Mega Joy II

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Nostalgia is a great thing, but refreshing the memory with a dip into the bran tub of history can often be painful. Things ain't what they used to be, but in some cases that's for the best. Spend an evening with the repeat channels on digital TV and you'll see why.

However, Megajoy II, a collection of 60 old-school video games built into a joypad, has more than its fair share of diamonds amongst the coal. Playability, like tricky wingplay and the Pirelli calendar, never goes out of fashion, and the significant proportion of the offerings here are riddled with it.

They say that there are only seven stories in fiction, no matter how you dress them up. A similar principle applies to games, in that there are only a handful of styles to play with. Megajoy II shows off some of the roots of games with its examples of driving, platform, sports, puzzle, shoot-'em-up and beat'em-up genres.

As a self-contained console and retro game collection, the Megajoy II is a triumph. Simple to set up and always offering a choice, it's ten-minute-filling properties are plenty. And as a starter of the 'I had this on (insert tape-based 80s computer format here)' conversation, it is unparalleled.

GAME LIST
1) Math +-, 2) Math x/ , 3) Mortal Combat, 4) Power Soccer, 5) Hyper Olympic, 6) Adventure Island, 7) Gradius, 8) 1942, 9) New Human, 10) Legends of the Kage, 11) Super Jack, 12) Tennis, 13) Baseball, 14) Golf, 15) Jewel Tetris, 16) Lunar Ball, 17) Pinball, 18) Westle, 19) Urban Champion, 20) Long Jump, 21) Kung Fu, 22) Knights Fight, 23) F1 Race, 24) Road Fighter, 25) Hurdles, 26) Zippy Race, 27) Tank, 28) Donkey Kong, 29) Circus Charlie, 30) Ice Climber, 31) Ninja, 32) Arabian, 33) Dig Dug, 34) Mappy, 35) Popeye, 36) Lode Runner, 37) Ant Adventure, 38) Milk and Nuts, 39) Bomber Man, 40) Pacman, 41) Pooyan, 42) Javelin Throw, 43) Star Force, 44) Combat, 45) Front Line, 46) Skeet Shooting, 47) Raid on Bay, 48) Macross, 49) Triple Jump, 50) Galaza, 51) Sky Destroyer, 52) Archery, 53) Formation Z, 54) Rope Exhibition, 55) Ice Man, 56) High Jump, 57) Rugged Racer, 58) Jack Bros, 59) 100m Dash, 60) Spartan.