r/MageMagazine

In the April issue of Mage Magazine, we introduced a new feature called Multi-Player Mayhem. The goal is to help folks who enjoy multi-player and couch co-op games find new and exciting titles to try.

The first recommendation is Crawl. Paige describes the game and why she'd recommend it.

Have you played it? What did you think of it?

My first experience holding a Nintendo Entertainment System Controller is still burned into my brain. I was in early grade, like 1 or 2, and I was over to a friends apartment after school and under his TV was that majestic grey box.

The only game he had was Rad Racer. Neither of us could win the first race, but man did we have fun. It was only in my adulthood with patience and perseverance that I got to see this ending scene.

With the Adventures of Elliott release closing in, thought it was time to finally tackle a long overdue blindspot, Secret of Mana.

Though I'm about three quarters through the game now, this screenshot comes from the very beginning of the game when the protagonist gets banished from their village for removing the Mana Sword.

One of the biggest takeaways from this game so far is the absolute beautiful graphics. Love the choice of bold and beautiful colourful pixel art.

Love to hear thoughts on the game, feel free to share!

Here's the review of Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, now available to play for folks who have the Nintendo Online service including the expansion pack.

Never played this one myself, own a GameCube but can't say I've played too many games on that system. Jordan certainly has me intrigued though.

You can download the full issue here: https://thethirstymage.com/2026/04/15/mage-magazine-april-2026-issue-3-taito-arcade-classics/

In a fun change of pace of the usual screenshot Wednesday, instead of telling you where the picture came from, we'd see if you could guess. Need a hint?

• Released in 1996
• This is the Game Boy port of a 1995 PlayStation title
• Part of a series of Fighting games released during the 90s

This screenshot is a bit of a preview of the upcoming April Issue of the Magazine.

This comes from Kaiser Knuckle, the early nineties fighting game from Taito that was meant to be a competitor in the arcade fighting scene. I'm not one for fighting games, but IMO, this is easily the hardest fighting game I've ever played.

Picked this because of the amazing details in both the fighters and the background. In this scene, I just hit Marco through the wall into a hidden room off to the right of the arena.

Have you ever played Kaiser Knuckle?

My love of Square Enix is no secret. I grew up playing Final Fantasy and Rad Racer on NES and my admiration for their games has only grown since.

One early Square game that I didn't play as a kid is King's Knight. It was an interesting experience taking a look back at a pre-Final Fantasy title from Hironobu Sakaguchi. My only regret is not reading the manual prior playing through the game any of the first three times...

This article is featured in the April issue of Mage Magazine - https://thethirstymage.com/2026/03/15/mage-magazine-issue-2/

Last night, I happen to come across Dead Connection, an Arcade classic made by Taito back in 1992. This game was fantastic. Essentially you play as a character looking for vengeance against the mob and the gameplay is a bullet hell shoot 'em up in these little diorama type settings.

Anyone have any Arcade recommendations for the early 90s?

You can find a very nice looking fireplace in most RPGs, but are they built to code?

Submit your favourite Fireplace here to put it to the test, and to potentially have it featured in our monthly "Rate My Fireplace" article in Mage Magazine.

We rate based on both aesthetics and practicality (Usually missing a flue).

The April Issue of the Magazine is already started, and we've got a fun feature coming up that highlights just a few of the many arcade games published by Taito.

Here's a screenshot of Silent Dragon, the Beat 'Em Up from 1992. Very few genres Taito didn't make a game for, and this was their go at side-scrolling action.

Thought I would play through Castle of Illusion for the March issue but gotta say, wasn't feeling this one.

2D platformer with controls that just felt a little to loose for my taste. Got through a couple levels and that was it for me.

Some beautiful pixel work though, just look at this cutscene.

With the recent announcement of Super Sentai ending its 50+ year run, it got me thinking about the early nineties when my entire life revolved around the Power Rangers.

Inspired me to put together this list of my favourite Power Ranger things. I don't think any of my pics would surprise many outside of my favourite game.

This article comes from Issue #2 of Mage Magazine: https://thethirstymage.com/2026/03/15/mage-magazine-issue-2/

What are your favourites in the above categories?

What is your favourite version of the Power Rangers?