Way back in August, when the sun shone and times seemed so much simpler, I looked at a couple of issues of Cool Sh#t magazine. I liked it a lot but had just caught the tail end of its run as the team behind that magazine had other plans for the future. Well, that future has now arrived and the first issue (sorry, Level) of System Gamer is now available to buy.
The cover: it looks busy but sets out the mag's stall effectively. I have to say that I really like it. As for the A5 magazine itself, it's a fairly slim 50 pages but each page is packed with text and artwork. They really have crammed the content in here but it's not too small a layout to get tiring to read, at least for these jaded forty-something eyes.
An introduction by the System Gamer themselves kicks off the overall theme, followed by a contents page that displays the five sections of the magazine. Each is fairly explanatory: Incoming Intel (news), Past Missions (retro reviews), Briefings (features), Future Missions (previews) and Current Missions (newer games reviews).
Production values are incredibly good, that cannot be denied. Everything is is full colour, there is artwork and screenshots galore, and whilst yes, the layout mirrors the cover in that it's very busy, it's still an easy enough read. I believe the page count is about right and I don't think I could manage say 80 plus pages of this presentation but, for the format used here, it's works a treat.
The titles covered in the various sections are a relatively broad mix, platforms, racing and fighting, and in that sense, it follows pretty much the early 1990's style of gaming - those being three very popular genres at the time. It's obvious they are still popular now given the range highlighted here.
Previews are rated with an anticipation factor, which in this first issue seems stuck to 100%. Can't say I blame them for that, as why feature a forthcoming title that you're not excited about. Reviews are rated similarly out of 100% and again, the scores here are high. The intro does state that the aim is to bring news and reviews of all the greatest games for the greatest systems. 'Suppose that knackers the chance of any GX4000 or C64GS reviews, but one lives in hope.. As for the scores themselves, I have only played TMNT Shredders Revenge and I would agree with the score given here. The writing throughout is good, with style and clarity making this an easy read.
I think my favourite piece in the whole magazine was the MegaDrive catalogue for 2022/23. This lists 16 games and an add-on that are on their way to this most evergreen of 16-bit formats. It really is heartwarming to see that level of support for Sega's second best machine (Dreamcast first, no apologies. And you can't burn me for this - I live in a rural area where The Wicker Man is a training video...).
System Gamer is a great looking follow up to Cool Sh#t magazine and I look forward to Level 2, previewed as it is on the inside back cover. For £5 excluding postage, this is a worthy read and you should check it out here. You can also follow them on Twitter (presuming that's still a thing when this post goes live!) here. It's always great to see new small-scale publications and System Gamer joins the ranks of those I'd be more that happy to keep reading.
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