Welcome to another of my hubs, this time on video games. Celebrating the best of the best from the past - from 8-bit to 32-bit to the present day.

Feel free to leave comments or suggestions as to your favourite classic titles or games you'd like me to cover - feedback is always very well received :)

One of the launch titles for the Super Nintendo system, Super Mario World remains a favourite amongst Nintendo fans.

The premise remains the same - Bowser kidnaps Princess, Mario chases after Bowser through many levels (many named after confectionary) and makes use of an assortment of power-ups to take him far.

Along the way Mario must battle through levels littered with Koopa troopers and an assortment of other enemies, navigating his way through ghost castles and battling Bowsers' seven children in boss battles, before the final duel in Bowsers' Castle.

SMW also saw the introduction of one of the most well known Nintendo characters, the dinosaur named Yoshi. As Mario battles through levels on the quest for the Princess, he also helps to free the Yoshi's from Bowsers' clutches, acquiring help and power-ups as he does so. Vast levels were littered with with secret paths, usually involving keys, which led to secret areas and levels, which presented players with an extra challenge along the way to Bowsers' Castle.

A true classic amongst the Nintendo collection, Super Mario World remains one of the most popular and well known of the titles, with cute 2D graphics and a score that is almost a remix of earlier level music, making for an extremely enjoyable playing experience.

5 out of 5

Having grown up with titles such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, I'm rather a fan of fighting games, so imagine my surprise and joy to discover that an old favourite has had a bit of a makeover, and now looks better than ever.

Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix is available on XBox 360 and PS3 and can be downloaded through the respective shopping networks on each console. For this you initially get two titles - the classic Turbo original and a highly enhanced Remix version, featuring vastly improved graphics thanks to contributions from Udon Entertainment (producers of the Street Fighter animated films) as well as a remixed soundtrack thanks to contributions by fans who worked together with Capcom to preserve the original tracks and bring them into the modern music setting.

Old favourites such as Ryu and Chun-Li are joined by additional characters in both versions - from the eccentric DeeJay to the mysterious Akuma - and all of which have had their graphics and animation rates improved so much that you'd think they were completely new to the Street Fighter universe. And this makes for some fantastic gameplay, with the online modes offering the chance to pit your skills against other fans around the world, as well as additional training modes and even an online ranking system so you can show just how good you are with your Sonic Boom or Hundred Hand Slap.

Fans of the series will get a real kick out of this latest version, or dragon punch if you prefer - SHORYUKEN!!!

5 out of 5

When it comes to quirky platformers, the Mega Drive had it's fair share during it's time, and this little offering was no different.

Dynamite Headdy follows the adventures of a puppet with a detactable head - which can be used as a weapon - as he attempts to save his world from the evil King Dark Demon, who along with his evil hencemen and sidekick Trouble Bruin have imprisoned the good toys and are converting them into evil toys.

The hero Headdy has a variety of detactable heads at his disposal throughout the game - from those which will shrink him, allowing him to reach smaller areas and the secrets contained within them, to those which will increase Headdy's attacks and allow him to defeat enemies easier.

Some even allow him to fly, and some of the levels make use of this skill, whilst others have you doing battle with Bruin - a fellow puppet looking to steal Headdy's time in the spotlight. Boss battles are frequent in this game and are usually at the end of each 'scene' and by battling through these, Headdy eventually gets his hands (and head) on the evil King and does battle in the Dark Dimension.

This is a fun little title, which I enjoyed when growing up, it encapsulates everything a Megadrive platformer had, and provides some great and unusual comic moments throughout. This title is also available on Virtual Console - through which I rediscovered it, and it's still as good as I remember it.

5 out of 5 

Having grown up with other classic side-scrolling shooting games, such as Contra and Gunstar Heroes, you kinda get used to the action aspect. In RKA you control a possum by name of Sparkster, armed with a rocket pack and a sword, whose world has been turned upside down by the evil Axel Gear, and thus our hero must run, jump, swim and fly through seven challenging stages - making use of his rocket pack, sword and even his prehensile tail to save his homeland.

The game makes use of both platforming levels - in which Sparkster must do battle with evil pigs and robot minions, making use of sword swipes and spin attacks - and side-scrolling shooting levels, akin to titles such as Gradius. Making use of his rocket pack, Sparkster was able to charge up and fly in 8 directions, allowing him to reach higher platforms and to escape from enemies.

Addictive and fun to play, RKA provides gamers with an action-packed shoot-em-up that was both cute and challenging, for playing through Easy mode would not give the true ending, so players had to test themselves in order to discover the secrets of this title.

Rating: 5 out of 5

LucasArts are well known for their comedic point-and-click adventures - developing such classics as Monkey Island and Day Of The Tentacle. In 1998 the studio stepped into the world of the film noir detective, only set in the land of the dead.

The story focuses on Manuel "Manny" Calavera - a Mexican/Latino supernatural travel agent for the dead - with the top package being a ticket on the Number 9 train to the Underworld. Frustrated by his working life and the success of his rival Domino Hurley, a quick client sabotage mission leads to his involvement with Mercedes "Meche" Colomar - which leads to rather an adventure of demons and deceit. The characters have a distinctly Latino feel to them, both in voice and mannerisms.

The game's graphics and deep gameplay, as well as a jazzy film noir-esqe score and a voice cast including Tony Plana made for some positive reviews, winning many awards for it's game design and music score. The wide range of extrodinary characters - from skeletal representations of the dead to disgruntled demon maintenance workers - make for a game that, despite poor sales, helped to instill the name of LucasArts and Tim Schafer into the minds of gamers around the world.

5 out of 5

Nintendo's most instantly recognisable character had always been known as a 2D plumber in side scrolling levels full of enemies and hidden goodies.

In 1996, the world of Mario went 3D - with spectacular effects - Mario 64 became one of the launch titles for the new Nintendo 64 system, and has become one of the best selling games of all time. The transition from 2D to 3D opened up a whole new world for the player to discover, new controls and techniques - such as backflips and triple jumps - in order to give gamers something a little more taxing.

The plot remains pretty much the same, Princess Peach has been abducted by Bowser (again) and it's up to Mario (again again) to traipse round a multitude of levels in search of Peach. The gameplay, however, went through a drastic change - with the emphasis focusing then on returning to levels in order to complete a variety of missions in order to collect Power Stars, which are needed to unlock further levels in the pursuit of the Koopa King himself.

Along the way, Mario has to chase rabbits, take on giant Chain Chomps and climb huge fortresses in order to reach the princess. He does, however, have a number of 'power caps' at his disposal - from the Wing Cap that'll let him fly, the Metal Cap which prevents damage for a while, and the Vanish Cap that lets him walk through wire mesh and other light obstacles.

This change in style has been decribed by many as one of the most revolutinary events in video games history - with many agreeing that opening the game up to a 3D platformer has opened up a new chapter in the Mario series - with games such as Super Mario Sunshine and the recent blockbuster Super Mario Galaxy following the trend set by this classic game. Recent ports to the DS system opened up three new characters to explore the world as - Luigi, Mario and his faithful steed Yoshi)

Back in the days when arcades used to be packed to the rafters with eager gamers, fighting games proved to be some of the most popular genres you could spend your pocket money on.

One of the many titles that spring to the thoughts of gamers when we think of those early arcade beat-em-ups is Samurai Shodown - seen by many as being the title that started the ball rolling and put SNK on the gaming map.

Set in the 18th century, players had the opportunity to fight as a number of characters that were based upon legendary Japanese swordsmen. Indeed, everything from the costumes and stages to the stage music had a distinctily Oriental feel to them (with a few Western elemnts - such as the characters of Galford and Charlotte - thrown in to mix it up) - which became more refined as sequels were developed, helping to spawn more highly detailed characters as the series got ported to many more powerful consoles.

Because of the inclusion of blood and 'instant kill' manuevers, the game found itself toned down when released on consoles - however the slow-motion sequences upon sustaining heavy damage, and indeed the kill sequences remainone of the many defining features of the game series.

Overall, whilst it may not look so impressive in today's gaming market, Samurai Shodown helped pave the way for further titles - and indeed for SNK, who enjoyed success with further beat-em-up titles, including Art Of Fighting and King Of Fighters.

And it'll still get 50p from me should I come across it in an arcade (though that possibility is becoming more of a rarity nowadays)

After reviewing an old classic from the arcades, I ended up finding it available on Virtual Console for 900 credits - "I'll 'ave a bit of that" thought I, and downloaded it soon after.

The graphics see an improvement from the first game, with new characters - such as Nicotine - a wise old man, Cham Cham - a jungle girl with a boomerang and Genjuro - a rival of Haohmaru.

With big moves and even bigger scenary, as well as keeping the traditional Japanese themes about it. The game is also famed for it's conversion to a US format - which included many examples of 'Engrish' - some of which have become revered for their hilarity - some of my favourites are below:

• Cham Cham: "Oooh! It was scarry!"
• Charlotte: "You imitate my distinguished family. I never forgive you."

• Earthquake: "Gosh! I've made it mincemeat! He he he he he!"

• Haohmaru: "How weak you are! I will kill you as well as 'tofu' with my sword!"
• Sieger: "Don't be hateful each other. Love is the best strength."
• Wan-Fu: "How foolish, stupid and silly you are! Get away, chicken!"

However, looking past the hilarity of the text on screen, SS2 is a very good game, and remains a favourite amongst beat-em-up fans to this very day.

In an age when video games consoles were beginning to get more popular, the presence of Nintendo and the Super Mario series helped the company to make their mark in the world of video games.

Then in 1991, SEGA unleashed a rival to Nintendo's plumber in the form of a speedy blue hedgehog. The game was met with much praise for it's high-speed gameplay, clever level design and character range.

The premise of the game remained simple, speed around 6 worlds consisting of 3 levels, collecting rings and freeing cute little animals from their mechanical shells along the way to face Sonic's arch nemesis Dr. Robotnik (for some reason renamed Dr. Eggman for later games and an anime series)

Throughout the levels there are platforms to negotiate, steep banks that can be used to gain speed and spring loaded platforms for reaching higher areas. After overcoming enemies and natural hazards such as lava and bottomless pits, Sonic would find himself facing Robotnik - who every level managed to devise weapons capable of crushing the blue hedgehog.

The first game proved successful for SEGA, but it was the follow up game that generated the most revenue for the Genesis console. Indeed the Sonic franchise as a whole has proven to be a great success for SEGA - with the inclusion of more characters (including Tails the fox and Knuckles the echidna) as well as a series of spin-off games has stamped the mark of Sonic across the video game world.

And with the blue hedgehog himself crossing over to join his Nintendo counterpart in current games (such as Smash Bros Brawl) the name and image (although slightly changed) should remain with gamers for a long time to come.

All video game characters have to start somewhere, and Mario was no exception. Even though his first appearance pitted him against a giant barrel-throwing monkey, many will remember the NES game as being their first exposure to the red overalled plumber.

Now pitted against Goombas and Koopas, Mario must traverse 8 worlds in a bid to rescue Princess Peach from the clutches of the evil Bowser. Along the way (depending on which route you choose) Mario must run, jump, swim and fireball his way to Bowsers' castle for the final showdown.

With a number of classic stages with 8-bit musical ditties, whose re-mixes remain in video game culture to this very day, Super Mario Bros remains one of the most instantly recognisable game titles of the early years of console gaming - and with a re-release doing well on the Wii's Virtual Console, the beginning of the Mario series is sure to remain recognisable amongst gamers from past and present.