold themselves as interactive movies Fox Hunt, in my opinion, is the only successful one I’ve played. However, before getting your hands on Fox Hunt you need to realize that the creators weren’t trying to make Citizen Kane here. Fox Hunt is in the vein of Ace Ventura- over the top, loud, cheesy and, thanks to Andrew Bowen who plays Jack Fremont, has laughs mostly based on his talent for psychical performances.

Here’s an interesting little game here, dear readers. It’s a Japanese style RPG developed in the west. At a quick glance it looks and feels like Final Fantasy VII- prerendered backgrounds, chunky 3d models and items that look exactly like materia and even have that quick sparkly animation, you know the one. It just feels like FFVII. But rather than it being an identical twin of FFVII it does make its own mark with a superb story, some pretty nifty dialogue and a soundtrack that is immense as it is impressive. This is one to check out, for sure.

Sentient, developed by Psygnosis in 1997 for the Playstation and PC, is a game that both impresses and frustrates me in equal measure. It’s a game that I love but it’s a love that I had to actively work on. Sentient, for its time but even in some ways now still, is a hugely ambitious project in gaming. Think about it, the sheer idea of a first person RPG action adventure is pretty out there but for the PS1? It shouldn’t work. On paper it must have been a hard game to sell as it really shouldn’t work at all. However, in some ways it doesn’t work but somehow the rough edges can be overlooked to reveal what truly is an intelligent, engrossing, excellently structured and hugely enjoyable gem of the PS1 era.

So I’m walking down a street and at the end of a walkway there’s a giant face. It’s mouth is open and the walkway I’m on goes directly into it. It’s face is psychedelically coloured and it watches me as I get closer to it. As I get closer music begins to play. I enter the mouth and the dream is over. That was one of my first experiences playing LSD. Interested?