90s nostalgia – Trekking with Dennis

Memories of 1999: A Quarter of a Century Later

1999 was probably one of the most fun and exciting years of my life! It’s been a quarter of a century since then, so I thought we could spend a few minutes looking back and reflecting as we acknowledge that milestone.

I think it can be hard to explain to folks who didn’t live through the millennium – or who are too young to remember it clearly – but the end of the ’90s really was a landmark event for many of us. 1999 was the final countdown to the biggest party of the century, and it also came along at an interesting point in history that really amplified many of those celebratory qualities. I’d like to take a look at all of that today, share some of my recollections of the year, and also look at a few films, games, and TV shows that debuted in or were running through 1999.

A photo of a floppy disc with the words "Memories of 1999" on the label. — Let’s load up some old memories together!

Let’s get one thing clear right off the bat, before the pedants jump in! Technically the year 2000 wasn’t the first year of either the 3rd millennium or the 21st Century – those honours fall to 2001. But for all intents and purposes, New Year’s Eve 1999 is when the switch happened for most of us: this was the moment the ’90s ended, the moment years began with a 2 instead of a 1, and the moment it felt like things had switched. At the time that seemed to annoy some nerds… but who cares, right? It’s party time!

1999 also coincided with a rare alignment of social, economic, political, and diplomatic positivity and stability – at least here in the UK. The end of “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland after decades, the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, a new and relatively popular government with a substantial governing majority, inflation at a low and stable level, the economy growing, British entertainment from books to bands taking the world by storm… the tail end of the ’90s was quite the time to be coming of age!

Still frame from a BBC News report in 1997 on the Good Friday Agreement. — The Good Friday Agreement brought an end to decades of conflict in Northern Ireland in 1997.

The end of the Cold War in particular led to one of history’s most infamously wrong assessments: Francis Fukuyama’s book The End of History and the Last Man. Fukuyama argued that the collapse of communism meant that liberal democracy had “won,” and that humanity had reached “the end of history.” As strange and silly as that argument may sound today, that was how many people felt at the time.

Technology was also in its ascendency – and the growth in computing power year on year seemed to be without end. A PC I bought in 1997 – for no small amount of money at the time – felt pretty out-of-date by 1999, struggling to run more up-to-date games and software that rapid advances in technology made possible. This was also the time of the switch from 2D to 3D graphics in games, and what I consider to be the real beginning of video games as a narrative art form that could rival film and television. Later in the year, to mark the anniversary of its release, we’ll take a look at one of the landmark games of this era that really encapsulated that feeling for me.

Still frame from Prince's music video for the song 1999. — Do you remember this song?

As dawn was breaking on New Year’s Day 1999, I remember being hit with a sense of “wow, this is really it!” It felt like there was about to be a 365-day-long buildup to the party of a lifetime – a party that would end when the year 2000 began! As Prince sang on his hit song 1999, which had been released seventeen years earlier: “2000 zero-zero, party’s over, oops, out of time!” Do you remember that song? It must’ve been played incessantly on the radio in 1999, and I’m sure it was the last song many folks heard at New Year’s Eve parties that year!

But before we reached the biggest party of the millennium, there was an entire year to get through! For me, this was a year of school, Saturday jobs, trips into town with friends, and being stuck at home with the family. I know that I’m looking back with rose-tinted glasses and over-romanticising some of those memories, because school in general wasn’t great for me, and my anxiety kept me on edge a lot of the time. But there were some highlights: I starred in a school play in the spring, then took a leading role in organising the end-of-term Christmas event for the first time. My elderly English teacher used to drag a bunch of us to church to perform a reading or two, but in ’99 I was given the task of organising it – choosing the music, the running order, and so on. It felt like a huge responsibility at the time – and I remember it being a lot of fun.

A photograph of a British high street in 1999 showing shops, cars, and pedestrians. — A typical British high street in 1999.
*Photo Credit: James Cridland via Flickr; james.cridland.net, CC BY 2.0*

In terms of media, I was doing pretty good in 1999! My parents had a VCR in the living room, and with a few blank tapes of my own, I was free to record and re-watch some of my favourite films and TV episodes. I was also able to rent videos – there was a local video rental place that had a selection of the latest films, and the local library service had also expanded into video for the first time. The library was actually a great place to find VHS tapes – it was cheaper than the rental shop at only £1 per video, and you got to keep them for an entire week! Toward the end of the ’90s, Star Trek even started popping up at the biggest library in the area.

I also had a PC, and although I was only running Windows 95, I was still able to play some pretty fun games. I would’ve certainly still been playing Age of Empires and The Rise of Rome expansion pack in 1999, and probably Actua Golf 2, as well. I got Midtown Madness in the summer, and I played that to death! Tearing up the streets of Chicago and getting chased by the police was so much fun.

An illustration of a beige CRT computer monitor. — Remember when computers were beige?

But my PC was meant to be used for school and homework first and foremost – so my gaming platform of choice was a Nintendo 64. 1999 was the year of Donkey Kong 64, Fifa ’99, and Jet Force Gemini – as well as multiplayer offerings like the venerable Mario Kart 64 and Mario Party, which were great fun whenever I had people over and we could hang out together in the living room! Nintendo is one of the few companies these days to still regularly make couch co-op titles, with the focus of multiplayer games long ago having moved online. Again, this is the nostalgia talking: but I do miss the old days of playing games with a friend or two huddled around the TV!

1999 was the year that the Dreamcast launched in the UK – soon to be followed and overshadowed by the PlayStation 2. I wouldn’t get a Dreamcast until the following year, but it’s worth noting as this was also the year that Shenmue was released. To this day Shenmue is one of my favourite games of all-time, and it was the first game that I played that truly felt cinematic. The Dreamcast was a massive leap forward compared with my old Nintendo 64, which had already been an enormous jump from the old 2D world of the SNES just a few years earlier. The rate of technological change – which, as a teenager, I mostly experienced through the growing and evolving graphics of video games – was phenomenal during this era.

A Nintendo 64 console and control pad. — The venerable Nintendo 64 was my games console of choice in 1999.

And I think that kind of encapsulates 1999 and the late ’90s in general: the rapid advancement of technology and the rapid uptake of technology. Prices continued to fall through the ’90s, making these things affordable. In 1990, my household didn’t have a computer, a games console, or a mobile phone. By 1999, we had two computers, two games consoles, and a mobile phone each for myself and my parents (my younger sister would get one a few years later).

That’s unprecedented, isn’t it? The level of change in technology and connectivity – I don’t think anything like it has happened before or since. It’s a trend that would continue into the 2000s and beyond – and depending where you are in the world it might’ve been a bit earlier or a bit later. But for me, at least, it feels like this period of great change is anchored around 1999 and the turn of the millennium.

A Motorola Timeport mobile phone. — A Motorola mobile phone. I had a similar one in 1999.

Maybe that’s because it was my “coming-of-age” moment, and maybe everyone looks back on their late teens in a similar way. But I’m not so sure about that! If I compare 1999 with when my parents would’ve been in the same position in the early ’60s, I just don’t see the same kind of technological change. Societal changes, sure – the ’60s was the decade of the Beatles, the sexual revolution, and so on. But would they look back on, say, 1965 the same way as I look back on 1999? I doubt it.

This technological change came along at a time of optimism and hope. As the millennium approached, things really seemed to be looking up… and that’s a feeling which, looking back, I don’t think I’ve felt again in twenty-five years. Definitely not to the same degree. By the time we got to 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, that sense of hope for a more peaceful future had faded. When the financial crash happened a few years later and austerity policies came in, it was entirely dead.

A stock photograph of a sunset over a coast or lake. — There was a real sense of optimism as the sun set for the final time in 1999.

But let’s not end on such a depressing note, eh?

I’ve picked five films, five games, five TV shows, and five songs from 1999 that I think are worth your time, and I thought it could be fun to go through them together. The lists are not exhaustive (obviously) and are in no particular order. They’re just a few titles from this landmark year that I enjoyed – and kind of encapsulate the mood of the year for me.

Film #1:
Tarzan

Still frame from Disney's Tarzan (1999).

Tarzan feels like an underappreciated gem from the Disney renaissance. A great soundtrack from Phil Collins contributed to making this Disneyfied take on the classic tale of the “wild man of the jungle” feel unique and special, and the film really packs an emotional punch. There are some adorable scenes between Tarzan and his adoptive family, as well as some great moments of humour, too. Tarzan can feel overlooked, sometimes – slipping into the cracks in between bigger releases that continue to see attention from Disney. But it’s a great film in its own right, and well worth a watch.

Film #2:
Deep Blue Sea

Still frame from Deep Blue Sea (1999) showing Samuel L Jackson's character.

Genetically-engineered sharks? What could go wrong?! Everything, apparently, and this horror/disaster film shows us how. The premise is undeniably silly, but after sequels to Jaws had failed to recapture the fear factor of sharks, Deep Blue Sea demonstrated that there were still plenty of things to do with the ocean’s apex predators. Samuel L. Jackson is the standout performer, and the film is also an early project for producer Akiva Goldsman – known more recently for his work on the Star Trek franchise. A “guilty pleasure” type of film, perhaps… but it was a blast to watch at the cinema back in 1999!

Film #3:
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Still frame from The Phantom Menace (1999) showing Queen Amidala.

The Phantom Menace isn’t my favourite Star Wars film, and that’s putting it mildly! But as someone who’d come to appreciate the Star Wars franchise in the ’90s, I was undeniably excited to watch it at the cinema for the first time. Getting tickets wasn’t easy, and the theatre was packed! The Phantom Menace may not have been my thing, but it successfully brought on board legions of new Star Wars fans and set the stage for the franchise’s continued expansion.

Film #4:
South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut

Still frame from South Park Bigger Longer and Uncut (1999) showing Cartman singing.

After the first season of South Park had proven to be a hit, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker branched out and made a feature film. Bigger, Longer, and Uncut is typical South Park fare – it’s crude, rude, and tremendously funny. South Park still manages to stay fresh; recent episodes about the pandemic and the special Worldwide Privacy Tour have been great. But in many ways, the film still feels like the series’ high-water mark. Oh, and it had a great soundtrack!

Film #5:
The Matrix

Still frame from The Matrix (1999) showing computer monitors and code.

The Matrix is excellent on so many levels! It’s a pioneering work of cinematography, with its innovative “bullet-time” being repeated – but never bettered – in many other works of media in the years since. Its sci-fi story of humans trapped in a pleasant but fake world dominated by machines rests atop a deep metaphor that I think many folks can find relatable. I certainly do. And who knows: maybe the machines were right. Maybe 1999 was the perfect time period for their digital world!

Song #1:
Sitting Down Here – Lene Marlin

Lene Marlin in her music video for Sitting Down Here.

This song’s gentle acoustic pop melody masks some pretty dark lyrics about following and spying on a love interest! But Sitting Down Here is pleasant to listen to, and I can remember buying the CD single after hearing it on the long-running music show Top of the Pops!

Song #2:
Ready to Run – The Dixie Chicks

The Dixie Chicks in their music video for Ready To Run.

Country music isn’t as popular here in the UK as it is in its native land, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the genre. The Dixie Chicks are one of the late ’90s/early ’00s most popular country acts, and I daresay many British people would have at least heard one or two of their songs. Their album Fly was released in ’99, and it was a great album. Ready to Run was the lead single from the album and it peaked at number two on the US country chart – as well as reaching a creditable 53rd place in the UK charts.

Song #3:
We’re Going To Ibiza! – Vengaboys

Animated still frame from the music video We're Going To Ibiza.

The Vengaboys, a Dutch electronic dance/club group, broke through to worldwide fame in 1999 thanks to their Party Album. By far the biggest hit was Boom Boom Boom Boom, but We’re Going To Ibiza! also topped the charts here in the UK. Sometimes it felt like you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing the Vengaboys, but I didn’t mind! The up-tempo, happy songs were a ton of fun.

Song #4:
Livin’ La Vida Loca – Ricky Martin

Ricky Martin in a still for his music video Livin La Vida Loca.

Ricky Martin’s English-language debut topped the charts around the world, and in style! Livin’ La Vida Loca is just a hugely fun track, the kind that makes you want to get up and dance! I remember it being played at the Millennium Eve party I attended, and it was just a great song to let loose and dance to.

Song #5:
Bring It All Back – S Club 7

Members of the pop band S Club 7 in the video for their song Bring It All Back.

S Club 7’s first chart-topper, Bring It All Back kicked off the pop band’s career in mid-1999. It was also the theme song to their Miami 7 TV show, and it was a fun bubblegum pop song to dance to… even though it seemed incredibly cringeworthy in the friend groups I moved in in those days! Still, listening to S Club 7 in secret was possible – and a guilty pleasure at the time!

TV Show #1:
SpongeBob SquarePants

Still frame from SpongeBob Squarepants showing Patrick and SpongeBob atop a tank.

I had no idea that SpongeBob SquarePants was still running, but the Nickelodeon staple debuted in 1999 in the United States. I don’t think I encountered it until the first film in 2004, but I daresay I was dimly aware of it through its merchandise. As with the best of kids’ TV, SpongeBob has jokes and storylines that appeal to adults, too – which goes some way to explaining its ongoing popularity!

TV Show #2:
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Still frame from What We Left Behind showing an HD remaster of Deep Space Nine.

Here in the UK, we were a season or two behind the USA when it came to Star Trek in the late ’90s – but I was thoroughly enjoying DS9′s Dominion War story arc. Captain Sisko is probably my favourite Star Trek captain, too, so there was a lot to love as DS9 continued its run, solidified its cast of secondary characters, and told some wonderful stories. Voyager was on the air, too, making it a great time to be a Trekkie!

TV Show #3:
Farscape

Promo photo for Farscape showing most of the main characters.

Cancelled before its time, Farscape was a brilliant work of sci-fi. Taking inspiration from Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and more, this underappreciated television series was truly fantastic to watch. Some excellent puppets and prosthetics brought its world to life, and a truly engaging main character and main villain kept the series on track. The idea of an organic, living spaceship was also something new as human astronaut John Crichton found himself in a far-flung part of the galaxy.

TV Show #4:
Futurama

Still frame from the pilot episode of Futurama (1999) as Fry arrives in the future.

Another great sci-fi series – but with a completely different style and focus – Futurama was developed by Matt Groening of The Simpsons fame. As we were getting excited for the start of the 21st Century, Futurama shot forward in time by 1,000 years – with protagonist Fry emerging from his accidental cryogenic sleep in 2999! The show has plenty of humour and was inspired by some of my favourite sci-fi properties, and its first season in particular was a blast.

TV Show #5:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Title card for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In the UK, I think we were only up to Season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by 1999, but I was having a ton of fun with the show and its great cast of characters. A decidedly different take on the monster-of-the-week drama/horror format, Buffy brought vampires, werewolves, and other tropes of the horror genre to modern-day California, and the interplay between Buffy’s life as a regular high schooler and the secret world of vampire-hunting made for a really unique series.

Video Game #1:
Shenmue

Screenshot of Shenmue (1999) showing Ryo in a shop.

We’ll talk more about Shenmue in December to mark its anniversary, but for now let me just say that this was a landmark game for me. At a time when I could’ve begun to drift away from gaming, Shenmue came along and showed me a glimpse of what video games of the future could be: cinematic, intense narrative experiences that could absolutely go toe-to-toe with films and TV programmes. Although it didn’t sell particularly well, Shenmue was a game light-years ahead of its time.

Video Game #2:
Midtown Madness

Screenshot of Midtown Madness (1999) showing a City Bus.

I have a longer piece about Midtown Madness that you can find by clicking or tapping here! But the tl;dr is this: the game was a ton of fun. It was the first racing game I played that let you roam around its open world, and getting into scrapes with the police and generally causing chaos on the streets of Chicago was a blast. There were cool vehicles to unlock, plenty of different modes to get stuck into, and a mountain of fun to be had… even if I was stuck trying to play it with a mouse and keyboard!

Video Game #3:
Donkey Kong 64

Unfairly maligned by some critics today, Donkey Kong 64 was one of my favourite N64 titles. Yes, there are a lot of things to collect – and collect-a-thons can be annoying, sometimes. But if you look past that, the game has a lot to offer with a variety of gameplay styles, mini-games, and character-specific objectives and levels that make for a wonderfully diverse title. DK’s first foray into the 3D world felt great in 1999.

Video Game #4:
Age of Empires and The Rise of Rome expansion pack

Screenshot of Age of Empires (1997) showing villagers mining gold.

Released in 1997, Age of Empires was my first historical real-time strategy game. I’d played a bit of Command and Conquer prior to picking it up, but stepping back in time to control real-world civilisations was so much fun. There were some neat campaign missions, but where I had the most fun was playing deathmatches against a friend – once we’d figured out how to get a LAN up and running! To this day, teal-coloured Sumeria is my nemesis!

Video Game #5:
Star Trek: Hidden Evil

Screenshot of Star Trek: Hidden Evil (1999) showing the player character in an explorable area.

Hidden Evil is a pretty standard PC adventure game of its time… but as a Trekkie, getting any new story to sink my teeth into was great in 1999! Playing as a human raised by Vulcans was an interesting idea, and being able to use the Vulcan nerve pinch as an in-game attack felt innovative. Gameplay wasn’t anything to write home about, but the story was great – and the game brought in Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner to voice their iconic characters. I still have my copy of the game on a shelf somewhere!

So that’s it.

Still frame from 2000 Today (1999/2000) showing dancers on the island of Kiribati. — The Pacific island nation of Kiribati was the first place on Earth to ring in the year 2000.

Those are a few of the songs, films, games, and TV programmes that I enjoyed in and around 1999. All that was left to do was get ready for New Year’s Eve. During the day, 2000 Today rang in the millennium across the world, beginning in New Zealand and Australia and slowly working its way to the UK! That evening I attended a big party, celebrating the arrival of the year 2000 with friends, neighbours, and strangers – and a bit too much to drink! I even strutted my stuff on the dancefloor.

1999 was a great year – but also an interesting one, looking back. It was the end of an era in more ways than one, for the world but also for me personally. And it was a time where I felt hopeful and optimistic in a way that I just… don’t any more. Maybe that’s life events, ageing, and changing circumstances – or maybe 1999 really was a uniquely special point in time.

In any case, I hope this has been an interesting look back. Reminiscing and wallowing in these memories has been fun and occasionally bittersweet – but my recollections of 1999 are far more positive than negative as I look back on the year a quarter of a century later.

All properties discussed above are the copyright of their respective owner, publisher, distributor, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Video Game Spotlight: Midtown Madness

Tue 30.04.24Fri 10.05.24Dennis

Twenty-five years ago today – that’s literally a quarter of a century – a brand-new racing game arrived on Windows 98 and Windows 95 PCs. Midtown Madness was an absolute blast and quickly became one of my most-played games of the year. With the millennium fast approaching, nothing was more fun than tearing up the streets of Chicago, getting into scrapes with the police, and taking part in some wild and dangerous races against the AI!

Midtown Madness celebrating its 25th anniversary makes me feel so incredibly old… but I’m glad to have the opportunity to talk about one of my favourite racing games of that era. Midtown Madness did something that I hadn’t really seen before in a video game – it opened up its entire city and let me drive wherever I wanted, however I wanted… even if that meant off-roading across grassy parks, scaring pedestrians on the pavement, or jumping over an open drawbridge! Two-and-a-half years before Grand Theft Auto III would take that series’ titular mayhem to an open-world environment, Midtown Madness was doing something remarkably similar.

Screenshot from Midtown Madness (1999) showing the game's title screen. — The game’s main menu – with a funky custom mouse cursor!

Although it didn’t feel that way at the time, when I look back at Midtown Madness with a quarter of a century of hindsight, it feels like a gaming landmark; an important title that did the “open world chaos” thing in its own way before some of the better-known titles in that space. In 1999 it felt incredibly new and innovative; a game that seemed to take the chaos of the likes of Grand Theft Auto but made it fully 3D. Looking back, it feels like a half-step between 2D games, racing games, and the kind of fully open-world titles that were right around the corner.

I’d also place Shenmue in that same category: the “almost-open-world” games that were the progenitors of the format. Released the same year as Midtown Madness, but in a completely different genre, Shenmue was also an early pioneer of many of the features that open-world games continue to take advantage of to this day. 1999, it seems, was one of the most important years in the development of open-world titles!

Screenshot of Midtown Madness (1999) showing a City Bus on a street by a river. — Driving a City Bus through the streets of Chicago!

I don’t have the receipt, unfortunately, but I think I must’ve picked up Midtown Madness within a week or two of its launch. I remember playing it that summer and into the autumn; it was one of the only up-to-date PC games that I owned at the time. I’d seen a preview of it in one of the gaming magazines that were prominent on newsagents shelves in those days, and it just looked like such chaotic fun that I could hardly wait to get my hands on it! I didn’t have a PC racing wheel or any fancy equipment – and as you’ll know if you’ve ever tried it, playing a racing game with a mouse and keyboard is painful! But that didn’t stop me, and I must’ve logged dozens upon dozens of hours in Midtown Madness… in between studying and working my part-time job, of course!

Taking on races was the only way to unlock half of the vehicles in the game – the other half were available right from the start. So I definitely took part in as many races as I needed to in order to unlock the likes of the city bus and the GTR-1 racecar! But where I had the most fun with Midtown Madness was driving around the city in free-roam mode – both as chaotically and as calmly as possible! The game’s rendering of downtown Chicago – while undeniably dated by today’s standards – felt like a technological marvel in 1999, and I loved every minute of exploring the city.

Screenshot of Midtown Madness (1999) showing a first-person perspective. — Driving around Chicago in *Midtown Madness* was a blast!

This wasn’t my first encounter with the Windy City. I’d been a huge fan of the medical drama ER in the second half of the ’90s, following every episode and every season as they were broadcast here in the UK. I think by mid-1999 we were on Season 3 or 4 of the show, which at that point still featured George Clooney and Julianna Margulies in starring roles! But because I felt a familiarity with Chicago – from its Lake Michigan waterfront to its “L” trains that ran on elevated tracks above the streets – I felt even more drawn to this digital recreation of the city. In fact, it was one of the first digital recreations of a real-world city that I can remember spending much time with.

Going into the millennium, I’d have had Midtown Madness’ in-game map pretty much committed to memory! I could find my way from one side of the map to the other, stopping to see the sights along the way – and the game recreated some of Chicago’s most famous landmarks. I’ve already mentioned the “L” – Chicago’s elevated metro system. But there was also the Sears Tower skyscraper, Navy Pier on the Lake Michigan shorefront, the planetarium, the Wrigley Field baseball stadium, and even the airport! All of these were a ton of fun to race through and explore.

Screenshot of Midtown Madness (1999) showing Wrigley Field. — Wrigley Field as it appears in the game.

Although the game came with options for tuning the physics engine and car performance, I didn’t spend too much time tinkering. The default settings seemed to work well enough, and I was always reluctant to mess about with them too much! Midtown Madness performed very well on the PC that I had at the time, with none of the bugs and glitches that seem to plague games today. Perhaps I’m looking back with rose-tinted glasses when I say that… but I genuinely cannot remember any bugs or performance issues that got in the way of the fun.

Obviously when you compare Midtown Madness with a racing game from the 2020s, like Forza Horizon 5, or open-world car games like Grand Theft Auto V, it feels incredibly dated. Graphics that felt great at the time look blocky in 2024, with far too few polygons, and the game has the overall look of a title from the late ’90s. The turn of the millennium would see advancements in graphics that would make Midtown Madness 3 – released less than four years later – look an awful lot better.

Screenshot of Midtown Madness (1999) showing the vehicle selection screen. — Choosing a car to race with!

And in terms of the game’s world, the relatively low numbers of vehicles on the road and pedestrians on the pavements doesn’t feel right for a massive metropolis like Chicago. There’s also a lack of diversity – there are only a handful of vehicle types and pedestrian models, and you’ll pretty quickly see all of them if you spend much time with Midtown Madness.

But those were the restrictions that game developers had to work with in 1999, and obviously an open-world city like Cyberpunk 2077 or a racing title like Gran Turismo 7 is going to surpass Midtown Madness in every way a quarter of a century later. That’s not what makes it such a special title – and no one is really asking it to go toe-to-toe with modern racing and open-world titles.

Promo image for Forza Motorsport (2023). — Ideas and gameplay mechanics that *Midtown Madness* pioneered are still in use in modern open-world and racing games today.

Instead, we have to view Midtown Madness – and, by extension, video games in general – as a stepping-stone. The premise or DNA of later titles like Test Drive Unlimited, Project Gotham Racing, or the Forza Horizon series is present in Midtown Madness, and the game was among the first to demonstrate open-world and free-roaming elements in a racing game, as well as the merits of letting players cause chaos and create their own fun. Those gameplay ideas have become commonplace in the years since Midtown Madness was released – and now extend far beyond the racing genre.

For me, Midtown Madness is an incredibly nostalgic title. I’d love to be able to play it again – but getting it to work on a modern PC, even with a virtual desktop running Windows 98, is a pain. The game can be easily found online in its complete form, but it would be fantastic if Microsoft could work with a company that specialises in porting retro games to modern systems and give it a proper re-release. After 25 years, I think Midtown Madness deserves better than to be left behind! Many other retro titles have been brought back over the past few years, so there’s almost no reason not to do it!

Screenshot of Midtown Madness (1999) showing the player's car being crashed into. — Getting side-swiped by a police car during a race. Ah, the memories!

I had such a great time with Midtown Madness as the millennium approached. It was one of the games I encountered in the late ’90s that seemed to be pushing boundaries and trying something different – and something genuinely engaging and fun. It felt like a step up from basically any other racing game I’d played up until that point, and one that definitely captured and held my attention.

As we mark the milestone 25th anniversary of Midtown Madness, I look around at open-world titles and racing games and still see a number of features that I first encountered in this landmark title. It was a truly fantastic game that gave me a ton of fun and with which I made some wonderful memories.

All that remains to say is this: happy anniversary, Midtown Madness!

Midtown Madness is currently out of print, but copies may be available second-hand. Midtown Madness remains the copyright of Microsoft, Angel Studios, and/or Rockstar San Diego. Some screenshots and still frames courtesy of LGR’s retrospective review and The Racing Madness Wiki. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Memories of Halloween

Thu 12.10.23Mon 08.01.24Dennis

Autumn is my favourite time of year. I love the sense of slowly-building anticipation as the holiday season approaches, and October is really the first part of an extended holiday season that will run all the way through to New Year. As I was erecting my modest array of Halloween decorations (and window shopping for more on Amazon), it got me thinking about Halloween celebrations in years gone by.

I’ve always felt that it’s a bit of a shame that Halloween is when it is. Here in the UK, we have Bonfire Night on the 5th of November – known to some of you, no doubt, thanks to the film adaptation of V for Vendetta! Because Halloween and Bonfire Night are so close together, one often eclipses the other, and I just think that’s a little sad. In recent years I’ve felt that Bonfire Night is rather living in Halloween’s shadow, and that Halloween is the more popular event – especially for the little ones. If there was just a couple of weeks between them instead of a mere five days, spreading things out a little, that would be better. But I suppose we can’t just reschedule an historical event to suit modern times!

Memories of Bonfire Night and Halloween are intertwined…

When I was a kid, the “Americanised” version of Halloween was just beginning to establish itself here in the UK. I don’t think I ever went trick-or-treating, but I can remember several Halloween discos and events that were organised by a kids’ club that I attended in those days. It was great fun – and a chance for me to indulge in some of the sweets and treats that my strict parents didn’t allow in the house.

As an aside, I have to confess that I’m a tad confused about the timing of modern Halloween’s arrival in the UK. My parents, who both grew up in London in the late ’40s and ’50s, seem to have competing recollections of the holiday. I know there’s always been some kind of traditional event around that time of year, but as to when modern events like costume parties and trick-or-treat made it to the UK, I really can’t be sure.

A preschool class celebrates Halloween in the United States, c. 1939.

My father insisted that Halloween only became “a thing” when my sister and I were growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, and claimed never to have done anything to celebrate it before then. But my mother can distinctly remember my grandfather painstakingly carving a jack-o-lantern for her out of a turnip when she was five or six years old. In the post-war period, we didn’t have crops like pumpkins here in the UK – or at least not in large quantities. I’ve always wondered what a turnip jack-o-lantern might’ve looked like!

So even within my own family there are two competing ideas about when Halloween started to take off over here! But speaking for myself, Halloween as a holiday has existed in more or less its present form since I was a small child. I can’t remember a year without some kind of Halloween celebration, in fact. And I really do have fond memories of Halloween as a child – some of which, I fear, have rather blended in with other autumnal memories!

One of my earliest memories is actually of Bonfire Night. I can remember being perhaps three or four years old, sitting on a hay bale in a field, watching the fire. It’s one of those strangely vivid memories where I can recall the precise texture of the straw underneath me, feel the cold wind blowing through, and even taste the spongey gingerbread cake that I was holding in my hand. I associate all of those things with this time of year, and that memory is an especially cherished one. There was laughter from other kids ringing in my ears, the smell of diesel fuel that someone had used as a fire starter, and the faces of friendly neighbours and locals who are, sadly, long gone now.

Despite its themes of horror, ghosts, monsters, and the like, Halloween has always felt to me like a kids’ holiday. Getting dressed up and eating sweets are definitely things that the little ones appreciate! But those incredibly positive memories of Halloween parties as a kid is definitely part of why I feel that way. I can’t remember all of my Halloween costumes, but I distinctly remember one plastic skeleton mask that I must’ve had when I was seven or eight years old. That thing was made of the most horrible, brittle plastic – and the edges of the mask were sharp enough to cut through diamond! But wearing the mask and going to a Halloween disco at the local kids’ club was great fun, and seeing everyone else’s masks and costumes was part of that.

Another big part of Halloween for me is the food. I know what you’re thinking: surprise surprise, the fat person wants to talk about food! But it’s true: Halloween doesn’t seem like a big food holiday in the same way as Christmas or Thanksgiving, but for me the food is no less important. Those early childhood memories of Halloween all include different foods – especially sweet treats. My parents didn’t allow my sister and I to have many sweet things at home, and what they could afford was usually only the cheapest value range versions. At the kids’ club I mentioned I’d always have a few pennies (literally, just a few) to spend on penny sweets, and I took full advantage as often as I could! But at Halloween, I remember there being a buffet of snack foods that, to my young eyes, must’ve looked like an absolute feast of all the things I would never get at home!

What I remember most, though, and what I love so much about Halloween food, is how the theme of the holiday carries through. Everything is made to look or feel like something else – sausages decorated to look like bloody fingers, marshmallows with little eyes and teeth so they resemble skulls, and even bottles of pop dyed vibrant shades of green, blue, black, and other unnatural colours to look like poison or witches’ potions! Food could also be incorporated into games and challenges, like the traditional game of apple-bobbing that we used to play. There are some phenomenally creative ideas out there to make even the simplest snack fit with the Halloween theme. And I’m absolutely in love with all of them!

Look at these adorable Halloween cupcakes!

This might’ve been Halloween 1997 or 1998 – I genuinely can’t remember which. But as a teenager I came up with what remains to this day my best-ever Halloween costume. I got a mask at a party shop in a big shopping centre of newly-elected Prime Minister Tony Blair, and with an ill-fitting suit borrowed from my uncle, dressed up as the PM for a Halloween party that a friend of mine was hosting! That was great fun, and as we were all older by then, alcohol was definitely part of the equation! I can remember my friend racing around, desperately trying to give people coffee to sober them up.

Looking back now, with Blair being such a universally despised figure (at least among folks of my generation), making a costume of him seems fitting in a bitter sort of way! After all, isn’t the theme of many Halloween stories that the real monsters are us humans? I can’t think of many figures from the past thirty years more monstrous than Blair the War Criminal. I can’t believe that I voted for him at my first ever general election!

I think we’ve drifted off-topic somehow.

Turns out this poster was right after all…

Ah yes, Halloween! That’s what we were talking about.

On another occasion a couple of years later, I was taking part in an exchange programme while at university. I got to spend my first Halloween in the United States, seeing first-hand how the Americans really go all-out for the event. I was shocked when I went to the local shopping mall and saw a dedicated Halloween store selling all kinds of costumes, decorations, and more… in August! Apparently these pop-up Halloween stores are an annual thing, and they begin to appear in late summer to get ready for the spooky season. I’d never seen anything like it – and in the days before social media and YouTube, seeing an all-American Halloween in person was truly something special.

The university I was visiting had several big Halloween parties and events, and I even had my first encounter with trick-or-treaters that year! Several groups of students visited the off-campus house that I was renting, and a group of younger kids did, too. By the end of the night I’d ran out of treats to hand out! Ever since, I’ve made sure to keep my pantry well-stocked ahead of Halloween.

Also in the United States I had the pleasure of spending time at Disney World in the run-up to Halloween. I was able to take a break and visit Disney with a friend, and we got to see all of the decorations and special events that the Disney folks put on for the celebration. It was great fun, and I have a particularly fond memory of riding the Haunted Mansion attraction after dark, surrounded by all of the Halloween theming at the park.

Any Halloween fan should try – time and finances permitting – to visit one of the Disney parks for Halloween. I know the parks are stupidly expensive these days, but if you’re going anyway, picking a time of year like Halloween – when there’s something extra going on – is well worth it. I think there was some kind of after-hours Halloween event that I attended that year, too… but I’m not sure if they still do that in this post-lockdown era.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit one of the Disney parks around Halloween, I thoroughly recommend it!

These days, Halloween tends to be a quieter affair! My days of discos and parties are long gone, and after digging the decorations out of storage and making sure I’m well-stocked in the event of a trick-or-treater incursion, I tend to spend Halloween itself with a lightly spooky film or TV special. As a kind of homage to those earlier Halloween nights, I’ll often prepare a modest buffet of finger food and snacks, too. It might not be the same as a big party – but it suits me just fine!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this stumble down memory lane. I don’t have another creative outlet, and I thought writing up some of my memories and nostalgic recollections of Halloweens gone by would be a bit of fun. Hopefully it was interesting, at any rate.

Horror and jump-scares aren’t usually “my thing,” and my Halloween tastes tend to veer more towards the kid-friendly than the outright terrifying. But that’s the nice thing about Halloween, in a way: it can be whatever you want to make of it. If you want to go all out, rent the scariest film ever made, and watch it with the lights out – go for it! But if, like me, you’d rather curl up with some snacks and something a bit less frightening, that option is open too. I love Halloween.

Some photos used above courtesy of Unsplash. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Five films (and TV specials) to watch this Holiday Season!

Wed 08.12.21Wed 08.12.21Dennis

Christmas is edging closer by the day! The main event itself is now only a couple of weeks away, so we’re well and truly in the wintery grip of the Holiday Season. This time I thought it could be fun to take a look at five films and television specials that make for great festive viewing.

Although I’m not a religious person by any stretch, Christmas has always been an event I look forward to… beginning as early as September! Though not every Christmas was perfect when I was a kid, I have some pretty happy memories of this time of year, and there’s something about the juxtaposition of the cold, dark winter going on outside with the warmth and the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree inside that really makes this time of year feel special, almost magical!

Between the lights, decorations, and festive pop hits, I think it’s fair to say I’m all about the secular, commercial side of Christmas; Santa Claus, not Jesus, stands out to me as the season’s main character! So that’s my mindset as we go into this list.

Please keep in mind, as always, that this list is wholly subjective. If you don’t like any of these Christmas films and television specials, that’s perfectly fine. I’m not trying to pretend that these are the “all-time best ever” Christmas specials, or anything of the sort!

With that caveat out of the way, let’s dive into the list!

Number 1:
The Polar Express (2004)

When it was released in 2004, The Polar Express received criticism for its “creepy” CGI – but I think it’s safe to say that its semi-realistic animated style has aged pretty well. Tom Hanks stars in this modern animated classic, and takes on several different voice roles across the film. Not providing names for main characters is a risk (not to mention something you’d get a failing grade for in most creative writing classes!) but that doesn’t actually hamper The Polar Express. The nameless protagonists are arguably more relatable as a result, allowing the audience to project themselves onto the characters with ease.

There may have been a couple of Christmases when I was very young where I did, in fact, believe in Santa Claus (or Father Christmas, as we call him here in the UK). But my parents didn’t do the whole “all of your gifts come from Santa” thing, and among my earliest Christmas memories I can remember writing thank-you notes to family members for the gifts they’d given me. These things vary from family to family, though, and while I wouldn’t like to speak outside of my own experience, I think a lot of you probably have some recollection of believing in Santa Claus and subsequently losing that belief. It’s a theme that many different Christmas films have tackled – but The Polar Express gets it right. The protagonist learns, over the course of his adventures, to keep believing – a metaphor, perhaps, for valuing one’s childhood and remaining youthful.

I’ve always liked trains, and The Polar Express shows us a beautiful CGI rendition of an old-fashioned steam locomotive. Trains – model trains in particular – have somewhat of an association with Christmas, but this method of transporting kids to the North Pole was certainly unique! It gives The Polar Express a sense of adventure that road trip films and other films about long journeys often capture so well, with scenes like running around on the train roof and the train skidding across the ice all playing into that.

The Polar Express is a film with heart, but it’s also something a little different from the typical “let’s go and meet Santa Claus” fare of many other shows and films aimed at children. There’s a sense of scale in the journey we see the protagonists undertake, and because it’s told from a child’s perspective, there’s still some of that mystery and wonder; the sense that the kids don’t really know how everything works on the train. That magic is part of what makes the holidays so special.

Number 2:
The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (2020)

Promo image for *The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special*.

I’ve had a review of this one in the pipeline since last year, but for various reasons it got buried under too many other writing projects in the days before Christmas! Stay tuned, though, because I daresay I’ll get around to a full write-up eventually! For now, let’s hit the key points. The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special is hilarious, and I found it to be a great palate-cleanser after The Rise of Skywalker had been such a disappointment.

Unlike this year’s Lego Star Wars Terrifying Tales, which focused solely on Poe Dameron, The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special brings back all of the main characters from the sequel trilogy – then takes a wild ride through all three of Star Wars’ main eras thanks to some well-timed space magic! Star Wars fans should appreciate many, many callbacks to past iterations of the franchise – not least the notorious Holiday Special, which was released in 1978 to critical derision!

The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special is full to the brim with gentle jokes and parodies that poke fun at the Star Wars franchise without ever coming across as mean-spirited or laughing at fans. Some humourless fans, or those who want to lose themselves in that world, might find that offputting, but I reckon that a majority will be able to enjoy The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special for what it is: non-canon fun.

I was pleased to see that Disney+ is intent on doing more with the Star Wars brand than just serious projects like The Mandalorian, and in some respects I think we can argue that The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special – and other Lego Star Wars titles too – fill a niche similar to Star Trek: Lower Decks over in another wonderful sci-fi franchise. No Star Trek holiday special yet, though… but maybe one day!

Number 3:
I Won’t Be Home For Christmas
The Simpsons Season 26 (2014)

The Simpsons’ house all decorated for the season.

The Simpsons has undeniably lost its edge in recent seasons, and it’s increasingly rare to pluck out a genuinely good episode from the ever-growing pile – something I found out when I put together a list of a few of my favourite episodes earlier this year. But every now and then The Simpsons can still produce an episode somewhat akin to those from its more successful past. I Won’t Be Home For Christmas is, in my view anyway, among them.

Perhaps it’s the holiday theme that elevates what might otherwise be a less-enjoyable episode, but I find that there’s something very relatable about I Won’t Be Home For Christmas. A few years ago, when I was suffering with undiagnosed mental health issues and in the midst of a divorce, I found myself wandering the dark, empty streets on Christmas Eve – trying to clear my head. The sequences in which Homer does something similar in this episode really hit home for me because I’ve been in a similar position myself.

I found this presentation of Homer to be very relatable.

When you’re watching what feels like the whole rest of the world closing their doors and enjoying the holidays without you, life can feel incredibly lonely. Homer meets a number of characters on his own journey, but that sense of loneliness and missing out on what’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year is still a prevalent theme that runs through the entire story.

On a more positive note, I Won’t Be Home For Christmas features a couple of genuinely good jokes and laugh-out-loud moments. It also kicks off with a Christmas-themed reworking of the show’s famous opening sequence, so if you’re watching on Disney+ don’t hit the “skip intro” button! You’ll miss something fun if you do. In a lot of ways I feel echoes of Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire in I Won’t Be Home For Christmas – and not just because of its holiday setting. The episode feels like a throwback to earlier seasons, when The Simpsons as a whole was doing far better at producing stories like this one.

Number 4:
Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too (1991)

My younger sister received a VHS copy of Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too as a Christmas present (I would guess in 1992) and watched it endlessly! As a result, it’s probably one of the Christmas specials that I’ve seen most often – it was a mainstay in our house in the run-up to Christmas for several years in a row! What’s more, the original Winnie the Pooh books by A. A. Milne were permanent fixtures on my childhood bookshelf, and I’m sure those books were read to me when I was very small. So the entire Winnie the Pooh series is something I have a great fondness for!

Christmas is a time for nostalgic steps back like this, forgetting the modern world and all of its troubles for a while. Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too is an incredibly sweet Christmas tale set in the Hundred Acre Wood, perfect for a few minutes wrapped up in Christmas-themed cuteness and escapism. Or is that just the nostalgia talking?

Because Winnie the Pooh has always been pitched at very young children, the story here is rather basic. There’s a kerfuffle surrounding Christopher Robin’s letter to Santa, and Pooh tries to save the day. Despite those limitations, though, the story is incredibly cute, really sweet, and full to the brim with Christmas fun.

Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too isn’t something I go back to year upon year; doing so would probably ruin the magic. But every once in a while I treat myself to this blast of very personal ’90s nostalgia and enjoy my memories of Christmases past. As 2021 looks set to be the second Christmas in a row where we may not be able to do everything we’d want, I think finding moments like that might be very important for a lot of folks.

Number 5:
Phineas and Ferb: Christmas Vacation (2009)

As a childless adult, Phineas and Ferb is a series that shouldn’t have had much appeal for me! But as I’ve said many times before, the best kids’ shows have something to offer adults as well, and when I sat down to watch Phineas and Ferb for the first time back when I had the Disney Channel, I found a truly engaging and fun little cartoon.

That extends to the Christmas special too, which is one of the high points of the entire series – in my subjective opinion, naturally! I’m a total sap for the “Christmas is in danger, someone needs to save it!” plot cliché, and Phineas and Ferb: Christmas Vacation puts the series’ trademark spin on that familiar premise. It’s a lot of fun!

I never miss an opportunity to talk about Phineas and Ferb. The show finished its run in 2015, but last year returned for a one-off Disney+ original film, which was absolutely fantastic too. Unlike some of the other entries on this list, which I’ll happily rewatch on occasion, I return to Phineas and Ferb: Christmas Vacation every year without fail – something I’ve done for a decade now!

Phineas and Ferb: Christmas Vacation keeps the series’ trademark twin storylines – the boys and the other kids on one side, Perry the Platypus and Dr Doofenshmirtz on the other. Both stories come together in one connected narrative, but the show sticks to its two angles throughout – and what results is a story with moments of excitement, high drama, and emotion as the boys race to save Christmas.

Bonus:
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Nintendo Switch (2020)

Promo for *New Horizons’* Christmas event.

If you’re an Animal Crossing player, Christmas Eve is where it’s at! But throughout December it’s possible to buy special seasonal items, to see your island all decorated for the holidays, and to take note of what some of your island friends might want by way of gifts! The Christmas event is known as Toy Day in the world of Animal Crossing, and while it’s possible to ignore it and get on with your regular island life, it’s a bit of fun to play through these one-off events.

As December dawns on your island – at least if you’re playing on a Northern Hemisphere island – snow will start to fall. You’ll be able to build a snowman every day – and building the perfect one unlocks special ice-themed items. There are snowflakes to catch, which are used as DIY ingredients to craft new seasonal items too.

Later in December, Isabelle will announce that she’s decorated some of the island’s trees – but only the pine trees. When I played last year not every pine was decorated, but those that were looked adorable with their little festive lights! Shaking these trees also provided yet another crafting material which could be used to create holiday-themed items.

I’ve been critical of New Horizons for its longevity in particular, but there are few games that offer this style of gameplay. Last year I played through the Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year events on my island, and I have to say I had a lot of fun with all of them. The Toy Day event on Christmas Eve (not Christmas Day!) is the kind of sweet Christmassy fun you’d expect from a game in the Animal Crossing series, and if you missed it last year it’s well worth playing through at least once.

So that’s it!

I’ve got a few more holiday-themed ideas for the website between now and Christmas – which is getting closer and closer by the day. I hope you like the festive banner and the little Santa hat on the website’s logo, too! I had fun messing around and putting those together.

There are lots of great festive films and holiday specials that I didn’t include on this list, so have a browse through the television listings or your streaming platform of choice. I’ll probably be checking out a mix of old favourites and new entries – there are always plenty of new holiday films every year. I’ve heard good things about 8-Bit Christmas this year, for example! I hope this list has been a bit of festive fun as we continue to get into a holiday groove!

All titles mentioned above are the copyright of their respective studio, distributor, broadcaster, streaming platform, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.