Update 6/3 - Spacewar! Legacy, Zenko, Cobra Triangle, Engacho!, more iOS Shooters, Alex Kidd, and Guardians of the Hood

Spacewar! is one of the earliest known videos games in existence. Born of a PDP-1 mainframe, the consumer version was known as Computer Space, also known as the first arcade game. Derboo's massive seven page article covers not only the history of Spacewar! and Computer Space, but also its many clones and spin-offs, including a whole huge section devoted to Asteroids!, and its many clones and spinoffs. The influence of the series runs far and deep, and this article covers them almost all comprehensively.

Zenki was a fairly prolific manga and anime series in the mid-90s, spawning a number of video game entries, including one for the PC-FX. Cobra Triangle is a Rare-developed title for the NES where you pilot a rather daring speed boat, and also runs up against Battletoads (also of the same developer) as one of the most infuriating titles of the era. And Engacho! is an amusing gross-out puzzle game for the PlayStation and Wonderswan, featuring, at the very least, giant walking asses. The tenth installment of the iOS Shooters article includes reviews of Doodle Arcade Shooter, Jet Fighter Ace, Neocell Fighters Evolution and Mortal Skies 2, while our latest Metal Gear interview has a chat with Toshinari Oka, the programmer for Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake for the MSX2.

Sega has been releasing a slew of excellent Vintage Collection packs on the XBLA and PSN in the past few weeks, so out Spotlight Articles will be focusing on them for awhile. First up: Alex Kidd, who shows up bundled with Super Hang-On and Revenge of Shinobi on the XBLA for some reason, was Sega's old mascot before Sonic took over the reins. Your Weekly Kusoge is Guardians of the Hood, which has the bad sense to follow up on Pit Fighter, of all things.