Highlights
Highlights of the magazine included interviews with leading 1980s programmers including David Crane, Matthew Smith and Archer MacLean. Regular columns included Next Level Gaming, Desert Island Disks (what games would a gaming celebrity take to a desert island) and Games That Weren't (a look at unpublished and unreleased titles for computers and consoles).
An anthology issue, collecting together articles from the first six issues with new content (including a comprehensive look at the game Elite), was published in December 2004. Further anthologies of material have since been released, along with three eMags.
In June 2004, a tribute to Zzap!64 was included, "The DEF Tribute to Zzap!64", celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Commodore 64 focused magazine.
One of the lesser-known features of Retro Gamer's CD-ROM was the Easter egg, introduced in issue 5. This file was hidden on each disc inside the "adverts" directory, and included a Super Mario Bros. speedrun video and the infamous "Leeroy Jenkins" clip from World of Warcraft.
Issue 48 (February 2008) contained an exclusive interview with Manic Miner creator Matthew Smith, written by freelancer Paul Drury after a visit to Smith's family home in Liverpool.
One of the magazine's most popular recurring features are its 'Making Of's' in which well-known developers are interviewed about the creation and design process behind their games. Classic titles covered in past issues have included Breakout (Steve Wozniak), Dungeon Master (Doug Bell), Smash TV (Eugene Jarvis), Starfox (Jez San), Rescue on Fractalus! (David Fox/Charlie Kellner), Prince of Persia (Jordan Mechner), Berzerk (Alan McNeil), The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Steve Meretzky), Crystal Castles (Franz X. Lanzinger), Tetris (Alexey Pajitnov), Sheep in Space (Jeff Minter) "Out Run" (Yu Suzuki)
The magazine is currently run by editor Darran Jones, who has been overseeing the magazine's return since issue 19, and staff writer and one-time freelancer Stuart Hunt.
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