My mate Terry knocked on our door one Saturday afternoon in '97, clutching a copy of Duke Nukem 64 like it was contraband. Which, honestly, it might as well have been in our house. Mum had already banned Mortal Kombat after catching me practicing Scorpion's fatality on my…

The six-button pad felt different in your hands, you know? Heavier somehow, more purposeful than Nintendo's sleek offerings. I remember unwrapping mine on Christmas morning 1993, the plastic still warm from being stored next to the radiator, and thinking this thing looked like it meant business. Three extra…

I was digging through my Switch game library the other week, looking for something to show my nephew who's visiting for half-term, when I landed on Super Mario 64 sitting there in the 3D All-Stars collection. Funny thing—I'd been putting off writing about this one because, honestly, how…

Christmas 1999. My living room looked like a bomb had gone off in an electronics store—wrapping paper everywhere, the smell of turkey drifting in from the kitchen, and four controllers snaking across the carpet like digital umbilical cords. My cousin Dave had brought over his copy of Mario…