Sony Playstation - You wear it well!

20 Years on - The Playstation is still looking cool for a new merchandise review for www.numskull.co.uk 
NOW AVAILABLE using code: GYL - 5% off at www.funstock.co.uk

More great Playstation goodies were on the way from our friends at  www.numskull.co.uk and with Christmas just around the corner now we needed some inspiration for gamer friends and family - as well as ourselves here at GamesYouLoved.

More importantly now with the 20th Anniversary of the Playstation on the 3rd December 2014 this was seriously good timing too. It was time to celebrate this great gaming brand and what else did we need but some cool accessories when we were about to Party like it was 1994!

www.numskull.co.uk has some seriously cool goodies and from our time before with the wallet review we waited with eagerness as the parcel arrived. 

What we got.
Here on this review we're looking at the Sony Cufflinks range, Street Fighter socks by Capcom and Sony Sock range,  under the www.numskull.co.uk brand.

The range of gamerwear, clothing, gifts, merchandise and also Sony Official goodies www.numskull.co.uk now develop - goes further and wider than these items we've featured here too.

We'll be bringing alot more from www.numskull.co.uk Some goodies already available, plus new gaming merchandise concepts not even released over the coming months and weeks. 

www.numskull.co.uk specialises in creative, exciting concepts that it develops into products released to gamer fans the world over.

Gamers keep a look out for GYL news on this - which we'll be putting out via our social spaces on Facebook and Twitter, as well as this ongoing BLOG via www.gamesyouloved.com

Packaging
As before www.numskull.co.uk  have done an amazing production and design job in the quality of their outer packaging. As a gift this is really key as you want the item to not only to be well protected, but to look good too in presentation. The boxes are really nicely finished in a solid cufflink box with imagery from the official Sony Playstation branding.  The socks are nicely packed in plastic with care and they are wrapped with official imagery with an outer card holder - with both the Playstation and Street Fighter versions.

The cufflinks
Three cufflink styles were received. All in Sony Playstation design and styling. The quality of these are much better than you get in the high street for this price so as a set of cufflinks they are actually very good value. Aside from that they are totally geared for the gamer in your life or simply as a treat for yourself so the fact they are well built is an added bonus. Against a white shirt the black Playstation cufflinks look really smart. The silver links also look cool with a dark shirt and stand out without being too gimiky.

The designs are based on a PS1 PS2 and PS3 styling - no PS4 just yet - but who knows! Anyway for us retrogaming types these work just fine for us.

The socks

These are really cool - especially with Christmas on it's way there is nothing better than having a stylish pair of socks to go to parties, or put put on during xmas dinner with a bit of gaming afterwards. Both the Street Fighter socks and Playstation socks come in a pack of 3 and are made to a high quality on both occasions. 

For Street Fighter fans you can choose from the 3 designs in the pack depending on your mood. Select Ken, Ryu or Blanka - all 3 have a very bright colourful top to the sock and elegant black bottom. You'll stand out wearing these for all the right reasons! 

The Playstation Socks are equally memorable - with some very cool designs to them. These really evoke the style of the advertising and design of the original Playstation imagery. From the cool grey controller type, to colourful rainbow like playstation styling and the festive blue. These are socks to be seen in!

 
Watch out for more GamesYouloved Merchandise reviews from www.numskull.co.uk 

SONY MERCHANDISE  
NOW AVAILABLE using code: GYL - 5% off at www.funstock.co.uk

Also available from: 

www.yellowbulldog.co.uk

www.game.co.uk

X-wing and TIE Fighter Review

Review by Ben Spring / Twitter @aurumaethera

I was chasing a winged TIE fighter around the bulk of a disabled Imperial freighter, desperately trying to line it up in my sights, when inspiration struck. I let my grip on the joystick loosen a little, and manoeuvred underneath the fighter, switching to my upward view to keep it in sight. As it continued to evade me, I pulled back on the stick, right toward its belly. The TIE Fighter pulled up, and slammed into the body of the freighter above it, exploding into chunks. I was still grinning by the end of the mission. 

Sometimes, we play retro games not just for nostalgia, but because they weren’t afraid to push big, complex ideas, and refused to dumb themselves down to the lowest common denominator.

X-wing was one of those games. One of the first proper polygonal space sims, it was arguably the game that turned LucasArts from the king of point-and-click adventures into the undisputed champion of Star Wars games. With the ability to pilot three rebel craft in a huge variety of missions, with the B-Wing added in a later expansion, X-wing put gamers into the world of Star Wars more vividly than any game had managed in the past. 

It wasn’t just the quality of the game’s engine that shone through, it was the presentation. From the gloriously MIDI-fied John Williams score to the howl of passing TIE Fighters, every aspect of the Star Wars universe is captured perfectly. The cutscenes are reminiscent of Monkey Island with their rich bitmap graphics, though the voice-acting can be a little dodgy at times, but they do a great job of laying on the theme thick and fast. I won’t lie, the first time I beat the last TIE Fighter in a training mission and that familiar, triumphant music blared out of the speakers, I actually punched the air in victory. A game hasn’t made me look that dorky in quite a while.
The gameplay was big on features, and punishingly difficult. Your control over the craft was staggering, letting you adjust your engine power to reinforce shields or recharge lasers, or shift your shields forwards or aft with a single button press. You could match the speed of enemy fighters, shoot down incoming torpedoes, and order a squadron of wingmen to defend you or take out your targets. Elite had set the bar for space titles nearly ten years before, and Wing Commander was little more than two years old, but X-wing rejected the trade-and-explore motif of these popular titles in favour of pure, raw dogfighting. 

Missions were complex, and hard. Losing in some missions meant the permanent loss of your pilot, forcing you start your campaign over again. Happily, with expansions, there were five separate campaigns on offer, so you didn’t always have to crawl back through the missions you’d just beaten, but the game was still extremely tough. Get a TIE fighter in your sights, and it’ll weave and pitch like crazy, making it a hell of a challenge to land even the two shots needed to swat it out of the sky. Come up against a group of tougher TIE interceptors, and you’d better hope you’re a good shot. Try to take on a Corellian Corvette without taking advantage of its blind spots, and you’ll be slag in seconds. It’s rock-solid, but it’s awesome fun.

TIE fighter took the successes of its prequel and ran with them. Pilots could be backed up to prevent permadeath, the number of ships on offer was now huge, encompassing pretty much everything from the movies, and the god-awful  2D map of X-Wing had been replaced with a full 3D map so awesomely good I’m surprised more modern space sims don’t copy it. Mission briefings were bulked up considerably, helping to keep your goal clear and meaningful. The voice acting was of a notably higher quality than X-Wing had offered, and there was now plenty of it during missions, rather than simply between them.

X-Wing and TIE Fighter have more than just retro appeal, although they have that in spades. The gameplay here is still some of the best space combat out there, even after two decades. With titles like EVE Valkyrie, ELITE: Dangerous and Star Citizen seeking to reignite the gaming world’s love of space sims (Let’s not forget that the original ELITE was one of the first titles ever to make it onto British news broadcasts for its success), anyone who considers themselves a fan of Star Wars or the space sim genre in general should definitely pick up the remasters of these classic titles.  If I had to pick one or the other, I’d probably say TIE Fighter is more worth your money, but you’d be missing out on a hell of an opportunity if you never got to lock your s-foils in attack position and pray that the Force guides your proton torpedoes into that pesky enemy corvette.

Download the games from here:
www.gog.com/

GamesYouLoved at Play Expo 2014 - day one

Day one update - www.playexpo.net 

Manchester - 11th October 2014

Magic. Absolute bloody magic. Whether we’re talking atmosphere, cutting edge gaming or arcane retro technology, Play Expo has it all. The team at GamesYouLoved enjoyed today so much, we really had to give you an update tonight.

We had a great time even after a fairly disastrous beginning. After cramming in a quick breakfast with the Funstock team (full English, of course), we jammed a bunch of old school consoles and equipment into the car and headed off. Immediately upon reaching the venue however, our car window refused to close, the mechanism had broken! We hadn’t even set up yet, so picture those stress levels going through the roof. Suddenly we’re in hard mode; getting the stand put together while trying to get the AA on the phone!

Fortunately everything was fixed and good to go soon after the doors opened. What struck me about Play Expo was the amount of space given over to gaming itself, almost half the venue was dedicated to games already released for people to actually play rather than obsessing over new and upcoming releases. This idea of gaming in the present and of course, the past, instead of a fixation on future gaming really speaks to me, the expo certainly lives up to its title.

 

Loads of floorspace was filled with every game under the sun, many of which were multiplayer set ups, you felt like you could start a game with anyone. There were a couple of consoles I hadn’t even heard of before, I tried an FM Towns Marty for the first time, there goes my credibility eh?

There was still a strong presence from the new console generation though, the big three were out in force.

The real hype was radiating from the arcade section: an absolutely mindblowing collection of cabinets, shoot’em ups, racing games, all that good stuff set to free play so you could game as much as you want. Personally the chance to play some real shooters by CAVE on an actual arcade cab was just awesome. With all the score competitions going on there were opportunities for all that bedroom practice to be seen by fellow gamers who genuinely appreciate it too. I’ve got a score to settle with Typing of the Dead tomorrow, that’s for sure.

It was all about playing the games, but also the retro community that surrounds us all. Retro Joe, Tooty UK (Stuart), Rich King Retro, Cybersnake (Jason), Dave 'imagamegeek' to name but a few where there. The GamesYouLoved crew and these guys and others took time out to chat and do some mutual filming too. All in a days work for these massive retrogaming fans. Not only this but we hooked up with Sam (@MrSidC64) to chat about his Commodore book on the www.funstock.co.uk stand - where we fitted in a short interview of this and his new Amiga Kickstarter which begins Monday 13th October.

A little walk through the venue presented me with crazy cosplay karaoke competitions going on in one corner next to a casual Smash Bros tourney run by the Bristol boys who’d come up for the weekend. Alongside this Retro Collect had their many competitions on and kept the energy up all day - great job guys.

There were enough stands selling retro games, quality prints and other merchandise to make me believe my wallet had a mind of its own. There was even a bloke selling swords, but thankfully the cosplayers weren’t all armed to the teeth.

So the end of the day found me back on an arcade cab playing Progear, just dying to finish my credit (it was a good run!) while being asked repeatedly by security to finish up as it was closing time. Eventually I had to relent and abandon my plane to its fate. See you all tomorrow though yeah?

By Ben Cataldo

GamesYouLoved

JXD The Android Gaming Tablet

 

In this day and age we are all for collecting all the classic games and playing them on the original consoles with the original controllers.  That is the best way to play retro games, the nostalgia is there with the feel and the touch of the machines.

Pushing in a cartridge into the slot on the Sega Master System, pressing the power button on your Nintendo NES console or even pumping coins into an original arcade cab.  These are all the things we remember of gaming as kids and still love to do, but in the present day this is not always possible for everyone and we like to preserve our machines and games of old and keep them in good condition plus access a range of games at any one time.

But wait........our delivery from Funstock.co.uk landed. So without delay we opened it up to see an Android tablet ..." But wait ........this had analogue joysticks and a D-pad!  We now had in our hands the JXD S7800b !

So this is an Android tablet built for retrogames....we are quite impressed!  The console holds well in your hands and is light too.weighing only 500g! Your thumbs lay ontop of the joysticks just right and still leaves your fingers to be hitting the L1 and R1 buttons curved into the corners of the console!  The tablet has all the buttons you'd expect from modern handhelds and they are all positioned correctly which will suit most games and gamers!

It has Android OS so this tablet is easy to navigate with the D-Pad or even the touch screen (yes touch screen!!) The Google Play store app is supported so you can download your Gmail or any other Android apps that take your fancy, even the retro games which are available are easy to access.  So this being just like your Android  phone (without calls) you can also surf the internet with pure ease using WIFI

No beating around the bush, this is a very fancy multi emulator in a branded tablet - but JXD have done this very well.  As we all know downloading ROMS can be annoying but the JXD makes this simple.  The console comes pre-loaded with a cloud app that puts your games into genres and categories for you.  All you have to do is simply choose your game and press download! Its that easy.  The 8GB of storage gives you tons of space for games and if you want more for movies or such there is a memory card slot too. The JXD is pre set to play Megadrive, SNES, Famicom, Gameboy, DS,GBA, MAME, PS1, N64, Arcade and  better still the DREAMCAST!!! 

Of course you can download more emu's for other consoles and formats (if you know how to do that sort of thing) and we are told the JXD also supports Speccy, Amiga, 32x and Atari Jaguar!!

One of the best features of the JXD is the screen it comes in at a massive 7" and is bright, responsive and colourful which makes the games llok great! If you wish to have more definition you can plug this badboy into your HDMI on your TV and go Large!!!  The speakers sit either side of the console giving you good stereo sound.  There is a 2.0 megapixel camera on the back and also one on the front if you want to take selfies, there is also an excellent Key Mapping feature if you download Android games that use touch screen controls, but you do have the option to use these on all games....we don't!

Battery life is good, we have been playing Crazy Taxi most of the day and with its 5000mah battery you can play for quite a while!   There is not much else to say about the JXD you just haver to play it for yourself to experience it.  This is a great retro meets modern gaming console with added emu's to get you started. There are even a few bundled games on there to get you going!

Like any emulation system -it plays emulated games, this means sadly that not all games play perfectly or have sound, but this you'll experience across a number of systems anyway. The majority of roms across a range of systems worked. Some didn't so we moved onto the next game - easy.

Watch the Official Trailer below or visit Funstock.co.uk to snap up your console (don't forget to use the code GYL at checkout for 5% off!!!)

Putty Squad to get a physical Amiga release after 20 years!

Set to be used as special pledges in an upcoming Amiga book Kickstarter campaign, 100 physical replica copies of Putty Squad for the Amiga are set to be produced!

These 100 copies will come in authentic replica packaging on actual Amiga floppy disks. Bitmap Books have gained exclusive permission from System 3 to produce these copies of Putty Squad and will work with them closely to ensure that the final packaging is as near as possible to how Putty Squad would have looked if released in 1994.

50 of the 100 copies will be signed by the original Putty Squad development team.

Commodore Amiga: a visual commpendium
Commodore Amiga: a visual commpendium is Bitmap Books follow up to their hugely popular debut book; Commodore 64: a visual commpendium. Following on from the C64 book, the Amiga book will focus on the visual side of the computer featuring stunning pixel art, game maps and box art. It will also showcase the best software houses on the Amiga and is set to feature the Amiga demo scene.

The Kickstarter campaign starts on the 13^th October and runs for 30 days. So far, some really exciting contributors are lined up and Commodore Amiga: a visual commpendium is set to be Bitmap Books biggest project yet.

Sam Dyer of Bitmap Books says ‘Putty Squad remains the Amiga’s most famous unreleased game. To be able to take Galahad’s 2013 release and produce physical copies of the game is hugely exciting. Huge thanks to System 3 and Galahad for allowing this to happen.”

About Putty Squad
Putty Squad was developed by System 3 and the follow up to 1992’s insanely good Putty. Set to be released in 1994 but this famously never happened due to the twindling Amiga market, but a pretty much full game remained in the System 3 archives. Fast forward 20 years and thanks to English Amiga Board member Galahad, in 2013 a version was released as a Christmas gift on System 3's website as free digital download.

About Bitmap Books
A new publisher specialising in beautifully designed and produced books all about video games. Commodore Amiga: a visual commpendium is the second book by Bitmap Books.

www.bitmapbooks.co.uk

Follow on Twitter @mrsidc64

My top 5 movie licence games by Sam Dyer of Bitmap Books

Everyone loves a good movie licence game tie-in. 
Back in the day, all it took was a mildly popular film and before you knew it a game was released.  
Sam Dyer - Author. www.bitmapbooks.co.uk

Here are my top 5. 

5. Platoon (C64) 

Ah, an 18 rated film made into a video game for kids! Set in the Vietnam war, Platoon was an Oscar winning film directed by Oliver Stone starring Charlie Sheen. A classic war film that is full of violence, guns and death. Sounds like the perfect ingredients for a children's video game. The Commodore 64 version of Platoon was programmed by Zach Townsend and the awesome soundtrack was by Jonathan Dunn. The the actual game is a series of mini-games. The first is a platform shoot em up where you must find your way out of the jungle maze whilst killing enemies that come at you from all directions. Its really tough but great fun. The later levels then turn into a really impressive first person shooter style game. Platoon on the Commodore 64 offers great graphics, expert programming, plays really well and overall; does not feel rushed. Lost hours playing this pretending I was a war hero in the Vietnam jungle. Platoon was also released on Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, PC DOS and ZX Spectrum. All of which look like pretty decent versions.

4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (C64) 

If there was a fast buck to made and a game to be rushed, you know that US Gold would have to get in on the act. In 1989 they released Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on the back of this hit film which starred Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. Now I may be wearing my rose tinted spectacles, but I really like this game. Its a platformer that sees you control Indy and must go in search of the Holy Grail. The plot stays pretty faithful to the film and it sees you start in a series of caverns. You must make it to the surface in the pitch darkness but collected torches that enable you to see where to go. The torches burn down so you much grab another before it does. You can you your whip to kill enemies. Once you make it out of the caverns you must then make your way across a train roof. The game style changes slightly towards the end which adds variety. It plays great and is really good fun. So it it's not massive (4 levels), the sprites are poorly drawn and it feels a bit sluggish. The magazines didn't rate it either but for some reason it holds a special place in my gaming heart. I have not seen any other conversions but oddly, the Amiga version was an excellent point and click by LucasArts. Well worth checking out.

3. Robocop (C64 and Spectrum) 

Another ultra violent film made into a game for 9 year olds! Released in 1987, the film of Robocop saw cop Murphy brutally (almost) killed by a gang of criminals and is then brought back to life and turned into a robotic policeman. Robocop then embarks on his one man fight against crime. A great film and a real classic. Released in varying forms on pretty much every system known to man, it was the Commodore 64 version that I actually owned. The games also changed across each system too. The arcade version is a different game to the home 8-bits. The Spectrum, Amstrad and C64 versions have differences. The NES and Gameboy versions also differ. Now, in hindsight the Spectrum version of this is much much better but back in the day, the C64 is the version I played. Jonathan Dunn is responsible for the epic soundtrack. It stays pretty faithful to the film plot. It even mimics the rape scene in the second level where you have to shoot the bad guy whilst missing the woman. Overall the presentation is great. The sound, gameplay and graphics all felt polished and well thought out. The Commodore 64 version got played so much when I was younger, it had to included in this list. A really cool film and a really cool game to go with it. Robocop stayed top of the game charts for months and months and was a massive hit when released.

2. Batman the Movie (C64 and Spectrum) 

A member one of my family who is no longer with us brought me this for christmas 1990 so it's very nostalgic for me. I remember been really impressed with the striking box art and couldn't wait to give it a go. I have reviewed this game before and i'm sure everyone knows it well. As a whole package, I think its the best game on the C64. After recently seeing and playing the Spectrum version, this is also very very good if not better than the C64 version. From the box art to the music to the graphics to the gameplay, it really stands out as a game that pushed these systems to their limits. The most impressive part was that it followed the film plot almost exactly. Level by level it followed the film. This showed great attention to detail and real creativity. The Amiga version is also worth a shout out as it looks amazing. Batman games are still been produced to this day on modern systems which really shoes the strength of this movie franchise.

1. Goldeneye (N64)

As a massive bond fan, none of the Bond games that preceeded Goldeneye really did it for me. From the average View to a Kill to the awful The Spy who Loved me.They were ok but just not amazing. There was a gap in the market for a video game that actually was as good as the amazing films. So when Goldeneye came along in 1997 on the Nintendo 64 it blew me away. The only first person shooter id seen previously was Doom and Duke Nukem and Goldeneye was a massive step forward. The graphics were out of the world and the playability was so addictive. I was a little older when it was released so I would hang out with my mate, usually up to no good and spend hours and hours playing muliplayer battles. It featured characters from the film and also classic bond good and bad guys. Its a classic game that behind Mario 64, defined the N64 and helped sell them by the bucket load.

So that concludes my top 5 movie licence games. Do you agree or disagree with my list? 
Thanks, Sam 

PRE-ORDER Commodore 64: a visual Commpendium now:
http://www.funstock.co.uk/commodore-64-a-visual-commpendium-c64-book

View the Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2146199819/commodore-64-a-visual-commpendium-by-bitmap-books 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sam.dyer.54584 

Twitter: @mrsidc64

Commodore & Amiga - EXCLUSIVE

We caught up with Sam Dyer at the point of printing his new Commodore 64 book at the printing press to see what his views on the Kickstarter success are and to the future with his Amiga book

Q. now you are at the proof stage how real does this all feel to you now? 

Sam:

It still feels massively exciting and I can't wait to hold an actual book. I think it will be surreal to actually hold one as I've dreamt of doing for so long! But I've loved every minute of the campaign. From initial concept,  promotional stuff,  kickstarter and the actual design it has all been a blast! 

Q. seeing the proofs now are there any spreads / games in the books that really stand out for you? 

Sam:

My favourite spread had always been Total Recall. Stephen Ian Thomson's pixel art in that game is stunning. Too see his image of Cohaagans eyes popping out on Mars across a double page spread is a joy to behold! The game maps have also come out really well and the detail picked up by the print is fantastic.

Q. how do you as a designer feel about this being your own hard work that is coming to light - a reality now?

Sam:

It feels very odd to be honest! I've worked on the book every night for the last 6 months in some form or another and it really has been a labour of love! To answer your question,  it's a mixture of excitement (and relief!). But most of all I feel proud of what I have created. 

Q what would you like to say to the community out there who has supported you? 

Sam:

You are ALL amazing. I have been seriously touched by the support I've had from all corners of the retro gaming community. Everyone has been so kind and to be honest, none if it would have been possible without this support. I must also say a huge thank you to a few people that have given up their own time and have been giving me advice along the way. So huge thanks to everyone at GYL, Andy Roberts, Mat Allen,  James Monkman and Steve Jarratt.

Q what is it about the Commodore 64 book that made it your first gaming book to focus on? 

Sam:

It was my first computer as a child and the one I remember with the most fondest memories. Also I felt there was a gap in the market for a visual book on the C64. It hadn't been done before and that appealed to me massively. I also knew that the C64 had a very active scene so drumming up interest would have been easier than picking a niche computer with a limited fan base. And most importantly,  I'm a HUGE fan of pixel art and the C64 has some of the best ever (in my opinion!)

Q. what have you learnt managing the kickstarter - positive and negative - any tips? 

Sam:

Ive learnt LOADS. I made some mistakes but I've learnt from them. Starting a small publishing business and running a Kickstarter was a huge learning curve for me and I must give a huge thanks to Tim Nicholls here. Tim ran the hugely successful Artcade book campaign and he very kindly gave me lots of advice at the start. This advice gave me the confidence to 'go for it'. Cheers Tim!

As far as tips go... I would say: Before launching your Kickstarter, spend a couple of months, drumming up interest,  join relevant forums, gaining a following on social media and produce a promo video. That way, when launched, you will already have done a lot of hard work around promotion and getting the word out there. People will not find you,  you have to find them. Get your numbers right! Do all the maths before you begin and set your total. Take into consideration all outgoings and TAX etc... by getting your numbers right, it means you won't have to stress about this side of things and can concentrate on enjoying the campaign.

Don't rest once funded! The C64 book was funded after only 1 week and it is natural to maybe take your foot off the gas and think 'Ive done it!'. It was at this point I had some fantastic advice from a friend that I should push on and make the campaign even bigger and better. "Don't stop now" he said. "Release some exciting stretch goals, more pledges and keep pushing the campaign 100%". Im so glad I took this advice as it really gave me that final push to make it as successful as it was.

Q give us some juicy gossip about the forthcoming Amiga book you have planned?

Sam:

OK! The Amiga book will be next book in the Commpendium series. It will follow the same style as the C64 book book and will act as a kind of big brother (or sister) to it. As far as gossip goes,  I have been working behind the scenes with Matt Wilsher on ways to make the Amiga campaign even bigger and better then the C64 one. 

All I will say is that we will be resurrecting a famous unreleased game as a physical product. Printed box, instructions and actual floppies. That is all I can say at the moment, all will be revealed soon!

To order the C64 book go here: http://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/
To follow Sam on twitter to find out more about the C64 book and hear the latest on the Amiga book go here: https://twitter.com/MrSidC64

When Retrogaming meets modern technology

The retro-bit Super Retro Trio arrived in the post this morning. Sick of the delays with the RetroN5, I cancelled my preorder at the weekend after the word got out that the console would not be reaching the UK before September and found this alternative in stock at funstock.co.uk at the very tempting price of £69.99 a full £50 cheaper than its competitor.

The cheaper price tag, however does mean less in the way of features. No save states or built-in cheat systems, no HDMI output. I wasn't interested in the former, and I can live with AV/S-video through my SCART connector. So what do you get for your money? Here's what the official blurb says:

Supports NES/SNES/MEGADRIVE/GENESIS

Compatible with original and third party controllers

Includes 2 controllers

AV / S-Video connectors

AC Adapter

PAL / NTSC / PF / NJ Region Switch

What you get is quite a nice looking console, it feels a bit light and cheap but hey – it was cheap! I have the silver and black model, there is also a red and black version. The top of the unit sports 3 cartridge slots from the back coming forward – NES, SNES and Megadrive/Genesis, in front of these are a reset switch and a power/slot selection switch.

On the front a push releases the cover for the controller ports, here you can plug in original controllers 2xNES, 2xSNES and 2xMegadrive/Genesis. The 2 included controllers plug into the 9 pin Megadrive ports but are shaped like SNES controllers just to keep you on your toes! ;)

The bundled controllers are actually very decent and for that reason will probably see a fair amount of use, the buttons and d-pad give a very similar feel to those on my original controllers. Also behind this front cover is a selector switch for the controllers in use and a region switch for Megadrive/Genesis games for those with region protection. As mentioned there is a cover/door so you can unplug your controllers and close it up to keep things looking all neat and tidy when not in use.

Finally round back there are the DC in socket, S-video and A/V ports. The provided power adaptor has a US plug but does not require a step down converter and an UK adapter was provided for me.

My TV had some issues with the video signal through the A/V (this is not exclusive to the SR3 – I've had this issue in the past) so I use a cheap A/V+S-Video to SCART adapter and it works fine for me.

Now, the big question – compatibility! I don't have a huge pile of carts to test especially on the Nintendo side of things so here's what I have tried all work unless otherwise specified.

Megadrive:

M6 cart (Sega Soccer, Columns, Super Monaco GP, Revenge of Shinobi, Sonic, Streets of Rage) so far played Sonic, Revenge of Shinobi and Super Monaco GP

World Class Leaderboard

T2 The Arcade Game

Golden Axe

Streetfighter 2 Special Champion Edition

Genesis:

Lemmings

NES:

Track and Field 2 (PAL version)

SNES:

PGA Tour Golf (PAL)

Starwing (PAL) 

That's all I've tested on it so far I'm afraid, I need to acquire some more NES and SNES games to try out but it seems to be fine with every Megadrive game I've thrown at it. There is also a Super Retro Advance Adapter (sold seperately) that allows you to play GBA games as well.

In conclusion I'd say it's really good value for what you pay, it looks nice and doesn't look out of place under the TV, the controllers are decent, it might not have all those fancy features or HDMI but it is available now and cheap enough  to be worth a shot.

You can buy your own RetroTrio console here at Funstock.co.uk

Thank you too Jamie Gunn (@highlandboarder) for his time and review!