I can't think of a better way to start the week ...

... than with a new issue of PC Engine Gamer magazine.

OK, so I can think of a few things that would kick off the week in a better way than this, but this is pretty good one all the same.

I say that in part because this issue of PC Engine Gamer contains write-ups of two of the cutest PC Engine games around: Be Ball and Star Parodier.

(Silly aside: I'm sure a few hardcore PC Engine fans will want to smack me for saying this, but I actually prefer Be Ball to Star Parodier by a pretty wide margin. I guess I just have a soft spot for chibi Chun-Li-esque protagonists who can't keep their hands off of giant balls.)

That isn't all the seventh issue of PC Engine Gamer has to offer, of course. It also features a fascinating interview with Hudson Soft's Tadayuki Kawada (who worked on the aforementioned Star Parodier) and a surprisingly lengthy Legendary Axe comic.

Anyway, I'd highly recommend checking it out here at your earliest convenience--whether or not you consider yourself to be a PC Engine fan. The articles in this little ezine are witty, well-written and, if you're anything like me, sure to put a smile on your face.

Hot off the presses: PC Engine Gamer #6

OK, so the latest issue of PC Engine Gamer magazine isn't exactly hot of the presses, as it hit the Internet about a month ago. Still, it's well worth checking out if you're any kind of fan of the sexy little console that took Japan by storm in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The highlights of this particular issue, in my humble opinion: An article about loads of in-the-works homebrew titles and a ton of in-depth reviews (of Golden Axe, P-47, Spin Pair and Tatsujin).

Oh, and there are numerous references to Married ... With Children, which were much appreciated by yours truly.

Enjoy all of the above and more by checking out the sixth issue of PC Engine Gamer here.(Earlier issues of this digital publication can be found here, by the way.)

In related news: The folks at The PC Engine Software Bible--who are responsible for putting together each and every issue of PC Engine Gamer--recently created a rather fabulous 2012 calendar that can be downloaded (for free) at www.pcengine.co.uk/calendar.htm.

Calling all 'Speccy' fans

Full disclosure: I've never played a ZX Spectrum game. Hell, I've never even laid my eyes on a ZX Spectrum cart (it uses cartridges, right? or does it use disks?) or system.

I feel like I have, though, after flipping through the pages of the first issue of the ZX Spectrum Gamer ezine produced by Paul Weller.

Let me assure you that you don't have to be a longtime fan of the ZX Spectrum--or Speccy, as I believe some call it--to enjoy Weller's online magazine. Basically, if you like cheeky humor and if you're curious about retro-gaming oddities, you'll get a kick out of ZX Spectrum Gamer.

Along with the aforementioned humor (a good example: on the zine's first page, Weller promises that "the next issue will be available when I write it, or perhaps a little later than that if nobody reads this one"), the inaugural issue of ZX Spectrum Gamer includes reviews of Discs of Death, Killer Kong, Olli and Lissa and Trashman. It also includes a pair of features that contemplate various Speccy game covers and loading screens.

Weller is the man behind another fanzine I've mentioned in the past, by the way: PC Engine Gamer. Check out its first five issues here.

See also: 'Someone really needs to make Famicom Gamer and Mega Drive Gamer magazines, too'

Someone really needs to make Famicom Gamer and Mega Drive Gamer magazines, too

As much as I love PC Engine Gamer magazine, I really wish someone would follow in publisher Sunteam's footsteps and produce similar online magazines focused on the Famicom, Mega Drive and every other 8-bit and 16-bit system, too. While I wait for such 'zines to materialize, though, I'll continue flipping through the latest issue of the aforementioned PC Engine-focused publication (the cover of which can be seen below).

Those of you who are at all interested in NEC's little white wonder, as I like to call the PC Engine, should read it (here), too, as this issue includes a "final countdown" of the system's 10 best continue/game over screens, a quick peek at a trio of in-the-works homebrew titles and reviews of Atomic Robo-Kid Special and Ys Book I & II.

Calling all PC Engine fans

Issue three of PC Engine Gamer magazine is now on line. (Actually, it's been on line since Dec. 2, but that's neither here nor there.)

As you can probably tell by looking at its cover (below), this issue features an in-depth review of NEC Avenue's port of Sega's popular quarter-muncher, Out Run.

It also includes, among other articles, a review of Data East's Override (a vertical shoot 'em up I've never heard of before now), an interview with homebrewer Aetherbyte and a hilarious "Final Countdown" column that discusses the 10 best shopkeepers in all of PC Engine-dom.

Not a PC Engine fan? Check it out anyway (here) for the mini-reviews of Granada (Genesis), Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES) and Super Adventure Island (SNES).

See also: Issues one and two of PC Engine Gamer