| ЕСМ'$ First Hands-On Report з= | GoldenEye 007: Prere’s only one thing e more tortarous than playing Deathtrap Dangeon. КҮ) © 2d зорі јо syieuapenvaur запомни зора pue voafung блә ou seu цоци #0ейшоо) 122124 1075 jo Yrewapen parasia в si nsuro зор /66 H 5 F: & 5. % H Б с, е 2 5 g Н 8 ty са те. Whip те. Just dont hit that Quit button.” Consider it your - ong. Весай sein this cavernous maze of devious traps, its я : MS : t Ба ес Then bring on the skeletal warrio 8,7 mbies and countles other E 2 1 all about cheating. death ‘at every turn, blurring tha ine’ <-> : undead denizens. Each one nother chance to.slice.and dice liheà Ginsu' ы { ween pleasure and pain. d just when you think ^ 1 Е A толсом, Playstation. Һе 6 Ў у cast а вр һе еуі ries ss-whos done you : iit take it anymore, consider the alternati You’ve been warned à- ІІ take your br It "SjeuMwo әлдоәдвә: ләці jo seniedoid әле seureu әред pue SyJeWEPE} защо. “pamasa susu пу ‘ощ чигшшенациз зәјпішоо Áuos jo syseWapeN әле ѕобоүиоцеј/еј eur pul лиәшшенәшз ASLA 4661 © лиәшшенәшз oisi[ey јо жешәред е It's your worst nightmare. Medieval monsters that'll keep fighting even after they lose a limb. Use any one of 28 different mutilating moves to divide and conquer the defiant demons, bloodthirsty beasts and overzealous zombies. Leen еме o Explore Gothic London as the faithful Ignatius or sword-wielding Nadia. Solve puzzles that'll lead you to the evil Adam Crowley. A bloody good time in jolly old London. The nightmare begins October 51. For more on this tale of terror, call 1-800-850-1682. Or visit www.nightmare-creatures.com or www.kalisto.com INSERT COIN HE SCR: By See Wilsons) Малын SOROT- C * Halloween tricks and treats... е Industry changes tun * Anew era of gaming... * A special thank: tick or treat! BOO! Were you Т scared? Probably not. Nowadays it's hard to frighten die-hard gamers thanks to a huge, desensitizing influx of horrific, gory games. Titles like Resident Evil, Nightmare Creatures, Clock Tower, Enemy Zero and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night all promote and glorify gore, horror and the basics of human dismemberment. Is this the culmi- nation of years of video game censorship finally being relaxed? Well if so, it couldn't have come at a better time, because this Halloween will be full of chills and thrills from beyond the grave. What would be more fun than curling up with Clock Tower at 1 a.m., in the dark, with all traces of ambient sounds muffled by your screams as you round the corner right into Scissorman? That's the stuff nightmares are made of. Take a look at this month's Halloween feature to get a ghastly gander at this year's scarefest. 2-D Revisited For months, awesome games like Mega Man 8 and X4 were given the shaft for being old and two-dimensional. Now-surprisel-2-D games dominate the new release charts, like Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Herc's Adventures and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. True 3-D games are rare this holiday Season, as the industry takes a step back and realizes that 2-D isn't dead—not by a long shot. In fact, you can count the new 3-D titles—mostly for the Nintendo 64—on your fingers. Softer Censors? Another noticeable aspect of the gam- ing evolution is censorship, or the soften- ing thereof. Games like Final Fantasy VII and Wild Arms now contain mild profani- ties. These characters really talk trash! The fact that this dialog has made it into the production U.S. version of FFVII is a subtle, if not significant victory for anti-censor- ship. It's not a stretch to forecast that as The "905 have produced some scary titles, and this year is no exception. Previously rejected, Mega Man X4 will finally be released for the PlayStation, game screen resolutions improve, and a butt-crack looks more like a butt-crack, that we'll soon be dealing with issues of nudity. Still, it should be no surprise that the industry's shifting gears and rewing up for the future. As technology races for- ward, so must the developers, marketers, gamers and media. Chasing the “Edge” As game developers continue to push the envelope, we, as a magazine covering the industry, understand and endorse the need for change. Change is good. And in four short weeks, you'll be holding the most evolved video game reporting vehicle of all time—our 100th issue. In all these years with ЕСМ, | never thought I'd be around to witness this event, let alone write the last two-digit editorial. I've had the ultimate pleasure of working with the most dedicated bunch of gamer/editors Гуе ever known, from Steve Harris, Ed Semrad, Martin Alessi, John Stockhausen, Terry Minnich and Sushi-X, right up to the new brilliant staff of writers: Joe Funk, Crispin Boyer, Dan Hsu, Shawn Smith, Kraig Kujawa, John Ricciardi, Kelly Rickards, Scott Parus and Dean Hager, not to mention all the other staff members working behind the scenes, like our art directors, copy-editors, circulation and administration staffs. The hard work of these individuals, and the support of you, the reader, has made the past 99 issues a joy to create. At this crossroads, | am proud, yet sad, to close the doors on one era of EGM, and look ahead to the As the industry looks ahead to (һе future, so will we. Prepare yoursel EVE GIT ROWIC GAMING МОЛЫМ, NUMBER 10.10, OCTOBER 1997 . , Publisher Jonathan Lane Editorial Director Joe Funk Managing Editor Ken Williams Associate Editors Shawn Smith Dan Hsu Crispin Boyer John Ricciardi ^ .. . Sushi-X . Third-Party Liaison John Stockhausen News Editor (Inter. & Domestic) Todd Mowatt Coast Editor Kelly Rickards Sports Editors Dean Hager * Kraig Kujawa гіске Editor Terry Minnich Protos Editor Scott Parus Arcade Editor Mark Hain Online Editors Chris Johnston * Helen Lee Chief Correspondent Ed Semrad ада, Foreign Correspondents Stuart Levy * David Rider Copy Editors Jennifer Whitesides • Dan Peluso Jo-El M. Damen * Mark Eleveld Junior Astronaut Michael Stassus Art Directors Jason Hinman * Cyril Wochok Associate Art Directors Mike Vallas * Andrew Burwell Production Director Marc Camron Prepress Manager Dave McCracken Assoc. Prepress Manager Paul Ojeda . Network Manager Pamela Schneider Assoc. Client Service Specialist Mark LeFebvre Circulation Director Joan Mclnerney Newsstand Sales Manager Don Galen Girculation Coordinator Ann-Marie Mrozynski Subscription Service Number (303) 665-8930 Business Manager Cathy Bendoff Advertising Ziff-Davis Inc. Inquires 1920 Highland Avenue Contact: Lombard, IL 60148 Telephone: (630) 916-7222 FAX: (630) 916-9254 Assoc. Publisher Adv. & Marketing Jennie Parker Account Executive Suzanne Farrell District Ad Sales Manager Anthony George Midwest & East Coast . West Coast: Jon Yoffie District Ad Sales 135 Main Street, 14th Floor Manager/Northwest San Francisco, CA 94105 Telephone: (415) 357-5322 Fax: (415) 357-5201 E-mail: jon_yoffie@zd.com District Ad Sales Karen Landon Manager/Southwest 135 Main Street, 14th Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 Telephone: (415) 357-5460 Fax: (415) 357-5201 Р ў E-mail: karen_landon@zd.com Marketing Coordinator Sales Assistant Amy Dellos _ е: 8 Jessica Prentice Send Advertising Materials to: Advertising Coordinator Mike Darling Founder Steve Harris ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY (ISSN #1058-918X) is published monthly by Ziff-Davis Inc., 1920 Highland Ave., Suite 222, Lombard, Illinois 60148. Second Class Postage Paid at Lombard, itional mailing offices. Subscription rates for U.S.: 524.97 Single issue rates: $4.99. Additiona postage for orders outside the U.S.: Add US. $16 per year for surface mail after subscription rate. 0. ly. call (303) 665-8930 or 5722 or send e-mail to wzdsubs/egm/service/. The editors and the publisher are not responsible for Without limiting the rights under copyrights reserved herein, no part of this ра ored іп, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, іп any mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the | пс. © 1997 Zilf-Davis Inc. All Rights Reserved. Electronic Gaming rks of Ziff-Davis Inc. TM and © for all other products and the chara wned by the respective trademark and copyright owners, All materials li t to manufacturers’ change and the publisher assumes no responsibil ian GST Registration number is 140496720 RT. ters contain ed in this for such change Printed in the Audit Bureau of Circulations II. /OGN31NIN .AUMUNYJ44 2 JHN злабшил Apaads 0} иәшә$иәуәр щошшеш шолу 59216 лае аденед S |#09 НМ £6-9661 пцоеж yay sıafe|d aseajas pue ufs ‘dojanap ‘apea ‘212219 yuawafeue wea, |0101. sAasıaf рд} ,stueg] pue s1azeams UO сашви 59Л98|5 uo siaquiny sadeg пе jeuof[og зан-н Жпуову yay Aq 541008) бидпо2ѕ wea, ту peseg-yoogfe|g THN Jenjoy 581445 Aejd 20805 лариацеоб pue бшуоацо разец-шпиашод sadeg ande иоцоуу Mezandoig ШО2 " сфаойбзсштъе | з9е "ммм Ud, sAasıaf pue sooj wea} JHN 2101514 nid sıafejd 009 1340 pue ѕшеәј THN 92 Пу AVIV ERI 1)0$0. Е 10) pausiseg ‘PlayStation tered trademé Í j regn uniform designs 1997 Players me PLAYERS E “> Фаубвайой | Т MUST ВЕ IMPORTANT WHEN 22 MEN WILL GO TO WAR OVER A PIECE OF LAND NO WIDER THAN THIS AD. |9449 ...... “Ыллаа чө", к ІШ GAMEDAY, РІН ОРЕН OF PILES STATION PATH PET CRD E Pale $ Feeling camme == MONTHLY ZIFF-DAVIS INC. CHAIRMAN AND CEO Eric Hippeau President Ronni Sonnenberg President, U.S. Publications Claude Sheer President, Interactive Media Jeffrey Ballowe e» [ ‘and Development Group President, Training and William Rosenthal ЕТЕНЕ НЕШЕ апо М а ісе President, Timothy ОВгі chiet HESTON imer en President, Ф Bran and Terri Holbrooke larket Group Vice Presiden General J. Malcolm Morris ounsel and Secretary Vice President, Rayna Brown Human Resources Vice President, Planning Darryl Otte Vice President, Controller Mark Moyer President, Steve Gladyszewski ө ORES ees Treasurer Thomas L. Wright U.S. Publications Group ® President, U.S. Publications Claude Sheer President, Consumer Lawrence С. Burstein ledia Group Senior Vice President, Baird Davis irculation Vice President, Production Roger Herrmann Vice President, Tom McGrade E Business Manager Vice President, Jim Mannin Marketing Services j ing УЙШ ob Bauer усе President, Mark Van Мате Product Testing ісе President, James Е. Ramale! сте SERS у Місе Ргевійепс Поп Вугпев Executive Vice President/ А DiGuido Vice President Chris Dobbrow Vice President John Dodge (2227) БЕЙ RE Vice President Daniel Farber Vice President Jim Louderback = Vice President Michael Miller Vice President Nancy Newman п Executive Vice President, Daniel Rosenwei КАД o JUN | 9 Vice President Раш Somerson Vice President бат Whitmore Finally there’s an instant way to get the latest gaming Executive Director, Licensing Gertrud Borchardt information and interact with the game editors at ЕСМ 6 ЕСМ Ss ЕН мата without using snail mail or the Internet! Interactive Media And Development Group President Jeffrey Ballowe LATEST N EWS & САМ! МС GOSS | р айы vica тал, David e €) Listen to the Q-Mann for the hottest news in the industry! General Manager 26 Ка ® Savage Vice President, ZDTV Richard Fisher REVIEW CREW садар; BU Macon €) EGN's Review Crew cuts loose with their trademark Group Business Manager Jocelyn Grayson no-holds-barred reviews! ZD Brand and Market Group President, Ф, Brand, and Terri Holbrooke larket Group President C uter Bob Brown е, SPEAK YOUR MIND К J Tell us your reviews or strategies, then read "ет online— а ap crane йы Бө от таубе еуеп іп the next ЕСМ and ЕСМ! Vice President, ZD Research Elda Vale Director, Corporate Relations Gregory Jarboe е) COMING SOON суырды isn Be first to unearth the next big thing in EGM and EGM'! Exgctitive Director, Mike Perkowski les Marketing Ziff-Davis Media Network З s Media Wirek Jeff Bruce 2 ELECTRONIC Managing Director Rita Burke EGM GAMING HE йү YMaginn —— MONTHLY МҮҢ Associate Network Directors Ворони Be sure to get your parents’ permission to use EGMS Talkline if you are under 18 years ulie ие of age. Make sure you have a touch-tone phone. Messages subject to change Ziff-Davis Inc., то | without notice. A service of EGM and EGM”. A SOFTBANK Company тии тишн Th Ф most authentic baseball game available has re-loaded to defend its crown. Everything else seems strictly bush league. 7 WWW.sega.com ® Sega and Genesis are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Sega Saturn and Sega Sports are trademarks of SEGA. The World Series is SEGA Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. Officially Licensed By Major Lea 8097, Redwood City, CA 94063. All rights reserved. 1 b. Why.should the military have ай the fun? Now you too сад Blow | t full screen, full speed online gaming smack dab into your sweet little home: When you're tk surf the net, trade e-mail, or chat with others through the NetLink Browser* And now you can score a Saturn NetLink with two bonus games for a piddly $9999 Remember, someone, somewhere, wants to take you out. Get them first. *Must establish Internet account at additional cost to access Internet. **Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price = Prices May Vary. ing long distance butt, | Sega is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Sega Saturn, Sega Rally Championship and Virtual On are trademarks of Sega. Daytona USA is a trademark of the International Speedway Corporation, used under license from Daytona Properties. Saturn Bomberman ©1997 HUDSON SOFT. All rights reserved. Exclusive manufacture and distribution by Sega. Duke SEGA SATURN de NetLink Nukem™ 3D 61996, 1997 3D Realms. All Rights reserved. Created by 3D Realms. Published by Sega under license from GT Interactive Software Corp. Duke Nukern™ 3D is a trademark of 3D Realms. GT™ is a trademark and the GT 10409 is a registered trademark of GT Interactive Software Corp. ©1997 SEGA, P.O. Box 8097, Redwood City, CA 94063. All rights reserved. directory ^7 47 О vs Armored Core ШЫ Auto Destruct PS Bottom of tho ath ps Bravo Ан 2. Broken H Bug Ride Bushisto Hogg Gox: Enter t Golden m Grand Tour Racing son's VR Football "6 Arena Fighters Jurassic Park Magic Knight Rayearth Namco Museum Vol. 4 NBA Hang Time 2 NCAA Football 98 NHL 97 NHL 98 2 NHL Powerplay 98 Nightmare Nuclear Str Oddworld: Abe Overboard Pandemonium 2 РаКарра the Rapper Peak Performance PGA Tour 98 Pitfall Pitfall 30 Porsche Challenge Quake Ray Tracers SFEX + A hadow Master THE FOURTH INSTALLMENT ITS WAY TO THE ARCADES 3-D STYLE. CHECK OUT THE LATEST INFO STARTING ON PAGE 114. INSERT COIN Trick or treat, and thanks for the memories... PRESS START The Messiah is coming..courtesy of Shiny! TOP. IO Will Star Fox 64 be outfoxed by Final Fantasy VII for the #1 spotP GAMING GOSSIP EA Sports catches Tiger Woods by his tail. PROTOS The worm returns..and it aint Dennis Rodman! REVIEW CREW Can the Fantasy live up to the Review Créw's reality? TRICKS OF THE TRADE Play dirty with the level select code (up to 15) for Three Dirty Dwarves. SPECIAL FEATURES After 2O years, Al is still Кіскіп our butts! Plus, the Mortal screams return. NEXT WAVE Street Fighter EX+ Alpha goes 3-D for its PlayStation exclusive. TEAM EGM Madden 64 explodes 3-D style on the Nintendo 64. INTERFACE Reader asks: Do we really need to see urine to have a good time? BONUS INSIDE FREE POSTER Toshinden 3 Treasures of the Deep Triple Play 98 Packed Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Е НЕДА 4 VMXRacing S into this issue of EGM is of our Vs. Xevious 3D/G* poster! Reminisce over which game(s) made it on to the cover as well ав which games were crowned * by the Review Crew! Artificial Intelligence (Al) has been with us in one form or another for 20 years. But in all of this time, has Al in gaming improved as much as it should һауе? EGM takes a look at two genres of games (sports and fighting) in order to answer this question (and many others). In the end, you'll know more about how games think, and if they're getting any smarter. Turn to page 70 and get шше the head of some of gaming’s most popular titles. Just like those old "505 movies where they pit the Wolfman against Dracula, in our Halloween feature, we pit some of the scariest | video game characters against one another. For example, what if the hordes of Resident Evil fought against the armies of Nightmare Creatures? The fear-inducing characters go toe-to-toe on page 90. “Resident Evil has a weak link: the slow and predictable zombies.” Associate editor Shawn Smith spent 24 hours surfing the Net for video game-related info...among other things. From chat rooms to company sites, Shawn scoped them all out. And what did he find after 24 hours (besides neat lack-of-sleep-induced hallucina- tions)? Well, you'll have to check it out...the story is on page 106. ^What freak would go [online] for 24 hours straight?" DUKE NUKEM 64 (N64) QUAKE (SS) STREET FIGHTER EX + 0 (PS) NUCLEAR STRIKE (PS) GOLDEN NUGGET (PS) CROC (PS) 2 VS. (PS) DEATHTRAP DUNGEON (P$) 8 NIGHTMARE CREATURES (PS) TREASURES OF THE DEEP (PS) TIME CRISIS (PS) PARAPPA THE RAPPER (PS) STEEL REIGN (PS) COLONY WARS (PS) CASTLEVANIA: SOTN (PS) 6 ODDWORLD (PS) FROGGER (PS) ARMORED CORE (PS) FANTASTIC FOUR (PS) GHOST IN THE SHELL (PS) BRAVO AIR RACE (PS) 84 PANDEMONIUM 2 (PS) СЕХ: ENTER THE GECKO (PS) BESIDES DANGER AND INTRIGUE, TREASURES OF THE DEEP OFFERS SOMETHING THAT’S BEEN LACKING IN ACTION/ADVENTURE GAMES. hat's the missing ingredient from action and adventure games? Salt water. Treasures of the Deep" places you in the role of Jack Runyan, ex-Navy Seal. Your global treasure trek whisks you from the shark-infested Great Barrier Reef to the foreboding abyss of the Mariana Trench. You'll utilize lethal high- tech weaponry and submersibles as you explore sunken ships, battle sea monsters and thwart terrorists. es PES Your underwater hardware is 100% high-tech: robotic vehicles, Grab your scuba gear. It's time to dive into danger. homing torpedoes and heat seeking mines are all at your disposal. ACTION AND 5 14 treasure-huntirig missions, including Antarctica, the Bermuda ~~ Triangle and the sunken: Aztec ruins off the Yucatan Кш 4 ae TREASURES OF THE DEEP™ © 1997 Namco Hometek Inc. АП Rights Reserved. TREASURES OF THE DEEP is a registered trademark of Namco Hometek Inc. PlayStation The most striking 3-0 world in all of game-dom. Beautiful ЗЕ Pilot 8 State-of-the-art submersibles. Amass your fortune and sea creatures propel themselves with polygon perfection. 9 trade up from а USN RV-1 mini-sub to a deadly Viper attack sub. Explore mysterious wrecks, retrieve a lost satellite, defuse a nuclear warhead, then treat yourself to some alligator shoes. | пррр Ж اا‎ > > и THIS TIME, YOU’RE IN OVER YOUR HEAD. www.namco.com PlayStation and the PlayStation logos.are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon 15 а trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. Бу Todd Mowatt todd_mowatt@zd.com THE BEST VIDEO GAME NEWS avid Perry, president of Shiny Entertainment, and his various teams of employees have been pushing the envelope in terms of game design and innovation. They haven't been afraid of trying new things. He and his Shiny Entertainment team have been at the forefront of new gam- ing technologies over the last four years. Now, ironically enough, he and his team have come up with a new technology called "RT-DAT" (Realtime Deformation and Tessellation) Engine. Messiah is the first game to use the new technology. It will be released for the PC and the PlayStation from Interplay, Shiny's parent company sometime in the first quarter of 1998. The Messiah tech- nology allows for realtime \ tessellation, which means scaling polygons in real- time. The technolo- gy will allow for 1,000 times more / polygons, resulting in amazingly lifelike characters on screen and will have realtime deformation and inter- polation as well as volumetric lighting, according to David Perry. “It's basically a very intelligent break- down of the characters to polygons,” Perry explained. “We can decide the speed of the game AS BREAKING NEWS © THE SECOND COMING OF PERFECT POLYGONS » ACE лс uL à IN IT RUNS by changing the exact number of polygons on screen in realtime.” This technology will effectively keep the game running smoothly. “Games get all choppy when their speeds go up and down, and that affects gameplay and makes it frustrating. In some games when you turn your character around in one spot, the game speeds up and slows down, and that’s irritating. This technology will alleviate that” “In Messiah, instead of boxy-looking characters, this technology will allow for real smooth breasts and real smooth backsides, and you will also see the skin stretch and the body move. That will be done in software and not actually be some cheat or animation. That is the software saying that if your butt was to move up a little bit then the cheek would compress. That's the type of real movement we are looking for. We have built-in tools to tell each little piece of the skin's surface how it should react to different movements and that's what makes this technology exciting.” Messiah's RT-DAT technology would make Lara Croft look about 7000 times better, according to Perry. "The other thing that it does is the meshing of polygons. For example, in games like Toshinden, on the joints of the characters you can see the polygons flickering. There's nothing like that, and with this technology, we can plug in any movement and the body executes that movement correctly. "This puts us a year ahead of everybody else in the industry. | could do a soccer game or a sports game very easily with this technology. People haven't even thought about what we are doing. Everyone is talking about tessellation and talking about how it will be where everyone is going. The Quake guys are now saying that this will be their next big thing. CONTROL YOUR POWER licensed by FOCA to Fuji Experience the #1 Driving Controller for PlayStation, Nintendo®4, Saturn and PCs ““ CHECK OUT THESE FEATURES: I Analog Steering Wheel, Accelerator y and Brake ` 24 e Proprietary Digital Pulse Mode for Compatibility with ALL Games | е Digital Action Buttons and 0-Рай for Easy Game Set-up е Full 270° Steering Wheel Rotation © Stick Shift PlayStation Available NOW at: Toys R Us, KayBee, Babbages, Hills, Electronics Boutique, Software Etc., Musicland and other fine retailers. ШЗУМГАПОП, ii 7 www.madcatz.com я e-mail: sales@madcatz.com A NASCAR RALLY CROSS FORMULA 1 WIPEOUT XL DESTRUCTION DERBY2 ANDRETTI RACING SIERRA ON-LINE INC. SONY INTERACTIVE ENT. INC. PSYGNOSIS LTD. PSYGNOSIS LTD. PSYGNOSIS LTD. ELECTRONIC ARTS It’s Official: EGM’s parent company Ziff-Davis has announced that P.S.X. magazine has been "We've already got Interpolation, get a dwarf. We named the Official everybody says they are gonna put adverts in U.S. PlayStation have it. (Interpolation means publications, and going from any frame to any went through a Magazine. The. frame which means your game variety of talent premiere issue will be animation will run silky smooth, agents before we on newsstands Sept. resulting in an amazingly fluid found the person 23. It will have a feel.) We have it running already.” we were looking playable PlayStation The few details that Perry for. It was a tenu- disc packaged with would reveal about the game ous process, but in it that will feature are that the main character will the end everything playable PlayStation be an angel/ cherub sent to worked out fine, 1 demos and will include clean up the disgusting world Perry said. all accounts is getting ready to of the future. This even involves The concept and the story line go public sometime next year. Sneak peeks of soon: killing hookers and assorted are still being worked on. But the This technology will go a long to-be released first- other imperfect beings that technology is the thing that drives мау to helping them reach and third-party titles. inhabit the Earth. this project according to Perry. their goals. Turok 2 is in the works. Detail аге “At the moment we are focusing on the technology and а Ag the fact that it will kick Quake’s and Unreal's butts.” very well in the U.S. and is doing well To win the game, your goal is to “At the moment we are focusing Interplay's tough times seem to end life on Earth as we know И. on the technology and the fact be behind them as they have been abroad. Our sources at To create the angel/cherub that it will hopefully kick Quake's working hard on their VR Sports Iguana told us that character, a four-foot black dwarf and Unreal's butts,” Perry said. brand. They have already secured Turok 2 will have was motion-captured in a Los This new technology should National Football League and NHL Rumble Pak com- Angeles studio. open more than a few doors licenses and are working on patibility and will use “We searched high and low to for Shiny and Interplay who by retaining their MLB license. the “hot swap” tech- nique to allow for the use of the Nintendo 64 Memory Pak. Iguana is working to make sure that the Rumble Pak is used not only to register hits, but also to make players feel the roar of a nearby T-Rex. The graphics are also being improved so that the game looks even more realistic than the original. It isn’t known whether Turok 2 will have a Multiplayer Option. The game should follow the trend of other first-person per- spective action games coming for the N64. The game is expected sometime next year. Crystal Dynamics signed a publishing agreement with Midway Ent. to release Gex 2: Enter the Gecko for the PlayStation and N64 as well as Pandemonium! 2. 2215. : ч à | PO WER and РЕРРООРГОЯОЯЖЖҒ- Ever feel Ке driving a Porsche®? Want to? The Alps Gamepad for thE ШТУ ПТР ТУО p р! offers you the power, performance, and handling you've been waiting ӨТЕП ШІБЕРКІНШІНЕЙ)) С finely-tuned and tested controller designed by professional game players ОТЕ FE) OEIC needs of today’s gamers. aS PlayStation als її 2 q 0 ЖЕЗ» -L BSE «С.Е Ш ШШ. [+ << Жақай now Midway has two new collections of their classic games titles in the works for the Sony PlayStation. Midway’s Arcade’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2 will include Spy Hunter, Splat, Root Beer Tapper, Moon Patrol, Blaster, Joust 2 and Burger Time. They are shooting to have this game ready for a fall release. The second game planned for release in the first quar- ter of '98, Atari’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2, will include Marble Madness, Gauntlet, Road Blaster and Crystal Castles. We are also hearing rumblings that a Nintendo 64 considered. The Return of Zero Divide features the game's eight original characters: Zero, Cygnus, Wild3, EOS, Draco, 10, Tau and Nereid. They return for another 3-D polygonal fighting tournament. This time they're joined by the crab-like Cancer, a virtual boy Nox and a female robot Boss character named Pixel. The game runs at 60 frames per second within a variety of ani- mated 3-D backgrounds. The original Zero Divide was published for the PlayStation by Time Warner Interactive (Atari Games), now a division of Midway Games. So far, no company has announced plans to publish the game in North America. Mega Man X4 coming to the PlayStation and the Saturn and will be released later this month. For $10 more gamers will be able to not only take home a copy of the game but a limited-edition game pak and a special Mega Man Ха figurine. BREAKING NEWS MEN IN WIGS GIVE NINTENDO GREY HAIR NEW LAW PAVES WAY ҒОН EUROPEAN LICENSEES change the way they do a business with European game developers. When the European Economic Commission approved Nintendo's new licensing agreements, they changed the way This differs from how Nintendo is allowed to operate in the rest of the world where companies are not only limited by the number of games they produce for Nintendo's systems, but they must have prior approval from Nintendo on each intendo was legislated to on how many games licensees can release and Nintendo's approval is no longer required, unless the licensee elects to use a Nintendo trademark for a game. Additionally, licensees do not have to have their games for the Nintendo 64, Super "Under the terms of the new EEC competition law there are no limits on how many games licensees can release...approval is no longer required." Nintendo has done business with developers all over the world for more than a decade. Nintendo is now in compliance with a strict new competition law that could have very significant ramifications for hardware manufacturers and European- based software development houses. Nintendo's new agreement differs significantly from those set up in the U.S. and Japan. Under the terms of the new EEC competition law there are no limits Nintendo or Game Boy manufactured by Nintendo. Other objections that the Commission had to Nintendo's licensing arrangements have . either been deleted or amended so as not to raise competition issues. The EEC has now deter- mined that any infringement of the law regard- ing any of Nintendo's / systems has been cleared up and that this new agreement will provide for greater competition in Europe. title and must have the cartridges manufactured by Nintendo. Nintendo officials could not be reached to comment on the ruling. ШЕ Іші be utn atia 197 б ЧОП то Om _ лоша у ол Sore sitis \ 4 » А http: uw Ў na THEREFORE IT KILLS Базел kof Spiny'Enlertainmell] Inc. АП rights reserved. PlayStation software developed by Neve Eon “ БҮ СТ оге trademark ofjellymates Infbractive Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are harks of Sony сео, Entertainment Inc. - wants and... monium 2 and twist elic landscape with al attack rling his vip the unc ed / му furi u truly understand it. So h = 8 Димо 2 Game Rating Information Crystal Dynamics, Ве Crystal Danis о, Pandemonium 2, and the GEX character are riders of Cystal Dynamics, C199 Crystal Dynanics. М rights reserved. PlayStation and the PlayStation lego are ders f Soy Computer Entertainment, Iac. Ж NN BREAKING NEWS NYKO BRINGS THE THUNDER WITH AUTHORITY landscape as they have readied the first N64 third-party Rumble Pak device. It does the same thing as the Nintendo Rumble Pak except it is a little bit cheaper. Be yko is sending rumbles across the gaming Nintendo's pak is $19.99 and for a time it was only available through their 1-800 customer service line or you had to purchase Star Fox to get it. Nyko's pak sells for $16.99. Mad Catz, Interact and a number of other peripheral companies have their own ver- sions of the Rumble Pak. But we haven't received samples of those peripherals as of this writing. Many previously released games that were pop- ular will be rereleased according to a Nyko press release. Some of the rereleased titles that are expected to be modified to accommodate the motion feedback include WaveRace 64, Super Mario 64, Turok, Doom 64 and Mario Kart 64. "We're very happy that we are the first major accessory maker to be able to ship this new controller add-on," said David Naghi, vice president of marketing Nyko , Technologies. We will be supporting the.motion feedback by announc- ing other products in the next few months. ^% desires. ” ІМ :ПЬ SECONDS, THE COMPUTER PILOT IN ACE COMBAT с WILL SEND YOUR JET CRASHING ТО EARTH. YOUR EGO WILL FOLLOW SHORTLY THEREAFTER. Playstatioı ital Software Associati CON: INTERNAL AFFAIRS BOMBS AWAY EGM STAFFERS BATTLE ^ AT BOMBERMAN ^ EJ the assets from GameTek Inc. t was a battle royale and ЕСМ staffers опе person would emerge he Under the terms | gathered іп Ше conference room for a Sega Saturn Bomberman champion. i of the agreement, fight to the finish. Once the pizza was Ten people participated and only Ше? Take Two acquired delivered, the door was bolted shut and one was left standing. The contest E a a European sales and was sponsored by Sega. distribution office, a Shawn "The Mad Bomber" Canadian development Smith (pictured to the right in studio (Alternative custom-made Bomberman Reality Technologies) as x L0 ORE $ y well as the worldwide se a leather i rights to several Ditter of Sega for overseeing Game Boy titles the tournament and to Sega along with the rights to for sponsoring the event. It was develop Jeopardy! and a clean fight and except for a \ Wheel of Fortune for the few pizza-stained Saturn Nintendo 64. The controllers, no damage games will include was don all-new ques- tions and puzzles as well as a feature PRODUCT REVIEW that will allow the player to control camera angles and alternate between J J several different viewpoints around the set. Jeopardy! will be hosted Бу ап animat- EAGLE MAX WILL HELP YOUR SCORES SOAR ей version of Alex Trebek, and Wheel f you are a converted flight- Wheel Mode for racing fans) and that | even dusted off Bogey: of Fortune will incorpo- | sim junkie and haven't been is fully programmable, allowing Dead 6 and played it for quite a rate video footage able to find a flight stick for gamers to customize the stick to long time; so long my wife made of Vanna White. The the PlayStation that you like, look satisfy their own gaming tastes. | me sleep on the couch—a sure titles are expected no further than the Eagle Max. enjoyed this controller so much sign of a winner. to be released in time This little dream will help your for Christmas. scores soar and is a breeze to STICK "М” STAY Sega has joined get used to. | tested this game | Я forces with two of on Ace Combat 2 and it passed \ пот $39.99 (MSRP) the world’s top with flying colors. | see this 55 В controller ав an eagle soaring | Е AVAILABLE NOW: underground DJs, above the clouds, while the other controllers I've rated are mere sea gulls when put u Е against the Eagle Mak. Е and Кыш 0 оиа Н \ This is one solid controller as flying games. its hit game for the analog feature as well as ‚ that any dog would It is very durable and Sega Saturn, я Digital Control Modes. You break its teeth trying to should last through Fighters MegaMix. can program moves and chew on. It is definitely many dogfights both The song entitled maneuvers for up to four differ- a tough controller! on and off screen. “Fighters” debuted on ent games. The ergonomic The ease of motion of KLYY FM's radio show design of the stick helps you the stick is also a plus. “Liphted” in Los maneuver away from attack- Angeles and was ing enemies. 2 Minuses: 11 and R1 expected to be released eee stick Select and Start but- as a single sometime in different tons were a little too September. modes of close together, making Commander Tom operation it tough when you are and DJ MARS are (including a / in the heat of battle. best known around the 4 world for their dance tracks. Commander Tom and DJ MARS, to create a dance club mix from the music in Pluses: Isn't a one- dimensional controller ТС —— X Ш ЗЕ «КИШ D mm Матсо апа Squaresoft of Japan have joined forces. The companies announced plans for the two to enter a licensing agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, Squaresoft will develop software based on Namco’s System 12 hardware and Namco will perform all manu- facturing and distribu- tion. Until now, Square has focused on the consumer market but they believe this alliance will be very beneficial in a number of ways. Not only will it help strengthen their position as a leading software developer, but it will also give them a much-needed presence in the high- technology commercial arena. Dream Factory, a subsidiary of Square, will be in charge of the first project's software development. This is the same design group that designed Tobal No. 1 and Tobal 2 for the Sony PlayStation. The new game will utilize System 12's 3-D capabilities. The game was scheduled to debut at the JAMMA show being held this month in Japan. System 12 is the same hardware being used to power Namco's smash arcade hit Tekken 3. It is a high- performance board developed in cooper- ation with Sony Computer Ent. "We are thrilled about joining forces with such a strong software developer," said Frank Consentino, VP of sales and marketing for Namco of America. "Having Squaresoft develop cost-effective, high-tech games on System12 will further strengthen Namco's position in the gaming marketplace" TIGER USES THE FORCE iger is roaring to get T their Star Wars Giga Friends to market. They have three ready tt as of press time. Yoda isn't a pet. He will teach you the ways of the Force. He'll teach you self control and restraint and the ability to guess cor- rectly. He will periodically pass on bits of Jedi wisdom. R2-D2 is also available. You will be able to program him to solve puzzles, dodge stormtroopers and help him save Princess Leia. R2-D2 can also be pro- grammed to do different things on screen. He powers down adical Entertainment, a Vancouver-based software developer, recently set up a develop- ment studio in San Francisco's China Basin. They rented 25,000 square feet of office space and signed a five-year lease. The company has declined comment on a licensing agreement between them- selves and Disney's ESPN sports studio. EGM has learned that the deal was close to being signed as of this writing. The deal could see Radical develop and publish a variety of sports titles based on the ESPN affiliations with the major sports. EGM has also learned that Radical has petitioned Major League Baseball to get an official license. We have also learned that baseball will be the first sports game released, followed by racing, football and Xtreme sports titles. Currently Radical employs 150 people in Vancouver and is in the process of hiring another 75 people by RADICAL AND DISNEY TO PLAY BALL! at night to recharge, and you can even give him an oil bath to clean out his circuits. Rancor is the fiercest of the Giga Friends. His food consists of people who are thrown into the pit. He will be under your control. All three of these will be available sometime .. in November of this year for between $9.99 and E $12.99. ТЕ - The most realistic dogfights ever created for the PlayStation” game console. “Тоба! 3-D polygon environment - fly freely and unload your arsenal with reckless abandon. * Advanced artificial intelligence - September, adding the total Е қ Қ Cunning and calculating enemy pilots. number of employees to 225. To further solidify their position as a serious sports contender, they recently hired Scott Rohde, a well- known Sega Sports producer, and David Dempsey, a public relations giant, who spent 10 years working at EA Sports before making a brief stop at Sega. Mike Ribero, former executive vice president of sales and marketing at Sega of America, has been CEO of Radical Entertainment since 1996 after leaving Sega. By all accounts Ribero was key to putting together the Disney deal along with other Radical staff members. ESPN is a worldwide leader in sports and has a loyal sports following in viewer- ship on its cable television channels ESPN and ESPN2. It also has a very popular Web site ESPN Sportszone (www.espn.com). No formal announcement has been made and when reached for comment, Radical officials declined to make any announcements. + 30 formidable missions - nearly double the missions of Air Combat. * Awesome mission debriefings - dynamic diagrams and moving maps for surgical strikes. * Secret planes and hidden missions - the better you fly, the more you'll reveal. POWERED ву + NICE BUNT, JUNIOR. 2- "ЙЫТ, %//? АЙТ) МЕРТ Ed ақ ae THE FUTURE OF SPORTS HAS! LANDED’ INTRODUCING MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL if Ў ets FEATURING Кем GRIFFEYJR.OVER 1500 MOTION CAPTURED MOVES КУ, PLUS THE REALITY ВАТ:ТНЕ ONLY TRACKING SYSTEM THAT CREATES AN INFINITE NUMBER OF REALISTIC SWINGS, AUTOMATICALLY: „^$ ONE БТА EAP FOR BASEBALL. Ра, x ә тт. : 1997 Nintendo of America Inc. |,’ and the "N" logo are trademarks of Nintendo of Americal lajor League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League MLBPA. Official Licensee Major League Baseball Players Association, wwwinintendg.com ЖҰ к”. NINTENDO: anion @ Publishers Name Editors’ Choice Award A # Consecutive Months On The Chart Rank Number VEE MPL MELD Е ЗЕСМ OVERALL 1 Final Fantasy МИ W| PlayStation/SCEA :| GoldenEye 007 w| Nintendo 64/Nintendo :| Madden NFL 98 w PlayStation/Electronic Arts 0 NFL GameDay “98 SCE Tetrisphere Nintendo 64/Nintendo Warcraft II Saturn/Electronic Arts MLB ’98 PlayStation/SCEA (ее NINTENDO E: Af GoldenEye 007 @ Nintendo 21 Tetrisphere Nintendo j Bi Superstar Soccer ) di e Nintendo 5| Blast Corps Nintendo (е) ІН Mario Kart“ Nintendo 79 Wave Васе“ Nintendo 8: Super Мамо“ Nintendo 7 Doom“ Midway А МВА Hangtime , Midway > Т [не p e sme Ф FEE Eis sm» o туманна |8: Асе Combat2 | (5| JE es Herc's Adventure LucasArts Warcraft II Electronic Arts ВЕ Sonic Jam w: 5. Baseball "98 siemens d) emer _ @ E агы" Andretti Racing Electronic Arts Albert Odyssey Working Designs 9 ш зше о... MING £ ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY’S GUIDE TO GAMES IN DEVELOPMENT NINTENDO 64 Aerofighter Assault Video Systems Shooter 7 Armored Core Sony Computer Entertainment Shooter MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero Midway Action Beast Wars Hasbro Interactive Fighting MLB Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. Nintendo Sports j Blasto Sony Computer Entertainment Action Top Gear Rally Kemco Sports 4 Bug Rider GT Interactive Асубропв. Bushido Blade Sony Computer Entertainment Fighting Banjo and Kazooie Nintendo Action Castlevania: SotN. Konami Action Extreme G Acclaim Racing 2 Clay Fighter Extreme Interplay Fighting Gretzky 98 Midway Sports Courier Crises GT Interactive Action Jeopardy! Gametek Simulation CROC Fox Interactive Action Madden 64 ЕА Sports Deathtrap Dungeon Eidos L Adion NFL 08 Club 98 Acdaim Sports Dragonball GT Bandai Fighting San Francisco Rush Midway Sports Л FIFA: Road to the World Cup EA t Sports WCW vs. NWO World Tour THQ Sports [ Fighting Force Eidos Action Wheel of Fortune Gametek Simulation Frogger Hasbro Interactive L Action G Police Psygnosis Action Сопкег5 Quest Rare Action Ghost in the Shell THQ Action Duke Nukem GT Interactive First-Person NBA Fast Break Midway t Sports Mission: Impossible Ocean Action í Intelligent Qube Sony Computer Entertainment L Puzzle NBA In the Zone '98 Konami Sports M Mass Destruction ASC Games t Action Robotech Gametek Action Mega Man X4 Capcom Action f Midway Collection 2 Midway Classic Moto Racer ЕА 7 Sports Museum Vol. 5 Namco ў Classic p 7 7 1 NBA Live 98 ЕА Е Sports % 22222 “22227 Ж ТОЛИ v» B Spots RE 4 / 2 NHL Faceoff 98. Sony Computer Entertainment Sports 1 Litie 0 Nightmare Creatures Activision Adventure әр тір қ had: Pandemonium 2 Crystal Dynamics Action ily v ФИР Ж m а Paap ће Rapper Sony Computer Entetainment Ms im Т Е ро А Ма s oF Red Asphalt Interplay AdjSports һ i г 2 SM 27/2 И уе ШО Acclaim Ё Adventure nixed ГА: -È ip? ut SSF 2 Collection Capcom Fighting the PlavStat 794 б tef a - Ж» Street Fighter EX + Capcom Fighting р 2 j (M Е % Time Crisis Namco Shooter V Ralley Ocean я Sports ood сте е Sa r йй та 7: 7, ius tas VR Footbal Interplay ЖЕСІ ду; | Auto Destruct ЕА д Action Batman & Robin Acclaim Action Caesar's Palace Interplay Simulation Сагот Shot Ascii Simulation CART World Series Sony Computer Entertainment Nov. Sports Colony Wars Psygnosis I Action Cool Boarders 2 Sony Computer Entertainment Nov. Sports Crash Bandicoot 2 Sony Computer Entertainment Nov. Абоп Gretzky 98 Midway Sports In the Zone ‘98 Konami ЖЕЗ Jet Moto 2 Sony Computer Entertainment Sports Joe Blow Sir Tech г Action MDK Playmates 3 Action NCAA FB Gamebreakers 98 Sony Computer Entertainment l. Sports NFL ОВ Club 98 Acclaim г Sports One ASC Games Л Action Overboard Psygnosis Puzzle Powerboat Interplay Sports Rampage Midway Action Ray Tracers THO ЭЛ Running Wild Universal Studios Racing San Francisco Rush Midway А Sports Shadow Master Psygnosis 1. First-Person Skullmonkeys и EA 2 Mdion SW: Masters of Teräs Kasi LucasArts Fighting Tanktics BMG Interactive . Action Test Drive 4 Accolade 22 Sports ТММ Motorsports Hardcore 2 ASC Games I. Sports Tomb Raider 2 Eidos Adventure Vs. THQ г Fighting Warhammer2: Dark Omen Mindscape Adventure WCW Nitro THQ Sports Youngblood GT Interactive г Action M 2 аи уе an Ж %2 22222224222; SATURN Courier Crises GT Interactive 5 Action CROC Fox Interactive Ё Action Daytona CCE Sega Sports FIFA: Road to the World Cup EA LL брой Last Bronx Sega Fighting Mass Destruction ASC Games Action Mega Man X4 Capcom Action Nascar 98 ЕА Sports NBA Action 98 Sega Fighting NBA Live 98 EA Sports NHL 98 ЕА Sports NHL Hockey 98 Sega Fighting SSF 2 Collection Capcom t Fighting Ten Pin Alley ASC Games t Sports Agent Gex Crystal Dynamics Adion Alundra Working Designs Adventure Apocalypse Activision Action Aqua Prophecy Ascii . —— Adventure Critical Depth GT Interactive Action Duke Nukem GT Interactive First-Person Grand Theft Auto BMG Interactive Adion Major League Soccer ВМС Interactive. Sports МВА Shootout '98 Sony Computer Entertainment 3 Sports Spawn Sony Computer Entertainment Dec Action SpecOps BMG Interactive . Acion Тһе Wild 9 Interplay ЖЕТТІ Enemy Zero Sega Fighting Magic Knight Rayearth Working Designs RPG Sega Touring Car Championship Sega Sports Sonic R Sega Racing Worldwide Soccer 98 Sega г Sports Maximum Force Midway Action The Wild 9 Interplay Action Top: The Second Coming, slated for this fall. Bottom: Preparing for her return. Opp page: Committed for life. TWO DRUNKS BATTLE ІТ OUT D HALL. THE 38 EXPRESS SQUEALS TO A . HALT EVERY HALF HOUR ON THE STREET BELOW. SLEEP DOESN'T COME EASY IN ROOM 23. BUT FOR 19-YEAR-OLD RAY COOPER, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE NOISE. AS HE SAYS, "IT'S BECAUSE SHE'S ALL | SEE EVERY TIME | CLOSE MY EYES." Eidos Interactive, Tomb Raider, Lara Croft and her likeness are trademarks of Eidos, Plc. 01997 Eidos * Electronic Arts Deals with a Tiger * Atari Goes ап out in 3-D Fighting * Konami Resurrects More Classics е New Chipsets For Dural by NEC * Capcom's Final Fight EX * Lara Croft Appearance on N64 Hi-didily-ho all you fun-loving, gossipmongers. It is |, your friendly neighborhood Q-Mann, gatherer of video game gossip, surveyor of behind-the-scenes news, guardian of gaming scuttlebutt, commander of industry buzz and an all-around humble dude. This month, my team of Q-spies and 1 have criss-crossed the globe at breakneck speeds. Why would we do such a thing? To give YOU, our readers, the information you demand and deserve... Our Q-crew reports that EA Sports has just signed an exclusive deal with Tiger Woods to use his persona on a new line of golf games. Although EA Sports already has a big-name golf license with the PGA tour, the video game giant obviously felt signing Woods was an opportunity they couldn't miss. Wurd on the street sez the deal spans several years, will be applied to several gaming platforms (PC, Nintendo 64, Sony PlayStation) and tips the scales somewhere near eight figures (that's $10 million for those of you who are too lazy to count). The first TW golf game in the series is due to hit around mid-1998 on the PC, followed by a PlayStation and N64. game Christmas '98. In other EA news, we also hear that the company plans to support the N64 in a major way, with around seven titles due to hit store shelves in 1998 alone... Over in Japan, Terry Aki (EGM's nipponese gossip grabber) just got his sticky mittens on a whole slew of news. First up, we have Konami. Reports from Tokyo suggest that Konami is going to continue their recent trend of resurrecting their classic titles. First up is the news of a 3-D N64 remake of the popular NES game, Time Pilot. One of the biggest controversies surrounding this game centers around. how Konami plans on selecting a proper producer/director for TP64 (please, spare us the toilet paper jokes). You see, the original director of Time Pilot “е for the NES was none other than Yoshiki Okamoto, who is now the main тап in charge of R&D development at Capcom Japan, one of Konami's main rivals. If Konami chooses to see the game through, fans of the original TP might be a bit disconcerted to learn that the origi- nal creator isn’t involved in the project. On the other hand, those same hardcore fans are now beginning to expect more old-school magic from the big К and Konami only has so many titles to choose from. On a similar note, rumors of another Contra game for the PlayStation is rearing its head once again. Work on this new Contra is supposedly being handled in-house at Konami Japan... Capcom, as we all know, isn't immune to this trend of remake-mania either. In fact, the finishing touches are currently being applied to. Final Fight EX, a new Sega Titan/Saturn version of the classic fighting series. Final Fight what, you say? Well, for those of you who don't always pay attention to Q-Mann, here's a quick recap: Final Fight EX is being designed in Japan (by Mr. lijima of X-Men and Marvel Super Heroes fame) but is being programmed at Capcom USA. The game runs on Sega's Titan arcade architecture (which is closely related to the Saturn) and the home version will be available exclusively for the Saturn...Got it? We also hear Capcom might release Street Fighter И! Dash early next year (FYI, SF2 Champion Edition was also known as SF2 Dash in Japan). Capcom is also rumored to be developing а 3-D Street Fighter using some of the characters from SFIII. Details are sketchy on both games, but we'll let you know more news as soon as it devel- ops: Namco of Japan is working on a coin-op horse racing game called Final Furlong. Due to make an appearance at the Japanese AOU arcade show this fall, FF is a multiplayer (up to four machines can be linked together) game where the player cat ride оп а bucking, force- feedback saddle, Urban Cowboy-style. Final Furlong is due to be released this winter and runs оп Namco's Super System 22 hardware (Air Combat 22, Alpine Surfer, Tokyo Wars). In other coin-op news, Atari is gearing up to make а big splash in the arcade scene with a top-secret 3-D fighting game. From what we hear, Atari is going all-out with this game and is confident that this title will compete favorably against anything the big boys (Capcom, Konami, Midway, Sega. Namco) have to offer. That, of course. is easier said than done but from what we hear, Atari is making all the right moves with this title. The first move (and arguably, the most important one) Atari has done with this game is hire James Goddard, a world- class fighting game guru (һе worked оп SF2: Champion Edition, SF2 Hyper Fighting and designed Dee Jay in Super SF2) to oversee all aspects of the project. We also understand that Ағай has hired a team of nationally ranked, professional Street Fighter players to help vali- , | date gameplay as welt as commissioning Cheryl Austin, Dead on Designs’ senior art director to assist with the overall look of the game. The-game will run on Atari's new 3Dfx arcade board (San Francisco Визи, Mace), is due to be released early in 1998, and, according to Goddard. will be the first true 3-D fighting game to feature the precision and tight, balanced gameplay of a 2-D fighter. With Atari's new- found determination in the arcade scene, powerful 3-D hardware and а dream team of designers and developers, the future looks bright for this game. The Q.does have to wonder, though...is Juko Thread and this new title the same game?..Stay tuned... Switching gears over to consoles, the Q has extracted more information on Sega's upcoming 64-Bit Dural system. While it was first thought that-the Duras 3-D sub-system would be based оп PC accelerator architecture (perhaps the Power VR PCX-1 or-PCX-2), we now hear that it's going to be based on а whole new chipset. NEC is currently working on-two top-secret new graphic chipsets. The first chip is-à new энщ generation of PC accelerators called the PCM chipset (not to be confused with the acronym for Pulse Code Modulation).-Secret graphic ASIC #2 в а стр that NEC has Specifically designed with consoles and coin-op boards in mind: ARC. The Dural's graphic architecture will be based on ARC technology-and is reportedly jaw-dropping in its performance-to-price ratio... - Әуегіл Nintendoland, work is progressing swimmingly at Core оп a new 3-D Tomb Raider-like game for the N64: The game will feature Lara Croftinvall her splendor but alas, may not actually be called Tomb Raider because Sony has ап exclusive deal on all console Tomb Raider games. Look for Lava Croft's Most Excellent Adventure.64 (or whatever the name turns oüt to be) on store shelves in.the fall of 1998, possibly for the 84DD- In other N64 news, Donkey: Kong Country 64 is reportedly being worked оп by both Rare in England and NCUs own-EAD. group in Japan. Terry Aki reports that some dude named Shigeru Miyamoto-has expressed much interest in-working-on а -4 1 new Donkey Kong game'and ВКС 64 will be that game. Like Zelda 64 before it. ОКС 64 is-a dual-project, dual-format title іп that itis being simultaneously developed for the N64 and the 6400. Depending on how each game turns out; NCL will release DKC64 as а cart, or as а DD dise, or (as у Бе the case with Zelda) both ава саг and а later separate, stand-alone DD disc. DKC64 is scheduled to be released in mid-1998, but whether or-nót it actually hits store shelves at that time is anybody's guess. Well, that wraps it-Up for this month. Q-fans. Tune in next Emu E | month where the Q-crew.reveals more info on Sega's Dural, a top-secret dés ( project called LiDo-239-and something very, very big. Until next time, | 1 remember...the 4ruth is ош (еге... [38 ETIN [Ter ПАПИВА, SHELL BREAK YOUR HEART, CRUSH YOUR BONES, Kick You што А LAVA PIT, THEM SHELL STIEER AT YOUR WEAPON. It's Mace - The Dark Age. The most graphically stunning 3D fighting game to ever come home, In fact, Next Generation says, Mace is well on its way to being the best 3-D fighting game for Nintendo 64" There аге 0 death-seeking adversaries, two devilishly difficult bosses and seven hidden characters. Each one with a deadly weapon or two and so many moves and combos that youll needa high pain threshold just to watch. A word to the wise: if youre getting your face kicked in, we suggest you hit the 9-0 Dodge Button ~ it might just save your butt. Not to mention your life. N” logo are Nintendo of Зора and Һат d Eidos Inte arks of Entertainr İN А GAME WHERE JUST ABOUT ANYTHING | $ CAN BECOME A WEAPON, IT'S NICE ТО KNOW Х09 +: CAN STILL FIND A GOOD ОЁ BAZOOKA. ; Ж NS Юу у у у X A HERE, THE INNER ЕПУ STREETS ARE LITTERED WITH WEAPONS OF ALL SORTS. SOME OF YOUR OWN MAKING. = | OTHERS READY-MADE AND BANNED IN MOST STATES. | ALL PROVIDE ENDLESS HOURS OF EXPLOSIONS, GUNFIRE, AND MISERY: OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY. No WONDER - ( wwwefightingforce.com “.. — = The wackine third release of Earthworm Jim early next year. The most noticeable change fans will recognize in this now trilogy is the use of full 3-D levels. In this story, Jim takes a nasty hit on the head and falls unconscious. Here he must battle through segments of his subc ous mind that will take him to meet old enemies such as Professor- monkey-for-a-head as well as meet up with some new Interpla |j, menaces. Earthworm Jim З contains that same groovy feel as his other two hits while allowing the total freedom 3-D games allow. With the past proven entertainment value of the other EWJ titles combined with new technology. EWJ3 is sure to be a hit. PUBLISHER PUBLISHER SYSTEM RELEASE DATE PLAYERS Working Designs is wrapping up translation work on this action RPG, which is based on a popular manga and anime series. The game centers on three Japanese schoolgirls who are magically transported to a fantasy world while on a field trip. They soon learn that the princess of this world is dying, so they embark on a quest to save her. Players may switch between the three girls at any time. Magic Knight Rayearth will feature plenty of cinemas from the anime, as well as digitized dialogue (although not as much as the Japanese version of the game). 7.000 SECRET MESSAGE: CHANGE САМ BE GOOD THE Sushi_X@zd.com ALL І NEED TO KNOW... That’s right! All you need to know is what you learned in video games... or so they say. Eighteen things to commit to memory and use in everyday life: 1) Any problem that arises can easily be solved with violence. 2) You can overcome most adversaries simply by having enough quarters. 3) If it moves, KILL IT! 4) Operating any vehicle or weapon is simple and requires no training. 5) “Bosses” always hire henchmen weaker than they are to do their dirty work. 6) If you find food lying on the ground, eat it. 7) You can smash things and get away with it. 8) When someone dies, they disappear. 9) Money is frequently found lying on the streets. 10) All shopkeepers carry high-tech weaponry. 11) You never run out of bullets, only grenades. 12) Ninjas are common and fight in public frequently. 13) Whenever huge evil fat men are about to die, they begin flashing red or yellow. 14) When you're born, you аге invulner- able for a brief period of time. 15) All women wear revealing clothing and have great bodies. 16) If you crash your vehicle, don't worry. A new one will appear in its place. 17) Gang members frequently look the same and often have the same names. 18) You sustain injury if you shoot and kill innocents. Thanks to all who contributed to this list and our pal, the Net, for allowing us to receive it. By the way, don't really use this stuff in real life. Stories that only a mother could love..your mother! Afros were only part of the vibe back then. Two- player Pong and drinking decaf coffee were groovy pastimes. Fashion was a big part of EGM back then and "cross-plat- form" had a whole different meaning. The standard greeting was a wink and a point, which still holds true even today. Those were the days, man. BACKGROUND MUSIC МАМЕ THAT САМЕ TUNE: If you can guess what Sega CD game the lyrics below are from, send it to The Sushi-X Files @ the address @ the bottom of the page. You won't win anything from us, but we'll print your name(s) in the mag so you can show all your friends how cool you really are. Be prepared though, cuz these lyrics are cheesier than most people from Wisconsin. Good luck! | know I’m gonna revive when | am on the road. Гме got nowhere to hide when 1 am on the road. There's no use in wondering what made you feel like parting from me then, girl how many more tears must | shed so as to melt the frigid wall of time? So I'm gonna break it. Have no fear on the road. You know I'm sure to make it. No matter what's on the road, | know too well it's very hard. It's just barking for the silver moon, but | don't care how long it takes as long as she lights up my way in the gloom. Until the very moment when I see you again, I'll keep speeding along the road to the sun. The burning sun! Hear the roar of ту car I’m nearly round the bend, searching for the love that we did share. There's no one who can stop me now... (Thanks to Phil Theobald for supplying us with these tasty lyrics.) N So what do you think about The Sushi-X Files? If you have any story ideas, lewd pictures, news of the weird or secret info уош like to share with the honorable Sushi-X, let him know. All materials sent become EGM's property—so deal with it! The address: Sushi-X Files, 1920 Highland Ave. 2nd Floor, Lombard, IL 60148. Yea, ya'll. А MAGICAL PLACE WHERE ONLY WEIRDOS СО The above statement is what one reader said about The Sushi-X Files, and we couldn't be more proud of a statement like that. Thanks! READER FEEDBACK EDITION CONTEST WINNERS! а SUSHI SIGHTINGS YOU ENTERED THE UNVEILING & YOU WON" | | OF SUSHI-X? I'm sure glad Sushi-X doesn't really look like this! According to a drawing by Jason Rimmet, Sushi-X is a cigar smoker who wears hippie glasses and has weird spiked hair. Hmmm...maybe Jason spent a little too much time in the sun this summer. Hopefully he'll get better soon. Congratulations to those who entered and were cho- sen in the Bramha Force Contest from a few issues ago. Honestly, we received very few entries for this cool prize, but for those few who played, thank you. And for those who won, enjoy the awesome model kit (even though it's a little tricky to put together). Keep an eye out for more contests in the SL н пат future, and remember, these i Бие of Sus x contests are for you, our т is lame or inaccu- loyal subscribers! So play rate? Well then, them and win YOUR prizes! - send one in if you f think you can do better! Put Sushi-X in different scenar- ios like fishin’ or goat-herding(or something even weirder). The fun- nier the picture the better. Then send it to us, and maybe we'll throw it in a future Sushi-X Files. HOLIDAY SHOPPING LIST ac TEE aE iPS کا‎ A LIL SOMETHING FOR OL SUSHI-X Apparently someone really likes Sushi-X. Richard Mathias from Naperville, Ill., decided to send Sushi an origami throwing star (Sushi-X's second weapon of choice). When presented with the star, Sushi-X was reported to have shed a tear and said, "It is the most beautiful thing I've ever been given.” But this story has yet to be confirmed. Although most of us think it's just a phase Sushi is going through, we have to admit NEXT MONTH: So what's next for Sushi-X Files, you ask? There are a 4 КУ, һе has been acting a lit- lot of fun things about to happen like: more contests, more weird info tle strange lately. Is he about all of us here at ЕСМ, reader feedback (like this issue) and pos- softening up after all sibly even celebrity interviews about what games they play. In fact, I'll these years? Whatever the case, nice bet we have a Next Month section again! Remember, Sushi loves hear- paper-working skills, Richard. ing your ideas, so keep the stuff comin’! If you stare at this picture long enough, you will eventually see a spot. Our friend, Shane Swafford from South Carolina went ahead and sent us his idea for а quick little joke strip, and doggone it, we printed it. If you have any ideas (like Shane's or, even better, one of your own), send them in! NOTE: This is based on а drawing Shane sent us originally, which we then turned into the thing above. Here are some things that the EGM editors can't get enough of: DWANGO (the online gaming network), fun in the sun, Decapitato (the frisbee game of chance...and possibly death!), soccer, red scarves, Mr. C from Happy Days, Halloween paraphernalia, Gary Coleman, Spawn action figures, Grand Royal magazine. _ .-55S0ME KILL| FOR SPORTZ | 16 MULTI-LAYERED ARENAS OF COMB) contain hidden rooms а vicious challenge at TRANSFORM INTO and steal their powers A FUTURISTIC WEAPONS ARSENAI À қ - PSExtreme housing the most lethal we m 1 2-PLAYER SPLIT-SCRE OR COOPERATIVE MODE * i i % AND LAN/MODEM SUPP tion in a wild new Er ySiation shooter!" - Next селегаШйк Online Download the demo at www.machinehunter.com 10 DEADLY CLASSES OF DROIDS each one more THE ULTIMATE COMBAT CHALLENGE Fh ial 3-D ENVIRONMENT WITH FULL 360° ATTACK MOBILITY devastating than the Jast waste the enemy - then take over their bodies and use their powers to crush even deadlier opponents EUROCOM Developed by Eurocom® EN ке Windows’ 95 Licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment America for use with the PlayStation game console. PlayStation and the PlayStation logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Windows is a.gggistered irodemork of MICROSOFT CORP. MACHINE HUNTER™ © 1997 Eurocom Developments Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Design © 1997 MGM Home Entertaiment Inc. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by MGM Home Entertainment Inc., 2500 Broadway Street, Santo Monica, CA 90404-3061 iL МОК сти PlayStation SYSTEM PlayStation PUBLISHER Interact PLAYERS = October ve | CD-ROM % COMPLETE Well, the concept of this game is pretty evident from the title. Why mess with racing cars, when you can just hop on the backs of bugs? In Bug Riders, you can choose from up to 22 characters, many of whom have different weapons, traits and abilities that are influenced by the racing insect they are riding. GT Interactive promises this offbeat racing game will have silky-smooth animation, with the game clocking in at 30 frames per second. There are six different courses, a Practice Mode and a two-player “Deathmatch” Mode via split-screen. Activision has recently begun adding Bosses to this much-anticipated 3-D platform adventure, which, as we reported earlier, has been delayed until the first quarter of next year. Each Boss is expected to be huge and will require more than just straightforward weapon attacks to defeat (kinda like the Bosses in BMG's Spider). Pitfall 3D stars the grandson of Pitfall Harry, the hero of the Atari 261 He'll face many of the dang original—pi orpions, rope vines, etc. except now he'll go up against morphing enemies and a mysterious new hazard that Activision's calling the “Blue The game is expected to have 20 levels, which are divided luding a a cloud lete freedom long the 3-D level. Activision RELEASE DATE PLAYERS Asa PUBLISHER SYSTEM Bst Qtr. 98 PlayStation ? cartoon pi | сап be decked out with a whole assortment of weapons. But offense is hardly what Overboard is about. The game will not only require some quick cannon fire, it will also require some brain power. A series of levers may have to be worked in order to open a gate into uncharted waters, or players may have to find their way through a maze to get to the next level. Whatever the case may be, the silly, cartoon feel still applies, The game also features a Deathmatch Mode where players can Action 7 take on a friend in different 27 ship-on-ship arenas. RELEASE DATE PLAYERS > » COMPLETE PUBLISHER SYSTEM Weird, sci-fi Psygnosis worlds await RELEASE DATE — PLAYERS gamers in Shadow November PlayStation Master, also by = = Psygnosis. The early version of the game we saw reminds us somewhat of Machine Head or Brahma Force. The difference is that Shadow Master is based completely on an alien world (one the creators of the title developed), complete with its own language of sorts. Players can take out the cybernetic organisms and robots with anything from standard-looking rockets to crazy triple bombs. Shadow Master marks the first time the developers have ventured onto the PlayStation (their previous titles having been scattered on various computers and 16-Bit systems). This one is early so watch for more updates. PUBLISHER SYSTEM RELEASE DATE PLAYERS November With gameplay reminiscent of the classic coin-op Chase HQ, Ray Tracers has you racing against the clock and battling bad guys on six courses. But instead of using weapons, you're forced to battle enemies and Bosses with your 00° 25723 indestructible car. Like in Chase HQ, you must kde catch up with each level's Boss and defeat it Les ETE С” before the timer runs out. You can smash into " - "nr vehicles along the way for bonus points, but each crash wastes precious wind through sewers, tunnels, canyons and meadows. You can choose from four vehicles (and one that's hidden), each with a turbo booster. ттт! 5Ү5ТЕМ ТНЕМЕ Medieval Action RELEASE DATE PLAYERS B 4th Qtr. 97 Have you ever had the urge to get inside a large wooden wheel and roll down a hill flattening everything in your path? Yeah, and maybe while you're in the wheel you could whack at villagers, animals and trees with your heavy spiked club! You haven't? Well maybe if you were а two-headed ogre living in 15th-century Europe, you'd get that urge. Kill Wheel is a very unique game combin- ing Monty Python-like humor with action-oriented destruction. Taking place in old England, it seems you, as a two-headed ogre need to destroy entire villages using nothing more than a couple of clubs and your trusty wooden kill wheel (you ride inside the wheel). With several wheels and clubs to choose from, simply roll down the hill whackin' everything in sight. Collect points for hitting taverns, shrines, bungalows and hospitals. Offering less points but very entertaining to launch are townspeople, warriors and cows. Complete each level in the allotted time and point collection requirements to move on to some unique Boss scenarios. This exciting title is being developed by Apt Productions. SYSTEM All hell brakes loose on this mission-based combat driving game when the player witnesses the murder of his wife and daughter by a fanatical cult called the Disciples of Lazarus. As a former race car driver, the player is recruited by another well-meaning organization PUBLISHER SIZE || to hunt down and destroy the bad boy cult and avenge the crime. Looking reminiscent of both Quarantine and Twisted Metal, Auto | CD-ROM f Destruct requires players to cruise cities (London, San Francisco, New 2 PLAYERS % COMPLETE |! York) destroying enemy cars and buildings, replenishing weapons and gathering clues. Transport people safely, escort potential targets and find those power-ups all in an effort to locate and crush the evil cult. PlayStation COLES RELEASE DATE | A puzzle-filled action RPG similar to Zelda, Alundra is Working Designs’ first RPG for the PlayStation (note that Working PlayStation Designs recently announced they will soon PUBLISHER | cease publishing Saturn titles). Alundra was developed by Sony of Japan, and several of Working Designs || the programmers оп Alundra's design team PLAYERS / also worked on the classic Genesis action RPG Landstalker. The fact that the game was ; developed by Sony is a bit ironic; Working Designs originally said they couldn't translate Sony's Japanese RPGs for the PlayStation because Sony of Japan didn't want anyone but SCEA bringing out such titles in the United States. Obviously, that policy has changed. Laugh while you frag, from Hollywood to outerspace! Bag some aliens with over а dozen hi-tech weapons! 7 « An all-out overload of non-stop ашай 7 5 (Іше S in town, And m 5 nothing пе а Гы тей іх У „army of alien punks crowding his spacey 4 levels 8%. == |. УО Trealesmashing 30 mayhem should See td it. а ^ > Gigantic gunt Gruesome enemies! Total interaction - EEA 5e апе ай-й devastation! ІШ 4 >=, ч зА À A gy Sine with The Man! ` 7 b (ш. мет МЕ LS г; > Duke Nukem: Total Meo (4 1997 30 Realms. All Rights Rest erii, „Шке „ет, 647% ©1996, 1997 3D Realms. Ай, Bs iis Res reserve if js at ESRB уни .Зйгеатз.сот 27 $ Т ) N Ў 3 фа AN PlayStation and. i Jam ion Logo TG adetên of Sony Con i 4 F. в — E 2 «зо N * v * | A AER Var 4) AMY че boy M Nt SY ач NOT “ғ hs fi xploding buildings and working subways! а 99 Т From EA. то the таап = 32 towering levels of - 10090 interactive carnage! Un film sets, in hats, оп Moving subways...no huttGugly alien is sate tram the wrath of Duke! Grenade Launchers. shrink Rays. Hardcore 30 action. And graphics to kill tar! Dukes coming to take out the цашаце! йт NINTENDOS4 g N т " с 4 GT Interactive S [rc % ша і 2 : у м t : } 4 - AN vo tr 1 i NS “Ж Ж, N ё / А ! CRISPIN E SUSHI-X sol EDITORS CHOICE 31 Preparations for the big one (issue 100, that is) have left Shawn's brain dry, but he still plugs away even with a spent melon. That coupled with late-night deadlines, Shawn has turned into а hardened man. At one point he was CURRE TES caught saying, Just Final Fantasy VII give me a patch of Abe's Oddysee fabric and a spot on GoldenEye OO7 the floor, апа I'll be Негсв Adventure alright" We hope he'll be OK. Action/Adventure Shoe giving a 9.5 to a first-person shooter?? What has this world come to? Apparently, four- player GoldenEye deathmatches have gotten to him. Now the self-proclaimed "king of death matching" wants to take on more com- petition. Good thing future reviewer and Bond wanna-be Kraig Kujawa is around to try and put him in his place. CURRENT FAVC 2: PaRappa the Rappa Final Fantasy VII Gun Bullet GoldenEye OO7 FAVORITE GENRE Strategy/Puzzle Darn! Now that we have an English version of FFVII in the office, we can't tease Cris anymore about what he missed by refusing to play the Japanese version. We used to get a kick out of watching him clap his hands over his ears and sing "la, la, la!" every time we Final Fantasy VII GoldenEye 007. threatened to tell РаКарра the Rapper him about the plot Bushido Blade twists and ending of AV с , Ше Japanese сору. е Role-Playing Halloween is here, and Sushi’s getting geared up for the candy rush. Нез having a tough time picking out a cool costume though, and can't seem to find anything cooler than his ninja suit This year, he’s hoping to get some authen- GURRE tic Pixi Sticks in һв Final Fanta: bag. Hopefully, he ФЕ ЕХ+о. won't scare away the SF Collection Trick-Or-Treaters on | GoldenEye OO7 our block like last E time... WOR sy VII ду IRE Fighting мег Awards are granted to games with a total average score of eight, while games that average nine or above receive Gold Awards. ACE? Ele, erie, ГЕ Р % Being one of the early skeptics of Final Fantasy VII (FMV? Rendered backdrops? Come оп..), | have to admit | had less than high hopes for the latest addition to the world’s most popular RPG series. But now that I've completed the game in English (it was the hardest seven months of my life resisting the temp- tation to play the Japanese version), | can honestly say that FFVIlis the best RPG that's ever been released іп the United States—bar none. That's not to say it doesn't have its weak points, but compared to everything еве that has been released Stateside, FFVII is easily head and shoulders above the rest. First of all, the graphics are incredible. The entire game is just a pleasure to watch, whether it be the gorgeous rendered backgrounds (which inte- grate seemlessly with the FMV) or the stunningly well-modeled polygo- nal overworld. My only problem with the graphics is Ша s its tough to figure ou 3 to go in certain ai big deal. Next up being a FF vet, 11 music is a tad dis: C pared to some of Nobuo U previous efforts. Si music to any other recent months, an Here it is, the gam buzz and hype зип Mario 64 did wher So does it live up t ly. | was never he ones, so | can't tal nuity, but as a stand- is one of the best Great graphics, so gameplay. The one I'm the world's big American FF2 and until the day | die. say that FFVII is ai SOME sequel. Th: had miles-high exp sucker. | am thorou The graphics and r is the story line (des typical linearity). FP No other RPG can pi ic experience like Right from the vi immersed into tl have an active rol The FMV sequen and the Fighting Mo interactive. Use an you'll be treated to ors, motion and та wel 10 9 VISUALS SOUN INAL FANTASY VII PUBLISHER: SCEA CATEGORY: RPG PREVIEW: ЕСМ #98 BEST FEATURE: STORY LINE WORST FEATURE: SO-SO ENDING ALSO TRY: WILD ARMS good. Aesthetics aside, the most important part of any RPG is the story-and that's where FFVII really shines. The story is so complex and intriguing that it's almost impossible to shut the game off for those annoy- ing little details like meals, sleep and showers. Like a good movie, there are parts that'll make you laugh and parts that'll make you cry (heck, there's even a minigame that lets you breed Chocobos!). | only have two complaints about the story. One is that Barret seems to have a strange affection for a certain four-letter word that starts with S and ends with T. I'm all for keeping a translation true to its roots, but in this case it's way overused, almost pointlessly, and it does nothing to add to the game but maybe tick off a few of the more conservative parents out there. My other complaint is that the end- ing left me feeling extremely unsatis- fied (it didn't wrap up all the story's was à shock, con- h | loved the finales mes. But don't let our decision to buy this imply amazing, and the Japanese ver- ed out the fights le of Bosses and e to the game. m for me, was the ll/special attack before you jump all зхрат. The first few awesome, but then r so, although still eir appeal. Other flaw, once again, as incredible from and predecessors F elements remain usic and the inter- will not be disap- ast bit). The ending are disappointing azing. But overall, art. I'm glad | did- erience by playing rsion! е translation, but to hing is included, if г the U.S. version. ng made it into our dd to that a rockin soundtrack, and our PG-13 movie, me! Its only fault is ncel FMV and dia- е INGENUITY REPLAY ^ И These guys know how to party. ore | ja GOLDENEYE O07 CATEGORY: ACTION PREVIEWED: ЕСМ #98 BEST FEATURE: DEATHMATCHES WORST FEATURE: SLOW FRAME RATE ALSOTRY: TUROK Not only is GoldenEye 10 times better than the movie, it's also 10 times more realistic. No other first-person shooter demands this much stealth and strategy. Instead of storming enemies like a space marine, you must sneak up on them or pick 'em off through your sniper rifle's telescop- ic lens (nothing's more satisfying than capping a guard from 100 yards away before he can trip the alarms—and this blood-soaked fun is from squeaky-clean Nintendo?). Developer Rare has packed everything that's cool about 007 into the game. You get the gadgets (including his wrist laser and spy camera) and the guns (everything from Bond's trusty PP7 to the Moonraker laser rifle). But this silicon Bond is more of a bad-ass than the movie version ever was. You can fire two Uzis John Woo style, cut loose like Dirty Harry with a .357 Magnum and even drive a tank over squads of troops! The 20 missions are crammed with objectives, and the environments are high i j 5109915 дате. After all, 5 ine =~ VISUALS ІМСЕМОІТҮ REPLAY 524 SONIC JAM o у P » 2 ща CATEGORY: CLASSIC COMP. PREVIEWED: EGM #96 BEST FEATURE: SONIC WORLD WORST FEATURE: WHERE'S SONIC СО? ALSO TRY: SONIC 3-D BLAST It's official! The buzz word is "archive" Now with so many collection CDs out there, it's getting harder and harder to review them. After all, this is the same set of games we've loved for years! Luckily for Saturn owners, Sonic Jam comes with the best Game Select Screen ever created; a preview of the upcoming 3-D style future Sonic games will use. As you explore the small area, you'll be presented with a set of sub-mis- sions that get progressively harder. These mis- sions become a new game of sorts, which are quite enjoyable to overcome. Completing all the missions opens up what we call the "Credits World.” Along with this innovative area, Sonic 1, 2 and 3 users can now choose Knuckles instead of Sonic to create a new challenge. The Spin Dash has been added to Sonic 1 as well. This feature changes the perfectly emulated 16-Bit games into slightly new versions. So, if you're one of those players who traded in your Genesi: e "Blast- st True, Buy it if play for in my fan of 5 practi- ith this music, g these REPLAY VISUALS "E INGENUITY HERC'S ADVENTURE CATEGORY: ACTION PREVIEWED: EGM #93 BEST FEATURE: HUMOR WORST FEATURE: МО БЕРІ ДҮ ALSO TRY: SWAGMAN Last month we did a Hercules game, and no this month we're doing another! 1 mean, what's the deal? Seriously though, Herc's Adventur on the Saturn is an awesome title. Not only ап the graphics good, the gameplay is flawless. Or more than one occasion | found myself laugh ing out loud. For example, in the intro Herc is punching a lion in the head, but the lion doe: n't seem to mind—it just wags its tail. | gu you'd have to see it, but trust me, the game і hilarious. There are plenty of levels to pla through, all of them with their own style—ir level design and enemy inhabitants. The level: are scattered all over Greece and other places (all that take you to "real" cities). Keep an ey out for gigantic enemies that not only look coo (from a cartoon standpoint) but also are funn to watch, like the Cyclops or boar. There are lot of weapons to pick up and other stereotypica . Herc' pick ир, hard to put the much Ё special w able and REPLA\ VISUALS Гат INGENUITY nes wrw, — A ACTUM Él — CONTENT RATED BY ESRB PlayStation ONE™ and ASC Games™ are trademarks of American Softworks Corporation. ONE™ is co-developed by Visual Concepts. ©1997 Americ ©1995 PEG Limited Partnership. PlayStation™ and the PlayStation logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainmen The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All rights reserved. Presenting Masters of Тегаѕ Kasi, an all-out fighting frenzy featuring 9 Star Wars characters and introducing a new villain masterfully trained in the ancient martial art of terás kasi. Battle through 9 action-packed arenas. Engage іп weapon-to- weapon or hand-to-hand combat. Wield lightsabers, blasters, flame throwers and battle axes to engage in the ultimate conflict. Heck, even the Empire never struck back this hard. www.lucasarts.com <> PlayStation ™ 8," & © 1997 Lucasfilm Ltd. and LucasArts Entertainment Company. АН Rights Reserved. Star Wars andthe LucasArts logo are registered trademarks, and Masters of Tes Kêsî is a trademark of Lucastim Ltd used under authorization PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. m — | „таа n ы а RDEN LYR PRINCESS LOA or TERÄS RASU | SYSTEM: PLAYSTATION SYSTEM: PLAYSTATION | пана PATAN С. |. GOLDEN МОСОЕТ Bl BLADE PUBLISHER: VIRGIN E SCEA CATEGORY: CASINO CATEGORY: FIGHTING CATEGORY: PUZZLE PREVIEWED: EGM #99 PREVIEWED: ЕСМ #95 BEST FEATURE: LOTS OF GAMES BEST FEATURE: REALISM BEST FEATURE: PUZZLES WORST FEATURE: NO PERSONALITY WORST FEATURE: NOT FOR EVERYONE ALSO TRY: ANY CASINO GAME ALSO TRY: SOUL BLADE ALSO TRY: LOST VIKINGS It's been a long time since Гуе played one like this. | think the last time was Out of This World on the 3DO, so it took me a little while to get used to the style of gameplay—one where you more or less "guide" a character through room after room (and level after level) until you get to the end. Of course, that oversimplifies Abe's Oddysee by leaps and bounds. Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee not only has a weird name, it also is a weird game (which rhymes consequently). But it's not weird in a bad way by any means, it's weird in an ingenious, very original way. The graphics are incredible and look like hours of painstaking detail went into every one. In fact, everything about this game from an aesthetic and gameplay standpoint is flawless. The sound fits the game perfectly—Abe's voice and sounds he can make not only played a necessary part in the game, it also made me chuckle (how many characters can you make fart?). The story line was.an interesting one and:drew.me into it. All of the characters (friends and foes alike) were imaginative and flawlessly animated. Га say the one drawback to Abe’s Oddysee is that after awhile, it becomes a task of memorization. Luckily there are some additions/to help the replay value (like saving members of your fellow Mudokans). =SHAWN Being set in the grand casino of the same name, Golden Nugget attempts to raise the questionable activity of gambling into an hon- orable pastime worthy of the Pope. Your goal is to gamble away $10,000 and turn it into enough dough to play the real game, inaccessible until you become a cardshark. In this stage, you get to follow Adam West around (about here, my eye are drooping), looking for clues about a missing computer chip that helps players cheat in casinos. Not only do you have to put up with the incessant whining of West, but also a quest which has nothing to do with actual gambling. When I pick up a gambling game, I'm looking for rock-solid gambling, not mediocre missions. Golden Nugget's best feature is the beautiful rendering of the actual Golden Nugget in Vegas. The artwork is great, but it's not neces- sary to enjoy the gambling. You do not get the intended feeling of awe when walking around the grand.ballrooms on your way to losing a for- tune. | сап honestly say | enjoy "flat" gambling games far better, because the interfaces are quicker and leaner than Golden Nugget's, which can be very slow thanks to the heavy апі- mation. | don't need to see the cards twirl in air as they're dealt. Just give them to m There's not much new here. =SUSHI-X Bushido Blade has already become famous in Japan for what it does not have: no life gauges, 10-hit combos or round-based battles. So how good of a fighting game could it be without these vital ingredients? Actually, it's one of the best. Since damage to characters is registered on their bodies rather than on a meter, fights can end as quickly as they begin—with one well-aimed thrust of a sword. Consequently, survival depends on your level of concentration rather than how well you've memorized long strings of button taps. You must watch your opponents, read their posture and predict how they'll strike. Miss a crucial block and you're dead. Swipe enemies across the head, throat or chest and they're dead. Or you could lunge to the legs or arms and cripple them. And, unlike the Japanese version, you're rewarded with a spray of blood for each successful attack. But BB's innovations don't end with its combat sys- tem. Unlike тоз: "3-D" fighters, you really do fight in three dimensions. You can leap and run anywhere in the sprawling, gorgeous arenas and duck behind trees and other objects for protection. You must battle with honor, too. Fight dirty (i-e; stab enemies in the back, attack ‘em while they're down, etc.) and you'll get a lousy ending in the Story Mode. =CRISPIN Bushido Blade is fresh and.all with its one-hit kills and traditional characters, but I’m afraid that newness wears off rather quickly. So after the one-player stuff is done and you go through the extras, the Two-player Mode is all that's left. Mind you it's no Tekken 2 (it's not supposed to be) but still, Bushido is fun for a while. It's dif- ferent, so I'd rent it first. =SHAWN A sick, twisted game that deserves exposure! | didn't expect Abe's Oddysee to be this much fun. 1 also didn't expect it to be this hard. Some of the puzzles are too difficult-you may spend 1/2 hour on one sequence (though you'll enjoy doing it)! It's funny, addictive, beautiful..| could go on, but | have to get back to having fun (and tearing my hair out in frustration): —IDAN Two words: Adam West. Sure, you'd think this would be enough to make me give this one a 10, but unfortunately that's about all that's great about this one. It looks nice, has an interesting Story Mode and lots of games, but at its core, GN ва casino game.with lots, of good FMV. Any gamblin' man will like it, but | wasn't that impressed. It's а good rental. =SHAWN The similarities between this game апа Flashback are obvious (both have great anima- tion, cool environments, etc), but O:AO's puz- zles are tougher. Luckily, you get unlimited lives, and after each death you usually reappear pret- ty close to where you died, so the game never gets too frustrating. Be warned: It'll take a lot of replay to earn the good ending. —CRISPIN Virgin puta lot of effort into making the virtual casino їп Golden Nugget look like Vegas' real deal. But while the game looks authentic, it lacks personality.. For such a world-famous casino, the Golden Nugget sure is empty! The only people you see аге іп the silly FMV plot. It's also hard to tell who wins poker games. Dealer voices are well done, though. =CRISPIN | understand that Bushido Blade is unique, but | really Couldnt get into this style of fighting. Too often, | would kill with one random button, and more frustrating, someone would do the same to me. On the upside, Bushido offers players much to learn and study. The different weapon techniques add a lot to the genre. Check it out if you're tired of the SF monotony. -DAN At first-glance, Abe looks to be yet, another Blackthorn, but offers so many Al improve- ments that it stands apart. The game is com- plex, and Ше outcome depends on your char- acter's moods and reaction time. For an adven- ture in realism, dive into Abe. Don't think this Golden Nugget is the most comprehensive casino game around, but it has too many faults. The Story Mode was a nice try but boring (cheesy FMV should've died with the 3DO!); the poker games don't point out winners; you can't see the roulette and big. wheel numbers; etc. In It's time to get serious. Only the best may enter the hallowed halls of Bushido Blade and live to tell the tale. This is by far the hardest fighter to master, yet the simplest to play (pushing ran- dom buttons yields powerful results). Skill will win the day, though—not.a feature of many general, the game lacks the personality that other fighters. While the interface is bland, it's ride will be easy though, because the obstacles made the 16-Bit casino games fun. =DAN addicting with practice: =SUSHIX are tough to overcome. =SUSHI-X 1° E.2. ЕЯ VISUALS INGENUITY REPLAY VISUALS INGENUITY REPLAY VISUALS INGENUITY REPLAY / j ШЕГІ. а е а ntertainment Inc, "RAYSTORM" is a trademark of Taito Corp., licensed by Working Designs. Original Game © Taito Corp. 1996. Translation © Working Оеѕіопей 667. ing Designstiis à ered trademark of Working Designs, Inc. АП rights reserved. "SPAZ" is a trademark of Working Designs, Inc. All rights reserved. ray light my fire!? For a dealer near уои gall (916) 243-8417. Вай 1-800-771-3772 for Game Rating Information. CATEGORY: GRAPHIC ADV. PREVIEWED: BEST FEATURE WORST FEATURE: ABSTRACT PUZZLES} ALSO TRY: BLAZING DRAGONS CATEGORY: MUSICAL BEST FEATURE: WORST FEATURE: CHEAP CHEAP ALSO TRY: NOTHING LIKE IT Discworld 2-Пке the original—suffers from the same minor problem that plagues most point- and-click adventures. You're forced to sweep the pointer across the screen to find objects you can pick up or interact with (if you have the mouse, | highly suggest using it). But that's no big deal, because—also like the original-DW2 is so pee-in-your-pants funny that it never real- ly gets boring. The game is constantly poking fun at itself (and, occasionally, at you). Its mix of low-brow fart jokes and high-brow social com- mentary should appeal to everyone. Hilarious highlights include a vampire who hates his lot in life, simply because he dislikes working at night. You'll also have a run-in with a prima donna sheep who demands to be played by a stunt man for what is actually a pretty lame stunt. The game's puzzles can be extremely abstract and hard to figure out at times, but you have to expect that when you enter the surreal realm of,Diseworld. More often-than-not, you'll need to do a lot of experimenting with items in your inventory to clear the puzzles. As in the first game, it's the voice acting that adds the most personality to DW2. And the clever con- versation interface lets you milk several min- utes of goofy digitized voice from every charac- ter in the game. This one-is your standard point-and-click adventure, so those of you who aren't into these types: STAY AWAY. ОМ/2 suffers from mindless clicking on objects until something works. The dialogue is hilarious and with Eric Idle as the voice of the main character, what more could you ask for (except maybe John Cleese)? It's a Playing Discworld 2 is like watching.a twisted, drawn-out /Monty Python movie. | love the humor (even the manual was fun to read), but certain conversations could've been cut short. The social commentary and not-so-subtle-hints keep Ше game lively, despite- its derivative gameplay (you won't find much new here). reason to buy it. Discworld isn't packed with excitement, but it's got tons of humor in every corner. What do you expect from à game with "sarcasm" as an option for interacting with oth- ers? The animation is.done quite well, and the only real detriment is the lagging gameplay when using a controller. | guarantee you that by the end of the year, 5 common a household name He is the hippest, most lov- able video game character | have ever seen After playing this game, | wanted to see more of PaRappa, whether it'd be a sequel game or his own cartoon series. The music is incredible. Several of the tunes are so catchy, you'll be singing them for days (I hope the soundtrack gets released separately). The story line? If pos- sible, it's better than the music. The tales of PaRappa are hilarious (in a somewhat alterna- the kind of game you're going to love immediately, and it's the type of game you're going to show off to every one of your friends (video gamers or not). Everyone will get a kick out of PaRappa. So why not a perfect score? It could've easily earned it, but the two problems are: 1.) The game is very short (you can beat it in a day), and 2.) Often, press- ing the buttons. at the right-time. seems to depend more on luck ап, оп skill. | was very sially on Cheap Cheap's level) when | was penalized for no obvious reason. Still, the excellent music and story line are enough for me to overlook the annoyances and give PaRappa one of my highest recommenda- tions of the year. Please check it out! DAN PaRappa will be a as Mario or Sonic. tive sense). This is frustrated (esp -CRISPIN | have to admit that when: first saw PaRappa | thought it looked really lame, but then | played it and couldn't help but enjoy. Sure, it's childish and silly, but that'S what's good about it. Don't play this опе expecting anything but a wacky, hip-hop inspired (but.not accurate) title with really cool graphics. The problem is the length of the game-it's just too short. good one for the humor. -SHAWN -SHAWN Never before һа5 а love story between a dog and a flower been told with so much style and surreal silliness. No other console game has made me laugh this hard. The animation is imaginative beyond belief, and the music...well, you'll have PaRappa's raps ringing through your head for months. If only the game were longer | can't wait for the sequel! =CRISPIN makes for loose Eon too. “CRIS PIN Nothing side-splitting, but it's still fun. = DAN € If you don't have Sony's mouse, here's a good PaRappa certainly.gets the uniqueness award this month. While pushing buttons to a beat may not seem to be a great gameplay, PaRappa delivers entertainment in the form of an excel- lent story and kickin' rap tunes (that you WILL sing around work, whether you like it or not). PaRappa's largest fault is inconsistent visual -SUSHI-X clues that help you find the beat-SUSHIs CATEGORY: PREVIEWED: BEST FEATURE: ANIMATION WORSTFEATURE: CONTROL ALSO TRY: SPIDER One of the vital ingredients in any decent plat- form-action game is control, an ingredient needlessly left out of The Lost World. Since the recipe is incomplete, the game rates lower than its potential. Its unfortunate, since Тһе Lost World has almost everything else going for it. The animation is silky smooth; the backgrounds are rendered beautifully. The sound effects and music work together to re-create the perfect Lost World atmosphere in your living room. The respectable enemy А! is a welcome addition to the genre. But the frustration you'll get when you play this game for a few hours may make you forget about all of the frills and thrills. You will miss jumps, you will fall to your death, you will step on sharp objects..you will get frustrat- ed. This is all due to the imprecise controls, the seemingly inaccurate collision detection and the tough level designs. After a while, you may decide that looking for secrets down hidden paths is.just.too.tough, so you'll.just.run straight ahead to the end of the level (which can be a challenge in itself). If you practice and learn the level layouts, you may enjoy your Lost World experience...if you are the patient type. The Lost World is definitely in the upper.echelon of 2.5- D action games. Just make sure you don't have an ulcer or high blood apr essay =DAN From the get-go | liked Ше мау this game looked—the intro with all of its cool tech-jargon along with great graphics were awesome. So then there's the game itself. Once-again the graphics and animation were sweet, but the control was too sensitive. You'd jump on a ledge, barely hit the D-pad and fall off. Still, it's a solid Denm vaio cool secrets. =5HAWN With its ultrarealistic dino animation; flashy cin- emas and "guest star" secret ending, Lost World is a slick package. Too bad the gameplay isn't so hot. Some stages are ridiculously unforgiv- ing—especially the human levels, where you suffer too many one-hit.deaths despite having a full Health Meter. Your dino's animation often Without a doubt, this is а — respectable game, though limited in gameplay. The variety of animals is good, but | bet several fans would have liked to have used a few more: Му biggest problem 15 the human level, where even the slightest mistake means certain death. | never knew a rocket launcher couldn't take out a TRex A те realism is їп iin ordem =SUSHI-X VISUALS Le „©, s. YT Here Exist Only One Raf Expect The ae P KIDS TO ADULTS This official seal is assurance that г meets the hig! standards of 5! Ji? ү E m г IM н OP pines 22 fa fh Д PINES АРДА SEGA AND SEGA SATURN ARE TRADEMAI FIGHTS At б а. ratio’ licensed by Working 09819 Game © Sunsoft 1996. English Translation © b ў j formation on Game Вай OFF-ROAD Maneuver around floods, rock slides and collapsed bridges in treacherous weather conditions like rain and snow. Challenge up to four players with split- screen and multiplayer link-up modes — or compete against seven CPU racers. INDY CAR Race one of 40 super-charged vehicles on world-class tracks that feature off- road short-cuts and stunning graphics. Traveled. Grand Tour Racing" 98 takes racing off the track. A Dakar off-road competition across the shores of Easter Island A rally through Scotland. An Indy-car event in Moscow Race on...and off the racetrack. Challenge the boundaries of six exotic locales in 40 high-speed vehicles. Master the most prestigious racing circuits around the globe for one of eight international teams. Join the Tour tough enough to earn the distinction as the official racing game from the #1 automotive publication. Car and Driver® presents Grand Tour Racing 98 LHE ОЕЕШСЦАЛ CAR@DRIVER EX The Race Begins September 1997. ТЕЕАТ ТКІСКМАМ ТЕККУ ТО А НАРРУ HALLOWEEN!! What a strange concep front door of someon some weird clothes) ап don't say, “Со ама Trickman Terry із 9 Everyone keeps telling food this month. Ма) can get some of his order (or maybe not). need a lot of tricks to awesome issue, Ў limit the tricks to just the last the month! Give the Trickmar early treat by sending in уош а es Games! ark provided by the kind people at InterAct. | September 20, 1997. АП entries become exclusive property Sponsors and will not be acknowledged or returned. Sponsor по responsibilty for lst, mutilated, late, ilegible, incomplete, ро due, or misdirected entries. Sponsors reserve the right fo cancel contest at anytime with appropriate notice, Only one prize per le organiza ‘only one prize shall be awarded. 2. Prizes [ the magazine and wil receive a video game cartridge selected by Ml Sponsor. First Prize has an approximate retail value of $60.00. The best trick submitted by the First Prize winners will bo declared the ај be judged on the following criteria: ену (25%); (и) Accuracy (25%); and (iv) prize winners will be notified by mail, Prize(s) are non-transferable. No | of prize(s) are allowed, except at the option of Sponsors alured prizes become unavailable. inning: The number of winners and the odds of winning entries received, nts of United States and Canada. th the time parameters contained al guardians shall sign an affidavit xeplance within 5 days of receipt or fortet prize. By acceptance of prize, winner(s) agree to the use of | their name anior likeness for purposes of advertising, rade, or prom: tion without further compensation, unless prohibited by law. Employees ] of 21 Овув inc., InlerAct Accessories and their respective affiliates are not gle. Nether Zi Davis Inc. гдс Acessories nor their йу what damages of any kind resulting from acceptance, possession, or use ol the prizes. 5, Winners List: Fora list of winners, send a stamped, self-addressed | envelope identifying the month for which the winners list is requested to. |Д "Tricks о! the Trade Winners List, 1920 Highland Avenue, Suite 222, Lombard, Ilinois 60148. Requests for winners ists must be re by the 15th day of next month following the on-sale date of the publication. y ог household per issue. Winning entries may be printed in B will have their name and trick displayed in. | POWER TRIP POWERTRIP From the Title Screen, access the Options. On the Options Screen, press the top L and R shift buttons simultane- ously and quickly let go. The Set Password Screen will appear. Using Up and Down _on the D-pad, put in the letters: MOSHOLU. When you are done, press the C button. You will see “Cheat Mode” at the bottom of the screen and it will go back to the Options Screen. Now move the arrow down to the level, and press Right until you reach the stage of your choice. You can select your level up to 15, which is Barney's Machines. Danny Szeto Las Vegas, NV # MORE AMMO, HEALTH 5 AND ARMOR Pause the game by pressing Start and then press the Triangle button. At the Pause Screen with all of the Menu Options, highlight the “Help Text” Option. Hold L1+R2 and then press Triangle and X at the same time. You'll hear a beep and this will give you more ammunition when you return to the game. To get more health and armor, go to the same Pause Screen a highlight “Help Text” again. Hold HIDDEN GAME Go into the museum and from the information booth, go right and up the stairs. Now, turn to the left and you will see a room next to the game rooms called the X-Room. Go into this room and hold the L1+L2+R1+R2+ Up simultaneously. With these held, press Triangle. You will hear a sound and the room will flash white for a second. To the right of the dark room will be a woman with green ъъ Yee.) ips © Ёезесуеч. "ipd recto тм eS THREE DIRTY DWARVES К) Жы % KAOS но L ж тм МАЊА > 16 BARAGY GAME PAUSED GAME OPTIONS MENU RETURN TO GAME GANE 106 MENU HELP TEXT: ON. SOUND OPTIONS 1048. GAME QUIT GANE HIT x TO SELECT L1+R2 and then press Circle and X at the same time. You will hear a beep to confirm it worked and this will give you-more health and armor when you get back in the clothes. Stand in front of her and press X. She will then disappear and you will be left with the pedestal in the middle of the room d the words "Assault Plus” PlayStation game. As soon as your codes are complete, highlight "Return To Game" and choose it. You will see the results on the right side of the screen. flashing above it. Access the pedestal and the arcade game will be the new Assault Plus game! Troy Ricketson Waterford, MI ON HAND SOON AT YOUR LOCAL RETAILER m FOR THE PLAYSTATION GAME CONSOLE PlayStation m REALITY QUEST,, License Pending the VIDEO GAME CONTROL СЕ < ЭМРЕ HTTP://wWwWWwW.THEGLOVE.COM Licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment America for use with the PlayStation game console. е and Reality Quest are trademarks of PlayStation and the PlayStation logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. Reality Quest Corporation. Triple Play 98 _ Strike Out Тіс If you'd like to win this game by - really cheap means, then this trick is for you! Start your game, and . when the computer opponent is - batting, press Start to pause the game and at the Pause Menu, high- — light "Select Controllers" and move your controller to the other team. Now take control of the batter and move him all the way down and way to the side of the box. Now you can either wait for the computer to ' pitch and just don't swing, or you can take control of your original team and throw some low strikes, which the computer will have a hard time hitting. Either way, you should be able to easily strike out your opponent with ease. Keep. doing this throughout the game, 1 апа you'll be sure to win. Just make - sure you switch back to your origi- nal team before the game ends. _ Anthony J. Salvador Lihue Kauai, HI NBA HANG TIME Hidden Player On the "Choose Option" Screen, pick the Enter Name Option. Now press Start and enter the name NILS and then exit. On the next screen, enter the numbers 5555. You will now have access to a world record holder, secret player! Nils has hidden attributes, but he's an awesome player on the court! Matt Douglas Mtn. View, CA TOSHINDEN 3 Random Select E Go to the Player Selection Screen -and hold the top L1, L2, RT and R2 buttons for a random selection ` of characters. Ken Rauld W. Palm Harbor, FL CJEGM POWERTRIP POWER TRIP ENABLE CODES, ENDINGS, ETC. You must first do the “Codes Enabled” trick. To do this, go to the Options and set the difficulty to Professional, and the Laps Per Race to 6. Press Start after you're done and at the Title Screen, press Circle, Circle, Circle, Square, Triangle, Triangle, Square, Triangle. You will hear a sound and there will be a word balloon displaying "Codes Enabled.” Now you can enter any of these codes on the Title Screen: 2 Player vs. CPU: Circle, Square, R2, Circle, Triangle, L2, Right, Up. Unlimited Turbos: Triangle, Circle, Right, R2, Up, Square, Up, Triangle. Double Stunt Points: Right, Up, Circle, L2, Triangle, Circle, R1, R2. Rocket Racer: Triangle, Up, Up, L2, L2, Up, Up, Up. No Resistance: Square, L1, Triangle, Right, L1, Down, R2, Triangle. Super Ability: Down, Circle, Left, L1, Left, Right, Left, Right. Air Brakes: R1, R2, Right, L2, Up, Circle, Up, Circle. Ice Каст R2, Вт, Right, L1, Square, Right, Right. Multiple Camera Angles: Triangle, Down, Square, Triangle, L1, L1, RI, БІ. The next set of codes are BOSS, STRENGTH, SEE ENDING These tricks will give you a few new options to utilize. Boss Code: Choose "Team Battle" from the Main Menu Screen. When the Character Select Screen appears, press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Start. Master Ishii Will appear to the right of the other fighters. Strength Adjust: During a match, pre tart to pause. Then press L2, R1, L1, R1, L2, R1. You will see numbers flashing on the left and right side. Use the directional pad to move the numbers up or down for each character so you can increase or decrease your chosen player's strength between 1 and 9. See the Ending: Turn on the PlayStation with the K-1 disc inside. Now hold L1+L2+ Triangle+Circle+Left on both controllers while the game loads. Continue to hold these Fae wm CINEMATIC CAMERA cntons par 0283 . * 0:04.1 16 entered at the Title Screen and do not need the previous code enabler to make them work: Special Dedication: Choose Dakota, then return to the Title Screen. Go to the Options and set the number of laps to 2 and trophy presenter to Female. Hold View АП Endings: Go to Options. Set difficulty to Amateur, turn off Turbos and Grapples, hold L2 and select Credits. Present АП Riders: Go to Options. Set difficulty to Amateur, turn off Turbos and Grapples, buttons until the demo begins. Instead of the normal introduction, you will be treated to the ending cinema, complete with the game credits. This cinema will show what the fighters had to go through in the development of the game. Stephen Ruzicka Lakeville, MN СНЕАТ МООЕ АМО МЕТ ТЕАМ5 e While waiting for the puck press L1, L2, R1 followed one of the buttons below for various results: X: Speeds up gameplay - y L1: Inc ] penalties П е 49 S R1 5 : Increased penalty L2: More accurate shots NETHOCKEY at the Name R2: Easy goa Entry Screen For net teams enter -ма the Internet POWER FRIES INCREASE CREDITS This code will give you an increased number of credits to help you get farther in the game. At the Game Select Screen, hold L1+L2+R1 and R2 simultaneously. With these held, press the Circle button continuously until the game loads up. Normally, you start with two credits. But the more button before it loads, the times you press the Circle more credits you will receive! STREET FIGHTER EX * ALPHA HIDDEN BONUS BARREL GAME em To get the bonus barrel game, go to the Mode Select Menu and highlight "Practice" Press Start, then Up, Up, Right, Up, Right, Up and Start again. A message will appear that says, "Here Comes a New Game Mode" Now go into Practice Mode and you will see a new option БЕЛЕСІН "Bonus бате” S aracter, and you poco POWER TRIP will be playing the bonus bar- rel stage from Street Fighter II! -ма the Internet DEFORMED TUROK On the Title Screen, go to the “Enter Cheat” Screen and enter the Big Cheat code: NTHGTHDGDCRTDTRK Now, turn on Spirit Mode, All Weapons and Unlimited 2] Ammo. Now warp to the Campaigner. Stand still г shoot him with the m Once he di Garrett Gooch Memphis, TN G Police, Psygnosis and the Psygnosis logo are trademarks of Psygnosis, Ltd. ©1997 Psygnosis, Ltd. АП rights reserved. COOL BOARDERS —by SCEA for PlayStation Change Announcer’s Voice From the Title Screen, access the Options. In the Options Mode, press the Select button 55 times. The announcer's voice will change to а higher pitch. DYNASTY WARRIORS —by Koei for PlayStation Play as Sun Shang Xiang In order to play as, Sun Shang Xiang go to the Title Screen. Highlight “1P Battle" and then press: Left, Left, Up, Down, Triangle, Square, L1 and R1. Then go to the Character Select Screen to select the new character. DARK RIFT —by Vic Tokai for Nintendo 64 Character Endings and Bosses Here are a bunch of codes that will enable you to play each character's endings and the ability to access the Bosses, Demitron and Sonork. To play as the Bosses, go to the Title Screen and enter L button, R button, Up С, Down С, Left С, Right С for Sonork. Enter A, B, R button, L but- ton, Down C, Up C for Demitron. To access the character endings, go to the Title Screen and enter these: For Aaron press: Up, Left C, R but- ton, Right, Down, R button, R button, Left C. For Demonica press: Up, Left C, R button, Right, Down, R button, R button, Up C. For Demitron press: Up, Left C, R button, Right, Down, L button, L button, Down C. For Eve press: Up, Left C, R button, Right, Down, R button, R button, Right C. For Gore press: Up, Left C, R button, Right, Down, R button, R button, Down C. For Morphix press: Up, Left C, R button, Right, Down, R button, R button, B. For Nikki press: Up, Left C, R button, Right, Down, R button, R button, A. For Scarlet press: Up, Left C, R but- ton, Right, Down, L button, L button, Left C. For Sonork press: Up, Left C, R but- ton, Right, Down, L button, L button, Up С. For Zenmuron press: Up, Left С, R button, Right, Down, L button, L but- ton, Right C. 661-4! NFL GameDay ‘97 PS Bubsy 3D PS Pro Pinball 5 Command & Conquer — SAT | S. Puzzle Fighter I1 Crusader: No Remorse SAT Revelations: Persona = Dark Forces PS | Shadows of the Empire мез Destruction Derby 2 PS Soul Blade Doer Kong Свят 5 SNES Fighters Megamix SAT Twisted Metal 2 a Wayne Gretzky 3D Hockey М64 NBA Hang Time N64 Mr. Bones SAT Bubble Bobble PS МВА Live 97 Ы; Contra: Legacy of War Ps | Re-Loaded The Crow: City of Angels ps Soviet Strike Incredible Hulk PS 5. Puzzle Fighter I1 True Pinball T Turok: Dino. Hunter N64 P.S. Underground No. 1 PS ҮТ А Atari Collection ps cath The Ше Assassin P em 64 a Soviet Strike Street Fighter Alpha 2 Ti Independence Day = Test Drive: Off-Road ps Int. Superstar Soccer N64 | TNN M.S. Hardcore 4X4 SAT Mario Kart 64 N64 ТММ M.S. Hardcore 4X4 ps MechWarrior 11 PS | Turok: Dino. Hunter N64 Mega Man 8 SAT This guide is a reference to alll of the game codes printed within Mortal Kombat Trilogy N64 Soviet Strike Ball Blazer Champions SAT ош Strike Command & Conquer PS Fade to Black PS Star Fox 64 Independence Day Ps | Tiger Shark MechWarrior II PS Tobal 2 eT Nanotek Warrior WCW vs. the World ш TEFEN I НИ FIFA Soccer 64 N64 Independence Day SAT Brahma Force Mega Man 8 PS/SAT Bug Too! E Need For Speed 2 5 Buster Bros. Collection ps | Norse Бу Norsewest Descent Maximum PS Peak Performance Die Hard Arcade SAT | Triple Play 98 Hard Trilogy SAT Turok: Dinosaur Hunter да Disruptor PS | War Gods N64/PS Doom SAT Wing Commander IV ps © Star Wars S.0.T.E. Codename: Tenka Ten Pin Alley Daytona USA: С.С.Е. те Test Drive Off-Road Die Hard Trilogy ne Thunder Truck Rally с Machine Head = Tobal 2 Magic Carpet пи Twisted Metal 2 P.S. Underground No. 2 War Gods the last six months of EGM. Note: This does not include Game ке Blast Corps лы Shark codes or any other codes that use a peripheral attachment. Look for the update іп next month's Tricks of the Trade. Working Designs and Electronic Gaming Monthly present the.. To enter: Send a legible photograph or a video PlayStation arcade shooting game RayStorm in On phone number to: RayStorm Conte: SELECT STAGE 1 cone CURATUR BL aves stoce qu - sevecr b Stace Street сайсасео = | - svaer | - eruen то ear - BAIN hens This tip won't help you a lot with the cont Screen (ріст), you'll get a new option call in Extra Mode, you'll get another optio: 13 Ship Mode" (pic 3). Th art that mode, you pick the order of each R-Gray Fighter. Next month, Nov. 29, 1997 tus Summary Screen (sample depicted at left) from the along with a 3x5 card or paper containing your name, address, age and lear Creek Road, Redding, СА 96001 сопетсоватусн PLAYER <госк |> уз pravers onner көре Gar 15 mode з to beat the whole game. When you turn that option ive you optimum configuration information for 13 Man Mode. PITBALL ; VIEW FMV, HIDDEN GAME To view all the FMVs without completing the game with h of the characte! the Options and highlight the . Now press Left, quare, Circle. Now you can watch any ending Toa hidden game, go into the FMV test where the endings are, and on any FMV, press Square+Circle Right, рееее POWER TRIP together. The ship you get will depend on the FMV you previously chose PlaySta 54 РЕАК РЕВЕОВМАМСЕ SOCCER BALL TRICK Go into the course editor. While holding the X button, press Triangle to make your cone white. Place the white cone on the course. Repeat as ary, depending on how many cones you have left in your inventory. Now choose your с а t the race. The white cones will have turned into soccer balls, whic po onn POWER TRIP you сап гип into with your car! David Sheffield Derby. KS h PlayStation Atl STAR WARS: S.OT.E Use A or B to оре a letter AEST МАМРА ROAR Choose a new slot or edit an existing player bv putting in the code: R . Testers . ROCK (put a space where the periods are shown). Once you do this, exit the screen and move up and down between different options. You will hear the Wampas roar up a you do this; even when you pause the game. Nintendo 64 Nintendo КЕЛТ СО Ме arm when "m Я Benjamin Vavitz St Louis. МО POWER TRIP рееееее (ж LAST LEVEL CODE е Now you сап access the last level automatically with this password. On the Main Menu с еп, highlight and select the Password Option. Now enter the code as shown here: DLXGXKDIH OUXGXRDIn Әм POWER TRIP Once you choose Епа, you'll be transported to the last level of the game, “The Escape Home” which is extremely difficult! Try PlayStation Electroi 10 survive as long аз you can! Howard Justin: Jonesburg, MO PSYGNOSIS G Police, Psygnosis and the Psygnosis logo are trademarks of Psygnosis, Ltd. ©1997 Psygnosis, Ltd. All rights reserved. aS PlayStation tation, the: PlayStation. 1900 and the PS logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. reserved. All other copyrights and trademarks are property of their respective owners. «ТШД пана а ие y Gamers һауе been battling console Al for 20 years. We look at two genres-sports and fighting-to find out who's winning and why. THE À by Kraig Kujawa апа Sushi-X he three dragons of the classic Atari 2600 proto RPG Adventure sure were a pain іп the ass. One whiff of your blip-shaped hero and they’d z launch after you, around corners, across game screen after game 2 screen, relentless in their quest to turn you into lunch. They were tenacious, yes. But were they particularly brainy? Not really. Their puny logic algorithms could be boiled down into a few com- mands: See the hero, eat the hero, repeat if necessary. But stupid or not, this trio of toothy sprites represented one of the first examples of artificial intelligence in a con- sole game. And we've been running from dragons іп one form or another— from Pac- Man's gang of ghosts to Doom's army of Imps—ever since. Yet our 20-year war with А! has never been one-sided. Given time, always learned the tricks to survival in the inhospitable terrain of single-player video = USTRATION BY COLIN JOH о D 3 Ф z а т m < б gamedom. We’ve mastered the cheap stuff—fireballs and throws—that’ll topple most CPU-controlled fight- ing game foes, and we learned there’s no reason to fear any Boss in any action game, once we learn its attack patterns. Of course, we don’t want enemies that are too brainy. Where’s the fun in an invincible oppo- nent? But then we don’t want "ет too easy to outsmart, either. So where does Al stand today, 20 years after the first volleys were fired in the war between players and console CPUs? Most modern game enemies are Einsteins com- pared to Adventure’s simple- minded dragons, but is it still too easy to learn the Al’s tricks? To answer this ques- tion, we looked at two gen- res—sports and fighting— and examined how their Al has adapted to human play- ers’ winning strategies over the years. Why those two game types? Simple. It is the com- puter-controlled enemies of fighting and sports games that—more than in any other genre—serve as our practice partners for gaming’s toughest challenge: head-to-head com- petition between two human players. And while computer- controlled opponents are still not nearly as bright as your game-playing buddies, the day when you won’t be able to tell a flesh-and-blood player two from the CPU may be clos- er than you think. System DGE. Made in Taiwan 7000 [72 ETI Just а Bunch of Dumb Jocks? > MADDEN: THE DAWN OF REALISTIC SPORTS GAMING Ever since the dawn of sports gam- ing, human players have time and again run up the score on their less compe- tent computer adversaries. After years of gaming that have spawned many progressively better hardware systems, we've seen more glitz, better sound and fancy 3-D graphics. What we haven't seen is a major improvement in the arti- ficial intelligence...until now. Many sports gamers complain a scant year's time whereas in past years, progress in sports gaming А! has been stagnant (or has even taken steps back). Some may say it is because of technology that games are able to become more sophisticated. While this is true, past 16-Bit sports games weren't half as smart as they could have been. The best example of this is EA Sports' Madden series. It personifies sports gaming as a whole and was the undisputed leader The day when you won't be able to tell a flesh-and-blood player two from the CPU ma be closer than you think. OF JOHN MADDEN FOOTBAL GENESIS THAT STARTED THE REALISTIC SPORTS REVOLUTION. about games with the intelligence equivalent to a potato, but we are par- tially to blame. You see, good artificial intelligence doesn't make a flashy, eye- catching picture on the back of a game box. It won't give customers that imme- diate impulse in the software store to buy a game like aesthetic features would. But, with all of the new competi- tion crawling out of the woodwork to get their hands on a piece of the lucra- tive sports gaming pie (sports games make up about 50 percent of console software sales), the competition in this market is hotter than ever before. Companies are being forced to pay attention to every facet of a game in order to keep or gain their competitive edge. Perhaps that is why we're seeing such huge Al leaps in of sports gaming through the glorious 16-Bit days. Where that game went, most followed. When Madden is being discussed, it's like dis- cussing the genre as a whole. You see, John Madden Football was a revolution- ary game when it arrived. It played more like real football than anything else on the market, bar none. Just about every football game you play (or even non-football sports games) has many elements of Madden in it. Scott Orr, now executive producer at EA Sports, was one of the creators of the first console Madden (on the Genesis). He explained that “the philos- ophy was to build (the first Madden) from the bottom up...we started with the А! and built (the game) around it." If successive sports games incorporat- ed that same design philosophy for the years following, the results would have been impressive. Obviously (and unfor- tunately), that wasn't the case. After the first few years of steady improvement, most of the changes and new "improvements" in subsequent versions of Madden consisted of differ- ent graphics and plays. The computer didn't get smarter, and some might even argue that it got dumber. This was also true of just about every competing product. The focus of football games seemed to shift to graphics, bells and whistles, and name-brand licenses. NINTENDO! © 1997 Video System Co., Ltd /Paradigm Entertainment, Inc, AeroFighters is a trademark of McO'RIVER, Inc. (Video System U.S.A., Inc.) A 11155 Knott Ave., Suite F, Cypress, CA 90630 Tel: (714)894-3355. Licensed by Nintendo. Nintendo, the Official Seal, Nintendo 64, the 3-D "N' logo, and b the Rumble Pak are trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc: ©1996 Nintendo of America Inc. YOU WANT TO BE A HERO? DOGFIGHT BOGIES AND BOSSES OR GO НЕАО-ТО- HEAD IN TWO-PLAYER COM- BAT IN STUNNING GRAPHIC ENVIRONMENTS TO SAVE THE EARTH YET AGAIN. THERE’S 10 LEVELS OF FAST ACTION THAT DEMANDS FAST REACTION. JOIN THE BATTLE IN THE ONLY GAME THAT MATTERS. | айр ей we 16 wait sub» wool | зоипа precision-adjustáble/Stereó | Speaker doors Teen game sound presets БІ dnhahcefnen | буп готику, ШІ? amplified), | ом/- emiesion, image blurd- E [graphics restart screen | | 13” color TV with / 181-channel tuning extreme | Works with all viled power | Бате ВИЕ | | multiple! (дате system | | | һоок- -ups | [ 5 # | \ | | | | Чама stahd E | | шегер headphone jack. = жа еше тетотё. control. of gaming: ‘Sound (т, Um дей dene ak your ear d rums | Sf Van foNmore i in гтайоп | по T ҳа" & o PLE Ver visi | qOYS'SUS. lel GXE1395), osimple/ сот/ гОйр Photo: Arnell т-Жен-Асав | С! 101997 Samsung Electronics America, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners: > SHOW ME THE Money PLAYS The result? “Money Plays” became as big a feature as any other in a foot- ball game. The minute avid video foot- ball gamers got their hands on the next Madden (or any other pigskin title), the irst thing to do would be to find the Almighty Money Plays that would be imbedded within the playbook. Those who found the Money Plays could immediately start walloping the com- uter by three times its own score. Once some of the other nuances in the game were exposed, that no longer was a challenge. The new mountain to climb would be trying to score 100 points in ive-minute quarters, or to make the computer look silly by having negative yards in offense when the game was done. The sad fact is that all of these goals were easily possible to reach. > THE EVOLUTION OF DEFENSE Obviously, the dubious invention of “Money Plays” is a result of poor Al. But why exactly? Let’s take the circum- stance of broken defensive pass cover- age. When you pick the perfect defense to cover an offensive play and have the personnel to run it (assuming the breakdown isn’t your fault) multiple wide receivers should not be wide open. But in past Madden games they were—and repeatedly. Depending on what version of Madden you're playing, this could be due to many problems. In early Maddens, defenders were “hard coded to defend certain positions such as WR1 (Wide Receiver 1), WR2, etc.," according to Steve Sims, producer of Madden NFL 98. This would cause hor- rendous defensive problems, as putting people in motion and overloading receivers to one side would cause all sorts of defensive mismatches and imbalances. For instance, WR1 (wide receiver) is usually split out to the left. This receiver was coded to be guarded by CB1 (cornerback 1), who is usually also on the left. If WR1 is moved in motion prior to the snap to the right, CB1 would still stay on the left. This, would create a large window for WR1 to be left wide open while CB1 scurried to cover him after the ball is snapped. WR1 will be on the right side of the field, while СВа is still on the left side. By Madden 94, this obvious flaw was patched up by directing the appro- priate defenders to follow the wide receivers in motion before the ball is snapped. This helped defensive *Man- to-Man" coverage on balance, but still other flaws remained. Zone coverage is the defensive coverage used most in the NFL. It involves dividing up sections of the defensive backfield for each defender to cover. In early Maddens, crudely defined zones made by a field divided up in checkerboard-like dimen- sions would require that a defender sit in the middle of the said square zone and then wait for an offensive player to enter their territory. Once an offensive player entered into the square zone, the defender would follow him around in it. According to Sims, “It is a zone defense, but it's the first progression of it. The defense doesn't take into account offensive balance and what they're attacking you with." The result? The early zone defenses of Madden could be easily decimated by flooding How Much Time is Put Into Al? The typical development cycle of a sports game is.about 10 months, give or take a month. Usually, after a sports game is finished, the game production team takes a little time off to cool down, and then starts to create the next edition of the series. Whatmay surprise you (or actually may not) is the amount of emphasis and time that is spent on devel- oping the game’s artificial intelligence. According to Scott Orr, “In the past, Al typically is one of the last things that you work on because уоште trying to upgrade and put a lot of energy into improving the graphics, frame rate and adding new features. Al and tuning tends to take a back seat.” Back seat, indeed. When asked about the percentage of Madden Football’s development cycle that is spent оп Al, Orr replied, “Typically it’s probably 10 percent (for every version of Madden).” This year was different for EA, as they shifted more emphasis toward the brains of the product. “We took the approach of Al first. This year we were able to fix past problems and take it to a new level.” Bringing the game to this “new level” involved working on the Al in the begin- ning of the development cycle (for the first time), and devoting “at least 25 percent of the schedule to it (the AI)," according to Orr. They also expect to use just as much time (if not more) working on improvements оп the Al for Madden 99. The results of devoting extra time on the brains of the game two years in a row should be interesting, indeed. the zone with multiple receivers and by running certain patterns (such as cross- ing patterns) that would always find the seam (where there shouldn't be seams) in the very predictable zone coverages. To give defenses a new weapon to com- bat these type of breakdowns, a *Man/Zone" defense was added in Madden 95 and Madden 3DO (and all others that followed it) that would place defenders in zones, and then cover whichever offensive player entered it. Instead of only covering the player inside of the zone, Man/Zone coverage would allow that player to fol- low the offensive player anywhere on the field. The biggest step in making defen- Sive coverages realistic was taken in Madden 98. Here, defensive coverages became dynamic and, well, artificially In other games you kill your enemies. In Oddworld, you make them do the killing for you. { see the slig. be the slig. it's a hostile takeover. ALIVE. = ODDWORLD e» GT Interactive | т s Ж b с Software Aware Lifeforms In Playstation INHABITANTS Virtual Entertainment у ім е =e ddworld.com 1 intelligent. The new Madden defens- es shift and adjust their zones to accommodate the strengths and positions of the offensive formation on the field. The zones are no longer in a square shape, giving them flexi- bility and efficiency when covering the field. The defensive players on the field read the offense to an extent, and pick the appropriate por- tions of the field to cover. In addition to covering the right parts of the field, the way that defenders cover receivers is also more real and com- plex. Now, a defensive player may "shade" his coverage to protect against the deep bomb, or bump-and- run to protect against the short pass. Double-teaming defenses may have a safety shade deep while having the cor- nerback cover short. It is important to note that although the defensive play- ers and plays are this intelligent, they don't make up for an ill-advised play. In summarization, this new, smarter defense implements the defensive play you call in the best possible fashion. If you call a defense that should work, it will work (given you have capable players). Steve Sims summed it up well by saying, "This is the first Madden game where John Madden could watch the video game being played and dissect it just as he would a real football game.” This is unlike so many Madden games before it, where well-called defenses would fail due to bad computer intelligence. > PLAYING SMART Play calling is one of the biggest chess matches in football, and to this tion in addition to plays that have worked in the duration in that game. If the computer was successful in com- pleting a slant pass during 2nd and long, then the next time that situation occurs there will be a good probability that it will choose to run that play again. There is an element of random- ness to the play selection, so it may pick another play that is suited for that situation. The same thought processes are used during defense play selection. Why hasn't play selection gotten more advanced? According to Sims, "People have tried to do historical analysis (looking at the last five plays to analyze and call a play), but it comes up cheesy. When you do fake punt five times, it (the computer) goes into a punt defense, and then you can go long." If you do play a game that seems to know all of the right plays to call, be aware that some games may cheat by letting the computer see the offensive play you pick, then going to a defense pre-programmed to stop it. Play calling is one of the biggest chess matches in football, and to this day it remains one of the most simplistic AI routines in football games. day it remains one of the most simplis- tic Al routines in football games. In early Maddens play calling was quite simple. A situational matrix would define what type of defensive or offen- sive play would be used in conjunction with a play-calling profile for that team. In Madden 98, play calling hasn't pro- gressed that much, but what's in place does work pretty well. The computer uses the opponent's team profile and its own when considering a play. If you're using Green Bay, for example, it will always consider that the Packers are more apt to pass. With this in mind, the computer considers the game situa- » Nor-so-Hor PURSUIT When creating the Al for a game, it is important not to overlook the small details of gameplay when working on more sophisticated facets of the game. For example, EA hired someone to adapt a piece of code that he pro- grammed to work with Madden. This code was specifically made to make defenders "swarm" after offensive players in a realistic manner. This worked out well, but what was over- looked was the flawed head-to-head defensive pursuit in Madden NFL 97. If an offensive player is running into the defensive secondary, the defenders would angle toward the ball carrier for the tackle. Unfortunately, due to some Al problems, the defenders would take the wrong angle to intercept the ball carrier, leaving the defender a second behind where he should have been to cut off and tackle him. This was a humorous А! bug that would often cre- ate a large train of dumb defensive players to follow the ball carrier. The In other games enemies are evil. In Oddworld, they're moody, territorial, lazy, hungry, fickle, paranoid ли evil. If you don’t know what makes other characters tick, they just might explode. Sound Odd? Welcome to Oddworld. whole scene makes Ше ball carrier appear as a Pied Piper because the defenders took the wrong pursuit angles, causing them to fall behind him. The reason that this happened was because the game’s Al wasn’t predict- ing the future properly. As producer Steve Sims explains in simplistic terms, “Velocity equals distance over time.” By using a formula based on that, defenders can calculate where a player will be, and what angle he should take. Obviously, these algorithms weren’t cs ss HERE’S MADDEN 97’s Al FLAW IN ACTION. THE DEFENSIVE PLAYERS HAVE UNWITTINGLY FALLEN BEHIND THE BALL CARRIER ALTHOUGH THEY SHOULD HAVE EASILY HAD THE ANGLE. working in Madden 97. Fortunately, they work fine in Madden 98. Although there has been much progress in sports gaming Al in the last year, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. For example, Sims admits that Madden Football’s play call- ing “is still an area in which we can improve.” But that’s only one of many areas in only one genre of sports. Whether it’s a football, hockey, or bas- ketball game, chances are that it isn’t as smart a sports game as it should be. But as consumers, your gaming dollars have the power to demand a better product, and it seems that companies such as EA are beginning to listen. [80 RIY OK, enough with the team sports. Let's see what Al's been up to on the meaner side of gaming's railroad tracks, in the mano-a-mano land of fighting games. Here, the Al's attention isn't scat- tered among the squads of opponents found in sports and action titles. Every megabit of the game's brain is focused on guiding one character—your oppo- nent—who must fight with all the chop- socky skill, tenacity and unpredictability of a human player, or the game just ain’t worth playing. There are a million ways for CPU-con- trolled combatants to fight stupidly. They might let themselves be hammered over and over again by the same attack pat- terns. They might fight cheaply, using throws, projectiles and combos to drain your life gauge before you even land a punch. And they might fall victim to the same cheap tactics from human players. Fighting game fanatics have seen all these flaws before. And so have we. So we decided to take a look—from a play- er’s perspective—at how Al has evolved in fighting games, as well as how gamers have learned the tricks of each new gen- eration of supposedly smarter enemies. To keep things simple, we focused on the family of 2-D fighters that has eaten the most quarters in the last decade: the Street Fighter series. The CPU-controlled opponents in this 1987 grandaddy of fighting games weren’t exactly braniacs. They each had about five patterns of attack and would follow them religiously. Adon, for example, would always start off the round with a flip kick, then unleash several other powerful, predetermined attacks. So suc- cess in Street Fighter depend- ed more on rote memorization of opponent’s moves rather than any special 4 7 button and E ! stick combina- 7-5 { tions. All Brawl and No Brains? P1004900 HI101500 P2002200 NEITHER KEN NOR RYU WERE ALL THAT BRIGHT IN THE ORIGINAL STREET FIGHTER. But then, the game that gave us Ryu, Ken and the fireball can be forgiv- en for being a little dumb. No more Mr. Dumb World Warrior. The opponents in this blockbuster were brilliant compared to the pattern- following drones of the first game. ey made up their own patterns and didn’t skimp on the special moves. Trouble is, some of them per- ormed their specials a little too well. he computer-controlled Guile, for instance, never seemed bound by the same rules that players had to obey. He never needed to charge is Sonic Boom projec- i tiles or Flash Kicks 7 or the requisite two-second limit imposed on all ayers. Guile just pulled them & ъ Other games talk about their characters, Didworld's characters sneak for themselves. = > > > Y 8 In a lush world of diabolical danger, you're Abe... Gamespeak. And when you've got an entire race to the skinny guy with no weapons. save from the deli counter it could come in handy. Your mission is simple...run, jump and talk your For Odd's sake, do something different. Chow way out of this ravaged world. You heard me... Talk! down on ODDWORLD's pure nugget of surreal, sensory overload gaming. You'll never be hungry again. # PlayStation] With just your D-pad and your brain. It's called DWORLD: ABE'S ODDYSE GAMING GETS ODD SEPT 19 П.Ц. 1 a> L | ODDWORLD GT Interactive Aware Lifeforms In aE d INHABITANTS Software Virtual Entertainment У - eposse pue ,eiqo) Áqjeus,, "эш "apejoooy 03 әзиәзц зәрип pasn ] аарип әзе 8/2т pue егәдіәу YAL 2 ‘Pau! Бипәашбиз YAL Jo энешәрец e st YAL "ә$иәзц| зәрип pasn әле sjoquifs pue 5060 а 1030W 19]01424) JO 5ешеред әле subisag Ápog pue ewe) "зпалацу 2312410) 19101494) ^uone10d10) s1030 1812129 "получа зедиод Jo xieuapen е are ибіѕәд Арон pue 019 зециод "2ш 'ope]ooy oj з5и920 Japun pasn ^uoneodio) si0]0 1812029 ^ui "звизц зәрип pasn aie pue puejbug “рут sie) зепбег jo sxietiopej] ayy әле „0гггх„ з1адрезецо ay} pue “әзіләр уез urdea) əy} ”,депбег,, ром ou] "woisstuuad Aq parnpoiday "uessiN JO лешәред рәхәҙеібәл aie „Х2005., ӘЧ} pue ,UESSIN,, *L661 uone1odjo) лајѕйзц) > 'esuapi] ларип pasn әле pue "ү": ‘иоцелойлоз әјә) jo $улешәре; рәзә}5!бәз әзе x19 узпоша 24} pue ерп) qynouijg зеблецу әброд "ebuejeu) abpog “2d! әброп "uj иогириен jo жешерещ e st uontpuay “ЭШ ‘JAN JO злешәрец e 51 YA JeMog uj 946 Jo ешарец e sı жас "setueduro) әлцзәй$әз нац jo әле 5урешәрец; 19470 пу "e3eorpuás (пана Aq райоуәләп “paniasar 51цби пу "эц “әргүоээу 76612 "201 “әреүоэзү jo зиешерец рәзә}$їбәз әле у злна 359] pue BAHA 3521. 4 the demo today .accolade.com T CALL 1.800.245.7744 a mma AUUV * Available November ‘97 For Sony PlayStation and PC CD-ROM! off over and over again, thus making him almost as annoying to fight as Bosses Vega and Bison. Blanka’s horizontal roll was another example of a charge move that the Al could perform immediately. So just as the characters became smarter, they became cheaper, too. No matter. Players soon learned that certain patterns would defeat even the cheapest of the World Warriors. When battling Zangief, for instance, players could simply leap up with Ryu/Ken, per- form a Roundhouse Kick, and the big Russian would walk into the attack every time. In a way, the pattern problem of the first game was reversed. Now it was the player who could rely on the same attacks over and over again, while the computer opponents remained unable to cope with the repetitive onslaught. Capcom watched as the World Warriors were beaten again and again by player-created patterns. So, sure enough, those same patterns didn’t work in the Champion Edition. No big deal for players, though—they created new patterns that were just as effective. For example, they would leap just out of range of Guile’s Flash Kick, then Dargon Punch him while he was in mid-air. Meanwhile, the Al grew less cheap. We began to see the CPU-guided fighters at least attempt to simulate charge moves. Guile, for instance, would hunch down for a split second before unleash- ing a Sonic Boom. No, he didn’t wait the required two seconds before letting it fly, but it was a step in the right direction. Despite the increase in speed, this installment was actually a little easier for players. Now, not only could they rely on the same attack patterns they used in the Champion Edition, but Ken and Ryu players also had the advantage of the new Air Hurricane Kicks (you know, the Hurricane Kick you could pull off at the top of a jump). Computer-controlled opponents simply did not know how to defend themselves from these strikes. As if to make up for this weakness, we began to see the computer perform more throws. Chun-Li, Zangief and Guile were especially keen on grabbing and throwing players who were halfway through a move (a tactic frequently used by the Al opponents in the MK series, as well). The series’ Al saw some major improvements here. For starters, the fighters began to implement their own combos, although they would rarely land more than two hits in a chain. They were SMART PLAYERS FOUND PATTERNS TO DEFEAT SFIICE's GUILE. SUCH PATTERNS WEREN'T SO EFFECTIVE IN LATER GAMES. also more than able to deal with Ryu and Ken's Air Hurricane Kicks, so such cheap airborne tactics were not nearly as effec- tive as in the previous game. The bumping up of the game's IQ meant that computer-controlled enemies didn't have to battle so cheaply. For the first time, charges were accurately simu- lated by enemies (Guile began to play by the rules). Players were finally starting to feel some real heat from the АІ. HERE COME THE COMBOS! SUPER SFII's FIGHTERS FOUGHT SMART, NOT CHEAP. And then there came the most diffi- cult game in the series (even when it was set to еаѕу!). The АІ in Super SFII Turbo was top nothc. In fact, industry legend has it that it was based on the num- ber-one player in the world. This edition’s enemies pulled off combos every chance they got—and they did so nearly perfectly every time. They also coun- tered most attacks with perfect timing and skill (no, not with Alpha Counters—those hadn't been invented yet—but with blocks and quick sweeps and punches). Straight Shooters: When Dumb is More Fun Sometimes it ain't a bad idea to Shooter fans wouldn't have it any other way, right? After all, imagine make enemy artificial intelligence а how frustrating it would be to play а shooter'in which the enemies were little, well, less intelligent. Take the аѕ intelligent as the programmers could make them. *They'ré capable of case of shooters, in which it has just chasing you and chasing you and matching your speed and locking always been dumb enemies—and onto you and not letting go,” Leake said. “If you've just got wave after lots of 'em—that have kept players wave of all these smart enemies it's rather difficult to play. So we have twitching in their seats. to make them a little more stupid, make them not fire so often or intro- “In traditional 2-D shooters, the duce a random element to where they turn and where they fire at you.” baddies follow a preset pattern,” Some of these “random elements” include imposing a limit on how said programmer Brian Leake, who's long enemies can home in on your fighter before they abandon the working on Rabid Entertainment's chase, or giving them enough sense to flee the screen if you shoot in impressive 3-D, top-down shooter their direction or lock on with a missile. Violent Seed. *The programmers will But the simplest trick of all, Leake explained, is to let the enemies either use a wave editor or they’ll just show off their smarts for a little while, then dummy "ет down when life code in some behavior that tells ene- gets too rough for the player. “Тһе baddies can be clever for a bit," he mies to fly in a straight line for a couple of seconds, then makealoopto said, “and then we just say, ‘OK, now all you can do is fly in a straight the left or the right, and then they'll just fly off screen and go away.” line and go away.” Ir VIOLENT SEED’S BIG BUG Boss WERE ANY SMARTER, THE GAME WOULD ВЕ TOO HARD AND NO FUN. EZJEGM one take 3-foot long, razor sharp scissors? How will you avert decapitation and keep your entrails from spilling out over the kitchen floor? This will surely be your fate unless you can outwit Norway's most lethal killer-Scissorman. You'll have to become a master of stealth and deception to avoid being cut to ribbons in this blood-soaked horror adventure. Five playable characters and ten different endings for super-extended replay value. Amazingly detailed, horrific graphics and special effects. Bone-chilling sound effects. So grab your copy of Clock Tower™, turn out the lights, and pray. ©1997 HUMAN CORPORATION, АП Rights Reserved. ASCI Entertainment, Clock Jogo are trademarks of ASCH Software. Inc. PlayStation and the PlayStation logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainm icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software. Association. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders c Playstation >STREET FIGHTER ALPHA Capcom apparently thought Super SFII Turbo's opponents were a little too tough, because Alpha saw a slight dum- mying down of the Al. Once again, play- ers were able to use several, easy-to- the World Warriors. Hurricane Kicks could be used 5 оуег апа оуег \ == again on cor- \ D: nered oppo- nents, while most enemies \would absorb several \ fireballs before even | attempting a block. Players were also / helped out with ultra- | cheap Chain Combos, sim- i ple light-, medium- and fierce- \ punch triples that were extremely easy to perform. Al opponents, Қ on Ше other hand, never | attempted the chains, \ although they were fairly adept at unleashing first-level Super Combos and Alpha Counters. ONE Al CRUTCH WAS TO FIGHT CHEAP (NOTE THE THROW, LEFT). BUT PLAYERS COULD BE CHEAP, TOO (CUSTOM COMBOS, ANYONE?). CHEAPEST OF ALL, THOUGH, IS SFIIl’s Git (RIGHT). > STREET FIGHTER ALPHA 2 And the fighters became only more adept at such tactics in the sequel. Sure, they could be taken out by some of the same patterns players used in Alpha, but the patterns now had to be set up prop- erly; players had to get in close to begin sequences of Hurricane Kicks or Dragon Punches. Computer opponents nearly always avoided such traps. Players were helped by the Custom Super Combos, which let them string together random attacks that were impossible for the computer to defend against. No big deal for the Al; these combos were more flashy than effective. >STREET FIGHTER ШІ It was a long time in coming, but players were finally able to face off against the Al of a new generation of street fighters. But here’s the surprise: Е [zd] pull-off patterns to stymie most of The game’s most eye-grabbing feature— its ultrasmooth animation—is actually a major hindrance to what is otherwise top-notch Al. Each enemy move packs so many frames of animation that players can tell what’s coming just by watching the opponent wind up his or her attack. Despite this handicap, the computer still makes a pretty respectable player. It comes out swinging with a wide variety of attacks and very few patterns. And while it may at first seem that the Al opponents are susceptible to player- created patterns, the CPU quickly learns from its mistakes. For instance, enemies stumble blindly into fireballs early in a round, but they wise up quickly and begin blocking—even parrying—if you unleash too many projectiles. To make matters even more difficult, players are no longer able to perform Custom Combos, air blocks or Alpha Counters. Now they must rely on the more difficult parries, which the comput- er pulls off on a regular basis. Al enemies are also fairly proficient at pulling off the Super Arts, although they will nearly always pick the first Art, rather than the second or third. So who’s the smartest of the World Warriors? Well, despite his tenacity, it ain't Gil, SFIII’s final Boss. This guy was built to fight cheap, not smart. All his moves do two hits, forcing you to parry twice. And he seems to automatically block anything you throw at him. Yes, battling Gil is frustrating to say the least. The honor of smartest Al has to go to Akuma, a.k.a. Gouki in Japan. Since ШІ 15 THE PRETTIEST SF GAME, BUT IT'S NOT EXACTLY THE SMARTEST. Super 5Е Turbo, Akuma has proven that he packs the largest arsenal of moves— and he knows how to use them. He unleashes combos, super combos, jug- gles and counters. He rarely wastes an AKUMA IS THE SMARTEST, FIERCEST WORLD WARRIOR OF THE SERIES. attack, and no patterns work on him. It should come as no surprise then that Capcom's forthcoming Super Street Fighter collection packs a special Akuma Mode, which lets you play against Akuma anytime you feel like getting your butt whupped. *WhHAT's NEXT? We've shown how Al can evolve through two popular genres, but what does the future hold for the brains behind our games? Well, if advance hype on Ocean's 3-D Nintendo 64 shooter Mission: Impossible is to be believed, console Al is about to take a huge leap forward. The game makes use of a new А! sys- tem called “5001” by Infogrames, Ocean's France-based parent com- pany. SOOL supposedly simulates the thinking of each character in MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE’S SOOL-DRIVEN ENEMIES ARE EXPECTED TO BE THE SMARTEST EVER. the game, letting them react intelligent- ly to the player's actions. If the player acts suspiciously or pulls out his gun, the game's bystanders will steer clear and guards will open fire. If SOOL lives up to its hype, it could change the way players treat enemies in Doom clones forever. Even with advancements such as SOOL on the gaming horizon, has А! stayed in step with all the other advance- ments in console technology? Not really. But it's certainly catching up. And heck, as Akuma has proven, it's smart enough to school you in Street Fighter. В FLARED NOSTRILS ТО SMELL FEAR. A REINFORCED NECK FOR RAMMING PREY HEAD-FIRST. SERRATED TEETH TO SLICE THROUGH BONE. ” + i) From the ground up, | T-Rex was built to you сай be him. Just claw,, bite and dismember your way up the pre-historic foot chain, from a tenacious Compy E d же? to the bloodthirsty T-Rex himself. 4 às All in lush 3-D environments with Villseapoundim music and plenty of bonetcrunching je sound effects. The Lost World. Where only the strong, fierce and remorseless survive. ЕХА ЕСА uve pU ES ELECTRONIC ARTS PlayStation Also available on Genesis” and бате Gear.” THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK" & ©1997 Universal City Studios and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. Licensed by MCA/Universal Merchandising, Inc omputer Entertainment Inc. Sega is registered in the U.S. and Patent Trademark Office. Sega Saturn and all game titles are trademarks of Sega unless otherwise noted. (2 1997 SEGA, РО. Box 81 LC Dreamy 1 ALL CONTROLLED BY A BRAIN INCAPABLE OF REMORSE. Interactive is a trademark of Dreamworks L.L.C. Electronic Arts and the Electronic Arts logo are tradémarks oF registered trademarks of Electronic Arts jn the U.S. and/or other countries. АЙ rights reserved. PlayStation and the PlayStation logo are trademar DEMON VS. DEMON, EVIL VS. EVIL. WHY IS EVERYONE FIGHTING? t's Halloween time kiddies! We here at Electronic MAIMING Monthly would like to offer you a little treat. We’re going to doa special ARTIKILL on the creatures of video gaming! (Whoops! Sorry...we’ve been watch- ing a few too many episodes of Tales from the Crypt.) Anyway, we brought together 10 games that fit in with the HALLOWEEN theme. You might wonder why some of these games are included in a Halloween feature, but when you read the article, you’ll understand. But instead of doing a straightforward preview of these Halloweeny games, we decided to have some fun with this feature. We thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if some of these video game characters got together and actually fought each other. After all, they are, for the most part, EVIL BEINGS. And we all know what evil beings do when they get together (fight, naturally). So we asked ourselves, what would hap- pen if the ZOMBIES of Resident Evil were at war with the monsters of Nightmare Creatures? Who would win in a skirmish between the DEMONS of Doom and the sol- diers of Quake? Read on to see what our silly little minds conjured up. Feel free to send in some of your own ideas for battles уош like to see. RESIDENT EVIL MONSTERS Pros * Giant Monsters Cons * Those slow-ass zombies * В.Е. monsters have never left the house. (Babes in * Popular support and backing from legions of К.Е. fans the woods, you know?) hen we first came up with the idea of a Halloween feature, the first game (or series of games, actually) we thought of was Resident Evil. And why wouldn't we? Everyone has RE on the mind because Capcom is putting out so many versions of the game. Besides the original for the PlayStation, we will soon have Resident Evil for the Saturn, Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PS) and of course, Resident Evil 2 for the PS. As such, it's only fitting that we start out this feature with the popular series of horror games. Resident Evil is a perfect Halloween game with its hordes of larger-than-life creatures and trademark flesh-eating zombies. The original always kept you in suspense as you went from room to room in the large and abandoned man- sion (abandoned by non-evil beings, anyway). And who can forget the first time a bloody- mouthed zombie turned around to face you? Director's Cut and RE2 only promise more gore and frightful moments. ur first confrontation: Who would () win та fight between the hordes of the Resident Evil series and the armies of Nightmare Creatures? It's a close call, but the Nightmare Creatures would eventually win. The monsters of Resident. Evil are impressive, but they have a weak link: the slow and predictable zombies. Capcom has a full chess set here (with the zombies being the pawns), but Activision's side only has knights, rooks, bishops and higher-no wimpy pawns to get in the way. The Nightmare Creatures do not attack like most computer-controlled opponents. They block, they sidestep, they draw back...you just can't attack them as straightforward as you can enemies in most other games. Not only that, but they continue to aggressively fight after losing several limbs. Talk about persistence! But this would not be an easy win. Giant spiders, gargantuan snakes and demon hounds will make up most of Resident Evil's offensive force, and they would take out a big chunk of the enemy forces. But the great one-on-one abilities of the Nightmare Creatures would win this war for Activision. NIGHTMARE CREATURES Pros * Monsters are Т, іп Cons Not much...the МИ one-on-one fights creatures е пара ғы » They have lasting power formidable ctivision's Nightmare Creatures for the PlayStation is a full 3-D action game that takes place in a nightmarish gothic world. Moving at fast speeds with complete freedom of movement, Nightmare Creatures may give gamers what they felt they were missing in slower-paced 3-D action games. Nightmare Creatures doesn’t provide the same level of fright that some of the other games in this feature do (after all, it's an action game, not an adventure game like RE). But it belongs in this article nonetheless. The hordes of mythical creatures that roam Nightmare Creatures’ world can certainly be classified as “creepy,” as are the dark and quiet environments. When you see ethereal creatures rising from decrepit graves, you'll know why we put this game in this feature. Plus, Nightmare creatures isn't without its suspenseful moments. At times, you might find the inactive moments a little too nerve-wracking. Then, just as you think you're safe... stalking and preying beings against each other? Well, if you've ever seen Scissorman in action, you'd have no doubt that any moron should be able to kick his ass. He's an old man who walks with an old man's pace and thinks with a 2-year-old's mind. He's easy to outrun and easy to outsmart. All you need to do is find any hiding spot, and he'll forget you're there (out of sight, out of mind, you know?). But for those of you who've played Clock Tower, doesn't Scissorman look like you could just "clock" him one in the face and put him out of commission? (Although maybe this is just macho talk...perhaps we'd have a big change of heart if we could actually meet Scissorman in real life.) Our conclusion is, an old man running around with oversized scissors is no match for an invisible alien beast who can wipe out the entire crew of a space station. In fact, chances are Scissorman will do what every mother is always afraid of: fall and poke his eyes out with the scissors. And having a blind Scissorman is like having no Scissorman at all... S o what happens when we pit two ENEMY ZERO'S ALIEN Pros Cons e It's invisible * И must be a noisy alien, CLOCK TOWERS SCISSORMAN T \ Pros Cons * Scissorman is persistent * He's not the brightest guy • Іп space, no one can hear Since you can always hear you scream it moving around. * He has a scary theme song in the world when he's chasing you * He has that funny walk ou might not know a lot about Enemy Zero for now, but you will. This high- profile Saturn horror/sci-fi adventure game is currently out in Japan and is expected out soon in the U.S. The main character is Laura Lewis (the virtual star of D, whose voice for Enemy Zero will be played by Luscious Jackson lead singer, Jill Cunniff). Tell us if her story sounds familiar: Scii's Clock Tower for the PlayStation gave more than one editor goosebumps. This suspenseful mystery/thriller was full of tense moments, thanks to the sound- track and, of course, the menacing Scissorman. The weak at heart may want to avoid this game. Most of the game is spent looking for clues in quiet, abandoned buildings, with a psycho killer lurking about. Your heart rate The crew of a space station is slowly being will triple when you turn around a seemingly eliminated by an alien threat. One by one, Lewis’ innocent corner to face Scissorman. companions are killed, until she is the only one j ск Tower is a perfect game to be featured left to confront the mysterious alien. “өү N The game is unique because you must ‹ depend more оп audible aids than visual. As the alien is hunting you aboard the isolated station, you can hear its movements. The louder the ` Ы Pa тары sounds, the closer you аге to Ше creature. You must be careful of your own actions: Any sounds you make can alert the alien as to your location. Enemy Zero becomes a sweaty palm experience when your motion detector beeps louder and louder as you get closer to the alien. The scary part is, you can't see the monster-—it's invisible until you are right next to it. fo this po y ina ing issue. oween article, and Scissorman is а monster. He creeps at you with a stag- | walk, looking like a stereotypical madman. 5 a long and sharp set of hedge clippers ге like tree clippers, from the looks of them). when you see him, the game will play some tty intense music. You'll feel like the potential Victim in a slasher flick, and you'll want to get е hell out of Scissorman's way. ауе; here comes “terrorists: ‘and you control the body: count. You'll board helicopters, ATVs, 2 underwater vehicles алое literally everythin in sight. Gun. down slimeballs оп. ‘three completely ifferent missions. Blast your way into more Ban 35 secret rooms 4 (three times as many as Area 51) апа! blow everything away у treme preju- да ‘dice. With Maximum Force, еге? 1 по such: thing a às to j much irepower. E Go ahead; pull the trigger. And check out thi Maximum Cool. : : / 5 : untur at your nearest arcade, PULL THE TRIGGER EER 4 ty < Visit oun WEES ITE. ww santerplay.com p ў VOS TRAVEL a Race circuit that spans 5 Worlds (24 TRACHS11), and the ULTIMATE showdown in the ARENA of, DEATH! RAGE on the asphalt in 6 CUSTOMIZABLE machines of war. і т T i E ERADICATE your opponents with NAPALM LIQUID DEATH, ANTI- MATTER Projectiles, Nuclear PLASMA Cannons, "WRATH of God" Death Beams, and much, much MORE! CHOOSE your Fate. S unique characters with UPGRADEABLE Abilities ,and each with а INY of their OWN. PlayStation тм To A и йкес аты>; А RACI EN, эм 1111 А Е ©1997 Interplay Productions, All rights. reserved: Red Asphalt and Interplay are trademarks of Interplay Productions. All rights reserved. PlayStation and the PUO V GAMERS е PlayStation logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment America. Allrights reserved. All other copyrights and trademarks are property of their respective owners, * Hellspawn powers * Cape, chains and guns * His damn inner struggle * He might be broke from his bad, big-budget movie omic book-star-turned-video game/movie/toy/cable-licensing sensa- tion Spawn is coming to the PlayStation in a full 3-D fighting/action game, courtesy of Todd McFarlane and SCEA. Spawn, the being created in hell, has been a popular comic book character for a few years now. We're including him in this Halloween story because any hellspawn is certainly welcome in a creature feature. And who are we to deny Spawn an appearance here? If anyone is going to have an identity crisis, it's going to be Spawn. Not only was he a good and honest man in his previous life, but he'll take on several different forms for the video game. For each of the different themed worlds of the game, Spawn will have a new outfit: Medieval Spawn for a medieval stage, Savage Spawn for a savage stage and classic Spawn for everything else (including his trip to hell). It's not clear at this stage as to what the different outfits will do for Spawn (but at any rate, it wouldn't affect this fictional battle with Alucard). 196 | = 4) hy Spawn vs. Alucard? Well, they are both undead, and they were both born of evil (plus it’s our feature, and we can do whatever we want). This battle is pretty lopsided. It's a simple fact that Alucard can grow so powerful, that he'll kick anyone's butt in this feature, and Spawn is no exception. Spawn may have automated tools like his cape and chains, but they wouldn't be a match for any of Alucard's companions, like the protective fairy, demon or sword. Alucard has the most number of tricks up his gothic sleeve as well. Spells, magical artifacts, special weapons, etc., all make Alucard one tough vampire. And. if worse comes to worse, he could always transform into a gaseous cloud and just float away to safety. A frustrated Spawn would be left standing there, twiddling his thumbs. We're also thinking that a few of Alucard’s attacks that utilize a Holy Cross might affect Spawn in an unknown, but probably adverse, way. We've yet to meet a Holy Cross-friendly hellspawn. Maybe this was an unfair fight for us to set up in the first place, but hey, it’s just for fun, right? ава. 5 GS CASTLEVANIAS ALUCARD Pros * Alucard has a million Cons * Nothing, Alucard is attack options a powerhouse... * Companions * But what if papa Dracula and came in town for a visit? pell Dracula backward, and what do you get? The name of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night's star character. Konami's PlayStation update to the long-running Castlevania series was previewed back in issue 3:95. This highly anticipated game is already an office favorite as a Japanese import. Any son of Dracula is an automatic shoe-in to be included in a creature feature. And Alucard is a formidable foe indeed. His slashing sword attack is enough to take care of most opponents, and that's just his starting weapon. In his Symphony of the Night adventures, he will pick up a myriad of different weapons and power-ups and magical spells. Alucard also gets the help of a few assistants, some help him offensively, some defensively (he even has a fairy that can resurrect him). He can also transform into a “fire-breathing bat, an invincible gaseous cloud or a.icious wolf-dog. With everything available to him, Alucard may just be the most powerful being on the PlayStation, much less this ificant little feature. TAGEZALUCARD TETRIS. NOW EVEN HARDER. 298) ca e 46616 4: a THIS IS TETRISPHERE.IT HAS THE SAME GREAT TASTE OF TETRIS. ONLY IN 5-D. YOU CENTER ON PENETRATING ITS CORE. IT CENTERS ON STOPPING YOU. pit two mascots against each other. Although this battle lacks the creepi- ness or gore factor of the other ones, we'd thought it'd be a fun one to do anyway (Remember: our feature, our prerogative). СЕХ Who would win if Jersey Devil and Gex ERSEY DEVIL decided to go head to head (or rather, tail to tail)? Being that Jersey Devil is a quiet guy who keeps to himself (his attitude all comes from actions, not words), we think the psychological factor would go in Сехз favor. The trash-talking, wise-crackin’ gecko will endlessly taunt the Jersey Devil. F or the first time ever, we are going to Pros Cons peia pro tan a кл шіні may іе At first, JD will brush it off, but if we can Miserere a and ceil * He's a cocky SOB get annoyed with Gex's voice-overs * His spin-tail attack * He can't fly or dimb (remember his first game?), then so can Jersey Devil. ` The mechanics also favor Gex. Although ou might be wondering why we included Jersey Devil has wings, they are just for | К, we realize that Jersey Devil isn't a Gex of all people, er, creatures. If you gliding, not flying. Gex on the other hand | scary game by any means, but JD remember our coverage of Crystal has the ability to climb on any surface at any | himself certainly belongs in a creature Dynamics’ Gex: Enter the Gecko back in angle. For this sole factor, feature. This mysterious masked crusad- issue #96, the 3-D parody-packed sequel for we must give the fight to er looks half-bat, half-demon. Plus, he has spunk the PlayStation has one stage that’s all horror— Gex. Anytime he needs and attitude. So we decided Jersey Devil has the perfect for our Halloween feature. This world to, he can climb up right qualifications to be included in a Halloween makes fun of everything having to do with and hang out on а creature feature. horror in contemporary media. tall ceiling, way out If you read our Jersey Devil preview in issue Do you remember Chucky, the psycho killer of reach of JD; the 3:97, you would know that he's based on a "real- doll from the Child's Play movies? Well, it might poor devil can't attack life" mythical creature (real-life meaning outside be strictly coincidence, but Enter the Gecko has what he can't reach! of the video game realm). Jersey Devil sightings an enemy in the horror level called "Hucky" Guess what? He's an animated doll with a big sharp knife. Other coincidences include hockey masks (just like what Jason used to wear), gloves with knives on the finger tips (strange... Freddy had those too) and skulls with pins stuck in them (looking.a lot like Pinhead from Hellraiser). You'll find plenty of other creepy material in this game, like zombies, ghosts and morphing walls. Does Gex have what it takes to stand toe to toe with Jersey Devil? date back to the early 1800s. The reports all talk about a hideous creature who'd haunt several locations along the East Coast. Today, Megatoon and Malofilm (the developer and publisher respectively) have turned the image that has fright- ened hundreds into something a little more tolerable and even a little cute, for the PlayStation. But he's certainly no slouch when it comes to a little fisticuffs between PlayStation mascots. ов [1% ADVANTAGE: СЕХ Pewee, 7929. 1937 ST а inea "DASTED RODENT te 328-6664 HERE COMES MI YOU'RE SURE T TH ITS NEW GRAB-N-THROW PLAY CONTROL, THOSE PESKY ENEMIES UP, SCHIEF MAKERS. wy O SHAKE M NINTENDOS4 ing action game. We're pushing the limits of 3D te а Dynamics. All rights reserved. DOOM DEMONS Р Pros * Pain Elementals can r Cons * Predictable behavior release countless Lost Souls . wimpy low-end fighters * Powerful demon weaponry (imps, sergeants, soldiers) mention of Doom is pointless. Doom is, as if you didn't know, a first- person perspective shooter. It's not really scary, but it has its moments. The enemies all come from hell, making them perfect material for a creature feature. Nightmare demons, lost souls, cyber-demons, barons of hell and pain elementals—you can't find a better representation of what hell has to offer. They shoot, bite and blast. They use hellfire, plasma cannons and rocket launchers. They are a bunch of bad-asses. A war between the demons of Doom and the minions of Quake would be of gargantuan proportions. This is the biggest fight of this feature and perhaps the most interesting. How well would id Software's famous creations fare against each other? he one that started it all is getting a bit old. But a Halloween feature without some ow for the final, most monumental N fight of the night. What would over the world of Quake instead of Earth? (Or if you prefer, what if the Quake guys tried to take over the Doom hell? Doesn't really matter—the two story lines are practically identical.) Quakers would get an early advantage. Their small-fry characters (grunts, rottweil- ers, enforcers and knights) are more maneuverable than Doom's imps and zom- bie soldiers. The Quake fiends will rush and crush the predictable stand-still-and-shoot Doomers. In the long run, however, the higher-ups of hell's hierarchy will eventually score the most kills. You just can't beat demons that have rocket launchers and plasma guns Гог body parts. The closest Quake equivalent is. the chainsaw-hackin’, grenade-tossin' Ogre-he's no slouch, but he doesn't match up to Doom's greater demons. Regardless, the Doomers have perhaps the greatest advantage of any being in this feature—thanks to the 2-D nature of their sprite-based bods. After all, when things get dicey they can just turn sideways and become practically invisible to the eyes of their three-dimensional, polygonal foes. Being a sprite does have its advantages... happen if hell's demons tried to take A but their looks are enough to kill. MONSTERS Pros е Speed and aggressiveness ^ Cons * А few too many Quake warriors depend on hand- * Newer technology (hey, to-hand combat Doom can run on a 386!) uake will soon be available on all next-generation systems. This block- buster PC hit will be coming to the Nintendo 64 (Williams), PlayStation (GT Interactive) and Saturn (Sega). Quake, as most of you already know, is id Software's follow-up to their Doom series. It is the first "Doom" game to have polygonal ene- mies (Turok is the first console game to feature polygonal opponents, but Quake for the PC came out first). The environments are less colorful and more dreary than those in Doom. The story line is basically the same: Evil creatures from another dimension are coming to Earth to kill its inhabitants. Your job is to stop these twisted and demented death squads. Quake enemies are slightly more menacing than Doom's. They are generally faster and all- around more aggressive. Some of them will even run at you, a simple action not seen in Doom. Most of them carry powerful weapons, рта ТНЕ М05Т = ACCURATE ` GUN ON THE PLAYSTATION CONSOLE!!! Presenting a shooting game so intense it comes with it's own weapon. Time Crisis | includes the formidable firearm | pictured here, the original award-winning arcade shooting game, plus a whole new shoot- fest specifically created for the PlayStation” console. Full 3D polygon environments surround you with full 3D polygon enemies. Multiple modes include Story, Arcade and Time Attack, plus multiple endings. Blast away and duck for cover as you exterminate the criminal element in a variety of hidden zones. It's fast. It's frenzied. It's shoot first мими. патсо. сот the Interactive 0ірізі Software Association. Photo of Tin With the most accurate gun available for the PlayStation’ console, Time Crisis is а can't-miss proposition. Hey kids. Get one free in specially marked boxes of Time Crisis. тима) СЕРТІН 1 ый © Hours They say it’s the biggest thing since sliced bread, and @ times just as delicious, but the Internet (the “Net” as the cool kids will say) isn’t just big from a popularity standpoint. The great expanse of computers linked to one another is physically big as well. First, the number of PCs around these days is easi- ly in the millions. Add to that the number of Macs and other types of connections there are (Netlink, X-band, etc.) and what you get is a mind-boggling number. Second, a computer in New York can easi- ly be communicating with one in Japan, so the distance thing spans the entire globe. It’s no surprise then, that we here @ little ol’ ЕСМ also go on the Net. EGM first appeared “online” with just an by Shawn Smith (a.k.a. LordChimp) e-mail address long ago (now it’s “it’s the biggest thing since sliced bread...and just as delicious..." egm mailQzd.com). Then we went on to have a full-fledged Web site. But the site known as NUKE went to worldwide heaven some time ago, and is still mourned by some. Now we have a new Web site (www.videogames.com) which is a recent addition to our family. So, yeah, we're on the Net @ work, but do we go on 9 home? The answer is yes, but have we ever gone on there for 24 hours Q one time, search- ing for video game (and other) related info? Of course, we say no because what freak would want to go on for 24 hours straight? Only a fool would (a big, bum- bling oaf of a fool). | suppose that fool is me. But don't forget that many of you are online as well. We've found that over 50 percent of our readers go online for one reason or another. So the elders @ ЕСМ told me that | needed to stay on for 24 hours in one sitting. They strapped me to a chair and hooked up the Mountain Dew and liquid Dorito |.V.s. What follows is that 24-hour day, in all of its glory (or shame in Some cases). Read it like a transcript and note: To hide my true identity, ту name while online was *LordChimp" as in Lord of the Chimps. time: 8:00a.m. * Enter LordChimp, tired and kind of hun- gry. He knows this is what he has been training for. A damp smell fills the small cubicle where LordChimp sits. In front of pot wdw ( Machine Hunter This Феееееееееееегееееееееесееее his computer about to enter into a world filled with unspeakable things, LordChimp hits the “on” switch and shields his eyes. He doesn’t know why he’s shielding his eyes, but he does it anyway—maybe for effect, maybe to harken back to his “see no evil” days. He goes to check his regular e-mail account (a standard method of communica- tion on the Net) and finds that he has received several messages from readers. There are dozens of different e-mail pro- grams and different methods of receiving e- mail. Check www.filez.com to find a share- ware program for yourself (or go to www.juno.com for info on how to get a free Internet e-mail account altogether). E-mail #1: Dear Shawn Smith. Is this really Shawn Smith from EGM?! You are the coolest. | think EGM is the best. | think Dan Hsu and Crispin Boyer are awesome. One day | hope to be like you guys. Sushi-X rocks! Hey, can | have some free games for my PlayStation? LordChimp: Delete. E-mail #2: You suck! Can | have a free subscription to EGM? LordChimp: Hmmm...delete. * LordChimp becomes bored with his e-mails since they first made him feel good, but then made him feel bad. Now he feels indifferent and knows there are better things to look for online. He decides to try IRC (Internet Relay Chat) where Internet users can "talk" to one another on various subjects ranging from farming to video games and pretty much any- thing else one could think of...anything. LordChimp enters the IRC channel known as #vidgames! (this is what you would enter in your IRC program). IRC programs are easily found on www.filez.com like “mIRC” on the PC and “IRCle” on the Mac. LordChimp finds one other person on IRC Q this early hour named “ОаКеарег.” LordChimp: Hey, how's it going? Know of any good video gam- ing Web sites? DaReaper: Oh yeah, there are plenty. What specifi- cally? Why don't you try some оҒ these... www.nintendojo.com, www.starvision.net/gazunta and www.n64hq.com. LordChimp: Cool, thanks. Well, I'll talk to you later. DaReaper: Wait. | have more sites. LordChimp: Thanks, but those are a good start. DaReaper: | can help you. | promise. LordChimp: Look, | really need to go. DaReaper: Why doesn't anyone ever want to talk to me? I’m so lonely. LordChimp: | think you have the wrong IRC channel here, buddy. * LordChimp quickly closes his IRC program and decides to check out the Web sites DaReaper recommended. LordChimp starts Netscape (an Internet software program used for "surfing the net"—www.netscape.com) and begins. Another good опе to use is Microsoft's Internet Explorer— www.microsoft.com. LordChimp continues cruisin" on the Web looking for more good info, but wonders how much is fact and how much is opinion. time: 12:15p.m. * Hungry, LordChimp composes himself just long enough to break out his sack lunch of peanut butter and jelly with some chips and a fruit punch drink that really has too much sugar in it. Curious about how healthy his present meal is, LordChimp checks out www.msue.msu.edu/msue/cyf/food/ time: 1:00p.m. * With lunch behind р LordChimp starts poking around the Internet looking for hot spots. He finds out that for some real action, he should check out the IRC video game channels sometime after 5:00 p.m. (and last all the way past midnight). With some time to kill, LordChimp decides to check out some more Web sites since he has been told that daytime is usually a good time for that since not much else is going on around the Net. He goes to www.playstation.com for some PlayStation stuff and www.sega.com for some info on the Saturn. Then LordChimp goes with a sure thing and checks out VideogameSpot @ www.videogamespot.com time: 5:00p.m. е LordChimp jumps over to his IRC program to see what’s going on over there. He finds that there’s not only just one video game channel on IRC but many. Some include: #vidgames!, #vgames, #n64, #rgvc (classic video games), #sf2 and many, many more. Amazed, LordChimp checks each of them out and finds that this is what chat's all about. On IRC people can debate what makes the PlayStation a better system than the Saturn or Nintendo 64 in an intelligent manner with few interruptions. Although, it's not as busy as he thought. time: 7:30p.m. * LordChimp hears a Пр. him that new e-mail has arrived. Excited, he goes to open it. It turns out to be from his mom. She’s wondering if he wants any leftover chicken and dumplings. LordChimp wonders if this technology thing is such a good idea after all. time: 10:30p.m. е LordChimp decides to check out the America Online video game chat room (search for “games”) one last time before he NOW, WAYNE GRETZKY CAN FACE WHAT OVER 600 NHL’ PLAYERS FEAR MOST А “present The NHL & MT = moves and cunning and put them re into B 98 3D Вари It's not just a game. | NHL war zone, with active trading, player stat cards and а new, advanced simulation mode that even | the real Gretzky could have a hard time beating. Wanna piece of it? Get in line. It's hittin’ the ice in November. кщ NINTENDO: / MIDWAY 24 53 Playstation NHLPA ` THE NHL & NHLPA PRESENT WAYNE GRETZKYS JD HOCKEY 98 ©1997 Аа Games Corporation Al ihs reserved, THE NHL & NHLPA PRESENT WAYNE GRETZKYS 3D HOCKEY 98 is a trademark of Wayne D. Gretzky and the «су League Players’ Association, excluding the word NHL. NHL is a а trademark of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and team logos and marks dha eh ишу d de Nu ee е еа Ы Enterprises. LPOISS7 NHL Alright reserved Used under Кепе by АШ Games Согрогайоп, ОН еше by the National NHLPA and NHLPA logo are trademarks of the NHLPA and are used, under license, by Atari Games те Corse ПРО e ті моле М Association. Nintendo, Nintendo 64 and the 3-D “МГ logo are trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. ©1996 Nintendo of America. ў Logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. MIDWAY® is a registered trademark of Midway Games Inc. Used by oy Mia Hore Entertainment Inc. goes back onto IRC. America Online is an online service separate from the Internet, but one that also allows its users to have access to the Web, FTP (File Transfer Protocol, a way of transferring files on the Net) and the Newsgroups (like a virtual bulletin board where people post messages on various sub- jects, like a delayed chat in a way). AOL’s chat is different than IRC but has some of the same characteristics. LordChimp goes on... LordChimp: Hey all. Ottomatix: Yo! l'm gonna’ punt you dude. LordChimp: Huh? What do you mean? You sound pretty urban. You from a big city, tough guy? е LordChimp comes to find that to be “рипі- ed" means to have a continuous flow of Instant Messages come to you from one per- son until you get “punted” offline because of all those messages. It's not a good thing but luckily it didn’t work (but Ottomatix kept try- ing). Punting is not condoned by AOL in any way, shape or form. Meanwhile, back in the chat room... Cesa223: Nintendo 64 rocks! Magtronix4: No way, PlayStation kills it, dude. Cesa223: Get outta here, yo. n64 kills the PS. Wilbur PC: | like my Saturn actually. е A series of messages telling Wilbur. PC that he is lame suddenly appear. Soon, many of the chat room occupants seem to be punting poor Wilbur PC off AOL for no good reason we can see. LordChimp: Don't you guys think you were a little harsh? Cesa233: No way. Why? You wanna be next? LordChimp: So do you guys actually have any good conversation about gaming on here? Cesa233: Yeah, man. | like N64. It rocks! LordChimp: No, | mean more than that... ahhh, never mind. * Disgusted with the lame chatter on AOL, LordChimp continues looking for something intelligent on the Internet. Through his inves- tigating, he has found that IRC is the place to be on the Net—a place of good discussion and few Flame Wars (Flame Wars are where two users keep insulting each other back and forth, over and over again). time: 2:00a.m. * Sadly, LordChimp realizes that he is almost H иш кюл 1 ш 5215: = will out of Doritos (www.fritolay.com), but realizes that he may have some two-week-old Tostitos (same address) in the kitchen. What will he do? time: 2:30a.m. е Doritos in hand, LordChimp comes back from the local 7-11 (www.7-11.com) ready for some more in- depth discussion on video games. More IRC debates follow on #sega, #psx, #mk and #atari. LordChimp has great debates on the future of the Saturn, but finds that Jaguar owners are a bitter bunch. Here’s a sampling of a discussion on #vidgames! Notice how it goes from one subject to the next rather quickly: SuperPac: hey Chimp _Chimp_: what’s up pac SuperPac: how "Бош that N64 eh? Now that’s a system that SUCKS. _Chimp_: you think so? why? SuperPac: cartridge man...that format is archaic. SuperPac: hey Alert Alert_: Hey Chimp Mo: hmm Alert_: Any of you guys play Time Crisis? piccolo_: Alert_: me _Chimp_: the п64 still has some awesome graph- ics though Alert_: Picc—How long a game is it. | just got it for the playstation SuperPac: Chimp: yeah, but they don’t have that interactive FMV that we all love. _Chimp_: FMV is overrated...look at night trap... now that was а classic...ahem. SuperPac: Night Trap is a classic.. fantastic game. Alert : Chimp—FMV rules, you know that. _Chimp_: maybe if FMV in games was like Soviet Strike, then we'd be somewhere. SuperPac: Chimp: Soviet Strike? That game sucks...you suck. _Chimp_: I’m talking about the FMV, not the game, wussie. Alert : Skye—you suck. SuperPac: EA should never have made Soviet Strike...what were they thinking? _Chimp_: they were trying to bring back the series but failed...like the PS will. Alert : Soviet Strike had some technical flaws, but it was average. Alert. : Nuclear Strike is much better. _Chimp_: nuclear strike is soviet strike w/o the russians. TGhostal: But anyway...the N64 sucks...PS makes a good cupholder...| still like my AMIGA. _Chimp_: Amiga rocks. TGhostal: and ummmm...James Pond... time: 5:00a.m. * LordChimp goes back onto IRC feeling a little better (or so he says). Going back onto #vidgames!, LordChimp starts actively participating in discussion. LordChimp: Hey guys! I’m back. Alert: How you feelin' Chimp? Killah: Hey what's up? LordChimp: I'm feeling better. Say, Killah, are you new to this channel? Killah: Yeah, why? LordChimp: You like apes? Killah: Sure 1 guess. Alert: | think he's doing it again. LordChimp: | have a chimp | can sell you for $100...we'll do it real fancy like. Killah: | don't know what you mean. SuperPac: Chimp: Maybe you should go get some rest. Red Alert: Don't come back here OK? The verdict: If you really want to find some useful information on the Internet, stay on the Web most of the time, and go onto a video game IRC channel @ night (IRC's peak time). Stay away from AOL unless they have some- thing cool going on (like some live event) because the average user seems to have some serious social problems and far too much computer knowledge. NOTE: Although LordChimp was supposed to last until 8:00a.m., we found him @ 7:15a.m. curled up like a lamb, dreaming of streaming data. IBN Only 10% of weapons-grade nuclear material is subject to international safeguard. Тпе remaining 90% 1s subject to more extreme security measures. Enter the military outfit U.S. officials deny even exists. This time, they're out to stop a maniacal terrorist with stolen nuclear weapons. At their disposal, heavily armed assault vehicles. Including a Super Apache helicopter, Harrier jet and Abrams tank. An undeniably lethal arsenal. But when the alternative is global extinction, there s no such РС к <> m PlayStation m E ния. strike-neticom thing as overkill NUCLEAR‘;* STRIKE ТЕЕ АСЕР ТВОТО X EY TEREE ELECTRONIC ARTS И ЗЕСМ опа! Kombat 4 is final- ly here! Since the first MK hit in 1992, it has been one of the most popular arcade series since, well, Street Fighter. Each incarnation has had just enough new additions to keep fans poppin’ in their hard-earned quarters. MK was revolutionary in its gameplay (heck— it added the word “fatality” to every game player's vocabulary!). MK2 was just da bomb with several new char- acters, new fatalities and the most kick-ass graphics of any fighting game to date. MK3 had the Run but- ton, originally scoffed at by some people as “no big deal” but now used as often as fireballs and uppercuts. So what does the newest MK deliver? Its graphics are far superior to that of, say, Street Fighter EX. The idea, however, is extremely similar: а 3-D rendering of a 2-D fighting engine. Just as with SFEX, МК4 is lacking in 3-D gameplay. There is no sidestep, for instance. Ed Boon said he chose not to put it in because no one uses it in games like Tekken. But МКА is also missing reversals and IT'S THE multistep throws that could have MOST 3-D added much to its gameplay. So as it stands, the game plays 2-D GAME quite a bit like the series’ previous IN FIGHTING installments—quite an achievement HISTORY! considering its 3-D graphics. It does have absolutely the best collision detection of any 3-D game (for exam- ple, you can uppercut or roundhouse someone out of the air just as you did in MK2 and МКЗ, but really can't do in SFEX, Tekken or the VF games). Another major change is that now every character has а different weapon (the finished version's weapons may be different from those in the test game. Once the game is : tested for balance, the weakest char- em 4 acter will get the strongest weapon nn — me f and so on). ' & - | Ез The finished version will also have scripted cinema endings, as well as one more selectable character and three secret characters. 721777772 9 E 4 ? SCORPION Scorpion is the same fun-lovin’ ninja he’s always been. He still has his tele- port, air throw, and of course, his “GET OVER HERE!” spear. The bad part is that his previous “real” combos, such as his teleport punch spear, don’t work because of the animation times of his moves. His current weapon is a basic long sword. SUB-ZERO Sub-Zero is pretty standard as well. He has his slide, freeze clone, and of course, his freeze fireball. His combos such as jump kick slide and freeze, uppercut then freeze in air for another hit, remain intact in МКа. His current weapon is a hatchet that can take off medium damage. Sonya has the same old moves with the addition of a really cool weapon. Her (if she keeps it, that is) “spiked pinwheel” is a group of several spinning daggers on the end of a stick and can do the most damage next to Liu Kang’s snake sword. Her diagonal kick seems to be more vertically arched as well. LIU KANG Liu Kang’s moves are all the same but he is now a full-on F, F character with no more charge moves. His bicycle kick is now F, F LK making him even more deadly than he was in the previous MKs (and that’s a bold statement!). His current weapon is a curved snake-like sword. It is fast and takes off the most damage. RAIDEN Raiden is a little different. He now has a high and low fireball and his “backward lightning” no longer exists. The animation of his Torpedo is excellent. He doesn’t seem to have his teleport anymore either. His current weapon does not do the kind of damage you’d expect from a 3-foot-long mallet. Fujin has the most amount of moves of any new character. He has a jumping knee attack, a couple of spin moves as well as a fireball. He also has Ermac's levitate move. His weapon is the most interesting: a crossbow that shoots out a green bolt of energy that bounces off walls. THE GAMEPLAY рядко GROUP FRIBDER- MK4 has been іп the works for some time now. First off, Boon and the rest of the team decided on a 3-D style, which would require substantially more powerful hardware. That hardware is Zeus, a monster system allowing for as many as 1.2 million quads per second, a quad being several polygons pieced together so small you can hardly tell they're polygons! Next they used several people (including Midway employees like Boon and former MKer Richard "Kano" Divisio) performing karate moves to get the animation for the characters in the game. Then they used a program called Lightwave to create the models for the characters based on Tobias' moves and sketches. The basic moves are all the same: D + HP for uppercut, etc. Pulling out your weapon is the same as Scorpion's teleport, QCB + HP, except for Scorpion which was a HCF + HP. This will change by the time the full version is out. There is also a new hyper-extend or bone-breaker throw by hitting F + LK. There's a new Е + LP throw for everyone. There are three buttons at the bottom of the Character Select Screen as well. One of them will be for Group Mode. One is to hide what char- acter you choose. Г ЗесСМм ore me. AN ptertainment logo i don this p Pny Сот Station and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment idet are trademarks which are the exclusive property of the respective Major League. ill League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major; E o. ©MLBPA. www.majorleaguebaseball.com Developi Т www.playstation.com PlayStation F HEAVEN IS ANYTHING LIKE WRIGLEY FIELD ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON, THEN DEATH WOULDN'T BE SUCH A BAD THING. пи, PROPERTY OF PLAYSTATION © ATHLETIC DEPT. On Ше MKA test tour, gamers are getting their first taste of the new MK. But still to be added (besides the missing characters, character balance and other gameplay items) are the fatalities and endings. These will be quite different from what you're currently used to. The fatalities will be graphically enhanced. A few of them, such as Scorpion's fire-breathing finisher and Sub-Zero's spine rip, will look familiar, while an arm rip and others will be completely new. Boon has stated the perspective during fatalities will be much more dynamic. The endings will also cease to be two or three pictures with text underneath. The team is currently working on scripted cinema sequences! There is still quite a bit of work to be done to МКА! Shinnok only had one move playable in the newest version and unfortunately as of press time we don't even know what that one move is. He is an evil character in Japanese mythology and looks extremely sinister in his red robe and strange hat. His weapon is a long staff with a blade on the end of it. QUAN CHI Quan Chi is the only character in MK4 making appearances in both MK Mythologies and MK: Annihilation (the MK movie sequel). Не seems to be а monk of some kind. He has a couple com- bos as of press time, as well as a move where he automatically steals another opponent's weapon from his or her hands! NOOB SAIBOT Noob will probably have the same moves he did in the previous MK, but right now he doesn't have much of anything new. He has his teleport, but that's as fancy as he gets right now. Once he teleports through the floor, it's up to you to provide the attack. He has no weapon as of yet either. RIERA Мұ ГГ УК J MK Mythologies is the Sub-Zero side- scrolling adventure coming soon to a PS and N64 near you. The game is extremely similar to the gameplay in an MK game, but in a side-scrolling environment. Besides having excellent backgrounds and a cool story line, a few of the characters you see „ in МКА will make appearances in j this game as well! REPTILE One of two new characters in the most recent МКд tour version was а much more reptilian Reptile. He has scales and a strange new mask. His only move right now is a bizarre one where he crawls on the ground after you. It is unknown if he will have his ball, spit or slide attacks. Kai is the “African-American Liu Kang” character we reported in last month's EGM’. He is extremely fast and has several attacks, such as a fireball that shoots vertically (like the new Sub- Zero's freeze attack) and a move where he stands on his hands and chases after you. He had no weapon as of press time. Who's still to come? Well you won't see Shang Tsung (THE BEST CHARACTER), Kintaro, Shao Kahn or several characters from MK3 (NO JAX!). There is a chance Goro will be in it, as there are three characters still shrouded in mystery. One character will also be added to the selectable roster. TEEN Windows? 95 | < > NARE Playstation SEGA SATURN m тм. Mass Destruction” is a trademark of BMG Interactive International, а unit of BMG Entertainment. ©1997 NMS Software, Ltd. ASC Games” is a trademark of American Softworks Corporation. ©1997 American Softworks Corporation. Mass Destruction” is developed by NMS Software, Ltd. The NMS logo is used under license from BMG. BMG is a trademark of BMG Music. Play Station" and the Playstation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. Windows" 95 is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Sega" and the Sega Saturn" logo are trademarks of Sega Enterprises, Ltd. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. All rights reserved. Software © 1997 Electronic Arts. EA SPORTS, the EA SPORTS logo, and ‘If it's in the game, it's in the game.” are trademarks or regist property of the Independent Labeling Group. All names, logos, team icons, and mascots associated with the NCAA, universities, bo E PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are the property of t layStation THE Romo To The NATIONAL CAPMPIOP 5116 ^» |S PAVE wie HUMAN SPEEDBUMP;. — To be the undisputed #1, you gotta mow through some serious traffic. Better check the road conditions first. lemarks of Electronic Arts in the U.S. and/or other countries. All rights reserved. The “Officially Licensed Collegiate Products’ label is the exclusive property of The Collegiate Licensing Company. The "Collegiate Licensed Product" label is the conferences are the exclusive property of the respective institutions. The NCAA Football logo is a registered trademark of NCAA Football Inc. Licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment America for use with PlayStation game console. ective owners. Feature sets vary among platforms. ne of the most popular first-person shooters for the PC is slowly making its way.to the home systems. The lat- est version, for the N64, is perhaps the best so far. Duke Nukem 64 goes beyond a simple straight-to-console port. The designers are adding enough new features and changing enough old ones to make gamers want to take a closer look. For those of you who are not familiar with the Duke, here’s an abbreviated history: Aliens invade Earth, Duke kills aliens. OK, no big deal there, but Duke's winning formula on the PC wasn't a result of the story line. Duke Nukem 3D became а big hit because of the wonder- fully designed stages, unique weaponry and killer personality. Duke Nukem is the first major first-person shooter to take place | in present day and futuristic envi- ronments. You must explore many earthly locales like movie theaters, ШИ Use security cameras to scope out unexplored parts of the stage. book stores, hotels, subway sta- tions, office buildings, pool halls and much more. In the second episode, Duke visits space sta- tions, alien bases and other sci-fi levels. Each level is crafted with special attention paid to every detail, from the graffiti on the walls to the pay phones in the night clubs. The weapons also make for an interesting game playing experi- ence. In the Nintendo 64 version, you can wield shotguns with high- explosive rounds, twin subma- chine guns, grenade launchers, heat-seeking missi shrink rays, plasma cannons, laser trip mines and pipe bombs (unfortunately, the freeze ray from the original game has been taken out). So not only can you blast an enemy apart, you can set traps and shrink them (then squish ет). Duke 64 will support two to four multiplayer action. What if you don't have three other friends to play Duke with? Well don't fret, because Duke 64 has a new Laser trip mines—you just can't have a blast without them. Duke Nukem's Stadium Boss goes polygonal for the N64 version. feature called the А! Bot, ported from Duke Nukem: Atomic Edition on the PC. You can simulate multi- player DukeMatches with comput- er-controlled opponents. Duke 64 also has 32 large lev- els that will feed any Duke fan's appetite for destruction. Three of these are N64 exclusive Duke- Match levels, and the other 29 are modified levels taken from the PC's Duke Nukem: Atomic Edition. Each of these has been redesign- ed from the ground up. The secrets have been moved around, and the level layouts have been changed. Upon first playing Duke 64, you may see much resem- blance to the previous versions, but you'll realize that things have been changed significantly. GT Interactive is certainly making an effort to make this Duke stand out over the others. The changes may give this version just what it needs to beat out the multitude of other "Doom clones" on the market. Besides, what other console version is going to let you play a four-player match of one of the best first-person shooters around? W " ще И PUBLISHER GT Interactive Й DEVELOPER Eurocom THEME First-person shooter | PLAYERS 14 | % COMPLETE 50% | RELEASE DATE December | You can DukeMatch with up to three human or CPU opponents. So what about the babes? Everyone is wondering whether the console Duke Nukerns will have any of the adult-themed humor found in the original. Well, the Nintendo 64 Duke is, so far, the tamest. All of the former- ly scantily clad women will now be wearing T-shirts, and you can no longer kill them. To make matters worse, you can actually rescue them! The game will award you points for every female you escort off to safety. Oh well. What did you expect from the “Fun Machine?” > F ontest Rules: „Мо Purchase Necessary: To enter, senda stan- ard size postcard containing name, address, and hone number to “EGM Deathtrap Dungeon ontest,” EIDOS Interactive, 651 Brannan treet, San Francisco, CA, 94107. No pur- hase or payment of any money is necessary › enter. One entry per household. Ай entries iust be handwritten. Mechanically. repro- uced entries will not.be accepted. Entries lust be received by October 31, 1997. All ntries become exclusive property of EIDOS iteractive (Sponsor) and will not be acknowl- dged or returned. Sponsor assumes по 2sponsibility for lost, mutilated, late, illegible, icomplete, postage-due or misdirected ntries. Only one prize per family, organiza- on or household. - Prizes: One Grand Prize winner will зсеме the official Deathtrap Dungeon collec- ог Sword, a PSX version of Deathtrap’ ипдеоп, an ACT LABS Psychopad Jr. amepad, and a Deathtrap Dungeon oster. Five First Prize winners will ceive an ACT LABS Psychopad Jr. amepad, a PSX version of Deathtrap ипдеоп, and a Deathtrap Dungeon oster. Ten Second Prize winners will ceive a Deathtrap Dungeon Strategy uide апа a Deathtrap Dungeon poster. ‚ Eligibility: Contest open to residents of nited States and Canada. Void in Rhode land and Quebec. Non-compliance with the me parameters contained herein or return of ny prize/prize notification as undeliverable will sult in disqualification and an alternate winner will e selected. Winners or their legal guardians shall gn an affidavit of eligibility/release of liability/prize eceptance within 30 days of receipt or forfeit prize. y acceptance of prize, winner(s) agree to the use of ieir name and/or likeness for purposes of advertis- 9, trade, or promotion, without further compensation, nless prohibited by law. Employees of Ziff-Davis ublishing Company, Sponsor(s) and their respective ffiliates are not eligible. Neither Ziff-Davis Publishing ‘company, Sponsor(s) nor their respective affiliates, ubsidiaries, divisions or related companies are 'sponsible for any damages, taxes or expenses that onsumers might incur as a result.of this contest or 'Ceipt of prize. Winners accepting prizes agree that ll prizes are awarded on the condition that Ziff-Davis ublishing Company, Sponsor(s) and their agents, »presentatives and employees will have no liability hatsoever for any injuries, losses or damages f any kind resulting from acceptance, posses- on of use of the prizes. . Winners List: For a list of winners, send a lamped, self-addressed envelope to “EGM eathtrap Dungeon Contest Winners List)” IDOS Interactive, 651 Brannan Street, San rancisco, CA, 94107. Requests for winners lists | received by November 7, 1997. Allow 4 delivery of winners list. ions: Void where prohibited or restricted г. All federal, state and local regulations apply. sors: This contest is solely sponsored by Interactive and ACT LABS. EIDOS and Deathtrap Dungeon are trademarks Ріс. © 1997 EIDOS Plc. Psychopad Jr. CT LABS are trademarks of АСТ изби И О НО Tae eua www.eidosinteractive.c от қ м-т d Е ROT quu NS CE You've been warned. Official Deathtrap Dungeon collector's sword PSX version of Deathtra р Dun geon е ACT LABS Psychopad J г. game pad е Deathtrap Dungeon oster Five First Prize e ACT LABS Psychopad 1 6 gamepad е PSX version of Deathtrap Dungeon ө Deathtrap Dungeon poster en Second Prize е Deathtrap Dungeon Strategy guide ө Deatht rap Dungeon poster 4... -- 0) TI АТС | 4 | 4 i 1 VLA | PlayStation | uake revolutionized PC gaming with its incredible 3-D graphic engine and Internet capabilities when it 1 arrived a little over a year ago. Finally, this groundbreaking 3-D game is making its 32-Bit Й debut on the Saturn, a system whose polygonal capabilities have been generally understated. Quake is about as straightfor- B ward a game as they come. It is a first-person, 3-D shooter that has no fancy story, no full-motion video and enemies that have the personality of a tablecloth (although they really are good at killing). In fact, the only goal in Quake is to kill everything in your path to reach the level's exit teleporter called a “Slipgate.” Within each level are plenty of enemies to sate your killing instincts. There are 13 different ones in all including vicious rottweilers, laser gun-wielding soldiers, lightning-spewing Shamblers, zombies that rip out and throw their own poison flesh as a weapon (Crispin's line is "Give them credit for making do with what they have") and big, fat ogres that throw grenades with one hand and hold a chainsaw in the other. There are also a cou- ple of huge end Bosses that can be found at the end of the first and fourth "Episodes" (groupings of approximately six levels each). The arsenal in Quake is comprised of eight different weapons tai- lored to achieve the same result in many different ways. For close- range encounters, the weapon of choice is an axe or a shotgun. When there's some space between you and your target, the Rocket Launcher does wonders. The Grenade Launcher is handy for rolling little explosive bundles of joy down stairwells and through windows. Also in the repertoire are a Nail Gun, a Perforator (a bigger Nail Gun) and the Thunderbolt, a gun that dis- charges lightning bursts. Several defensive items can be found throughout the levels such as different grades of armor, an item that makes you invisible (only a pair of 3-D eyeballs are visible to others) and runes that enhance your soldier's abilities. There's a bit more to the game than just mindlessly shooting enemies (although, yes, that's most of it). In addition to avoiding being killed by the game's vast cast of creatures, there are plenty of traps to avoid and push-button puzzles (push button to open door at other side of level, etc) that must be solved and navigated to reach the exit. So what are the levels like? Well the 3-D, complex architecture is probably unlike anything seen on a console. The Quake 3-D engine allows jumping, looking up and down and allows for play in a fully 3-D environment. There is water (you can swim above or under it), multiple level rooms, moving platforms and a variety of object textures and light-sourc- ing that make the world come to life. Several motifs make up the levels in Quake. The beginning of the game takes place in the "Slipgate Complex," which is comprised of a bright, high-tech, metallic building complete with killer dogs and soldiers. Other levels are more foreboding and dark to the point where you can barely see creatures close enough to kiss you (although that surely won't be their intent). While Internet play was Quake's biggest claim to fame on the PC, it will be interesting to see how console players embrace its con- sole counterpart. Regardless, it appears that Quake is on track to be an outstanding translation, at least as a single-player game. ІШ Sega Ё PUBLISHER | DEVELOPER Lobotomy Ё First-person shooter " | PLavers — тога | 1or2 COMPLETE 70% RELEASE DATE September | ALSO ON None 10 00790 пасивна Жақ 2 ! 3 www.uhisoft.com > SS A Ubi Soft EN TERT АТ А MENT Someone please get the guis who make Possibly the greatest game ever made is available only on PlayStation.” NEVER UNDERESTIMATE S Е THE POWER OF PLAYSTATION™ This looks like а scene straight out street Fighter 22 EX PLUS Q Street Fighting Finally Goes 3-D inally, the most popular several new characters to the fighting game series in i even more than the history of video ighter 111 did. The newbies games enters the third include pugilists C. Jack and dimension. Street Darun, the acrobatic Skullomania Fighter EX Plus Alpha is and the rest of the supporting an enhanced version of the arcade cast of Kairi, Garuda, Pullum, title Street Fighter EX Plus. This Allen, Blair, Hokuto and D. Dark. PlayStation exclusive will have the PlayStation owners also get treat- most number of features and ed to several extra characters not bel " characters yet. in the arcade version, including dh йс M ERAI Any Street Fighter aficionado Dhabi, Sakura and Cycloid Beta Batta got no stick. C. Jack can bat Seco youte Jusetiying out can pick up 5ҒЕХ--О4 instantly. and Cycloid Gamma. or kick away fireball projectiles. 8 гей 5 % It plays and feels like апу of Most of the other new fighters Г $ Ee games летел pe P" the classics. Gameplay may feel have new-/ooking, never-before- and Ryu's Hurricane Kick must be пар ацетрбапуопе Ана a bit more sluggish than the seen moves, but the joypad exe- performed separately. This may glowing Me апа yOu е | 2-О games, but this is due cutions to perform them remain sound like bad news at first, but Дре Seton 2165525 to Ше extra frames of animation the classic, if not outdated, SF- those of us who have played to 1печезаелапенагасетв, each group of polygonal style. But some of the older moves death the million previous incar- FACING FONE, fighters gets treated to. The we've grown used to have been nations of Street Fighter ІІ may П result is а smooth-moving slightly modified. For example, welcome the little changes. game that can stand up to the classic Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Although the arcade fighter graphical might of the earlier Kick is now done with a fireball saw limited distribution, it was Virtua Fighter games. motion (instead of a charge down still popular with fans of the long- The EX series introduces then up), and each spin of Ken’s running Street Fighter series. The name recognition and classic gameplay style may instantly elevate Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha above its Tekken and Е Dynasty Warrior competition. Every Street Fighter character now has an unblockable attack. Keep an eye out for this hot They take up one section of your super combo meter (one-third polygonal fighter. B of a full meter) and аге execut- prz pe = 04 E ЖЕ 1 Never played a Street Fighter game before? Want to learn БРЕХ+О(5 new charac- ters? Well just memorize the handy universal Street Fighter 0 =ч Lie 0) = N<- A 7 = ed by pressing corresponding рти ракии SAOS Punch and Kick buttons at the êz ag: same time (e.g. Light Punch + > n : (| DEVELOPER Сарсот Light Kick). If this attack lands, И THEME Fighting взе almostevesy rove for you will automatically dizzy - your opponent. This can be (| PLAYERS lor2 every Street Fighter game! = А ) Od - Î And who said the series was used to set up or used in con- m. % COMPLETE % 9 к Й Z getting redundant? "d junction with any number of + RELEASE DATE 7 And there you go. You just manual or super combos. | ALSO ON *chance of actual success: 99.9% 1 ЈЕСМ. Midway Home Entertainment Inc “> ‘under license; Ninten а А 6 Nintendo of America Inc. к Licensed by Ni Playstation qm и y INTEL N ме Liberate 1 Who SURE TACTICAL. he first 32-Bit Strike One of the major flaws of title, Soviet Strike, was a Soviet Strike (according to EA) relatively disappointing was that the missions were a little game. It clearly suffered too hard and drawn out. As a technically from result, Nuclear Strike has been Electronic Arts' growing designed with an eye for ease of pains as they tried to adapt to use. The missions are better developing 32-Bit games. From defined, more supplies are avail- playing Nuclear Strike, it’s appar- able and the map and m ent that many lessons have been interface is more intuitive. The learned as the early preview ver- Heads-Up Display (HUD) is also sion of this game is already more improved, making it easier to impressive than its predecessor. locate enemies, objectives and As is implied by the title, other key locations in the impres- Nuclear Strike revolves around sively large terrain maps. a series of missions geared Although the game has been toward stopping a madman from made a bit more manageable, unleashing a nuclear weapon. Nuclear Strike promises to have The story is well interwoven with- increased depth. Thirteen differ- in the game through a series of ent vehicles are available (in quick, well-produced video clips addition to the stock Apache) between and during missions. In including a tank, a hovercraft, a case anyone really cares, many of Harrier jet, the A-10 Warthog, the the same characters from the Huey (chopper) and even a news previous Strike game will return helicopter (we know how impor- to the sequel, giving the series a tant those can be in a war). Some involving friendly ground forces of your handiwork. sense of continuity. missions will be very complex, and support missions. With so With all of the improvements many different combat vehicles and aircraft in the game, the variety of tasks is enormous. Technically, Nuclear Strike should be a treat for action game fans. The graphics have been improved substantially since the previous Strike game. The terrain now scrolls smoothly (it used to be jerky at times), and the frame rate is much brisker. The explo- sions are much more spectacu- lar—unfortunate vehicles and buildings are engulfed in flames, which then dissipate to reveal a rater as a sloppy reminder crossed) will be the game that really makes this series of military being made to Nuclear Strike, it looks like this (keep your fingers action titles shine. В | [| RELEASE DATE September ALSO ON None YOU SEE А NEW ADVENTURE HERO. SEE A NEW SET OF LUGGAGE. | Help Croc, the crusading crocodile rescue his peace-loving Gobbo Islander friends from the grasp of an evil magician, Baron Dante. Croc must overcome obstacles like lava flows and castle trap doors to battle monsters including swarming sharks to giant bees. Each island world brings a new adventure to Croc, as he hunts for powerful crystals and the pieces to the puzzle that will release his friends from the Baron’s spell. Free roaming 3D gameplay lets you go anywhere as you run, jump, climb, push, swim and jelly jump! - Breathtakingly lush graphics in over 50 amazing environments including forests, glaciers, deserts, lava flows and underwater caves. <> ШШШ, www.foxinteractive.com Croc © Argonaut Software Ltd, 1997. All rights reserved. Croc and Croc: Legend of the Gobbos are trademarks of Argonaut Software Ltd, 1997. © 1997 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved, PlayStation and the PlayStation logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. Sega and Sega Saturn are trademarks of Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Windows and the Windows? 95 logo are the trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved, ooray! Finally, budding young gamblers have a game to teach them the ins and outs of Vegas-style gambling! Golden Nugget from Virgin attempts to re-create the actual Golden Nugget Hotel in ê all its glorious, gaudy splendor using the casino's ornate lobby as a gateway to several different areas of gambling contained within. Start your day off armed with $10,000 and a willingness to blow it all and you're off to the tables. The game has two styles: Casino and Chaos Mystery Mode. You have the option to just gamble at random tables and machines or go all " out in Chaos Mode, challenging up to five computer players to | high-stakes poker games сот- plete with a curious subplot, the mystery of the stolen Chaos computer chip. Once the fundamentals of gambling are acquired (particu- larly the poker skills), and a lot of money has been stockpiled in your money belt, you are then able to access Tournament Mode (a.k.a. Chaos Mystery Mode). This mode will take you into the plotted portion of the game in which FMV clips introduce you to several Vegas types including your new friend and confidant Adam West. You play the part of Steven Killsbourg, a man intrigued with poker and mystery solving. You'll need to help your ex-girlfriend (also in the game) figure out who stole the Chaos computer chip from one of the suites in the hotel. The magical chip can predict many things, including unknown cards and the roll of the dice. Interacting with the other guests will give you clues as to who is capable of such a crime. Find out who stole the chip and you will solve the mys- tery and win a boat- load of money. For the no-nonsense gambler, Casino Mode will satisfy the gambling urge. Try your luck at any of 16 casino games including: Black Jack, Poker, Slots, Craps, Roulette and several others including the always-exciting Keno. All of the games are 3-D rendered and can be viewed from three different angles. For the most part, the individ- ual game screens are clear of extra windows and extraneous decorations, featuring a simple pop-up purse containing your money divided into denomina- tions. You can access your money purse when betting at tables or feeding the slots and video poker machines. A running tally of your winnings will tell you when you're running low on funds. Also displayed on your purse will be your VIP card (should you be lucky enough to win one). Winning the card is tough being that it costs at least $50,000. With the card, you can access the high-limit games or the big-money slots. Competing against the casino is as challenging as the real thing. A large manual will tell you what you need to know if И мики 3 you are unfamiliar with certain games. Yet, even with your skills intact, the odds of hitting three of a kind on the slots or marking your number on the roulette wheel are low and could take a while. Fortunately, it’s all free. For those who just wish to master the games, in anticipation of gambling with real money some day, Golden Nugget could be your best resource. Of course, we at EGM don't condone, encourage or otherwise support that sort of activity, unless it's | done under heavy adult supervi- Sion or something. ІШ PUBLISHER Virgi DEVELOPER Abalone $ [ THEME Gambling | И % COMPLETE | RELEASE DATE Всове 810.00 Orr лт SEARS on “THE BEST FOOTBALL GAME EVER MADE” - ULTRA GAME PLAYERS 10 0FF Ву $10 OFF! SEARS ІІ 1 | |! К57 70 909+ 1000 Good for $10 ой Sears Funtronics Dept. regular purchase price. Valid 09/02/97 - 11/01/97 only. Offer not good on layaway balances, gift certificates or credit card payments. Not redeemable for cash. Not valid with any other PlayStation coupons or offers. Limit one coupon per transaction, one per customer. Void where prohibited by law. Cash value i 1/20¢. © 1997 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. mmm пш eee ШШЕН ШШШ ШШШ ШШШ ШШШ ШЕШ ОН Sony Computer Entertainment logo is a trademark of Sony С: the NFL Players and NFL Properties. The NFL shield design i: © 1997 NFLP. Players Inc logo is an official trademark of the and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Officially licensed product of е National Football League. Team names, nicknames, logos and other indicia are trademarks of the teams indicated. TM / Inc. Developed by Sony Interactive Studios America. © 1997 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. CLONING ОТ MEAN JACK. N INTE TERTAINMENT, Inc. АП right T rk of the LPA I of V \ and a e, by gin Interactive E marks depi tional Hock herein are the property of the League Players Association. ел:ъззеазач DOMINATOR. жЕ 0 POWERPLAY 1:26 NL POWERPLAY og While pretty close to a gosh-darn miracle, Dolly — that cloned sheep — really doesn’t understand the nuances of the butterfly style. In fact, she’s a lot like those other hock- ey games — the ones where all the little computer guys play the same. Claude Lemieux doesn’t check like Brind’Amour in real life, and he doesn’t in NHL Powerplay "98 either. Our Patrick Roy doesn’t make glove saves like the Dominator, and you'll have а tough time beating our Beezer through the five hole. We use the actual styles and abilities of guys like Fedorov, Shanahan, Leetch and every other player in the NHL to deliver the most realistic hockey game ever created. It’s real skating, real physics and real action — and it’s a helluva lot cooler than cloning sheep. www.vie.com Visit Your Local Retailer or Call: NYE COM SSMS a NHL and the respective teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. © 1997 NHL. National Hockey League Players’ Virgin is a registered trademark of Virgin Enterprises, Ltd. PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Microsoft, The Makers Of Star Fox Croc Оп K, so real-life crocodiles ain't all that cute, espe- cially since they have a nasty habit of eating people. But the toothy star of Fox Interactive's Croc is a kinder, gentler kind of carnivore. Heck, we would say he's sure-shot mascot material, if he didn't face fierce competition from the likes of fellow cutesy 3-D game characters Gex and Jersey Devil (not to mention a certain bandicoot). Croc is a 3-D, wander- anywhere platform game that's heavy on puzzles and ultracute enemies. As the crocodilian hero, you can butt stomp on bad guys, swipe them with your tail, pull yourself up Lara Cro’ style onto overhangs, swim, cling to drifting balloons, push around crates, perform flips to reverse direction and clamber hand-over- hand under certain platforms (the game also supports Sony's ana- log pad for more precise control). Most puzzles require you to % What would a game about a croc be without an underwater stage? LC IJEGM activate certain switches to put platforms in motion or shove crates beneath overhanging platforms (here's a tip-don't crush every crate, since you might need to climb it to a caged Gobbo or crystal later). The game has nearly 50 levels, which are divided among five islands—desert, ice, forest, a secret island and the castle island of Baron Dante. In true bad-guy style, Dante has captured all the islands’ peace-loving Gobbos, the sort of fuzzy-face little critters that only a super villain would want to hurt. So you, as Croc, have to rescue the caged Gobbos, six from each level. You'll also find crystals that'll build up your health. When enemies nail you, your crystals scatter every- where. So, just like Sonic and his rings, you моп die as long as you have at least one crystal. Levels are divided into separate arenas, most with a puzzle or two that you'll need to clear. The are- nas are fairly small, and what Croc does іп one—say he activates а switch, for instance—may affect another. Counting all the regular and secret levels, there are 200 FOX Interactive Argonaut Action PUBLISHER Saturn Croc's webbed feet allow for him to climb in certain areas of the game. individual game arenas in all. And some arenas have Croc doing more than solving puzzles and scaling platforms. A few have him swimming through submerged caves, and there are even a few snowboarding levels. Croc is being developed by Argonaut, the company that designed the Super FX Chip for Nintendo (which was used in Star Fox) that pumped up that system's polygon-pushing power. Croc looks like further proof that these boys know their stuff when it comes to developing 3-D games. Ш Balloons can be used to travel across steep drops and large chasms. You're gonna have to do a little work:to rescue all six of each level's Gobbos. One of these critters is hidden in its own secret level, which lies behind the locked door you'll find near each regular level's exit. To open these doors, you'll need to collect the five colored gems that are scattered throughout the regular levels. But the secrets dont stop there. If you open each secret level and rescue its hidden Gobbo, you'll be granted access to an entire secret island! PlayStation а OME ТО THE MOST INCREDIBLE РА ^ FISHING EXPERIENCE EVER! p Reel Fishing features amazing full-motion video sequences and a variety of environmental sounds that put.you т on Ше banks of fish-filled rivers, streams, and lakes. You'll feel the excitement of fighting the fish, the pride of landing them, and the anguish of “the one-that.got away." And no other game offers you the option of keeping your catches in fully-equipped aquariums where you can name them, feed them, and even watch them grow! “REEL FISHING IS SIMPLY STUNNING.” -EGM GUIDE TO SPORTS VIDEO GAMES Serious Fun™ En E2 NATSUME’ PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is а trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. 1996 PACK-IN-VIDEO 1997 Natsume Inc. 1997 SVG Distribution Т+ НО Makes Fighting ho needs all those crazy, long names that talk about “super alpha” this and “battle arena” that? When it comes down to it, all that fighting games are about are fighting—one player against another player. So what better name to use for a fighter than “Vs”? In Vs., players can fight in 12 different arenas—three arenas in each of the gang’s “hoods.” The various arenas put players in anywhere from a construction site, where the animated back- ground adds a sense of depth to the level, to the outside of a library near a college. Each of the four sets of three reflects the style of the gang they're based on (i.e., the campus gang areas look like college grounds where the hoods fight in heavily urbanized areas). The fighters in the game come from four different gangs. There are 16 characters to choose from and four additional characters that Every time you take out the enemy, blood spews from his/her neck. Hmm. become available after each gang is beat (the gang leaders from the four gangs). Vs. runs at 60 FPS, so look for realistic animation. On top of this, the characters' moves were motion-captured to insure fluidity. Each character has a real-life fighting style. Some include kung- fu, jujitsu and wrestling, among others. And really, there's nothing nicer than seeing a young college girl using karate on a street thug. There are six different play Wearing one striped sock is the “іп” thing to do when you're іп a gang. modes you can choose from. The first, a stan- dard one-player vs. CPU, is self-explanatory, but the later modes allow players to compete in a Survival Mode where the members of one gang get to fight against Nowadays, gangs have a bunch of regular-looking kids in them...kinda. versions of themselves. Another mode, the one-player Rumble Mode, allows a player to choose the gang and then use that gang’s four players to fight a rival gang. The control is similar to Soul Blade but without the weapons of RELEASE DATE November ALSO ON None РРР 22 Short And Sweet course (since this is all about some fist-to-fist gang fighting). Three of the four buttons are used for attacks and the fourth button is used for blocking. Adding to the rebellious youth motif is the soundtrack to Vs. Some of the songs reflect the hectic mood of street fighting (or the hard, techno sound of violence). The bands doing the music for the game are Pigs In Space, Razed in Black, Los Infernos and Suicide Machines. Keep an eye for them in stores already. Ш There are four gangs which the characters in Vs. come from. They are the Beach gang, the Hood gang, the Campus gang and the Streets gang. Each gang has its own style of fighters. The Hood has urban-influenced thugs with an “in-your-face” fighting style, whereas the Beach gang has its own set of combatants and style. Once a gang is picked, the player can choose what character from that gang they want to be. Then yet another option is presented: where they want to fight. Everything Vegas. In a box. NUS em езда All the grandeur of the Golden Nugget casino. Try your luck at Double Diamond slots. Experience the thrill of Baccarat. Solve a mystery starring Adam West. It seems elegance, excitement, and 16 games of chance can actually fit inside one video game. That's right, finally a casino game has been created for the Sony PlayStation game console. Luckily that game is the Golden Nugget, featured in its opulent brass and marble environment. Saunter into this virtual Las Vegas casino, and play BlackJack, Craps, 7 Card Stud and more. And play them all with the odds and payoffs youd really have in Vegas. You'll also get to solve a mystery with Adam West. From your living room, no less. It's just part of the privilege of owning Vegas, the one in the convenient take-home size. NDS TO ADULTS. trademark of ОМІ Corp. d/b/a Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino. Virgin is a registered trademark of Virgin Enterpris g marks are used with authorization of IGT-North ‘America: "Royal Flush” and "Double Diamond: Licensed by Sony Comput PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Compute inment Inc. The rating i Interactive Digital Software Association. Manufactured and printed in U.S.A. THIS SOFTWARE IS COMPATIBLE WITH PLAYSTATION GAME CONSOLES WITH THE NTSC UIC DESIGNATION. U.S. AND FOREIGN PATENTS PENDING. Sure, they're hot babes, but they Don't pet the spider (even though Ж kill you in a second if you let ет. it's furry) cuz it'll eat you up! Contrary to popular belief, the tyrannosaurus ran rampant in medieval times. Who would've guessed it? Lots of Killin’ But With A Point t slices and dices, but graphics in the game are a Dungeon is a "smart cam" where that's not all—especiall cross between Tomb Raider and the camera moves according to considering Deathtrap Excalibur. Deathtrap Dungeon the player position, ideally without Dungeon is brought should have dramatic lighting creating an awkward view for the So who is this lan to us by Eidos (makers with plenty of diversity in mood, player. This camera movement Livingstone character? It all of Tomb Raider) and but to what extent we have not should provide the best shot of an started in the 7Os when lan Livingstone, popular writer of yet seen in this revision. enemy kill, or perhaps your own Livingstone threw away his the Fighting Fantasy book series. The levels have a whole slew player's demise. job marketing for a large Deathtrap Dungeon is Eidos’ of fearsome enemies. Some we've The enemies are no dummies American Oil Company to new 3-D action adventure title seen in this early version are either. In fact, some of them, even sell RPGs (the board game that's based on Livingstone's sword-wielding babes and hulking in this early demo we received, are kind). A close friend, Steve di popular fantasy books that have rockmen. Others that should incredibly smart. As you swing, Jáckson. did the Sans thing sold millions upon millions of appear in the finished product are the enemy warrior jumps back (except he was a biologist) copies worldwide. In fact, one zombies, spiders, necromancers and then comes forward to and slowly the business they of them in particular was called and mummies, among others. counter. In some cases they even started in a seedy flat (and in Deathtrap Dungeon. Deathtrap Dungeon will have did the splits to avoid an attack the back of a van för several The version we have is 10 levels in the finished version and then came back to slash a months) turned into the extremely early, so expect with over 50 characters (enemies chunk out of your side. 5200 million business | plenty of changes. Тһе 3-D mostly) inhabiting them. The complex combat system in known as Games B environments take place in а Character development is Deathtrap Dungeon will feature Workshop—and they're still — medieval dungeon. The an important part of everything ord fighti ell casting and around today. In selling lan Livingstone has his hands > ers combat, among games and writing many in. The characters in Deathtrap others. Besides the enemies, the books (the Fighting Fantasy Dungeon won't be any different, levels themselves want a piece series), Livingstone and but story isn't all that will have of you—look for traps including Jackson could ve easily a high degree of detail. Look for covered pits, hidden corridors, retrad but chose not to fluid animations and a complex false floors and moving spikes. because of their love for their polygonal cast. There will be Expect more on this one as it job (or should we say their 4d d plenty of character-based moves nears completion. В hobby). After some time the | uS " i the weapon 2 company grew to make PC f ва Өз” E and console products based d The camera in Deathtr: т on their popular RPGs. Now 7 i [^ Е 7% j Livingstone's book, E PUBLISHER Deathtrap Dungeon, is becoming a PlayStation title. Мапу say Livingstone and Jackson are a couple of the "s lucky ones to turn their hobby into something prof- «? | E М à itable. EGM will have to cor- ; jÎ Intricate dungeons will have you таер сву Mo getting lost time and time again. y a Td Imagine what you could do with ASCIIWARE'S new, revolutionary one-handed controller-- the ASCII Grip". Designed to maximize comfort and ease-of-use while playing role-playing, simulation, sport and strategy games, the Grip will amaze you and your friends to no end. Now you can choose your best gaming position. Kick back. Switch hands. Free yourself. It’s the most relaxing and comfortable way to play your favorite. games. Imagine the endless possibilities. ASCI га www.asciient.com The PlayStation" game console's first one- handed controller Ideal for role-playing, simulation, sport and strategy games Ergonomic design player flexibility and comfort Programmable buttons fo: ease-of-use Excellent for both left or right-handed players maximiz The Grip" by ASCIIWARE". Play your best hand. ASCII EA SPORTS, the EA SPORTS logo and "if it's in the game, it's in the game.” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts in the U.S. and/or other countries. NASCA Kellogg Company, Licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment America for use with the PlayStation game console. PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Compute Playstation ЕЛЕНЕ LONE THELoNLY — SPEEDOMETER IN UE HEAD. “Nat fas ы б 1-888-MY-HOUSE www.easports.com Before the wall stamps “А little too fast" into your sheet metal, you might want to take a few practice laps. i registered trademark of National Association for Stock Gar Auto Racing, Inc. Bobby Labonte's # 18 Interstate Batteries car © 1997 Redline Sports. Terry Labonte's #5 car licensed by Kellogg Company and Hendrich Motorsports ™,© 1997 ertainment Inc. Sega Saturn is a trademark of Sega Enterprises, Ltd. All sponsors names and brand logos are the property of their respective owners. NIGHTMARE CREATURES Wolves, Spiders And Vamps, Oh My magine yourself running In this case, gamers would through a dark alley, no doubt hope to see Resident finding your way Evil's surroundings coupled through a thick coating with Tomb Raider's free-roaming of fog, a four-foot spear expanses. But be wary—the world swinging at your side. has been promised to video game You turn a corner, nearly fall on players before. the slippery cobblestone and look For example, ASC's (not quite) up, only to find yourself eye-to- Perfect Weapon was once marked snout with a lifelike werewolf. as "Tekken 2 meets Resident $ à Are you dreaming? Evil” Of course the final product Most of the characters’ You might be. But chances are fell short of both, containing to best present the true architec- moves аге no more than а you're playing Activision's upcom- only a few minor similarities tural feel of the time period, tap, tap, tap style with Ignatius ing title-which they picked up both in terms of gameplay and but the creatures you combat, or Nadia going into a flurry of from European-based developer, general design. using swords and staffs, are attacks afterward. At first you'll Kalisto—the aptly named Nightmare Creatures will place entirely imaginary. keep saying, “Wow, did | do Nightmare Creatures. you in and around 19th-century The camera will tag closely that?" But then after awhile, What's so special about London, where you'll search for behind your character in this some technique creeps in carrying weapons and being beasts and ogres sent by the clan- | single-player game as you scurry there..sorne. Nonetheless, you chased around by a bunch of destine Brotherhood of Heccate. through the dark graveyards, can impress your friends with hideous freaks, you ask? Plenty, This gothic adventure will have dank alleys and immense the crazy sword swipes and if the monsters taunt and tor- you don the robe of Ignatius the cathedrals as they existed in kung-fu kicks. Both Ignatius ment you in a video game expe- monk or assume the battle garb of Ше 1800s in England—the audio and Nadia are able to use their rience that has been likened to a Nadia, a woman who's great with and lighting effects adding to weapons to decapitate (or in cross between Tomb Raider and a sword (but not allowed to join the already stunning ambience. other cases take off limbs or 1 Resident Evil. As such compos- the holy brotherhood). But this game is more than just sever torsos) the competition. ites go, the outcome can either Sound fictitious? Only partially. а pretty facade— that is, when With all of these neat-o be an unwanted mongrel or a The environments have been you decapitate, rend and attacks comes the Block but- | new breed that possesses the re-created from actual 19th- dismember your opposition. ton. If all you do is constantly Ў best possible attributes of both. century maps and blueprints 125 clear that this title has attack, you'll die quickly since | à 2 с the makings of a hit with flair the enemies tend to be smart and a sense of originality. Ш (even though some of them РЕ - are dead). E. PUBLISHER 1 | rs He 1/7 ТНЕМЕ Action/Adv. | % COMPLETE If you're holding а piece of crap... Get EagleMAX for PlayStation: It's loaded with Analog-Wheel-Digital modes and 16 HYPER Programmable functions. Drop the load. http://www.actlab.com 1-800-980-9997 THE EAGLE HAS LANDED Available at: Electronics Boutique, Babbage's, Software Etc. © 1997 ACT Laboratory Ltd. All rights reserved. EagleMAX and ACT LABS are the trademark of ACT Laboratory Ltd. PlayStation is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. геазигез of the Deep isn’t the normal fare you've come to expect from Namco (in fact it’s actually developed by Black Ops Entertainment). Even better, it's quite a departure from any game found on the PlayStation. This watery 3-D game (whose ym atmosphere is reminiscent of s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) puts you in control of an ex-Navy Seal who spans the globe looking for treasure in the most curious of locations. From his submerged home base, missions are select- ed and so is the appropriate equipment for the task on hand. There are many different ways to outfit your armament and tools. In the Weapons Selection Screen anything from nets to plasma torpedoes to land mines can be 4 ®© NET SELECTED had—for a price. Equipment such as sonars, flares and even an underwater torch can also be purchased. Once a large amount of money is in the bank, expensive fancy subs and watercraft can also be purchased. All of these things are financed through the treasure found on missions, so it is important to collect as much as possible on each one. By spinning a 3-D globe, differ- ent missions can be selected. Usually there is only a choice between one or two, and as those missions are completed, new ones open up. The different tasks are quite diverse ranging from simply finding treasure within a sunken boat, to racing against time to deliver and place a time bomb that will destroy a path to—you guessed it—more treasure. As the game progresses, more "meaning- ful" missions are revealed, such as having to defuse a nuclear warhead and retrieving a lost satellite. Treasures of the Deep's gameplay is half exploration, half 3-D action. There are hordes of dangers in the water aside from the requi- site hungry / т речта sharks (and watch ош for those jellyfish too). Other divers are out to plunder the same bounty, and they'll kill you to get it. They also seemingly have a limitless amount of resources (maybe they've been treasure hunting a lot longer than you have) as the enemy scuba divers are often accompanied by squadrons of fancy subs and other high-tech weapons. When these subs are destroyed, their equip- ment and weapons can be plun- dered from the wreckage (the scuba guys die in a satisfying poof that attracts sharks). The graphics and atmosphere in Treasures are quite impressive. The 3-D aquatic life (comprised of sharks, eels, fish, etc.) is very detailed, especially when it comes to re-creating the fluid movements you might expect from those fish. The worlds are colorful and detailed, garnished with light- sourcing and other effects. As the missions progress into more mys- terious territory, the dark, forebod- ing graphics reveal monsters and other impressive objects such as a downed Space Shuttle (you can't be that). Namco's Treasures of the Deep is a fancy, new undersea game that looks like it has the gameplay and aesthetics to complement its very unique game concept. ІШ || А | PUBLISHER Namco з eem ‘at Т Action | І |! ста (| RELEASE DATE September ALSO ОМ ыс mp. За Кол You Can See Resident Evil Through The Director’s Eyes. Experience the director's original horrific vision. Presenting RESIDENT EVIL DIRECTOR’S CUT" = the uncensored, unrelenting version of the CONSUMER'S CHOICE OVERALL "BEST-PLAYSTATION GAME.” Substantially enhanced with frightfully graphic footage, alternate camera angles and new levels of гр! difficulty. Resident Evil Director’s Cut. It’s a sight for sore eyes. Id © CAPCOM СО. LTD. 1997 © CAPCOM U.S.A., INC. 1997 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. RESIDENT EVIL and RESIDENT EVIL Directors Cut are trademarks of CAPCOM CO., LTD. CAPCOM is a registered trademark of CAPCOM CO., LTD. PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Шалыс ете ЕЕ] here are plenty of cookie-cutter light-g games on the market, and although Time Crisis doesn't offer anything revolutionary, it does deliver a few new twists to Я the 3-D light-gun game genre. For starters, time Crisis is heavier in story than other light gun games. You assume the role of Richard Miller, a “опе-тап army" who must break into the castle to rescue Rachel, a kidnapped damsel. Now that you have enough motive to knock large holes into a lot of bad guys, let's discuss how exactly it's done (aside from pulling the trigger a lot). Time Crisis' gameplay lives up to its name: The game takes a very frantic pace, because each gaggle of enemies must be wiped out in a certain amount of time before you are allowed to advance Time Ready, Aim And Fire—Really Fast! Shooting the crate on the forklift will wipe out all the baddies. further in the level. This is espe- cially hard because many of the enemies are constantly firing upon you, forcing you to take cover behind objects (by hitting a red button beneath the barrel of your gun). Although taking cover will save your hide, it costs precious seconds. Also, you must take cover to reload your gun, so firing wildly will cause the loss of precious seconds. Hiding behind objects, then popping out to return fire does makes the game seem more realistic, as it is hard to fathom that you wouldn't want to take cover behind objects while under heavy gunfire (unlike other gun games where you usually casually walk through levels like a zombie). The 3-D environments in Time Crisis are very detailed, and consist of many moving parts and elaborate decorations. There isn't a whole lot of interaction with them, however. Windows can be shot out, and you may encounter cranes and cars occasionally PUBLISHER l| % COMPLETE It's times like these when you wish Time Crisis gave you grenades. (you're supposed to dodge them). But beyond that, interaction with the 3-D world is confined to just shooting the baddies within it. Also odd is that there are no power-ups in the game, so the only tools at your disposal are a trusty handgun and a few explosive crates. In addition to its Arcade Mode, Time Crisis includes a Story Mode and a Time Attack Mode that times your progress through levels. Also cool are the multiple endings determined by how well you did during the game. Best of all, you get Namco's snazzy new light gun (see sidebar). W Namco | THEME Time Crisis is a game that relies on precise aiming (even more than many other light gun games), so it's a good thing that the weapon needed for this game is also the most accurate light gun game on the PlayStation. Named the “Guncon,” Namcos light gun has an additional attachment that connects to the PlayStation's video out. The other side of the adapter is where the video cord connects, completing the circuit. This is in addition to the gun's connection to the PlayStation's controller input. Also unique to the gun is the button layout below either side of the gun's barrel. Two red but- tons labeled "А and "B" are nestled on the gun in optimal positions for Time Crisis gameplay. One button is used for ducking behind things, and the other is merely used to Serve as a pause button. Ф E е 2 2 a г. ir) с. Fh DYNASTY / ration. PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are tra KOEI СА s = Available at retailers nationwide. To order, call 415-348-0500. idemarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, © 1997 KOEI Corp., All rights reserve Xu Zhu „ WARRIORS” The fighting game with real history behind it. * Multiple open 2D environments, tracks and rides 9 Tons of action and puzzles 9 20+ moves 9 во character models * Supports dual-analog controller Түр ШИН! ы r MIUST *...looks to be one ‘damned’ fine game,and should prove опе of the ‘hotter’ titles we'll see this fall season" — P.S.X., August '97 “Тпе game uses large 3D levels in a variety of unique styles (...) filled with traps and ennemies that pose a serious challenge to the player" — Next Generation Online, May '97 *...lavish cartoon-style graphics offer gamers a fun-filled action platform experience." — PS Extreme, July '97 JUST TRY MESSING WITH HIM! TO ADULTS | MM | A diabolical < УА product from ^ БЫ malofilm паю. ESRB interactive www.malo.com (01997 Jersey Devil is a trademark of Megatoon Studios. PlayStation and PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment, inc. id the subhead catch your attention? Well, if it didn’t, PaRappa the Rapper will. This mon- ster musical hip-hop hit has already caught on like wildfire in Japan and is mak- ing a stir with the few in the know here (importers, the press, etc.). But the rest of you won't have to wait long. SCEA plans to release PaRappa in the U.S. this winter. PaRappa is a young two- dimensional puppy who moves around 3-D environments like a floating Colorform. His ultimate goal is to become a hero in the eyes of his cute crush. To do so, he must win a series of rap challenges, each one more difficult than the last. In each of the six stages, an adult will face off with PaRappa to test his skills. For example in stage one, Chop Chop Master Onion, the odoriferous kung-fu master, teaches young PaRappa > A triple negative and the word "ain't?" It's PaRappabonics! basic martial arts. How this works in actual gameplay is really quite simple. Chop Chop will start rap- ping various lyrics which PaRappa must duplicate perfectly. When Chop Chop sings, a bar with joy- pad button symbols will appear with a sliding marker. When the marker passes over a symbol, he will rap a particular word. When the marker reaches the end, it becomes PaRappa's turn to rap. A duplicate bar appears with a new slider. Your job is to hit the correct joypad button as the marker slides over the corresponding symbol, thus successfully rapping in sync with your teachers. Like we said: simple. So how can such a no-brainer be such a hit? It's really the music and story line that makes PaRappa so mem- orable. All of the music came from a recording studio in New York (yes, the Japanese ver- sion of PaRappa had the same English lyrics). The rappers all sound like profes- sionals. In fact, a few people Love, Friendship And Diarrhea Nothing worse than closing your eyes during a photo opportunity. in EGM commented that the driving instructor sounds exactly like rap-star-gone-actress, Queen Latifah. The tunes and riffs will give you the same impression: Sony didn't spare any expense in recording this original and top-notch music. The story line follows PaRappa in his adventures to become a hero. Along the way, he has to learn kung-fu, get a driver's license, earn money, bake a cake and find a bathroom...quick (remember our subhead?). The delivery of the story is a funny and unique experience that must be seen and heard to be appreciated. One of the few games that require hand-eye-ear coordina- tion, PaRappa is a truly unique title that may be worthy of the hype it's getting. He's already a big hit in Japan, and SCEA is hoping for a repeat performance here. Will he become big enough to replace Crash Bandicoot as Sony's mascot? Probably not (at à appa 650 The exact number of joypad button presses required to win PaRappa without error. Much Higher The number of key presses it takes ап EGM editor to finish PaRappa. 463,243 The top speed of a Super Stretched Limo 900. The number of stages (out of six) in which PJ Berri is eating. 909 The percentage of EGM staffers who love PaRappa. ТООООО Тһе number of PaRappa the Rapper games sold in the Japanese market so far. 100000 The number of units that must be sold in one market for it to be considered a bona-fide “hit.” least not right away with Crash 2 coming out soon), but PaRappa certainly has what it takes to win over the hearts of countless gamers everywhere. ІШ We're оола. for everybody PUBLISHER SCEA || DEVELOPER Sony Music Japan THEME Musical | November None uc e) MORTAE KOMBAT MYTH s yen could win cash when yen bu Mertal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero? Get the game. Grab the postcard inside. Mail it in to enter. There’s a new winner every week. So hurry. You get more shots at winning the faster you mail it in. 1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. MUST BE LEGAL U.S. RESIDENT TO ENTER. 2.To Enter: Hand print your name, complete address, zip code and daytime phone number on an official entry form (found inside Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero game boxes) ог оп a 3" x 5" card and mail in a stamped envelope to Evil Pays Sweepstakes, PO. Box 1531, Young America, MN 55594-1531. Enter as often as you wish, but each entry must be in a separate, stamped envelope and mailed separately via first-class mail. No copies, facsimiles or mechanical reproductions will be accepted. Not responsible for lost, late, damaged, misdirected, illegible, incomplete, stolen or postage due mail or entries. Entries must be received no later than January 4, 1998. By participating, entrants agree to these Official Rules. 3. Drawings and Prizes: There will be 12 weekly random drawings of one winner per week from ай eligible entries received by an independent judging organization, whose decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to this sweepstakes. The drawings will be performed from all entries received from the start of the promotion until the day before the scheduled drawing. Drawings: 1. October 20, 1997, $1,000 cash 2. October 27, 1997, $550 cash 3. November 3, 1997, $500 cash 4. November 10, 1997, $450 cash 5. November 17, 1997, $400 cash 6. November 24, 1997, $350 cash 7. December 1, 1997, 5300 cash 8. December 8, 1997, S200 cash 9. December 15, 1997, $150 cash 10. December 22, 1997, $100 cash 11. December 29, 1997, $100 cash 12. January 5, 1998, $100 cash. Total approximate retail value of all prizes is $4,200. Odds of winning in any drawing depend on total number of eligible entries received by the day prior to each drawing date. Nonwinning entries in any drawing wil be carried forward to subsequent drawings. Winners will be notified by mail. 4. General Conditions: Employees and directors (and their immediate families and those living in their same households) of Willams, Midway Entertainment, Atari Games Company and any of their parents, affiiale companies, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies are not eligible. Winners may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and liability release and, where lawful, a publicity release within 14 days of notification, or prize may be forfeited and awarded to an alternate winner. If prize winner is a minor, prize will be awarded in name of minors paren¥legal guardian, and affidavit of eligibility, liability release and publicity release, where lawful, must also be signed by minor's parenUlegal guardian. И prize notification or prize is returned as nondeliverable, prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner selected. Void where prohibited. Winners (and if winner is a minor, winner's parentllegal guardian), by acceptance of prize, agree that Williams, Midway Entertainment, Atari Games Company and their parents, affiliate companies, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, and all of their respective officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents will have no liability whatsoever for and shall be held harmless by winner against any liability for any injuries, losses or damages of any kind to persons, including death, or property resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, misuse or use of the prize or participation in this sweepstakes. Except where legally prohibited, winners (and if winner is a minor, winner's parenvlegal guardian) grant permission for Williams, Midway Entertainment, Atari Games Company and those acting under their authority to use their names, photographs, voices and/or likenesses for advertising and/or publicity purposes without additional compensation. Taxes on prizes are solely the responsibilty of the winner. Prizes are not transferable, cannot be substituted, and may not be assigned, except by sponsor due to prize availability with a prize of equal or greater value. 5. For a list of winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope for receipt by January 5, 1998, to Evil Pays Winners List, Р.О. Box 3843, Young America, MN 55558-3843. 6. Sponsored by Midway Entertainment, 2400 S. Business 45, Corsicana, TX 75110. Mortal Kombat" Mythologies: The Adventures of Sub-Zero” ©1997 Midway Games Inc. АП rights reserved. MIDWAY, MORTAL KOMBAT, the DRAGON DESIGN, SUB-ZERO and all character names are trademarks of Midway Games Inc. Distributed by Midway Home Entertainment Inc. under license. Nintendo, Nintendo 64 and the 3-D "N" logo are trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. ©1996 Nintendo of America Inc. Licensed by Nintendo. PlayStation and the PlayStation Logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Warfare nce again we are at war. Your mission: Destroy the enemy. You are put behind the treads of a fully loaded killing machine in the form of a tank as you set out to obliterate everything and anything that crosses your path. But beware, enemy fire comes | from all directions, so stay alert for the ambush. Steel Reign offers an incredible | number of tanks and all-terrain vehicles you can use to combat the enemy. The 11 tanks you can choose from differ in speed, armor, shields and shells, so it's up to you to choose which one you are most comfortable with. The big burly tanks are more for beginners, because they offer more firepower along with the security of thicker shields. The smaller, quicker tanks are for advanced gunners and allow you to strike fast and get the hell out before you get blown to smithereens. Each tank offers you different Roll over enemy troopers and watch the blood splatter. In Full 3-D Action weapons, including ion cannons, massive machine guns, smart bombs, heat-seeking missiles, high-tech laser blasts and an array of other ammunition which blast Buick-size holes in enemies. The most unique weapon is a guided missile that you can actu- ally fly to the target yourself. But don't think you can just maul through the enemies with guns and missiles blazing, because you can run out of just about every weapon except your puny little machine gun. And don't expect to blow up too many tanks with bullets. This adds strategy to the game, so think wisely and don't use your heavy weaponry Fire a missile and guide it to the targeted destination. ұша 2 4 PUBLISHER 5 CEA | DEVELOPER SISA | || PLAYERS 1ог2 || % COMPLETE RELEASE DATE September until absolutely necessary. One key to success in Steel Reign is your ability to target and destroy the enemy without losing maneuverability. You can do this by turning the tank's turret, which can be rotated 360 degrees and elevated up and down. Sure, driving and shooting in two different directions takes some getting used to, but it's a skill worth mastering. Battles take place in 3-D deserts, mountains, cities and forests, and the battlegrounds are full of hidden bases, radar installations, fuel refineries and intelligence buildings. There's also a two-player, Split-Screen Mode for some tank-busting deathmatch mayhem. IN THEME Action 75% ALSO ОМ When you come across a big target, chances аге it's a mission objective. Nuke the sucker and go home. Before you even start play- ing the game you have a very important decision to make: which tank to choose. Steel Reign offers 11 different tanks, all of which are equally adept atannihilating the enemy. It's up to you to decide which tank you think will get you past the enemy. Most of these tanks are actually named after poiso- nous snakes, such as the Venom, Viper, Copperhead, Diamond Back, etc. Different methods of terminating the enemy come with each tank. For instance, the Copperhead is a big, heavy tank that provides you with a load of ammunition and pro- tection. This is an in-your-face kinda tank that bowls over anything in its path. Maneuverability is slow, so you can't duck enemy crossfire very well. The Venom is more of an elusive tank that almost hovers above the terrain and is as fast as they get. With this comes less artillery and less | armor for safety. So choose | your tank wisely and operate to its fullest. Inssneg^|go зү Rosse e the Great milenko ME ocv M. % sygnosis may be hyping G-Police as their key, take-no-prisoners Christmas title, but the jaw-dropping Colony Wars certainly won't hide in its shadow. This explosive space combat sim turned plenty of heads at E? with its hi-res graphics and ultra-bright lighting effects and is easily one of the show's most promising titles. Yes, Colony Wars is similar to the Wing Commander games, complete with several rendered cinemas narrated by a guy who must be the best James Earl Jones impersonator on the planet. But the game's visuals, designed by the same artists who worked on Krazy Імап and WipeOut, are light-years ahead of what we've seen in the WC ports. Explosions and laser blasts are so vibrant they'll light your slook straight out of Star Trek. The space environment itself В looks especially convincing, with shimmering planets, moons, asteroids and suns: You'll battle through five solar systems over the course of the game, and each is realistically scaled; fly toward a distant planet long enough and you'll eventually crash into it (try that in Wing Commander ІІ). And you get all these visual perks in high-res, 30 frames per second. Colony Wars' story, told through 25 prerendered cinemas, set several centuries hence, when humanity has spread from Earth to innumerable, far-flung colony planets. Yet Earth’s government still maintains a stranglehold on the galaxy, and the colonists are fed up with slaving away for the mother planet (it's that whole taxa- tion-without-repre- sentation thing that got England їп trouble about two centuries ago). So they form the League of Free Worlds and revolt, thus dropping you into the pilot's seat of one of six different ships to take on Earth's armada. Ship types include stan- dard and stealth fighters, nimble scouts, bombers апа heavy assault gunboats, each with its own weapons and virtual cockpit (although out of-cockpit views are available). Colony Wars packs 70 missions, divided among 18 acts: These missions—which feature plenty of digitized radio chatter— follow a non-linear structure; your degree of success in one sortie will determine what happens in the next. Depending on which mission path you follow, you'll see one of six different endings. Six - ош ат Tid тацу offline ortiroe DF att pernarestly net les [0ге additional training missions teach the ins and outs of zero-g dog- fighting, as well. You'll need the practice, too, because spaceflight in Colony Wars is pretty darn realistic. Your ship obeys the laws of iner- tia, and will keep cruising in the same direction you last thrusted (ар sweet tactic during strafing runs). No, you don’t have to Бе а NASA shuttle jockey to play the game, but the true-to-physics flight is just another perk in this already highly polished package. ІШ PUBLISHER Psygnosis DEVELOPER Psygnosis-LP Space Combat год КҮГЕ porr ат FE TOT моа mmm “кш mmm té m دلا‎ le m i nnm "СІРЕ? " | Pis | аркы JEN EUSESS алы Ны B РЕШЕ БЫ а Е а ч б, | 7047) GE ОЬ и, Ж Available at all participating locations: SLNCOZAST? MOTION PICTURE COMPANY We Know Movies * ONLY 5 19.55 each* “Suggested Retail Price (prices slightly higher in Canada). Color. Stereo. 45 minutes (Round 1). 60 minutes (Round 2). Action/adventure. English language dialogue (dubbed). Unrated. Contains nudity and violence. Parental discretion advised. ©1997 Central Park Media Corporation. Company spokes mecha M.D. Geist appears courtesy of Nippon US.MANGA Columbia, U.S. Manga Corps and logo are registered trademarks of Central Park Media Corporation. Mangamania is a