Jeff Minter E3 (1995)

Judge Dredd (SNES)

Rambo on C64

Now this brings back memories! Can you imagine children today having the patience to wait for games to load? For me it was all part of the 'ritual', and I actually enjoyed the loading times and uncertainty of it failing to load first go. I liked the blip blip music and graphic slowly building up on screen while you gripped the joystick in anticipation. All part of gaming back in the day.


Rambo

History Of Videogames

Retro Game Collector App

Why Retro?

To answer this straight I would have to say because of the memories it brings. Like a lot of people, some of my happiest times were during childhood and whenever I see toys or games from this chapter of my life, it flicks the endorphine switch in my head and much like an orgasm I get thrills and ripples of warm glows lapping up my spine. Take the first time I saw a picture of Doomlord (from Eagle comics) for example. Id not seen his skeletal mug in something like twenty plus years and to suddenly be confronted by him eyeballing me back from a picture on the internet sent a rush through my soul, like seeing a long dead friend appear as a ghost before me. For a few brief moments I was a teenager again, back in an area of my mind that id not visited in quite some time. Images long buried under the recent mash of memories and current affairs, were instantly resurrected and it was such a blast.
And that is the biggest reason im such a fan of retro things. I simply enjoy getting 'drunk' on vapours I had imagined to be dead, only to discover them just as potent as they were back in the day. Its exciting. But this isn't the only reason. I believe (and this is only MY opinion of course) that toys, adverts, cartoons, etc were much better in the 1970s and 80s than the junk on offer now. One only has to lLook for 'UK adverts 1980' on Youtube to see exactly what I mean. From those memorable Smash robots and Scotch skeleton (re rewind not fade away) to the amazingly catchy tunes like Shake n' Vac and Um Bongo, there is just so much more creativity there. Hell even the public information ads were better than todays offerings of 'healthy frying oils' and 'new and improved this or that'. The Charlie Says cat and Spirtit Of Dark and Lonely Water of the seventies, have all the 2012 ads beat.
And can Spongebob Squarepants really compete with the likes of Captain Caveman and Hong Kong Phooey? I say NO. And im a big fan of the yellow sponge thank you very much. He just isn't patched to my nostalgia satchel the way the Hair Bear Bunch are if you get my drift.
The less said about toys and games the better because even if lightsabres today had real beams or videogames actually transported the player to sun drenched adventures, they still couldn't make a dent on vintage Star Wars loot and Ghosts n' Goblins. Just no way.
I'll be the first one to admit that these rose tinted specs can occasionaly disappoint, and disappoint in a big way too. Like the time I booted up Donkey Kong for the time in decades and found that the game I obssessed over as a boy was a mere 'meh,' these days. So yes these specs can be a let down at times but more often than not they rekindle my fifteen year old self and this is why i'll always be a Retro DJ.

Noseybonk

Not metal or a game but definately retro. Creepy retro.
This guy used to be on childrens television when I was a lad. Its no wonder I grew up with a healthy fear of clowns because im certain this weird chap had something to do with it. Fear him!