Chew Man Fu was Now Production's first game on the PC Engine/Turbografx-16, and it's a maze game requiring lots of strategy and just as much kicking. And also you're saving the world's egg rolls and fried rice from an evil wizard's curse. So, a worthy cause.

It's new to me: Chew Man Fu

Now Production's first effort on the Turbografx-16 was a game where the name told you absolutely nothing about what you're about to experience.

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me: oh is it Ace Attorney's anniversary? Redd White of Blue Corp:

Retro XP@retroxp.bsky.social · 2d ago

Happy 25th to Ace Attorney, which has been great the whole time but was never better than when it centered around Phoenix Wright.

Happy 25th to Ace Attorney, which has been great the whole time but was never better than when it centered around Phoenix Wright.

Retro Spotlight: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

On the eve of the release of a long-awaited, new Ace Attorney, let's look back at where the franchise all began.

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Sokoban is a game series and a genre, one developed by Thinking Rabbit in the early 80s that later spread to other studios and other countries besides Japan. One such international release in the influential series is Boxyboy on the Turbografx-16. It's classic Sokoban gameplay, only more of it.

Retro spotlight: Boxyboy, aka Sokoban World

One of the earliest console releases in the hugely important and influential Sokoban series, as well as one of the first released in North America.

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Ever played a Sokoban game? Well you should, whether the answer to that question was yes or no. Here's a brief history of Sokoban, with the PC Engine/Turbografx-16 Sokoban World/Boxyboy as highlight.

Retro spotlight: Boxyboy, aka Sokoban World

One of the earliest console releases in the hugely important and influential Sokoban series, as well as one of the first released in North America.

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Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is a spinoff of a spinoff, that took the strategy RPG design to new levels by deciding that this one was also a match-three puzzle game. It works, though, as much back in 2009 as it does in 2026, whether you play the DS original or one of the many HD ports since.

Retro spotlight: Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes

Tactical puzzle RPG action. That's not word salad, that's Clash of Heroes.

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It's Guest Feature time at @retroxp.bsky.social, and today's was written by @phantomcobra.bsky.social, on James Bond 007: Everything Or Nothing. What makes a Bond? What makes a good Bond adaptation? What works and doesn't from this seemingly forgotten mid-aughts 007 (action) adventure?

Guest Feature: James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing

Very much of its era and of Bond, in ways both complimentary and derogatory.

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Alien Syndrome released on basically every platform in existence, then disappeared for years before reemerging with a then-modern reimagining. It's a wonderful example of how different hardware and developers used to mean fairly different versions of the same game.

Retro spotlight: Alien Syndrome

Just how good is Alien Syndrome? Well, it depends on which one you play.

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Alien Syndrome, Sega's 1987 arcade classic that played fast and loose with the concept of visual inspiration, was excellent in arcades, and then at home? Well, that depends on the platform and your own preferences, but there was no shortage of either to work through.

Retro spotlight: Alien Syndrome

Just how good is Alien Syndrome? Well, it depends on which one you play.

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Happy 25th birthday to the GameCube, you should celebrate by reading about and then playing one of its finest games: Chibi Robo! Plug Into Adventure! Underrated and under-played then and now, but you can do something about both of those problems in the present, whether via Switch 2 or [redacted]

Past meets present: Chibi-Robo! Plug Into Adventure!

One of the GameCube's final classics is also one of the best Nintendo games going.

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The GameCube released 25 years ago today, so here's a reworked and more detailed version of a Chibi-Robo! Plug Into Adventure! article that originally published six years ago to celebrate.

Past meets present: Chibi-Robo! Plug Into Adventure!

One of the GameCube's final classics is also one of the best Nintendo games going.

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happy not-round-number anniversary, North American Dreamcast. Please ignore that this game does not natively play on that particular version of the console and just accept OP's agenda

Marc Normandin@marcnormandin.bsky.social · last mo.

You should all find time to play Lack of Love, a Japan-only Dreamcast game without a word of dialogue in it. And yet, it contains messages we can all relate to: impending climate doom, powerlessness, and the audacity of the conqueror incapable of living as "merely" a citizen of the world

Yes it's Labor Day, but I wanted to give you something to read, anyway. Here's B.O.B., a run and gun platformer from 1993 that has been mostly forgotten about, if it was ever truly known to begin with. This one has its quirks [derogatory] but they are outweighed by its quirks [complimentary]

Re-release this: B.O.B.

Life is tough when you're a teenage robot looking for love.

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Battle Pinball is a 3DO game from 1994, developed by a company that only made one other game as far as anyone can tell, a different (and poorly reviewed) pinball game from earlier in the year. That one lacked weird CGI characters and PvP pinball, though. Battle Pinball has both of those things.

It's new to me: Battle Pinball

Now here's a concept that needs revisiting.

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Not Battle Pinball as in the Super Famicom game with Kamen Rider and Ultraman, but Battle Pinball as in the 3DO game by Japan Dataworks where you face off in competitive, simultaneous pinball action against a CPU or human opponent. It's a concept that should be brought to fruition more often.

It's new to me: Battle Pinball

Now here's a concept that needs revisiting.

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That's right

40 years of Bomberman: Bomberman Kart DX

The enhanced version of a mostly standard kart racer made itself into much more than "just" a racing game.

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Puke is already a Halloween Name@puke.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Japanese TV commercial for Bomberman Kart DX on PlayStation 2 in 2004. From the Bomberman Land series that expanded the mascot to a bunch of mini-game options. In this case, kart racing, though there is also regular Bomberman and a little dungeon crawler. Pay the land a visit! #gaming #retro #PS2 🎮

Target Earth? Assault Suit Leynos? Genesis? Windows? It doesn't matter what you call it or what you play it on, which version you pick up or whether it's one with checkpoints or limited lives. Assault Suit Leynos is an underrated Masaya gem that you should play.

Past meets present: Assault Suit Leynos

Known as Target Earth in North America the first time around, Leynos is an underrated and unrelenting Genesis game with a modern update that doesn't forget the point.

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TX-1 was designed to be a more realistic and more visually impressive successor to Pole Position, and in Japanese arcades, it dominated for years just like Namco's hit. Unlike Pole Position, though, TX-1's success and influence was regional, and it was never ported to home platforms... until 2026

Past meets present: TX-1

An underlooke

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I wrote about TX-1, which is practically unknown in America but was huge in Japan for years alongside the likes of Pole Position. A number of TX-1's hardware and game design innovations would eventually make it into the likes of OutRun and even Darius: you should know about this three-screen wonder.

Past meets present: TX-1

An underlooke

retroxp.beehiiv.com

TX-1 was designed to be a more realistic and more visually impressive successor to Pole Position, and in Japanese arcades, it dominated for years just like Namco's hit. Unlike Pole Position, though, TX-1's success and influence was regional, and it was never ported to home platforms... until 2026

Past meets present: TX-1

An underlooke

retroxp.beehiiv.com

Here's the thing about MUSHA: it rules. Contemporary critics were exhausted by the volume of STG on the Mega Drive/Genesis and so MUSHA didn't get the attention it deserved. It's on the easier side for a Compile shooter, but don't let that distract you from what matters: sensory overloading vibes.

Retro spotlight: MUSHA

Vibes over scoring, and that's not a negative.

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While known as Musha Aleste in Japan, it was just "MUSHA" in North America, a backronym for "Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor." Whatever you call it, though, just know that it rocks. Both the game and the "Edo metal" soundtrack.

Retro spotlight: MUSHA

Vibes over scoring, and that's not a negative.

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Emerald Dragon is a Japan-only RPG released again and again there between 1989 and 1995, but the excellent PC Engine CD edition finally has an unofficial English translation. And the game is absolutely worth your time to emulate in the present, so you can experience all that makes it great.

Re-release this: Emerald Dragon

Emerald Dragon used to re-release all the time. Let's go back to that.

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Emerald Dragon is a story- and character-centric RPG from 1989, with a killer revamp in 1994 for the PCE CD. A hybrid battle system and character design different from better-known works of the day by Square, and a reminder that the west's idea of the evolution of Japanese RPGs is an incomplete one

Re-release this: Emerald Dragon

Emerald Dragon used to re-release all the time. Let's go back to that.

retroxp.beehiiv.com

Emerald Dragon is a Japan-only RPG released again and again there between 1989 and 1995, but the excellent PC Engine CD edition finally has an unofficial English translation. And the game is absolutely worth your time to emulate in the present, so you can experience all that makes it great.

Re-release this: Emerald Dragon

Emerald Dragon used to re-release all the time. Let's go back to that.

retroxp.beehiiv.com

Happy 20th to Dead Rising, a kick ass video game that the world maybe wasn't ready for when it first released

Retro spotlight: Dead Rising

The first Dead Rising was one of Capcom's initial truly next-gen HD offerings, and, not to make you feel too old or anything, but that was 18 years ago.

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Here's Donkey Kong 3, a game that, despite what you might have read on the internet, did not kill the Donkey Kong series dead for a decade-plus before its triumphant revival in the 90s. If your only experience with this one is the NES port, you have been missing out on 80s Nintendo genre-hopping.

XP Arcade: Donkey Kong 3

An oddity for both Donkey Kong and Nintendo that you should take the time to appreciate.

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Donkey Kong 3, like its predecessors, is a platformer. Sort of. It actually has more in common with Galaga than the original DK, and that's not just because both of those involve loads of bugs.

XP Arcade: Donkey Kong 3

An oddity for both Donkey Kong and Nintendo that you should take the time to appreciate.

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This is out today, and my long rec is the review below, my short one for a very specific audience is "do you want to see what Toaplan and G.Rev are like smashed together?"

Marc Normandin@marcnormandin.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Here's my review of Truxton Extreme, a return to the vital and influential shoot 'em up playstyle of Toaplan, contained within a game that's worthy of both the original Truxton and player expectations in 2026. This one feels both familiar and fresh; it's got the juice.

Here's my review of Truxton Extreme, a return to the vital and influential shoot 'em up playstyle of Toaplan, contained within a game that's worthy of both the original Truxton and player expectations in 2026. This one feels both familiar and fresh; it's got the juice.

Past meets present: Truxton Extreme

Truxton is back courtesy its original designer and composer, with an entry worthy of the name.

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