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30 YEAR OF SUPER MARIO BROS. • HOW ONE SER IES HAS SET THE BA R FOR PLATFORMING ACTION

The Real Mario Brothers • GAMES™ SITS DOWN WITH THE CREATIVE TEAM THAT HAS WORKED ON SUPER MARIO BROS. FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS, SHIGERU MIYAMOTO AND TAKASHI TEZUKA

MARIO’S MOST UNLIKELY APPEARANCES • The plumber has stretched himself beyond the typical releases over the years

10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SUPER MARIO BROS.

TOM KALINSKE • Call him the underdog but when Tom Kalinske became president and CEO of Sega of America, he was determined not to play second fiddle for too long

GAME BOY • Nintendo’s Game Boy may not have been the first handheld console, but it was the first to dominate the industry. Here we investigate its most essential releases

THE CODER • What was the Game Boy like to code for compared to 8-bit micros?

THE COLLECTOR • Mathew Boyle loves Nintendo’s handheld

MYST • Developed by a sibling duo – Robyn and Rand Miller – Myst was one of the first games to popularise the CD-ROM and succeeded in setting up the nonviolent adventure genre, too. We explore the inception and creation of the game, and the impact it had on the industry…

8 GAMES THAT OWE THEIR EXISTENCE TO MYST • MYST WAS A TRAILBLAZER FOR A PLETHORA OF GAMES TO FOLLOW, SOME OBVIOUS AND SOME NOT-SO-OBVIOUS. FEW NON-VIOLENT GAMES WOULD EXIST WITHOUT MYST. HERE’S OUR COLLECTION OF GAMES INSPIRED BY THAT 1993 MASTERPIECE…

MDK • Is it Mission: Deliver Kindness? Murder Death Kill? Max, Dr. Hawkins and Kurt? Or Massive Dollops of Ketchup? Whatever the meaning of MDK, it’s a fast, beautiful and novel Nineties shooter. games™ spoke to two men behind its creation

IMAGINE SOFTWARE • games™ looks back at every game from one of the most infamous software labels of the Eighties. How many of the following did you play?

REMEMBERING A LEGEND • Jim Bagley pays tribute to one of Imagine’s best coders

BRUCE EVERISS INTERVIEW • One of Imagine’s key staff looks back

THE COLLECTOR • Mark R Jones on collecting Imagine games

ROGUE • Still actively played, ported and enhanced, Rogue has stood the test of time and has even leant its name to an entire genre. games™ takes a comprehensive look at one of the most quietly influential games of all time…

A CHRONOLOGY OF 12 NOTABLE ROGUELIKES • FROM ‘PURE’ EXAMPLES THAT HOLD TO THE BERLIN INTERPRETATION TO HYBRID FORMS OF THE GAME THAT DEVIATE FROM THE RULESET, HERE ARE SOME OF THE KEY GAMES IN THE HISTORY OF THE ROGUELIKE GENRE

ICEWIND DACE • There’s a place… the spine of the world. Cold, desolate and unforgiving, it is the setting for a tale of epic deeds and tragic history. games™ shall tell you of such a tale – welcome, weary traveller, to the legend of Icewind Dale…

MUMMY ISSUES • Chris Avellone explains how one small change caused the whole team several big headaches

TO INFINITY… AND BEYOND • All about BioWare’s popular game engine

JAS AUSTIN • From an Easter-themed BASIC game to the iOS version of a classic strategy game, Jas Austin has seen it all, and more. gamesTM caught up with the industry veteran at his home in sunny Portsmouth

SHENMUE • One of Sega’s most influential games, Shenmue was a ground-breaking force in the open-world genre, and represented the height of Sega’s creative prowess. Known for its spectacular budget and feats of engineering, Shenmue changed the gaming world. We examine just how it managed to do so…

8 OTHER GAMES WITH UTTERLY MENIAL JOBS • ONE BIG ASPECT OF SHENMUE’S GAMEPLAY WAS INDULGING YOURSELF IN MENIAL JOBS. THIS SET OFF A TREND THAT’S BEEN KEPT ALIVE AND WELL UNTIL THIS VERY DAY. HERE ARE OUR EIGHT FAVOURITE...