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"From out of the dark"

From Out Of The Dark

From out of the dark is a collection of 6 songs finished during the infamous Covid lockdown of 2020, drawing musical influences from many different genres and based on different themes close to my heart.

Some with a narrative, others about how I felt a particular junction in life, playing music, writing and recording songs has been a great outlet for me and helped me deal with and express myself in a productive fashion.

With no single genre over the six songs I decided to put them out as From out of the dark, to show how something good can come from the darkness. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making them.

I appreciate so much all the friends and family who have helped critique these tracks ready for public consumption. Thanks also to my younger sister, Hannah, for providing her vocal talents and lyric writing on two of the songs.

Please listen below and follow me on all of my social networks using the links above.

Matt x

SuperPlay #48 Is Definitely Super! #RetroGaming #Nintendo


SuperPlay issue 48 is a collaboration between members of the original SuperPlay writers to mark the arrival of the new Nintendo SNES mini, released with October's issue of Retro Gamer magazine.

Fittingly, the cover is adorned for Fox McCloud from the Star Fox games, as one of the SNES minis oddities that hype was building for is the inclusion of Star Fox 2, originally axed for release on the original hardware due to ongoing changes in the gaming industry as a whole at the time. It's a lovely cover by Will Overton who also did a lot of the original art for the magazine originally.

The magazine goes on to look at the hardware of the SNES mini, and give a review of every title included on the console. Rather than review the games as they're remembered, the writers have reviewed the games from today's benchmarks, for example looking at the original Star Fox now is definitely more jarring an experience than the jaw dropping one it would've been back in '93.

Many that do hold the test of time are now firm staples in Nintendo's catalog; the Italian plummer's Super Mario World and his Lizard companion's Yoshi's Island both showing of Nintendo's skill at game design and pushing the hardware; Samus' Super Metroid shows how many of Nintendo's games set up genre defining staples still used to this day, such as power ups that allow for the further exploration of previously visited areas.

It's clear the writers here love the hardware and the games that are on it, but don't hesitate to give criticism where appropriate, for example Donkey Kong Country is reviewed at 77% where as the review from the time of release gave it a whopping 90%. 

Also mentioned are the games provided on the Famicom Mini, exclusive to Japanese owners, such as an entry in the now familiar Fire Emblem series, and a different version of Street Fighter 2. To finish, the magazine provides a list of omissions from the hardware which they'd very much like to see on a sequel to the hardware should Nintendo ever see fit to release one, including games such as the Donkey Kong sequels, TMNT: Turtles in Time and Pilotwings.

A lovely homage to the original hardware and a great way to celebrate the arrival of the SNES mini. For the many Nintendo Retro Gaming fans out there, this will be a must read.

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