What’s your SEGA Saturn Holy Trinity?! I think this is mine - they’re beaten up but beautiful! #SaturnDay

Clones have been a part of video games since someone wanted to rip off pong by calling it poo. Well I made that up, but I did not make these up. See some games that heavily riffed on existing properties here. Right here. youtu.be/_RiLc6cGDjw

In the late 90s it felt like Capcom made Marvel their own Capcom’s Children of the Atom stormed into arcades in late 94 and sparked a run of linked up games on coin op and console - but just two years earlier Konami had their own X-Men game! Similarities ahoy!! #ArcadeFriday

Been chatting this week how comparable Konami and Capcom are as devs Both stellar in the 80s and 90s with a rich arcade heritage - for example! In 1987, Capcom launches the first Street Fighter (with FIST MECHANICS!!) while Konami debuts Contra! Woof!! #ArcadeFriday

Now showing on that there YouTube! If you like Konami, Mega Drive, SNES - or the opening credits from Baywatch - you’re in for a surprising treat! 😂😂 tinyurl.com/Tiny-Toons

Cold, wet and grey outside today. Perfect weather for frogs…🐸

Dreamcast was well served for sports games tho we tend to forget them 😂 Fun fact, NHL 2K2 (191st) was the last official DC release in America. At the other end, Rez came in at 11th - which is fair, but I can’t explain why. No one can! Just go play it!! #DreamcastThursday

I’ve not played Suzuki Alstare but, even though it’s in a lowly 192nd in the DC rankings… I just read it’s an arcade racer by Criterion (of Burnout fame) so I’ve gotta try it! Whereas MvC2 is rarely off my telly recently - so 10th seems a tad harsh to me!! #DreamcastThursday

Feels like we just got done writing everything for that one (Kev is still recovering). I also wouldn’t interpret lower ranked games as poorly perceived. Games like Dino Crisis, Demo Racer, Suzuki Alstare, UFC, etc. are all solid. They just weren’t top-of-mind when most people think of the DC.

Surprises ahoy in the Best And The Worst of Dreamcast! In a very harsh 193rd sits Capcom’s Resident Evil With Dinosaurs - Dino Crisis! And in a much more justifiable 9th is Phantasy Star Online!! #DreamcastThursday

The post-2000s Konami made some of the biggest ever video games, and remains a diverse and profitable company But they also binned off Hideo Kojima, made more slot machines than games, and turned Pro Evo into a live service monstrosity. Are they still any good?! #WhensDay

There are VERY few devs that could go toe to toe with Konami at their peak They had quality in spades but they also had such RANGE!! Take 1994 - any one of these could’ve been a flagship release for another dev. Konami did them all!! #WhensDay

Speaking of the Super FX chip, can we just take a moment to appreciate the outrageously good artwork for the SFC release of Vortex?

Konami could turn its hand to anything to fit the times! The darker cinematics of Metal Gear and Silent Hill matched modern trends, the gothic grunge of Castlevania mixed with bubbly mascots typified the mid 90s… And in the 1980s? Well… Girls on Film! #WhensDay

Tiny Toons was one of my fave Konami games - on both systems! But it was crazy how different they were! Find out why Konami did it - and what made em great!! - in our new vid!! tinyurl.com/Tiny-Toons

Konami were the MASTERS of the multi format game!! SNES and Mega Drive got rich offerings for every franchise with brilliant - but totally different! - games on each machine (and others!!) And sometimes Europe got bonus changes 😂😂 #TwoForTuesday

Here’s a sad story about Jurassic Park I really wanted the Mega Drive game as I’d heard the SNES one was crap. But my step-dad - for the first and only time he ever bought me a Christmas present himself! - got me the SNES one thinking they were the same 😫 #TwoForTuesday

Imagine a time when different consoles actually had different games!! It’s a huge reason why 90s gaming was such a rich time - and these mismatched pairs make a perfect #TwoForTuesday!! Aladdin stands out as it also had different bloody developers! (And MD was better!!)

By 1991 Mega Drive was getting SERIOUSLY good!! There are loads to pick from but the biggest is in no doubt - it was the year of Sonic! #MegaDriveMonday

Course, if you did want a shmup in 1990 you weren’t hard done by!! (Though it might be cheaper to invent a time machine and go buy MUSHA Aleste in 1990 than to try get it today!!) #MegaDriveMonday

It was indeed the first. web.archive.org/web/20120509...

By 1990, Mega Drive was getting bloody tasty!! Wonder Boy III was an arcade back in ‘88 and was also ported to the PC Engine CD - I mainly wanted to include so we didn’t have too many shmups in the thread as they were PLENTIFUL back then! #MegaDriveMonday

Thunder Force II wasn’t the best game on MD in 1989 - but it was a crucial one as 3rd party releases were slow to arrive! (Was it the first even?!) Plus, it means I can use one of my favourite ever adverts showing the ONLY way to promote a shmup! #MegaDriveMonday

A game from every year of Mega Drive! And how can you start 1988 with anything but the craziness of Space Harrier II?! #MegaDriveMonday

Konami! Wherever great games are sold!! Man, I love that 80s confidence - even an ad for a sports game is sold like an action film!! #8bitSunday

ZELDAAAAAAA!!! Classic 80s advertising meets classic 80s gaming!! And, side note, no mention of the system name - no wonder everyone just called it “a Nintendo”! Find the crystals! Rescue the Princess!! #8bitSunday

There are so many... Japanese exclusives (Dragon Force 2, Shining Force 3 SC2 & SC3, Sakura Wars 1&2, etc.). Cancelled games (Dungeon Keeper, Diablo, Sonic the Fighters, etc.). And Mega Drive games without sequels (Alicia Dragoon, Kid Chameleon, Ristar, etc.). Yoh, who would maybe say this one:

Let’s rewrite history!! What games should have come to SEGA Saturn?! Guilty Gear? DC iteration was ace, it’s a 2D fighter right in Saturn’s sweet spot, and published by Atlus who just 15 short years later would basically BE SEGA!! It would have looked AWESOME with 4MB!

Time to put right what once went wrong! You can have any game on the SEGA Saturn that your little heart desires! What’ll it be?! Resident Evil 2?! #SaturnDay

Still holds the record down at my local arcade >:3 #arcade #gaming #retro

Is it cool or weird that John Lewis is selling Star Wars arcade cabinets?!? John Lewis!! Where your Nan buys her tea towels?!?

The 90s were awesome!! WWF was awesome!! Arcades and Mega Drive were awesome!! This video has it all!! Does that make it… awesome?!? tinyurl.com/WWF90s

What would you want in your perfect arcade?! SF2 is in there… What about After Burner?? #ArcadeFriday

If an arcade opened in your town with a bunch of pristine Street Fighter II cabinets… … would you go?! Like the flyer says… Don’t give up! You can always make a comeback!! #ArcadeFriday

Things I WILL do this year: play a shed load of MvC2 and get good with an arcade stick!! Things I probably WON’T do this year: unlock all the characters!! (This is what gaming looked like before DLC! It’s glorious!!) #DreamcastThursday

Things I WILL do this year: play through Skies of Arcadia Things I probably WON’T do this year: get hold of this awesome Skies of Arcadia Dreamcast!! #DreamcastThursday

Lady Wrestlers On Mega Drive! Not only did Asmik bring the pro female circuit to MD, with Cutie Suzuki Ringside Angel, they brought MD gamers to lady wrestling! The second pic is a promo for a live gaming event in August 1990 featuring Cutie Suzuki herself! Awesome! #WhensDay

Is Call of Duty 4 retro yet?! I mean, it’s as old today (18 years) as the Game Boy was when COD4 came out - or Golden Axe! Or Revenge of Shinobi! But it just doesn’t feel… that old?! #WhensDay

Let’s get ready to RUUUUUUMBLLE!!!! It’s absolute pandemonium this week over at GFA Towers where grown men are wearing make up and jumping about in their pants!! And also we’re playing wrestling games!! See it all (almost!) in our new vid!! tinyurl.com/WWF90s

Man In Pants Sells Arcade Game! Yep, in the 90s it was anything goes - with Technos’ vibrant, cartoony Wrestlefest in arcades being a very different beast to Acclaim’s digitised Super Wrestlemania on consoles! But both had the Hulk in his scantily glad glory! #TwoForTuesday

Surely one of the best arcade to console sports games was Punch-Out!! (Incl. Super and Mike Tyson versions!!) Arcades are all about simple but effective action and this game nailed that to a tee! (No surprise then that the series creator went on to make the Wii!) #TwoForTuesday

Altitude With An Attitude!! Sports games feel like a home consoles thing but there were plenty of crossovers from arcade to living room! NBA Jam did a pretty good job on both and it’s still got it!! #TwoForTuesday

Back in the early 1990s, WWF was seriously exotic!! My folks never had sky or cable so I only knew about WWF from snippets of chat at school - until I met Dibbs! He knew all about it AND (a little bit later) got Super Wrestlemania. It was so cool!! #MegaDriveMonday

To a teenage me, Apache helicopters were basically peak awesomeness! Small wonder that Desert Strike made such an impact! I think that was the first MD game I ever played - but it belonged to my Uncle Kevin and my cousins!! I instantly wanted one!! #MegaDriveMonday

What Mega Drive games did your mates have that you wished you’d had?! One of em has to be SF2 SCE - I had Turbo on the SNES and Dibbs had SCE and tho I loved both there was a huge reason SF2 was better at Dibbs’ house… The MD 6-button pad!! #MegaDriveMonday

Hope you’ve enjoyed Castlevania week!! Don’t forget to watch the vid all about the brilliant Castlevania: Bloodlines! - link below! And just to get you in the mood… here’s a juicy little joint from the equally marvellous Rondo of Blood! Vampire KILLAHHHHH - enjoy!! youtube.com/shorts/f_g2U...

Oh man this was peak Game Boy for me! This kid at school had both of these - Motocross Maniacs and Castlevania The Adventure - and for one glorious week I had a lend of them and it was like winning the lottery! That first Castlevania on GB is RIDICULOUSLY hard tho! #8bitSunday

Our vid this week is all about Castlevania Bloodlines on Mega Drive so #8bitSunday has to feature the OGs!! Castlevania on NES and Vampire Killer on MSX - iconic, franchise-defining and still possibly the best cover art of any game ever!

I think I could be a Saturn fan for a hundred years and still keep discovering new games! Although, I’ve only seen an English patch for the PlayStation version of Linda 3 so I might have to wait a while yet… Great art though!! #SaturnDay

Castlevania on SEGA machines had a short run, didn’t it! But even tho the Saturn port of SOTN was flawed and - gnashes teeth!! - the PlayStation one was better (for some bizarre reason), Saturn’s one was still bloody good! #SaturnDay