Marlo Devi
Editor · RPGs
Founder and resident JRPG lifer. Has a physical copy of every Dragon Quest and will fight you about localisation.
Surry Hills · Est. 1998 vibes
Where pixels become legends.
A Sydney gaming blog for people who still hear the CRT hum. We chase retro RPGs, indie dungeon crawlers, frame-perfect speedruns and the weird corners of Australian gaming culture.
Story tips? +61 2 9319 6438
About the blog
Two writers, one crammed studio, endless save files.
We started Neon Dungeon Legends in a share-house on Kippax Street with a shoebox of PC Engine carts and far too many opinions. Today it's a full-time obsession: long-form reviews, developer interviews and hardware teardowns published every week.
No review-embargo hot takes, no scores out of ten for the algorithm. Just honest, deeply-played writing about the games that stick with you — from 1987 shmups to this month's itch.io gem.
- 620+reviews published
- 9 yrsweekly since 2017
- 41knewsletter readers
How a review happens
From cart to article in four levels.
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01
Acquire & set up
We track down the original hardware or a faithful port, then calibrate it on a period-correct CRT or emulator so it plays the way it was meant to.
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02
Play to completion
No skimming. We finish the campaign, hunt the secrets and log 15–60 hours of notes before a single word of the review gets written.
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03
Research the context
We dig into dev interviews, patch histories and the era's magazines so each piece places the game in its moment, not just today's lens.
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04
Write, shoot, publish
Every article ships with our own capture-card screenshots and macro shots of the physical media — never stock press kits.
The party
Who's holding the controller.
Priya Rao
Indie & itch.io
Plays 20 indie demos a week so you don't have to. Champion of tiny two-person dungeon crawlers and weird narrative games.
Tom Bianchi
Hardware & speedruns
Solders his own RGB mods and holds a top-100 Aussie time in Super Metroid. Handles our teardowns and frame-data breakdowns.
Sena Kirby
Community & video
Runs the Discord, edits our capture footage and keeps the reader Q&A column, "Ask the Dungeon", running each fortnight.
What you'll read
Our regular columns.
Deep Save
Full-length retrospectives on classic RPGs — every mechanic, every sidequest, every reason it still matters. New entry each Monday.
Dungeon Finds
Three overlooked indie gems every Thursday, each with a demo link, a screenshot tour and a plain verdict on whether it's worth your evening.
Frame Perfect
Speedrun route breakdowns and interviews with Australian runners, explaining the tricks in language that actually makes sense.
Support the blog
Join the guild.
Reading is always free. Members keep us independent and unlock the extra loot below. Cancel any time.
Coin-Op
Free
forever
- ✓ Every review and column
- ✓ Weekly email digest
- ✓ Read on any device
Cartridge
Most popularA$8
per month
- ✓ Everything in Coin-Op
- ✓ Ad-free reading
- ✓ Members-only Discord
- ✓ Monthly bonus long-read
Collector
A$18
per month
- ✓ Everything in Cartridge
- ✓ Printed zine, posted quarterly
- ✓ Name in every article credits
- ✓ Vote on next month's deep dive
Say hi
Story tips, guest pitches, or just a hello.
Found a hidden gem we missed? Making a game? Want to pitch a column? Drop us a line — we read every message from the Surry Hills studio.
- Phone
- +61 2 9319 6438
- [email protected]
- Studio
- 58 Kippax Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010
- Hours
- Mon–Fri, 10am–6pm AEST