This post will be about the Sega Mega Drive side-scrolling beat-‘em-up Streets of Rage. But first this.

As a collector I’m fond of retro games, which I like hoarding. One of the basic principles I agreed to adhere to when I first realised I was building a collection that would cost a small fortune, was that I would only collect games that are worth playing. It is impossible to always know for sure if I’m going to like a game before I’ve bought and played it, but, generally, I’m not inclined to buy a game just because it’s rare. And games I don’t like are destined to leave the collection one way or another.

Retro games are at a disadvantage because new ones are so much better than them in every respect. In fact, the more retro a game, the more likely it is to be shitty by comparison. Yet my intention is not to build a collection of the best video games, but simply to have a collection of games that are good; goodness not being defined by how well they stack up against other games. I like to judge games on their own merit but not necessarily by the standards of their own time. If a 1990s game wants to impress me, it’d better have aged well.

In the series I’m starting with this post, I’ll be playing one retro game each month and sharing my opinion on whether it is worth owning based solely on its quality as a game and regardless of rarity, influence and other typical collector’s considerations.

And now for the feature presentation…