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Next year sees the return of one of our childhood favourites, jumping from our old school games consoles into the big screen, as Sonic the Hedgehog takes centre stage in his first ever movie. To celebrate in the lead up to Sonic’s UK release (on Valentine’s Day, 14th February 2020), we’ve been reminiscing over our favourite retro games, and why they’re even better now than they were back then.
Despite advances in new high-tech gaming platforms, such as VR or AR experiences, it seems we’re turning back the clock and prefer playing our childhood classics. Not only are they much more affordable than the leading consoles, but they’re in fashion too! In fact, many cool creative workspaces are no longer complete without a classic games console, like a PS1 or Sega Mega Drive, at the centre of their office (we’re still working on that one at PFR).
What’s even more appealing is the nostalgia that comes with playing these arcade classics – it’s partly what makes Netflix series Stranger Things or TV game show Crystal Maze such a big part of pop culture. It brings it all back a simpler time for many of us – a time without the pitfalls of social media, smartphones or dating apps. It’s no wonder it feels great to take a trip back down memory lane! So without further ado, here’s our favourite retro games that you can still play today…
It’s the game that’s responsible for creating our favourite Italian plumber. Donkey Kong was an arcade classic that was originally made by a young Japanese designer, after the president of Japan failed to crack the US himself. It’s safe to safe Donkey Kong certainly cracked America, and much more – the rest is history! Original Arcade Donkey Kong was re-released last year on Nintendo Switch, which caused a huge stir in the gaming community, as until then it was illegal to buy or sell an arcade-perfect version of the game.
Well if it isn’t our favourite Italian plumber himself – Mario’s career was launched after the success of Donkey Kong, and he hasn’t left our consoles since. While the game itself hasn’t changed much at all, the player experience has taken on a more realistic gameplay, thanks to the use of sensor technology using the Wii steering wheel. We’re still a big fan of playing it on an old-school SNES console though – nothing beats getting thumb cramp after too many hours of playing!
It was the only phone game that really mattered back then, so you may be glad to hear that Snake made a comeback, after Nokia decided to relaunch it as “Snake Rewind” in 2015. With new brightly-coloured snakes and Arcade-style bonus points, we can’t say it has quite the same look or feel as playing it on a Nokia 3310 – after all, the clunky buttons are what made playing the game so much more fun! The game looks great though, and it comes with lots more features, so it’s definitely worth a play. As Nicholas Cage once said, “Every great story seems to begin with a snake”.
Sega doesn’t get the spotlight so much these days, but back in the nineties, it used to be a big player. Sega was responsible for some of our favourite retro games, including Streets of Rage and of course our personal favourite, Sonic the Hedgehog. You can still find Sega Mega Drive consoles and Sonic the Hedgehog for a very reasonable price online – what a great Valentine’s gift for a partner who is excited to see Sonic’s new movie next year! We wonder how many couples will be trading in their romantic evening for a trip to see Sonic the Hedgehog…
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