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10/08/2025

1992 was a powerhouse year for video games — home consoles were booming, arcades were thriving, and developers were pushing pixels to their absolute limits. ...

29/07/2025

Christopher O’Regan and Dean Swain chat to Henrique Olifiers and Chris Hill about the amazingly successful 3rd Kickstarter campaign of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum Next and a whole lot more! Please note that the video version of this episode is currently being uploaded to our YouTube channel and will be available soon:

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/retroasylum/RA_356_ZX_Spectrum_Next_3rd_KIckstarter.mp3

28/07/2025

25/07/2025

All your base are belong to us!

Week 4 of Retro Asylum's Toaplan high score challenge is upon us. This week we're playing Zero Wing on the arcade.

Piloting the advanced ZIG space fighter, players step into the boots of Trent, a fearless ace pilot tasked with humanity’s final stand against the ruthless alien space pirate syndicate known as CATS. In a desperate bid to reclaim the stars, Trent must navigate treacherous battlefields, outmaneuver relentless enemy squadrons, and dismantle CATS from within before their stranglehold on the galaxy becomes absolute.

Hop on over to Retro Asylum's Discord and join in. Someone really needs to knock Donny and Rich off their perch!!!

24/07/2025

I was asked if I can help draw a background for a Miles Morales tattoo. I'm not sure if this is any good for a tattoo but I definitely had a blast drawing it.

I had to redraw Miles, which luckily was ripped from the Internet and I just went to town on a city scape.

Might not be any good for a tattoo but it certainly made a lovely picture

21/07/2025

Once again I'm playing the high score challenge in the Retro Asylum Discord. This time it's an arcade game called Get Star in Japan or Guardian for the rest of the world.

Released in 1986 by Toaplan in the Arcades, Get Star is a 2d auto scrolling beat em up in which you must battle your way across 6 levels, defeating multitude of enemies and boss characters.

Honestly this game is terrible but still holds a certain charm that just pulled me back in for one more go. The auto scrolling aspect is weird, you can halt your guy by crouching but ultimately you must move forward to take out the approaching enemies.

At times this offers a decent game of footsies, reminiscent to street fighter and other fighting games, trying your best to whiff punish without being clocked by a random kick to the face.

Luckily you can power up your dude to eventually fire laser beams and have flaming fists which altogether helps one hit most minions.

The bosses however.....they're tricky at first but once you figure out the little trick to beat them you're golden.

Get Star is one of those arcade games that leaves you feeling that you can one credit it, it lures you in with it's easy to casual start and then spits you out with its cheap attack priorities.

It's not a master peace but it's certainly fun.

Oh and I drew some artwork instead of playing because I didn't really get on with it 🤣