@Naryan I bought my A500 Mini last Friday — which I think was its UK release date of 8th April — and it even came with a t-shirt displaying multi-coloured floppy disks as a GAME exclusive bundle.
While I already had the Load 231 issue of Retro Gamer with The A500 Mini cover feature, I went to WHSmith in Liverpool to look for Wireframe, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Issue 11 of Amiga Addict on sale there.
It was slightly surreal, but in a cool way to see an Amiga magazine on the shelves again after all these years, so I bought multiple copies to support the magazine, and to share it with my friends from the 16-bit era.
Issue 11 of Amiga Addict reviews The A500 Mini and has it on its cover, and it also has a number of features called 'On Screen' — with highlights for me being a review of the horizontal shoot-'em-up Apidya, the second part of a Cinemaware feature, and an article called 'Six of the Best with Cam Winstanley' (an ex-editor of Amiga Power who chooses his top six Amiga games).
Like you mentioned, buying Amiga Addict magazine has really added to the vibe of my excitement about The A500 Mini.
I've been hoping that there would be a review of The A500 Mini here, because I really enjoy reading Nintendo Life's hardware reviews of mini consoles and mini cabinets, so a mini computer feature fits right in with the fantastic variety of NLife's retro coverage. Great stuff, Damo!
It's a shame that other controllers like the one with the PlayStation Classic caused the UI to glitch, but I'm pleased to hear that I'll be able to use my C64 Mini's joystick for convenient access to two player games.
I feel similar to Damo when he says that, "we'd argue that what's included here is as solid a selection of games as you could possibly hope for."
The A500 Mini's list of titles is a decent reflection of a number of games I experienced with my Amiga back in the day, and it definitely includes strong highlights from the Amiga's library.
I bought my A500 Mini last Friday, but I'm going to save playing it until the Easter weekend for a longer session as a treat, because a tiny Amiga with 25 games is much better than chocolate to me!
The design of each of Analogue Interactive's wooden MVS consoles is wonderfully plush, I would find it really hard to choose which one to buy if I had saved up £415 ($649).
On the one hand, the darker tone of the Ash reminds me more of a Neo Geo AES, but on the other I love the grain showing through the wood in the Walnut version.
I think that their slimmed down casing looks great and both of the Arcade Sticks look class.
I think that it is brilliant that Nlife are "one of the first sites on the face of the planet to get our hands on this wonder machine – in fact, in our clammy palms we currently have the only available example in the world."
That's incredible in its own right, this is such a lush bit of kit, I also like the way in which @Damo puts the cost of this wooden Neo Geo MVS into perspective by noting that it works out as an investment for a retro gamer.
I'm loving the depth of these multi-page Nlife articles too, guys. Great work!
@Mayhem This comment is a bit out of context, but it was cool to see that you were involved with Retro Gamer's recent 'Collector's Guide' on the Commodore 64, Mat. I read the Q&A about your collection in Issue 89, too.
Wow! Just wow! I am a big fan of retro gaming magazines and the depth of this feature is completely mint. My top two favourite retro mags of all time are Mean Machines and Super Play, I have every issue of Mean Machines, but I still need nine more issues of Super Play to complete my collection. I have Issues 1 to 36, with the first twelve issues in a black Super Play specific binder, plus I also have Super Play Gold and Issues 38 and 42.
The value of this article is sky-high to me, because its quotes from Matt Bielby, James Leach and Wil Overton bring a perspective from the original team, raising points that a retro mag fan would not have access to before. For example, anyone who has read Super Play will remember that it was hugely influenced by Japanese culture and dedicated to JRPGs, but I did not know that part of this passion came from Jason Brookes and that it was influenced by a wide variety of different Japanese magazines, too. It is also really cool to learn the origins of the distinctive ‘blob’ and kanji script on the logo, plus Wil Overton’s anecdote about the Ganbare Goemon 2 import review is great as well.
There is so much in here that is spot-on, Wil’s cover art was a huge factor in making the look of the mag so distinctive and it is worth reflecting that Super Play was written with a sense of humour, the rumour section ‘Blabbermouth with Kris and Tel’ used to crack me up. Their dedication to Japanese imports was an important element of the magazine, which is why I consider the ‘What Cart?’ A-Z database of games which ran until Issue 25 to be of huge value. As a result of details like this it is important that the work of folk like @meppi and the team at Out-of-Print Archive preserve the coverage in these magazines, there is a lot of knowledge and information of historical gaming value in these pages.
It is no secret that I also love the work that @Damo and @Dazza have put into The Mean Machines Archive, for the exact same reason that it is historically important that these brilliant retro gaming magazines are archived and preserved. I am glad that @Kirk brought CVG, Mean Machines and MAXIMUM into the conversation on this comments board.
If @madgear has any more questions about Super Play it will be a pleasure for me to flick through my mags to help, but @GoldenAncona is spot-on, TMNT: Tournament Fighters was reviewed in Super Play Issue 15 (Jan 1994) on pg.54 by James Leach and was awarded 90%. Mickey’s Magical Quest was reviewed exactly one year before in Issue 3 (Jan 1993) on pg.36, it was given 89% by Jason Brookes. Both Issue 3 and Issue 15 were the Christmas issues of the magazine.
I love looking at pictures of the 'Wooden Neo Geo MVS', it makes me see SNK's wonder-machine from a different Viewpoint and as far as I am concerned all of the Top Hunter retro enthusiasts who buy this machine should be considered World Heroes.
@Corbs Perhaps it has wooden chips too ...plus you're Neo Geo set-up is completely and utterly awesome. I am massively jealous. Fair play!
No two ways about it, this is an item of pure retro beauty. $649/ £399 is out of my price range at the moment, but I would love to own a CMVS, and by investing in this I would have a retro collector's piece with a design that would not age.
Comments 8
Re: Review: A500 Mini - A Refreshing Alternative To The NES And SNES Classic Editions
@Naryan I bought my A500 Mini last Friday — which I think was its UK release date of 8th April — and it even came with a t-shirt displaying multi-coloured floppy disks as a GAME exclusive bundle.
While I already had the Load 231 issue of Retro Gamer with The A500 Mini cover feature, I went to WHSmith in Liverpool to look for Wireframe, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Issue 11 of Amiga Addict on sale there.
It was slightly surreal, but in a cool way to see an Amiga magazine on the shelves again after all these years, so I bought multiple copies to support the magazine, and to share it with my friends from the 16-bit era.
Issue 11 of Amiga Addict reviews The A500 Mini and has it on its cover, and it also has a number of features called 'On Screen' — with highlights for me being a review of the horizontal shoot-'em-up Apidya, the second part of a Cinemaware feature, and an article called 'Six of the Best with Cam Winstanley' (an ex-editor of Amiga Power who chooses his top six Amiga games).
Like you mentioned, buying Amiga Addict magazine has really added to the vibe of my excitement about The A500 Mini.
Re: Review: A500 Mini - A Refreshing Alternative To The NES And SNES Classic Editions
I've been hoping that there would be a review of The A500 Mini here, because I really enjoy reading Nintendo Life's hardware reviews of mini consoles and mini cabinets, so a mini computer feature fits right in with the fantastic variety of NLife's retro coverage. Great stuff, Damo!
It's a shame that other controllers like the one with the PlayStation Classic caused the UI to glitch, but I'm pleased to hear that I'll be able to use my C64 Mini's joystick for convenient access to two player games.
I feel similar to Damo when he says that, "we'd argue that what's included here is as solid a selection of games as you could possibly hope for."
The A500 Mini's list of titles is a decent reflection of a number of games I experienced with my Amiga back in the day, and it definitely includes strong highlights from the Amiga's library.
I bought my A500 Mini last Friday, but I'm going to save playing it until the Easter weekend for a longer session as a treat, because a tiny Amiga with 25 games is much better than chocolate to me!
Re: Neo Geo CMVS Gets Ebony Wood
The design of each of Analogue Interactive's wooden MVS consoles is wonderfully plush, I would find it really hard to choose which one to buy if I had saved up £415 ($649).
On the one hand, the darker tone of the Ash reminds me more of a Neo Geo AES, but on the other I love the grain showing through the wood in the Walnut version.
I think that their slimmed down casing looks great and both of the Arcade Sticks look class.
This is retro elegance, right here.
Re: Hands On: Analogue Interactive's Wooden Neo Geo MVS
I think that it is brilliant that Nlife are "one of the first sites on the face of the planet to get our hands on this wonder machine – in fact, in our clammy palms we currently have the only available example in the world."
That's incredible in its own right, this is such a lush bit of kit, I also like the way in which @Damo puts the cost of this wooden Neo Geo MVS into perspective by noting that it works out as an investment for a retro gamer.
I'm loving the depth of these multi-page Nlife articles too, guys.
Great work!
Re: Feature: The Making of Super Play Magazine
@Mayhem This comment is a bit out of context, but it was cool to see that you were involved with Retro Gamer's recent 'Collector's Guide' on the Commodore 64, Mat. I read the Q&A about your collection in Issue 89, too.
Nice one!
Re: Feature: The Making of Super Play Magazine
Wow! Just wow! I am a big fan of retro gaming magazines and the depth of this feature is completely mint. My top two favourite retro mags of all time are Mean Machines and Super Play, I have every issue of Mean Machines, but I still need nine more issues of Super Play to complete my collection. I have Issues 1 to 36, with the first twelve issues in a black Super Play specific binder, plus I also have Super Play Gold and Issues 38 and 42.
The value of this article is sky-high to me, because its quotes from Matt Bielby, James Leach and Wil Overton bring a perspective from the original team, raising points that a retro mag fan would not have access to before. For example, anyone who has read Super Play will remember that it was hugely influenced by Japanese culture and dedicated to JRPGs, but I did not know that part of this passion came from Jason Brookes and that it was influenced by a wide variety of different Japanese magazines, too. It is also really cool to learn the origins of the distinctive ‘blob’ and kanji script on the logo, plus Wil Overton’s anecdote about the Ganbare Goemon 2 import review is great as well.
There is so much in here that is spot-on, Wil’s cover art was a huge factor in making the look of the mag so distinctive and it is worth reflecting that Super Play was written with a sense of humour, the rumour section ‘Blabbermouth with Kris and Tel’ used to crack me up. Their dedication to Japanese imports was an important element of the magazine, which is why I consider the ‘What Cart?’ A-Z database of games which ran until Issue 25 to be of huge value. As a result of details like this it is important that the work of folk like @meppi and the team at Out-of-Print Archive preserve the coverage in these magazines, there is a lot of knowledge and information of historical gaming value in these pages.
It is no secret that I also love the work that @Damo and @Dazza have put into The Mean Machines Archive, for the exact same reason that it is historically important that these brilliant retro gaming magazines are archived and preserved. I am glad that @Kirk brought CVG, Mean Machines and MAXIMUM into the conversation on this comments board.
If @madgear has any more questions about Super Play it will be a pleasure for me to flick through my mags to help, but @GoldenAncona is spot-on, TMNT: Tournament Fighters was reviewed in Super Play Issue 15 (Jan 1994) on pg.54 by James Leach and was awarded 90%. Mickey’s Magical Quest was reviewed exactly one year before in Issue 3 (Jan 1993) on pg.36, it was given 89% by Jason Brookes. Both Issue 3 and Issue 15 were the Christmas issues of the magazine.
Re: Carved with Love - Introducing the Wooden Neo Geo MVS
I love looking at pictures of the 'Wooden Neo Geo MVS', it makes me see SNK's wonder-machine from a different Viewpoint and as far as I am concerned all of the Top Hunter retro enthusiasts who buy this machine should be considered World Heroes.
@Corbs Perhaps it has wooden chips too ...plus you're Neo Geo set-up is completely and utterly awesome. I am massively jealous. Fair play!
Re: Carved with Love - Introducing the Wooden Neo Geo MVS
No two ways about it, this is an item of pure retro beauty. $649/ £399 is out of my price range at the moment, but I would love to own a CMVS, and by investing in this I would have a retro collector's piece with a design that would not age.
Gor-gee-oous!