Fancy dipping a toe into the gaming world of yesteryear? Here are the six classic consoles we think you should start with
People often make the mistake of thinking that video games are a relentlessly forward-looking medium. It's all about the next big release, the next console generation, the next PC graphics card technology. Except it isn't really. Games are, like most other artforms these days, obsessively self-referential. They are constantly mining the past for successful ideas, merging old genres to create strange new ones, or simply borrowing the aesthetics of past generations. If modern games have one fault (they probably have more, but let's not go there), it's that they can seem intimidating to newcomers because they rely so much on age-old conventions and traditions.
Also, old consoles are nice. They look weird and thrilling, with their chunky plastic bodies and their gigantic cartridge ports. They are relics of fun, nostalgic artifacts that remind us of childhoods spent waiting patiently for games to load from cassettes, or blowing the dust out of old carts. Obviously, there are hundreds of online emulators that let you experience classic titles from the comfort of your PC, but that's sort of missing the point – much like listening to the MP3 of an old 78 record. Part of the pleasure is in the ritual of the vintage hardware: plugging in a cartridge, sliding in a diskette, or hitting the button that sends a CD lid flipping up like an old ghetto blaster. It's faintly fetishistic, of course, but you know, fetish is about pleasure, and old games machines certainly provide that.
Anyway, for those interested in trying old consoles first-hand, here are six classics that I'd recommend starting with. I deliberately chose machines that are easy to get hold of on eBay or at car boot sales and that won't break the bank. They all have very large gaming libraries and again, the games are easily available. These are all relatively reliable too, so even if you buy one that looks like it has been driven over by a Ford Model, it should still function.
As ever, feel free to add your own suggestions!
Commodore Amiga, 1985
Okay, this isn't strictly a console, it's a home computer, but if you owned an Amiga in the late-eighties or early nineties you owned one of the best games machines on the planet. This was the glory era of Britsoft, when idiosyncratic UK studios like Bitmap Brothers (Speedball 2, Chaos Engine), Team 17 (Worms), Bullfrog (Syndicate) and Sensible Software (Cannon Fodder, Sensible Soccer) were in their pomp. It's also where a lot of technically gifted European studios like Guerrilla and Housemarque originated, courtesy of the 'demo scene', where coders, artists and musicians competed to wring the absolute most out of the Amiga hardware.
Buying guide: you can get a basic functional Amiga 500 for about £35 on eBay, but look for people offering bundles of the computer and games. Subsequent models, including the Amiga 600 and Amiga 1200, offer more processing power and design refinements, as well as compatibility with later titles, but most of the best games will run on a 500 or the slightly improved 500+ just fine. "I'd go for the Amiga 500+," says journalist and vintage games collector Will Freeman. "It plays a few more late era games than the 500, and with an easily available, super simple to use bit of software – I use ‘Relokick’ – you can trick your Amiga 500+ into booting up as an Amiga 500, thus letting you play all the additional games."
Sega Mega Drive, 1988
As the first major 16bit console, the Mega Drive was a massive success in the US and Europe, thanks to its combination of fantastic arcade conversions and authentic (for the time) sports simulations. It was the golden age of the scrolling action game, with titles like Streets of Rage, Altered Beast and Mickey Mouse: Castle of Illusion typifying the genre, while EA came into its own producing the Fifa, NHL and NBA simulations. There were also wonderful RPGs like Phantasy Star and Shining Force, as well as compelling blasters such as Gunstar Heroes, Truxton and Contra: Hard Corps, all filled with colour and energy. And of course, there was Sonic the Hedgehog, his first three adventures still as astonishingly fast and vibrant as they were 20 years ago.
Buying guide: There were two basic versions of the Mega Drive in Pal territories, the original and the updated Mega Drive 2. Both are fine, though the latter is smaller and feels cheaper, and the 'reset' switch is prone to breaking. The original Mega Drive also has better sound quality, even though it doesn't run true stereo through the A/V port. You can pick up a Mega Drive on eBay for £20-100 depending on condition and the number of games bundled with it, but you'll also find them at car boot sales for a fiver. Make sure you get all the cables and at least two joypads so you can play great two-player titles like Micro Machines. Oh and if you're thinking of building on to your system with one of the two later Mega Drive add-ons, go for the Mega CD rather than the later 32X. The latter had very few decent games, while the Mega CD boasted the decent Sonic CD and luscious Lunar: The Silver Star, and you can experience the era's most controversial title, NightTrap – which is awful, by the way, but was debated in the US Senate during a 'ban this sick filth' frenzy so it has 'historical interest'.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System, 1990
Some call Nintendo's 16bit machine the greatest games console of all time, and it's difficult to disagree. It was technically superior to the Mega Drive with more colours and clever sprite rotation/scaling hardware and it has a truly vast software catalogue. Indeed, from 1990 to 1996, the system saw some of the most iconic series' of all time, from Final Fantasy to Street Fighter, with Nintendo wringing the most out of its exclusivity deals with Japanese developers. And of course, there were homegrown classics like Super Mario Kart, Super Metroid and F-Zero, as well as the wonderful Donkey Kong Country titles from first-party studio, Rare. And basically, if you want to understand the history of the JRPG genre, this is where to come and gorge yourself: Chrono Trigger, Zelda, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy III... the list is endless.
Buying guide: As with the Mega Drive, a basic unit with all the leads will cost you upwards of £20, but it's worth checking eBay for decent bundles of hardware and games. The pal machines can get quite discoloured so this isn't going to look pretty, but the hardware is sturdy.
Sony PlayStation, 1994
It was tough to decide between Sony's original 32bit console and its spectacularly successful successor, but for greater retro appeal, we went for the former. This was the machine that totally disrupted the home console market, shoving Sega and Nintendo out of the way and bringing Sony into the industry in a big way. The sleek hardware architecture is built for 3D graphics, and unlike its rival, the Sega Saturn, developers got to grips with it fast, relishing a new piece of kit to fiddle with. Games-wise, this is where a lot of the key current franchises came into their own, including Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken and Tomb Raider, and where developers discovered the twenty-something, post-pub gaming generation through offbeat music-powered classics such as WipEout and Pa Rappa the Rappa. It's also worth tracking down gems like Konami's strategy RPG Vandal Hearts and Reflections' early open-world gangster adventure, Driver.
Buyers guide: There were several iterations of the PlayStation One and you should do some research before buying, even if that just means reading the Wikipedia entry on PlayStation Models. Earlier version had more inputs on the back as well as a Parallel I/O connector, which was only ever really used for cheat cartridges. However, these first models also had some problems playing FMV (full-motion video), so unless you really want Audio In/Out connections, go for a later iterations. The budget PSone machines are okay, but they're teeny and look like toys – they don't have the slightly chunky bold looks of the originals. The PSone also omits the serial port, so if you fancied connecting two PlayStations together for local multiplayer WipEout face-offs, avoid it. As for pricing, you can get a machine for a tenner on eBay, and often that will include a few games. Remember to search locally, though, to save on postage with those massive bundle deals. Oh and you'll need some memory cards to save your games, too!
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