RetrOS Halloween Special 2026 - Dancing in the Twilight Review of the legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (GCN)

Ladies, gentlemen, start your emulators! It is time for yet another episode of retrOS, the show where we give you your recommended dose of nostalgia by reviewing games from your childhood. This episode is the famous (or infamous) Halloween special. Last year, we tackled The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. 

This year, we take a look at another Nintendo Zelda classic, which is the follow-up to this classic.

Let's find out!

Out of all of the ongoing franchises Nintendo has in its portfolio, there are a select few that truly stood the test of time. The widget of Zelda series is one of them. The franchise kick-started the action RPG subgenre, and is still  going strong. For example, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is about to get the remaster treatment on the Switch 2, released on November 5. The 1st entry of the series was released in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System,  Famicom in Japan. 

Over time, the series has evolved. For example, the series went through the transition of 2D, to 3D West the legend of Zelda ocarina of Time. It is a game that is hailed as the best game ever made. Fast forward to 2006, with Twilight Princess. This game was released in the same year that Nintendo's behemoth, motion-sensor console, the Wii was released.

The game is the second game in the child timeline, where the hero of time defeats Ganondorf 100 years after the events of Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask. 

You play as Link, a young ranch hand from Ordon Village. An evil sorcerer and King of Twilight, Zant, king of darkness and servant of Ganondorf, is gathering an army of monsters to attack Hyrule directly.

 Unfortunately, he succeeds as the kingdom falls once again, plunging Hyrule into a merger with the Twilight Realm. It is up to you to traverse the kingdom, gather the ancient artefacts to restore light to the kingdom, then put a stop to the Twilight Realm's sinister plan to purge the entire kingdom in total darkness. The access ability scores are as follows –

Visibility – 10 

Although there is no colourblind mode available in this game, there is very little need for one. There are no elements of this game that can cause an issue for a colourblind player.

Audibility- 10

As par for the course for entries in the Zelda series, there is no spoken dialogue present in this game. All dialogue in this game is text-based. So, with all entries of the series, imagination has to fill in the blanks.

Mobility 10.5

In the GameCube version, which was used to test it, there are handy shortcut buttons, which are mapped to the GameCube's d-pad, allowing you quick access to the item screen and to open your map. With the Dusk Light recompilation, you have access to all the creature comforts you would expect from a recompilation. These include support for modern controllers, such as the Xbox One pad. As a bonus, these controls can be fully customised to suit your impairments. 

Also, in the item select screen, you can set certain items to the  X and Y buttons. This somewhat mimics a customisable control layout; it's better than nothing, I guess!

Gameplay 11

In short, this game takes what's good about a standard 3-D Legend of Zelda game, for example, Ocarina of Time and cranks it up tenfold. The creepy undertone of the game in the Twilight Kingdom is what makes this game feel unique. In the Twilight sections of the game, Link is transformed into a spirit Wolf. The game is turned upside down; for example,  when in combat, you do not have a sword to defend yourself, so you are reliant on Wolf link's ability to pounce on his targets, then repeatedly attack them. 

Graphically, the game looked absolutely beautiful, even for GameCube standards. The DuskLight recompilation has a fair few graphical enhancements, but with the graphics in the original GameCube version looking so good, having the enhancements enabled would seem pretty pointless.

So, if you are a Legend of Zelda fan and are looking for a unique experience and are simply tired of the open-world style of modern games, such as Sonic Frontiers or BotW, this game is a good choice.

OVERALL SCORE- 103.5%

See you guys in the next review!

Review of Wild Blue Skies (Xbox, PS5, Switch)

 What is up, everyone! Welcome to a very special episode of RetrOS. This time, we are straying from retro gaming territory to take a look at an indie title that is hailed as the spiritual successor to Star Fox 64.

Will this game fill Star Fox 64's shoes? Or is this a quick cash grab, cashing in on the hype and success of the recently released Star Fox reboot?

Let's find out!

RetrOS Special- the Alpha and the Omega review of Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire (3DS)

 Ladies and gentlemen, start your emulators! It is time for another episode of RetrOS. This is the show where we give you your recommended dose of nostalgia by reviewing games from your childhood.

This episode is the big one! The anniversary special! This year, we take a look at the remake of the game that I remember playing before, and the immediate aftermath of my accident in 2004. Does this remaster truly live up to the game's legacy? Or should this game be lost forever in the pages of gaming history?

Let's find out!

RetrOS- StaR-Cade( Review of Star Wing SNES)

Ladies and gentlemen, start your emulators. It's time for another episode of RetrOS. This is the show where we give you your recommended dose of nostalgia by reviewing games from your childhood.

We're back in R-Cade to review the first entry of the legendary Star Fox series. Is this game worthy of remembrance, or should this game be lost forever in the pages of gaming history?

Let's find out!

RetrOS- Stadium of R-Cade Review of Pokemon Stadium (N64)

Ladies and gentlemen, start your emulators! It's time for another episode of RetrOS. The show where we give you your recommended dose of Nostalgia by reviewing games from your childhood.

 This time we were live and on location in R-Cade Glasgow!  This time, we duke it out on the first entry of the world-famous Pokémon series in 3D. Can R-Cade lift the trophy, or will they be a first-round knockout?

Let's find out!!!

 In the mid to late 90s, the world was gripped by a Pokémon craze. During that craze, Nintendo was trying to push that license to print money as far as they could. 

 There was a TV series and a trading card game created by Wizards of the Coast.  

I still remember my classmates queuing up to play a bootleg version of Pokémon Crystal I got from a Bazaar in Turkey on the last day before summer break from Primary school. That's how popular Pokémon was.

In 1999, Pokémon transitioned to the 3rd dimension with this classic.

Developed by Gamefreak and published by Nintendo,  the game revolves around the Gen 1 versions, i.e., Red and Blue versions of the game.

You play the part of a Pokémon trainer; it is up to you to advance through the cups and become a Pokémon master.

The accessibility scores are as follows

Visibility 9.5

Although the move types are colour-coded, the text in the centre of the icon should indicate what element each move is. Other than that, there are no colour-coded elements that cause issues for players with visual impairments.

Audibility 10

Now there is spoken dialogue in this game, only commentary over the battle, so it's not too important in the grand scheme of things. So you should be able to play this game.

Mobility 10.5

Due to the turn-based nature of the game, you have all the time in the world to think through your moves before you make them. 

Certain mini games can be a bit of an issue, but the main focus is on the battles.   In these battles, each move or Pokémon is bound to a button on the controller. You can use the R button on top of the N64 controller to check which button is assigned to which move or Pokémon.

In hindsight, it's an ingenious way of hiding your move when battling the same couch, as you don't navigate a UI to give commands to or change Pokémon.

However, the mini games will give you issues (more on that in a minute).

So, the vast majority of the game is easily playable, due to the turn-based nature of the franchise.

Gameplay 10.5

This game has a more arcade-style feel. Instead of catching Pokémon, the majority of the original 150 are your oyster. When you register for a battle or tournament, you have to register a team of 6 Pokémon. Before the battle begins, you pick 3 to send into battle. 

 

The sheer amount of tournaments to compete in, with their own rule sets, is a lot for N64 standards. The game has various mini games, which are similar to Mario Party, for up to  4  players.

What makes this title truly unique is the ability to use a peripheral to sync the data from your save file stored in your Red/Blue versions, so you can use the Pokemon you previously caught in the game.

 You can also use the GBA tower to continue your adventure on your TV screen.

In terms of lifespan, the main game can be completed in 11 hours. 

In summary, Pokemon Stadium is a solid addition to the Pokémon series. As I said before, this is the first 3D Pokemon game, alone or with friends on the same couch. If you are interested and would like to try it on native, N64 hardware, check out R-Cade, they are located on Saltmarket Street.

 You can hire a console for just 11 pounds an hour. R-Cade also has a plethora of board games to play. Go grab a drink, hire a console for a nostalgic trip down memory lane, or chill and play some board games.

OVERALL SCORE 101.25%

See you guys in the next review!

RetrOS- Banana Split GP Review of Diddy Kong RacingDS

Ladies and gentlemen, start your emulators! It's time for another episode of RetrOS. The show where we give you your recommended dose of Nostalgia by reviewing games from your childhood. In this episode, we will be taking a look at  Rare's attempt to replicate the Mario Kart formula on a DS console. Is this game a Mario Kart killer?  Or is this game just an imitator???

Let's find out!!

RetrOS - awakening of the Legend(Review of Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening (GBC)

Ladies and gentlemen,  start your emulators! It's time for an extra episode of RetrOS, the show where we give your recommended dose of nostalgia by reviewing games from your Childhood.

In this episode, we take a look at a classic from the Game Boy library. Is this game worthy of remembrance? Or should this game be lost forever in the pages of gaming history?

Let's find out!