Hey team and welcome to a new week!
I start a new job this week, so whilst you’re reading this, I'll be doing those mandatory employee training modules every company has you do, and trying to learn everything about my new role as fast as possible.
If you are new here, this is the Reconnect Recap, the companion newsletter for my website Reconnect. Whilst Reconnect aggregates nearly 300 different video game blogs and puts them all in one handy spot for you, the Recap is my curated pick of some of the highlights of the week delivered direct to your inbox every Tuesday. (Well Tuesday in my hemisphere).
This week on the recap, we’re going old-school as we discuss Sonic, Mario, Dreamcast, PS2, Advent Children and much much more….
(It’s almost like contemporary topics are too depressing to write about this week so we’re all writing about the past, the better times.)
Let’s dig in!
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Great Write Ups
Crunching for the spin off: Did you know there was a spin off of Smash Bros? I didn’t but as TimeExtension explains, the game’s development was a nightmare.
Keep it simple stupid: Game Wisdom breaks down the simple elegance of Solitaire's game design.
Ring Collector: Super Jump Magazine examines the long life of Sonic and how he has kept himself relevant over the years.
So bad it’s good: Lawrence 'Scanlines' Lichfield takes us back in time to an odd Dreamcast horror game that some love, some don’t and it’s never been remastered.
Wanting the back catalog: Chris (90s and 00s nostalgia) asks the question, why is Sony so reluctant to use their back catalog?
Ludonarrative this and that: David Dockery brings a new concept to the table to help critique or award a games tempo, is it fast paced and good, or is it slow and boring?
Enby Realness: Sidequest writer, Jervon Perkins, walks us through their history with picking a gendered character in video games and not feeling represented, until being able to choose non-binary as their characters gendered, just clicked.
Tin Foi Hat time: Maurice Klimek has a theory about why games have achievements, but you need the sink running and a white noise machine playing in order to hear it, else the feds get you.
Dilly dally, shilly shally: SKILL ISSUE pens a love letter to their favourite Final Fantasy series, and goes deep on the topic.
Instalock: Path Oracle ExitLag expands on the conflict that can occur in competitive games when the team doesn’t want you to play the character you want to play and instead pressures you into picking the meta character.
The best DVD player on the planet: ObsoleteSony explains the PS2’s success story and how DVDs drove that success.
Fun Tidbits
This Is Probably The Closest You’re Going To Get To Playing A “Real 3D Minecraft” On The Game Boy
Super Monkey Ball is Getting Ported to the Sega Dreamcast — Impressive Footage Shown Off!
We’ve Had GBA, DS And PS Vita Clones, Now It’s The Turn Of The Nintendo 2DS
Valve open source the Steam Machine e-ink screen so you can make your own
I Choose You, Hershey Canada & Pokémon Launch Limited Edition Chocolates
“This Project Is Not Vibe-Coded” - Developer Behind PS1 Recompilation Tool Takes Aim At AI
Mentioned a second time in a row.
I'm on fire, baby!