Uploaded January 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago

---

The Year That Was (and shall not be named again) was certainly one of downer moods. But as always, gaming more than ever was a way to find moments to raise one's spirits. Which brings me to this pack of games which very much helped do that - with a mix of big name releases, to exciting indies and of course plenty of old-school joy - it's some of the gems I most enjoyed through the year.

Hopefully you might find a title or two to check out for yourself!

Thanks for watching!

Beyond The Scanlines is a series of explorations of *interesting* games for classic home computer and console systems. New episodes air on the 2nd & 4th Saturdays of each month!

Missed an episode? Check out the master playlist at: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZAgJhaPWsQJpvpcqCxgDtI420aKxsUnI

Want to keep on top of new episodes as their drop? Subscribe (and turn on notifications), or join the mailing list at: eepurl.com/hnpZhX

Want to support the show? One-off donations can be made over via Ko-fi (ko-fi.com/beyondthescanlines), or you can join the supporter community over on Patreon (patreon.com/robc)

Additional Info
==
Referenced Videos:
- youtube.com/watch?v=bQkzy9CHyME (Ys: The Vanished Omens)
- youtube.com/watch?v=SBBL8ojaCxY (Steel Ranger)
- youtube.com/watch?v=E4AL7jUfdjQ (Power Strike II)
- youtube.com/watch?v=Rle0KryeldI (Fire Shark)
- youtube.com/watch?v=PXqAH3XCSBg (Spectrum Next)
- youtube.com/watch?v=SeK5aogIRKU (Tyvarian)

Articles:
- https://www.player2.net.au/2020/10/disc-room-simple-yet-compelling/ (Disc Room review)

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:50 Chill-out Games
08:02 Exciting Games
12:53 Shmups!
19:04 Spectrum Next Stuff

#BeyondTheScanlines