Video Games are Rad

I picked this up just today from my local Chapters bookstore. If you are a fan of RetroGamer magazine, then you will be familiar with this. The RetroGamer Collection series is basically the best of RetroGamer magazine condensed into one volume, and free of ads. This thing the amazing, and at a hefty 256 beautifully printed pages, it’s a big magazine. Hell, it’s bigger than a lot of the strategy guides I own.

Tucked within it’s pages are retro console reviews, company retrospectives, developer interviews, comprehensive game histories, as well as reviews of games ranging from the ZX Spectrum to arcade, to the Nintendo 64.

Any retro gaming fan would be crazy not to pick this mag up. And don’t let it’s hefty price tag ($33 taxes in here in Canada), because for the sheer amount of content it’s definitely worth it’s weight.

I have barely even scratched the surface of this, this… monument- no, love letter to retro gamers the world over, but so far my favorites have to be the amazingly comprehensive history of the Zelda series, the Gunstar Heroes retrospective (which focuses on Treasure, the games developer, as much as the game itself) and the look back at Konami’s phenomenal late 80′s/early 90′s output.

Do yourself a favor and pick this book up, and pick up RetroGamer whenever you can. You can head over to their website if you don’t have a local book store or magazine shop that stocks RetroGamer (after all, it’s a UK import). While you’re there, make sure to pick up RetroGamer Classics Vol.2 as well, but I would do so sooner than later because just like the games it so lovingly immortalizes, once it’s out of print it’s gone forever.

I can’t really call this collection anything other than, as the cover states, essential.