I’m a complete nostalgia freak. So much so I would maybe inform you that it’s dangerous. Classic games, movies, music, comics, books, magazines (of course,) the lot. It can be an expensive hobby, but buying old magazines that I have thrown away in the past is a brand new obsession of mine. And downloading them on such generous websites out there such as Outofprintarchive and Retromags.com.
As I am in a sort of mid-move period while I write this article I can’t photograph my collections, but I can list them. I’ll also tell you what it is I love about some of them too.
Issues owned: 1-40(ish)
The obvious first choice for a lot of children of the 90’s in the United Kingdom, Gamesmaster was the tie-in magazine for the hit show of the same name. I remember seeing issue 2 in my local newsagent stand and was amazed at how much the front cover stood out with its painted, dark and moody art (the Chaos Engine I think?) Originally edited by Jim Douglas, I thoroughly enjoyed the juvenile attempted at being edgy and cool. They were also quite honest, but perhaps scoring Sonic 2 so low in issue 1 was on purpose? Speaking of honesty…
I guess that all ended with their Mortal Kombat 3 coup? My god not until Maximum and Tekken 2 or CVG with Tekken 3 did a magazine give so much coverage to one game. To be fair, as an avid arcade goer at the time, it was quite exciting for me! The staff’s love of Street Fighter 2 was never lost on me either, being such a fan-boy myself I loved reading the constant coverage. I remember their maximum difficult guide for Street Fighter 2 on the SNES. Some of those strategies I still use to this day, such as vertical jumping to keep Zangief at bay.
With varying articles including regular spots with Dominic Diamond, forcing celebrities to embarrassingly play whatever game was hot at the time (just like the show!) and tips galore, the first thirty issues are a great read for a 90’s retro fiend. They were also very good at writing the odd scathing review and their Aliens versus Predator stub on the Super Nintendo was a good one!
Aesthetically it was always pleasing. I especially loved coloured text on a dark background, and the art ripped straight from the Tv-show for the various sidebars and fonts. Overall this was just a very cool magazine and a real stand-out on the racks.
Issues owned: Various from the Paul Davis era.
Not placing C&VG at the top of the film is surely an act of heresy? But for me it wasn’t until Paul Davies took over the (then) aisling magazine in the late 90s that I grew to love C&VG. For the few years leading to this moment C&VG was dull, boring and very corporate looking magazine and what it transformed into was anything but.
C&VG became so popular at the time, so important, that supposedly certain game developers were scared of their passionate and brutality honest reviews. The High-Five scoring system was a revelation to me, and influences me even now on this here blog, and the idea (taken from Japanese arcade magaziness supposedly) to include a pullaway section for fighting game move lists and cheats was genius. I can still remember clutching my Virtua Fighter 3 guide the second time round I played the machine in Southend’s arcades.
Covering games that were not getting the media attention of more mainstream (official) press was also a great feature. Did any other magazine dare to give Castlevania: Symphony of the Night such a blinding review at the time? I can’t think of many. The now highly sort after classic was scathed in most publications for being 2D! Long live the spirit of the mad gamer!
Issues owned: None sadly 😦
Mean Machines Sega was born from the split of Mean Machines, a magazine dedicated to the booming console market during the latter days of the dwindling dominance of the home computer. A feature I always really, really liked was the caricatures of the reviewers that would be copied by many other publications. This was the best exclusive Sega magazine, I’m not even sure if Sega had an officially licensed magazine at the time. That is until…
Issues owned 1-20 and various
Any self-respecting Sega Saturn owner must know of this great magazine. Although the sleights towards over consoles I personally do not welcome, it was a well written and grown up magazine with incredibly in-depth features (perhaps because of the lack of a games library compared to the shovel-ware of the PS1?) I was never a Saturn owner at the time and I was always so jealous of some of the amazing games that were released, including the better versions of many fighting games thanks to the Playstation’s limited 2D architecture.
Now, as a born-again Sega Saturn owner, I’ve bought many of the issues. A must!
Issues owned: The last one 😦
Another endeavourer of Richard Leadbetter, editor of Sega Saturn Magazine, Maximum was an interesting and short-lived magazine that differed from much on the market. Page layouts were unique, the general sorting order too was different as it placed reviews at the front. With a mature tone like Edge, but with the passion of Paul Davis era CV&G, Maximum was a truly great read with incredibly in-depth features. Its such a shame it never found its audience.
Issues owned: Several
Super Play had two elements that worked for me. Nintendo Gaming and Anime! Featuring the excellent artistic talents of Will Overton and more in-depth features on Japanese import gaming than any other magazine at the time. It had a unique look and tone. Helen McCarthy, founder of Anime UK and various other publications, was a regular contributor as well. My personal favourite cover featured Ryu from Breath of Fire and influenced my eventual purchasing of Breath of Fire 3 on Ps1 years later.
Issues Owned: Several
In a time when Nintendo went through its first dark period, N64 magazine was a breath of fresh air. The successor to Super Play, I personally was not into the official Nintendo Magazine (NMS) at the time as they had become a little bias and desperate for my tastes. N64 for the most part, were honest and passionate and incredibly funny. The many volatile reviews of games such as Superman 64 and Clayfighter were very enjoyable to read. On a more positive note seeing the first screenshots of Ocarina of Time and Perfect Dark were revelations. They also including guides to some of my favourite games on n64 such as Quake 2, Turok Rage Wars and Star Wars Episode 1: Pod Racer.
Many many over the years
How can you not mention Edge? The only magazine on this list to still be on the shelves with its integrity intact. Its original, unified tone, writer-influenced columns and articles and harsh rating system were really forward thinking at the time. The rating system in particular has become as coveted as Famitsu’s 40/40 system, with the small selection of games to receive perfect scores becoming famous for just that. Many magazines copied, including the majority of the officially licensed publications, but none have ever come close to the effective tone of Edge. Some would say it is far too corporate for its own good, and I would agree to some extent.
Honourable mentions:
SNES Force was only available for a few issues. I’m pretty sure I bought it because of some cover mounted cards, possibly Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat? However it featured the only competition I have ever entered and won!
My one claim to fame.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was a true victory, just look at the questions! I must say that I still have that Mario alarm clock sitting on my shelf fifteen years later!
Issues owned: None, but forever shall it live in my memory
Now here is a real guilty pleasure. It saddens me to know that Teletext has been forgotten forever, a poor man’s pre-internet and a relic of by-gone (analogue) technology. In an un-policed landscape, Paul Rose otherwise none by his Digi-moniker of Mr. Biffo, set out to write the worlds first daily games magazine purely for the sake of free games. Years later, with the development of surreal humour and characters, Digitiser had 1.5 million regular readers. Look out for a fully formed feature in the future.
All-Star Otaku! 
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