Retro XP
@retroxp.bsky.social
Reposted by Retro XP
Namco, through its home-console arm, Namcot, released the sliding block puzzle game Megapanel on the Mega Drive in 1990. It includes a whole bunch of pin-up art to reveal, explaining the bunny girl on the box art, but you need to be wired for 15 puzzle (and patience) to unlock any of them.
It's new to me: Megapanel
A Japan-exclusive Mega Drive game from Namco, featuring sliding puzzles, strategy, and pin-ups.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
December 29, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Namco, through its home-console arm, Namcot, released the sliding block puzzle game Megapanel on the Mega Drive in 1990. It includes a whole bunch of pin-up art to reveal, explaining the bunny girl on the box art, but you need to be wired for 15 puzzle (and patience) to unlock any of them.
Namco, through its home-console arm, Namcot, released the sliding block puzzle game Megapanel on the Mega Drive in 1990. It includes a whole bunch of pin-up art to reveal, explaining the bunny girl on the box art, but you need to be wired for 15 puzzle (and patience) to unlock any of them.
It's new to me: Megapanel
A Japan-exclusive Mega Drive game from Namco, featuring sliding puzzles, strategy, and pin-ups.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
December 29, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Namco, through its home-console arm, Namcot, released the sliding block puzzle game Megapanel on the Mega Drive in 1990. It includes a whole bunch of pin-up art to reveal, explaining the bunny girl on the box art, but you need to be wired for 15 puzzle (and patience) to unlock any of them.
In 1983, Irem used their arcade sensibilities to design a football game where every first down was the difference between winning and losing even more so than in actual football. And it's a hook that still works over four decades later.
XP Arcade: 10-Yard Fight
One of the first football game released in arcades, as well as the first on the NES, took a very games-oriented approach to the gridiron.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:13 PM
In 1983, Irem used their arcade sensibilities to design a football game where every first down was the difference between winning and losing even more so than in actual football. And it's a hook that still works over four decades later.
Kid Icarus sometimes plays like it has no interest in your success, and that's because it doesn't. You have to take that initiative on your own, to concern yourself with what's needed in order to progress, and it's that refusal to budge on what it is that makes it so intriguing nearly 40 years later
Retro spotlight: Kid Icarus
Kid Icarus is a good game, so long as you can stomach failure.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Kid Icarus sometimes plays like it has no interest in your success, and that's because it doesn't. You have to take that initiative on your own, to concern yourself with what's needed in order to progress, and it's that refusal to budge on what it is that makes it so intriguing nearly 40 years later
An angled side-view! Dribbling! Stealing the ball! A computer opponent that simply did not miss! This game had... well, not everything. But Atari's Basketball had the most to that point.
Atari's Basketball is not the first basketball video game ever, but this 1978 Atari VCS release is the first to start to feel like a proper adaptation of the sport. Saying "you could dribble!" might sound prehistoric, but remember, '78 is also when Space Invaders hit. History has to start somewhere.
It's new to me: Basketball (Atari 2600)
Atari turned its eyes toward basketball in 1978, and truly launched the sport in video game form.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:59 PM
An angled side-view! Dribbling! Stealing the ball! A computer opponent that simply did not miss! This game had... well, not everything. But Atari's Basketball had the most to that point.
But it should have. It really should have.
In 1995, multiple video game magazines discussed a game that was less than halfway finished, shown off at that year's JAMMA show. That was Vic Viper: Battle Racing, a Gradius spin-off in the vein of F-Zero and Wipeout featuring Gradius vehicles and, you guessed it, battle racing. It never released.
Retro spotlight: Vic Viper: Battle Racing
Konami spun Gradius out into other genres, but in the mid-90s, they nearly went somewhere they should still really go.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:50 PM
But it should have. It really should have.
You're never going to believe this, but Konami switched and blended genres for Ganbare Goemon 3. It's an action-adventure game now. With mechs! And time travel! And Yae turns into a mermaid!
Re-release this: Ganbare Goemon 3: Shishi Jūrokubē's Mechanical Manji Hold
The third Mystical Ninja game on the Super Famicom goes in a different direction. Again.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:01 PM
You're never going to believe this, but Konami switched and blended genres for Ganbare Goemon 3. It's an action-adventure game now. With mechs! And time travel! And Yae turns into a mermaid!
Happy 25th to Sin and Punishment, a killer collaboration between Treasure and Nintendo. Play it with the controller it was designed around, and your mind will be blown.
Ranking the top 101 Nintendo games: No. 28, Sin and Punishment
Sin and Punishment was meant to make up for the paucity of a specific kind of game in the N64's library, and it ended up being one of the absolute best titles on the console.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Happy 25th to Sin and Punishment, a killer collaboration between Treasure and Nintendo. Play it with the controller it was designed around, and your mind will be blown.
Bonk's Adventure on the Game Boy is not a port of the Turbografx-16 game called Bonk's Adventure, but Hudson Soft loved to be intentionally confusing with this stuff when publishing outside of Japan. If you're open to the smaller portable worlds of normally console platformers, you'll dig Bonk.
Re-release this: Bonk's Adventure (GB)
A portable Bonk with the same name as a different, non-portable Bonk.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Bonk's Adventure on the Game Boy is not a port of the Turbografx-16 game called Bonk's Adventure, but Hudson Soft loved to be intentionally confusing with this stuff when publishing outside of Japan. If you're open to the smaller portable worlds of normally console platformers, you'll dig Bonk.
Mega Man games on the Game Boy are, more often than not, Not Good. Mega Man IV, though? That's a solid video game right there. It's not the best Mega Man you'll play, but you might even enjoy yourself while getting through it, which was novel for this portable subseries at the time.
It's new to me: Mega Man IV
It took a few tries, but Capcom finally released a Game Boy Mega Man game that is good without any asterisks.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Mega Man games on the Game Boy are, more often than not, Not Good. Mega Man IV, though? That's a solid video game right there. It's not the best Mega Man you'll play, but you might even enjoy yourself while getting through it, which was novel for this portable subseries at the time.
Atari made a number of innovations in the 70s, and they all led to one place. Well, lots of places, sure, but also the one being highlighted here: Super Sprint.
XP Arcade: Super Sprint
A mid-80s refresh of an original Atari concept, one that persists into the present.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Atari made a number of innovations in the 70s, and they all led to one place. Well, lots of places, sure, but also the one being highlighted here: Super Sprint.
Reposted by Retro XP
It's Halloween, so, let's share some fitting games. Dead Rising is loaded with zombies and was well ahead of its time.
Retro spotlight: Dead Rising
The first Dead Rising was one of Capcom's initial truly next-gen HD offerings, and, not to make you feel too old or anything, but that was 18 years ago.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:23 PM
It's Halloween, so, let's share some fitting games. Dead Rising is loaded with zombies and was well ahead of its time.
World Series Baseball arrived at a time when arcade-style baseball games were the norm, with exaggerated animations and sound effects, where realism was optional and often ignored. Sega's effort here changed the game in more ways than one.
Retro spotlight: World Series Baseball
The game that changed everything for baseball video games, on multiple levels.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:06 PM
World Series Baseball arrived at a time when arcade-style baseball games were the norm, with exaggerated animations and sound effects, where realism was optional and often ignored. Sega's effort here changed the game in more ways than one.
Reposted by Retro XP
Gradius: The Interstellar Assault is a from-the-ground-up Gradius game for the Game Boy, one where Konami decided to show off in a bunch of ways with graphical and level transitions that make it stand out on the platform all these decades later.
Retro spotlight: Gradius: The Interstellar Assault
Unlike Gradius' first Game Boy outing, there is a whole new game here.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Gradius: The Interstellar Assault is a from-the-ground-up Gradius game for the Game Boy, one where Konami decided to show off in a bunch of ways with graphical and level transitions that make it stand out on the platform all these decades later.
Gradius: The Interstellar Assault is a from-the-ground-up Gradius game for the Game Boy, one where Konami decided to show off in a bunch of ways with graphical and level transitions that make it stand out on the platform all these decades later.
Retro spotlight: Gradius: The Interstellar Assault
Unlike Gradius' first Game Boy outing, there is a whole new game here.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Gradius: The Interstellar Assault is a from-the-ground-up Gradius game for the Game Boy, one where Konami decided to show off in a bunch of ways with graphical and level transitions that make it stand out on the platform all these decades later.
Reposted by Retro XP
Klonoa: Empire of Dreams wasn't the first portable Klonoa, but it was the first worldwide release of a portable game in the series. And it's a great one, too, a puzzle-platforming-oriented game that adds layers of complexity as it goes, without straying from the series' two-button approachability.
It's new to me: Klonoa: Empire of Dreams
Portable Klonoa made its international debut on the Game Boy Advance.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
October 17, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Klonoa: Empire of Dreams wasn't the first portable Klonoa, but it was the first worldwide release of a portable game in the series. And it's a great one, too, a puzzle-platforming-oriented game that adds layers of complexity as it goes, without straying from the series' two-button approachability.
Namco's Game Boy Advance title, Klonoa: Empire of Dreams, was recently added to Nintendo Switch Online, and if you've never played, well, here's why you should get around to doing so.
It's new to me: Klonoa: Empire of Dreams
Portable Klonoa made its international debut on the Game Boy Advance.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
October 17, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Namco's Game Boy Advance title, Klonoa: Empire of Dreams, was recently added to Nintendo Switch Online, and if you've never played, well, here's why you should get around to doing so.
G.Rev's Mamorukun Curse! is back in the present, in a much wider release in more ways than one, with Mamorukun ReCurse! Between the various modes, soundtracks, widescreen and twin-stick support, this is the definitive edition of a niche shoot 'em up that deserves your attention.
Past meets present: Mamorukun ReCurse!
Another G.Rev shooter gets a (very welcome) modern update and re-release.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
October 13, 2025 at 11:49 AM
G.Rev's Mamorukun Curse! is back in the present, in a much wider release in more ways than one, with Mamorukun ReCurse! Between the various modes, soundtracks, widescreen and twin-stick support, this is the definitive edition of a niche shoot 'em up that deserves your attention.
Kicking off a new column at Retro XP, where a guest author — in this month's case,
@kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com
— pops in to say hello and write about a game they want to share with you. First up, the 3D Sonic game on the Sega Saturn that we *did* get, even if it wasn't what was expected.
@kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com
— pops in to say hello and write about a game they want to share with you. First up, the 3D Sonic game on the Sega Saturn that we *did* get, even if it wasn't what was expected.
Guest Feature: Sonic R
Super Sonic racing... on foot!
retroxp.beehiiv.com
October 6, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Kicking off a new column at Retro XP, where a guest author — in this month's case,
@kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com
— pops in to say hello and write about a game they want to share with you. First up, the 3D Sonic game on the Sega Saturn that we *did* get, even if it wasn't what was expected.
@kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com
— pops in to say hello and write about a game they want to share with you. First up, the 3D Sonic game on the Sega Saturn that we *did* get, even if it wasn't what was expected.
Reposted by Retro XP
Capping off my month of Playstation 30th anniversary coverage with R4: Ridge Racer Type 4. It's the last of the series released on the original Playstation, the console that was as successful out of the gate as it was because Namco brought Ridge Racer to the launch party in the first place.
30 years of the Playstation: R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
Ridge Racer bids farewell to the Playstation it helped to launch with one of its all-time greats.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
September 29, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Capping off my month of Playstation 30th anniversary coverage with R4: Ridge Racer Type 4. It's the last of the series released on the original Playstation, the console that was as successful out of the gate as it was because Namco brought Ridge Racer to the launch party in the first place.
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 pulled together elements of everything Namco had been doing with Ridge Racer games to that point, showed off fantastic handling and visual style, added a fleshed out grand prix story mode, and dropped an all-timer soundtrack on top of it all. One of the Playstation's greats.
30 years of the Playstation: R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
Ridge Racer bids farewell to the Playstation it helped to launch with one of its all-time greats.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
September 29, 2025 at 12:07 PM
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 pulled together elements of everything Namco had been doing with Ridge Racer games to that point, showed off fantastic handling and visual style, added a fleshed out grand prix story mode, and dropped an all-timer soundtrack on top of it all. One of the Playstation's greats.
Namco Museum, like the Playstation itself, celebrates 30 years this year. And the series was never better than on the console it got its start on, thanks to Namco actually leaning on the "museum" concept as more than something to put in the title.
30 years of the Playstation: Namco Museum
The start of a vital trend, and Namco has arguably never done it better than on the Playstation.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
September 26, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Namco Museum, like the Playstation itself, celebrates 30 years this year. And the series was never better than on the console it got its start on, thanks to Namco actually leaning on the "museum" concept as more than something to put in the title.
The DS and Wii entry in the Geometry Wars series, Galaxies, deserves your attention (and a modern release, too).
Retro spotlight: Geometry Wars: Galaxies
The Wii and DS got their own Geometry Wars entries back in 2007, which to this day remain the only Nintendo system releases in the franchise.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
September 23, 2025 at 11:56 AM
The DS and Wii entry in the Geometry Wars series, Galaxies, deserves your attention (and a modern release, too).
Reposted by Retro XP
I just want all of you to play Baroque, a true all-timer
30 years of the Sega Saturn: Baroque
Baroque is a horror-themed roguelike dungeon-crawler, and its finest form was stuck on the Sega Saturn in Japan for decades.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
September 18, 2025 at 11:55 AM
I just want all of you to play Baroque, a true all-timer