Decker's Delight Links (26.Jun.07)

Yes, it's been less than a month, but Decker's Delight Links are back way sooner than expected, though definitely not sooner than promised. Now, turn on the A/C, drink a lemonade, jack into cyberspace and enjoy some of the web's best bits (with a strong retro flavour)...

Richard Cobbet, the man with the (excellent) journal, has gone out of his way to remind us just how powerful a weapon humor can be, especially against the puny forces of ignorance, bigotry, fascism and sheer bad taste. Manhunt 2: UK edition is his take on the Manhunt 2 censorship issue.

NFG Games, being the detached & esteemed game historians they apparently are, have come up with some lavishly illustrated Sonic: A sprite history and Castlevania: Another sprite history feature articles instead. Ah, the sheer beauty of 2D pixel art...

And speaking of historians let us not forget their more commodified version: collectors. They'll be glad to know that Game Set Watch has gone all Retro Treasures loving (well, almost) and published an exhaustive SEGA Genesis collector's guide, covering everything from the original MegaDrive, to the fabled Neptune, to the unappreciated Sega CD.

Reporting from the pure gaming retro gaming front, racketboy (with the help of marurun) has compiled the fantastic TurboGrafx-16 101: The Beginner's Guide finally shedding some light on a console I haven't even touched.

Now, keeping with the retro theme of this DDL installment and searching around the mainstream sites, I noticed GameSpot presenting the truly excellent Unsung Heroes: Groundbreaking Games from Computer History. It's a feature article on the forefathers of Civilization, The Sims, the FPS sniper rifle and the inspiration behind some wildly successful contemporary games.

Oh, and as Independent Gaming wisely noticed, the latest issue (that, would be no.2) of the RGCD discmag, the essential discmag for retro gamers, is finally available for download right here. Its 170MB of game files, dozens of reviews and 6 wholesome features are something you must absolutely see for yourselves.

Failing that, do pay Bits Bytes Pixels Sprites a visit and drool over the fantastic Adventure II for the Atari 5200, the homebrew sequel to the classic Atari 2600 Adventure that just (weeeell...) got released.

ZX Spectrum lovers, or more precisely people who wish they had loved an 8-bit Speccy when it was young and perky, should be thrilled to know that the mysterious individuals behind the HEXUS.gaming personas have prepared a feature on the games of the ZX Spectrum just for them. Ok, us too.


Hotter than a hot thing Quick Links:

• Take a peak (right from the gutter) at the ultra hardcore nostalgia inducing Etrian Odyssey Nintendo DS CRPG.
• Dungeons & Dragons: Calibrating your expectations
• Desktop Tower Defense gets an upgrade.
• X-Men Children of the Atom Saturn retro review.
• Pr0n? No, porn for leprechauns!
• The Nanaca Crash silly & free web game.
• Roll dice, kick ass and know that the M44 expanded nationality rules are available for download!