The making of mickey mania

Cinemaware’s B-movie homage pushed the vision of interactive cinema to new heights

WHEN NINJAS RULED THE POP CULTURE LANDSCAPE, SHINOBI AMAZED ARCADE-GOERS AND BLEW MINDS ON THE MEGA DRIVE. WITH JOE MUSASHI COMING OUT OF RETIREMENT, WE LOOK BACK AT HOW THIS CLASSIC ACTION SERIES HAS CHANGED OVER NEARLY FOUR DECADES

TINGED WITH STEAM AND REBELLION, FINAL FANTASY’S LAST SUPER NES FORAY IS A CLASSIC THAT DOES THINGS, AND GOES PLACES FEW OTHER GAMES AT THE TIME (OR SINCE) WERE WILLING TO TRY. FROM ITS ENORMOUS CAST, EMPHASIS ON PLAYER AGENCY, AND A TRULY SHOCKING MID-GAME TWIST, FINAL FANTASY VI HAS IT ALL

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AFTER HELPING TO DEFINE PLAYSTATION GAMING WITH CRASH BANDICOOT, NAUGHTY DOG PERFORMED THE SAME FEAT ON THE PS2 WITH JAK AND DAXTER BEFORE TRUSTING THE DUO TO OTHER STUDIOS. FORMER NAUGHTY DOG DESIGNER/WRITER DAN AREY LOOKS BACK AT THE POPULAR SERIES

AFTER THE RELEASE OF DOOM, FOR A WHILE THERE WAS ONE NAME TO SUM UP SIMILAR GAMES: DOOM CLONE. THIS EVEN APPLIED TO GAMES LIKE DESCENT, EVEN THOUGH THE ONLY THING IT HAD IN COMMON WITH DOOM WAS ITS FIRST-PERSON PERSPECTIVE