This review of Classic Home Video Games
1989-1990 recently appeared on a video game website called Retro Collect. It
was written by Tom Charnock, who received a review copy from the publisher.
Brett
Weiss is a man who loves lists. He also loves games, and it was only a matter
of time before he combined these passions and nature took its course. The
product of several thousand hours’ worth of research, the Classic Home VideoGames series of books has been available for some time but it is only now that
I’ve had the opportunity to get hold of a volume from the collection and see
what all the fuss is about; and I must say it was definitely worth the wait.
The Classic Home Video Games series spans every home console from 1972 up to
1990 and each entry is split into a certain period in video games history. If
you’re reading this article now, the chances are that you collect retro video
games in some capacity; or at least have an interest in the subject, and so
this series of books is quite possibly something you’d be interested in knowing
more about.
The
volume I have is the third in the series and covers the period 1989-1990. Now
this may seem like a relatively small span of time in the great patchwork
pantheon of video gaming, but it may surprise you to learn that in this window,
the 
, 
and 
AES were all released in the US. I
make this pertinent point to use the NTSC-U monikers for these systems because
this series of books is primarily focused on the American market, but
regardless of where you live the sheer level of detail contained within the
pages is astounding.
Coming in both soft and hardback flavors, each entry the Classic Home Video Games series lays out the systems that were released in North America in that particular period (and are split into 1972-84, 1985-88 and 1989-90).
Every
chapter begins with an introduction and a short history of the console in
question, and Weiss details his own experiences with each. And this is really
where the books differ from some other list-based publications – the author is
an avid gamer and shares his personal opinions and experiences with each and
every piece of hardware featured. Not only this – and here’s the money shot –
the books go on to detail every single North American release for every system,
and also feature paragraph-long reviews detailing good points and bad, gameplay
mechanics and if there are any other versions of the game available. You’ll
also find box scans and images of the consoles dotted throughout, and though
these are in monochrome they are a welcome addition and break up the text
nicely.
I
found volume 1989-1990 especially interesting as I have recently started to
collect 
games, and while it is the AES that gets the main bulk of
the SNK-related chapter, the text details if a Neo Geo CD port was released and
also if there are any major differences. For someone in my position (that is, a
relative n00b when it comes to SNK hardware and software), this is extremely
useful and has helped me decide whether certain games are really worth my time.
Further on, every North American Genesis game is given a mini review, and the
same is true of the TurbGrafx-16 (aka PC Engine) library. The appendices also
surprised me, as they go on to list every US Sega CD, 
, 
and 
release, and include a one line review to detail what the
game is.
You
get the impression that Brett has spent a good chunk of his life investigating
these carts, CDs and HuCards and he details his history with the hobby in the
illuminating opening chapter. Sure, there are plenty of online lists – this
very site has one of the most comprehensive databases anywhere online – but
there is something about having a physical book that you can hold in your hands
and flick through whenever you feel like it. Even more so when every game also
comes with a mini review and is peppered with personal experiences and opinion.
Conclusion
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