I can't think of a better way to start the week ...

... than with a new issue of PC Engine Gamer magazine.

OK, so I can think of a few things that would kick off the week in a better way than this, but this is pretty good one all the same.

I say that in part because this issue of PC Engine Gamer contains write-ups of two of the cutest PC Engine games around: Be Ball and Star Parodier.

(Silly aside: I'm sure a few hardcore PC Engine fans will want to smack me for saying this, but I actually prefer Be Ball to Star Parodier by a pretty wide margin. I guess I just have a soft spot for chibi Chun-Li-esque protagonists who can't keep their hands off of giant balls.)

That isn't all the seventh issue of PC Engine Gamer has to offer, of course. It also features a fascinating interview with Hudson Soft's Tadayuki Kawada (who worked on the aforementioned Star Parodier) and a surprisingly lengthy Legendary Axe comic.

Anyway, I'd highly recommend checking it out here at your earliest convenience--whether or not you consider yourself to be a PC Engine fan. The articles in this little ezine are witty, well-written and, if you're anything like me, sure to put a smile on your face.

Calling all 'Speccy' fans

Full disclosure: I've never played a ZX Spectrum game. Hell, I've never even laid my eyes on a ZX Spectrum cart (it uses cartridges, right? or does it use disks?) or system.

I feel like I have, though, after flipping through the pages of the first issue of the ZX Spectrum Gamer ezine produced by Paul Weller.

Let me assure you that you don't have to be a longtime fan of the ZX Spectrum--or Speccy, as I believe some call it--to enjoy Weller's online magazine. Basically, if you like cheeky humor and if you're curious about retro-gaming oddities, you'll get a kick out of ZX Spectrum Gamer.

Along with the aforementioned humor (a good example: on the zine's first page, Weller promises that "the next issue will be available when I write it, or perhaps a little later than that if nobody reads this one"), the inaugural issue of ZX Spectrum Gamer includes reviews of Discs of Death, Killer Kong, Olli and Lissa and Trashman. It also includes a pair of features that contemplate various Speccy game covers and loading screens.

Weller is the man behind another fanzine I've mentioned in the past, by the way: PC Engine Gamer. Check out its first five issues here.

See also: 'Someone really needs to make Famicom Gamer and Mega Drive Gamer magazines, too'