æ». First Screens: Legacy of Kain 2% Castlevania 64 Nintendo 64 * PlayStation • Saturn • 16-Bit e Handhelds * Arcade БИРЕЛӘ | GAMING 020 A Zelda 64 2. Parasite Eve Lea Some superhero. He doesn’t even know the definition of fearless and courageous. PlayStation тм No x-ray eyes. No fancy-schmancy belt. What’s so special about this guy? 05 are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Blasto, Captain Blasto and 2 Е o. = ice} ~ ш > ic) e Free-roaming 3-D gameplay. Fully interactive sound and envi- ronments. Hard-core action shooting and open exploration. Classic platform elements. And the occasional intergalactic wedgie. i Ine: Www.playstation.com All eight super cars triple the speed limit. Watch out for pesky radar guns. Japanese imports won't cut it. Only the fastest exotic cars can ditch these cops. EVERYONE| © 1998 Electronic Arts. Need For Speed, Electronic Arts and the Electronic Arts logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Elegronic Arts the'U.S. and/or oher countries, АП rights reserved. PlayStation and the PlayStation logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment ај“ моо www.ea.com Lamborghini and the Bull and Shield device are trademarks of Automobil Lamborghini S.p.A. i < Paint swapping. Tire spikes. Road blocks. Jealous cops will always play dirty. When you're sitting їп a 529hp Lamborghini," the smell of bacon is that much sweeter. Ра” / / АС гг? 727292771 ELECTRONIC ARTS ELECTRON” Number 11.5 Сеи M M Ce; May 1998 моме, www.videogames.com Change is Good By John Davison ¢ john_davison@zd.com s you look through the magazine this month, you may notice one or two changes around here that you won't have seen before. For a start...who the hell is this guy? A new editor in chief? After some considerable time without anyone at the helm of EGM full time, the post is now filled...by me. Hello. You may have seen my name discreetly slipped into the masthead last month (1 arrived in the States fresh from the U.K. just as our Tekken 3 issue went to press), but this has been my first full month working on the longest-running and best video game magazine in the world. So are things going to change much around here? Well..just а little—and to be honest the changes that will become apparent in the coming months are simply a reflection of the way the game industry is evolving. As has been said before in these editorial pages, as our industry continues to grow at the current startling level, we need to reflect the changes that occur. Financially we are already in the realms of the music industry... but as time goes on, | have every faith that video games will continue to mimic the movie industry in terms of both production values and blockbuster release patterns. How long before we see the gaming equivalent of Titanic? Can things change so quickly that we'll see games taking a billion dollars worldwide? In the meantime though, we're going to see more short-term, but still fairly important moves in the industry. For example, in the coming months we will see Sega re-invent itself with its new machine—the as-yet-unnamed "Katana" project is scheduled for a Japanese release before the end of the year. Hopefully we'll also see Sega flexing its franchising muscles by announcing products along the lines of the latest incarnation of Sonic or maybe even home versions of Rally 2 and Virtua Fighter 3. Even further down the line, how about House of the Dead 2, Virtua Cop 3 or even Daytona 2? Who knows? Elsewhere we'll see Nintendo continue to acknowledge the Game Boy as the most successful video game product of all time with yet another revision to the standard package in the shape of the Game Boy Pocket Light. We will also see the Big N make a decision about the global release of the much-anticipated 64DD and any associated game releases. Super Mario 2 anyone? On top of this, Sony is taking a bold step into the handheld market with the PlayStation memory card-based PDA whilst at the same time actively encouraging both first- and third-party developers to push the envelope with the existing technology. Games using the PlayStation's Hi-res Mode shifting polygons at high frame rates will continue to amaze— pushing the system above and beyond anything that anyone ever expected of it. Elsewhere both software technology and content issues will be addressed compre- hensively. In this issue alone we have early shots of games that push the envelope technologically on the existing formats: Konami's Castlevania 64, Crystal Dynamics’ Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Nintendo's Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Square's Parasite Eve all push their respective systems in terms of sheer processing requirements. Our main cover feature tackles, amongst other things, the changing tastes of consumers for the actual content of a game. Little more than a year ago, RPGs were big in Japan— but as far as Western tastes were concerned they were nothing more than fringe, *enthusiast"-led products, often only seeing the light of day on import. With the release of Final Fantasy VII last year, though, they have become "acceptable" and mainstream. After years of fighting games dominating the video game market, we are seeing the emergence of a high-profile genre—a genre that is no longer stuck in the traditional swords and sorcery days of yore. Believe me, 1998 is the year of the RPG and our feature illustrates how the big games this year will mix traditional RPG fare with science fiction, horror, mysticism, action and even other more adult themes. Gaming is growing up...high-quality storytelling is moving to the forefront of design and games are increasing in quality at an exponential rate. Change is good...and Electronic Gaming Monthly will continue to evolve to ensure we Stay on top of changes as they occur. Printed in the USA. Jonathan Lane J. E. Funk * joe_funk@zd.com John Davison • john davison&zd.com Dean Hager • dean hager&zd.com Crispin Boyer * crispin_boyer@zd.com Dan Hsu • dan hsuGzd.com Kraig Kujawa • kraig kujawaGzd.com John Ricciardi • TEL bares сат Kelly Rickards • kelly rickardsGzd.com Shawn Smith shawn_smith@zd.com Sushi-X • sushi_x@zd.com Chris Johnston • chris johnston@zd.com Terry Minnich * tricks@zd.com Mark Hain * mark_hain@zd.com John Stockhausen • john_stockhausen@zd.com Stuart Levy, Kiyomi Fukuyama Michael Stassus * mstassus@zd.com Cyril Wochok • cyril wochok@zd.com Andrew Burwell, Jim Cordano, Scott Parus Jennifer Whitesides Jo-El M. Damen, Dan Peluso Marc Camron Dave McCracken Paul Ojeda Chris Melody Pamela Schneider Mark LeFebvre * mark lefebvreGzd.com Cathy Bendoff Robert Kabat Joan McInerney Don Galen Ann-Marie Mrozynski : Subscription Service Number: 303-665-8930 (U.S. Only) Ziff-Davis Video Game Group — _ 135 Main St., 14th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 Telephone: 415-357-5200 Fax: 415-357-5288 Jennie Parker | . Tel: 415-357-5310 e-mail: jennie_parker@zd.com Suzanne Farrell Tel: 415-357-5220 e-mail: suzanne farrell&zd.com Jon Yoffie Tel: 415-357-5320 e-mail: jon yoffie&zd.com Karen Landon Tel: 415-357-5460 e-mail: karen landonGzd.com Anthony George Tel: 630-916-7222, ext. 242 e-mail: anthony georgeGzd.com Lynn Smiley Tel: 415-357-5443 e-mail: lynn smileyGzd.com Mike Darling Steve Harris \dwog fuos jo ѕ%ешаред ave обо иоце]5Кю aur ld '8661 @ `зэшо) 20 Jo зрешарел. е NIGOX "NvWiva "0901 13T108 20 и ur © ® т B рыць СЭ озчашед - .48In3e1aads 5300) NIHOH з мвишна. зашјшојиј ашед - „"ралацацд aq оі vaas ад 01 paau буџашиоллџа pue sades аці pue 'jeuaujouaud азе saiudejB au |, ззаћеја aweg еліп - „AIRS ui ралше цешу sey мендеп”, WSd - .1noqe BuibB5eJq Yom ашеб џешлев 1sJJ au, 'apis жер пов цит Yano} и іад rw |) *eueb inoÁ ит әшецѕ битазпа eqoy NTT Ародәшов 51 '3аџем под uty} 3521 əy} esneoeg '3uese1doi 193490 под mg "влеттед 79U10 әәлүз Sn[d ‘под '37 [99j џео под '3тбет 5,31 “ҰЯМ 993 UT - ор Хеца exrT 3500 'seAou 1e33nq риу 'ST[TXS peu 306 следета eui [Te oS “794 Aq pedAg ʻəps4ıno) WAN s,juekzg əqoy ‘Aqeq mou sozd eu UT әл 91,001 *zeqsod в,әвтә Ápoqeuos по әд 0% 4u8M тәләп под 1# 9114 S — RPG Revolution Role-playing games were once a niche market stuck in a rut. Now they’re practically the hottest genre on store shelves. We take a look at games like Zelda 64, Parasite Eve and others that are revolutionizing the RPG as we know it. 6 – Editorial It just goes to show, change can be good... 14 - Letters Loyal readers defend EGM against angry parents! 22 - News The Katana is coming in 1999 with $100 million behind it. 24 – Gaming Gossip Gaming Gossip is now new and improved. Check in this month’s News section for the whole story. 98 — Review Crew Turn to pg. 98 to see if Yoshi’s Story has been worth the wait. PREVIEWS 30 – Nintendo 64 Previews We take a look at some of the forthcoming big N64 games including the awesome 1080” Snowboarding and Turok 2. 70 — Arcade Previews At last! A look at the hot fighting game from Squaresoft, Ehrgeiz. Sorry. We don’t have any new Saturn games to preview this month. But a number of Saturn games are featured in this month’s cover story. 42 – PlayStation Previews The much-anticipated X-Men vs. Street Fighter makes an appearance along with Einhander and Mega Man Legends. 108 – Jump Start Enter and Exit the Gecko with this month’s Jump Start. 110 - Tricks of the Trade This month we have exclusive Game Shark codes for you. 114 – Get Some! Want a taste of what was shown at this year’s Toy Fair in the Big Apple? Then go to pg. 114 to get the scoop. 116 – The Last Word Ever wonder why we haven’t given a perfect 10 since way back in issue #64? This column explains it all. 10 : Contents Electronic Gaming Monthly, May 1998, Issue 106 Game Directory 30-31 56 64 99 36 103 64 100 38 100 64 70 54 100 32 62 44 101 101 55 51 1080° Snowboarding Akuji the Heartless Bio F.R.E.A.K.S. Bloody Roa Castlevania 64 Castlevania Legends Colony Wars: Codename Vendetta Dead or Alive Deadly Arts Diablo Duke Nukem: Time to Kill Ehrgeiz Einhander Judge Dredd Kobe Bryant’s NBA Courtside Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Mega Man Legends NBA Shootout 98 Need For Speed III NFL Xtreme N20: Nitrous Oxide орт. Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle Psybadek Rampage: World Tour ReBoot Romance of the 3 Kingdoms V Баба Frontier Shadow Master Soldnerschild Speed Racer Stunt RC Copter Team Losi: RC Racing Tekken 3 Triple Play 99 Turok 2 Unholy War Vigilante 8 WarGames: Defcon 1 War Hammer 2: Dark Omen Wario Land II WCW Nitro World Cup 98 X-Men уз. Street Fighter Yoshi's Story Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver puts you in control of a jawless, soul-sucking vampire freak. (pg. 62) The RPG Revolution Not only does it feature a hottie named Aya, Parasite Eve is also one of the most innovative RPGs to date. What other upcoming games in the genre are going the same route? Find out — on page 78. E The Granstream Saga - PS 3 Shining Force III - SAT Light Burn, most commonly brought on by prolonged exposure to are welding, bright snow, tanning lamps and intense 3=D game graphics. To receive playing tips and reduce your chances of light Бит, call the Eidos Hint Line (900) 113 - 4361. Cost of coll $0.95/тіпше. Mus! be 18 years or have parent's permission. Touch tone phone required 86610 ۴ PlayStation] ощ чшәшшерәјз зәпйшод) fuos jo sxreuopen әле зобој uoneISAE|d ou pue UONEISAB|d "214 sopra jo оџешеред әле элцәюләци| sopra pue ‘efuIN ‘иоабипа дедщәп sop Light burn. It's the silent injury. Severe pain may not occur until up to six hours after initial exposure to Eidos games like Deathtrap Dungeon and Ninja. At which point, despite all protests, the player must stop playing and be put to rest in a darkened room. Because it's all fun and gameplay until someone loses an eye. EIDOS You’ve been warned. www.eidosinteractive.com PlayStation egm letters 2. Gettin’ Respect Have you noticed that the video game industry doesn’t seem to get half the respect it deserves? A lot of people don’t realize how quickly and complex this industry is growing. Heck, video games are rivaling motion pictures in the entertainment busi- ness, such as when you guys showed how Final Fantasy VII had grossed more dollars than the film G./. Jane. And to think, a lot of people still express the notion that video games are merely a silly form of entertainment for children. How can people not take video gaming seriously? We give them the magazines. We give them the commercials (some hilarious ones, | might add). Heck, we even give them the movies. What more can you do to get people’s attention? But the thing that really annoys me is when people think video games are for kids. Most, if not all of the adult-oriented game genres require a considerable amount of thought and intelligence to complete. | mean, what 5-year-old can even come close to completing half of any RPG out there? The video game industry, with its developers, publishers, magazines and gamers in general, deserve a great deal of respect for what they do and what they have accomplished. Shawn Arterburn—Los Lunas, NM EGM Letters gives you the chance to praise, gripe, ask, speculate or simply reflect EGM will discuss some of today's top issues in the video game industry. If you have a subscrip- tion inquiry or problem, please contact our subscription department at (303) 665-8930 or by going to: http://subscribe.egmmag.com/service on the Web. Writing the editorial staff about your subscription concerns is futile! Note: EGM cannot and will not personally respond to any letters. We reserve the right to edit any correspondence for space purposes. You can reach EGM by writing to: EGM Letters 1920 Highland Avenue, #222 Lombard, IL 60148 e-mail: EGM_Mail@zd.com Compiled by: Shoe They Ain't Street Fighters Is it just me, or are fighting games getting blander by the year? The tacky, slow, boring, gimmicky and almost insulting Virtua Fighter started it all back in 1994. | remember how it sat between Mortal Kombat II and Super Street Fighter ІІ Turbo (two of the true classics) at my local arcade, ooking like someone’s idea of a joke, but nevertheless, collecting its fair share of quarters. Since then, we’ve seen 2D fighters take a back burner to more Virtua Fighters, Tekkens, Soul Edges/Blades and a host of clones loaded with more glitzy moves than you'll ever actual- у use. And the 2D fighters themselves? I’ve never been very impressed with Capcom's post SSF2 Turbo fighting games with their plushy Saturday- morning cartoon graphics. But worst of all are the characters. The Tekken games are overflowing with rip-off. Paul Phoenix is a blond American martial artist, and one of his outfits is a red karate uniform. Sound familiar Street Fighter fans? (Now for my David Spade impression)... liked Marshal Law better...when he was called Bruce Lee (or Fei Long, depending on your point of view)! Joe Mossman — Brockville, ONT, Canada If you think Tekken characters lack originality, wait "till you see the the cast of Fighters Destiny. The game stars a Middle Eastern warrior named Abdul, a French clown named Pierre and a ninja named...guess what? Ninja. Our favorite character from Fighters Destiny, however, is Bob. Yes...Bob. Bright Idea | liked your “Don’t you hate it when...” and your “Coolest part...” comments in your Top 100 games list so much, | thought it’d be great if you could run a small section where readers could send in their agonies and triumphs of their favorite games! Examples from me: Don’t you hate it in Resident Evil when you make it to a save room by the skin of your teeth, only to find out you ran out of ink ribbons? Or, the coolest part of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is finally getting the Soul of Bat so you can reach all the new areas? Oh, and one last one: Don’t you hate having to start Star Fox 64 from the beginning every single game? I’d trade that Rumble Pak for a save game feature any day! See? | feel better already! What do you guys think of my idea? Troy White—Abilene, Texas We think it’s a great idea. In fact, these questions sound like excel- lent candidates for Questions of the Moment (please always feel free to send in more ideas for Q of the Moment). How about a “Don’t you hate it when...” this month? Too Much Z What the heck is wrong with you? In issue #104, in the Letter Art sec- tion, you said you didn’t want any more Dragon Ball Z letter art. | am a DBZ fan, and | want to see DBZ art in your magazine. | subscribe to EGM because you guys are good, but now | see that you guys mess up once in a while. David Avecillas — Belleville, NJ The reason we asked for non-Dragon Ball Z (and non-Lara Croft) let- ter art is because that’s all we seem to get nowadays. A little variety once in a while wouldn't hurt, right? http://www.whymilk.com Revealing outfits and the undead. What else can’t most young guys get enough of? Calcium. But there is a mouth-watering solution. Milk. It can help provide the calcium growing bones need to stay strong. A real must. Especially if you plan on sticking your neck out. MILK ; Where's your mustache?” ~, SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR (01998 NATIONAL FLUID MILK PROCESSOR PROMOTION BOARD Astrod Lives... | made Astrod! The game is made in Klik and Play, and it includes both Astrod Classic and Astrod 2000. | basically made it as a joke. The URL is: http://www. fortunecity.com/skyscraper/eudora/172/. It’s freeware, so anyone can have it. Have fun! Travis Skare—travisi23@geocities,com Well, it’s a different Astrod 2000 from the one we previewed last issue, but hey...Astrod is Astrod (Mr. Skare's version was actually created before our, pre- view of Monkeyshine’s version saw print). If you have a PC, try out Astrod today. In your April issue, you incorrectly stated that Astrod 2000 is an update to Astrod. Actually the original game takes place in the year 2041. Also, you guys got your dates screwed up! Astrod was released in 1986 as an answer to the popular Spaceenvaders [sic] released by Techine entertainment after Enline Int. filed for bankruptcy. Jesse Langanki—MACOP@prodigy.net OK, | happen to have worked at Wal-Mart for two years, and | can positively tell you that the arcade file says that NO update for Astrod will ever be released. Therefore, your page 62 preview for Astrod 2000 [issue #105] must be an April Fools’ joke. | am sure about this. | have contacted the publisher, Monkeyshine, and they said that because of the game’s failure on the Odyssey 2000, they will not be releasing any more Astrod titles. Chris Calvert—clcwolf@mindspring.com In the past years, your April Fools’ jokes were indeed interesting, with Sheng Long being by far the best. But on page 62 of this April’s issue, you sure did outdo yourselves. As if the readers from the two previous months (Mr. Astrod: Desmond Johnson, Jr. and Mf. Saturn Rings: Eddie McIntosh) haven't suffered enough, you lay the final blow, turning their horrible lack of arcade history (even with the Wal-Mart arcade file!) into a freak show for the EGM world to see. | love it! Those screen shots are the best—absolute genius! Live long Monkeyshine! May Astrod 2000 rule the cosmos! Tim McConnell—tmconnl@freenet.columbus.oh.us OK, OK. We really do have to put this Astrod business to rest. It has gone on for far too long (but it was a fun ride!). Pretty soon, new and casual EGM readers aren't going to know what the hell we're talking about (in fact, we're not even sure many regular EGM readers know what the hell we're talking about). So if you're tired of hearing about Astrod, don't worry. We're done dragging this one out! And to think, all of this came out of one innocent little misspelling (see EGM #103, page 14 if you want to see where it all got started). By the way, if you think Astrod is the April Fools’ joke, then you’ve missed something (you may want to check out the fine print on page Astrod 2000 (by Skare)... „апа Astrod 2000 (by Monkeyshine Interactive). Which is the real deal? -egm letters 120 of last month's issue for a hint). We're a bit sneakier than you give us credit for! Video Games And TVs | would like to publically thank Sony Computer Entertainment. America for releasing PaRappa the Rapper in the U.S.\lt is a game for everyone, no matter what their gender, race or lifestyle orientation is. lam, of course, referring to Mooselini, the cross- dressing moose on Level 2. Everyone knows that only male moose have antlers, yet Mooselini sounds deci- Sively feminine and wears a skirt. | applaud Sony for portraying this moose with an alternative lifestyle in such a positive light. | hope other companies can fol- low their example. Chris Hoffman —Goleta, CA Pretty good observation! No one's really thought of Mooselini in this light before, not even his/her father, to whom we showed this letter. * didn't know he was a cross-dresser!" said a laughing Rodney Greenblat, the multimedia artist who created the PaRappa cast. "But...why not? I think that'd be great! 1 wasn't really aware of this, but | guess it could be true." As for PaRappa 2...we trust Mr. Greenblat will do a little bit of research this time around. Parenthood OK, I just got my April issue of EGM and read the letters from Bonita Grabinski and Sharon Stewart. What!? Are these the kind of people that put those blocker-thingies on their TVs because they are afraid their kids might see Elmer Fudd blow the crap out of Daffy Duck? Really, they said that their kids are teens, and (as far as I’m concerned) the vast majority of teens are mature enough to handle the content in the magazine. Pornography? What did | miss? Has EGM started printing pictures of Lara Croft and Crash Bandicoot, er, "going at it" so to speak? These people are just-too-damned-overprotec- tive of their kids. They're prob- ably going to grow up, single and living with their parents at Hey 34, doing nothing but eating _ Mooselini! Bon Bons and watching talk Whatcha shows all day. Er, no wait, the packing Bon Bons are evil... underneath ToxicTrash@aol.com that skirt? Make sure you have plenty of The only way Sega is going to What do you RAMsMake the modem avail- make their new system sell is if think Sega able at launch. Get the people they let Nintendo market the eed: who made the original SEGA! system for them. " 5 to.do commercials back. Get exclu- PELUDO@aol.com to make their . sive games from: EA, Konami, Capcom, Travelers Tales, Eidos, next system Midway, Crystal Dynamics and Four words for you SEGA: Take а success? of course, Working Designs. your time, please. anime333@juno.com skywalker61781@hotmail.com | want to see Sega listen to theinfans and actually release the types of games we want for this new sys- tem. It would definitely save all the hardcore Sega fans like те ће effort of importing cool, but expen- sive games. soulfox@concentric.net Sega’s next system must be programmer-friendly in order to have larger sup- port from third-party com- panies. Incorporating the Windows OS will be a big push in the right direction because many PC games can be easily ported over. Centro27@aol.com Next Month’s Question of the Moment: Don’t You Hate It When...? Give us some of your least favorite moments in video gaming. Send your short (very short, please), but sweet, responses to: EGM_Mail@zd.com with the subject heading: HATE crossing Guard Маг voted mos his ow? ч- © (л 9% < = J ж- © © 2 О v тауа N egm letters | was just writing to inform you there are some parents who actually like EGM. When | get an EGM magazine, my mom always says, “Hey, | want to find a good game that | can buy for you." I think the parents in issue #105 need to lighten up. For cryin’ out loud, these are drawings! If your kid is getting that excited over Lara Croft, then something is proba- bly wrong with him. Besides, how do you think the companies are gonna get their messages across anyway? Nimr69@aol.com Morons. When | say that, | am referring to Bonita Grabinski and Sharon Stewart in issue #105’s Letters section. Personally, | think your magazine is very well organized and written, but to go as far as to say pornographic, sick and sexually explicit, | would think not. It appears to me that if these “problems” continue to bother these people, they should cancel their subscription and quit buying your magazine. Some people might find ads like the Spawn ad referred to in Mrs. Stewart's let- ter offensive, but | assure you the majority of your readers do not. They find these ads amusing, not offensive. Aoxspidey@aol.com You EGM readers find bloody amputated limbs amusing? You people are so evil gross. 100 Percent Sarcasm 1 have been receiving your magazine for 5 1/2 years now. | want to explain a concern that | have with your magazine. | am a teenager. | like your magazine. The problem is the offensive pictures you draw of women. They are not explicit enough, and they unrealistically portray the female body. Every time your magazine arrives, | take a felt tip pen and draw in what is covered by “clothes” on the women. Please realize that your cartooning is considered pornographic to me and that | really get off on this kind of artwork. | enjoy your magazine, and | do not want to cancel my subscription. | want you to be more sensitive to your porn-reading audience. | buy your magazine because of the sexy pictures in it. It is not necessary to expose me to articles and information. | know that if | am of this mind set, many other people are as well. As | said, | do not want to cancel my subscription, but | must pleasure myself. Please add more drawings; [censored]. Matt Bowers —Slidell, LA Ah...we're just full of inside jokes and references. If you don't quite get Mr. Bowers' let- ter, or you're not sure why we called all of you “evil gross" check out last month's Letters section. WINNER Darryl Taylor Louisville, KY PaRappa The Rapper Warning аот Caution: PaRappa the Rapper your prize is on the may cause some people to look way—an ASCII like utter idiots while attempting Specialized Control to rap and dance along with the Pad for the game when they have no busi- ness trying to rap and dance in the first place. Kel B.—breakinc@agt.net PlayStation. It features rapid-fire controls for all buttons and slow motion for those intense moments. It's true, it's true! We're so lame! A Salute To Obscure References enc Chris Johnston sure knows his great documentaries. Who would think the title of his article, “Fast, Cheap and Out of Control" on page 22 of the April EGM would be named after a Put your creative skills to the test g business type] with letter Art disturbing and haunting documentary about people who want to control nature—one of the best documentaries of the decade? Anthony Ahn —Gaithersburg, MD Heh...the rest of us didn't even catch that reference. It just goes to show how little we understand our News editor's disturbed and haunt- ed mind. For The Record 1 just happened to be leafing through issue #105, and found myself heartily enjoying the Camper's Knife review (I too know the ease of living brought on by owning a utility knife...). After reading through the entire article, something came to my attention. Mr. Boyer mentioned that “...it fails to impress the local mall chicks," yet, in the next Review Crewer's square, it was insinuated that the knife could, in fact, impress women, and further on, in Mr. Smith's commentary, he stated outright that “...it also helped me pick up a few chicks last weekend." Now, for the sake of the reputation of the knife, let the record show that it was obviously not the fault of the knife that Mr. Boyer failed to rate highly with the ladies at the mall, and that, although itis pure conjecture at the current moment, it may well be Mr. Boyer himself that creates this unpopularity with the females, also possibly connected with the sight- ings of him fondling the buttocks of his very own clones. Tell me, is it justice that such a great thing as the knife should suffer and otherwise be defamed as a result of the shortcomings of one lonely and disturbed man? edible corpseQyahoo.com Damnit! Is this a roundabout way of accusing us of bias? OOPS Last month, we accidentally credited the cover art to Peter Franco. The cover was actually drawn by Dhabih Eng. Peter Franco painted the Tekken 3 artwork inside (on page 80). Our apologies to Mr. Eng. While мете on the subject of Tekken 3...we said Tekken 3 would hit stores on April 30. Unfortunately, April 30 is the ship date, meaning the game моп' be in stores until May 1 at the earliest. Where creativity, your favorite video game and a stamp can make you immortal!* Close, but no controller out a #10 Ur own Justin Reed Cherokee, NC Shu-Kuan Yao Toano, VA Keith Ellinwood Providence, RI 1920 Highland Ave, Suite 222 Lombard, IL 60148 “Or at least get your name and work in the magazine and win {yourself a great prize (FIRST PLACE ONLYIJ. Fighters Destiny will take everything you have, and throw it right back at you. > More Fighting Options than any of the competition. Period! Р oe —- H > It you're a fight sim fan, this is your golden moment. Play the game lextbeneration eS calls "The BEST playing 3-D fighter for the 1609." mc = > Dozens of moves combos tailored іп each contestant. > Five unique Special moves you can learn from "The Master.” > Rumble-Pak enhanced: Make your opponent feel the punishment your character dishes out. > Save your character's combos іп a Save bame pack and take them over to а friend and challenge their saved characters. Ocean of America, Inc. 333 W. Santa Clara St. Suite 820, San Jose, СА 95113. 2 7 Ocean of America, Inc. Ocean is a registered trademark of Ocean Software Ltd. All rights reserved. ©1997 Genki Со. Ltd. © Imagineer Co., Ltd, Пиј and-con ind The, Big Apple Kicked OUT af school for poor 2 репу Jogos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. А other trademarks and trade names are the properties ACTIVISION. Eight Battle-Anywhere, Fully Destructible Arenas • Eight Character-Based Muscle Cars, Trucks and More • Over-the-Top Weapons and Attack Moves * Unprecedented 3-D Graphics and Effects • Two-Player Split-Screen Auto Combat 6 Much Power Түс Crazy. • Behind-the-Wheel ог Behind-the-Car Views of their respective owners, Cal -800773772 for Game Rating Inlormation. WWW. dictivi&ion.com By Chris Johnston chris_johnston@zd.com Game Boy is king. Originally introduced in 1989, the Game Boy was propelled to suc- cess due largely in part to its first title, Tetris. In the years that followed, the Game Boy went up against competition from Sega, Atari and oth- ers, emerging victorious each time—even when up against color screens and flashier graphics. Still going strong, the only competitor Nintendo has nine years after the Game Boy originally launched is Tiger’s Game.com. But with 32- and 64-Bit systems now the norm, the 8-Bit Game Boy may be underpow- ered, yet it still dominates the market, almost unchallenged. Surprising? “I think if you allow yourself to get immersed in the technology of what this business is, then yeah, you’re sur- prised,” Steve Lux, vice president of marketing for Acclaim Entertainment told us. “Six years ago if someone had said that six years from now you'll be on 64-Bit systems, Pentiums that run at 333 MHz and you'll still have Game Boy you probably would've said, “1 don't think so.” Nintendo's original plan may not have been for the Game Boy to last this long, but the fact that it has is a testimonial to Gunpei Yokoi's fantastic design of the machine. The release of the Game Boy Pocket in 1996 and its variety of colors a year later created another surge in the system's popularity. At the time of the Game Boy Pocket Colors launch, Peter Main, Nintendo of America's vice president of sales and marketing, said, “Game Boy just i n the world of handheld gaming, Nintendo's The Challengers The hottest gaming news on the planet, brought to you by videogames.com Power Play, After nine years, the Game Boy shows no sign of slowing down gets better with age." Maybe he was onto something. Having sold more than 50 million units worldwide, the launch of different colors was just icing on Nintendo's cake. Since that time, two limited-edition colors, gold and ice blue, have been introduced to impressive sales. Is the Game Boy's black-and-white screen really that much of a disadvantage anyway? Lux doesn't think so. “It’s like watching a good old black-and-white movie. Two minutes into it, you don't really think that it's no longer color; you're in the middle of battle." After the second resurgence in 1997 with the Pocket Colors line, Nintendo began rereleas- ing their older titles so new GB owners could partake. Joining in on the idea, companies like Acclaim, THQ and Sunsoft were soon releasing titles too, like Disney's library of GB games and the Final Fantasy Legend series. This year, the U.S. will be exposed to the most popular Game Boy game ever— Pokemon, which will be making its debut in North America in the fall. The Game.com, released in 1997, is the Game Boy's current competition, and Tiger respects Nintendo as a credible competitor. Set with a lineup of software for 1998 that includes games based on major Hollywood films and licenses plus a handful of original games, the Game.com could be hitting its stride this year. “Nintendo isn't approaching the marketplace Sega Game Gear - 1991 Basically a portable Master System, the Game Gear had a fairly big library of 8-Bit games, all in color. The price tag on the system Turbo Express - 1991 The first portable to play home games on the road. It used 7X — Atari Lynx - 1989 2 The first color portable, the Lynx had a 16-Bit graphics processor and С т you could link up as many as eight systems together for multiplayer games like Battle Wheels. Died: Lack of software support, higher price Original Price: $169 TurboGrafx HuCards and had a super-sharp backlit screen and an optionat TV tuner so you could watch the game on the go. Died: High price, death of TurboGrafx Original Price: $299 is what killed it. Died: Lack of software, price Original Price: $149 Check out the latest gaming news at www.videogames.com Preparing For Launch Sega revs up its launch campaign for the next system ega’s next system, whether it’s called © Katana or Dural, has generated a lot of interest among Sega fans. With the Tokyo Game Show in sight, it won’t be long before we know more concrete details on the system. Here’s the latest: Ready for Launch Sega of America COO Bernie Stolar told a trade magazine that the September 1999 launch in the U.S. will be backed by a $100 million- plus marketing campaign. “Sony has never gone through the downward curve and | assure you they will,” Stolar told BrandWeek magazine. “We will recapture the 50 per- cent market share [versus 5 percent now] because we will have the third-party commu- nity back, along with competitive pricing, [and] full retail distribution.” In the same report, Stolar confirmed the sys- tem will launch with 10-15 titles, with 30-40 total planned for release by the end of 1999. summer, utilizing the same Hitachi-built processor the Katana will have. The board will cost almost half of what the Model 3 does, and offers a 20-30 percent increase in graphics performance, with the ability to move over 1 million polygons per second. Toward the Millennium President Shouichirou Irimajiri spoke to some of the major Japanese gaming magazines, giving them some insight into the compa- ny’s future plans. “Technologically speak- ing, the consumer, arcade and PC markets are closer than they’ve been before. | want to ment company in the 21st century should be headed.” Admitting that the Saturn’s showing in the U.S. was much less than that in Japan, Ігітајігі says that Sega Enterprises will continue sup- porting the Saturn in Japan anyway after the next system has been released. ^We have 5 million users out there, and a responsibility Newly appointed Sega Enterprises Ltd. steer Sega in a direction an entertain- Tidbits... 5 Million Bandicoots Sony Computer Entertainment America says that its mascot, Crash Bandicoot, and his two games for the PlayStation have together sold 5 million units world- wide. According to Sony, Crash is now the only PlayStation franchise sold in North America to have hit over a million units sold of both the original game and its sequel (take that Lara and ВЕ!!). The original Crash Bandicoot, released in 1996, sold 1.5 million units in the U.S., 610,000 in Japan and 725,000 in Europe. Its sequel, released last year, has sold 1 million units in the U.S., 800,000 in Japan, and 340,000 units in Europe. Those numbers are for the game's life to date, as of Feb. 27. Get Some Clay...Again Interplay announced that it is releasing a special edition of Clayfighter 63 1/3 forthe Nintendo 64 called Clay Fighter Sculptor's Cut. This version includes brand-new characters, moves, taunts and improved camera angles for a better overall feel (why didn't they just do this from the beginning?). New characters include Lockjaw Pooch, High Five, The Zappa Yow Yow Boyz and Lady Liberty. Several of these characters were shown in concept drawings and pic- tures of the game during development. Gamers may remember that Interplay had a similar deal with Blockbuster a few years ago on the Super Nintendo with Clayfighter: Tournament Edition, an enhanced version of the original Clayfighter game. The game will be available for rent at Blockbuster Video exclusively, begin- ning this April; it will not be available separately for sale. to continue to support Saturn. We'll release a certain amount of titles for it—we want Saturn users to continue enjoying their Saturns." WWW.sega.com Coin-operated Katana A report from Japan in mid-February stated that Sega Enterprises is planning to unveil a low-cost, high-performance arcade board this Sega already tried to with the Game Gear. Sony, while they do have an entry into the handheld market (see our International News for more details), it's unlikely that they would try to enter Nintendo's terri- tory anytime soon. If Nintendo did make a color, backlit and backwardly compati- ble Color Game Boy, they could probably do it to some suc- the same way we are,” says Sandra Schneider, vice president of Tiger Interactive. Features of the system Tiger plans to promote in a big way this year include its Internet con- nectivity and the ability of gamers to post high scores and download codes through the Web. Тћеге'5 even a Giga Pet car- tridge coming to the Game.com, likely in time for Nintendo’s impending U.S. Pokemon invasion. Could Sony or Sega enter the portable mar- ket and defeat Nintendo at their own game? If Nintendo, Sony or Sega released a color portable for under 5100, would you buy it? ИШШШШ 00.77 YES fix something that isn't broken, that would tack on a sizable addi- tion to the system's *under $50" price tag? www.nintendo.com, www.game.com Hasbro To Buy Game.com Maker The two companies announced an agreement that will see Hasbro take over the operating assets of Vernon Hills, lllinois-based Tiger and its affiliates. Hasbro will pay approximately $335 mil- lion for the company, “subject to certain closing adjustments, plus the value at closing of inventory, tooling, equipment and certain prepaid assets," Hasbro said in a statement. The handover should be completed early in the second quarter. Hasbro already owns the rights to the Playskool, Kenner, Tonka, OddzOn, SuperSoaker, Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers brands. Midway Offers N64 Values Midway is launching a special Gamer's Select Value Price program for a few of its older N64 titles. The new program sets the prices for each title at $39.95 or less (some of these were already available near that price). The titles included in the program are Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Doom 64, War Gods, NBA Hang Time, and Game.com - 1997 A game machine and a personal digital assistant of sorts, the Game.com is a black-and-white portable that can also access the Internet. Alive and kicking: New games are planned for '98 Original Price: $69 (now $49) Nomad - 1995 A portable Genesis. While the screen was nothing to shout about and RPGs and games with a lot of text were sorta hard to play, this is a cool idea. Died: Price, death of Genesis Original Price: $199 Mace: The Dark Age. Check out the latest ga Video Game Gossip & Speculation uartermann T: build up to E? has already begun, and despite many of the software companies keeping tight-lipped about what will be on show, the Q-Mann has been keeping his ear to the ground for all of the latest gossip and rumors. Back with an all-new format (but just as much juicy info), the Q is ready to roll once again... LucasArts is rumored to have five games lined up to show at E’. Although nothing is confirmed yet, there are strong indications that one of them will be a new Tomb. Raider-style Indiana Jones game. Right now the format is unknown, but an N64 version would make sense— especially since Sony's got Lara Croft sewn up exclusively for a while. Speaking of Tomb Raider, the "real-life" Lara Croft Rhona Mitra is no longer playing the part, opting instead to pursue a movie/pinup career as a famous gorgeous person. The "new-and-improved" Lara is now played by French model Vanessa Demouy and has already been spot- ted in French magazines sporting a number of sexy outfits including a wet suit and even a bikini. Can anybody say “babe?” Rumor has it that Paramount have just picked up the movie rights too. Shiny Entertainment has been experiencing a number of problems with their forthcoming Messiah...it seems that a number of more, shall we say, "loony" religious people have been writing in claiming that the word “messiah” is copyright of the Christian church. Elsewhere in the Shiny camp, the seemingly troubled Wild 9's is being thoroughly re- worked prior to any showing at Е?. Industry tall person and Shiny President Dave Perry is now heading up the project personally in an effort to get the thing out on time. Madden NFL 99 for the N64 will sport the NFL team license that Acclaim had exclusive rights to last year when it hits this fall. EA is well aware of the fact that a large part of QB Club's charm was its revolu- tionary high-resolution graphics, so they will be doing everything in their power to match—if пої surpass — ОВС” amazing visuals. In other pigskin news, apparently both Sony and EA have been wowed by the success of Midway's NFL Blitz — so much so, in fact, that both of the game giants are releasing competing products. Sony's can be seen in this month's Preview section. We're awaiting news from EA. The new Gauntlet arcade machine is being developed by Atari as we speak, and both PlayStation and N64 versions are rumored to be on the cards from Midway early next year. Very little information is avail- able at present apart from the fact that the game is in 3D and will include two brand-new character classes. Acclaim is rumored to be working on a 3D action game based on its comic book character Bloodshot. Details are sketchy, but use of the Turok 2 engine would obviously make a lot of sense. Once Westwood has finished up with Red Alert: Retaliation for the PlayStation, the next game in the series is expected to be a 3D action/combat game tentatively titled Commando. Making use of the rich C&C background will no doubt make an absolutely incredible action game. Watch out for more news on this....We'll also be keeping an eye out for any news concerning Tiberian Sun hitting the consoles. It is almost certain that Sega's new machine (code-named Katana) will only be shown behind closed doors at E? in May. No details on launch games are available at present although Sega has acknowl- edged the importance of high-caliber sports titles in the U.S., as well as acknowledging their high-profile franchises, such as Sonic, Daytona and VF. Did somebody say "Sonic 3D?" Square has confirmed that Final Fantasy VIII (that's 8 to all you non-Romans out there) will be out "before the end of the century." No details are available yet, although Square will be making announcements about this, their new PS game publishing deal and the U.S. fate of their new "Zelda-bash- er" Brave Fencer Musashiden before the end of '98. That's all for this month. His Q-ness will be packing his bags shortly and heading off to Tokyo to meet up with Terry Aki to storm the Spring TGS. Be sure to check back next month for all of the latest gossip from the land of the falling yen. Tiger Scores With EA A Shows Woods the green for a new golf game E lectronic Arts recently announced they have secured a four- year agreement with Tiger Woods to develop, publish and distribute a golf game carrying his name for the PC and the PlayStation (an N64 title will follow in the future), as well as attach his name to future installments of EA's high- x ly popular PGA Tour Golf series. A video game player RR since he was a kid, Woods will lend his golfing knowledge and skills to the design and development process of the new titles. “| am thrilled to join the EA Sports team,” said Woods. “I've played video games for many years. The chance to work with the top brand in sports gam- ing and play a key role in the design of an interactive golf product will be an exciting challenge.” The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but analysts estimate the deal will net Woods $5 to $10 million, and could generate $40 million worth of retail sales. Reportedly Electronic Arts won against bidders like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. “Signing Tiger Woods is a defining act for Electronic Arts and the PGA Tour Golf series,” Richard Hilleman, Electronic Arts’ vice president and executive producer said. “Tiger is the ultimate competitor who wins with strength, charisma and creativity. He is the embodiment of the EA Sports brand and the new world of golf.” www.easports.com = Sega Gets Animated Two Sega characters come alive on the small screen wo of Sega’s characters will soon be coming to TV in | brand-new animated series. The first is Sonic Underground, a new syndicated cartoon series which will follow Sonic the Hedgehog and his twin brother, Manic, and sister, Sonia, as they try to foil Dr. Robotnik’s plans of world domination. Reprising his role as Sega’s blue hedgehog with the ’tude is Jaleel White, best known as Urkel from Family Matters. It’s expected that the format of Sonic Underground will remain similar to that of the previous Sonic series, [4 with Robotnik and his goons up to their old tricks. Maybe this new “Underground” series hints at the ushering in of a new era of Sonic games on Sega’s next system. Let’s hope so. The second series stars Bug!, Sega’s unlikely insect hero. Alliance Communications will produce the 13-episode, 30-minute show, which will star Bug, Kibosh, Kerfuffle and the Super Videots. According to Alliance, each episode will be divided into three short cartoons and described as “stand-alone character driven comedic” stories. Alliance’s other projects include ReBoot and Beast Wars > Transformers. Mainframe > Entertainment, the animation s tudio that produced both series will produce Bug! as well. One can only guess that Sega might be working on M a new Bug! title to go along 3 X77 with the series. / www.alliance.ca Wwww.sega.com Get а Free Duke Nukem Action Figure AND a $10 rebate with the purchase of Duke Nukem 64 or Duke Nukem Total Melidown at TARGET! узбош MAIL IN OFFER ONLY - NOT REDEEMABLE АТ RETAIL STORES Buy Duke Nukem” for Nintendo 64 or Duke Nukem” Total Meltdown for Sony PlayStation from your local participating Target store from 04/01/98 through 05/17/98 and GET a Duke Nukem Action Figure AND a $10.00 rebate from GT Interactive Software. To receive your Duke Nukem Action Figure AND $10.00 rebate, send us the following: 1. A photocopy of your Target store receipt dated from 04/01/98 through 05/17/98 from the purchase of Duke Nukem for Nintendo 64 or Duke Nukem Total Meltdown for Sony PlayStation and 2. This Original coupon completed with all requested information below. Place item 1 and 2 above in a stamped envelope and mail to: GT/Target Duke Toy & Rebate, PO Box 52908, Dept#13420 Phoenix, AZ 85072-2908. Completed requests must be received no later than 06/30/98. PLEASE PRINT: Name: Address: City: Phone number: (____ Email (optional Offer void where prohibited. Offer good on purchases of Duke Nukem for the Nintendo 64 system or Duke Nukem Total Meltdown for the Sony Playstation system only. Purchases must be made from 04/01/98 thraugh 05/17/98 only. No requests will be autho- rized over the phone. Complete requests must be received by 06/30/98. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. Limit one action figure and rebate per original coupon per household. Offer valid іп the United States only. We are not responsible for incomplete, Шейше, lost, late or postage due requests. This original coupon must accompany your request and cannot be duplicated in any fashion. Fraudulent receipts, groups or duplicate requests will not be honored or acknowledged. Use of multiple addresses to obtain additional action figures or rebates is fraud and may result in prosecution. Offer not valid in conjunction with any other offer. Occasionally, we will allow for other non-GTIS product offers to be mailed to our consumers. If you do not wish to receive them, please check here Г] Playstation is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. Nintendo 64 is a trademark by Nintendo of America, Inc. Duke Nukem” 64 ©1996, 1997 3D Realms Entertainment. Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown" ©1997 3D Realms Entertainment. Published and distributed by GT Interactive Software Corp. GT is a trademark and the GT logo is a registered trademark of GT Interactive. Software Corp. 16 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016. All other trademarks аге the property of their respective companies. Offer good while supplies last Check out the latest international gaming news at www.videogames.com = International News ony's February announcement S of a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) to be introduced by the end of this year turned more than a few heads, mainly because it uses PlayStation memory cards as its format du jour. But don't begin cele- brating just yet, this isn't a portable PlayStation. Instead, its main target is Nintendo's extremely popular Pocket Monsters series and Bandai's Tamagotchi line. More Tamagotchi than PDA, the unit's tiny screen (32x32 dots) won't allow for varied gameplay, or even many of the fea- tures of a true PDA. The scenario is that developers could make a fighting game (or RPG, or any character-based game) where the player could train his fighter using both the PlayStation at home and the PDA when he's out and about. Gamers could then plug it back into the PlayStation and duke it out with a Through the unit's infrared communi- True Colors Shine Through friend's fighter in color on the big screen. AG I-Fratnr Virtual Pet in my PDA! Sony's answer to Pokemon comes in the form of a pet PDA cation capability, players can exchange data with friends quickly and easily. One interesting aspect of the machine is that software for it comes on a PlayStation disc. You then “download” it to a memory card to use on the PDA. The front flips up so that it can fit into the PlayStation memory card slot. It’s currently unknown whether the unit will be released in the U.S., but it will be available in Japan “ em сом” y later this year, probably мы гы around the range of $20-30. www.sony.co.jp Here are the current specs for the device: ‘CPU: ARM7T (32-Bit RISC processor) Memory: SRAM - 2KB Flash RAM - 128KB (using the PlayStation memory card) Graphics: 32x32 dot, monochrome LCD screen Sound: 4-Bit PCM Switch: 5 input buttons 1reset button Other: Infrared communication: done by direction, aiming the unit at another unit LED Power display Built-in calendar {р Number Battery backup (for the calendar) Sony releases Dual Shock pads and memory cards in rainbow colors ony recently announced it will release Dual Shock analog controllers in a variety of colors. Net Yaroze PlayStation. The Dual Shock analog pad should be available in the U.S. in early summer. Whether or not it will come in these new colors is still unknown. it bs == Ж Tidbits... The first, the diamond-patterned black- and-white dual shock controller will be on sale on March 18. Sony will release crystal (clear), emerald, island blue and smoke gray-colored controllers beginning in April. Sony also plans to release multicolored memory cards. There will be a total of eight color options for the cards: black, candy orange, cherry red, crystal, emerald, gray, island blue and lemon yellow. These new memory cards will be available in retail shops in Japan beginning Feb. 26. Sony's response to the future possibility of choice of colors when it comes to the PlayStation console is: “There’s no such plan.” At least there’s always the black www.sony.co.jp Adding Color to Game Boy Just as we were going to press, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shinbun reported that Nintendo has decided to telease color version of the Game Boy. This time, “color” means not only its body but also the screen. This new Game Boy, tentatively called Color Game Boy (what else), will utilize the Super Mobile Liquid Crystal Display from Sharp Co. Ltd. It will be almost the same size as the current Game Boy Pocket, but will use two AA batteries, and thanks to Sharp's energy- saving LCD, battery life will be longer than that of the current Game Boy Pocket. Nintendo is preparing several games. including a Pokemon title which is com- patible with the color LCD. Games will retail for the same price as current games. You can also play existing games with new Color Game Boy. According to the report, Nintendo plans to release Color Game Boy around August for the Japanese and overseas markets simultaneously. As for the price, it’s expected to be around 9,000 (about $70, at current exchange rates) yen. Punch Out Comes to Japan Nintendo recently released Super Punch-Out!! for the Super Famicom via the Nintendo Power system located in Lawson convenience store locations. If you want to buy the game, first you have to buy a Super Famicom Memory Cassette (3,900 yen), and then ask a shop clerk to write the game to your cassette (another 3,000 yen for new titles, 1,000 for older ones). The 10 Best-Selling Games As of Feb. 15 ә in apan Xenogears (Square)-PS Bio Hazard 2 (Capcom)-PS Gran Turismo (Sony)-PS Bust A Move Dance & Rhythm Action (Enix)-PS SD Gundam 6 Century 5 (Bandai)-SS Hyper Olympics in Nagano (Konami)-PS Winter Heat (Sega)-SS Bomberman World (Hudson)-PS Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon (Square)-PS Everybody's Golf (Sony)-PS Sushi X Files compiled by: Shawn Smith Something Exclusively For Our Loyal Subscribers! Some of you may have noticed 649 an unfamiliar name іп the Masthead last issue. John Davison, our new editor in chief, comes to us from the Ш.К. with lots of experience under his belt. MEANWHILE АТ Even with his credentials, we THE Docks: couldn't let him come on board 4 unscathed. Hee hee hee... ROLLING | NoT HENRY 1 pies YouRe KIGHT, SUSHI. 3T CAME то те SEEN A RIGHT! EN THEY ди. THIS COUNTRY.., М ASS. тул SORRY pus ae JOHNNY ENGLAND, орк AND BAD A Good TIME NETH THEIR ТЕА AND CRUMPETS. иу Gov INDEED. ...Ihe End Sushi-X Files www.videogames.com I"M SEEING QUADRUPLES Е | If you can’t get enough of Lara Croft, then this project is for you. You'll need the following supplies: scissors and Scotch tape. First cut out the shapes to the right, then cut slits in the dotted lines as shown (A and B) on both the arms and the frames. Now attach the arms to the frames through the slits. Tape them together and you're all set. Notice that you want the Lara images toward your eyes. That way you'll never have to live without her beautiful face and her naughty little smile that makes your heart sputter...it’s sad really. “ysnoua 819 ,ue1e sasse|8 asau Áym uoseai e 5,21241 :3)oN As always, your suggestioris are welcome and greatly appreciated. Lately, we haven't been getting as much mail from you as we would like. Remember that this section is especially for you, so if you have some cool ideas, send them in and we may just use them (with due credit of course). Anyway, send your thoughts to: The Sushi-X Files 1920 Highland Ave. Ste. 222 со МТАСТ e US Lombard, IL 60148 HOT & NOT That's right! We thought you'd enjoy seeing what we've been getting knee- deep into, and other things we wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole. The first column shows what's HOT and the second column is known as NOT. Hopefully some of these Q's will tickle your brain. Of course, this is our first attempt, so cut us a little slack! Hey, don't forget to give our kick-ass 900 number a call (1-900-PRE-VIEW) for more gaming trivia questions. You don't win anything for answering these questions, but if you call the:line you might just win some cool stuff. Remember there's a per-minute charge when you call the line. 1) What game has two big bears as the first stage's Bosses? a) GoldenEye 007 (N64) b) Legendary Axe (TG 16) ©) Tomb Raider (PS) d) Astal (Sat) * Earnest Evans (Genesis) * Saddam Hussein * The fact that it’s so difficult to get a copy of GoldenEye for N64 * El Niño • Ауа from Parasite Eve * Tekken 3 for the PlayStation * Marvel vs. Capcom * Upcoming Resident Evil figures * Poseable action figures 2) Mario's nationality is: * The plethora of awesome * The White House scandal a) German games inside Dave & Buster's * The plethora of annoying b) Japanese * South Park security guards inside Dave & ©) Italian * Omega Restaurant Buster's d) Roman * New Spawn toys * "Novelty" X-Files episodes е) None of the above * NFL Blitz • Birds in the local mall crapping Р • Monica Lewinski on Crispin...new shirt for you? 3) The Bandicoot comes from: • Social lives • New X-Files action figures. a) Austria * Cheap Saturn games * Lara Croft action figures b) South America * The MST intro on the latest e T.G.l. Friday's ©) Africa PlayStation Underground disc * The fact that the Saturn's best d) Australia (Vol. 2 Issue 1) * Multicolored Yoshi Beanie Babies games emerge as the system dies...what a bummer... * Sore wrists from...Winter Heat 4) What delicious food item is Pac-Man modeled after? * Alyssa Milano • Tony Danza a) Cole Slaw * Sweet-tasting Milano cookies * Sweaty-tasting Danza cookies b) Pizza from Pepperidge Farm from Pepperidge Farm с) Orange * This list * Other lists d) Lemon е) All of the above ofthe issue. Anyway, here's what to expect next time around: The introduction of a running comic strip featuring hilarious com- 2 mentary on the beloved video game industry—it'll be complete with speech bubbles even! Also watch for a special look at what movie stars, video game characters and/or household items we think various systems look like, and a list of the top 10 most (©) wanted tricks of all time. All this and a few other surprises next month in Sushi-X Files. Note: Sushi-X Files is recommended by four out of five gamers as an ineffective way to relieve the symptoms related to the common cold. So much for that one... x Don't be fooled...this is a “Next Month” for the Sushi-X Files only. The regular Next Month for the rest of the mag is near the back THE GREATEST RAGING GAME OF ALL TIME 15 COMING. GRAN TURISMO ON MAY 12TH, GRAN TURISMO WILL BE UNVEILED. PlayStation тм мп таи PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Gran Turismo is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. All manufacturers, cars, names, brands and associated imagery featured in this game are trademarks and/or copyright Maletas material of their respective owners. All rights reserved. ©1998 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Call 1-800-771-3772 for Game Rating Information. ESRB www.playstation.com = = PlayStation ТК WILL BE FOUGHT ON THE PLAYSTATION GAME CONSOL The horror of global combat is coming to your living room. Twenty years ago, the WOPR, the deadly military supercomputer, nearly ignited the Cold War. Now the WOPR is back with а new mission: Exterminate humanity. You command NORAD's forces on land, at sea, and in the air as you plunge into battle against the WOPR's mechanical legions. The world's future hangs in the balance. It's not a game anymore. • Launch strategic attacks with over 32 different assault units. + Command up to 8 killing machines at once and blow the WOPR’s drones into silicon dust. + Turn friends into enemies in the PlayStation™ game console’s first split-screen two-player combat game. * Feel the terror of combat as detailed graphics and а true 53-D environment bring battles to life. INTER SCTIVE теат D E к C ос м Ø WWW.WARGAMESMGM.COM PlayStation™ and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. WARGAMES GAME © 1997, MGM Interactive, Inc and © 1983, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc, Distributed by MGM Home Entertainment, inc, 2500 Broadway, Santa Monica, СА 90404. All Rights Reserved. he fact that so many people are going crazy over [^ HME the extreme ч sport known as WEDAVAGE. snowboarding these days prob- ably goes hand in hand with the recent barrage of snowboarding games being released on nearly every game system. Some of them are just for fun, others capitalize on the trend by being flashy with no substance, while Still others are a solid, more realistic product. 1080* Snowboarding from Nintendo is one of those solid snow- boarding games, but also incorporates plenty of fun. The elements of this N64 cart that make it so darned good are many. First, the ® fact that the game is devel- | oped by the same team that did Wave Race 64 (with Shigeru Miyamoto as pro- ducer) speaks for itself. Next you have the virtually flawless graphics, awesome sound effects and smooth control. Chris McGill from Nintendo puts it like this: “It’s like real snowboarding without the snow down your pants.” That’s saying a lot, but at this point we have to agree. 1080° sports six modes of play: Match Race, Time Attack, Trick Attack, Contest, Two-player Vs. and Practice. The Match Race is the meat of the game where you compete against a series of computer opponents across three difficulty settings on a num- ber of tracks. Next we have the Time Attack Mode which lets you race against the clock, trying to make it down the track as fast as possible. Similar to this is the Trick Attack Mode where you not only have to make it through gates to increase your time limit, you also have to perform tricks for points. There's Realistic Boardin’ (DAMAGE Trying to catch up to your opponent can leave you smashed against the side of a mountain with loads of damage. • 1080" Snowboarding • Kobe Bryant's NBA Courtside Publisher/Developer Players/Genre % Done Nintendo of America 12 Nintendo of America Sports Web Address: www.nintendo.com Release The вате? graphics are simply stunning—complete with snow effects, lens flares, reflections and plenty more. also a Contest Mode where you compete in five differ- ent “events” including three slalom courses, a half- pipe course and the Air Make jump (which is this HUGE ski-jump ramp). Then there’s a Two-player Vs. Mode which is just that—two-player split-screen action. Lastly, there’s the Practice Mode where you can learn how to do some mondo snowboarding tricks. My 2 Cents It looks like we'll be reviewing this опе next month, but | thought I'd give you a preview of what | think of the game. This one is by far my favorite snowboarding game on the market, across all systems. The only one that comes close is Steep Slope Sliders on the Saturn. Everything from the control (once you get the hang of it) to the graphics in 1080? is near perfect. The main things to watch for are the overly tricky Al opponents and the difficulty of understanding the control system. -Shawn Smith hile J э] BAN AEE - In the Match Race, there are three difficulties to complete: Normal, Hard and Expert. These aren't like difficulties that you can set though; these difficulties represent the kind of courses that lie ahead. The Normal difficulty mode includes Crystal Lake, Crystal Peak, Golden Forest and Mountain Village. Hard includes all of the courses in Normal and a new course, Dragon Cave. Finally, Expert Mode includes all ofthe cours- es in Hard and another new course, Deadly Fall. Even though you race the same courses in each of the later modes, the difficulty and time of day changes. In each mode, you get three boards which act as your lives. The game has a total of 15 different courses to race on, although you don't race on all of them in one mode. Out ofthe 15, a total of nine of them are unique. These courses include: six downhill courses, a half pipe, the Air Make and a practice course to learn some moves. The practice course consists of both a half-pipe and a series of jumps. The two are connected so you can go back and forth between them. All of the courses feature different kinds of snow to board on— well, actually some aren't snow at all. Certain courses will have you snow- boarding on pavement, grass, ice and quite a few others. On top of this, look for nifty effects in each of the courses like falling snow, lens flares, tracks from your board, snow sprays when you hit a patch of powder and helicopters flying above as you go down the course. Without characters to choose from, the game might get a little bor- ing. That’s why 1080" allows you to choose from five racers, each with his/her own nationality and attributes like Technique, Balance and Power, among others. On top of these five, there are three hidden characters to unlock. All of the characters’ moves were motion- NINTENDO 64 Most objects in your path are welcome since you can launch off of them and catch some real air. captured ensuring realistic movement when they’re doing their authentic snow- boarding moves. Some characters are better at certain moves than others due to their abilities. A constant with all of the racers is that they all have a damage meter. For example, when you smack against a rock wall or don’t land right, your board sustains “damage.” When it gets all the way down, that board is done—you lose one “life.” If you don’t finish a difficulty mode in three boards, then you have to start from the beginning. Choose your board wisely, too. Certain boards are better at downhill action than they are at stunts. There are eight authentic Lamar boards to choose from, some that are essentially the same board just at a different length. Like the players, each board has its own attributes, except each includes Acceleration, Control and Stability, among others. @ EGM Factoid 1080° Snowboarding features both real Lamar Snowboards (www.lamarsnow.com) and authen- tic Tommy Hilfiger (no official Web site) snow- board clothing. So when you see your racer speeding down any of the courses in the game, know that they are using and wearing authentic snowboarding gear. What's that you ask? Yes, this info does help us sleep better at night. Each course's time-of-day changes depending on what difficulty level you make it to. NINTENDO 64 Kobe Bryant's Publisher/Developer Players/Genre % Done aai ا‎ M Е Nintendo Left Field Web Address: www.nintendo.com NBA Courtside intendo isn’t known for realistic sports games, but they’ve been somewhat forced into making them due to the need to plug some gaping holes in the N64’s sports lineup. Even more surprising is that NBA Courtside, their first foray into basketball, is actually very simulation- minded. It isn’t the arcade-style fare you might expect (тот Nintendo but perhaps that’s because it is devel- opers Left Field Productions who are responsible for what you see on screen. And, indeed, what is on screen is pretty impres- sive. NBA Courtside was deliv- ered to the EGM offices, and short of a few bugs, it is almost complete. The 3D graph- ics are as good as those found on basketball games on any system, though they don't seem to raise the bar in any way. The polygonal players are well-constructed, and move fluently around the court— there's very little jitter between the motion-captured moves. Better-known players have their faces texture-mapped, and there are varying player sizes that make them roughly the size of their real-life counterparts. And as you might expect, there are a variety of selectable camera angles, and even some that automatically flip to the view that best captures a particular dunk. Courtside's gameplay seems to be well-balanced, and smart. In various playing sessions, the computer defended well and played good offense. There are a ton of moves to learn and are executed by presses of the C buttons. There are post passes, alley-oops, cross-over dribbles, calls for a pick and various dribble moves that can be used in conjunction with Turbo Nintendo’ First NBA Simulation speed (Z button). When you get the hang of them, you can really make your player scoot like a jitterbug as he flies to the hoop. For beefier, less nimble NBA players, there is the ability to post-up (by pressing R) and back in toward the bucket, something rarely offered or done correctly in basketball games. The one glaring omis- sion in the version we tested was the ability to pass while jumping in the air. Such a move is crucial for faking shots, and is something that just about every basketball video game has. While not as anally retentive as EA’s NBA Live series, there is no shortage of features. Players can be creat- ed and extensively edited in appearance and abilities. There is full stat tracking during the season that includes individual stats, and those on overall team performance. Hardcore players will undoubtedly make use of those in addition to the playcalling on the fly. If you're not sure what a certain play does, just pause the game and read the play descriptions provided. As you can see, NBA Courtside looks to be on track to become a great addi- tion to the N64 sports lineup—especially for a first-time effort. At the very least, it will definite- ly top the horrendous NBA In the Zone 64 that is (unfortunately) the only N64 hoops game currently available. @ IN rane R 171.05 2, ме OVER МЕСА. => гомум прве. тыда, “Oa, ЫЕ MOST mma ы. es = 75 GET TO SEE беба ма, Ma, S 525 3 C Se. ~, S ~ ы "S KA 3 www. asciient. com customer service: 650 780 0166 ©1998 ASCII Ee Software, Inc. nt, «ә, ; T RUP Tr үл 9GAugr - тык ЕР Association. All other brand and product. names are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective holders. shi MIKE PIAZZA | | CATCHER, LA DODGERS ALL 700+PLAYERS! ALL NEW 1998 ROSTERS! ALL THE STADIUMS! ALL THE TEAMS! ALL IN 3D! YOU TAKE. YOU STEAL. FAST-PACED ACTION: SWITCH FROM TRUE YOU SLUG. YOU CRUSH. Î SIMULATION ТО ARCADE GAME PLAY WITH : TONS OF HIDDEN SECRETS! «(С PIAZZA: | ~ ў E х YO U H| Т. А ND R U N қ i P Historical: YOU TRY TO BEAT THE HEAT, орк Пато ro ,SPD 3 DEF 3 f EXHIBITION, FULL-SEASON, ALL-STAR, WORLD AN D АТ TH E E N D 0 Е IT А HE 4 SERIES AND HOME RUN DERBY PLAY MODES. | SOME GUY IN A MASK |7 RIES TO TAKE YOU DOWN TO PROTECT HiS HOME WELCOME TO AMERICA’S PASTIME, жасағы humb WHAT A GAME. МШЕ a |; ме Fumble Pak" [e m ter tain ment] Be sue to vist MLSs Dal Web Ste ВОДЕ пекари con LIES Mike Piazza's StrikeZone developed by and © 1998 Devil's Thumb™ Entertainment. All rights reserved. Published and distributed by GTInteractive Software Corp. Major Le and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. Officially Licensed by Major League Baseball Players Association. Microsoft® and trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Nintendo, the Official Seal, Nintendo 64 and 3-0 “N” Logo and Rumble Рак" are trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. NINTENDO 64 Мојјед моглоју The very first gameplay shots of Castlevania 64 have surfaced from Konami. No new info has been released on the game itself, but as you can see from these shots—it looks HOT. More on this one next month. Finally! The first pictures of Turok 2 have arrived! ugh these shots are very obviously running £ em, the is looking sweet. Acclaim is adamant that the final version will be approaching this quality. Tune in next month when we blow out Acclaim's super sequel. Гом TARGET! Er s AeroFighters Assault Owners Give Game 90% Approval Rating! ь 27 d "Flight"sim fans prefer realistic control’ апа graphics?fand that. s"whatltheyllfgett" н e e ] Nintendo] Power = "The missions are diverse and interesting, —À wh "ы v.c and the enemy AI is very nicely допе. You'd be hard pressed to find explosions, flames, and fighting aircraftas pretty as these." - Ultra Game Players - "It is rare that a console gets a title that stresses realistic flight control over > p 5 arcade-style action, but this is exactly = жы what Aerofighters Assault does." - gamepen.com - ...a very satisfying game playing experience CHER shouldn't be missed by any N64 owner that is even remotely interested in flight combat games." - bird.taponline.com - _ "Aerofighters' best qualities lie in N its six realistic, highly maneuverable 2 | fighter jets (two are bonus jets). NEXT GENERATION - NINTENDO! wa ШӘ(||Р9 мотела our new editor in chief comes from we thought it would be a snazzy to Although the publisher hasn't been announced for WCW Nitro, we have these shots straight from Inland Productions, the game's developer. DELILE SEPTATE ELT EERIE: PRIS TERS RED LRE I IVP ERO М For those keeping score, Konami’s Deadly Arts was previously named G.A.S.P.!!: Fighters’ NE) m. | opinion, we're glad they pou the name, and we look forward to playing it when it arrives in May. THE ONLY GAME THAT TOTALLY SATISFIES YOUR NEED FOR SPEED! «Leap short distances using the Mach 5'5 auto-jacks. • Activate the Mach 575 deflector and periscope to race underwater. ‘Powerful rotary saws slash and cut a forest-full of trees. — «Try to find Racer X's Shooting Star, The GRX ("World's Fastest Car"), and more! esito. MEET XU ж. T JALECO. 4 ~ E C. All Ri EED В www.JALECO.com RPRISES, INC. and is usec WWW.speedracer.com 'ademarks of Jaleco Ltd PlayStation- IAN LIVINGSTONE 66 . > T = eal me. Whip me. Just don't hit that Quit button? Consider it your DEATHT RAE А Б \ P ы, . ; : e. T K ا‎ battle Cry. Then bring on the skeletal warriors, zombies and over 50 other undead denizens. Each oneisa chance to slice and dice likea Ginsu knife gone bad. An opportunity to master the 13 death implements at о 5 > 8 8 F 1 8 8 H е 8 ° 5 Q E 4 8 g В e А © = 8 E] 5 E3 2 9 2 3 3 8 5 о p Fi 3 3 www.deathtrapdun ócon.com your d sposal Jf play the version, and leave the other on-line’ players oF ir for more. B cause in th se 10 cavernous levels af evil trap: ‘it's all aboat blurring that fine li stween pleasure and pain. + d just when you think you can't take it any longer. consider the alternative. You’ve been.warned. Game Directory Capcom USA Inc. T2 75 Мау е Capcom Co. Ltd. Fighting 1998 www.capcom.com жаты ке 2 ү espite rehashes апа rehashes of rehashes, Capcom 2D fighting games continue to thrive. Lately in the arcades, tag-team fighting seems to be Capcom’s hook to keep players interested in an aging genre. The first game to feature tag teams is the immensely popular X-Men vs. Street Fighter. We've waited patiently for a home conversion, and finally it's here...almost. Because of the PlayStation's poor sprite-handling powers and low RAM, X-Men vs. Street Fighter isn't exactly a picture-perfect arcade port. You can find little sacrifices (like missing animations) everywhere, but the biggest disappointment is the lack of the tag-team feature—the very feature that made the game so popular in the first place. Unfortunately, in this version, NEW HERO Your partner will only come in to help in Tag Team Supers and Variable Counters. You're stuck playing one character throughout the game. you can only fight as one member of your team (the other only shows up for special situations). X-Men vs. Street Fighter is a flashy, dou- ble-digit-super-combos type of fighter. Its playing style is more akin to X-Men: Children of the Atom or Marvel Super Heroes rather than any Street Fighter game. Each of the 17 characters has a host of regular and special moves. You can build up your combo meter, however (by attacking and taking hits), and per- form super combos. These supers are the Screen-clearing, multiple-hit-dish- ing types you've PlayStation vs. Saturn Since we're almost definitely not going to see an American Saturn X-Men vs. Street Fighter, we're going to have to be content with a PlayStation version. Here's a brief summary of the PS version, and how it differs from the Japanese Saturn version (which benefits from a 4-Meg RAM cartridge, mind you). No Tag Team: You can't switch between partners. Your teammate only comes in for team super combos and variable counters. Speed (lack of): The PS version can only go up to turbo speed 4, while the Saturn version can go up to 8. Even on equal speed seen in other superhero fighting games. If you don't block the initial hit, you can usually expect to take a good deal of damage. If you can build your power meter to Level 2 or high- er, you can perform Tag Team Combos. Besides Variable Counters (this game's version of Alpha Counters from the SF Alpha series), this is the only time your partner will step into actual play—remem- ber, in the PlayStation version, you cannot switch between characters. Tag Team Combos have your main character and your sidelined teammate performing their supers in unison. Ouch. Capcom, realizing this version lacks in some areas, has made sure to include a few extras, like a Survival and a Training Mode. The coolest new feature is the EX combo system (named after the now-famous 3D Street Fighter game). You can now end super combos early and link them with another one for many extra hits. Needless to say, X-Men vs. Street Fighter is a loud and action-packed fighting game full of flash and combo overkills (this game almost puts Killer Instinct to shame in those regards). If it's finesse you're looking for, look the other way. This game is all about brute and overwhelming force. And while it's missing the key ingredient that made the original so much fun to play, it has plenty to offer on its own. Fans eagerly awaiting this game shouldn't be terribly disappointed. @ settings, the Saturn game is faster. Combo Meters: The PS game lets you build up your combo meter almost twice as fast. For example, Saturn Ken takes 73 jabs to fill one level of the meter. The PS Ken only needs 37 jabs to get one level filled. This makes the PS version of the game a bigger super combo-fest than the game already is. Healing: Since you can't switch out your fighter to let him rest and heal, the PS game lets you heal while you're fighting. icons: Icons now show how you won each round (including our favorite, the cheese). Missing in Action: Capcom cut a lot of corners to make this game work on the PS. Missing are tons of frames of animation, including trivial standing animations, like Magneto's "trippy" hands. New Modes: PS has exclusive Training and Survival Modes. EX Combos: In this version, you can cancel out of supers early and link in new ones, as first seen in Street Fighter EX Plus o. | The Next Chapter in the Ogre Battle” feries. A Tand torn apart by var AN epic (тш even ЕШ and evil. VOSS D S PNY ` ^» 100 plu пору 265.2. а % 8 different ag а ^ 4% Non-linear Wayne P. ) 0н isometric bate № PLAYSTATION 44 Something New For Old Blue Look hard enough and you'll even find a few minigames. Mega Man Legends Publisher/Developer Players/Genre % Done Release Capcom USA Inc. 1 70 May Capcom Co. Ltd. Adventure 1998 Web Address: www.capcom.com nd you thought all Mega Man games were the same. Mega Man Legends (known as RockMan Dash in Japan and formerly known as Mega Man Neo and Mega Man Nova here in the U.S.) is definite- ly a different kind of game for the © “А Capcom mascot. In fact, we had a hard time categorizing this one, other than to say it’s an action-adventure-RPG hybrid. Set on a small island on a waterlogged world, the game has Mega Man—along with madeover gal pal Roll and Dr. Light—tracking down a legendary trea- sure called the Mother Load. Along the way, he'll explore a huge city, the surrounding countryside and several enemy-filled dungeons. He'll also talk to townspeople and visit shops where he can buy health and weapon power-ups. Sounds more than a little RPG-ish, right? Still, the game remains true to its action roots. You follow Mega Man from a third-person perspective and blast his robot enemies—as well as dozens of Bosses—Tomb Raider style. And it appears that the "attention button" con- cept once thought unique to Zelda 64 has arrived early. Hold the R2 button in Mega Man Legends and you'll lock onto the nearest enemy, keeping it the center of attention until Mega Man can terminate it with his ever-trusty Buster gun. Speaking of the Buster, you start Mega Man Legends—as in every Mega Man side-scroller—with only the basic gun. As you explore dun- geons and the city, you'll come across weapon parts that build up the Buster's firepower. And yov'll find parts that Roll can mold into the classic Mega Man weapon arms, The game has no shortage of Bosses. You'll come across at least one big bad guy about every half hour. including the grenade and blade arms. You'll also uncover boots that enable Mega Man's dash and his trademark helmet to complete his traditional fully armored ensemble. Mega Man Legends is packed with many in-game cinemas—and therefore has plenty of Japanese dia- logue for Capcom to translate and re-record in English. Since the version we played lacked the new voice- overs, we're still unsure whether we'll get another Mega Man game where everyone speaks in high- pitched, cutesy voices. New dialogue aside, Capcom USA did say the game will hit the U.S. almost com- pletely unchanged, except for a few minor text tweaks. Mega Man Legends certainly isn't the first game to break the Blue Bomber out of his side-scroller funk (see Mega Man Soccer, RockMan Battle & Chase or any number of Rock Man adventure games that never came to the U.S.). But it does show a side to Mega Man that U.S. gamers have yet to see, and it has more than enough hybrid elements to set it apart from Mario 64 clones. @ It's almost as if Capcom's developers had an identity crisis when they created Mega Man Legends. It's packed with RPG elements, such as shops that sell weapon upgrades, dungeons to explore and a city full of people to talk to. Step into the countryside or a dungeon, however, and Mega Man slips into his old habits-blasting and dodging killer robots. One minute you're talking to townspeople, the next you're kicking dogs around town. a — PAST MEETS PRESEN ANCIENT SECRETS _ THE COMPLEX AND | OUT OF 10” © 1997 Revolution Software! PlayStation and the | are trademarks of Sony PlayStation ШШЕ: THQ Warhammer ІІ: Dark Omen The two forces are sepa- rated by a ridge in the terrain; the only way for battle to commence is for your forces to find a way up the hill. Only then can the slaughter begin. trategy titles fre- quently suffer in the X transition from the PC to the PlayStation, and with the possible exception of Westwood's Red Alert, it's safe to say that very few have made any kind of impact. What we have here is the follow-up to Mindscape's moderately suc- cessful PC and PlayStation strategy game, Shadow of the Horned Rat, a game which demonstrated this particular concept perfectly adequately. As with its predecessor, Dark Omen uses the imagery and mythology provided by the associated Games Workshop Warhammer series of table-top wargames — however, this time the gameplay engine has been made much more "PlayStation friendly." At bare-bones level, this is a real- time, skirmish-based strategy game that makes use of a “proper” 3D terrain that can be rotated and examined from different angles while the battle contin- ues—much like Bullfrog's Syndicate Wars. However, unlike many other titles in the genre, Dark Omen presents you with an undulating battlefield complete with ridges, hills and valleys to provide strategic advantages to hanging out in certain areas. “Console friendliness” has been implement by limiting the confines of each battleground to relatively small areas. All missions within the campaign have single goals, and invariably involve brief skirmishes that lead into one huge punch-up right at the end. Due to the fact there is no resource management throughout (apart from picking which units to send into battle), all that you have to worry about is moving your troops in a sensible fashion and annihilating anything that gives you a funny look. As far as this story line goes, it is pretty much the kind of thing you'd expect. Demons, magic, big men with even bigger swords, undead soldiers...if you can think of pretty much any fight- ing fantasy-style cliché... it’s in here. The game casts you in the role of Commander Morgan Bernhardt, leader of the Grudgebringer (See what | mean? That’s what his sword is called too.) mercenary army who has been hired to wipe out the increasing number of undead soldiers currently wreaking Electronic Arts ЕТЕ Electronic Arts Strategy 85 1998 www.ea.com Dark Omen takes all of the good bits from predecessor Shadow of the Horned Rat and refines them into a better-looking and faster-paced strategy game. havoc throughout the country. Your army begins the campaign with four regiments of troops: infantry, cav- alry, crossbows and artillery, but as the campaign pro- gresses you get the chance to hire new regiments and buy reinforcements. While you do this the story unfolds through campsite conversations with your allies which are all presented using a polygon-based animation system more in keeping with the style of the game as opposed to CGI stuff. Listen for some spec- tacularly over-acted accents in these sections. Fans of Games Workshop will no doubt get a kick out of this game no matter what...the atmosphere it gener- ates is pretty much spot-on. The version we looked at for this preview still needed some ‘tweaking’ in the Al department, but on the whole it seems to be shaping up very nicely. @ MGM Interactive Interactive Studios 1-2 May Action/Strategy 60 1998 WWW.Wargamesmgm.com WarGames: Defcon 1 arGames is the movie that brought hackers from а secret, dorky under- ground into the big-screen lime- light. Although it has been awhile since the movie came out, a game based loosely on the idea behind the film could be pretty cool. That’s where WarGames: Defcon 1 comes in, and according to Robb Alvey, pro- ducer for WarGames, you don’t nec- essarily have to know about the movie to enjoy the game since it stands on its own. WarGames on the PlayStation The moveable camera makes it easy to get the takes place 20 years after the movie. best view of your blatant destruction or your Now, David Lightman (Matthew Strategic placement. flamethrower to a barrage of rockets. There are 15 units on each side, with a player being able to control up to eight of them during any given mission. There are 30 missions in all—15 for each side—that take you around the world, in a variety of environments. Mission objectives are given before each mission via a simple, but slick interface. What's unique about the game is that you can change the action/strategy balance. The action side of it is self-explanatory: Blow up anything that stands in your way, while still completing your objectives. On the strategy side though, things are more interesting. WarGames features a command style of play where you can control your units like a gener- www.gtgames.com ARE YOU UN al. For example, if you send a jeep to an enemy The rather base and lay down a marker, you can tell the strange rest of your units to go to that point automati- ш diagonally cally and blow up whatever enemy structures split are nearby. n two-player |. Although the one-player missions are a big Calling all screen |. part of the WarGames experience, the title H 5 works also has a Two-player Split-screen Mode. This Buttkicker Wannabe 5. surprisingly mode lets you play either cooperative or head- i well. to-head missions. What’s different than most Duke's been framed and now Broderick's character in the film) is working for NORAD. To make a long story short, WOPR goes crazy again, a Web surfer unknowingly holds the fate of humanity in his hands and you’re the one who has to fix everything. This unique cross between Command & Conquer and a game from the Strike series puts you in control of either the WOPR mecha- nized forces or the NORAD military units. WOPR forces are like something out of the Terminator, with Hunter Killer-inspired crafts, mechs and other robotic-looking vehicles. The NORAD units are straightforward army vehi- cles. The vehicle’s weapons range from a games is that WarGames splits the screen diagonally, which according to Alvey works really well with the style of play. e The missions take you anywhere from along the South Pacific coast to Amsterdam. he's in hiding. We need a new Duke and fast! Think you've got the right stuff? Come on down to www.gtgames.com and if you can prove you're Duke enough you'll appear in The Man's next big PlayStation" hit, Duke Nukem: Time to Kill. SHH AGI Const west у magne Games Nea Cy Ga этти gintractive.com Duke Nukem’ 30 Realms Entertainment БТ” and the GT Games lego" are ‘wademars and the GT (од is a registered trademark of GT Interactive Software Сор. 30 Ralms logo is а registered trademark of 30 Realms Entertainment. Activision 12 Мау Luxoflux Corp. Action 80 www.activision.com ast month, we gave you sneak peeks at this hot new game from the four-man team at Luxoflux. We finally got a chance to play it in-depth, and while the controls still need to be tweaked, мете pretty excited at what we’ve played so far. This '705 funkadelic take on the combat driving genre has what it takes to bump Twisted Metal 1 and 2 from the throne. The vehicles are fairly interesting. They consist of classic muscle cars, pickup trucks and even a school bus, apparently a very popular vehicle with the focus/testing groups (in the words of an Activision associate producer, “Кіа? love this f****** bus!”). Each of the cars come with a standard machine gun. To pick up more powerful arma- ments (see sidebar), you must drive around the large levels and pick up weapon icons. If you can find the secret weapon crate, you can access that character's unique special power. Beezwax, for example, can launch a swarm of mutant bees that can make short work of any car. What really distinguishes this game from its compe- tition, however, isn't the cars or the weapons; it's the awesome game engine. When you damage the front end, your hood can pop loose. When you get shot, you can see the bullet holes. If you get...ahem, rear-ended, your tail pipe and bumpers can be knocked loose. Windshields can shatter. You can start avalanches on the snowy mountains. You can almost feel the bumpy or slippery ter- rain underneath your wheels. In other words, this game engine is one of the finest we've seen in a while. It's extreme- ly detailed and realistic—it really must be seen and played to be appreciated. Vigilante 8 will include a One-player Kids love this $%*&!?#@ school bus! Quest Mode (where you follow a character's story line), a One-player Arcade Mode (where you can just jump in and fight against one to four other cars) and a Two- player Mode. Right now, the two-player game is only one-on-one, but that may change to become a free-for- all that may include up to four more cpu opponents (for a total of six cars in battle). @ The Armory Most weapons have three functions. Besides their basic use, they have two special attacks (activated through joypad commands). INTERCEPTOR MISSILES-An agile missile that uses optical and heat-seeking tracking. Special #1: Halo Decoy-Fires a hot flare to throw off enemy tracking. Special #2: Afterburner-Fires a missile without detaching it, resulting in a brief speed burst. BULL'S-EYE ROCKETS-A powerful rocket with limited range and no tracking ability. Special #1: Road Runner-Fires a non-explosive rocket, which sticks to enemies and pushes them out of control. Special #2: Stampede-Fires remaining rockets in rapid succession. BRUISER CANNON-A slow auto-tracking cannon on а turret. Special #1: Cow Puncher-Fires a force blast. Special #2: Buckshot-Fires remaining shells in rapid succession. n-explosive ROADKILL MINES-Anti-vehicle mines. Special #1: Bear Hug-A mine retrofitted with a gravitational force field that traps vehicles. Special #2: Cactus Patch-Combines гета! mines into a proximity multi-mine that will Scatter everywhere when vehicles approach it. MORTAR SWIVEL-A fire-and-forget weapon. It fires an explosive charge that flies into the air and tracks its target. Activision 1 Activision Adventure 90 www.activision.com Pitfall 3D t’s a frustrating fact of life in this industry: Games are often delayed, and you have to take most release dates with a grain of salt. So Pitfall 305 year-late arrival to the PlayStation certainly isn’t unprece- dented—nor is it inexcusable. The game’s development team went through some heavy personnel changes more than a year ago, forcing Pitfall 3D to miss its spring '97 release. Now that it’s nearly complete, however, Pitfall 3D looks ready to hit stores in March. And Activision claims the game has been heavily tweaked during its unex- pectedly long development cycle. “We Bosses are so big that puny Harry will need help—like when he hops aboard this fire-spitting dragon. have a lot more art in the game than we originally planned,” said Producer John Lafleur, “and we were able to fine-tune our Boss engines so they offer a bit of variety to the gameplay.” The basics of the game haven't changed. As Pitfall Harry Jr., you must bat- tle through the otherworldly realm of Djinn and seal its entrance to Earth, thus saving humanity from godlike bad-boy Scourge. The 11 3D levels (and three Boss stages) sprawl through jungles, volcanic and acid-filled regions, Aztec temples and prison camps, and each area has several branching paths. You get specific mis- Sions, too, such as destroying scattered mine extractors or rescuing the beautiful female leader of the Djinn resistance. Like the original Atari cart, the game has you swinging on vines and leaping over bot- tomless pits—except this time instant- death chasms are everywhere, making Pitfall 3D one of the most difficult platform games. Harry Jr. may have lost the whip he wielded in his Mayan Adventure, but now he has magic on his side. While Activision intended all along to bring Harry Jr. to life with voice-overs, it was only recently that they lured Bruce Campbell, best known as the star of the Evil Dead series, to lend his voice to the role. But don't expect to hear any one-lin- ers from the Evil Dead flicks in Pitfall 3D— despite the efforts of the developers, all of them fans of the schlock-horror series. "We'd thrown some things in the script that were obviously straight from the Evil Dead movies," Lafleur said, "and [Campbell] looked at us and said, ‘Just for once I’m gonna get something that’s not a reference to Evil Dead, you rat bastards!” e Pitfall 101 For you newbies to Pitfall lore, here's a recap of Harry's exploits: Developed by Activision co-founder David Crane, it was the Super Mario Bros. of its day. Crane' sequel was bigger and better than the original, as well as one of the very first platform games. Aside from its name, [| this so-so side-scroller j| had little to do with | the other games іп the series. Introduced Harry Jr., whose reunion with dad in the finale made for one of gaming's funniest endings. www.gtgames.com ы SAL | Prove it! 1. Go to www.gtgames.com 2. Send us a snapshot of your best Duke impersonation 3. Answer a few questions about The Man Show us you've got the right stuff and you'll win an appearance in Duke Микет 5 next big PlayStation™ hit, Duke Nukem: Time to Kill. Come get some! OES MUNI tt мәлін Imapas Games Neto ғ = BT Interactive i n Software. wengtnteactóve com. Dute Nukem’ 30 Realms Entertainment” GT™ and the GT Games іше” are trademarks and he GT Logo® is a registered trademark of GT Interactive Software Con. 3D REaims logo is a registered trademark of 3D Realms Entertainment. ма ү, Peep? шыде >: $ б. { и | ~ ^^. More fun than -- | 2 ' м a « Shooting your |" neighbor's cat. |- Fox Interactive 1-2 80 Gremlin Interactive Shooter www.foxinteractive.com N2O: Nitrous Oxide ver miss the old arcade shoot- ers where you do nothing but blaze through level after level, shooting every enemy in sight, vying for nothing more than the high score? Well, Gremlin has created a 3D shooter that has today’s graphics with yesterday’s tradi- tional arcade action. This action all takes place inside tunnels inhabited with more than 22 species of alien bugs. Each type of enemy has its own special formations and attacks, like scorpions who lay mines on the tunnel walls and black wid- ows who explode into swarms of baby spi- ders when shot. Even the once-peaceful but- terfly becomes certain death from above. Behind the Screens You'll have a variety of weapons (more than 14) to take these bugs out, but choosing how you kill them can make for higher scores. For example, you should shoot centipedes in the head instead of the main body (sound famil- iar old-time gamers?). After you kill off an enemy, a coin will appear, which you can shoot up to four times to increase its value. Collect these coins and at the end of each level, you can buy shields, firewalls (an exter- minating, tunnel-clearing ring of fire) and even more points. The entire feel of N20 fits well with the 3D Shooter genre. This is a very fast-moving game (60 frames per second) with very impressive, if not overly done, graphics. The crazy lighting effects, warping and morphing tunnels, and wild explosions provide such sensory overload, that ravers might feel right a home with this game. The soundtrack (to be done by a yet undisclosed techno band) will only add to the psychedelic madness. (On a side note, we asked the programmers if they did a lot of LSD while programming. They thought we were joking...) At heart, N20's gameplay may remind many players of the famous shooter, Tempest. This isn't totally by accident. “We set out to create a game where the gameplay was simple on one level but completely absorbing and addictive on another," says Peter Dalton, Gremlin's producer on N20. “The sort of thing that leaves the player say- ing, ‘Just one more go’ like the old arcade classics, such as Tempest.” With emphasis on earning high scores and beating endless waves of oncoming enemies, N20 might have captured the formula that made Tempest such a success. @ 2142112 132) BTE NE B; ABE gi ا ا ЛЕГЕ‏ ang! Meow! Bang! Meow! Come on lready. It’s time you moved up the food chain and take aim at something that sounds better when it explodes. And you can when you grab your gun, included free with Point Blank, the newest arcade shooting sensation from Namco that'll have you firing till your fingers fall off. Get trigger happy at your next party with over 70 loony shooting scenarios as everything from piranhas and vultures to chickens and octopi fall to the wayside. Look, the directions are easy: if it’s bigger than a pixel, shoot it. Un ci: BUNCON FOR USE WITH SOFTWARE THAT DISPLAYS THE GUNCON ICON. Payetation POINT BLANK Station and the Play nc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the www.namco.com {or why deception, cruelty and betrayal are your friends} To start “The War of the Lions,” you must use bold strokes. Regicides, double-crosses, violations of queens, good options all. Whatever your plan, once begun, a war of this magni- tude is not to be trifled with. This is a brutal conflict of epic proportions, where each hallowed victory brings you closer to the very heart of darkness. Battle after battle, you will command your fighting party across magical lands protected by hostile forces. You will need the help of the bravest warriors, as well as armor, weapons, intricate hattle plans and magical spells. Be ruthless. Be clever. Or be dead. brem А M {or how to ensure the biggest, baddest, meanest SOBs are on your side} In Final Fantasy Tactics; you аге Ramza, a young squad leader and an ally of Princess Ovelia. It’s up ev to you to lead an elite fighting squad of your own choosing into battle. You must train them to be powerful Black Mages who can cast magic spells, Summoners who can awaken terrible beasts, Wizards, PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Final Fantasy and SquareSoft are registered trademarks of Square Co., ph у! 5 у р ) qui S 4 {or further discussions from the annals of shoot first, ask questions later} ^ „ As the ancient history of warfare reveals, you will survive if your hattle strategy is strong, and perish Y if it is not. You will lead the charge through impressive lands trying to gain the best strategic positions in forests, castle ramparts, swamps and valleys. You can buy and sell equipment, hire new soldiers and plan glorious hattle strategies. May you conquer the enemy or may you die trying. «ams +. PlayStation Ltd. ©1997/1998 Square Co., Ltd. Final Fantasy Tactics is a trademark of Square Co., Ltd. ©1998 Square Co., Ltd. АЈ rights reserved. www.playstation.com Sony Computer Ent. 1 15 May Squaresoft Shooter 1998 www.playstation.com Einhander Ithough it is superbly packaged in brilliant 3D graphics, Einhánder really plays like a traditional side-scrolling shooter. Well, traditional only in the sense that you move back and forth and shoot things on a single plane of existence. You see, Square’s new shooter takes the gameplay of classic 2D shooters, and attempts to juice it up in every way possible. You control a ship that comes equipped with a nose- mounted gun and, strangely enough, a grappling arm. By the press of a button, this extendible arm can be used to reach out and take your enemies' weapons GREAARE away from them for use on your own ship. Sound iron- finr mei ic? Perhaps. Deadly? Definitely. There is a wide variety А PREADER We told you there was carnage. Just look right here, you can see we weren't lyin’. highs. Because the game’s graphics are polygonal, the enemies are rendered in specific pieces—pieces that make pretty explosions when shot. Just about any enemy in Einhánder can be destroyed in a number of ways. Take an enemy walker for example. Blow up his legs and he clumsily collapses to the ground. Hit his head, and he short-circuits. If he flies in the air, take out his back-end thrusters and watch him fall to the ground. How you destroy enemies is fun, but also important. If something has a weapon you want, you must take care to render the carrier harmless, but leave his armaments intact. If this sounds intense, just wait until you battle some of the huge Bosses found at the end of each level. Well, almost all of them are huge, anyway. Great shooters are very rare these days, and after playing this nearly complete version of Einhander, we think there's a good chance that Square's shooter will break this dry spell. e 1771020 of weapons that сап be picked up, and right when you think you’ve seen them all, a new one pops up that you haven’t seen before. Grenades, Light Sabers, Spread guns, huge Cannons and Vulcan guns are just part of the arsenal that can be pillaged and used within the game. Even better, the weapons serve different functions, depending on how they are mounted on your ship. For example, if the rapid-fire Vulcan gun is mounted on the bottom of your ship, it will only fire a stream of bullets forward. If it is switched to the top, it becomes an auto-aiming, rapid-fire weapon. Adding even more depth to the gunplay are different ships that you can choose. Each ship has a special way of handling these weapons. Some ships can mount two at a time but can't carry extra ones, mention while others can only fire one at a time, but can store cool Bosses? acquired weapons for use later (selectable via the Yes, | think shoulder buttons). Suffice to say, it's a great crash- we did course in weapon management. А Did we Like all shooters, the action in Einhánder becomes Check qe quite frantic. But this game might take it to all-new this fire-saw : throwing tank-thing. Publisher/Developer Players/Genre % Done — Release Sony Computer Ent. 1-4 50 Sony Interactive Sports Web Address: www.playstation.com Xtreme ith Midway’s NFL Blitz creating such a big stir at arcades across the land, it was only a matter of time before other game companies discovered the excitement of | “extreme” football. And while the med premise of wild, exaggerated sports 27 is not new to video games (see NBA Jam), ironically it is new to the football genre. The premise of NFL Xtreme is a five-on-five match-up in which every player is an eligible receiver. To further promote the “anything goes” mentality there are no boundaries or penalties (save delay of game) and a first down is 20 yards. Just imagine a simplified GameDay 98 with mean, superman-like players hitting each other so hard helmets frequently launch off heads like way- ward cannon balls. Along those lines, look for flip, spear and clothesline tackling not to mention the entire library of GameDay moves including the stiff arm, juke, spin, etc. ` Because of the small amount of players on field, the developers where able to use 400 polygonal player models. They claim four times the number of GameDay 98. What does this ABBING DAR It’s OK to crush a player’s knees in this GameDay 98 knockoff. COLUMBIA Columbia” Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. darS PLAYSTATION With only five players to a side, the game is able to clip along at more than 30 frames per second. mean? Expect some highly detailed players with unusually large biceps and thighs. Other interesting visual effects—torn jerseys, limping players, 5o differ- ent celebration dances and playing in a blizzard!? All these elements sound swell but we’re looking forward to the highly satisfying “late hit on the celebrating player” the most. There's nothing like it...it just feels so right. As far as options go, NFL Xtreme will mirror GameDay offering create-a-player, draft picks, season play, etc. Most importantly, real NFL teams and sched- ules will be used as well as the same groundbreaking game engine. With any luck, NFL Xtreme could turn out to be a very good game. Of course, with the home version of NFL Blitz on the horizon Sony better hurry up and get it out. e The new album. $ Featuring "Save Yourself.” Worldwide Representation: Вава Rose at AGM Mixed by Stabbing Westward Now That's A Great Ideal Crystal Dynamics 1 20 September Crystal Dynamics Action 1998 www.crystald.com t would seem that the “3D free-roaming action game” is the next genre of choice for the majority of develop- ers. Still inspired by the suc- cess of Mario on the N64, the search for something of equal caliber continues on the PlayStation. After last year’s slew of “almost, but not quite” titles, it would appear that мете finally going to see not only games with comparable technology, but also some interesting skews on actual game content. Crystal Dynamics has a power- ful game-creating tool in the shape of the engine used for Gex: Enter the Gecko, and throughout the course of 1998 and beyond we should see this (and further incar- nations) put to effective use. The first off the blocks is this—a game that is a bold step away from the wise-cracking, movie-parodying antics previously favored. Fueled by voodoo imagery and dark, macabre vio- lence, Akuji is a 3D action game where the emphasis is definitely on the nastier side of things. Playing the role of Akuji, the story begins as you are murdered by your evil brother, a powerful voodoo priest, in order for him to steal away your bride. However, Akuji isn’t just murdered—he has his heart ripped out (...the Heartless, get it?) and is then banished to hell. There—told you it was dark and nasty. As you'd expect then, the majority of the game concerns Akuji’s quest to avenge his death and escape from hell. To do this he has to explore the 3D environs of hell and locate the spirits of his ancestors while he accumu- lates voodoo powers in order to escape and return to the material world. The game employs the enhanced Gex graphics and gameplay engine extremely Akuji the Heartless All of the action is viewed from a camera above and behind Akuji, however the camera system is intelligent and will move to allow you the best view of the scene. effectively—and while the gameplay mechanics are what you’d expect from a 3D action game (run, jump, shoot and lash out with nasty fist-mounted blades) the integration of realistic contextual Al where the bad guys seemingly “respond” to different things you do makes the whole environment more believable. Gone are the days where the bad guys just zero in on you regardless..here we encounter a more pensive and seemingly “intelligent” assailant. Having had the chance to play an early version, it was impressive to see creatures backing off and quite obviously being "aware" of the player's presence. Add to all of this behavioral science some gorgeous lighting and polygonal morphing effects, and you have a PlayStation game that is most certainly a step up technologically from similar titles in the past. e Voodoo magic allows you to employ magical-ranged attacks such as this fireball. Fox Interactive 12 80 Gremlin Interactive Racing www.foxinteractive.com Team Losi "ANIMATION ON THE CUTTING EDGE! NEW LOW PRICE!!! $19.95 s.r.p.! RC Racing t’s no secret that RC racing games are generally a hit with gamers. Who can forget the fun of RC Pro Am from the olden days of the NES? It would only make sense that a new addi- tion to the genre would be on its way. Enter: Team Losi RC Racing from Fox Interactive. This nice-looking racer with fancy 3D lighting effects drops you in the front seat of one of 16 different remote-controlled vehicles. What makes these cars more than just some polygons the game’s design team whipped together is the fact that Gremlin is working with leading race team and car manufacturer Team Losi to give the cars in the game the look, feel and response of actual RC cars. The develop- ment team has been spending time at RC Passing through the colored gates in various sequences will land you different power-ups. Each of the 16 Team Losi-inspired RC cars has its own attributes to best suit your favorite style. HOON P Although RC Racing may have a seemingly cartoon style on the surface, it's a fun, fast-paced racer at its core. tracks with Team Losi so they have a bet- ter understanding of how RC cars respond to steering input, acceleration, etc. On top of this, the cars іп the game will be colored and decorated to represent real Team Losi models, with the fastest car in the game being modeled after the World Champion. Of course, a cool license is only part of what makes a game good. The four modes of play are straightfor- ward, giving you what you might expect from a racing title. The one-player courses offer plenty of play in themselves with shortcuts and other secrets, and there's a Two-player Head-to-head Mode for added replay—a must-have mode for any racing game. The other two modes are a Championship and Time Attack. The game's normal-sounding (but surreal- looking) environments include a Diddy Kong-inspired beachside course, a moun- tain pass and a scorching desert, among many others. Overall, there are 16 differ- ent courses to race on. Each of the levels have colored gates you must pass through to receive power- ups. Let's say you pass through a red gate. An icon on the screen tells you the next gate in the sequence is yellow, and then green and so on. Once a certain number of gates are passed through, a power-up is yours. If you miss on of the gates though, you'll have to start fresh with no power-up. For added realism, each of the game's cars has its own physics, which Team losi has helped with. But since the courses you ride around on aren't like your average everyday RC tracks, the physics are a bit more relaxed. The cars can easily bounce and flip over if they hit a ramp a certain way. @ hottest selling videos Р returns at an incredible new | low price! One hundred years: after their deaths, six legendar holy warriors are reborn to justice against the foi ‘Ay, S t: с E ANIMATION Би ANEW GENERATIO | Соерегзбол of Алиса The themed environments will have you going all over the place, jockeying for first. Prana 1027120 As with the current crop of Japanese action/strategy games there are some stunning magical effects employed throughout. (сму 58 Crystal Dynamics 12 40 Ath Qtr. Crystal Dynamics Strategy 1998 www.crystald.com Unholy War hose of you with a penchant for quality games will no doubt respect the pedi- gree for this one. The team behind it has previously worked on such classics as Archon (remember that?), Star Control and The Horde and throughout their history they have had an uncanny knack for blending cerebral strategy gaming with more mass-market "action" appeal. Unholy War is no different—and like the team's pre- vious efforts it allows you to play in a variety of differ- ent ways—as a "story" game which is a long campaign, as a combat game, or as a two-player *melee" combat- fest that completely ignores the strategy side of things and just lets you jump straight in and kick ass. Devil ју Set on an alien world the game pro- vides an effective mix of fantasy style magic, sorcery and swordplay with high- tech machinery, spaceships and the all- important laser guns. Think Final Fantasy Tactics and Vandal Hearts mixed with Star Control and Return Fire and you're half way to understanding what this is like. The background to the game deals with an (un)holy war between the inhabitants of Xsarra (alien fantasy names never have enough vowels in them) —the swords ‘n’ magic people, and the invading Teknos— the spaceships and laser guns people. There's a long and complicated story leading up to the actions of the вате but the upshot of it all is that there's now a big punch-up just waiting to happen. Much like the trend in recent Japanese strategy RPGs, the story unfolds through animated set-pieces that make use of the games' polygonal engine. So good is the presentation of the game itself that it has been possible for the development team to seamlessly integrate story ele- ments without having to render lengthy CG animations. The 3D "Action" Mode sees two opposing units battling it out within a detailed environment. Taking control of either side, the game is played on two levels —the strategic, which is a 3D turn and hex- based strategy game (not as bad as it sounds... promise) and then the action. When two opposing fac- tions meet, the game changes into a 3D action battle set within a small arena. This is where the Star Control analogies come in, as the mechanics of play are very similar to the battles in this timeless classic where you pick your individual combatant and then control him in a fight to the death. The game is filled with some beautiful effects, most notably some of the magic effects instigated by the Xsarrans— but what's most important is that the game- play draws on some proven ideas that have been updated to fit in with the current wave of Japanese action/strategy titles. @ г” PlayStation > than ace D а Join a companion оп a quest to ҮР defeat Diablo and his dark minions. ! Storm dungeon labyrinths as а Warrior, Rogue, or Sorcerer, gaining power with every enemy destroyed. i^ 32 There сап ђе по peace until Diablo, Ё the Lord of all Evil, is defeated. |^ abit lone. “ 1 " 42 out of 5 Asayjeg моплоја Crystal Dynamics’ Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is а wonderful example of just how far the PlayStation can be pushed graphically. Using a dramatic rework- ing of the Gex engine, it features Tomb Raider-like gameplay and stunning character design. Romance of the Three Kingdoms V from Koei will put you into the shoes of an emperor from feudal China. One thing in this version that wasn’t supported in old- school NES versions is an Eight-player Mode. Expect it in the third quarter 1998. SURGE Stunt RC Copter from Shiny allows you take control of a little RC chopper and fly it around PilotWings-inspired.settings;-Designed-as-an interactive-toy,-the-game. uses the dual-analog liked real copter. No publisher has been announced. Tekken 3 Producer Hajime Nakatani told us last month the gamê would pack never-before-seen exttas. Talk about an understatement. Turns out Tekken з features а 3D side-scrolling mini-game reminiscent of Final Fight. Called Tekken Force Mode, it's four lev- els that pit you against enemy soldiers, as.well.as.regulargame.eharacters. Each round ends with a Boss stage, and you get a special ending when you beat the final Boss. Imagine Psygnosis’ Psybadek as a Crash Bandicoot-type 3D platformer played on a hoverboard. In the game, you speed through fairly linear levels, performing tricks to pass obstacles and kill enemies. All we know on this strangely named game known as Soldnerschild is that it’s an RPG/simulation reminiscent of Dragon Force on the Saturn. Coming out later this year, this Koei title has a huge cast of characters and spacious worlds. O.D.T. (Or Die Trying) is a futuristic 3D action-adventure game by Psygnosis. You can select one of four characters, each with his or her own special abilities. You can also cast spells from four different realms. Expect awesome lighting effects and smooth animations. Мојјед МӘ1Л914 PLAYSTATION Colony Wars: Codename Vendetta is the follow- Up to the заця acclaimed 3D space shooter. quitk Cum -in on a proven ih They are improv- ing the game and graphical engines enough to make this a fresh playing experience. From the makers of Tiger Shark comes Duke Nukem: Time to Kill. n-Space takes Duke where no Duke has gone before—into a fully polygonal 3-D world. Due out sometime in October, this Tomb Raider- esque юан thon features a third-person view but we're assured^W . Be sure to check out our Bio F.R.E.A.K.S. from Midway is a 3D fighter that doesn't pretend to be anything else. The game has patented Midway gore with plenty of body parts, buckets of blood and loads of fatalities, plus a strange bio-mechanical cast. Six great hits now for your MIDWAY MARBLE MADNESS EVERYONE B а PlayStation | | ESRB = 2 (ASTAL (GSTLES Compilation ©1998 Atari Games Corporation. Gauntlet, Marble Madness,” Paperboy” and Road Blasters™ are trademarks of Atari Games Corporation. Gauntlet ©1985, Marble Madness ©1984. Paperboy ©1985, Road Blasters ©1987 Atari Games Corporation. Atari; Millipede” and Crystal Castles" are trademarks of Atari Corporation used under license. Millipede ©1982. Crystal Castles ©1983 Ata Corporation. Midway" is a trademark of Midway Games Inc. All rights reserved. Converted by Digital Eclipse Software Inc. Distributed by Midway Home Entertainment Inc. PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. 2...” YON 9661 © WI "9180029 ү; JA pui DUB VgN a11 2U} "sar gasso tou aug зајпашоо fuos |0: "n. F E r = PlayStation А F 2 4 А 4 к o а төө = CHICAGO BULLS) N SOME ARENAS INTIMIDATION COMES NOT ONLY FROM WHAT HAPPENS ON THE FLOOR, BUT WHAT HANGS ABOVE IT. жу ж NUT ы | NBA SHOOTOUT, 98 РАОРЕН У OF РРА БТАТОМ TR „ва Н i А ATHEETMC DEPT. "n x - 4 A5 А ч Ра ae Ses 7, i ve 457 ў ы ете! -A-mivs TERIOUS. Ап UnLiKELY HERO mu o Unleash the power of Fire Blast and 50 Choose yovr allies well. Gain experience Release the dragons inside...transform into other spectacular magic spells. and master the skills needed to survive in many different forms, each with unique this epic 3-D world. special abilities. M [M ; | e =. The lone survivor of a legendary dragon clan, a rebil Youth embarks оп a great journey. One of discovery...and danger. Ж ис *7"- а path to discover his history. What lies there i is | Аы! іп mystery... > ow PlayStation © CAPCOM СО. LTD. 1998 © CAPCOM USA., INC. 1998 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. BREATH OF FIRE із о trademark of CAPCOM СО, LTD. CAPCOM is о registered trademark of CAPCOM CO., LID. PlayStation ond the PlayStation logos оге trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. e An inner power of uncertain origin forces Ryu to become a a „warrior. Unwillingly driven by this power, the young hero is led down 54 = уе! strangely familiar. 2 97 ен “т жое.” ` Now you possess the power to control his н as yours. hs РА c ps www.capcom.com he first Squaresoft arcade game is mak- ing its way to arcades soon. Ehrgeiz is a fighting game in the style of the Tobal series on the PlayStation. For the arcade, it is the only game of its type: a true 3D engine (no, War Gods does not count). This engine allows your charac- ter to have full 360-degree range of motion and adds new depth to a somewhat tired genre. In Ehrgeiz, you must make sure you're directly facing the opponent, or you won't hit them (unlike say SFII or Tekken, where you're automatically facing your enemy). It seems as if it will be difficult to learn this new type of combat. Ehrgeiz has a total of 12 characters, including Cloud and Tifa from Final Fantasy VII and two lion-esque Bosses. Cloud and Tifa are time-release characters and will be avail- able roughly a month after initial launch, the Bosses will come after that. One pos- sible problem with Ehrgeiz is that the characters seem to be the same. There is one grapplertype character, but other than that, all of the fighters' basic moves use the same joystick motions. This is the same for Cloud and Tifa, who sadly appear to utilize nothing (Limit Breaks, Materia usage, etc.) from FFVII. The but- ton layout is pretty much the same as Soul Edge: Guard, High Attack, Low Attack, Special. The Special button is a weapon-based attack which is different for each character (i.e., Godhand plants mines, Inoba has grappling attacks, etc.). There are also plenty of basic mechanics to learn such as reversals, rolling while on the ground, utilizing boxes and other objects found on the stage, and much more. The graphics and animation are Publisher/Developer Players/Genre % Done Release Namco 12 90 tst Qtr. Squaresoft Fighting 1998 Web Address: www.namco.com awesome. The characters are rendered beautifully and have that Tekken/VF feel. The backgrounds are excel- lent as well. Most are enclosed spaces such as a wrestling ring or a train car. A couple of stages even have multiple heights (in the stands of a Roman coli- seum). Ehrgeiz can be summed up in one word: innov- ative, something needed in today’s fighting games. @ The characters for EX 2 have been announced, and Vega joins the crew. An SFA2-esque custom combo has been added as well. Gladiator 2 will be previewed when we have more info on it. Konami's Jam will hopefully appear at ASI in Vegas this March, along with the incredible Sega Rally 2. cL PlayStation ES PlayStation Harder slides. Bigger collisions. Tougher catches. Meaner stuff. ©1998 Electronic Arts. Electonic Arts, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS logo, Triple Play Baseball, and “If it's in the game, it's in the game.” are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Properties, Inc. © MLBPA. Officially Licensed By Major League Baseball Players Association. Licensed by Sony Computer Entertainment America for use with the PlayStation game console (ҮСТЕ Lone BALLS Triple Play 99. The highlight reel you play. www.easports.com in the U.S. and/or other countries. All rights. reserved. Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, www.majorleaguebaseball.com www.bigleaguers.com Мау 1998 | | 8 soon Compiled by: John Stockhausen PLAYSTATION Einhánder Sony Computer Entertainment May Shooter INEW HERO. KNEW HERO The arcade smash X-Men Elemental Gear Bolt Working Designs May Shooter : : World Cup 98 EA MEYERS Vs. Street Fighter is Forsaken Acclaim May Action being ported over to the Master of Monsters Ascii May Action 8 " Mega Man Legends Capcom May Action PlayStation with some Running Wild Universal Studios May Racing major changes. See what Team Losi RC Racing Fox Interactive May _ Racing i А Tekken 3 Namco May Fighting they are in the preview Vigilante 8 Activision May Action of the game in this WarGames MGM Interactive May Action Y i X-Men vs. Street Fighter Capcom May Fighting month $ PlayStation Azure Dreams Konami June — RPG Preview section, pg. 42. Bass Masters Classic: PE THO June — Sports Cardinal SYN Sony Computer Entertainment ^ June ^ Fighting Crime Killer Interplay June Action One of the most Gran Turismo Sony Computer Entertainment June Racing NS Granstream Saga THO June RPG anticipated baseball HardBall 6 Accolade June | Sports games of the season is Heart of Darkness Interplay June — Act/ Adv MLB F. ing Ki Hot Shots Golf Sony Computer Entertainment ^ June ^ Sports eaturing Ken d Midway June fighting Griffey Jr. for the 2 Fox Interactive June Shooter Я ж Off-Road Challenge Midway june Racing Nintendo 64. Yes, its Constructor Acclaim July Simulation been a long wait but the Redline Racing Accolade July Racing ^ Silhouette Mirage Working Designs July — Action game's almost here. WWF Warzone Acclaim July Sports Burning Rangers Е Sega May Action N | NTE N [ 0 64 Magic Knight Rayearth Working Designs May RPG А ini All-Star Baseball 99 Acclaim May Sports Знате тое seed Ms RES Bust-A-Move Acclaim May Puzzle Deadly Arts Konami May Fighting World Cup 98 EA May Sports Forsaken Acclaim May Action Mega Man Legends puts lggy's Reckin' Balls Acclaim May Racing i Mike Piazza's StrikeZone GT Interactive May Sports you in control of the MLB Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. Nintendo May Sports blue hero, except this Quest 64 THO May RPG time he’s in a true 3D Cruis'n World Nintendo June Racing x Flying Dragon Natsume June Fighting environment. The game Mission: Impossible Ocean June Act/ Adventure has action, adventure Mortal Kombat 4 Midway June Fighting d RP Wetrix Ocean June Puzzle and even some RPG Banjo-Kazooie Nintendo July Action elements. Check out Superman 64 Titus July Action T Tonic Trouble Ubi Soft July Action the preview on pg. 44. World Grand Prix Video Systems July Racing WWF Warzone Acclaim July Sports Want to own one of the best-looking PlayStation games to date? Then get ready for Forsaken from Acclaim Studios. This Descent-style shoot-'em- Legend of the River King Natsume May RPG up is also on its way to Harvest Moon Natsume June RPG h Disney's Mulan THQ July Action the N64. Both versions Montezuma's Revenge Take 2 July Action are due out in May. Опсе дашы the Fate об SQUARESOFT | cx ША! | ® ОМОТ А = е е licensed by the Ol o of America Inc. 1998 Nintendo of America Inc usively Distributed By 5 А ти *3 > Тће future An 1u phic marvel the weapons are simply awesome... the control is impeccable." ULTRA GAME PLAYERS "Fast paced, cutting edge gameplay mixed with eye-popping visuals in a 369 degree 3D world." N64.COM 29 FORSAKEN ТМ 8 © 1997 Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. ACCLAIM is a registered trademark of Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. ч All Rights Reserved, All other logos aré the property of their respective parties. Screen shots shown were taken trom PC version of the videogame. bar | Party captain seeks four brave souls for a 7| 30 to 40 hour world-spanning “1 adventure. Applicants must be experienced in puzzie solving, spellcasting and real-time or turn-based combat. Orphans and mysterious loners welcom Wild hair, bionic limbs, i| physical quirks preferred. Benefits (ДЕ include travel to exotic locales, working with your hands,rigorous fitness program, saving the world and Јан the gold you can carry. Please fax with Zelda 64 and Parasite Eve leading the pack of more than 12 innovative role-playing games, 1998 is looking to be spo year of the RPG о when's the last time you've been to Hyrule? Link and Princess Zelda's old stomping grounds aren't the 2D, top-down, sprite-filled fantasy land they used to be. And neither are the worlds, combat systems and plot lines of this year's bumper crop of role-playing titles. In fact, 1998 is looking to be the biggest year for console RPGs that U.S. gamers have ever seen. It's almost as if Link-like a pointy-eared Paul Revere-is bucking his horse at full gallop and yelling, "The RPGs are coming! The RPGs are coming!" with an RPG revolution hot on his horseshoes. More than a dozen role-playing games are expected to hit stores this year for the three main consoles (and that's not includ- ing the already released Alundra and Final Fantasy Tactics). Compare that to the six titles that came out for the PlayStation and Saturn in 1997. N64 owners are finally get- ting their RPG fix this year, too, with Quest 64, possibly Earthbound 64 and-of course- Zelda 64, due out by Christmas. Any way you look at it, RPGs are finally booming in the U.S., leaving the genre's legions of fans to wonder what the heck took so long. After all, the games have always had street credit aplenty. Why are they getting so much credit from so many publishers now? “The easy answer is Final Fantasy VII, but that's not entirely the whole story," said Working Designs President Victor Ireland, who has strived for years to make RPGs more popular in the U.S. "I say it had a lot to do with an underground of RPG fans that was getting bigger and bigger all along but was never addressed by the marketing people, because they thought RPGs were а niche. And as long as they thought of them as a niche, they remained a niche." Ireland, the most outspoken expert on RPGs in the U.S., explained that console role-playing games have always been good enough and enjoyed enough of an avid fol- lowing to go mainstream. It just took the overwhelming success-and advertising muscle-of a few key titles to hammer that message home to the marketing types. "Super Mario RPG on the Super NES and Final Fantasy VII were the two most respon- sible for bringing it out," he said. "One was a good game, and the other was a good-looking game, and they both had lots of ad and marketing money behind them." Now that FFVII has achieved its much- publicized million-seller status, publishers suddenly see RPGs as one niche they're eager to scratch. But then, can role-playing games even be considered a niche genre anymore? A Ziff-Davis survey conducted last year found that RPGs were gamers’ second-favorite genre, beaten only by action/adventure titles (with one-time reign- ing champ fighting games tieing for third place with sports). And not only are RPGs gaining in mainstream popularity, they're also drawing a new generation of fans. “I think there's always been a strong RPG group of players out there," said Paul Handelman, U.S. liaison officer for Enix, the Japanese RPG giant behind the phenome- nally popular Dragon Quest series. "But what's happened recently is there's a new, younger group of people who have gotten into these games. RPGs are attracting a much wider age group." This new army of role-playing fanatics is just in time not only for the biggest batch of games to hit stateside in years, but also some of the most innovative. Look at the new types of battle systems, for instance. As the tired idea of random, turn-based bat- tles edges closer to extinction, we're seeing Continued on the bottom of the next page. f all the games covered їп this feature, none will come under as much scrutiny as the next high-profile RPG from the people who brought us Final Fantasy VII. After all, it's rare for something to affect the tastes of the game-playing public on quite the scale that FFVII managed last year—but Square pulled it off and at the same time brought RPGs into the mass market. Yet Square’s next big thing, Parasite Eve, is actually a very differ- ent game from its predecessor; the traditional swords-'n'-sorcery themes have been entirely eschewed in favor of something with more of a science- fiction flavor. To say that it has a lot in common with Japanese sci-fi anime such as Akira or even (in places) some of the Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend stories wouldn't be too far from the truth. PE makes use of a modified version of the FFVII game engine so, once again, we find beautifully ren- dered backgrounds overlaid with polygon-generated characters. Set in New York, the game is based on a novel by acclaimed Japanese sci-fi author Hideaki Sena published 18 months ago in Japan. Centered on the experiences of Aya Brea, a rookie NYPD cop, it deals with her investigations into the spread of a freak of nature that is gradually laying siege to the city. The game begins on Christmas Eve and sees Aya and her boyfriend at an opera that's thrown into turmoil as the actors on stage spontaneously combust. Amidst the confusion, the apparent perpetrator (the epony- mous Eve) reveals herself as she announces the ascension of a new order, that of the Mitochondria. Upon further investigation, Aya discovers that Mitochondria is the organic matter contained within all living cells responsible for producing energy. It soon becomes apparent that Eve's Mitochondria has mutated to the point of sentience, and through her it's attempting to annihi- late all inferior life-forms. As this parasitic energy absorbs life energy, it transforms Eve into a superbeing that can switch between solid and liquid form, while also destroying living matter simply by looking at it. Once absorbed by the mutated Mitochondria, a living being is bro- ken down completely into a slimy Parasite Eve's battles will make use of the innovative new “Active Combat System." Unlike FFVII, you can move around freely during combat. Aya will change her appearance throughout the game. She starts off in this slinky dress when she leaves the opera at Carnegie Hall. The CG rendered backgrounds are generated by a team headed up by former movie artists who have worked on goo before being rebuilt as a more Apollo 13 and True Lies. that was Must-play RPGs In case you missed out on the past decade of RPGs, here are the standout games, from the first breakthrough classics to the most recent masterpieces. The Legend of Zelda NES, 1987 Zelda Il: The Adventure of Link NES, 1988 Phantasy Star Master System, 1988 à huge assortment of novel Combat in enemies shift the game into a pseudo approaches to combat in the new Namcos Tales — Side-scrolling Mode, in which you send traditional-style RPGs. of Destiny each party member into action with Namco's Tales of Destiny, due | looks more specific button and joypad combos. out in the third quarter, is a perfect like a 16-Bit Each character wields a unique sword example. This PlayStation sequel | side-scroller, that can unleash different slashes and to the Super Famicom cart Tales of 1 complete with spells, and like a regular character, Phantasia is traditional in every | button combos these mystical swords gain experience, way except when it comes to for attacks. strength and new attacks throughout (EM) 80 combat. Encounters with the game. DA БЕН. | As with FFVII the camera angles change to best accommodate the action. Transition from exploration to combat is smoother, though. powerful creature—often a combination of numerous animals or even plants that are instilled with Eve’s malevolent intent. As the game progresses, Eve’s parasite sets up a “nest” in the Central Park Zoo, and before long snakes, bears, birds and monkeys all get horribly mutated, as Eve continues to rampage through the city. Fortunately though, with all of these mutations hell-bent on destroying the world, Aya is armed with a fair amount of weaponry. Starting the game with an automatic handgun, she later picks up more powerful weapons. Control of the combat has evolved quite significantly since FFVII, too. Although the system used is fundamentally the same—with Active-Time bars filling up as you prepare for each attack—Aya can move around the battleground in real time to avoid taking damage. And just as Cloud can increase his abilities with Materia in FFVII, Aya soon learns to manipulate the Mitochondria (or “Parasite Energy” as it’s referred to in the game) within her own system. Just as you’d expect, battles can get spectacular. What really sets PE apart is that it’s a true international collaboration between noted Japanese and U.S. talent. Script writer and game designer Takayuki Tokita has previously been responsible for Chrono Trigger and FFIV, while battle designer Yoshihiko Maekawa was the director on both Super Mario RPG and FFVI. U.S. artists Steve Gray and Darnell Williams are both in charge of much of the CG work through- out the game, and Gray is noted for his work on the movies True Lies and Apollo 13. Finally, musician Yoko Shimomura composed for Super Mario RPG and Front Mission. This broader, collaborative approach to development along with the adoption of a more mainstream sci-fi story should help push PE into as many homes as its predecessor. The game hits Japan on March 29. Let’s just hope we see the U.S. release soon after. Dragon Warrior ө Phantasy Star Il NES, 1989 Genesis, 1989 Also Squared Away. Parasite Eve may be getting the most hype, but it certainly isn’t the only Square RPG that could hit U.S. stores by year’s end. Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon, which came out in Japan in December, is a strong contender for U.S. release. The game—actually the third in the Mysterious Dungeon series—stars the familiar feathered Square mascot (and a moogle sidekick) who you guide through miles of dungeons that change in layout each time you play. Another hot Square property is Xenogears, which hit Japan in February. Like Parasite Eve, this traditional RPG offers a sci-fi setting, and its incredible polygonal land- scapes and sprite characters make Xenogears Square’s answer to Grandia. The game's story revolves around huge robot suits called gears, which your characters can slip into during battles to unleash super- charged attacks (the suits are best saved for Bosses and other tough enemies, since they have a limited fuel supply). The battle system is especially innovative; instead of plowing through menus, you perform button combos when your attack gauge is at its peak. With more than 20 minutes of FMV created by Production IG (the folks behind the Ghost in the Shell anime), Xenogears is yet another highly polished Square RPG. And finally there’s the attention- grabbing Brave Fencer Musashiden, due for Japanese release this sum- mer and reportedly compatible with Sony’s Dual Shock Controller. This action RPG—seemingly Square's attempt to take on Zelda 64—15 set in a 3D world in which the hero can wield swords in both hands and slash enemies while running and jumping (it's heavy with platform- game elements). Unlike most action RPGs, the game is composed of lev- els, with a huge Boss guarding the end of each stage. Square has high Final Fantas; NES, 1990 , e Dragon NES, 1990 Brave Fencer Musashiden is a hot contender in the first-PlayStation- game-to-look-like-Zelda 64 contest. hopes for this fantastic-looking game, and it may even become the first in a series. As with Parasite Eve, neither Sony nor Square have announced when and if they'll bring any of these RPGs to the U.S. But chances for stateside release are extremely good, consid- ering the booming success of the genre in America. Square's stunning Xenogears (top) and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon (bottom) are both highly likely to hit the U.S. V HP-30/ 30 7 Which character from the Street Fighter series made а Cameo appearance in a SupemNES RPG? Warrior Il Shadow Madness, due on the PlayStation by the end of the year, also lets gamers get more down and dirty on the RPG battlefield. Created by Crave Entertainment (one of the very few American console RPG developers), the game bor- rows a few combat style points from Super Mario RPG. As in that classic, success in Shadow Madness combat demands quick button taps at just the right moments. "We want to make fewer battles that you have to think about more," said Ted Woolsey, Crave's VP of marketing. "You're not gonna get through the game's battles as easily as just tapping the same button over and over to skip through menus, like in other RPGs. You have to time buttons both on the receiving and giving end of attacks so that you either amplify or change their effect. It's not just endless battles, but fewer of them, they make more sense and you have to work a little harder." Square's most recent RPG, SaGa Frontier, throws a few new twists into traditional RPG combat, too. Instead of bat- tles popping up randomly (as in Final Fantasy VII and nearly every other non-action RPG-except Earthbound-over the 9 unar: Silver Star Story may not be as unique or innovative as other RPGs covered in this fea- ture, but don’t let that turn you off to the game. It’s a remake of one of the hottest RPGs ever : The Silver Star for the Sega CD), and it's finally getting its due credit on a mainstream platform—the PlayStation. Lunar tells the story of Alex, a young adventurer who embarks on a quest that could save the world. Sounds familiar, right? But this story—and how it's told—is one of the game's greatest aspects. Presented in Working Designs" trademark humor- ous but exceptional- ly well-written man- ner, and complement- ed by over 45 minutes of spectacular FMV anime, Lunar’s story is captivating. Unlike some other remakes (which for the most part have Chun-Li was hidden іп one of Breath of Fire’s towns as an NPC. Dragon Warrior || e NES, 1991 last 10 years), you can see each gang of monsters scurrying through the dungeons. Hence, you have a slight chance of zipping past enemy parties, thus dodging another time- consuming round of turn-based combat. And SaGa Frontier isn't the only traditional RPG to make getting from point A to point B much less of a hassle; Grandia for the Japanese Saturn and Lunar Silver Star Story Complete for the PlayStation make use of the same see-the-enemy-first feature. It seems developers are finally catching on to the idea that, yes, it's more than a little frustrating to Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete иий ТЕГ fortunately stayed іп Japan), this game actually improves upon the original in every aspect. The graphics are enhanced, the music is redone, and—best of all— many story ele- ments have been altered and expand- ed upon. The key point is where Alex and co. board the boat to Meribia early in the game. In the original version, Luna stays behind, but in the remake she comes with, and from there lots of little things branch out and change for an almost entirely new experience. Trust us—fans of the original will not be let down. We've also learned of new, subtle changes in the PlayStation version. For one, there will be about 300 per- cent less text overall. Most of the nixed text is from shop conversations and other minor areas that really won't be missed. Another change is related to the text itself. For the first time, Lunar will have—drum roll please— lowercase text! No more CAPS LOCK making you feel like everybody's screaming, as was the case with the Sega CD versions of Lunar and Lunar 2. And speaking of Lunar 2, the Saturn remake is nearly finished in Japan. Will a PlayStation port be far behind r Magic 8 Ball Says, "Count on it... ө Final Fantasy || Super NES, 1991 As you can see here, the quality of the animation in Silver Star Story (right) has been improved dramatically over the original game (Lunar: The Silver Star, below). Lunar’s improved battle system allows for more strategic turn-based combat, without a bunch of annoying menus. ө Warsong 8 Dragon Warrior IV Sega CD, 1991 NES, 1992 have your dungeon meanderings interrupted every 15 seconds by another drawn-out battle. Speaking of battles, we're seeing a certain RPG sub-genre that deals mainly with combat finally catch on in the U.S. after years of popularity in Japan. The strategy RPG, which caught on big with American gamers when they played 1996's Vandal Hearts (and before that the subtly different Dragon Force and the Shining Force series), is carving its own growing niche among die-hard RPG fans, as proven by the success of FF Tactics and the just-released Tactics E Lon | У Between the Worlds of Li Between the State of Conscious PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony ;'omputer Entertainment Inc. "ALUNDRA*" is a trademark of Sony COMDES Entertainment Inc., licensed by Working Designs. Original Game um Sony Computer Entertainment Inc./Matrix 1997. English Translation © Working Designs 1997. "Working Designs" is a registered trademark of Working Designs, Inc. All rights reserved. Landstalker is a trademark of SEGA Enterprises, LTD. Combatting wetness, one dream at a time! For a dealer near you, call (916) 243-3417. Call 1-800-771-3772 for Game Rating Information. Depression hurts. Fighting Force and Tomb Raider || can help. SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION 8 | Persistent sadness and or irritability. | Recurring thoughts of how much | better life would be if you had Fighting Force or Tomb Raider II. | Statements such as, “I’m bad. | I’m stupid. No one likes me." When depression strikes, immediately seek the help of a trained professional at your local video game store. Wiping secretions Research shows that the leading cause of depression among gamers is a noticeable lack of Eidos games. Fortunately, this deficiency can be treated both safely and effectively with games like Fighting Force or Tomb Raider П. But early intervention is crucial. Or else, it's only a matter of time before they threaten to do something teally stupid, like go to therapy. эщ “зиәшшезләзиз зазпашо~ Ашо$ jo ојлешарелз әле ooj uoneshe за pue uontis/e|d d sopij jo SYJEWAPEAD әле әлпэәгләзцү sop! put ' joprey quo, *o2104 Zunyi ‘sop! 8661 © EIDOS You’ve been warned. www.eidosinteractive.com TO RECEIVE PLAYING TIPS, CALL THE EIDOS HINT LINE (900)773-4367. Cost of call $0.95/minute. Must be 18 years or have parents permission. Touch tone phone required. In the over- world areas of Azure Dreams, you can rotate the screen completely in either direction, a common feature in 3D RPGs as of late. Battles in the Tower take place in real time, and į you can enlist the help of up to two mon- sters at a time during your journey. onami's latest RPG is a bit different from its last two PlayStation ones (Suikoden and Vandal-Hearts). Azure Dreams (abbreviated from its Japanese title, Other Life, Azure Dreams) is an interesting game that can best be described as a new-school dungeon dweller with a variety of unique and innovative twists that set it apart from anything we've seen thus far. Azure Dreams revolves around a town called Monsbaia, which you help develop, and a huge nearby tower called the Tower of Monsters. The tower is where the bulk of the game takes place. Inside, you seek takes place in real time in these dungeons, and you can enlist the help of numerous kinds of monsters that you first catch (as Monster Eggs), and then breed into full-grown critters. Two monsters can travel with you at any time, and how they grow depends on how you nurture them. Azure Dreams also offers a fairly non-linear story. Decisions you make anytime during play will directly affect the game's outcome. You might choose to help someone at one point, while at another you'll ignore a plea for assistance. You even get to work on acquiring a love interest! There are seven eligible ladies who you can try to win over. out treasure and destroy monsters You can even save different This bridge to gain experience and make money. romances to the Memory Card and leads to the Then you use that hard-earned play out each episode separately, Tower of dinero back in town to create more which can result in completely Monsters, structures and buy better equipment. different endings. Minigames where a This alone sounds rather basic, but abound, too (like bowling, monster majority of the depth of gameplay involved with everything you do is what makes this game so enjoyable. For example, in the tower, each level is randomly generated, making for a new and different experience every time you play (similar to the Mysterious Dungeon series in Japan). Battle racing and more), and we're sure there's plenty more we've yet to see. With all its different gameplay styles, Azure Dreams could very well be the “mutt” of RPGs. One thing's for sure—it’ll be hard to pass up when it hits stores in May, even if just out of curiosity. 1 Azure Dreams’ gameplay | takes place. е Zelda: A Link to the Past Ф Lunar: The Silver Star ө Secret of Mana © @ Shining Force Super NES, 1992 Sega CD, 1993 Super NES, 1993 Genesis, 1993 Genesis, 1993 86 The Granstream Saga ublished in Japan by Sony, The Granstream Saga is one of the more interesting RPGs headed our way this year, courtesy of T*HQ. Set in the future, the game stars a boy named Lune who gets tangled in a huge quest that involves his father, a magic scepter, two beau- tiful girls and the devil (sounds like an episode of Melrose Place, no?). Granstream is a top-down RPG with a lush, fully polygonal world. Everything moves along smoothly and the animation in most parts is very nice. Lune can move in eight directions, and the camera can be rotated in eight directions as well, allowing you to search behind crates, stairways and so on. The game makes use of some dramatic camera angles, as well (when certain events are happening), but the core of the gameplay takes place from the standard top-down view. Like so many other RPGs these days, Granstream’s most unique aspect is its battle system. All battles take place in real time, with you controlling your character’s every movement. When you enter battle (which, by the way, is not random— ө Breath of Fire Super NES, 1994 [5] Illusion of Gaia Super NES, 1994 all enemies are at specific points in the game and can be seen on screen), your scepter produces your weapon and armor, and you go to work. You can move around your enemy freely, and you can dash forward and back, or side to side to evade attacks. Depending on your weapon, you can unleash special combos that cause multiple hits of damage. You can use magic spells, too, but most of them are not attack related. Granstream’s only possible down- side is its extreme linearity, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing (generally, linear RPGs have stronger stories and more structured play). We'll let you know more when we receive an english version of the game. © Popful Mail Sega CD, 1994 Giese] (m ~ " During the game Lune will come across two very important gals—one of whom is introduced when Lune barges in on her shower. Granstream Я Saga’s battle system is refreshingly unique, with real-time battles that give you complete uum control over | your character. PEU Who's the only character to Star їп every Final Fantasy Ф Shining Force ІІ game (and, no, мете not Genesis, 1994 talking about Chocobos)? 87 Playstation курту Ене 1995, 1996, 1998 Namco Ltd. All Rights Reserved. PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. =) Panzer Dragoon Saga er ernie. ШЇП Fm Laser orget about the super- deformed characters, talking animals and cutesy story lines of most old-school RPGs. Panzer Dragoon Saga is a dark role-playing game that immerses you in a grim world so real, you’d think you were watching an epic movie. The long (more than 10 minutes) intro introduces you to the Panzer universe, where nations war with ancient weapons dug up from the bowels of the planet. You play as Edge, a young guard on a remote excavation site. Your adventure starts when a turncoat general assassinates your captain and steals a mysterious artifact from your post. We don’t want to spoil any more of the story for you (since it’s one of the Aguy named Cid appears in every FF game—usually in the form of an engineer. He’s even in FF Tactics. 90 ә Phantasy Star Il Genesis, 1994 strongest points of this four-CD game), but let's just say it will draw you into its strange and fascinating world like very few RPGs can. Another highlight of Panzer Dragoon Saga is its amazing combat System. Fighting works a bit similar to the Final Fantasy RPGs, where you act in turns after short time incre- ments. In Panzer, however, you have three time meters. As they build up, you get access to different actions and more powerful attacks. But a Panzer game couldn't be complete without elements from the previous games in the series. In Saga, you can circle around opponents in 90-degree increments, looking for weak spots and staying out of harm's way (just as you would in Saga's two shooter predecessors). Be careful, though — you'll be penalized for wasting too much time in combat. The faster you kill an enemy, the more experience points and better items you'll receive. With its well-blended mix of science fiction and fantasy, and its unique and revolutionary combat system, Panzer Saga will be a role-playing experience unlike anything you've played before. ө Dark Wizard Sega CD, 1994 wi “-- =, = Final Fantasy Ill Super NES, 1994 The gameplay is complemented with exciting in-game cinemas (above) and lush full-motion video (below). Earthbound Super NES, 1995 © " " 4 “ ~ Da NN $ 4 ; ; x И) - í “ b 7 , ы { 4 * А | % D | | IN xy £ ) SAVE $10 ON TEKKEN З Ат SEARS) "FREE TEKKEN 3 T-SHIRT | with purchase of Tekken 3 at Sears: ‘while quantities last. ARSUT i M | ШЇ R577040001551000 D RENAS не 222 ul ssuming the ever-delayed Magic Knight Rayearth does- n't fall past its latest ship date, Shining Force || may well be the last Saturn RPG to be released in the U.S. when it hits stores in late May. Fortunately for RPG fans, this is a great way to go out. Shining Force || continues the grand tradition of its Genesis (and Sega CD) predecessors by offering strategy-based battles with fancy graphics, RPG-like spells and level building and a great story line that progresses gradually after each bat- tle. Like many strategy RPGs (such as Vandal-Hearts or Final Fantasy Tactics), the heart of the game lies in battle. Yet in Shining Force these battles are more simplified than the aforementioned two titles and, quite frankly, more fun. That's not to say they're not improved from past SF games; there are many new types of spells (including monster-summon- ing spells), and you can *bond" with other party members throughout the game to create teamwork, and thus an edge in battle. Since the entire game is іп a gorgeous 3D environment, you can rotate the playfield completely in Chrono Trigger e Super NES 1995 e portion of Suikoden) and apprentice your character to various combat masters. There's even a dragon-gene system that lets you tailor the form of the half-man/half-dragon hero. GameArts' Grandia for the Saturn in Japan is another all-around excel- lent RPG. Let's forget for a sec tha like ВОРШ and Xenogears, it's fEGM\ a beautiful polygonal game that 92 The plot of Shining Force Ill actually spreads out over three CDs (30-plus hours each), but right now only Scenario 1 is ! slated to be released here. SETA LV] HP (wm 124 12 Battles аге spread out over various kinds of terrain, which can affect your party's movement in several ways. 9 "t 132 Lunar: Eternal Blue Sega CD, 1995 either direction at any time using the Land R buttons. You can also zoom in and out with the X button. This makes it easier to find hidden items that are concealed behind walls and other hard-to-see spots—especially useful when exploring towns and castles (which, by the way, is a major part of SFIII, unlike in the last game in the series, Shining Force CD). But best of all (and possibly worst of all—read on), Shining Force III incorporates a new concept called the “Synchronicity System,” where the game is actually spread out over three discs. Each disc (which, in Japan at least, is being released about three months after the previ- ous one) lets you play out a different side of the same large story—a very cool, innovative approach to RPG gaming. That’s the best part. The worst part is we're likely to see only the first disc in the U.S., so how the whole story pans out may never be revealed here in the States. That pretty much sucks, but hey—beggars can't be choosers. At least we're get- ting a part of the trilogy. Perhaps Sega will release the remaining two CDs as a final "thank you" to Saturn fans who've stuck with the system until the end. Beyond Oasis Genesis, 1995 Grandia is one of those RPGs that makes you wanna learn Japanese to play it. Could it reach the States? Never say never. t, if oat nm As in past Shining games, your party members can learn a variety of useful magic spells. Having a good healer around at all times is essential. Light Crusader Genesis, 1995 Super Mario RPG Super NES, 1996 lets you pan the camera. Grandia has become famous among game importers who laud its in-depth magic and combat system-specifically, the ability to power up and combine the elemental magics of earth, fire, water, etc. Unfortunately, there's no chance of Grandia ever coming to U.S. Saturn owners, but that doesn't mean stateside RPG fanatics are out of luck. Strong rumor has it the game will t’s been in the works for more than two years now, but finally it looks as if Magic Knight Rayearth is nearing completion. This gorgeous-looking Saturn action RPG (which has been delayed numerous times, mainly due to licensing problems) is coming with a host of enhancements over the Japanese original, which already was one of the best games of its kind when released in August 1995. Rayearth, which is based ona popular anime series in Japan (the manga is available in the U.S. from Mixx Publications), tells the story of three teenage girls who, while ona field trip to Tokyo Tower, are sum- moned to a faroff world where magic and fantasy collide. We've previewed Rayearth before, so you know the basics of its game- play—just think Zelda-style action with bright, vivid graphics and lots of anime flavor. But in the latest version we received from Working Designs, we found some interesting new fea- tures. One fault with the Japanese game is it’s a bit on the easy side, so WD has enhanced the enemy Al— making them faster and more lethal, and Bosses are much more danger- ous than they ever were. Another ө Lufia Il: Rise of the Sinistrals [2] Super NES, 1996 come to one of the consoles here. Whether it's the PlayStation or Katana remains to be seen. At the same time RPGs are making these new strides, we're also seeing a fundamental change in the way the games themselves are developed. "There seems to be two trends in the genre," Crave Entertainment's Woolsey said. “Опе is the sweeping cinematic blockbuster trend, and the other is the more sublime story-and word-driven type games." Woolsey, who before coming to Crave worked for Square, where he translated Final Fantasy ІІІ and several | Magic Knight Rayearth Working Designs, May Suikoden PlayStation, 1996 Help me! My son Is trapped inside this burning house! | Even though the story is based on the Japanese anime series, there are several events and sub- quests that are exclusive to the video game. Each main character keeps a diary of events as the journey progresses. Some of their entries are rather hilarious. change is that a lot of the pointless audio in the towns throughout the game (not the important plot stuff, but the less critical banter) has been taken out so that WD could add voice to the Diary entries that each character makes throughout the game. The whole diary thing is already a creative and useful way to Each of the go back and see how the story has three girls progressed through the eyes of each will learn main character, but now you'll be powerful spells during the course of the game that are essential to victory. able to hear the characters read their diary entries. Even the diary text is improved — it's all hand-written! Rayearth looks like it's going to be the final third-party Saturn game, and if you've stuck with the system this long, you'd be foolish to pass up this little gem. 7,245 395/005 N 1 Say you're stuck in Hyrule's Lost Woods in the original Legend of Zelda. Which route do you.follow to escape? Relevations: Persona ө Dark Savior PlayStation, 1996 Saturn, 1996 other RPGs, explained that the blockbuster-type titles are the RPG equivalents of Hollywood event flics. He's talking about glitzy, hotly marketed, hotly anticipated games like Final Fantasy VII, Parasite Eve and next year's epic Dragon Quest VII. The less-flashy titles are...well, everything else. These are the more traditional, no-hype games such as Saga Frontier and Tales of Destiny, which do not present every plot point through a cinema or voice-over. Die-hard RPG fans will always tear into these solid but lesser-known RPGs. But can such games achieve market- ОЛА мы вере: ha Have you seen uer-haired пап with or-sharp eyes? Where | that knave gone?" uest 64 is a significant game for several reasons, but the most important may be the simplest—it's the first RPG for the N64. Developed by Imagineer in Japan, Quest 64 will actually hit the U.S. first. You guide Brian, a young Spirit Tamer out to find his missing father, who disappeared while trying to retrieve a stolen book of magic. The game isn't quite the action RPG that Zelda 64 will be (where you have full control over the battles), but then it's not quite the traditional RPG that, say, Final Fantasy III was either (where the battles are turn-based). In Quest, fights take place in real time, but they occur randomly. When a battle begins, you're con- fined to a certain area where you can move freely and attack as you wish, but you can't move outside of that area until the next round of attacks. Aside from that novelty, the game is strictly traditional. Brian cannot jump, and the majority of the game takes place moving from area to area, collecting items, talking to Head north, west, south, west—a route that leads to the cemetery and its hidden Magical Sword. 94 people and exploring dungeons. Quest's magic system, however, is unique. As a Spirit Tamer, you have control over the four elements (wind, earth, water and fire), and each of the four C buttons corresponds to one of them. You can mix spells for different effects (there are more than 50 spells in all), and you can increase the strength level of each element by gaining experience in battle or finding power-ups. One other innovation is the pas- sage of time in the game. It's not a new concept— but it's not used often enough in RPGs, and this is the first time it'll be put to use in a 3D envi- ronment (needless to say, the graphi- cal contrast between day and night is very nice). Your compass in the upper left-hand corner of the screen guides you along, while its red dot indicates the time of day. Certain events may only happen at night (or only in the daytime), so time will play an important factor in gameplay. T*HQ is planning to release Quest 64 in June. That should give RPG- starved N64 owners plenty of time to see everything this huge game has to offer before RPG heavyweight Zelda 64 hits home this fall. e The Legend of Oasis о Dragon Force Saturn, 1996 Saturn, 1996 Shining the Holy Ark Saturn, 1997 The little compass in the top-left corner of the screen displays the time of day. Every two minutes or so of || real time makes up for about an hour of game time. 36 After choosing а | spell (top), you unleash it on your enemies (middle) and then hopefully put the opposing pests away for good (bottom). Vandal-Hearts PlayStation, 1997 | ө Wild Arms f FFVII kicked off the RPG Revolution, it's surely Zelda that will run it to the end zone. With development headed up by Shigeru Miyamoto, it probably packs more gameplay innovations than the rest of the games in this feature put together. If you've been reading recent issues of EGM, you're up to speed on much of the information that has gently trickled from Nintendo. Many of the specific details are still Shrouded in secrecy. Yet we have been able to track down some new screen shots and information. As we've said before, it's Zelda's subtleties— aside from the obvious graphical excellence of the game— that will truly set this apart from any other action RPG. The oft- reported horse scene is unique in itself, but most importantly it’s the control system that will become a milestone in RPG history. The sim- plicity of its design, allowing action buttons to be context sensitive while also allowing a camera “lock- on” to make viewing the battles easier will no doubt be copied in other “Zelda wanna-bes” before the end of the year. Since we last reported on the game in issue #103, we've seen that there are now weapons unique to the differently aged Links. While the older Link makes use of his sword and shield, as well as a bow and arrow, young Link has a boomerang weapon that only he can use. We've also found that the variety of attacks Link can perform on his enemies will have differing effects on what object is revealed once the assailant is destroyed. PlayStation, 1997 The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time е Final Fantasy VII PlayStation, 1997 City scenes in Zelda 64 look phenome- nal. Note the detail in the leaves. The latest shots not only show how beautiful the graphics are in Zelda, but they are also an effective Weh lso | d that th НИ прала showcase for the true graphical power of the N64. Rumble Pak will be used to startling effect throughout the game. Rather than simply throbbing away and occasionally jolting you during fights, it will be used to convey Link's surroundings in a way similar to 1080° Snowboarding (previewed on page зо this month). Differences in the terrain texture will be passed through to the player via subtle changes to the hummings that emanate from the Pak. If any RPG can be described as “revolutionary” then this is it. While RPGing on the Go Let's face it—even the hardest of the hardcore RPG fans can't stay home ALL the time. For you, there is the Game Boy. Sure, there aren't THAT many RPGs available for Nintendo's undying portable system, but of the few that are available, there exist some truly excellent games. For exam- ple, no RPG—heck, no gamer period —should be allowed to walk the Earth without a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, regarded by many as the best Game Boy other games in this feature are here game of all time. Finding a copy should be no problem at because of their different approach- all, since Nintendo recently rereleased the game as a part es to story, setting and combat, of its Player's Choice series of million-seller titles. Then Zelda takes a tried, tested and there's the Final Fantasy Legend series (FF Legend |, Il and familiar formula and turns it on its III), which are more traditional RPGs—and great ones at head. Now, if only they'd announce that—from the wizards at Square. Those three games and the official U.S. name for the game Final Fantasy Adventure are all being re-released this April and release date (it could hit as by Sunsoft. If you haven't got 'em yet, get 'em. Also keep early as October). an eye out for Nintendo's upcoming Pocket Monsters RPGs (“Рокетоп” in the U.S.), slated for release this fall. t 22581 E ала; 3 Final Fantasy 5. Adventure is the prequel to Secret of Mana, and a great Zelda-like adventure for the Game Boy. #02 The classic Boomerang returns, but only the younger Link can wield it. @ Alundra ө Final Fantasy Tactics [-] Tactics Ogre PlayStation, 1998 PlayStation, 1998 PlayStation, 1998 Defend{the\vibrant{computer, world[ofaMainftramelfrom: Megabyte;sitwistedlagmy3Grab. | yourghighzflyingdZipboard andj blastzintoyaction}before the¥systemydeletes |» yo пете You play Bob, zipboardin’ Obliterate viruses with radical Explore 19 immense, Guardian of Mainframe. weapons, nifty gadgets, and vivid levels as you save plenty of power-ups. the world. MAINFRAME EL ENTERTAINMENT, ING a> ELECTRONIC ARTS” PlayStation 4 Software 21998 Electronic Arts. Electronic Arts and the Electronic Arts logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts in the U.S. and/or other countries. All rights reserved. ReBoot" & © 1998 Mainframe Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. The brand name of ReBoot™ and ReBoot™ characters are trademarks of Mainframe Entertainment, Inc. and are used with permission and under license. PlayStation and the PlayStation Logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The ratings icon is a trademark of the Interactive Digital Software Association. L, R1, R, U, D, R2, L1, R, U, D D Our Philosophy (гем Expect a slightly refurbished Review Crew section next month, but for now...well, you know the drill: Each reviewer gives a game an overall score, which is displayed behind the review and based on how the game compares to other titles for the same system. In addition, the reviewers rate each game's graphics, sound, ingenuity and replay value. The averages of these scores are listed at the bottom. Shawn Smith Current Favorites SaGa Frontier Besides getting frustrated while making his way through NFL BLitz (Arcade) ReBoot, Speed Racer and Shadow Master, Shawn has been ДОО TO RETI] playing the snot out of Blitz. Aside from this, he has been Wario Land || Editors Choice sitting around anticipating the upcoming figures from vari- E 3 = ous toy companies. It's weird cuz sometimes he'll sit there, Favorite Genres: (Ой = Gold Awards go to games talk to his toys and tell them about the ones he's going to buy, ааа Аты CI whose average score bh equals 9.0 or higher. m Games that average at least an 8.0 receive Silver Awards. Current Favorites Diablo A а r 5 NFL Blitz (Arcade) Shoe is upset he enjoys Wario Land |! so much. Why? Wario Land II "Cause he wishes the Game Boy would die. He's tired of all Marvel vs. Capcom (Arcade) the marketing Nintendo spews out to keep the GB fever А running high. What Shoe really wants is for Nintendo to Favorite Genres: make a portable SNES (Nomad-style). He claims he's willing Strategy/Puzzle to give up nude sunbathing for that one. Help us Nintendo!!! giver > Scale 10-Perfection 5-Average An absolutely flawless experi- Not great, not crap. A ho-hum ence. It doesn’t get any better. title that isn't for everybody. 9-Virtually Flawless 4-Кепі First Drop what you're doing and We have problems here. buy this nearly perfect game. Definitely try before you buy. 8-Semradical 3-Time Waster Delivers everything you'd want Playing it for more than 10 in a game, despite minor flaws. minutes gives you a migraine. Crispin Boyer Current Favorites NFL Blitz (Arcade) Cris wants to know who sent an NFL Blitz coin-op to the Diablo office. He can't walk by the thing without playing it. And Mega Man Legends when he's not playing it, he and everyone else are in line SaGa Frontier for one more game. That freakin' machine has everyone 8 i wired on adrenaline, skipping sleep and nearly missing the benny Gennes: deadline. Hmm. Maybe the competition's behind this. T-Worthy 2-Don't Even Rent А Кгаід Кијама A solid title that you won't The only point in playing this zm Чын ыыы GN regret buying. garbage is to make fun of it. ا‎ rcade) Kraig is a sick, sick man. Ever since we got that NFL Blitz 6-Good, Not Great 1-Flush It MLB Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. arcade machine in the office, he's become consumed by | К Diablo it. But it isn't just him. Although the others won't admit it, they are just as caught up in Blitzmania, especially that Favorite Genres: John Ricciardi. Kraig's record is currently 78-13 (#1-89 Sports/Strategy games!), something he's hoping his boss doesn't see... Sure, it has its problems, but Run for your life if you see it, it's still fun to play. or use it as a coaster. John Ricciardi Current Favorites NFL Blitz (Arcade) John has been hopelessly addicted to Blitz since it got here, ЕТТИ currently standing in second place with a record of 69-20. R-Types (Japanese) He does hold four of the six world records on our machine Panzer Dragoon Saga though, and his offense is ranked #1. Since we're on the У subject of stats, let's take a look at his work efficiency rating Favorite Genres: since Blitz arrived. Ah, what do you know: -200 percent. RPGs/Adventure John Davison John's the new boy sitting in the editor in chief chair around here. Traveling to the snowy wastes of Lombard from the U.K., this is his first month as our new boss. Previously working for just about every kind of games magazine you can think of, John has edited and written for Sega, Nintendo, Game Boy and PC titles. Way back in the early days he even reviewed Atari ST & Amiga games for a living. A big fan of shooting things and then actually think- ing about stuff, John's "all-time" greats include most 3D shooters (Quake and GoldenEye at the top of the heap), as well as C&C, Tomb Raider and FFVII. He also has a beard. And long hair. And an accent. Current Favorites Kelly Rickards Gex: Enter the Gecko 5 Need For Speed Ill Kelly has been seen trudging around several arcades SF3: 2nd Impact (Arcade) recently. While reminiscing about temper-tantrums last NFL Blitz (Arcade) month, a teary-eyed Kelly vowed he would never forget E the roots of his gaming career, and so began his journey Favorite Genres: back to the arcade. Most of his time has been spent play- Fighting/Racing ing SF3: 2nd Impact, although Blitz also strikes his fancy. Current Favorites Einhánder NFL Blitz (Arcade) Diablo Wario Land || Favorite Genres: Action/Adventure Current Favorites Street Fighter EX 2 (Arcade) Sushi refuses to jump on the Blitz bandwagon, despite Marvel vs. Capcom (Arcade) repeated claims that he could manhandle any of us at the Bloody Roar game with his eyes closed. Apparently he thinks Blitz is Diablo the next version of Street Fighter or something, but John T 5 and Kraig have vowed to put the arcade master in his place. one That is, if they can manage to find the elusive ninja... Publisher: Midway Developer: Saffire Featured In: EGM #105 | always loved Rampage in the arcades, as it was one of the first games where you could be the bad guy. World Tour does a great job of not changing the gameplay a bit from the original while sprinkling in some welcome additions. | do wish they could think of other ways to spice the game up a bit, but it seems they did do just about everything short of making the game 3D (and I’m glad they didn’t do that, since that seems to be the trend in retrogaming). New to Rampage: World Tour are various locales around the world, bonus levels, three-way play (they should have made it four), lots of secrets (moves, bonus items) and plenty of different things to destroy. There's even hordes of new adversar- ial good guys to eat, punch and stomp on. Even with all of these lovely additions, some- thing still seems missing from World Tour, but it's hard to put a finger on. Perhaps my gam- ing tastes have changed over the years (this isjafterall; basically the same gaimeplay'as the original Rampage that | used to love), but | only like'to play WT in small amounts of say, 30 minutes or so. Unless | do that, or play cooperatively with friends, it quickly gets boring to me. So, unless you just really love Rampage, this remake of the short-lived, but fun gameplay seemsitailor made (обе a rental. Play it fora while, and enjoy. Krai Yes the original was a classic, but as tastes mature, you һауе to acknowledge the need for more substance in a game. Smashing: buildings and eating people may sound fun, but the:Way it’s implemented here is just plain boring. As a one-player game you grow tired of it in seconds. As a multiplayer game itstakes minutes, Dull, dull, yawny, snore, boring. I'd like to say it's a good party game, but it’s not. Save your money. John D Besides the Three-player Mode and the abili- ty to chánge the color of your monster, WT.is basically the same old thing. The game is fun but level after level of doing the same thing just gets'old..it may be refreshing once in a while to play a game that doesn't have а complex plot, busy interface system or flashy graphics, but Rampage just doesn’t hold my interest. Luckily the Three-player Mode adds a bit of replayability to the game. Shawn Rampage starts off rather slow but it quickly grows ofi you,until it’s difficult to put down. There’s really nothing innovative about the gameplay — it's hardly different from (ће. сја5- sic arcade'original. Still, somehow it’s very playable and like Robotron 64, you can just zone out with it for hours at a time. There are tons of stages and power-ups,»butyadmittedly there's little variety.between them. If you liked the original, check out WT. John R VISUALS SOUND 5 5 4 6 6-1 :52әеја JO Јәдшпм $|әләт JO 5301 :aanzeay 1598 Җе|дәшех) snonnaday Аләд :aanyeay 3510 WOVÁEMPIWMMM INGENUITY REPLAY Developer: Nintendo Featured In: EGM #104 | can’t begin to tell you how disappointed | am with Yoshi’s Story. The Japanese version took all of a day to master, and it had me begging for more. How could they make it so short and easy? Why was the gameplay simplified so much from Yoshi’s Island? Why were there so few Bosses, and why were they so darn easy? | figured the U.S. version might be improved a bit, but alas— it's here, I’ve gone through it all (again, in the better part of a day), and unfortunately, the changes are minimal at best and do not affect gameplay whatsoever. Fans of the original Yoshi’s Island (one of the best platformers of all time) are going to be shaking their heads at the simplicity of this sequel. This game is very obviously aimed at the 6-and-under crowd, and while | can definitely see my niece or nephew enjoying it for its great graphics, overwhelming cuteness and ease of play, |— as a huge fan of Yoshi’s Island—am utterly disappoifited. Aside from the graphics, Yl.was better than this game in nearly every way: gameplay, variety, depth —you name it. The little coin-letters hidden on each stage (new to the U.S. version) are a diversion at best, and the message they spell out isn’t worth the effort. Rent it for your kids, enjoy it for a couple of hours yourself— but don't get your hopes up. This is no Yoshi's Island. John R Well, after a lot of anticipation, this game has really lef medown. It's not that.this is a bad gamé-—it's not. There just isn't enough of it. You can literally beat the game in under two hours, which.is utterly ridiculous. Nintendo would rather have you go through the game and choose multiple paths (thus beating the game several times), and find a bunch of lame letters to get more playability. say just make a better game, and more of it. Kraig This is, hands-down, the cutest game on the planet. And it's close to being the greatest platform game, too, if there was just more to it. Nintendo got nearly everything right—the control graphics, music and sound effects, are all/brilliant. Now why aren't there enough levels, Bosses and secrets to keep me busy longer than a weekend? Stillplikejthe original, YS is a work of art; But one rental isyprobably all you’ll need to appreciate it. Crispi Being a fan of old-school 2D side-scrollers, | had high hopes for Yoshi. While the graphics and sound sure lived up to my expectations, the gameplay didn’t. Don’t get me wrong—it plays great, but with only 24 levels it’s over far too fast and the Melons and coin letters don’t offer any real reward for finding them. It’s great for kids, but for a vet like myself, it’s just not enough. Wantimore challenge, more secrets and more depth. Sorry N. Sushi VISUALS SOUND 9 7 5 4 soiydesy snoa8109 :21n3e2 sag OUS оо] :аапјеаз 1540 2ıseg oo] 'Áse3 00] * шо>ориәшиммм INGENUITY REPLAY BLOODY ROAR Developer: Hudson Soft Bloody Roar’s animal appearance may give the impression of a gimmicky fighter, but this is far from the truth. Not only does this game possess depth but it is as fast and furious as the creatures it portrays. Visually speaking, it definitely looks good, but to see these char- acters engage in flashy combat is even more impressive. The engine borrows some of the best features from several fighters. The speed and wall juggling is reminiscent of Fighting Vipers. Quick attacks and bouncing walls make for corner traps and cool juggles. Passive blocking, sidestepping and counter attacks are similar to Tekken 3. All of these defensive options add a great amount of depth and keep BR from being “just another button basher.” Still, it’s not a tough fighter to get into. For the most part the moves are simple taps or familiar half circles. Also, the controls are precise and require little practice to get the timing down. Furthermore, there's thesgaime’Simain attraction: themorphing ability. Beast Mode gives you unique moves, enhanced range and the ability to regain some health. For those who want optionspit’s got them! Everything from Practice Modes, Secret rewards and even an art gallery, | have to admit being a sucker for its animal attrac- tion, butit could have:used more characters and unique fighting styles. Sushi Bloody Roar is the fighting game for every- body, Its massive moves list borrows from just about every fighter (although its super- fast engine is most similar to Fighting Vipers), makinghit easy to get into. While random bùt- tof mashing Will work fine against inexperi- enced opponents, the counters and beasts’ ferocious juggles make BR surprisingly. deep. The game is also flashier than Soul Blade and Star Gladiator put together. Cris Di Playing a lot like Fighting Vipers, Bloody Roar featüres enough new ideas to пїаКе it some- thing worth checking out. The arena system hasn't really been seen on the PlayStation before, Whilst the addition of the Beast mode makes for some interesting combat. Smashing your opponent into a wall before tearing into them with your claws is con- veyed very convincingly, making this a very satisfying two-player game. John D Gameplay-wise, BR exhibits straightforward тоуеѕ,а@@ Short-but-sweet combos. Since most of these moves аге directional-based (1.6, Forward + X), rather than motion-based (ке. HalfiGirele Back + X), it’s real easy to jump in and һауе fun. Оп the down side, only two or (when morphed) three buttons are Used in BR Which limits your options during а fight. If you’re a casual fighter fan, this is it. Hardcore fans should look elsewhere. Kell T-L s4aheyg JO zaquiny 3pow 1seag :asnjeay sag әй 2035 Asaay) :aunyeay 3510 шоэ'иоцуез$Аеүйммм DEAD OR ALIVE = oon SiSlss mr EEI FANS TINA Publisher: Tecmo Developer: Tecmo Featured In: EGM #104 Dead or Alive in the arcade used Sega’s T-L :s4ake}d JO 1адшпм Model 2 board (which powered previous hits МЕ2, Fighting Vipers and more). Therefore, Род has the look and feel of a Sega game, but with depth challenging bigger hits like the Tekken series. The gameplay is compara- ble to Soul Blade and Mace—where button tapping gets you some cool moves and com- bos—but more experienced players will get higher combo strings. Рт weary of any fight- ing game that has only one punch button and one kick button. DoA, however, offers the most variety possible with this “limita- tion.” The characters flow extremely well, and having only two attack buttons actually makes it easier to chain attacks. The third of the three buttons is a counter or reversal but- ton. This is the same as the “hold back and throw” reversals found in Tekken, but now it is an integral and easily executable part of Кејдәшес) 3se-3uru3ur] :aunyeay 1529 ssaununog э1у!үгәли| :94n3e24 )510/4 ters, like the Т оте пе that део» ошзау MMM VISUALS 8 7 7 7 SOUND INGENUITY REPLAY DIABLO Publisher: Electronic Arts loper: Climax Ent., Ltd. Featured In: EGM #104 Partly responsible for the resurgence of inter- est in RPGs on the PC, it’s ironic that Diablo has more in common with Gauntlet than it does Final Fantasy. Basically it’s an isometric “run around hitting and zapping things” game that features huge, sprawling randomly generated levels that take you all the way to the very depths of hell. There are hundreds of bad guys to smash throughout the game, and loads of items to pick up, use, sell or throw at the monsties. Using the basic game setup, the control system can seem fairly cumber- some. Wandering around and attacking stuff is fine—but manipulating inventory items and taking advantage of the extensive magic sys- tem (fireballs, lightning spells, healing, etc.) can slow the game down a lot. Fortunately you can customize the control setup, and using some button combos worthy of Origin's Wing Commander III (the fiddliest PS game of all timg can speed up gameplay enormous y 2-1 :s22Áe|d JO 18quinN nw :2Jn3e2J sag -RPGish. But action RPG that | tation. What its hundreds of it: , etc. —you can find r character just right awed 1әАе|4д-ә|Зи!$ мојб :әлпуеә4 3510M шоу га ммм SOUND 7 8 8 7 VISUALS INGENUITY REPLAY JUDGE DREDD == йу CEES ALAA Publisher: Activision Developer: Gremlin Featured In: N/A Ahh...I’ve always dreamed of a Judge Dredd video game. After all, movie/comic book games always turn out well (note the sarcasm here). Seriously, you can be the biggest Dredd fan in the world. You can also be the biggest light-gun shooter fan in the world. But | doubt anyone can enjoy this dreddful game (sorry, | couldn’t resist there). First of all, this is a big knockoff of Midway’s FMV light-gun games, Area 51 and Maximum Force, two very mediocre games to be cloning. Second, many innocents look like enemies—you'll be frustrated after you kill your first dozen or so. Third, you can’t always tell what you’re supposed to be shooting at, or what's shooting at you (because tl screen can get so cluttered at times). This isn't exactly bad (everyone can't be wearing a big sign that says, "Shoot me!”), but some bad guys are too subtle to be noticed. Fourth, and most frustrating of all, many of the tar- T-L :5зӘЛе|4 JO saquinn GUO JO Ли] 3,ue) "uuu :e1n3eaj 1528 ззадлеј Á33tg-/33] уу Suryoous :a4n3ea4 3510 ШОУ ЏОА MMM SOUND INGENUITY REPLAY VISUALS 6 5 2 3 NBA SHOOTOUT 98 ТА Publisher: SCEA Developer: Sony Interactive Studios Featured In: EGM #105 When | played the previewable version of this game, | was optimistic. All of the ingredients seemed to be in place, but the gameplay needed some tweaking. Unfortunately, ShootOut 98 didn’t come together the way | thought it would. In fact, there’s a whole lot of things about this game that bug me, so let me just spew them out in no particular order: All the players look ridiculously thin (Shaq, etc.); in fact, most of them make supermodel Kate Moss look overweight. The control but- ton layout is unintuitive, and (strangely) there’s no option to configure it. You can repeatedly hit the spin button rapidly to make it to the hoop for a lay-in or a dunk. | think they tried to counterbalance this by allowing the defense to steal the ball (too easy to do) and by making lay-ups and dunks hard to make. In fact, | don’t think I’ve ever seen more blocked lay-ups, blown easy shots or more broken-up dunks than i ina game of VISUALS SOUND INGENUITY RE 6 6 6 8-1 ss4ake}g JO 1едшпм soiydesy qe ріп|4 9524 :aanjeay 1599 Кејдәшес) Ae :әлпуеә4 3540. wo2'uor}e}sAe]d MMM PLAY 6 Developer: Electronic Arts NEED FOR SPEED 111 [а Publisher: Electronic Arts Featured In: EGM #104 Need for Speed 111: Hot Pursuit. Is it an ul realistic sim like the first? A cartoony-looking arcade child like the second? Neither! Forget about stacking it up to previous additions, Hot Pursuit is a whole new ball game. If | had to draw comparisons, this game has the plush-looking 3D backgrounds of V-Rally, the smooth frame-rate of Test Drive 4 and game- play similar to Cart World Series with one exception—incredible power-sliding. Cutting loose the back end via the hand brake is as entertaining as it is effective. It’s actually one of the top attributes of the game. Many of the speed-friendly tracks were designed with long sweeping curves that lend themselves perfectly to a well-placed power-slide. Get it right and it’s poetry in motion. No longer plagued with poor car control (see NFS II), mastering many of the eight remarkably long courses becomes an obsession which, to me, is the mark of a good racer. As for depth and T-L :519Ке ја JO 10quinN -4әмод әшоѕәмү :aJnjeaj 3594 apow 1insang auop4aAQ :әлпуеәу 3540. = = = 5 9 ^ 8 3 VISUALS SOUND INGENUITY REPLAY 8 7 7 8 REBOOT Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: EA Canada Featured In: EGM #104 Here’s what bugs me about ReBoot: Even with its good graphics, nice control and well- designed levels, the game remains sadly rep- etitious. It's hard to believe, with all of the good points that stick out, but it’s true. Why does it have to be this way? ReBoot could’ve been so good! Here’s how it breaks down: A level has you mending tears that the head bad guy sends out. In between taking care of these, you must explore the environments to find three key cards. While you're doing this, you can take out bad guys and collect power- ups. Once you find all of the key cards, and take care of any unmended Tears, the exit opens up and you're done. Guess what the next level has you doing? You guessed it, mending more tears, etc. Granted the sur- roundings change, the levels become increas- ingly tough to navigate through and larger amounts of enemies fill the screen, but level after level of nearly the same thing becomes VISUALS SOUND 7 6 6 | :s4aÁe]d JO saquiny $|әләт ає 28121 :әлпуғәҙ 1529 |2۸27 узе щ Sui] aures :әлпзеәј 3510M шо га MMM INGENUITY REPLAY 5 SAGA FRONTIER Developer: Square If you look at SaGa Frontier purely in terms of its bang for the buck, this innovative RPG can’t be beat. You get seven separate adven- tures for seven lead characters (whom you pick at the game’s outset), and each quest lasts about 15 hours. Surprisingly, the seven plots are quite different from each other— thanks to the game’s huge world (which packs everything from castles to cyberspace). But don’t expect Resident Evil 2-style inter- minglings of the stories when you replay with a different character; each has a self-con- tained adventure. The huge world needed for all these stories does create one problem— SaGa Frontier is too non-linear. | got side- tracked a few times when | battled through a dungeon that turned out only to be pertinent to another character's story. Difficulty varies wildly between characters, too. But these are minor gripes. The graphics—a mix of preren- dered backgrounds and sprite characters— argoften ompar with FFVII (although; like.in FVII, it’s often difficult to discern a path through the background). баба Frontiers combat.system is especially innovative. Forget about Hit Points (which recharge after gach battle); you must save Weapon Points, which you spend to unleash more powerful attacks. You can also:chain party members’ attacks for spectacular combos. с ТАТ SaGa Frontier’s seven quests make it hard to resist for RPG fans, but regardless of that— it's а very solid game. Aside from some of the gorgeous/magic attacks, the graphics.are substandard (rendered backgrounds are bad enough, but mix in poorly animated sprites and you һауе the definition of “ugly”), but the music is great and the gameplay (what counts) excels. If you don’t mind lots of bat- tles (don’t), you'll really enjoy SE John R SaGa Frontier is an RPG to buy. It may not have incredible FMV or crazy polygonal graphics, but what it lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in originality and story line. | love the fact that you can be different charac- ters with completely separate plots, and then See how each of his/her stories intertwine. On the down side, | wish that;battles weren't so frequent, and that the graphics їп Шет weren't so two-dimensional. Shawn There’s a lot to like about SaGa Frontier, especially théyvariety of charactérs and weapons. In fact, each one has his/her own quest. The weapon effects are outstanding, and the attack system that features combos 154 nice twist)But strangely enough, a big blemish is the obvious lack of character ani- mation during combat. | mean, can't they do better than two frames? Aside from these aesthetic nitpicks, this iS а solid RPG. Krai 1 1 :saake}d JO 1адшпм 535ап0) 3u249JIq uaAag :әлпуғә4 3528 UON 00] :аапјеаа 3510/4 шох'иоцезѕКеја ммм Developer: HammerHead Shadow Master looks fantastic but just ends up being slightly more than average. Granted, the game has a load of different enemies, nicely designed levels and fancy cinemas, but | always find myself saying, “Oh, this type of thing again.” Another possi- ble problem to be weary of is the overall feel of the game. It’s obvious that it’s a Quake-ish type of game, but unlike Quake уоште inside a heavily armored vehicle. Because of this, the control comes off as being weird. It took me some time to get used to the way the craft moves. And if you don’t get used to the control, the next problem may be even worse. The game only allows you to save every few levels or so, once a “world” is taken care of. This translates into long frustrating hours sit- ting in your bedroom all by yourself. Besides the saving thing and goofy control, one more little problem exists: the doors. When you get close to them, they open. As you back away, theyiclosewNow if an enemy lies;'behind the door, you're sure to get blasted every time you try to enter. Where's the Strategy? Undoubtedlypthe best things about SM are the game’s graphics and music. The graphics are some of the nicest on the PlayStation. In fact,.even though they're polygonal they hardly break up or become pixelized at close range, and the music plain rocks, Shawn In the eye-candy department, Shadow Master truly delivers. The nifty lightingyéffects and. detailed environments draw you in at first, but gameplay-wise, SM is not so appealing. Althoughithesgame has an auto-aim feature, the futuristic buggy-vehicle bounds around 50 much, it’s a challenge just to shoot a sim- ple enemy, let alone drive in a straight line. In the епа, SM comes ácross as more of a graphics showcase than а fun game. Кеј Oooo...I’m so angry at this game. It only lets you save every few levels, meaning ІГуой фе, you could losea lot of progress (which hap- pened to.me). Also, where's the mapping Sys- tem? What's with the misleading sound FX? (The QSound is way cool, but for some rea- son, it always sounds like уоште surrounded bysenemies.) Your vehicle also tends to get stuck in certain areas. This game is a show- case for cool technology...nothing more. Dan Shadow Master looks good, sounds good, plays horribly. Enemies are everywhere, pop- ping up around each bend and behind every doorz-and they always nail you, no matter how much you strafe or juke. Where's the fun ingplaying a game in which it's impossible to dodge.enemy fire? You don't really see any Variety in the missions until after the third level—but that’s also when the difficulty curve shoots through the roof. Crispi 1 :5ләКеја JO 4aquiny ѕицаеле) әјдірәләщ :әлпдеәј 3529 вәлес |әләт |епрілірш ON :24n3e24 3540M и8Кѕа:ммм Developer: Graphic Research Company, Ltd. When | first booted up Speed Racer and wit- nessed a perfect re-creation of the TV series intro, | knew | was in for a good time. As expected, Speed Racer is a blast. At first, 1 thought the game was nothing more than Ridge Racer with gadgets and a cool license. My initial suspicions were only half correct; the journey turned out to be much more enjoyable and less derivative than I first expected. Although there are only three tracks to choose from, there are lots of short- cuts and hidden areas in the game which can only be accessed by certain cars. While this is nothing new to racing games, the way it's implemented in SR is both challenging and fun. Although some of the techniques required to win the later races are a bit too demanding for my tastes, at least it's not impossible. The graphics are about par for the PlayStation. There is no slowdown or pop-up to speak of and the control is very responsive Another cool little:detail 5 ћом the techno version of the Speed Racer theme (done by.the group Alpha Team) is played during replays. Some of the voice samples are annoyingly repetitive (*Hey, catch һїт!”), but it's no big deal. For me, SR is appealing in that it offers a solid (albeit straightforward) driving experience;;combined with а campy, cartoon-like personality. Kell “Неге it comes, here comes Speed Racer.” It's а мегу bad deal. It's a bad deal and it’s going {0 really piss off someone. The game is real short so you better be careful. After wasting your money you might be tearful. And when you beat itin зо minutes, and'there's nothing more, you bet your life you'll want to.. return itsoon. No Speed Racer, no Speed:Racer, no Speed Racer..NO!!!" (The tune is clear: Don't waste time on this game.) Dan After the warm fuzzies wore off from seeing vintage Speed Racer clips, | began to get bored with this retro racer. While Speed doesn’t suffer too much from any one mala- dy, it's just toojold and simple to warrant my praise. With variations of опе track being the meat of the game, | simply learned the short- cuts.and won consistently. Furthermore, the graphics appear [обе a few years behind compared to what’s available now. Sushi If one morning you got up and said, “I want to buy айеа іу average racing game,” Speed Racer would be the game for you. This title provides all of an hour's worth of fun.and then it’s beat. Sure, some secret cars are unlocked and you can beat your existing times, but how long is that going to last? On top of this, the Speed Racer license seems more or less tacked'on, and there's asnotice- able amount of pop-up. Shawn Lssaahe}g JO 4aquiny 5зипј лазеџ paads/sya3pey |002 :aunzeay 1528 Aejdawey payseyay :әлпуеә4 35404 шог'озаје MMM TRIPLE PLAY 99 EVERYONE Developer: EA Canada OK, first—the good stuff: Triple Play’s overall presentation and feel are top-notch. If | were reviewing the game based on presentation alone, it'd get a 10, easily. From the intro to the game interface to the menu graphics and sound effects —everything is done perfectly. The play-by-play is astoundingly good (even better than NHL 98's), and the crowd interac- tion is without a doubt the best I’ve ever heard. Also, the stat tracking is second to none. You can play an entire career and track the stats of every player, and the game will even bring up interesting stats from time to time based on your overall playing experi- ence. Impressive. Now, the bad stuff. The oth- erwise excellent gameplay of TP99 is marred by one severe problem—the frame-rate. It’s so choppy that it not only makes the game look bad, but it affects fielding, often result- ing in botched plays. There are some minor problems too, like baserunners going too fast (making double plays unrealistically infre- quent), but nothing truly drastic. Омега it’s too bad though, because if the game played smoother, it'd be nearly flawless. Im stilkvery pleased, but this one glaring problem really does affect play and absolutely needs to be fixed next time around. As it stands, Triple Play 99 is a very good:game that could've— and should’ve—been great. John R 1 don't think I’ve ever seen a sports game loadedwithiso many cool options, but with suchiflawed gameplay. This is like playing Базеба in mud. The erratic frame-rate.and сһорру-ріауег animations make it difficult to field and judge pitching speeds (among other things). The intro, deep stats, features and Sound (particularly the two-man:commen- tary) are great, but it doesn't change the fact that tis game isn’t Very fun to play. Kraig We've all played games like this before: gamesithatilook sharp standing Still... DU once’ you see them in action...forget about it! Triple Play 99 suffers from some God-awful frame-rates (which adversely affects how the game plays and to a lesser extent, how it con- trols). The stadiums look nice, the play-by- plays are awesome and the ватеіѕ extreme- ly easy to get into. The poor animation, how- ever, keeps the game from stardom. Dan Triple Play.99 could bring around the warm feeling.of summertime ball play/with its decent graphics, interesting and funny com- mentary and slick interface, but the game’s сћорругаттаноп and graphics remind me all too much of the rigid, cold winter. If you can Manage to overlook the animation, уоште left with a fun baseball game with a load of options,.and a good number of modes of play. i like Two-player Mode the best. Shawn 8-1:5ла/е ја JO 19quinN чоцеҙиәзәл4 Зшриподѕу :24n3ea4 3528 a3ey-aure14 Addoy :a4n3ea4 3540M wo 'sjiodsea МММ It's an overwhelmingly average addition to the Castlevania saga which fails to excel in | any particular area. Yet again you jump from platform to platform, killing bad guys and col- lecting objects with no apparent use. But what's this? Unless I’m mistaken the game uses almost exactly the same engine Castle- || vania Il: Belmont's Revenge made use of. No wonder it all looks so familiar. The main pro- || tagonist may be a woman this time, but aside { from a gender swap there's little here to dif- || ferentiate CL from its predecessors. The level || design is unimaginative at best (left-right scrolling, jumpy-jumpy action prevailing {| throughout) with attacks coming from bats, snakes and zombies, each with predictable attack patterns. Even the now-familiar whip power-ups offer little excitement in the quag- mire of mediocrity. It's a shame really; GB game design has come along so far in recent || years but it seems that Castlevania has failed to catch up. Even the Bosses faillt spice things up. Learn their fairly simple attacks and you can sail through each confrontation || relatively unscathed. Doesn't look good, does it? Add to all of this some fairly ropy collision detection (grabbing ropes and avoiding zom- bies.can be a hit-or-miss affair), and you have something that can.only:be described as a disappointment. Such a shame. John D The Castlevania series has made huge strides on every console but the Game Boy. While this newest installment packs the basic Castlevania ingredients (familiar monsters and level design, etc.), it's too short, and the control is often unforgiving. | died too many times simply because | missed what should һауе Вееп a simple jump. At least you get a decent remix of the Castlevania theme (some- thing | missed in SotN). Cris in Legends is moderately amusing for the three or four hours it takes you to play through it, but overall | think it could’ve been much bet- ter. The game engine is archaic (it’s the same one; more or less, as the GB Castlevanias from seven or eight years ago), and there just isn't much depth to the gameplay at all. The Standard/Light Mode idea і-пісе; but either way— with just five'stages, you'll be.done A with this one in a mere day or two. John R f ! сап sum up this game in two words that go together all too well: short and easy. The game may give you a standard Castlevania- || type adventure with its spooky levels, music and inventory system, but that's about where itends. This installment in the Castlevania series is.best suited as a training course for aspiring Castlevania gamers..If. you've never played a Castlevania game and wanted to learn the basics, this will help. Shawn L:saahe}g JO 19quinN awed eiueAase) v 541 :34n3eaJ 3sag әио Зиџмод y 5,3] :21n3e24 3540. Uo» Iueuo | MMM Ё d! Publisher: Nintendo. Developer: Nintendo Featured In: N/A Wario Land |! demonstrates how coupling traditional side-scrolling gameplay with a few new ideas can work wonders. Wario Land || reminds me of so many old-school platform- ers, yet it's like nothing l've seen before. The primary feature that sets this game apart from others before it is your invulnerability. You can't die in this game; you simply get squashed, set on fire, turned fat and a whole host of other unfortunate conditions. The cool part? You can use these maladies to your advantage to access secret areas (for example, fat Wario can break special blocks). I can't recall a recent game where | wanted to get hit by enemies. Speaking of secret areas: They're everywhere. Eventually, | was driven to obsession trying to find every coin in every level so 1 could play the minigames. 1 have two minor complaints. First, some secret areas seem impossible to get to (I could see them, | just couldn't visit them— maybe I just.lack the skillz). Second, the game should've included more than just the two minigames. But overall, Wario Land II is a very satisfying experience. It's fun and fulliof technique. It will provide hours of fun plat- form jumping and puzzle solving (and | mean HOURS...this game is huge!). Wario Land II may go down as one'of ће finest titles the Game Boy has to offer. Dan This is easily one of my favorite platformers опе GB. Controlling the grumpy hero is а joy throughout and the non-linear and varied gameplay was enough to keep me wander- ing the office, GB in hand, trying to get to the next chapter. What better recommenda- tion do you want? Best of all, the Bosses are cool and there's so much variety.to the crea- tures that you encounter. A refreshing change from the pattern-based norm. John D If you're going to take the time out to sit down and play.a game on а tiny'screen, you might as well have fun doing it. That's where Wario Land Il comes in. Games like th make owning a Game Boy well worth Sure, the graphics are pretty good for the GB, but that's not what makes this one a winner. Wario Land || gives you gameplay that great games are made of. Don't overlook this one just because it's on a handheld. Shawn Wario Land II is the first “must-own” Game Boy'game of 1998, and frankly, it's one of my favorite Game Boy games to date. Fans of the old Mario platformers, where exploration is emphasized and secrets abound at every turn, are going to be in love with this vast, VERY nicely designed game. The levels are huge, the varied gameplay is top-notch, the minigames are cool...I honestly һауе no complaints at all. Great game. John R 1 :5ләҝеја JO 49quinN anbiuu»a JO 5301 :әлпдеәј 3598 эрт лпод JO IMQ SANOH »pns |М 31 :9403£2 3540 шохориәушгммм ELECTRONIC GAMING === MONTHLY Ес С EI E | Official PlayStation eM Т” 5 AIL You Need To Know “=> ZIFF- DAVIS. , "videogamespot ШШ PICKS OF THE MONTH May 1998 OVERALL SATURN NINTENDO 64 - Name, ©) Editors’ Choice Award A # Consecutive Months On The Chart Rank Number Fresh off a touchdown and deep into third-period overtime on the office NFL Blitz machine, Crispin—pitted against Blitz guru John Ricciardi—opted to go for the two-point conversion for the win rather than settle for the free point and a tie game. He picked a simple slant-right running play, zinged it to a running back, then fumbled a mere yard from the goal line after spin- ning one too many times. Cris' response: He picked up the orange safety cone we keep near the machine —dubbed the Cone of Violence for just such occasions—and lobbed it through a closet door. JENTER FOR А CHANCE TO WIN _A‘TRIP FOR.TWO ae TOTHE, | PRO BOWL қ IN HAWAII BLITZ BOWL GAME INFORMATION eam ti Name ETT 4 1-17 ре janhMme Team #2 Score Date of Game Name oflocation where gametookplace _ SEERULES FOR MAILING ADDRESS ‘Street Address, City, State and Zip Code of location where game took place £01097 МАР Tear nam х (сез product f the Naponal Footba L BLITZ BOWL RULES NO PURCHASE NECESSARY Who May Enter: The Blitz Bowl Sweepstakes is open to all legal residents of the United States, except residents of Tennessee, employ- ees of WMS Industries Inc., Midway Games Inc., or their subsidiaries, related parties and their immediate families. All federal, state and local laws apply. Void where prohibited. Contest sponsored by Midway Games Inc., 3401 N. California Ave. Chicago, IL 60618 Deadline: The Blitz Bowl Sweepstakes begins on February 1, 1998. To be eligible, all entries must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. Central Standard Time on June 30, 1998. Sponsor is not responsible for mechanical errors, typographical or printing errors, lost, stolen, late or misdi- rected mail, third-party interference or electri- cal, network, computer, hardware or software malfunctions. To Enter: Participants may enter the Blitz Bowl Sweepstakes in two ways: (1) By printing on а 3x 5 card or an official entry blank (available at participating arcade locations) a score the participant achieved by playing the BLITZ coin- operated video game (such as Bears 28, Packers 24), the location where the game was played and the date the game was played, along with the participant's name, age, valid address and phone number, and sending that entry to BLITZ BOWL ENTRIES, P.O. Box 52990, Dept. 11976, Phoenix, AZ 85072-2990; ог (2) Participants may also enter without purchase by printing, on a з x 5 card, the names of two National Football League teams and a score selected by the participant as if those teams had played a football game (such as Bills 35, Cowboys 17), along with the participant's name, age, valid address and phone number, and sending the card to: BLITZ BOWL ENTRIES, Р.О. Box 52990, Dept. 11976, Phoenix, AZ 85072-2990. Enter as often as you wish. Prizes: Grand Prize (1): A trip for 2, including ‘overnight accommodations, to the 1999 Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii (Approximate Total Retail Value: $4000) First Prize (1): Digitization as a secret character as part of a future Midway Games arcade game. (Approximate Retail Value: $100) Second Prize (25): A one-year subscription to Electronic Gaming Monthly/EGMF magazines (Approximate Retail Value: $24,97 each) Total prize value: $4599.75 Odds: Odds are dependent upon the number of entries received. Selection: A computer vs. computer game of Blitz, the BLITZ BOWL will be played at the offices of Midway Games Inc. on July 7, 1998 with randomly selected NFL teams. All entries with the same score will then be placed into a single prize pool, with a winning entry select- ed randomly by the judges. In the event that fewer correct scores are achieved than prizes are available, remaining winners will be chosen randomly from the remaining entries. All deci- sions of the judges are final and binding in all respects. Notification: Winners will be notified by overnight courier and/or telephone on or about July 10, 1998. No mechanical reproductions or entries by fac- simile or electronic transmission. Winners will be required to complete affidavit of eligibility, waiver of liability and publicity release, which must be returned within 15 days of receipt or any prize reward will be void. If winner is under the age of 18, winner must provide signed parental consent, in a form provided by the Sponsor, in order to receive prize. Limit one per house- hold. All prizes-will be awarded. No substitu- tion or transfer of prizes. Taxes are the respon- sibility of winners. By participating winners consent to use of their name, address and likeness for advertising, promotional and publicity purpos- es without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. All entries become the property of sponsor and will not be returned. Winners? List: For a winners’ list, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope by June Зо, 1999 to: BLITZ BOWL WINNERS LIST, РО. Box 52912, Dept. 11977, Phoenix, AZ 85072- 2912. 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"3115 ПОЛ 319UM ease ay} 1529 sou»jans jeu) uie eui quii sn пол “әле Ady) әләцм риу ој ‘saouaı р|08 ay} 12902 пол uaym dn peuedo әле Ләцу pue ‘s]ana] uappiu әәлц әле әләц| :5јале] 131295 991 зјале 1 301925 әү Skullmonkeys These passwords will give you passwords to different levels of the game with many lives to boot! Just access the Password Option from the Main Menu and enter any of the codes as shown: YNT Weeds with до lives - X, Circle, X, Triangle, Square, Triangle, Square, Circle, X, Circle, Triangle, Square. YNT Mines with 72 lives - X, L2, Triangle, R1, L1, X, L2, Square, Triangle, L1, Square, R1. YNT Eggs with 10 lives - Triangle, Square, Circle, Triangle, X, Square, cuu б жаа o — : ~ а“ Circle, Triangle, Square, Х, Triangle, Square. YNT Eggs with 65 lives - Square, X, Circle, Triangle, Triangle, X, Square, Circle, Triangle, Circle, X, Square. Elevated Structure of Terror with 74 lives - Triangle, Square, Circle, X, Square, X, Circle, Square, Triangle, Circle, X, Х. Evil Engine #9 with 47 lives - R2, R2, D Triangle, L2, L1, R1, R2, L2, L1, R2, Triangle, X. Evil Engine #9 with 6o lives - L1, R2, R1, L2, L1, R1, L2, R2, L1, R1, R2, L2. Monkey Mage with 23 lives - R2, R1, L1, R2, R1, L2, L1, R1, L2, L1, R2, L2. Glenn Yntis with 22 lives - R2, R1, L2, Ra, La, X, L2, L1, X, Triangle, L2, L1. Shards with 71 lives - R2, R1, Circle, L2, R2, L2, R1, L1, R2, Triangle, L2, Square. Castle De Los Muertos with 63 lives - R2, L2, L1, R2, L2, R1, L1, R2, L2, L1, R2, L2. Klogg with 55 lives - R2, L1, R1, L2, L1, R1, R2, L2, L1, R2, R1, L2. Worm Graveyard with 30 lives - R1, R2, L2, R2, R1, Square, Triangle, Circle, L1, X, Square, Triangle. Monk Rushmore with 31 lives - R2, L2, R1, L1, R2, L2, R1, X, L1, R2, L2, X. Monk Rushmore with 55 lives - R2, L1, R1, L2, X, Circle, X, R2, L2, L1, R1, R2. Skullmonkey Gate with 54 lives - R1, L1, R2, L2, L1, R2, L2, R2, L2, L1, R2, L2. Skullmonkey Gate with 61 lives - L2, R2, L1, R2, L1, R1, R2, L2, L1, X, R2, X. Skullmonkey Gate with 84 lives - L1, GoldenEye 007 © _ It's ironic that Nintendo released this code right after our April Fools’ joke ran last issue! Just when you .. thought it was hopeless to get more characters in . GoldenEye, out comes another code. This time, it's for real! Now you can play as 31 extra characters in the Multiplayer Mode. On the Multiplayer Options. _ Screen, go to the Characters Option and move to . your last available character, which will be | .. Mishkin or Moonraker Elite. Now hold L+R but- tons and press Left-C, let go and hold L button and press Up-C, let go and hold L+R buttons and press Left (control pad), hold L button and Seen cum =< press Right (control hh B pad), hold R button and } Е Е i Е press Down (control ма rm pad), hold L+R button у and press Left-C, hold |. Ё button and press Up-C, — — hold L+R button and press - Right (control pad), hold L+R button and press Down- C, hold L button and press | Down (control pad). Once you R1, L2, R2, R1, L1, L2, R2, R1, L2, .. do this, you will see that you Ra, R1. can select from a number of new у = Susan Ман characters (31 to be exact)! When ғ. 4. Salina, KS you turn off the game, the code will be gone, so you will need to enter it every time you want to do the trick. | A Ghost in the Shell At the Main Menu Screen, enter the following code to get access to all the levels: R2, R1, Square, Square, Up, Down, Square, Square, R2, eE GHOSTASHELL R2. You will hear a tone to confirm the code worked. Now press Start on “Mission Start" and you will be able to choose any of the 12 missions available to you. Also, you can go to “Options” and then go to eee соз GHOSTANSHE ue SITET Берре Nee а the Movie Replay Option. Here you can play any of the cinemas from the game! To access a hidden picture, you must defeat the game with- out using any continues. The final cinema will play, followed by the staff credits. If you are patient enough to wait for this to end, you'll be rewarded with a full-size picture of Motoke Kusanagi. ANOTHER WORLD па. gm Lu " [e 4 2 ~ Gr &. do the codes and olors change. On this s you'll sı The Mach 5 or Demon can destroy the sign with the Saws and Jacks. Get extra views by doing that code while the game is paused. Critical Depth o Here are a couple of codes for this killer game. To execute any of these codes you must be in the game, but do not pause it. You will have to be quick when you enter these codes to get them to work: Infinite Weapons: L1, Rz, 11, R1, Up, Down, Left, Down. Drop Pod: 11, R1, 11, R1, Up, Down, Left, Up. Extreme-G In Shoot-'Em-Up Mode, you will be chasing a bunch of the faces! Clear the current game and enter XGTEAM in its place. с 7 D э „> Put in one of the programmers’ names to be racing as him! Bloody Roar > There are several cheats you can get for this game. Follow the directions for each to get the code. Big Head: On “Normal” setting while on the Character Select Screen, hold L2 and choose your fighter with the Circle button. Large Arena: If you beat 10 opponents іп a row in the Survival Mode, you will be able to increase the size of the arena. Rm Regenerating Life Bars: Finish gu the game with Bakuryu on Level Four or above. Big Arms: Beat the game without continuing on Level Four or above. Small Fighters: At the Character Select Screen, hold R2 and choose your fighter with the Circle button. School Girl Alice: Beat all the opponents in Time Attack Mode in under 10 minutes. NA GameShark Codes @ ARMORED CORE Hidden Abilities 800087200004 80039d200004 AUTO DESTRUCT Infinite Armor 800a86a00800 GEX: ENTER THE GECKO Have All Remotes 8009755С0707 8009755е0707 800975600707 800975620707 800975640707 800975660707 800975680707 800975720300 800975740707 80097580ffff “> 800975820fff 80097584 800975861fo0 MARCH MAD- NESS '98 Full Momentum Home Team 801081980064 MARCH MAD- NESS '98 Full Momentum Away Team 801081980000 о SCAR 98 |) ЈАМЕ L There are a few tricks here that will affect the type of car you have or add some kind of effect to it. EA Sports Car: This trick can only be done in Exhibition Mode. Go to the Race Setup/Car Select Screen and highlight the Kenny Wallace car. Then hold X and press Up and Down. Faster Car: To build a faster car you must go into the Car Setup Screen. From there put the pressure all the way up, the wedge all the way down, the rear spoiler all the way down and the gear ratios all the way up. ® Pinnacle Car: This trick only works in Exhibition Mode as well. Go to the Race Setup/Car Select Screen and highlight Bobby Labontes’ car. Hold X and press Up then Down. RAY TRACERS Infinite Nitro 80058a4003b6 RESIDENT EVIL 2 (CLAIRE) 11+12 Health Restore doocó23cooo5 800c7c4200c8 RESIDENT EVIL 2 (CLAIRE) 11+Triangle For Grenade Launcher dooc623c0014 80occo3offoo RESIDENT EVIL 2 (CLAIRE) L1+X For Grenade Launcher (Fire) do0c623co044 800cc930ffoa RESIDENT EVIL 2 (CLAIRE) L1+Square For Grenade Launcher (Acid) dooc623co084 800cc93offob RESIDENT EVIL 2 (CLAIRE) L2+Triangle For Bowgun dooc623coo11 ВооссозоНос RESIDENT EVIL 2 (CLAIRE) L2+Square For Spark Shot dooc623c0081 800cc93offoe RESIDENT EVIL 2 (CLAIRE) R2+Triangle For Submachine Gun dooc623coo12 800cco93offof RESIDENT EVIL 2 (CLAIRE) R2+X For Rocket Launcher dooc623co042 800cc93off11 RESIDENT EVIL 2 (CLAIRE) R2+Square For Gatling Gun dooc623c0082 800cc93off12 RESIDENT EVIL 2 (LEON) 11+L2 Health Restore doocó46coo05 800c7e7ao0c8 RESIDENT EVIL 2 (LEON) L1+Triangle For Magnum doocó46coo14 Sooccb68ffos RESIDENT EVIL 2 (LEON) L1+X For Custom Magnum dooc646coo44 8ooccb68ffo6 RESIDENT EVIL 2 (LEON) La+Square For Shotgun dooc646co084 800ccb68ffo7 RESIDENT EVIL 2 (LEON) L2+Triangle For Custom Shotgun dooc646coo11 RESIDENT EVIL 2 (LEON) L2+Triangle For Custom Shotgun 800ccb68ffo8 RESIDENT EVIL 2 (LEON) L2+Square For Submachine Gun dooc646coo81 8ooccb68ffof RESIDENT EVIL 2 (LEON) R2+Triangle For Flamethrower dooc646coo12 8ooccb68ff1o RESIDENT EVIL 2 (LEON) R2+X For Rocket Launcher dooc646coo42 8ooccb68ff11 RESIDENT EVIL 2 (LEON) R2+Square For Gatling Gun dooc646coo82 8ooccb68ff12 Also Available Jaguar, 300 and “TEKKEN 3° features the original arcade cast of charac- 1 as GON the d lar Ji ЕЗ Tme Resse Pace Тт Rese Расе Тте Виши Рик Tme Rugs Paice E ra icta. 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Armed with swords, mis- E FIFA Soccer98 NOW $44 МВА Jam 98 10/98 $49 Rush Hour NOW $46 Uprising 04/98 550 siles, muskets, magic spells and more, you can fight ] Fighting Force NOW $42 NBAShootout98 NOW $42 San Francisco Rush NOW $42 VMX Racing NOW $46 solo or multi-player combat in an eerie dungeon atmos- A Final Fantasy Tactics NOW $44 МВА in the Zone '98 NOW $49 Shadowmaster © NOW $42 VR Baseball'99 04% $42 phere. ра Final Fantasy Vil — NOW $54 NFL Blitz 09/98 $49 Skull Monkeys NOW $44 — VRGoll NOW 549 Eidos (Roleplaying) 5 Release Date: 3/98 PSX $44 с Albert Odyssey NOW $46 Fighters Megamix NOW 552 Mortal Kombat Trilogy NOW $46 SimCity 2000 NOW $32 7 1 Batman and Robin 04/98 $44 Herc's Adventures NOW $39 МВА Action'98 NOW $46 Skeleton Warriors МОМ 519 MARIC KNIGHT. RAYEARTH: Tires Japanese school Bomberman NOW $39 Iron Storm NOW $46 МВА Live 98 NOW S44 Sky Target NOW $36 Lucho aues Aree Lade Burning Rangers 04/98 $46 lronman/XO NOW $39 МНІ All Star Hockey 98NOW $46 бөліс Jam NOW $44 Ваа апо avo wae ЕШШ ed oa Bust-A-Move2 NOW 536 Last Bronx NOW $46 МН. Hockey 98 — NOW $46 бөлей NOW $46 Working Designs (Roleplaying) Den Command & Conquer NOW $52 Legend of Oasis МОМ $46 Nascar 98 NOW $46 Steep Slope Sliders NOW $39 Release Date: 5/98 SAT $52 Contra:Legacy of War NOW $29 1051 World NOW $44 PTO2 NOW $49 ют NOW $50 Darklight Conflict NOW $44 Lunacy NOW $52 Panzer Dragon Saga 04/98 $49 Street Fighter Alpha 2 NOW 539 Dawn of Darkness NOW $46 Madden FB 98 NOW $46 Quake NOW $44 Super S.F. 2 CollectionNOW 538 ‘WARHAMMER FANTASY’ Become a fearless comman- Die Hard Arcade NOW $44 Marvel Super Heroes NOW $42 Rampage World Tour NOW $46 Tomb Raiders NOW $42 der- painting and assembling mighty fantasy armies to Dragon Force NOW $46 Mass Destruction NOW $39 Resident Evil NOW 544 Touring Car Champ NOW 546 do battle on the tabletop. Warhammer provides you Duke Nukem 3D NOW $44 Maximum Force NOW $44 беда Ages NOW $40 Virtual On NOW $36 with the core regiments of two armies, the valiant Enemy Zero NOW 546 Mechwarrior 2 NOW $36 Shining Holy Ark NOW $46 World Series BBall 98 NOW 546 Bretonnians, and the cold-blooded Lizardmen. FIFA Soccer 98 NOW 544 Меда Man 8 NOW $44 Shining Wisdom МОМ $42 Worldwide Soccer ‘98 NOW 544 Games Workshop (Board Game) Release Date: NOW BG $59 Brunswick TournamentNOW $36 — NHLHockey98 NOW $52 ESPN Hockey NOW $19 МВА Jam Session МОМ $19 “YOSHI'S STORY’ The characters in this 64-bit sequel Emmitt Smith FootballNOW $19 Secret of Evermore NOW $39 Frank Thomas BaseballNOW $19 МВА Live 98 NOW $49 to Yoshi's Island move with an uncanny degree of flu- George Foreman BoxingNOW 59 Star Trek Deep Space INOW $19 белесі Nomad SystemNOWS169 МВА Showdown МОМ $14 idity, particularly Yoshi, and the backgrounds are stun- Madden Football 98 NOW $52 Super Mario Kat NOW $34 Head-On soccer NOW $19 МЕ. OB Club 95 or 96 NOW 519 ning. This totally new approach to platform gaming fea- Mark Davis Fish MasterNOW $29 Ultimate Mort Komb 3NOW $19 ^ Lost World NOW 546 NHL Hockey 98 МОМ 549 tures 24 levels NBA HangTime МОМ $29 WWF Arcade NOW $9 Lunar NOW $34 Phantom 2040 NOW $19 Nintendo NBA Live 95 NOW $19 — Warlock NOW $19 Lunar2 NOW $49 Skeleton Krew NOW $39 Release Date: NOW N64 $54 NBA Live 97 NOW $29 Zelda3 NOW $34 Madden Football 98 NOW $49 Тесто Super Bowl 3 NOW $19 NBA Live 98 NOW $50 Zoop NOW 55 МВА Hang Time NOW $19 Моп Series BBall 98 NOW 544 "ROAD RASH 3-D' A butt-kickin', bugs in the teeth ride down canyon roads, highways, and city streets! Banjo-Kazooie 06/98 $54 Меда Man 08/98 $74 Albert Odyssey NOW 57 LegendofZelda64 06/98 $13 Featuring 4 nasty gangs, 12 awesome bikes, 200km of Bomberman 64 NOW $54 Mission Impossible 05/98 $72 Ашпфа NOW $13 Ogre Battle NOW $12 interconnecting roads, and a revolutionary 3-D engine. Cruis'n the World 07/98 $54 МВА Courtside 0498 $54 Bomberman 64 NOW $12 Resident Evil 2 NOW $12 This is by far, the best Road Rash ever! Diddy Kong Racing NOW $52 Rampage World Tour NOW $50 Breath of Fire3 NOW $14 Star Fox64 Surv Gd NOW $12 Electronic Arts (Fighting) F-Zero 64 NOW 562 Snow Board Kids NOW $55 Castlevania:Synph Nt NOW $12 Tactics Ogre NOW $13 Release Date: 4/98 PSX $44 Fighters Destiny NOW 562 WWF Warzone 05/98 565. Death Trap Dungeon NOW 512 Temo Deception UnauthNOW 512 Golden Eye 007 NOW $66 Wayne Gretzky 98 NOW 562 Final Fantasy Tactics NOW $12 Tekken 3 0598 512 4 ‚ Legend Mystical Ninja 64NOWS64 Wild Chopper 06/98 $69 Goldeneye Unauth NOW $12 Tomb Raider 2 NOW $12 ите v Cir Не O SNR Madden 64 NOW 565 Yoshi's Story 64 МОМ $54 Hexen 64 NOW 512 Үозһ% Story NOW $10 a stadium full of stats. Pinpoint control and a fistful of specialty pitches. Four modes of play, including exhibi- tion, half or full-season, Pennant race, or World Series. 1830 RR & RbbrBronsNOW $20 ^ Robo Rally NOW 533 Бізде Runner NOW $53 — MTGDuels PlaneswalkerNOW 546 Nintendo(Sports) Advanced Civilization NOW $25 Samurai Swords МОМ $35 Carmageddon NOW $39 NASCARRacing2 NOW $38 Release Date: 5/08 N64 $54 Axis & Allies NOW $35 Space Hulk NOW 565 Daikatana 09/98 $39 Pro Pinball TimeshockNOW $28 Battletech 4th Ed. NOW 521 Star Fleet Battles © NOW $25 Diablo Hellfire NOW $26 Quake 2 NOW $39 У ; Я Civilization NOW 529 Тугаппо Ex NOW $23 Duke Nukem Forever 06/98 $48 Rebellion NOW $51 BORDA EEN nu bie О А АЈА Deluxe Diplomacy NOW $42 Warhammer 40K NOW $59 Final Fantasy VII 06/98 544 Str Tk Sort Vien Fry 08/98 548 evil Zentradi! Pilot the ШЫНЫ Шаа Veritech Fighters Hobbit Adventure МОМ $29 Warhammer Quest NOW $59 Heavy Gear NOW $44 Starcrat wow sag | into massive, deadly space battles! Every aspect of the Lionheart NOW $35 WethePeople NOW $29 Hexen 2 NOW 547 Тірі Play 99 wow S45 | ЕШ animeseries; Tae! Hein САВИН ЗА ШЫ wej Necromunda NOW 559 World in Flames Dix NOW 590 Journeyman Project 3NOW $45 — Unreal wow sis | Some REG! Palladium ИМА Release Date:NOW Реп & Paper $11 DoomtowniSD NOW $8 MTGTempestBP NOW 52 AD&DDMGuide NOW $20 GURPS Compendium IINOW $18 MTGSthEdBP МОМ 52 MTG Tempest Pre-Con SONOWS8 Monstrous Manual NOW $20 Heavy Gear NOW $25 ‘MAGIC THE GATHERING 5TH EDITION’ This deck MTG Exodus BP 0698 $2 MTG TempestSD NOW $8 Encyclopedia Magica 4NOW $20 Herc & Хела NOW $26 contains 60 tradable game cards, randomly assorted, MTG Fallen Empires BPNOW $1 MTG Visions ВР NOW $2 Ars Magica 4thEd NOW $26 Mechwarrior NOW $13 plus a rule book. Each player must have a deck. This MTG Mirage BP МОМ 52 MTG Weatherlight BP NOW $2 Callof Cthulhu NOW $18 — Rifts NOW $21 deck may be enhanced with more cards sold in MTG Mirage SD МОМ $8 Star Trek NG Alt Univ NOW $2 — Conspiracy X NOW 521 Shadowrun 2nd Ed. NOW $20 booster packs. MTG Portal BP NOW $2 Star Wars SD NOW $5 Cyberpunk 2020 NOW $17 StarWars Revised NOW 525 Wizards of the Coast (Card Game) MTG Portal SD NOW $8 WyvernSDLtdEd NOW 52 Deadlands Rulebook NOW $27 Vampire NOW $24 Release Date: NOW CG $7 MTG Stronghold BP NOW $2 X-Files Starter NOW $9 Dragonlance Sth Age NOW 521 ^ Werewoll NOW $24 Visa, MC and Discover accepted. Checks held 4 weeks. MONEY ORDERS UNDER $200 SAME AS CASH. COD $8. Price, availability, offer subject to change at any time. Release sched- Standard Priority Over Mail To Майто ules and shipping times are approximate, not guaranteed, and subject to change at any time. Hardware orders may require additional shipping and handling charges. Defectives replaced US, Mail U.S. Мат ЕМ а with same product. All sales final. Call for details. Shipping and handling charges calculated on a per order, per shipment, and per item basis. The “per order" charge is charged once | per order ІС "$a Пи SS Qi Ge per order placed and the “per item" charge is charged once for each item ordered and the “per shipment” charge is charged once for each shipment we make to you. Each United States | Per Shipment $125 5100 3300 5700 5200 5200 order will include a 12-month subscription (while supplies last) of Computer Games Strategy Plus Magazine, for which $10.00 of the order cost will be allocated Рейеп 505 — $100 $100 $2.00 5200 5600 (©1996 CHIPS & BITS, INC. Toys Gadgets Electronics Cool Places New Media Cool stuff you could probably live without, but shouldn’t All of the items in this month's Get Some! are some of the products shown at this year's Toy Fair in New York. Toy Fair is a trade show like E’, except it’s just for toys. Look for more products from the show in upcoming issues of EGM. ) Chimp Handlers The idea here is simple: Stick your hand in the chimp's rear @ Board Your Keyboard Taking interactive to a whole different level, the Millennium Falcon playset from " S Hasbro lets you take control of the Falcon and do your best primate imper- in the privacy of your own home. By sonation. What could be more strapping the device to a standard fun than that? This ape is just computer keyboard, installing the one of many in Mask Illusions included software and working line of puppets called Hand the levers and buttons on the Critters. Others include a cat, miniature cockpit, you can a buffalo, a rhino and a doctor. watch your monitor as you They’re strange but very cool. cruise around at warp speeds. psp Price Around $12 Price Around $50 For More Info N/A For More Info Phone (800) 266-6275 www.hasbrointeractive.com Phone (800) 400-1352 @ A Whole Lotta Manga McFarlane Toys easily has the coolest action figures on the market today. To keep the ball rolling, they have a load of action figure lines due out this year. Pictured to the left is Manga Samurai Spawn and to the right, Manga Freak, both from Manga Spawn Series 2. Other * У lines to look for are Spawn Series 11, Movie Maniacs 4 featuring Jason, Freddy Krueger and Eve from the К HA upcoming movie Species 2, plus many others. x Needless to say, it's time to get your wallets prepped. Price Around $15 For More Info www.spawn.com Phone (888) 99-SPAWN or (888) 997-7296 ы Ө It’s Never Too Late The first Resident Evil may have come out more than a year ago, but that isn’t stopping Toy Biz from bringing us a whole line of action figures based on characters from the game. And really, we can’t say we mind! Each detailed character due out in June comes with different weapons and a monster. Also, look for RE2 figures later this year. Price Around $10 For More Info www.primenet.com/~btn/aft.html Phone (800) 634-7539 ADVERTISER INDEX ЕШ CHROME, | GAMING 47 =S у Јоу Ыы? Acti www.activision.com ADVision www.advfilms.com ASCII Entertainment www.asciient.com Atlus. www.atlus.com BRE Software . www.bresoftware.com www.capcom.com Chips & Bits www.cdmag.com/chips.html www.eidosinteractive.com Electronic Arts WWW.EA.com Electrosource www.electrosourceinc.com Game Express. Www.gexpress.com GT Interactive Ent www. gtinteractive.com Interact Accessories. www.gameshark.com Jaleco..... www, jaleco.com Japan Video Games . Konami www.konami.com www.midway.com Milk Processor Promotion Board www.whymilk.com Namco . . www.namco.com Nintendo. www.nintendo.com www.sony.com Sony Music-Columbia . . . Tecmo, Inc. . www.tecmo.co.jp T*HQ, Inc www.thq.com Video Systems. www.dreamsquare.co.jp Working Designs www.workingdesigns.com © All the Latest and Vide Game Invasion! „сг WINNERS! Game.com Sal Lavato, NJ, Christopher Winter, OR, Gregory Hard, MA * Peter Matia, IL Brain Warp Andy Kiser, TX Andrew Donovan, IN Light Wars Frank Harvey, VA * Travis Blackburn, OR • David Garlow, NY Lights Out Cube David Drucker, SC • Chris Howard, IL • Zack Stamp, MI Jesse Bergamy, GA Last Out Josh Cunningham, IL • Steve Tranholm, MA * James Eldridge, MA Travis Fernandez, WI Best Video Game Gossip, News and Info...24 Hours Day or Night! 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Restrictions: Void where prohibited or resticted by lav. Al 116 or the record—and as far as | know—not a single member of the Review Crew has a stick up his butt. More than a few readers have made that accusation, claiming мете a little too hard on the games we rate. More specifically, they wonder why we don’t grant more 105. After all, it has been more than three years since we've let fly with a perfect score (which went to Sonic & Knuckles in issue #64, by the way). What gives? Are we just a bunch of nose-in-the-air cynics who think no game is worthy of our top-of-the-scale ideal? Of course not. In fact, we'd love to give out more 10s (it'd sure beat playin' stuff like Fantastic Four all month long). Trouble is, according to our reviews philosophy, the chances of a game ever reaching the coveted 10 spot are slim at by Crispin Boyer crispin_boyer@zd.com ІН Могс Trouble at the 10 Spot boom came closer to earning a 10 than any other game in recent years. It's revolutionary in its realism. It's easily one of the prettiest games ever. It's an immersive experience that makes it possible to love the Nintendo 64, a system that's all too easy to hate. Even better: We still play the hell outa the game. But then there's GoldenEye's slight choppiness in Four-player Mode, not to mention a difficulty curve steeper than a rope-free ascent up Devil's Tower. Those itty-bitty gripes alone were enough to knock poor GoldenEye from perfect-score contention. And the same story applies to last year's other console wonders. Resident Evil 2, Final Fantasy VII, Castlevania: SotN— all raised the bar in their respective gen- res, all were consid- ered worthy of a 10 rating by one editor or another, and all suf- % fered from one or two micron-size flaws that barred best. We’ | е it fi fect Ruston 100% Stick Free 0. belief that for a game to earna perfect score, it has to be...well, perfect. It can’t suffer from any slowdown. It can’t have any camera problems. It can’t be too short, too hard, too easy, too ugly, too salty, too high in saturated fat, too blah, blah, blah. Any flaw, no matter how teeny tiny, has been enough to knock even the best games down to a 9.5. But while half the staff thinks this policy is all fine and dandy (some even insist that no game'll ever be good enough to cut the perfect-score mustard ), the rest feel that a 10 every now and then is a good thing. Such elite games set a standard by which all the 400 or so other titles released each year are judged. Take GoldenEye 007 for example. Arguably 1997's best game, Rare's masterpiece of first-person boom- How fair is that? Lately, we've reconsidered our super-strict policy, and we’ve come to the conclu- sion that there’s no logic in having a 10-point scale if we're only ever going to use nine of those points. So, from now on, if we review something that sets a new standard, that tops every other game known to mankind, it's going to get the credit it deserves— a 10 rating. (And while we're on the subject, when we come across the worst of the worst, it'll get the score it deserves: a big fat zero. Oh, and please, please remember that five is an average rating, a numerical fact of life that several other game mags apparently fail to realize.) So what could the next big-10 game be? Trust me— we Review Crew guys face Zelda 64, Tekken 3 and everything else 1998 has to offer completely stick free. \ ZIFF-DAVIS ZIFF-DAVIS INC. CHAIRMAN AND CEO Eric Hippeau Chief Financial Officer President, ZD Publishing President, ZD Market Intelligence President, ZD Comdex and Forums President, ZD Brand and Market Services President, ZD Internet Productions President, ZD Education President, ZD Television Senior Vice President, Human Resources Senior Vice President, Planning and Development Vice President, Information Services Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Vice President, Controller Vice President, Human Resources, Operations Treasurer CORPORATE SALES Executive Vice President ZD MEDIA NETWORK Executive Director Executive Director Managing Director ZD BRAND & MARKET SERVICES Vice President, ZD Brand Marketing Vice President, Client Marketing Vice President, Corporate Research Vice President, ZD Brand Management Vice President, Corporate Relations Timothy O'Brien Claude P. Sheer Bob Brown Jason Chudnofsky Terri Holbrooke Dan Rosensweig William Rosenthal Larry W. Wangberg Rayna Brown Daryl R. Otte Steve Gladyszewski J. Malcolm Morris Mark Moyer Tracy Nadi Thomas L. Wright Joe Gillespie Jeff Bruce Scott Murphy Rita Burke Brooke Correll Michael Perkowski Elda Vale Herb Stern Gregory Jarboe ZD Publishing President Executive Vice President Executive Vice President Executive Vice President Executive Vice President Executive Vice President Executive Vice President Senior Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Vice President Executive Director, Licensing Director, Benchmark Operations Director, ZD Labs Ziff-Davis Inc., A SOFTBANK Company Claude P. Sheer Don Byrnes Chris Dobbrow Jack Dolce Al DiGuido Thomas McGrade Michael J. Miller Nancy Newman Bob Bader John Dodge Kathleen Goodwin Roger Herrmann Jonathan Lane Eric Lundquist Bill Machrone Jim Manning Charles Mast James F. Ramaley Paul Somerson Mark Van Name Sam Whitmore Gertrud Borchardt Bill Catchings Lauren Black Computers have changed the way we work, play, and now, vegetate. | Your Computer Channe Channel surfing will never be the same. Introducing ZDTV, the cable channel devoted exclusively to computing and the Internet. Tune in for shows like “The Money Machine,’ where you learn to save, manage, and make money with your computer. And explore the best of the web on “Internet Tonight.” Call your cable or satellite provider today and ask for ZDTV. Just say “ZDTV Ме” Or visit us at www.zdtv.com. Many thanks to our charter sponsors: CharlesSctwab сокі DOAL Gouna FB Microsot inta Kz ОпАДЕ sweer Sun em Even though we've finally pre- sented our big RPG wrap-up, don't worry, there's plenty more on the way. In fact, the EGM Review Crew will put more RPGs to the test such as Breath of Fire III for the PlayStation and the unique Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Saturn. N64 players can also look RPGs are booming, and we have more to review such as Sega's Panzer Dragoon Saga. EEE =7, СОМ ZMING, — MON THEY, June 1998 Acclaim’s Turok 2 is one of the most anticipat- ed N64 games, and EGM will give you the full scoop! forward to plenty of coverage including a massive Turok 2 blowout (next month’s cover story), Fighting Force 64 and World Grand Prix. This is in addition to some interesting PlayStation games including MK4 and Red Alert: Retaliation. RA: Retaliation is the follow-up to the great PS real-time strategy game. T May 1998 Our PlayStation role-playing Shred the slopes, dude! A first special includes Capcom’s Breath hands-on guide to Nintendo's of Fire Ill (above) and Square’s 10809 Snowboarding will reveal multistory epic SaGa Frontier. this game’s many secrets... This month, we showcase two of Next, chomp on Namco’s arcade the hottest fighting games to hit the scene—both from Namco! First, check out our total blowout of Tekken 3 for the PlayStation. It'll feature a comprehensive moves list, full character analysis and strategy that breaks down all the changes from the arcade version. Tekken 3 is here and ready to slap you silly—but not if you use our guide. We'll list combos, differences from the arcade and much more. Which of Colony Wars’ six endings was the real one? What the heck does ODT stand for? And how do you control a brick by remote control? Find out from the creators of Psygnosis’ Colony Wars 2, ODT and the ultra-funky Psybadek. brawler Ehrgeiz—featuring folks from Final Fantasy МИ! Don’t hit the arcades without reading this first! Rounding out the lineup are these hot titles: Dead or Alive, Need for Speed III, Pitfall 3D, MLB 99, Triple Play 99 and, as always, the best list of tricks on the planet! It's almost here! The biggest fighter in history — Tekken 3—is ready to explode on PlayStation, and OPM has all the inside info you want to know. Plus, we'll pull no punches naming PlayStation's 10 Greatest Fighters of All Time! Learn from the developers of Psybadek, ODT and the mind-blowing Colony Wars 2 why Psygnosis' 1998 lineup may be their best to date. As usual, our extensive reviews of Breath of Fire III, Dead or Alive and SaGa Frontier will put all others to shame. Plus, tear into playable demos of Einhánder, Gex: Enter the Gecko and Klonoa. All in the May issue of OPM! Side-scrolling Tekken?!?! OPM blows the lid off Tekken 3's brand-new Force Mode—a PlayStation exclusive! BRE Software Credit Card Orders: (209) 432-2684 24 Hour FAXBACK Information System: (209) 432-2644 E-Mail: info @ bresoftware.com Return this coupon with your next mail order (not valid on phone or online orders) 1 and receive $5.00 OFF your purchase. Please list alternatives when ordering by 8 в mail. Not valid with any other offers, Sales or Specials. This coupon is valid through & 11 5131/98. No copies accepted. If we can't fill your order within 30 days, we will g turn your order, payment, and this coupon to you ЕМ5 Send us your old games/systems Receive a check back or purchase other titles of your choice PlayStation „ We Sell Used /We Ви ZXTREME 29512 SD BASEBALL 1995700 ADIDAS PWR SOCCER 1955700 ‘AGENT ARMSTRONG 32951600 АЙ COMBAT 19957.00 ACECOMBAT2 29981200 ALENTALOGY 24951000 ALLSTARBASEBALLS] 1995700 АШЕР GENERAL 24951000 ALONEINTHE DARK 24551000 38552000 24551000 3498/1600 22951200 22941200 29951200 22951200 29951200 ARCADES GREAT #1 ARCADES GREAT #2 AREAS ARMORED CORE ATARI COLLECT. #1 AUTODESTAUCT 29951200 BALLBLAZER CHAMP. 1955800 BASEBALL 99 3495/16 00 BASS MASTERS CLASS. 2855180 BATMANA ROBIN 29951200 BATMANFOREVER 1995800 BATTLEARENATOSH2 2495000 BATTLE ARENA TOSH3 23551200 BATTLESPORT 295200 BATTLESTATIONS 29551200 BEAST WARS 28581200 BEYOND THE BEYOND 29581000 BGBASSWRLDCHMP 32991500 BASTO 34581800 BLAZING DRAGONS 24551000 BLOODYROAR 7 34851600 BOGEYDEADG 29951200 BRAHMAFORCE | 24551000 BRAVOAIRRACE 29941200 BREATHOFFIRES 44950400 BROKEN HEUX ' 24951000 BROKEN SWORD BUBBLE BOBBLE BUBSY 30 BUGRIDERS BUSHIDO BLADE BUST AMOVE 2 BUSTER BROS COL. CAESARS WORLD CARDINAL SYN CARNAGE HEART CART WORLD SERIES CASTLEVANIA CHESSMASTER CHRONICLES OF THE SWORD CITY OF LOST CHILD. CLAYFIGHTER EXT. CLOCK TOWER CODE NAME: TENKA COLONY WARS. ‘COMMAND &CONQUER REDALERT CONSTRUCTOR CONTRA LEGACY WAR COOLBOARDERS. COOLBOARDERS2 COURIER CRISIS COVERT WARS CRASH BANDICOOT. CRASH BANDICOOT 2 CRIME KILLER 22981200 28581000 24991000 28581200 34.9511400 23951200 24941000 31951600 31951400 21951000 73951200 4991400 34951200 20951200 22941200 31941500 ECT 1955800. 398400 29251200 39951600 34991400 2451000 21941000 БЕШ 29941200 31951400 1898800 ELT 29951200 БІЗІ 28981200 CROW CITY OF ANGELS 2899/1200 БЕЈ 249501000 22951200 DaReDeviLpeRBY30 180590 DARK FORGES 22991200 DARKLIGTCONFUCT 1955800 DARKSTALKERS _ 249100 No Boxes? No Instructions? No Problem!!! We are now buying Genesis, Super Nintendo, PlayStation and Saturn games without boxes or instructions. The following are prices for cartridge/disc only. Nintendo 8 bit (cartridge only)* Game Boy (cartridge only) Game Gear (cartridge only) Genesis (cartridge only) ‘Super Nintendo (cartridge only) Saturn (disc only) PlayStation (disc only) DEADORALVE 3454400 DEAD UNITY 34.9511400 DEATH RAP DUNGEON 9552000. DESCENT MAXIMUM 29991200 DESTRUCT.DERBY 1955800 DESTRUCT.DERBY2 29551200 DIABLO 39952000 DIEHARDTRILOGY 32951400 DISCWORLD 29951000 DISCWORLD2 39/40 DISRUPTOR 249571000 DOOM DRAGONBALLGT DRAGONHEART DUKE NUKEM DYNASTY WARRIORS 34951400 EARTHWORMJM3 39952000 ELEMENTAL GEAR BOLT34.9571600 EPIDEMIC 1955800 ESPN EXTREME GAMES 29951200 EXCAUBUR2SSSAD 24551400 EXODUS 31951600 EXTREME PINBALL 1995800 FADE TO BLACK 1895700 FANTASTICFOUR 24951000 FATAL RACING 21951000 FELONY 1179. 2995200 FIFASOCCER'9 1995800 FIFASOCCER97 | 29551200 FEAWORLDCUPSS 3995/1600 FIGHTING FORCE 31951400 FINAL DOOM 2995200 FIALFANTASYVI 39951800 SURVIVAL GUIDE OFFICIAL GUIDE FINAL FANTASY TACTICS, OFFICIAL GUIDE FORMULA 1 FORMULA 1 CHAMP ED. FORSAKEN FROGGER СРОШСЕ САМЕ SHARK WBOOK GEXENTER GECKO. GHOSTIN THE SHELL GOAL STORM 97 GOLDEN NUGGET. GRAND TOUR НАС 98 HEAVY GEAR HERCS ADVENTURE HERCULES. HEXEN IMPACT RACING INCREDIBLE HULK INCREDIBLE IDIOTS INDEPENDENCE DAY INTELLIGENT QUBE IRON & BLOOD IRON MAN X-O MAN MONSTER RANCHER MORTAL KOMBAT 3 MOTO RACER MOTOR TOON GP. MYST NAGANO OLYMPICS NAMCO MUSEUM VOLUME 1 VOLUME 2 VOLUME 3 VOLUME 4 VOLUMES NANOTEK WARRIOR NASCAR RACING NASCAR RACING 98: NBA FAST BREAK NBA HANGTIME NBA IN THE ZONE 2 NBAIN THE ZONE 98 NEA JAM 92 NBA JAM EXTREME NBA UVE 97 NBA LVE 38 NBA SHOOTOUT 97 NEA SHOOTOUT 98 NCAA FINAL FOUR NCAA FOOTBALL 98 NCAA GAMEBRKR 98. NECRODOME NEED FOR SPEED NEED FORSPEED2 NEED SPEED V-RALLY NEED FOR SPEEDS NEWMANN HAAS RAC, NFLGAMEDAY 98 NHL NHL Sê NHLBREAKAWAY 96 NHL FACE OFF S8 NHL POWERPLAY 98 NIGHTMARE CREAT. NORSE BY NORSEWST NUCLEAR STRIKE ODDWORLD 24951000 RISK 1925800 RIVEN 2995/1200 ROAD RASH 22951000 ROAD RASH 3D 39951500 ROM. 3KNGDOMS 4 3495/1400 RUNNING WILD RUSH HOUR. 3495/1400 SAGA FRONTIER 34551400 SAMURAI SHODOWN 3 34581400 SENTIENT 29951200 SHADOW MASTERS 24941000 SHIPWRECKERS 29951200 SIMCITY 2000 38951800 SKELETON WARRIOR. 78581200 SKULLMONKEYS 1955800 SLAYER 195800 SOUL BLADE 3498/1500 | STRATEGY GUIDE 34551500 SOVIET STRIKE 1995800 SPACE JAM 195800 SPAWN 3495/1400 STRATEGY GUIDE 1995600 SPIDER 31951500 STEELREIGN 1955800 STREET FIGHTER 2995/1000 ALPHA 28951000 АРНА? 3495/1600 SFIICOLLECTION 29951200 STREETFIGHTEREX+ 2095/1200 STREET RACER 32951400 STRIKE POINT 32951800 SUIKODEN 3495/1600 SUPER PUZZLE FIGHT. 29951000 SWAGMAN 1995600 SWV 3485/1400 SYNDICATE WARS 2995/1000 TACTICS OGRE 22951000 TAIL OF THE SUN 24581090 TECMO STACKERS 3495/1400 ТЕСМО SUPER BOWL 29951200 TECMOWORLDGOLF 3495/1400 TECMOS DECEPTION 3495/1400 TEKKEN OFFWORLDINTER. 1995700 TEKKEN2 OGRE BATTLE 28581500 TEKKENS, ОЧМРСЗИМ GAMES 2531200 TEMPEST x 3459140 TEN PIN ALLEY OvERBLOOD 79531200 TENNIS ARENA PAC MAN GHOST ZONE 4551400 TEST DANE 4 PANDEMONIUM.“ 2495/1000 TEST DRIVE OFF ROAD PANDEMONIUM2 29951200 TETRIS PLUS PANZER СЕМЕЯА. 29951200 THE FINAL ROUND PARAPPATHERAPPA 29951200 THEME HOSPITAL PEAK PERFORMANCE 2495/1000 THEME PARK PERFECT WEAPON PERSONA PGA TOUR GOLF 96 PGATOURGOLF 97 PGA TOUR GOLF SB. PITFALL 30 POINT BLANK POPULOUS 3 PORSCHE CHALLENGE POWER MOVE WREST. POWER RANGERS ZEO POWER SLAVE POWER SOCCER 2 POWERBOAT RACING PRIMAL RAGE PRO PINBALL PSYCHIC DETECTIVE PSYCHIC FORCE PUNKY SKUNK QUAKE RAGE RACER RALLY CROSS RAMPAGE WORLD TR RASCAL RAY STORM RAY TRACERS RAYMAN REBOOT. REBELASSAULTII RED ASPHAULT REELFISHING RELOADED. RESIDENT EVIL ‘STRATEGY GUIDE DIRECTORS CUT RESIDENT EVIL 2 STRATEGY GUIDE RETURN FIRE RIDGE RACER RIDGE RACER REV. 22941200 39941600 2995/1200 СД 1255200 125100 39957000 1295200 21951000 29941200 Eti 28551200 28581200 3491500 31951400 Erg 22951000 39951600 ONE 3495/1400 3951400 49/40 эла 24581000 1925800. 28981200 34951400 23951200 29551200 24951000 2495000 31941600 22941200 1995800 3495400 495400 19580 1995800 1898800 21991600 LEAGUEOFPAN 1985800 LEGACYOFKAIN 29951200 LETHALENFORCER 142 29551200 LOADED 1955700 LODE RUNNER 34951400 MACHINE HEAD 19957.00 MACHINE HUNTER | 1955700 MADDEN 98 28551250 MAGIC CARPET | 2999000 MAGIC GATHERING 34951400 MARCH MADNESS 34951600 MARVEL SUP. HEROES 24551400 MASS DESTRUCTION MASTERS TERASKASI MAXIMUM FORCE MOK MECHWARRIOR 2 MEGAMAN MEGAMAN NEO MEGAMAN X4 MICRO MACHINES MKMYTHOLOGIES. UK TRILOGY MLB SB MONOPOLY 29581000 TIGERSHARK 2455800 TIME CRISIS WIGUN 29951000 TNN HARDCORE 4X4 38991600 TOBALNO. 1 34581600 TOKYO HWY BATTLE 2995/1200 TOMB RAIDER 28582000 STRATEGY GUIDE 2995/1200 TOMB RAIDER2 24951000 STRATEGY GUIDE 24581000 TREASURES OF DEEP. 24951000 TRIPLE PLAY 98. 34951600 TRUE PINBALL 2459189 TWISTED METAL 19957.00 TWISTED METAL2 249591000 VANDAL HEARTS 24941000 VIGILANTES 24951000 VVIDRACING. 34951600 VIRTUAL POOL 39591800 VMX RACING 2995/1200 VR GOLF S7 24941000 VS 3495/1400 WAR HAMMER 31951400 WARHAMMER? 2895/1200 WARCRAFT I 31941400 WARGAME 1925700 WARGODS 34981400 WOW NITRO. 29951200 WCW VS. WORLD 31951400 WILD aS 3895/1500 WILD ARMS 24951000 STRATEGY GUIDE 2495/800 WING COMMANDERS 994200 WING COMMANDER 4 2995/1200 WIPEOUT 38552000 WIPEOUT XL 995200 WORLD CUP GOLF 24951000 WORMS 19957.00 WRECKING CREW 2495000 WES SACK NICKLAUS 98 JERSEY DEVIL ET MOTO 3ETMOTO2 JOE BLOW JURASSIC PARK LW. Xt ARENA FIGHTERS KING OF FIGHTERS KING'S FIELD KLONOA 2898120 EL 20951200 3495/1400 3498/1400 39951500 39951800 39951500 31951400 31951600 22951200 2453800 3495/1400 PlayStation Survival Guide Vol. 3 Castlevania Survival Guide Final Fantasy Vil Survival Guide N64 Survival Guide Shadows ol the Empire, N64 Survival Guide Vol. 2 E 24941000 34581400 SAN FRANCISCO RUSH 3495/1400 245000 31951600 29941200 39991500 1955740. 3485400 9/40 29951200 995200 245580 19480 498/400 995200 21951000 1995800 1895600 20951200 349511400 343811400 1995800 1995/800 29991200 39951500 КЕШ 21951000 24981000 БЕШ 29951200 22951200 24951000 22941200 31941400 2451000 29955200 39952000 245580 29951000 28551200 34951400 29941000 349511400 29581200 32951800 28581200 1995800 THUNDER TRCKRALLY 2495/1000 1995700 21951000 2995/1200 1995600 24951000 20951200 29951200 2995400 39952000 WWE ARCADE GAME 249580 WWEIN YOUR HOUSE 29951200 X COM. 1995600 XMEN CHILDREN ATOM 3495/1500 ХМЕН VS ST FIGHTER 29582000. XEVIOUS 30 1955800. YOUNGBLOOD 34951400 We Sell Used /We Bu) uy ALBERT ODYSSEY __ 18995 COMMAND&CONOUER 1995500 DIEHARDARCADE —— 1955500 DIEHARD TRILOGY 199550 DOOM 1995.00 DUKE NUKEM 1995500 ENEMY ZERO. 1995500 FIGHTERS МЕВАМХ 1955500 HEIROFZENDOR 1998500 LAST BRONX 1995500 MANXTT. 1995500 МЕСАМАНВ MEGAMAN4 MKTRILOGY NBA LVE 98 ‘QUAKE RESIDENT EVIL ROADRASH SEGA TOURING CAR SHINING HOLY ARK SHINING WISDOM SONIC JAM SONCR SOVIET STRIKE ST FIGHTER АРНА? TOMB RAIDER WORLD SERIES $ê WWF IN YOUR HOUSE Send us your old systems Super Nintendo зашт Sony PlayStation (Price based on syeserl number) (Od зуе (IRCA AV jacks) 1995500 1995500 1995500 1999500 1995500 1995500 1995500 1995500 1995500 1995500 1999500 1995500 1995500 1995500 1999500 1995500 1995500 Мен буе (о АСА Ауа) 570 The serial number сал be found on the botom of your PlayStation. Ifyou have any questions about the serial ‘number or how much you wil receive for your PlayStation, please сай BEFORE sending your system. Nintendo 64 ‘Systems must include 1 Original Солго Pad, AC Adapter and АҮНЕ Cable Genesis systems must include (CD connector cover. Айдйопа! controls aiso purchased. Defective systems wil be returned at your ‘expense ($10.00 minimum). 5800 wil be deducted foreach missing or defective controler, АС adapter or АНЕ cab. Strategy Guides and Hint Books $1495 Includes: Andra, Bushido Blade, Cock Tower, Cool Boarders 2, Crash Bandicoot 2, Duke Nukem, МОК, Madden 98, Ойнок, PaRappa the Rappa, Tomb Raider 2 and more. $12.95 $14.95 $14.95 Includes: Cruisin’ USA, Kiler Instinct, Mario Кал 64, Mortal Kombat Tiogy, Pilotwings 64, tar Fox 64, Super Mario 64, Turok, Wave Race 64, Wayne Gretzky Hockey $14.95 Includes: Bomberman 64, Clay Fighter 63 1/3, Diddy Kong Racing, Duke Nukem, Golden Eye 007, Michiel Makers, Madden 64, NFL O-Back Ciub 98, San Francisco Rush, Top Gear Rally, Wayne Gretzky 98 Super Mario 64 Survival Guide $12.95 To Buy Games 1. Ona full sized piece of paper, write your name, complete address, phone number and a list of all the games you would like to order. To speed processing of your order, istan alternative for each title you are ordering. 2. Calculate the total for the games you wish to order, including shipping & handing charges ($8.00 for the first t ог2 games, $1.00 for each additional. ‘Alaska, Hawaii, PR, APO, FPO, PO Boxes add $5.00). California residents add 7.75% sales tax. 3. Allow an additional 21 days for personal checks to clear - send money order for fastest processing. Allow 40 days to receive orders placed with money orders and 60 days to receive orders placed with personal checks. 4, Send your order to the address to the right. To Sell Games/Systems 1. Ona ull sized piece of paper, write your name, complete address, phone number. and a list of all the games/systems with the buy back prices you are selling. 2.If you would like to purchase games with the money or credit received, list the titles you would like to order on the same piece of paper. 3. Pack your games, all paperwork and any coupons in a box. Send the box tothe address below by UPS ог registered mail. Be sure to include the ‘Dept # on the. ‘outside of your package. Packages not addressed to the Dept # below or received after the date listed below will be issued our current catalog prices. 4, You will normally receive your check within 7-12 business days after we receive your package. Send your Games/Systems/Orders to: BRE Software Dept. EM5 352 W. Bedford Ave, Suite 104 Fresno, CA 93711 www.bresoftware.com Visit our Online Store for Online Specials - Budget Priced Games - Closeouts - Strategy Guides 5 ей M x] ШШ M | ж "uw We Sell Used /We ey 49.952400 49.95/24.00 44.95/22.00 44952200 4425200 34951600 49.95/24.00 349511600 44.95/22.00 44952200 44.95/20.00 34.95/16.00 49.95)22.00 49.95/22.00 54.95/24.00 34951600 44.95/20.00 44952000 49.95/22.00 54.95/24.00 39.95/18.00 49.95/22.00 34981800 34951400 54.95/24.00 24952000 44952000 44952000 49.95/26.00 39.95/15.00 54.95/24.00 49.95/24.00 49.95/22.00 49.95/24.00 44.95/20.00 44.95/20.00 54.95/24.00 54.95/28.00 49.95/24.00 39.95/18.00 49.95/22.00 39.95/20.00 3495150 44952000 34.95/18.00 34.95/18.00 44.95/20.00 1080 SNOWBOARDING AERO GAUGE AEROFIGHTERS ASSAULT BOMBERMAN 64 CLAY FIGHTER 63 1/3 CRUISIN USA DIDDY KONG RACING DOOM 64 DUKE NUKEM EXTREME 6 F1 POLE POSITION FIFA SOCCER 64 FIFA WORLD CUP 98 FIGHTER'S DESTINY GOLDEN EYE 007 HEXEN INTLSUPERSTAR SOCCER KILLER INSTINCT GOLD LAMBORGHINI 64 LEGEND OF MYSTICAL NINJA MACETHE DARK AGE MADDEN 64 MARIO KART 64 MISCHIEF MAKERS MK MYTHOLOGIES SUB ZERO MKTRILOGY MULTI RACING CHAMP NAGANO OLYMPICS. NBA COURTSIDE NBA HANGTIME NBA INTHE ZONE '98 МВА POWER FORWARD NFLQ-BACK CLUB 98 NHL BREAKAWAY 98 OLYMPIC HOCKEY 98 PILOTWINGS 64 QUAKE QUEST 64 RAMPAGE WORLD TOUR ROBOTRON 64 SAN FRANCISCO RUSH SNOWBOARD KIDS ‘STAR FOX 64 (NO RUMBLE PAK) ‘STAR FOX 64W/RUMBLE PAK STAR WARS SHADOWS OF EMP. SUPER MARIO 64 TETRISPHERE New Accessories PlayStation „ Sony Memory Card Third Party Memory Card Third Party 32 Meg Memory Card Sony Control Pad Controller Extension Cable. Third Party Link Cable Third Party S-Video Cable Third Party RF Cable PlayStation Game Shark N64 Nintendo Rumble Pak Quake Pak (2 Rumble Settings) Quake Pak Super (2 Rumble Set, 4X Memory Card) 256K Memory Card (Standard) 18.95 1495 29.95 12.95 17.95 Nintendo 64 (cartridge only) * Al Nintendo 8 bit games except Super Mario, Duck Hunt, Gyromite, Hogan's Alley and other zapper gun or power pad games. The above prices do not apply to demo discs, special offerlimited packaged games (Virtua Fighter Remix, et.) and games that were шде wath systems. Mscalaneous extra PlayStation bores and instructions will be purchased for $.50 each. Send your Genesis, Super Nintendo, Saturn and PlayStation games without boxes or instructions tothe address above. Тї оин sv qe эй kal you іі ev шг and ec, кө кедір you де es and жайда ima HS ану a Ши oe Tomb Raider 2 Official Strategy Guide $12.95 Resident Evil 2 Official St арун Guide $14.95 Final Fantasy Tactics Official Guide $14.95 Call for more Guides/Hint Books Ask about used Guides/Hint Books The above strategy guides/hint books are BRAND NEW factory fresh. TOP GEAR RALLY TUROK DINO HUNTER WAVE RACE 64 WAYNE GRETZKY HOCKEY WAYNE GRETZKY 98 WCWVS.NWO WHEEL OF FORTUNE YOSHI'S STORY 49.95/22.00 34.95/16.00 34.95/16.00 34.95/16.00 44.95/20.00 49.95/22.00 49.95/22.00 54.95/26.00 1 Meg Memory Card (4X) 5 Meg Memory Card (20X) Nintendo Control Pad Controller Extension Cable Third Party RF Cable 14.95 Nintendo 64 Game Shark 4495 Call for Items Not Listed 34.95 26.95 9.95 Now Buying DVD Movies/Discs/Games - Prices in this ad are good through May 31, 1998 Titles in ITALICS are newer and may or may nol Бе available, please call for availability. А! games must include box, jewel case, instructions, and any hint books/maps that were included with the game. We will deduct $2.00 for each N64 cartridge without a cardboard insert, $5.00 for broken Saturn plastic boxes and $1.00 for broken CD jewel cases. Games without box, instructions, elc wil be returned at your expense ($5.00 minimum). Cartridges/discs notin resellable condition ог with evidence of rental store stickers willbe returned at your expense (55.00 minimum). All games are Used, include a 90 DAY WARRANTY and are subject to availabili We reserve the right to refuse any sale or purchase, Allow 40 days to receive orders placed with money orders and 60 days to receive orders placed with personal checks. No refunds or exchanges оп 1 or 2 games and $1.00 for each additional. Alaska/HawailPRIAPOJPO Boxes add $5.00. Calit. Res add 7.75% tax. We do not ship outside of the US. Prices are for mail order only and based on 1 copy per tile, to buy or sell in quantity, contact our wi gamessystems, For shipping, add $8.00 for the first olesale dept. Limit of 1 game/CD per tile accepted without proof of purchase. If we do not receive your package by 5/31/98 or your game titles аге not isted in this ай, you will be paid from our current catalog. To receive prices in this ad you mustinclude the Dept. # rom this ad on the OUTSIDE of your package. If you are unclear about any of our policies, procedures or prices, please call. inva йез are tademars ol he respectve compares PlayStation and ће Рау йот logo are ademas ol Sony Conputt Entertainment, Inc. Sega Saturn isa музеј trademark o Sega ol America, Inc. Super ізі Nintendo 64 and Nae тораи) trademark so Nintendo ol America ос. Orders NYC area Inquires call: Earthworm Jim (US) US N64 Titles S PlayStation Titles ч » — Bloody Roar Mission Impossible | Mystical Ninja 64 Breath of Fire Ill : Dead or Alive NBA in the Zone Need for Speed III Quest 64 Newman/Haas Racing Turok 2 Pitfall 3D Yoshi's Story New Location! Point Blank Power Boat Racing 136-04 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11354 41% М 8% тег 718-321-8747 Dead or Alive Dungeons and Dragons Magic Knight RayEarth Ninja Zero Divide: Final Contlict Barokku, Gal Act Heroism The House of the Dead Keriotosse, Loose Princess Maker 2 Sakura Wars 2 Shining Force Ill - Senario 2 Super Adventure Rockman Super Robot War F Toki Meki Memorial Drama Winning Post 3 World Soccer RPG OVER 2500 TITLES IN STOCK, LOWEST PRICES Rascal Redline Resident Evil 2 *soundtrack avail. w/ limited edition I.D. tag Running Wild Vigilante 8 WWF 98 WWF War Zone = 71 64 к import N64 Titl Art of Fighting Twin F Zero 64 Hybrid Heaven Kirby's Air Ride Legend of Zelda import PlayStation Titles Ash to Ash Crisis City D.O. Enigma Fighting Spirit Gal Act Heroism Graduation M King of Destroy King of Fighters ‘97 (KYO) Lost Sword Parasite Eve Playstadium 3 R-type 4 " Super Adventure Rockman TEKKEN 3 Tower Dream 2 Direct all Inquires & Payments to the Showrooms:167 Glen Cove Rd., Carle Place, NY 11514 Tel. 516-248-4911 > 163-18 Jamaica Ave, Queens, NY 11432 Tel. 718-739-5045 > 1464 Rockaway Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11236 • 534 86th St, Brooklyn, NY 11209 Tel. 718-833-0598 2537 Decatur Ave., Bronx, NY 10458 Tel. 718-295-4886 > 32-59 Steinway St., Astoria, N.Y. 11103 Tel.718-728-1313 + 534 86th St, Brooklyn, NY 11209 Tel. 718-833-0598 Wolverine vs. Akuma Magneto vs. Ryu Cyclops vs. Bison Sabretooth vs. Ken BETES EMAIL US AT: order @ gexpress.com Fax. 212-290-0432 Price and availability are subject to change without notice. We accept all major credit cards, Money Orders and C.O.D. Allow 14 business days for shipping when paying by personal check. All sales are final, we will only replace defective lems with thesame title. Games Express Inc. is not responsible for misprint. NY residents add 8.25% sales tax to your order. All radenames/trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. FF VII Н.С. Keychains 14 Characters; $9.99 for a set of 2 Action Figures as low as $7.50 and up. Call for Availability. F.F. VII Posters: all 7 char. avail. 1st $7.00; ea. addtl. $5.00 ea.; international Post Card Book (30 Cards, 2 Stickers) $24.99 F. F.F. VII Stationary Kit $24.99 ÎÎ Posterwss 1062 т #7 rmoon lis 441-9 $29.99 ea. Tuxedo Mask 11" Dolls $29.99 ea. Chibimoon Super S 8" Doll $29.99 ea} Sailormoon Super S" Doll $29.99 eal Post Card Book Posters: 1st $7.00; ea. addtl. $5.00 ea. Petite Figures v.1-9 $14.99 еа. Music CDs $19.99 ea. 5 Sailofmdor-Power Belt $24.99 w/6 discs Y Erjibimood Make-up Compact $24.99 dk || € ||| " IA IANA тл mu 77) mn ти та ma m T ACTION FIGURES 51499 + ир DBZ Super Battle Collection v.1-27 (BA Price Drastically Reduced! **while supplies last Action Figures **Model Kits Also Aval. #6 S. Valkyrie #8 Gerwalk #10 Super Gerwalk VF-1J Millia Type VFAS. МЕ-ТА. #12 Super Gerwalk #2 S. Valkyrie VF-1S #3 Valkyrie VF-1D #4 S. Valkyrie VF-1A #5 S. Valkyrie x Millia Type ін Valkyrie МЕЈ 4 МЕ-ТА Max Type YOUR #1 SOURCE OF AMERICAN AND JAPANESE VIDEO GAMES “ШШШ OH IMPORT Tekken 3 . Sim City 2000 New Japan Pro Wrestling 3 Wild Chopper Samurai Spirits 1 & 2 Mahjon Master Parasite Eve Puyo Puyo 64 Bushido Blade 2 Dual Heroes Dead or Alive Hiryu-No-Ken Twin Zero Pilot Virtua Prowrestling 64 Gundam Battle Maste Doraemon Tenchu Zelda 64 Choro Q Jet Rainbow Wing Namco Museum Anthology А Ultraman Snow Board Kid С 3 Yoshi's Story 64 ا‎ аз hoses уйан Chocobo Dungeon Quake Tales of Destiny Rampage U.S. 1080 Snow Boarding у Xmen vs Street Fighter Quest 64 = қ wa » Bloody Roar NBA Courtside Bav Spits $59 Ратка б $49 Dead or Alive Gex: Enter the Gecko DeathTrap Dungeon Forsaken Need for Speed 3 Major League Baseball Klonoa Mission Impossible San Francisco Rush d Rash 3D DBZ U.B. 22 $49 Dragon Ball 2 Legeng $49 E Nm * NEO CD $339 WITH ANY GAME OF YOUR CHOICE. * We camy Neo-Geo CD and Neo-Geo cartridge games. King of Fighters 97 Petit soldier Figures WFS $12.9902, Figures $8.99/¢a, Panzer Dragoon RPG $59 SILHOUETTE MIRAGE $54 Satum Converter $20 posters novelties, wall scrolls, and game music cds. THUNDER FORCE 5 $59 Bomberman Fight $54 - IMPORT т Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barrett set of 4 for-549— ^ Vincent, Sephiroth $20/ea. DBZ Super Battle * • Collection Action & 4 ] Ы 4 ы ж cmm ٠ EN А AX = МЕ 21v! r^ $12 to $18 EA. we me ти ып мо мо ми моти мп ми щи М _элапапантв тж т ГҮ vu. 28 na LE, т vsa COD | 8 = KO Game Boy." 1998 InterAct Accessonies. Inc. А RECOTON COMPAR Coming soon for Game Day 42. The standoff continues. Suspect presumed paranoid. Has been known to roam dungeons and consort with bandits and sprites in Shining Force III. _ Believed to be mutilating and blowing heads off zombies in House of the Dead. Purported member of Panzer Dragoon Saga cult; which claims that ancient, morphing “dragon friend” holds the key to salvation from evil. Approach with extreme caution: suspect knpwn to use thumbs when threatened. For more info or to order call 1-800-SEGA-SALES or visit www.sega.com з= Т Ае. he rtt Pave apn ТТІ T1 | ит [Т they are not lost permanently. People interested in helping out in any please visit us at www.retromags.cc No profit is made from these scans, nor do w à available from the publishers B семе | [f you come across anyone selling relies from this site, please do not support them and do let us know. Thank you!