Retro - Timeline
Monday29th Jan 2024
Soapbox This Is Why Physical Games Are Still Important to Me
Material guy
I’ve got a confession to make: most of my PS5 and PS4 library is digital these days. I understand why the industry is increasingly transitioning away from physical media, and I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t address that right from the off. However, I still purchase plenty of cartridges and discs, and I believe boxed games still...
Thursday5th Oct 2023
News Iconic NES Platformer A Boy and His Blob Scoffs Magical Beans on PS5, PS4 This Month
Bean there, done that
After the obvious outings, like Super Mario Bros 3 and Kirby’s Adventure, the one NES game this author remembers most vividly is A Boy and His Blob. Famously designed by Pitfall programmer David Crane, the release sees you employing magical beans to transform the eponymous blob into all sorts of useful utilities, suc
Monday3rd Apr 2023
Random This YouTube Account Has Gone Viral for Unsealing Old PlayStation Games
Unwrapped
OpenGame, a new YouTube account which is blowing up at the moment, owes a lot of its success to the TheRelaxingEnd. The formula is very similar: a pair of gloved hands unseals old games with a fancy knife, but the account’s focus on entire franchises appears to be pleasing Google’s algorithm. Take, for example, this video on every...
Tuesday21st Mar 2023
Review Ridge Racer Type 4 (PS1) - The Pinnacle of PS1 Ridge Racer Games
I want to be R4-ever young
Republished on Saturday, 18th March, 2023: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of March 2023's PS Plus line up. The original text follows. Push Square has pondered the infancy of 3D console graphics during the 32-bit era, and reflected that the ageing process was not always...
Thursday16th Mar 2023
News PS Plus Premium Subs Treated to a Trio of Retro Treats Next Week
Emulated action
There’s no doubt about it: PS Plus has improved dramatically across all three tiers this year. Sony revealed the full lineup of games for PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium subscribers earlier, with members of the latter getting treated to a trio of tasty retro releases –
Thursday2nd Mar 2023
Review The Legend of Dragoon (PS1) - A Flawed But Charismatic Classic
The legend lives on
For many, the PS1 was defined by the global recognition of Japanese role-playing games. Final Fantasy VII obviously led the charge in this regard, but it was flanked by now legendary properties like Breath of Fire, Wild Arms, and Suikoden. It's easy to see the impact that the JRPG boom had on the gaming landscape of the late 90s...
Saturday18th Feb 2023
News Dude! Bill & Ted's Excellent Retro Collection Is Out on PS5, PS4 Now
Not bogus
We’re getting a lot of retro compilations on PS5 and PS4 right now, but Bill & Ted’s Excellent Retro Collection may be one of the weirder ones. Featuring LJN’s critically maligned Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure – originally released in 1991 on the NES – and its Game Boy counterpart, the home console version...
Saturday14th Jan 2023
Mini Review Ridge Racer 2 (PSP) - A Greatest Hits Album for Arcade Racing Royalty
Now that's what I call drifting
The original release of PSP's Ridge Racer 2 could be criticised for being almost exactly the same game as its predecessor, only with a few more tracks and modes. However, that doesn't really matter today, especially now it's one of the rare Ridge Racer titles playable on modern consoles. With its one blemish now moot,...
Tuesday27th Dec 2022
Soapbox More Publishers, Including PlayStation, Should Celebrate Their Catalogues Like Atari 50
Rose tinted glasses
I’ve always enjoyed retro games, but I don’t think I ever considered myself a Retro Gamer™ until this year. At just 34-years-old, I’m certainly not old – but I am getting older, and I’m beginning to appreciate how this shapes my perspective. For example, I was around for the entirety of the PS1 era – I even attended...
Wednesday21st Dec 2022
Mini Review Pinball Heroes (PSP) - First-Party PlayStation Time Capsule in Pinball Form
Ball saver
Pinball Heroes feels like a strange snapshot of time, and we mean that in the best possible way. Originally released for the PSP in 2009 as eight digitally downloadable tables, it launched just prior to PlayStation rediscovering its mojo. The context is key here: the PS3 was getting its butt stomped by the Xbox 360, and PS Studios was...
Thursday15th Dec 2022
News Obscure PS1 Deep Sea Diving Game B.L.U.E. Legend of Water Now Patched to Play in English
Befriend a dolphin in archaeology adventure
Fans of underwater adventures like Aquanaut’s Holiday and Endless Ocean may be interested in learning more about Hudson Soft’s obscure PS1 deep sea diving game B.L.U.E. Legend of Water, which has now received a full English fan translation patch courtesy of Hilltop. The game, originally released in...
Monday10th Oct 2022
News These Could Be All the Atari Anniversary Collection Games on PS5, PS4
There's a lot
One of the neat things about owning a PS5 or PS4 these days is that you can legitimately build a fairly large compilation of great retro games, as publishers have been pretty proactive porting old favourites in recent years. One upcoming collection that’s on our radar is Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration, which will include more...
Tuesday9th Aug 2022
Random Can Sony Topple SEGA and Nintendo? Classic BBC Report Investigates
It'll never catch on
If you’re not subscribed to BBC Archives on YouTube, we recommend you do so. The broadcaster is unearthing oodles of classic news reports, many of which pertain to home computing. It’s really fascinating seeing common contemporary technologies, like email and the Internet, presented as ground-breaking in these old television...
Saturday30th Jul 2022
News Time Extension! Meet Our New Website for Reflective, Retro-Ish Gaming
A site this good takes AGES
We’re all about the next big thing here at Push Square. Whether it’s exciting sequels like God of War Ragnarok, promising new hardware platforms like PSVR2, or even entirely new services like PS Stars – there’s so much to look forward to, it’s rare we ever get the time to look back. That’s where
Monday11th Jul 2022
Review Syphon Filter (PS1) - Espionage and Intrigue Abounds in This Scruffy Cinematic Shooter
Gabe over
Game developers were still figuring out 3D controls when Syphon Filter released in 1999. Bend Studio, then known as Eidetic, were bruised by the critical reception to 1996’s PS1 platformer Bubsy 3D – and wanted to create something truly groundbreaking. Ultimately, both Metal Gear Solid and GoldenEye 007 deployed during the super-spy...
News Play Sony's Long-Lost PS1 Point-and-Click Survival Aconcagua in English at Last
Descenders
Aconcagua, a forgotten PS1 point-and-click game developed and published by Sony, launched in 2000 in Japan. The politically charged title saw you controlling a journalist in a fictional reimagining of Argentina’s Mendoza province, and tasked you with helping a group of survivors descend a mountain after a terrorist attack...
Review Ape Escape (PS1) - Monkeying Around in 3D Platforming Pioneer Is Still a Blast
You're good
Video games went through a super exciting period in the late 90s. The introduction of a third dimension, championed by the PS1, presented a broad new challenge for designers. How can you comfortably control a character in 3D? It's widely recognised that Super Mario 64 pretty much nailed it first try, but there are other games from that...
Wednesday6th Jul 2022
Review Hot Shots Tennis (PS2) - Bare Bones and Bettered By Its PSP Successor
You cannot be serious
Having taken control of the Hot Shot Golf franchise from Camelot in 1999, developer Clap Hanz proceeded to create five different instalments in the series – six, in fact, if you include the Japan exclusive Hot Shots Golf Online, which was used as a means to help flog the PS2’s Network Adapter domestically. Thus, in 2006,...
Tuesday5th Jul 2022
Review Hot Shots Golf (PS1) - Utterly Iconic Arcade Golf
Our cup of tee
Japanese studio Clap Hanz may be the developer best associated with the Hot Shots Golf series, which is also known as Everybody’s Golf in Europe. However, it was Camelot Software Planning that teed off the original entry on PS1 back in 1997. That team – having helmed the Shining Force series for SEGA throughout early 90s under the...
Tuesday28th Jun 2022
Review Wild Arms (PS1) - Distinctly 90s JRPG Still Sparks the Spirit of Adventure
A man and his rat walk into a ruin
Wild Arms is a classic Japanese RPG — a PS1 release from when the console was at the height of its popularity. Unfortunately, at least here in the West, Wild Arms was overshadowed by a little game called Final Fantasy VII, and the property — which would go on to spawn four somewhat divisive sequels and a couple...
Saturday25th Jun 2022
Review Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (PS1) - Dark, Bizarre, and Packed with Personality
Slimy, yet satisfying
Republished on Sunday, 25th June, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee's inclusion in All PS Plus Games. The original text follows. Originally published on Tuesday, 6th November, 2018: True to its name, Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee is one of the oddest games ever created, with...
Thursday23rd Jun 2022
Review Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PS1) - Iconic Survival Horror
Jill sandwich, please, petrified with mixed herbs
Republished on Thursday, 23rd June, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following Resident Evil: Director's Cut's inclusion in All PS Plus Games. The original text follows. Originally published on Sunday, 25th November, 2018: Spencer Mansion, set deep in Raccoon Forest, looming...
Mini Review Tekken 2 (PS1) - Broken and Awkward, But Still a Classic Fighter
Tekken it to the next level
The original Tekken was Namco's first attempt at a 3D fighting game, and boy did it show. There was undeniable potential at the 1995 title's core, but the game as a whole was incredibly raw, both on a visual and mechanical level. It wasn't until Tekken 2 that the now record-breaking franchise would find its footing. The...
Wednesday22nd Jun 2022
Review Jumping Flash! (PS1) - Unique 90s Platforming from a First-Person Perspective
Buy it, don't Robbit
Republished on Wednesday, 22nd June, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following Jumping Flash!'s inclusion in All PS Plus Games. The original text follows. Originally published on Sunday, 4th November, 2018: The 16-bit console wars were merciless. During the early concept stage of the PlayStation...
Review Intelligent Qube (PS1) - An Iconic PS1 Puzzler
Blockstar
Republished on Wednesday, 22nd June, 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following Intelligent Qube's inclusion in All PS Plus Games. The original text follows. Originally published on Monday, 3rd December, 2018: You run around on a floating platform in the middle of a void, swallowing cubes into the ground one-by-one...
Monday4th Jan 2021
Random The 25-Year-Old PS1 Demo Disc Cheat You Never Knew About
Total WipEout
Picture the scene: it’s January 1996 – an eye-rolling 25-years ago – and you’re gawking at the non-interactive WipEout demo included with the first copy of The Official PlayStation Magazine. The so-called “rolling demo” technically wasn’t playable – but what if we told you there actually was a way to commandeer those...
Tuesday19th May 2020
Review Mafia II - Stunning Period Setting Undone Only by Restrictive Open World
Godfatherly love
Republished on Tuesday, 19th May, 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of Mafia II: Definitive Edition. The original text follows. Protagonist Vito Scaletta is a typical mobster: he's a criminal, a low-life, and a murderer -- but you can't help but fall in love with him. Despite being...
Tuesday7th Jan 2020
Random Royal Mail Celebrates British Video Games with Awesome Retro Stamp Collection
Pixelated postage
If you're a lover of both retro video games and postage stamps, then we have some good news for you. The UK's Royal Mail has just announced a new collection of stamps featuring various titles from the 80s and 90s developed right here in Blighty, and it's honestly pretty cool. This special run of stamps includes games such as...
Wednesday4th Dec 2019
News PSone's Iconic Startup Sound Was Designed to Detect if the Console Could Read Your Disc
The more you know
PSone’s iconic startup sound is arguably one of the most recognisable audio sequences in all of games, but did you know it was designed specifically to detect issues with the console’s CD drive? “The function of this sound is to tell the user that the hardware is running like it is supposed to, and that the disc has...
Tuesday26th Nov 2019
"It was the dog’s bollocks"
The original 32-bit PlayStation was a game-changer, but Sony's follow up was even more successful, eventually selling over 155 million units worldwide. Powered by "The Emotion Engine" CPU – developed and manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment and Toshiba – the PS2 is officially the most successful video games...
