Free Fusion Retro Books About Old Skool Gaming

Fusion Retro books have put a number of books and magazine PDFs up on the site for FREE for a period of time on their website. I bought Let’s Go Dizzy: The Story of the Oliver Twins a while ago and thought it was great.

Lot’s of great retro video gaming books are available for free from the Fusion Retro website.

Lot’s of great retro video gaming books are available for free from the Fusion Retro website.

In my original review of Let’s Go Dizzy: The Story of the Oliver Twins, I wrote:

Over 232 pages, Chris Wilkins, discusses their childhood, early interest in coding and rise to video game super stardom. The book is heavy in interviews and quotes from the twins themselves and so isn't just anecdotal but actually from the mouth of the twins. There are a large amount of photos from the time which help to provide context and the screenshots help to break up the large amount of text. Of all the sections, I found their evolution from the micro computers to the 8 and 16 bit era especially interesting as they discuss the Nintendo vs Code Masters Game Genie lawsuit and why certain Dizzy games weren't released on the platforms. The book is honest and covers the highs and the lows of their careers and for anyone interested in the life and works of the pioneering Oliver Twins, this is a must read.

LINK- 1HMPS Oliver Twins Podcast

LINK- Cambridge Museum for Computing History

LINK- An English Geek in Saudi

LINK- Streets of Rage 2 on Vinyl Review

LINK- Manga Exhibition at the British Museum

LINK: Japan: My Journey to the East

LINK- Battle Angel Alita: And So It Ends

LINK- The Moomins 80's Soundtrack Vinyl Review

Mystery World Dizzy Cartridge Arrives

I am a HUGE Dizzy fan and have spoken about my love for the series many times before (including meeting the creators the Oliver Twins and getting my swag signed). So when the Kickstarter for a NES working cartridge copy of an unreleased Dizzy game came up I funded that quickly. Now nearly half a year later my cartridge has arrived and I love it. I hope to play it soon but for the moment it's sitting on my pile of shame.

Wonderful Dizzy Reveal for Spectrum Next

A new Dizzy game by the Oliver Twins for the Spectrum Next has been announced. With the title Wonderful Dizzy the game is to be set in the world of Oz. These are early days but with the Spectrum Next sailing past its Kickstarter goal the wave of nostalgia might be just what the Dizzy franchise needs. I look forward to seeing how the new game works out!

Player Two- An Emotional Short Animation About Brothers Gaming

Gaming has been a huge part of my life. Some of my fondest and earliest memories are to do with playing and seeing video games, and usually right there beside me was my brother. I remember vividly going to a friends house with my brother and playing the ZX Spectrum and my mind being blown by Super Robin Hood and Dizzy. As time moved on we got a Sega Master System and a Megadrive. The game that really bonded us was Target Renegade on the Amstrad CPC 464. We had been working through that for months but always kept on dying near the end, then one summers day, with my best friend and my brother's best friends around we finally completed the game. We went crazy at the time and even now I remember it vividly, us jumping for joy around the monochromatic green screen in my brothers bedroom.

Time has moved on and we've both got family and kids. I look back fondly at those days of yore and there is a tinge of sadness at the passing of time. This film by Zachary Antell captures that is a short 4 minute rotoscoped animation. In his own words:

Player Two is a short animation that explores the relationship that develops between two brothers of differing age growing up, and how video games foster that bond.

Do yourself a favour and watch it!

Wonderland Dizzy

I'm a huge fan of the Oliver Twins, creators of the classic gaming character Dizzy. I got to meet my childhood gaming heroes last year at the Cambridge Museum of Gaming History and they were wonderful enough to sign my retro Dizzy swag. Well last week they were going back to the Museum to make an announcement, unfortunately prior engagements means that I was unable to go but what followed blew my mind- there is a new old Dizzy game! I'll let the Twins explain themselves the story of their re-discovery in the video below:

Wonderland Dizzy is an old game which was planned for the NES but was never released. The game is available free to play through the link below. For old skool fans like me this is amazing news, especially after the Kickstarter for a new Dizzy game failed to meet its targets. Well, onwards and upwards with classic Dizzy!

Play the Dizzy Games In-browser Now

Now it's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Dizzy, the puzzle solving egg. Last year I was lucky enough to meet the Oliver Twins and get my games signed by them (the article is linked below). Now some amazing individual has released the ZX Spectrum version of all the games on a website, the bonus is that they can all be played in-browser. No worries about emulation and downloading. How cool is that! My first port of call will be Spellbound Dizzy as I never had a chance to play the game on my Amstrad CPC 464 as I could never find the thing in shops. Now time to relive some old memories of Dizzy!

I'm excited to be finally playing Spellbound Dizzy!