The Game Boy Encyclopedia by Chris Scullion - Book Review

In a (very slight) sense, I have an understanding of what Chris Scullion goes through when he writes one of his (up until now) annual gaming encyclopedias. This is the sixth of his platform specific volumes (alongside his excellent tome on platformers), and having to summarise and provide commentary on literally hundreds of games, often with multiple entries per series, has to be quite the challenge. My appreciation stems from having to say, for the seventh time, I'm writing about how yet again yer man has only gone and written an absolute belter!

Comprising of some 320 pages covering around 1,150 releases in total across the Game Boy and Game Boy Color handhelds, that's a ton of games playing and research, and when you're talking about a platform that released 35 years ago, the effort that's gone into this is immense. 

This monster of a book is a detailed and information packed repository of all games Game Boy. Given the sheer amount to cover, only a handful of entries receive a half page (it's pretty much all a quarter page per title), so this focusses your attention on Mr Scullion's ability to pithily pass on pertinent pointers (say that five times quickly!), facts, anecdotes, as well as include some nice word play (I see you, Fire Fighter) without sounding like a cynical QA tester completing their monthly one to one review documents... As ever, fun facts remain a funky addition to the main text. 

Each entry receives a screenshot, and you can rest easy. The use of an Analogue Pocket means that each game's visuals are pin sharp with nary a hint of blurriness. This also highlights that, at it's best, the original Game Boy was capable of some truly wondrous feats for such a limited technical spec. Going back and playing Batman: The Video Game on my original Game Boy (still rocking after all these years) and then doing the same on an emulator was revelatory. Sadly to say, these late '70's vintage eyes are no longer up to the challenge of genuine hardware these days. As for the Game Boy Color section, it's visuals vibrantly pop off every page. 

Any criticisms? None at all. This book does exactly what it says on the cover and it does it bloody well too!

The Game Boy Encyclopedia is another further fine addition to my gaming library and another volume Mr Scullion and the team at White Owl Books should be proud of. You can pick up a copy direct from the publisher here, your favourite online book stores, as well as physical shops too - I know Newcastle Upon Tyne's Waterstones has had stock in, and I'm sure Forbidden Planet had it too. You can also follow the author on Twitter/X @Scully1888, and on Bluesky @scully1888.bsky.social. And on a final note, there's going to be a two year gap before the next in the series, but considering that one's covering the Sony PlayStation, the wait is both necessary and more than worth it. I'll be ready and waiting for the direct ordering email, Mr. S!

The Dreamcast Encyclopedia by Chris Scullion - Book Review

Much like birthdays, Mr Scullion's "Gaming Encyclopedia Emporium" (otherwise known as the White Owl imprint of Pen and Sword Books), makes its annual appearance to deposit yet more gaming history on suspecting (if they'd pre-ordered it) members of the general public. Indeed, it was on this weekend last year (well, 20th September 2022) that I posted a review of his excellent N64 volume, so for the 2023 edition of "What's Scullion been up to?", we tackle his unofficial guide to Sega's final home console: the Dreamcast.

Ah, DC, you sweet little plastic and metal box of joy. Born from Sega's internal politics, killed by the very market it sought to compete in, this was a games machine that spanned the changing of the guard. Four controller ports for local multiplayer, compact design that would practically hide on a shelf (keeping one side open for that fan), yet also packing a built in modem for online play and internet connectivity, as well as the Visual Memory Unit that promised (but kinda failed to deliver) new gameplay wonders. There were, however, wonders in its gaming library - and it wasn't that huge a library either...

This latest book from Mr Scullion is a tad thicker than usual, taking as it does a look at the over 600 titles released for the Dreamcast. This is a worthwhile decision as it provides the reader with a one stop shop for all games Dreamcast. You might think you know about the various visual novels that Japan experienced, but Chris has had to experience all of them. You must buy this now just to help him afford the therapy! Truly, the section on Japan-only releases is... well... "interesting'... shall we say.

Given the extra coverage, you might expect there to be fewer single page entries, but no, plenty of titles get that full page loving. From the obvious (Virtual Fighter 3TB, Jet Set Radio and Sonic Adventure(s) 1 and 2), to the more eclectic (Alone in the Dark, Ducati World Racing Challenge and The Nomad Soul), the depth and richness of the Dreamcast's library is lovingly handled by the author. The ever-present additional facts are cherries on the top. And yes, there are bad jokes too, but hey, it wouldn't the same without them!

A classic in my humble opinion.

For me, the most educational part was the Japanese-only section, and whilst I have never played a "visual novel" (cough, 'onest, Guv'nor, cough!), I feel as if its a genre that perhaps will remain outside of my in-depth experience. I'm not saying never, but, well, yeah...

The soundtrack for this game remains immense even today

As the Dreamcast is one of my favourite consoles of all time (both hardware and the library), flicking through these pages brought back many a memory from 20-plus years ago. The first time I got to ride the motorcycle in Headhunter, the awe at seeing London in all of its glory in Metropolis Street Racer, and the sheer amount of visual gags in Fur Fighters - good times were had, although they weren't all positive - the control malarkey with Starlancer, the not-so-simple (yet marvellously fun and addictive) joys of Toy Commander and, perhaps the ultimate achievement for me at the time, completing Shadowman for the second time but seeing it as its best, not through the fuzzy filter of the N64.

I loved/hated this game back in the day. 

However, this tome is more than just a memory-fest for those of a certain age. This is a valuable guide to how seriously good the Dreamcast's legacy is. The last of the "traditional" home consoles that begged you the gather friends for some four player Powerstone, the first of the "next-gen" home consoles that allowed you to play against friends across the world (citation needed, but that's how I see it), the Dreamcast had pretty much something for everyone. It wasn't enough at the time, but at least this excellent and informative encyclopedia allows you to experience the glory that was Sega's 128-bit swansong.

You can follow the author on X/Twitter/that old social media company that died in 2023 (@scully1888), and pick up a copy of this excellent volume direct from the publisher here. It's also available from the usual online and physical bookstores too. 

The N64 Encyclopedia by Chris Scullion - Book Review

Let me take you back to October 1997. The Spice Girls were threatening to "Spice up your life", Aqua were living their "Barbie Girl" best and The Verve were telling us that "The Drugs Don't Work" Speaking as a gentleman in his mid-forties with the back of a 90-year old, it seems they were right, as far as painkillers go anyway! But I digress. What I was actually doing in that autumnal month twenty five years ago (Jesus f-ing wept!) was eagerly dismounting an escalator in the Bentall Centre in Kingston upon Thames to visit HMV where, armed with a debit card and a student loan (those were the days, kids), I was going to pick up a Nintendo 64. And Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. Ok, nobody's perfect...

It seems fitting that in the year of the 25th anniversary of the N64's European launch, Mr Scullion has written about that very games console. His second book this year (his wrists are either made of steel or he has his PC's cooling system plugged directly into his wrists...), this is a continuation of the Encyclopedia series and the most in-depth one so far. By that, I mean that each game has received a larger entry than would normally be expected due to the lower number of games that were released for the system. However, in the case of the N64, quality had a quantity all of its own, so to speak. 

If you've read any of the previous entries, you'll know the score. If you haven't, what you'll get is the US/UK games library for the N64 in alphabetical order. The smallest entries get a quarter page, the largest get a full page. Each entry contains details of the games' year of release, publisher and developer, as well an an indication of which territories it was released in. There is also a screenshot or two and a fun fact. As always, these fun facts vary from funky trivia to observations connected to the game in question, and compliment the style and content of the main articles. This book once again demonstrates that the author is at the top of his game when it comes to writing about videogaming.

Compared to the likes of the PlayStation, the N64 suffered in comparison towards the number of games released for the system, but when you have the likes of Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Mario Kart 64, it's hard to argue that from a first-party perspective, Nintendo had you covered. Third-party support wasn't brilliant but the likes of Acclaim, Infogrames and THQ supplied some respectable gaming experiences. 

Of course, the elephant in the room was Rare. Never before (or arguably since) has one developer had such a consistent run to genuinely classic hits, and the ones that might not be described as classics are at least worthy of being called great. I can't think of a single Rare title on the N64 that was naff. Annoying and overly long maybe (looking at you, Donkey King 64!), but not naff. 

As an extra for this volume, space permits the inclusion of all of the Japanese-only releases, including the ten titles released for the 64DD add-on. These are useful for both collectors and those, like me, who didn't know much about the domestic titles that never saw the light of day outside of Japan. 

As you can no doubt tell, this is another of Yer man, Scullion's brilliant books and deserves to be picked up not only by those who loved the N64 the first time round, but also those who maybe missed out or were too young to experience it (and the joys of late 90's Brit-pop). You can pick up a copy of the N64 Encyclopedia directly from the publisher here or from the usual online stores. You should also be able to order it from your local bookshop. I would also advise you to follow the author on Twitter here to keep up with his work as well as his day job at VGC. 

Jumping For Joy by Chris Scullion - Book Review

Yer Man Scullion has been writing again (when does he ever stop, I hear you ask) and has given us a guide to that ever-green species of gaming, the humble platformer. Conceived as the first of a series celebrating different video game genres, Jumping For Joy will sadly be the only volume to see the light of day. This is a crying shame as, if this book is anything to go by, that collection would have been a corker. (I don't suppose once you've finished the Encyclopaedia set with the combined GX4000/C64GS/Gizmondo pamphlet that you might return to this, Chris?)

As the cover states, Jumping For Joy aims to give you the history of platform video games and it does so by dividing the subject into three parts. The first is the most obvious, start at the very beginning of this jumping platform malarkey - Mario. Well, Donkey Kong, but you know what I mean. From there, every home, handheld and arcade game that has a platform in it is included. There are, for me, some pretty obscure titles here, and it made this book another educational read along the lines of his previous books. Speaking of which, yes there are entries for games already covered in the NES and SNES volumes but there is no repetition, no copy and paste. Each entry in each volume is unique. As with the encyclopaedias, each game gets either one quarter, one half or a full page entry with a write up, release details, a screenshot and, with most, a fun fact. Especially the fun fact for Sonic 3 on page 45 - what the literal F did I just watch???

Following on from Mario, much like the sunshine after the rain (get that ear worm out of your head now, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha - hey, it's better than that Right Said Fred "tune"), is Sonic (I may have given that way at the end of the last paragraph...), and whilst you have to admit that the quality of the Sonic games has never been consistent, their treatment here from Mr Scullion is. 

With the two headliners out of the way, we're only 65 pages in out of 167. The rest of the book is taken up by the 50 iconic platformers you need to play. At this point, I must admit that I agree with the author. This is his 50, you will have your 50, and I have mine. Accept that and enjoy what he has to offer.

Each of the 50 titles gets a two page entry, a detailed write up, a few screenshots (most get four to six) and a fun fact. Besides that, there are also three other titles listed as recommendations (value fans will know that adds up to 200 titles listed in total), and whilst some of them might make you question what a platformer is, the justifications included make perfect sense. Really, what this section does is demonstrate how varied and rich the platforming genre actually is and I know I spent the next couple of weeks after reading this book trying out as many of the titles mentioned here as I could.

Jumping For Joy is a love letter to the humble platformer, with great writing, a fine sense of humour (you have to be able to take a joke to listen to that Right Said Fred song), and the usual quality production values from Pen and Sword. Even if you consider yourself jaded about the genre, pick up a copy and I think you'll find it will re-kindle some of the passion you once had. The only negative I can think of is that this will be the only volume of the series. Still the latest encyclopaedia is now out as well (the N64) and looks to be another worthy addition - and kudos to Chris for getting two books out in a year! Expect a review of the N64 volume on here as and when.

You can buy Jumping For Joy direct from the publisher here (as well as the author's other books), and from the usual high street booksellers and online retailers. You can also follow Chris on Twitter here.

The Sega Mega Drive and Genesis Encyclopedia by Chris Scullion - Book Review

SCULLION!!! We need to have words!

Why? The Animaniacs entry - factoid - Youtube video - that's all I'm saying but I will tell you that I had that bloody song stuck in my head for days afterwards! Anyhoo, back to the book review.

The Sega Mega Drive and Genesis Encyclopedia is the latest entry in what looks like turning out to be an annual series of well-written and crafted platform specific guides to the games that were released on them. The NES and SNES volumes were the first two (reviewed here), and this Mega Drive/Genesis tome marks the third entry to the series. The author has announced that 2022 will see the N64 edition, then another four, unannounced volumes are due with an annual cadence thereafter. Oh, and that's not to forget the platform gaming book due out early next year as well. Between these and the author's day job at VGC, I am surprised he doesn't sleep with a keyboard melded to his fingertips and ice packs strapped to his wrists - won't somebody think of the tendons?

All joking aside, I have suffered from tenosynovitis long ago that led to six months off work so I salute whatever Mr Scullion does to keep himself writing. It is not just the amount that astounds though. Nope, there is also the quality of his output and, with what could be described as almost machine-like regularity, he's done it again. The book is a corker.

The Sega Mega Drive and Genesis Encyclopedia follows the template of the previous books in the series. Each game gets at least a quarter page (some get a half page but due to the sheer number of titles covered, there isn't space for full page entries) which neatly describes the game in question with some snarky asides thrown in there for variety. These are funny and more than a couple had me laughing out loud, much to the consternation of my good lady and the cat. The tone of the entries is something to note as well - the author is passionate about videogames and he wants that passion to shine through in his writing. Whether you read this linearly or just jump around the entries at will, you'll never be less than entertained and informed. You also get a little trivia note for each game so consider this a fair warning: when he says check something out on YouTube, be aware that you might have to deal with the musical consequences for much longer than you think... Each game also gets a screenshot as well.

Were it just the Mega Drive/Genesis that were being covered, all would be tickets-boo, but no, Yer Man Scullion has taken things further by including sections covering the libraries of the Sega 32X and the Mega CD/Sega CD. This makes this encyclopedia a truly one-stop shop for any fan of Sega's 16-bit wonder. Having said that, I have still backed the Mega Book Collection from Greyfox Books that is currently live on Kickstarter. I reviewed their Atari - a Visual History recently and I wanted to see a different take on the same subject. Plus, you can never have too many books...

One of the nice things Mr Scullion does when releasing a book is to get a limited number of  copies for signing so you could order directly from him. This was the course I took and I'm very happy with copy number 24 of 100. He also included a lovely typed (but hand-signed) thank you note, explaining the journey for this volume and the forthcoming N64 one. 

So, there you have it. Another brilliant entry in the series and one that you can buy directly from the publisher here, or from Amazon here. You can follow the author on Twitter here and he has his own blog here. Will I be buying his future books when they hit the shelves? Of course, ear worm YouTube songs and all!

The NES and SNES Encyclopedia - Two Book Review

What do you get when you cross a Scottish Videogame journalist, a love Nintendo home consoles and a penchant for really bad jokes? The answer, gentle reader, are these two volumes: The NES Encyclopedia and The SNES Encyclopedia.

A fine looking pair as ever I saw...

The NES volume was first to be published way back(!) in 2018 - look, it's been a long 2020/21 so far. Three years ago seems like ancient history! The paperback copy runs to just over 270 pages and covers every game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (so US and PAL regions). That's over 850 licensed (and unlicensed) titles! The format is simple: each title gets at least a quarter page, some get a half page and the more notable titles get a full page. There's a screenshot for each one (and maybe some box artwork) and a write up by Mr Scullion. It is here where the brilliance of this book lies.

You see, he achieves the goal of writing about hundreds of games (sometimes very similar games, be it in theme, style or subject) and makes each entry unique, funny and, most of all, informative. There is a level of snark here that entertains and pokes fun at storylines, character actions and just the sheer weirdness of 1980's videogames. There are also nods and winks to the reader, especially when he touches on the subject of future books, and all in all, whilst you may not want to read this cover to cover in a few sittings, it's no chore at all to try and do so. 

In addition, each entry also gets a FACT that can give a bit more background to the game, the developers, the publishers or basically any related piece of trivia linked to the entry. The sense of humour that pervades the main entries is present and correct here too.

It would be remiss of me to fail to mention the foreword supplied by Julian "Jaz" Rignall of Zzap!64, Computer and Video Games and Mean Machines fame. This is a nice touch and, as someone who devoured CVG and Mean Machines during school breaks, was a nostalgic link to the era.

All told, this is a lovely volume of gaming knowledge that all Nintendo fans should have on their bookshelves. Those with an interest in the history of videogaming in general should also pick this up as it details many of the key titles that defined the resurgence of videogames in the 1980's. 

The SNES Encyclopedia (published in 2020) is more of the same (except in hardback this time - the paperback is due out at the end of June). Covering all 780 Super Nintendo Entertainment System titles released in the west plus a bonus section on the 22 games released for the unsuccessful Virtual Boy console, the format remains the same: quarter, half and full page entries, screenshots, maybe some box art and those FACT's. The main change is the foreword, this time written by former Rare employee Kevin Bayliss. As Rare produced some truly magnificent titles on the SNES, this is another nice touch. 

What has not changed, and nor should they, are the jokes. Some are groan inducing in the extreme and all the more funnier for it. Add those to the light snark in every entry and it's a winning combination. As with the NES volume, this should be on any self-respecting gamers bookshelf. Truth be told, I have been inspired to search out several NES and SNES titles to review for Retrovideogamer.co.uk as I am starting to flag a little with all of that 3DO goodness(!). Might hint to the author that he should consider a 3DO volume...

But wait, as the great Mr Carson (Frank, not Willie) once said, there's more!

Not to be left out, the Mega Drive and Genesis Encyclopedia is due for release in September (it's on my Amazon Wishlist) and Mr Scullion has already announced an N64 themed tome for next year (as well as a book on platformers) and teased several more unnamed titles. I very much look forward to these and I know that these two Nintendo-themed books will remain in the gaming section of my bookcase for many years to come. 

You can order these two books via that little-known online purveyor of tomes or from your local bookshop. You can also follow the author on Twitter here which I suggest you do. He currently works for Video Games Chronicle as their Features Editor and runs his own website, Tired Old Hack. Both are worthy of your time if videogames are your thing.