Leeds Retro Games Fair 2017

Today’s header image was created by me. It s photo that I took while we where at the Retro Games Fair.

Squidgey and I recently attended a retro games fair in Leeds.

The Event

Last year we attended the Super Retro Game Fair, which was held at Leeds City Hall.

This year it was a slightly smaller affair, and I do mean slightly – the place was packed to the rafters.

But that doesn’t mean it was any less popular. We turned up at 10:40 (the event started at 11am) and this was the start of the queue:

The Games Room

There was a games room this year, which was new.

Anyone could try their hands at playing Tekken Tournament, Halo, Battle Blocks Theatre,

Donkey Kong, Worms Armageddon, Mario Kart Double Dash, Ape Escape, Capcom vs SNK

Super Smash Brothers Brawl or PowerStone

on various consoles.

Also there was someone wearing a horse head mask… so that’s a thing.

Traders

As usual there where lots of shops, stores and independent traders there selling their wares (games, consoles, t-shirts, and even a few selling games related things like mugs and plushies).

There was even someone selling modded video games and unreleased games, including the unreleased Dreamcast version of Half Life

I’m in the process of writing a post about the Amstrad CPC 464 (which was our first computer), so you’ll understand why my jaw dropped when we found a stall with hundreds of Amstrad tapes for sale

Squidgey saw how enamoured I was and even bought me this:

Which was the first game we played on our 464 back in the day. Then, a few feet away, we actually saw one for sale:

The folks over at Sore Thumb Retro Games had their usual stall (which is where Squidgey and I get a lot of our rarer games from), filled with games for (pretty much) every console that there ever was.

Then Squidgey saw this:

and even a Power Glove

And of course, the whole event had the greatest sound track ever: a curated selection of video game soundtrack songs.

We recognised songs from:

• The NES version of TMNT
• Jet Set Radio
• Super Mario Bros. 2
• Castlevania
• Kirby in Dreamland
• Streets of Rage

As soon as Going Straight started, Squidgey said, ‘The song of my people!’

• Kingdom Hearts
• Contra

There were others, but they went by in a bit of a blur.

Our Haul

All in all, we were only at the event for a few hours but we came away with a great collection of memories.

As I mentioned earlier, Squidgey bought me this:

Which will be sat at my new desk, once I’ve set it up.

I even managed to track down a copy of Samurai Warriors for PS2:

I’ve got a post planned on this one already.

Squidgey picked up some fantastic games too:

He tried to pay for Bio Hazard (the Japanese version of Resident Evil) in Yen but the guy wasn’t having any of it.

And the cover art for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is one of those 3D optical illusion thingies.

Here’s his NES haul (for his burgeoning NES collection):

This is, pretty much, the first summer of video games that I can remember. All that’s missing from this group is Power Blade, TMNT and Super Mario Bros. and you have my first summer of video games.

Squidgey has been on a bit of a Diablo 2 and 3 kick recently, so finally being able to pick up the game where it all started was a bonus for the day.

Thoughts

When I asked Squidgey what he thought of the event, he had this to say:

Squidge:

It’s been a trip down memory lane. And if your first gaming experience was from the PS3 onwards, this event won’t make much sense to you, but if you’re a little older it’ll be a great way to spend an afternoon

For me, this was a fantastic way to spend a Saturday morning (and part of the afternoon) with one of my favourite people: my brother.

To which he said:

Squidge:

Kiss arse

Did you go to the Retro Games fair or are you planning to attend one similar? Let us know in the comments.