A Kickstarter campaign for a new issue of Crash magazine was launched in the past 24 hours and has already surpassed its target goal. This means that a 99th issue of the classic ZX Spectrum gaming magazine will be published in annual form just in time for Christmas 2017.

While we may have had a bit of oversaturation when it comes to retrogaming books on Kickstarter the past few years, this one is kind of different. This is no ‘cheap, quick hit coffee table book’. Here we have the original publisher, editor, art director, and contributors back on board to produce an extra special issue of Crash. Roger Kean and Oliver Frey will be back on editing and art duties respectively. For anyone not familiar with Crash magazine, it covered the ZX Spectrum computers and was first published in 1984, becoming one of the most iconic gaming magazines in the United Kingdom.

The issue’s main content will focus on the Spectrum game releases from the past twenty years with reviews from contributors. The letters page will return, as will Lloyd Mangram who will answer the readers’ questions. Nick Roberts will also be back with his playing tips pages, and our RGM colleague, Stuart Williams, will be in charge of the Adventure Trail section. All this and more will fill the 112 pages of the hardback only annual, and all in full color for the first time.

At time of writing, the Kickstarter campaign has broken the £12,000 goal, and has passed the £16,000 mark, so the Crash Annual 2018 is now a certainty. Of course, there are the usual tirade of perks to persuade any would be backer who is thinking of pledging towards the campaign. For more details of the annual and the pledge levels, check out the Crash Annual 2018 Kickstarter page.

Neil Reive

An avid retrogamer who has worked on various projects, magazines, and fanzines. He started his videogaming journey with the Amstrad CPC464 computer before moving onto a Commodore 64, then the Sega Mega Drive, followed by a multitude of PCs.