The PlayZine Preview: January 1990 PlayZine Issue 7 marks the turn of a decade! As we close out the 1980s and head into the most innovative decade in gaming history, PlayZine is blowing out its coverage and diving into the world of …

We're diving into the 90s and PlayZine is cracking open some new mags to see what the industry's most innovative decade has in store for PC gaming! Find out what's coming up in the latest PlayZine Preview!

playzine.ca/2026/03/05/t...

#RetroGaming #PCGaming #PixelsAndPrint

Experience the thrill of off-road racing on your NES and you don't even have to get dirty!

Nintendo Power #9, Nov/Dec 1989

#RetroGaming #OffRoad #PixelsAndPrint

The Pixels and Print of the 1980s: Recapping the Decade that Built Gaming From Secret Clubs to Magazine Racks The final years of the 1980s feel like a fever dream when we look back at them today. We started the decade with the crash that almost killed the industry and we…

PlayZine has made it to the end of the 80s and we’re celebrating by looking back at our coverage of everything from the rise of Nintendo Power to the explosive birth of the 16-bit console wars.

Relive it all over again: playzine.ca/2026/02/13/p...

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Take direct control over your games with the new Power Glove and throw both hands into the action with U-Force from Broderbund.

So many lies!

Nintendo Power #9, Nov/Dec 1989

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It's a news day!

Big N plans to bring day trading to the NES with Fidelity Services! NEC runs their own video game extravaganza in LA with winners getting a chance to join the TurboTeam! Konami releases a study proving 44% of gamers are adults!

GamePro #5, Dec 1989

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Phantasy Star had charged on to the Master System, making it the go to console for RPG lovers. While NES owners were getting the basics from Dragon Warrior, EGM was showing us the future with Ultima IV coming soon for Sega's beleaguered console.

EGM #4, Nov/Dec 1989

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Once again, Kuros the warrior is called upon to restore peace to Sindarin. The evil wizard Malkil has been in hiding and this time Kuros will have to seek the legendary IronSword to foil the wizard's plans.

Nintendo Power #9, Nov/Dec 1989

#RetroGaming #WizardsAndWarriors2 #PixelsAndPrint

Yipes! The evil emperor is forcing everyone on the planet Blobolonia to eat nothing but marshmallows and chocolate! Blobert has journied to Earth to find someone to help rid his home planet of this sweet-toothed fiend. Of course you'll help him!

GamePro #5, Dec 1989

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During a press conference in July, Nintendo displayed the final version of their long-awaited and much talked-about 16-Bit super system, the Super Famicom, and the next installment in the Mario series, Super Mario World.

EGM #4, Nov 1989

#RetroGaming #SuperMarioWorld #PixelsAndPrint

A big, big selection of Game Boy games announced for release in the near future. Leading the Paks is the latest adventure of the greatest video game character ever, Mario! It's Super Mario Land!

Nintendo Power #9, Nov/Dec 1989

#RetroGaming #SuoerMarioLand #PixelsAndPrint

Get ready to enter over 100 dungeons of terror! Your quest: to find and return the sacred orb from the dark depths of the Gauntlet!

Wizard needs food! Badly!

GamePro #4, Nov 1989

#RetroGaming #Gauntlet #PixelsAndPrint

The Legendary Axe: A Heavy Hitter Arrives on the TurboGrafx-16 What is Best in Life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you and to hear the lamentation of their women. That line was the heartbeat of the eighties. It was a decade absolutely obsessed …

Don your loincloth and grab your battle axe because it's time to channel your inner Conan and chop your way through hordes of cultists in The Legendary Axe.
Crush your enemies and see them driven before you in our latest: playzine.ca/2026/01/29/t...

#RetroGaming #TheLegendaryAxe #PixelsAndPrint

Industry heavyweights predicting the Game Boy will be the "Walkman of the 90s" in this feature from EGM #4. This look behind the screens also details early third-party support from companies like Konami, Capcom, and Data East.

#RetroGaming #GameBoy #PixelsAndPrint

Return to Fantasy Land and unleash your superhuman abilities in Space Harrier II. Fly, fight, run and dodge your way through 13 different deadly levels to defeat Dark Harrier and his evil armies!

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Quartermann tipping us off to the latest Dec 1989 news with Tengen losing the battle for Tetris rights after Nintendo struck a deal with ELORG in Russia.

And getting us hype for Batman and Ninja Gaiden 2. Lynx flexing its arcade muscle with Gauntlet 3 and Rampage.

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The 1990 Nintendo World Championships: Living the Dream The Birth of Esports In the Winter of 1989, The Wizard changed everything. A video game road trip and one boy’s ability to see beyond the game into its deepest secrets sealed our fates. From then o…

The 1990 Nintendo World Championships was the ultimate test of 8-bit glory. While the US tour owns the spotlight, the entire event was first tested across its northern neighbour, Canada. Test your might in our latest article: playzine.ca/2026/01/21/t...
#RetroGaming #Championships #PixelsAndPrint

Ghouls ‘N Ghosts: Sega Delivers the First Must Own Game of the 16-bit Era The Resurrection of the Demon Realm ​It’s that time of year again, Christmas 1989, and you’re standing in the video game aisle of a Toys “R” Us with your parents finding out what hot ne…

Like a bolt from the blue, Ghouls 'n Ghosts slammed into the local video game aisle for Xmas 1989 and completely obliterated the competition. Designed for the sadomasochist in all of us. Your princess is in another castle: playzine.ca/2026/01/09/g...

#RetroGaming #GhoulsNGhosts #PixelsAndPrint

The Wizard: Mario Hype Sweeps NES Nation The 16-bit Onslaught By late 1989, the NES was the undisputed king of the playground and we were convinced that 8 bits was all anyone would ever need. But on the horizon, a storm was gathering in t…

In Dec 1989, The Wizard turned movie theaters into pure Nintendo hysteria when we got our first glimpse of Super Mario Bros. 3. But Nintendo was running scared with no big xmas release. We're going on a road trip: playzine.ca/2026/01/01/t...
#RetroGaming #TheWizard #SuperMarioBros3 #PixelsAndPrint

Willow: Breaking the Curse The Hero Arrives The late 80s offered a profound contradiction to the young gamer. In the realm of the movie theater they were immersed in a world of pure, cinematic spectacle. When a fighter jet s…

Willow on the NES defied the typical movie tie-in curse by delivering a licensed game that expanded the film’s lore with its cinematic story and deep gameplay. Fulfill the prophecy in our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/12/18/w...
#RetroGaming #Willow #PixelsAndPrint

PlayZine Issue 6: Nintendo Goes to Hollywood, December 1989 The Movie That Changed Everything It’s a cold December day and you’ve finally made it to the Saturday matinee everyone’s been talking about. The popcorn is stale, the theater floor is sticky but yo…

Hollywood finally finds gaming as The Wizard made for an unforgettable end to the 80s and the NES release of Willow showed us how great licensed games could be! Grab your popcorn as we dim the lights for the latest issue of PlayZine: playzine.ca/2025/12/11/p...
#RetroGaming #PixelsAndPrint

The PlayZine Preview: December 1989 The holidays are upon us and for a gamer in 1989, the Christmas season was less about good cheer and more about a fever pitch of anticipation with the year’s biggest releases dropping across …

Relive the Christmas of '89 when movie tie-in games finally got good and we all knew we'd be the next Nintendo World Champion after The Wizard brought us to Video Armageddon! Check it all out in our preview of PlayZine Issue 6: playzine.ca/2025/11/30/t... #RetroGaming #TheWizard #PixelsAndPrint

Acclaim Entertainment: License to Thrill Corporate Conquest If you grew up blowing into cartridges and begging your parents for a rental on a Friday night you know the feeling well. You walked into the video store and scanned the rows of …

When you can't make a good game for the life of your company, just hire Fabio! Acclaim realized early on that you didn't need great devs if you had a great marketing budget.

Join the dark side of the industry in our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/11/22/a...
#RetroGaming #IronSword #PixelsAndPrint

Wonder Boy III Dragon’s Trap: What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse Master System Goes Deep It’s 1989, the playground is ruled by Zelda, Mario and the whispered secrets from Nintendo Power. But for us few Master System loyalists, clutching to our Sega Challenge New…

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap wasn't just another sequel to a Master System classic, it was one of the first true Metroidvania's to land on any system in the 80s. Come relive the curse in our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/11/16/w...

#RetroGaming #WonderBoy #PixelsAndPrint

The Atari Lynx: Pocket Arcade The Color Dream The late 80s was a time when computer chips were fully surfing Moore’s power law and pushing the technology of miniaturization. The Walkman had already made music a personal, portab…

The Atari Lynx was a technical marvel, promising a full-color arcade experience in your pocket way back in 1989. Pack your bag with 100 AA batteries we're going on a road trip: playzine.ca/2025/11/11/t...

#RetroGaming #AtariLynx #PixelsAndPrint

Duck Tales: Woo-Hoo! Lifting the Curse of the Licensed Game Remember that song? The one that played right after you burst through the door after school? You’d throw your bag on the floor, and flip on the humming CRT te…

Remember when most licensed games were terrible? Capcom's 1989 NES classic DuckTales shattered that curse by pairing their Mega Man A-team with Disney to create an all-time classic. Pogo-jump over to our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/11/07/d...
#RetroGaming #DuckTales #PixelsAndPrint

Nintendo Power showcasing Captain N: The Game Master in the latest issue. Back in PlayZine Issue 2 we saw how Captain Nintendo made the jump from the pages of Nintendo Power on to our TV screens.

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Running over your kids NES when they wouldn't shut the damn thing off was a classic 80s parenting move. Good on Carolee here for feeling the guilt and fessing up to Nintendo Power after MacGyver'ing her poor kids NES back to working order. 👍

#RetroGaming #80sParents #NintendoPower #PixelsAndPrint

The Game Boy: Gaming Unleashed The World in Your Pocket In 1989, entertainment was an appointment. You had to be on the couch at 8:00 PM to watch The Wonder Years or make sure the TV was free to play The Legend of Zelda. You cou…

The Game Boy wasn't the most powerful tech, but its smart design, legendary battery life and Tetris as pack-in made it a cultural atom bomb. Get gaming on the go in our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/11/02/t...

#RetroGaming #GameBoy #PixelsAndPrint

Phantasy Star: A Galaxy Far, Far Away A Fallen Hero The year is 342 of the Space Century. The three planets of the Algol solar system, once a beacon of peace, choke under the iron-fisted rule of the tyrant King Lassic. His regime is ab…

Phantasy Star shattered the 8-bit JRPG mold with its groundbreaking first-person 3D dungeons, a strong female lead and an expansive 3-planet solar system. Jump in as we explore this galaxy far, far away in our latest article: playzine.ca/2025/10/28/p...
#RetroGaming #PhantasyStar #PixelsAndPrint

Phantasy Star was Sega's answer to Dragon Quest with a planetary adventure for the ages! But before we dip in, we're taking a trip to the UK to grab our guides from S: The Sega Magazine.

Part 1: segaretro.org/File:StheSeg...

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