Back again for my regular Sunday roundup of quick-fire reviews and impressions of everything under the spotlight at Retro Arcadia this week, old and new and a bit of both. First though, I went to the cinema to see the new Return to Silent Hill movie, and it’s as dreadful as you think, and I loved it! Of course, with its source material, Silent Hill 2, one of my top five favourite games ever, I knew exactly what I was in for, and, together with my vast horror film library, I reckon that makes me more than qualified to enjoy the exact flavour of cinematic disaster it serves up… Untouchable, maybe. So bad it’s good, obviously. And I’ve definitely seen worse! Oh yeah, I bought the novelisation too! Right, onto games, and once again, I’ve only got a couple for you, but they’re good ‘uns! 

I first played Capcom’s pioneering World War II shooter, 1942, on a ferry to Ireland not long after its 1984 arcade release, and it was love at first sight! Not much has changed since either, with it getting all the way to number three in my far more recent Top Ten Favourite Vertically-Scrolling Shoot ‘Em Ups countdown! The 1986 Spectrum version was everything I hoped for at the time, with that unique loop-the-loop dodge mechanic as mesmerising as I remembered, and although the environments had been toned-down a lot by practical necessity (at least until a little way in), it did little to harm the feeling of absolute vulnerability in the middle of nowhere, and all those power-ups and huge boss planes like we’d never seen before were right where they were supposed to be! Hard as nails too, with its Battle of Midway-era Pacific Theatre setting (which would feature more directly in its erroneously-set 1943 sequel) serving up wave after wave of historically accurate Japanese air forces to shoot down en-route to Tokyo thirty-two stages later! Some fantastic attention to detail in the various animations here as well, with a hint of pseudo-3D in regular flight allowing for some lovely authentic wing-tipping, turning and rolling. Cool, colour-clashing explosions too, but thankfully missing some of the strangely shrill accompaniments that came out of the arcade cabinet’s speakers! Whatever the version though, 1942 has always been simple, undiluted fun over everything else, all about getting a bit further for the highest possible score, and that’s all this port ever needed to offer, which it does and a lot more besides. I’ve also done a deep-dive on this one if you fancy a bit more, and if I remember rightly, there’s even a photo of me on that very ferry in there too!

There’s a certain inevitability about me playing Batman: Arkham Asylum, and that’s playing the sequel the second I’m done! Yes, as correctly but unsurprisingly predicted here last week, I’m now well into Batman: Arkham City, which I got on PlayStation 3 when it originally released in 2011, but am playing this time on Xbox Series X via backwards compatibility on the more recent Return to Arkham collection, which I picked up in a sale a while back… Because I’m a sucker for these games anywhere! For better or worse, this is much more of the same of the superhero that is its predecessor, with your third-person action, swooping, gliding, combat, stealth, puzzling, detective work and all the coolest gadgets now let loose across the vast, gothic, urban sprawl of Arkham City in its entirety. And once again, it’s a joy! I said last week that I prefer the general focus of Asylum, and however many times I play, that will likely always be the case, but simply getting around this place once things get going is just incredible! To this day, I don’t think there are many more meticulously designed open-worlds, and the polish and attention to detail on display are still absolutely breathtaking, but for all the stuff going on everywhere you look (and hear), the whole thing is also seemingly built for exhilaration above all else!

That said, I’m not massively keen on the Catwoman bits – she’s just not as free-flowing as Batman. Speaking of which, the combat is still second to none, equal parts fluid and intuitive, however powered-up you happen to be, and by the time you’re done, that’s quite a lot! There’s also so many more unlockables, collectibles and bonus content to discover, and tons of side missions and side-narratives involving even more familiar faces that can pretty much run alongside the whole of the main one all at once… Which reminds me, this time out, we’re eighteen months on from the first game, when Arkham Asylum’s director has become mayor of Gotham City and turned its less salubrious districts into a vast prison called Arkham City. The head of that, Hugo Strange, then turns out to be behind most of the chaos that ensues, with the likes of The Joker, Penguin and Mr Freeze getting involved along the way. More or less! Again, I prefer the relative focus of Asylum in this aspect too but it’s very, very good all the same. I think the visuals hold up a bit better here though, while the voice-acting and sound design is still top-notch, and the whole thing is simply the best time ever all over again! And yes, there is another inevitability on the way…

That said, Arkham City’s way bigger than the first game, so maybe we’ll allow a week or two before we head anywhere else! Despite thinking I was somewhere near the end when I talked about it here last time, I’ve still got stupid Escape From Monkey Island on PlayStation 2 on the go as well, although as much as it’s now outstaying its welcome, I must admit I’ve enjoyed a couple of the later set-piece puzzles this week too. It’s alright, I’m just fed up of playing it now, but having only recently spent money on getting it, I’m too stubborn to stop! I will stop there for this update though, but do check back again on Wednesday, because it’s the start of another month, so it’s time for another trip back exactly forty years for the very latest in video gaming with Retro Rewind: February 1986 in Computer & Video Games, straight from the pages of the original magazine. Hopefully  see you then! 

As always, I’ll never expect anything for what I do here but if you’d like to buy me a Ko-fi and help towards increasingly expensive hosting and storage costs then it will always be really appreciated! And be sure to follow me on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) or Threads for my latest retro-gaming nonsense, and also on Bluesky, which is under my real name but most of it ends up there too if you prefer!