RetroCollect

On paper, Kale In Dinoland on iOS is a nice – if niche – concept. A loving homage to the black and white Game Boy platformers of the 90’s, it had the potential to rekindle the nostalgia of retro gamers and allow the younger audience to see what they missed out on.

Although the Microsoft Xbox was far from a success in Japan, it did have a few exclusive hidden gems. Metal Wolf Chaos is one of these obscurities often met by a flurry of bids at auction. Despite being somewhat playable in Japanese already, it has received a much needed fan translation patch.

With the demise of Bizarre Creations, I was saddened by the thought that I would never see another Geometry Wars title be created. However, my itch for more frantic twin stick shooting of brightly coloured shapes has been thorough soothed by the XBLA Indie title FireFly Vegas, developed by London based development studio RockMint.

After a good few months of speculation, reports have finally confirmed that the much rumoured Neo Geo handheld is in fact materialising. The Neo Geo X portable is due for release in the second quarter of 2012, set to come pre-loaded with 20 classic SNK games.

With the release date of the upcoming open-source retro gaming handheld drawing near, pre-orders for the promising GameGadet have now opened. For just £99.99 you can secure yours in time for release on the 30th March.

Fans of side-scrolling action RPGs will be pleased to hear that three of Sega's beloved Wonder Boy games- including the previously-Japan-only Mega Drive title Monster World IV- are being re-released as a downloable collection for the Xbox 360.

Remember those adverts placed amongst the back pages of Computer & Video Games magazine which offered a gateway into the wonderful world of import gaming? RetroCollect catches up with one of the veterans of the import gaming scene now known as VideoGameImports, offering an insight into the rollercoaster ride of being a mail-order business.

NG:DEV.TEAM have stepped forward to announce a release date for their upcoming homebrew shooter- Gun-Lord. With the game set to arrive later this month on the Neo Geo MVS and in mid June on the Sega Dreamcast, they have also uploaded more gameplay footage to YouTube to help tempt you into a pre-order.

First the SNES Powerpak, then the Neo Myth, followed by the Super Everdrive and the upcoming sd2snes- the newly arriving Superufo Pro 8 is ready to enter the congested market for modern SNES backup solutions. This new flash card from Swap Magic 3 holds plenty of exclusive features to warrant attention from retro gamers.

Magnavox Odyssey2 and Philips Videopac collectors take note, Revival Studios who previously brought us two new homebrew releases for these systems, Mayhem and Astro Dodge, are back with a new hit. Colorclash is their latest offering, making the best use of the dated hardware available.

Once again Bock of SMSPower fame has been hard at work to further preserve Sega's 8-bit posterity. This later release sees the arrival of seven new dumps, including that of an early Super Monaco GP prototype, a port of MSX game known as Magical Kid Wiz, and even a rolling demo of the RPG game Ys.

It’s party time, let’s have some fun! The RetroCollect’s Retro Game Club is back and ready to find our community’s very own speed demon capable of insane high scores. Buckle up tight as we tackle Sega’s one and only Crazy Taxi.

As the winter days draw to a close, lazy Sunday lie-ins are no longer an option for many a retro gamer. Instead, they’re up at the crack of dawn trudging through a muddy field.