History Magazine / TopSecret

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TopSecret_3295.jpg]]

->''"It's a mysterious, terrifying and fascinating world. The world of computer games. Alone, you will perish. ''Top Secret'' lends you a hand."''
-->--Issue 1

A [[UsefulNotes/{{Poland}} Polish]] video game magazine which evolved from earlier computer magazine "Bajtek" and existed from 1990 to 1996. ''Top Secret'' was the first magazine of its kind in Poland, and quickly became a cult classic still fondly remembered today, mainly because of its editors' wacky sense of humor. It was characterized by huge amounts of [[InJoke inside jokes]] (sometimes the articles would descend into ranting about the editors' everyday life). The editors had huge freedom which would be unthinkable today (which might have been one of its causes of death; advertisers simply shied away from such a non-serious magazine).

In the beginning, ''Top Secret'' wasn't really a review mag - until 1994, due to the obsolete copyright law, software piracy was basically legal, so pirates were pretty much the sole source of games - and since they sold games at cheap prices, buying a bad game wasn't much of a loss. Thus, an average gamer needed a manual and a gameplay description more than a review (especially since knowledge of English was very scarce). Later on, the mag began actually rating the games, much to some readers' ire who claimed that reviews are for "snobbish magazines".

Occasionally, the magazine contained comics featuring its three {{Mascot}} characters; the comics were basically {{Sprite Comic}}s, with the characters digitally added to the screenshots.
----
!!Displays examples of:
* BigThinShortTrio: Kopalny, Naczelny and Dżemik, respectively.
* ButYouWereThereAndYouAndYou: Piwem i Mieczem ("With Beer And Sword"), an episodic story, involves a character hallucinating about going to a fantasy world and meeting characters who are all based on the magazine's editors.
* ContinuityReboot: In 2002, the title was restarted by Axel Springer publishing house, with the best-known "original" editor-in-chief at the helm. It lasted for four issues.
* DigitalPiracyIsEvil: In one of the comics, the characters go to the future and find out that the entire gaming industry collapsed long ago due to software piracy. They promptly set out to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong and cause new copyright laws to pass.
* FourPointScale: The majority of games received scores between 80% and 100% of maximum. There are times when the review is clearly written in a negative note, yet the score is still a high one.
* {{Mascot}}: Starring in the comics, and sometimes [[FourthWallMailSlot replying to reader letters and writing articles.]] (They were originally created to cover up the lack of editors by an editor-in-chief who was pretty much making an entire issue by himself after the previous team left abruptly.)
** BenevolentBoss: Naczelny, the editor-in-chief, who is basically the real editor-in-chief's AuthorAvatar.
** GadgeteerGenius: Prof. Dżemik.
** TheAlcoholic / TheDitz: Kopalny.
* NoteFromEd: Indulged in it a few times. The most major example comes from issue 28, where the editor-in-chief butts in (supposedly to remove the reviewer's unrelated ramblings) and instead writes half of the review himself.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Except for the masthead, the editors all signed themselves with, and referred to each other with nicknames.
* TheRival: ''Secret Service'', a rival magazine (helmed by ''Top Secret'''s former editor-in-chief and managing editor who [[StartMyOwn left in 1992 to pursue their own career.]]) Since then, both magazines kept tossing thinly veiled {{Take That}}s at each other.
* RougeAnglesOfSatin: Whenever the English language is involved, both on part of the readers and the editors.
* SeriousBusiness: For the readers, the UsefulNotes/ComputerWars above. Also, in the earliest issues (1990-1992), playing computer games is sometimes treated as something of a mystic ritual.
* ShoutOut: Prof. Dżemik's name is a reference to a famous Polish linguist, prof. Miodek ("miodek" is a diminutive for "honey", "dżemik" is a diminutive for "jam".)
* SpriteComic[=/=]{{Machinomics}}: As mentioned in the description, there were quite a few comics, most of them made up of game screenshots with the characters (standing out, as they were drawn in vector graphics) added in.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Sir Haszak, the strategy game reviewer, loves pizza.
----

* UsefulNotes/ComputerWars: Most of the reader letters are [[UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers Atari]] vs. UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} vs. {{PC}} vs. UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}. One particular reader (Krzysztof Kubeczko) became more or less a legend due to his hilariously vitriolic letters about the superiority of the 8-bit Atari (and his later tragic death).

* {{Reboot}}: In 2002, the title was restarted by Axel Springer publishing house, with the best-known "original" editor-in-chief at the helm. It lasted for four issues.

** BenevolentBoss: The editor-in-chief, who is basically the real editor-in-chief's AuthorAvatar.

* UsefulNotes/ComputerWars: Most of the reader letters are [[UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers Atari]] vs. UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} vs. {{PC}} vs. UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}. One particular reader (Krzysztof Kubeczko) became more or less a legend due to his hilariously aggressive letters about the superiority of the 8-bit Atari (and his later tragic death).

** GadgeteerGenius: Prof. Dzemik.

* NoteFromEd: Indulged in it a few times. The most major example comes form issue 28, where the editor-in-chief butts in to remove the reviewer's supposed unrelated ramblings and instead writes half of the review himself.

* SpriteComic[=/=]{{Machinomics}}

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: Well, the editors were living in a post-communist, poor country (where videogame consoles didn't appear until 1992); they were occasionally a bit... out of the loop regarding the videogame industry.

->''It's a mysterious, terrifying and fascinating world. The world of computer games. Alone, you will perish. "Top Secret" lends you a hand.''

A Polish video game magazine which evolved from earlier computer magazine "Bajtek" and existed from 1990 to 1996. ''Top Secret'' was the first magazine of its kind in Poland, and quickly became a cult classic still fondly remembered today, mainly because of its editors' wacky sense of humor. It was characterized by huge amounts of [[InJoke inside jokes]] (sometimes the articles would descend into ranting about the editors' everyday life). The editors had huge freedom which would be unthinkable today (which might have been one of its causes of death; advertisers simply shied away from such a non-serious magazine).

* ComputerWars: Most of the reader letters are [[UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers Atari]] vs. UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} vs. {{PC}} vs. UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}. One particular reader (Krzysztof Kubeczko) became more or less a legend due to his hilariously aggressive letters about the superiority of the 8-bit Atari (and his later tragic death).

* SeriousBusiness: For the readers, the ComputerWars above. Also, in the earliest issues (1990-1992), playing computer games is sometimes treated as something of a mystic ritual.
* SpriteComic / {{Machinomics}}
* TheRival: ''Secret Service'', a rival magazine (helmed by ''Top Secret'''s former editor-in-chief and managing editor who [[StartMyOwn left in 1992 to pursue their own career.]]) Since then, both magazines kept tossing thinly veiled {{Take That}}s at each other.

* {{Reboot}}: in 2002, the title was restarted by Axel Springer publishing house, with the best-known "original" editor-in-chief at the helm. It lasted for four issues.

* ComputerWars: Most of the reader letters are [[Atari8BitComputers Atari]] vs. {{Commodore 64}} vs. {{PC}} vs. {{Amiga}}. One particular reader (Krzysztof Kubeczko) became more or less a legend due to his hilariously aggressive letters about the superiority of the 8-bit Atari (and his later tragic death).

* PlanetEris: The setting of the comics. IndianaJones, VideoGame/DukeNukem, [[StarWars the Empire]] etc. all exist there.

* ComputerWars: Most of the reader letters are [[Atari8BitComputers Atari]] vs. {{Commodore 64}} vs. {{PC}} vs. {{Amiga}}.

** BenevolentBoss: The editor-in-chief.
*** Who is basically the real editor-in-chief's AuthorAvatar.

* SeriousBusiness: To the readers, the ComputerWars above. Also, in the earliest issues (1990-1992), playing computer games is sometimes treated as something of a mystic ritual.

A Polish video game magazine which evolved from earlier computer magazine "Bajtek" and existed from 1990 to 1996. ''Top Secret'' was the first magazine of its kind in Poland, and quickly became a cult classic still fondly remembered today, mainly because of its editors' wacky sense of humor. It was characterized by huge amounts of [[InJoke inside jokes]] (sometimes the articles would descend into ranting about the editors' everyday life). The editors had huge freedom which would be unthinkable today.

[[caption-width-right:250:The skull likes you, kids!]]

* {{Narm}}

** SeriousBusiness

A Polish video game magazine which evolved from earlier computer magazine "Bajtek" and existed from 1990 to 1996. ''Top Secret'' was the first magazine of its kind in Poland, and quickly became a cult classic still fondly remembered today, mainly because of its editors' wacky sense of humor. It was characterized by huge amounts of [[InJoke inside jokes]] (sometimes the articles would descend into ranting about the editors' everyday life). The editors had huge freedom which would be unthinkable today.

In the beginning, ''Top Secret'' wasn't really a review mag - until 1994, due to the obsolete copyright law, software piracy was basically legal, so pirates were pretty much the sole source of games - and since they sold games at cheap prices, buying a bad game wasn't much of a loss. Thus, an average gamer needed a manual and a gameplay description more than a review (especially since knowledge of English was very scarce). Later on, the mag began actually rating the games, much to some readers' ire who claimed that reviews are for "snobbish magazines".

Occasionally, the magazine contained comics featuring its three {{Mascot}} characters; the comics were basically {{Sprite Comic}}s, with the characters digitally added to the screenshots.

!!Displays examples of:
* ComputerWars: Most of the reader letters are [[Atari8BitComputers Atari]] vs. {{Commodore 64}} vs. {{PC}} vs. {{Amiga}}.

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: Well, the editors were living in a post-communist, poor country (where videogame consoles didn't appear until 1992); they were occasionally a bit... out of the loop regarding the videogame industry.
* {{Mascot}}: Starring in the comics, and sometimes [[FourthWallMailSlot replying to reader letters and writing articles.]] (They were originally created to cover up the lack of editors by an editor-in-chief who was pretty much making an entire issue by himself after the previous team left abruptly.)
** BenevolentBoss: The editor-in-chief.
*** Who is basically the real editor-in-chief's AuthorAvatar.
** GadgeteerGenius: Prof. Dzemik.
** TheAlcoholic / TheDitz: Kopalny.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Except for the masthead, the editors all signed themselves with, and referred to each other with nicknames.
* PlanetEris: The setting of the comics. IndianaJones, DukeNukem, [[StarWars the Empire]] etc. all exist there.

A Polish video game magazine which existed from 1991 to 1996. ''Top Secret'' was the first magazine of its kind in Poland, and quickly became a cult classic still fondly remembered today, mainly because of its editors' wacky sense of humor. It was characterized by huge amounts of [[InJoke inside jokes]] (sometimes the articles would descend into ranting about the editors' everyday life). The editors had huge freedom which would be unthinkable today.

* ComputerWars: Most of the reader letters are [[Atari8BitComputers Atari]] vs. {{Commodore64}} vs. {{PC}} vs. {{Amiga}}.

* {{Mascot}}: Starring in the comics, and sometimes [[FourthWallMailSlot replying to reader letters and writing articles.]] (They were originally created to cover up the lack of editors by an editor-in-chief who was pretty much making an entire issue by himself.)

* TheRival: ''Secret Service'', a rival magazine (which was made up of the ''Top Secret'' crew who [[StartMyOwn all left in 1993 to pursue their own career.]]) Since then, both magazines kept tossing thinly veiled {{Take That}}s at each other.

Occasionally, the magazine contained comics featuring its three {{Mascot}} characters; the comics were basically SpriteComics, with the characters digitally added to the screenshots.

* {{Mascot}}: Starring in the comics, and sometimes [[BreakingTheFourthWall replying to reader letters and writing articles.]] (They were originally created to cover up the lack of editors by an editor-in-chief who was pretty much making an entire issue by himself.)