I can’t tell you just how much nostalgia I have for the iconic British software house, Gremlin Interactive.

It goes way back to the mid-80s for me, playing their titles on my Commodore Plus/4, when they were known as Gremlin Graphics. I was genuinely sad when Gremlin Interactive, as they were later known, were bought by, and absorbed into, French video games behemoth, Infogrames.

Anyway, I was really fond of the first Evercade Gremlin Collection, which featured some absolutely stunning games. Though it only has 6 games included, most of them were worth a go, and a few of them were sublime.

You’d think that Gremlin Collection 2 would be even more highly curated, from a quality point of view, but alas that’s not the case.

Alongside the forgettable, though mildly enjoyable, Buggy, there’s top down shooter Loaded, and its sequel Re-Loaded. As you can see from the screenshot above, Loaded is a proper gorefest, though it’s all done with tongue firmly in cheek, with a darkly humourous and anarchic tone.

As a sort of single player, Gauntlet-style experience, albeit with a sci-fi setting and tons of the old ultraviolence, it can get pretty repetitive, but it was a game I enjoyed back in the day and have had some enjoyment playing it again too.

I don’t have the same nostalgia for Re-Loaded, which always felt more like an expansion pack than a proper sequel. It felt far less innovative and definitely less technically impressive than its predecessor when it arrived, but honestly it’s not that bad (and I love both the Simon Bisley character designs and the soundtrack in each of the Loaded titles).

On a cartridge with only four games to choose from, however, it’s a shame that we don’t have something else here from Gremlin’s extensive 32-bit library.

Finally, the star of the show. The piece de resistance. The pig’s trotters, if you will. Hogs of War is a turn based combat game that’s heavy on the pig-based puns, plays like a 3D Worms and has the late, much-missed Rik Mayall on voice duties.

It’s superb, and almost worth the price of this entire collection on its own (much as Worms Armageddon does the same for the otherwise disappointing Worms Collection 1). Time hasn’t been kind to the visuals of Hogs of War, but it excels in just about every other way that matters.

So there you have it. A fairly mediocre collection with one very bright spot, but one which, if you had a PS1 in the early days, will likely appeal to you immensely. Now then, how about Actua Golf, Actua Pool, and N20 for the next Gremlin Collection, Blaze?

You can buy Gremlin Collection 2 from Amazon.

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