God bless you, PSN.

[The Curmudgeon]

Let me take you back to a time, before the internet (yes, there was really a time), when video games came in big chunky plastic boxes and consoles were measured in Bits. 16, to be exact. It was a simpler time.. some may say a better time.

Anyway, one of my all time favourite games was Wonderboy in Monster World, a gorgeous (for the time), 2D platform/RPG adventure. I loved it. I remember obsessing over details of a final sequel to the series that was only ever available in Japan. I even considered buying it and just struggling through with the dialogue. It would have cost about £50.

Many years later, and by complete accident, I discover by browsing through the titles available on the PSN, the very game I had been looking for but never bought. Available for the first time in the UK. Fully translated. For £4.

It's this..



So you know the drill; cutesy poo graphics, treasure chests, monsters, "the legend says" type stories and it looks even better than the last game.



So there we have it. A game from 1994 I never thought I'd ever play is now mine, alongside updated extra's like trophies and online leaderboards, for £4. Over the moon am I.

[trashcanman]

Niiiiiiice. I king of love that nostalgia is taking over gaming a little bit. I've never even heard of that game, but I've been reading more and more about obscure and unreleased games like that surfacing on the internet and other places. In my mind, the 16-bit era was the best era of gaming and the fact that people are still so enthusiastic about it proves it.

[The Curmudgeon]

I would LOVE for some company, somewhere, to bring out a platform for all these retro gems that are just forgotten otherwise and release them for download on a console with the same treatment this game has been given (it even lets you look at the original instruction manual). I'm sick of seeing Retro Game collections and seeing the same fucking games all the time (how many times have the Sonic games been released?) Where are obscure gems like "Rolo to the Rescue" or "Chiki Chiki Boys?"

[trashcanman]

Well, Valve is supposedly working on a "Steam Box" console that will be all downloads all the time without the hassle of building a gaming PC. In order for that model to be successful, I imagine we'll see them tap A LOT of nostalgia wells with cheap downloads of old-school titles both popular and obscure. No official word yet, but that's a big part of how I see that project coming to fruition. Cross them fingers.