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Iwas seven years old when the Eighties game revolution began, and it’s safe to say that those early experiences with videogames led me to where I am today. While I cringe at many of our family photos from that time period – let’s just say my sense of fashion was questionable – my eyes light up whenever I find a picture of me proudly holding my Amstrad CPC or the many shots that show me standing in front of a Star Wars or Double Dragon arcade cabinet on our yearly visits to Porthcawl. While the Nineties was also a great time to be a gamer, things still felt incredibly exciting during the Eighties. Arcade games really came of age and new types of gaming experiences seemed to arrive overnight whenever I visited Quay Amusements. All of my mates were starting to own computers, ranging from the ZX81 to the BBC Micro – and later the Atari ST and Amiga – and people who owned consoles like the Atari 2600 or Colecovision quickly ascended my friends list. Games appeared to be everywhere and there seemed to be a game for everyone thanks to the proliferation of budget games and compilations that began to flood the market from the mid-eighties onwards, while every big-budget film seemed to have an equally big game to go alongside it. Our giant 14-page feature covers all the things that made the Eighties such a great gaming decade, and hopefully it will be as memorable a journey for you as it was for me. And now we’re finally back on sale in the shops, I’d just like to thank every reader who stuck with us during this difficult period. Stay safe and enjoy the magazine.