The Retro PC Time Capsule is back - this time taking us all the way back to 2003, the year of the Radeon 9800 Pro... and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne! In this video, Alex plays the Remedy classic on period appropriate PC hardware, while John attempts to keep up on the PlayStation 2 rendition of the game. The PC's inordinately more powerful, so can the console keep up?

Nightdive Studios returns with yet another classic remaster of superlative quality. Join John Linneman for a deep dive into what made Dark Forces such an important release back in 1995 and how it improved on the epoch-making Doom. From there, it's onto the work of Nightdive itself in meticulously remastering the game for all modern systems.

In a new Retro PC Time Capsule video, John and Alex go back to cross-gen gaming, 2006-style, with Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. Join us for a look back at a time where Xbox 360 out-performed mainstream PCs by a long chalk, resulting in some games receiving almost completely different versions of the 'same game'... and not even Ageia PhysX support can help PC on this one! Meanwhile, it's a sorry state of affairs once we get to look at the PS2 version of the game...

Them boys are back in town! Yes, the first DF Retro Q+A of the year is here and it is a two hour doozy. The best buds of retro reflect on their work on Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, answer definitely what is the best version of Aladdin between SNES and Mega Drive, tackle your most pressing CRT and upscaler issues and of course, travel back in time for some Ninja Turtle pies. Yes, it's all here, exclusively on Patreon!

Sponsored by THQ Nordic. Outcast first launched in 1999 delivering state-of-the-art voxel-driven visuals in what was then a novel open-world design - but its sequel never landed... until now. In this special video, John Linneman tells the story of the original game, its technology and off-shoot projects before concentrating on Outcast: A New Beginning, which finally realises the original developer's vision for a full Outcast sequel.

Legendary at its heights through the 1980s and 1990s, Sunsoft carved out a reputation for incredible quality across the 8-bit and 16-bit eras before gradually fading away. However, the publisher is beginning its comeback and in this incredible DF Retro special, John Linneman catalogues the history of Sunsoft, from its origins through its stratospherically successful period and then onto its quieter years through to the beginnings of its resurgence. With unprecedented access to Sunsoft HQ in Japan - including a look at unreleased games - this is the definitive look at a unique publisher.

X gonna give to ya here today at Digital Foundry. We are going back to the early days of Microsoft's console efforts, taking a look at a selection of great titles that were, for its time, exclusively experienced on their flagship console. These were the days when players would find some of the greatest development talent from around the world focused on showcasing this incredible piece of hardware, so settle in for a nostalgia trip back to the early 2000s and rediscover a happier time in the Xbox's history.

Following up on the origins stylings of the new Gears of War: E-Day, Alex Battaglia and John Linneman go all the way back to the first Gears of War game, discussing what make it special and stacking up the iconic Xbox 360 release against the quite different PC version that came after. In theory, Alex's superior hardware should see PC blow the 360 away, but... there are issues.

An adventure classic first launched in 1997, Cyan's Riven was built around pre-rendered imagery and full motion video, expertly utilising the CD-ROM format. And now, in 2024, Riven has returned, with Cyan's original vision fully realised in Unreal Engine 5 with beautiful real-time 3D. John revisits the classic and concentrates on what made it original and distinct, before checking out the remake in all of its glory on high-end PC, PC VR and the intriguing Meta Quest port.

In a brand-new PC Retro Time Capsule, we return to 2007 to check out the infamous Windows Vista-only version of Halo 2, stacked up against the original Xbox version of the game. In this special episode, Alex is joined by the excellent F4mi to share their impressions on the title and indeed the OG Xbox in general!

What if we told you that OG Xbox played host to an open world racing game that rendered at native 720p? That's just one of the technical feats delivered by the Wreckless/Double STEAL series of games. John Linneman is joined by Andrew Elmore for a look back at both games, including the bizarre PS2 and GameCube ports of the first game, before moving on to the technological masterpiece that is the Japan-only Double Steal: The Second Clash.

This has been one of the ambitious DF Retro projects we've ever undertaken. What if Digital Foundry - with all of the modern tools at its disposal - could have covered the mid-90s Sega Saturn vs Sony PlayStation cross-platform releases? We have a general idea of how the systems compared, but does the modern DF methodology make the case or bust the myths? It took time for our digital-based workflow to adapt to the analogue days of yesteryear - particularly on Saturn where no HDMI mods exist - but here we are, and we think you're going to enjoy it. John Linneman kicks off proceedings with a look at the fifth generation consoles' line-up of driving games.

Shadow of the Ninja has its origins on the NES, a Natsume-developed game that first launched way back in 1990. And now, Tengo Project, following on from Wild Arms Reloaded and Rocky + Pocky Reshrined, re-imagines the original game for modern systems. What if polygon 3D never happened and developers continued to refine 2D pixel art? With this complete revamp of Shadow of the Ninja, we now have some idea of how that would have looked - and it's a simply fantastic game.

It's back! After a long hiatus the camera has been panned down, the hands have been cleansed for the cameras, and the magazine rack has been raided. John and Audi dive back into the dark corners of Audi's childhood, looking at how Scandinavia spread the Nintendo gospel in its heyday, as well as trot down towards the mid 90s as the new CD-ROM consoles emerge on the market. These are magazines you probably never seen or heard of, so join us as we dust off these 3 mags from Audi's personal collection and check out what the Nordic folks say about the JAG, the 3DO and rank what is the best Game Boy game of all time.

Super Play was one of the most influential independent magazines of all time, focused solely on the SNES, with a heavy focus on imports, anime and British game development. But how did they handle the transition from Super to Ultra? John and Audi goes back to June of 1996 as the first showcase of the N64 unfolds, and we get to see some very early in development shots of Turok Dinosaur Hunter, Shadows of the Empire, Super Mario 64 and of course, War Gods.

Happy holidays everyone! The best buds of retro sit down and cozy up around the OLED fire, reminiscence about the year that has flown by, and the New Year that's fast approaching. 2024 was indeed an eventful time, the buds went to Japan together and met with classic game developers, they plucked and pillaged the German countryside for some truly awful CD-i games and - of course - played a whole bunch of retro games along the way. It wouldn't truly be Christmas without them sharing memories and wishes for the future, so join us as we dive into our 2024 Retro-spective!

This one slipped through the reviewing net when it released owing to a packed holiday season schedule, but we simply had to go back and take a look at it! John teams up with Marc 'Try4ce' Duddleson to take a look at the new Soul Reaver 1 and 2 Remasters, stacked up against the Dreamcast and PS2 versions respectively. These are excellent remasters, well worth a look.

In a new PC Retro Time Capsule, Alex plays through the original PC version of The Thing, running on a Pentium 4 matched with an ATI 9700 Pro. Meanwhile, John's playing the PS5 version of Nightdive Studios' excellent The Thing Remastered - and it looks like we're dealing with yet another high quality product from the masters of the remaster.