Author: Christian Donlan
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The making of The Making of Karateka
At the end of October, Digital Eclipse, the team behind the wonderful documentary game, The Making of Karateka – and the gorgeous Atari 50 collection – announced it was being acquired by Atari. Just before that happened, we had a chat with Chris Kohler, Digital Eclipse’s editorial director, and Mike Mika, the company’s president, about…
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A look at Miyamoto’s weird gem Devil World
I’ve always been fascinated by Devil World, a game that Shigeru Miyamoto made for the Famicom back in the early 1980s. It was, I gather, his first game made exclusively for a console. Devil World’s a spin on Pac-Man, but one that never made it to the West because it used a lot of…
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Game of the Week: The return to Loot Lake
This week, a lot of people around the world have been rediscovering an old love. I’ve never really left Fortnite behind, but the game’s original island has been out of reach for a couple of seasons now. Suddenly it’s back and it’s been fascinating to return to it – and fascinating to watch everyone…
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Jusant review – soaring design and skyscraping climbs
A gorgeous fantasy journey enlivened by some thrilling rock-climbing. Oh yes. It was the bit in the movie where you leap from one spar of a broken bridge to another, and try to avoid thinking of the drop beneath you. I buckled up. I checked the carabiner. I decided to trust the line. I…
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Game of the Week: celebrating the ragged energy of the MGS Digital Graphic Novels
The closest we got to a game review this week isn’t particularly close. The first three Metal Gear Solid games are available in a new collection, and while we don’t think they’ve been handled particularly brilliantly, I am still very happy to have them on Switch. In between all sorts of bits and pieces…
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I’m glad to have the MGS games on Switch, but Konami needs to take better care of its heritage
I can still remember the first time I met Snake. I was at university, and the person in the next room from mine had a PS1. I remember seeing loads of legendary games for the first time sitting on their couch as their PS1 sat upside down – it was one of those…
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The game that lets you imagine a city
Since he was about seven years old, Mark Vanhoenacker has liked to imagine his own city. “Its location changes occasionally, as does its name. But no matter where I draw it or what I call it, it’s the same city to me.” Vanhoenacker is a British Airways pilot, and the author of two…
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The day of landing: why video games and islands belong together
Is there a more beautiful word than island? Actually, switch to Latin and it’s even better: insula. It’s hard not to get reflective about a word like that, hard not to even get a little moony. Join me for a sweet second or two! Islands, a kind of cherished space out in the world…
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Game of the Week: The Wonderful influence of Super Mario 3
I was about halfway through Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which is our game of the week, when I realised that Mario looked particularly familiar. Mario always looks familiar of course – it’s Mario! The hat, the dungarees, the moustache. But something about this Mario really reminded me of a specific Mario I’d seen before.…
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Super Mario Bros. Wonder review – kaleidoscopic platforming with ideas to spare
An endless cascade of ideas in a game that takes Mario to some wonderfully strange places. I’ve been playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder for about a week now, and my head is full of it. What’s more – and slightly less convenient – is that my house is full of it too. I’ll play…