антта, PlayStation Games on the Mac: The Emulation War Begins

ELECTRONICI] CAIG

50 Reasons To Get Your Friends Together and Celebrate

Games Featured:

СА deadly mist grips the land. Jn its wake lies a decomposing herd of corpses. „7/9 its path

ave the last remaining outposts of civilization. 70 save them, you must fend off ап army of mad beasts, a giant monster and a mysterious wizard who will stop at nothing short of total annihilation. The secret that you will discover lies in the Genesis trees. Can you

find and save all the trees? Ir will you be taking one last breath before the long dirt nap?

PlayStation

— Tir я Ubi Soft ©1998 Ubi Soft Entertain lent, Ino. All Rights teserved. Nintendo, Nin i end ез. g ademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. ©1996 Nintendo of America Inc

It's Ed’ s mess and Ed's going to clean it up!

Ed's toxic goo turned the world crazy -- tomatoes are rioting, carrots are biting back, and Grügh the Hellish wants Ed's head. Help Ed right the wrongs in 12 wildly animated worlds -- insane puzzles, killer vegetables, dangerous dungeons, and more. All caused by Ed. It's the biggest trouble anyone's ever gotten into...

or out of.

ELECTRONIG” Number 12.3

CARMINE March 1999 = ПОКОЉУ wwwauideogames.com

Dale Strang

Fun with two...even better with four

By John Davison ° john_davison@zd.com

J. E. Funk ° joe_funk@zd.com

John Davison ° john_davison@zd.com Dean Hager . dean hagerGzd.com Crispin Boyer • crispin boyerGzd.com John Ricciardi ° john_ricciardi@zd.com Dan Hsu * dan hsuGzd.com

Shawn Smith • shawn. S smith@zd. com Sushi-X • sushi_x@zd.com_

James Mielke • Gary Mollohan • Ryan Mac Donald Joe Fielder • joe@videogames.com Moira Muldoon • moira@videogames.com

Chris Johnston • chris johnston@zd.com

Terry Minnich • tricks@zd.com Mark Hain • mark hain@zd.com Wataru Maruyama • wat_maruyama@zd.com

Michael Stassus * mstassus@zd.com Cyril Wochok • cyril wochok@zd.com

Andrew Burwell « Jim Cordano

Stuart Levy, CEO & Bureau Chief Matinee Galgani, Producer Kiyomi Fukuyama, Editorial Manager

aka Ohbuchi, Japanese Correspondent

y pure coincidence the two major themes of this month’s issue have become

inextricably intertwined. When you've put Mario on the cover, you can't help

but have a good long think about what the future holds for Nintendo. As the

N64 draws toward what will almost certainly be its last big year, it’s more than

apparent that Nintendo’s tactic with the machine didn’t quite work out as planned. There is no argument that the PlayStation dominates the market—but it’s interesting to see that the very beginning of 1999 sees the big N attacking with some renewed vigor. There are a lot of high-caliber games on the horizon and we should see a steady flow for the majority of the year.

Our other theme this month, partly inspired by the nature of Mario Party, is multiplayer gaming. This month you'll find a multiplayer strategy to Turok 2 as well as a comparison of the multiplayer aspects of Acclaim’s pretty boy and the de facto experience—GoldenEye. In fact, in exploring the charms of playing multiplayer games, it has become more than apparent that the N64 really has the edge in this department. Part of it may have to do with those four holes on the front of the | box...but if you think about it, the system really is the “party machine.” Mario Party,

Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Kart and Turok 2 are all fine examples, and the year ahead should see further fun in the shape of Mario Golf 64, Smash Brothers, Twelve Tales: Conker 64 and the incredible-looking conversion of Quake II (which we preview this month).

Jennifer Whitesides Jo-El M. Damen • Gary Steinman

Marc Camron Paul Ojeda E Dave McCracken 5 Chris Melody Mark LeFebvre * mark lefebvreGzd.com Scott Parus

Jonathan lane Cathy Bendoff Robert Kabat

Joan McInerney = Shirley Viel Don Galen

Ann-Marie Mrozynski

Ziff-Davis Video Game Group 50 Beale, 12th Floor, San Francisco, CA ШЭ Telephone: 415- 547: 0 0 Fax: 415-547-8

Jennie Parker Tel: 415-547-8000 e-mail: jennie_parker@zd.com

Suzanne Farrell Tel: 415-547- p Қа mE suzanne _farrell@zd.com

Jon Yoffie Tel: 415-547-! 8773 e-mail: jon | оше сот

For many, Zelda was the single example of true excellence on the N64, but it’s more than apparent that the PlayStation has a long way to come as a “social” system. It may be the generation-X, new-wave, Gap-wearing, swing-dancing, 20 million-selling, hip-chic machine of the majority—but the N64's final contribution to gaming as a whole may well be something social. The more people enticed to try out gaming, the better...and if the way to do that is to get them together with a six-pack, a pizza and something a bit silly with Mario in it, then that's only a good thing as far as I’m concerned.

This fact alone will no doubt be partly responsible for shaping the next generation of consoles. We already have the Dreamcast...look at the front; four holes. The QMann this month reveals the current thinking on both Nintendo’s next machine and what is known so far about the PlayStation 2—but | think it’s safe to say that four-player gaming straight from the box can be taken as a given.

Karen Landon Tel: 415-547-8774 е- FER karen | landon@zd. com

Anthon УУРУ: Tel: 630-382- 034 е “mail: anthony_george@zd.com

Susan Carroll Tel: 415-547-8776 e-mail: susan. eee сот

Mike Darling

Steve Harris

id the publisher assumes no

Audit bureau Cratos

ЕЗ

WHAT A GAME.

РС Др

NINTENDOS*

www.acclaimsports.com

The smash sequel to

“the best baseball game of the year.”

- GamePro Magazine

Derek Jeter 2-Time World Series™ Champion

Next Generation Technology Award-winning Hi-Rez" graphics and 3-D sports engine

All-New Player Models Featuring sunglasses, high socks, and alternate team jerseys

Authentic Major League" Strategy Scouting reports by Derek Jeter

All-New Instant Replay Check out those close calls at the bag

Over 1500 All-New Play-by-Play Calls The Yankees" John Sterling and Michael Kay call the action

More Than 400 All-New Animations Spectacular over the shoulder catches and swipe tags

Advanced Batting Control Adjustable sweet spot for power and contact hitting

ALL-STAR

BASEBALL ‚2000

64 and the 3-0 "М" logo are trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. ©1936 Nintendo of America Inc. Acclaim is a division of Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. TM, ® & © 1939 Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Screen shots shown were taken from the Nintendo 64 version of the video game.

Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with the permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. © MLBPA Officially Licensed By Major League Baseball Players Association. Developed by Iguana Entertainment, inc., ал Acclaim Entertainment studio. Nintendo, the Official Seal, Nintendo

XS speed, awesome competition and the pulse-pounding exhilaration of Flying by cars at speeds in excess of 300 MPH.

DEVELOPED BY Windows® 95

PC CD-ROM 2. mpm m ®

WWW.ascgames.com • www.jeffgordonxsracing.com

ASC Games is a registered trademark of American Softworks Corporation. ©1998 American Softworks Corporation. Jeff Gordon? XS Racing!" is a trademark of ASC Games. © 1998 JG Motorsports Inc. Developed by Real Sports. ® PepsiCo, Inc. 1998. FRITOS @ is a registered trademark used by Frito-Lay, Inc. © 1995 PEG Limited Partnership and PEG 97 Limited Partnership: PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Enertainment Inc. Windows® 95 is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. The ratings icon is a trademark of

the Interactive Digital Software Association. All rights reserved.

< z Z =;

Arrives March 1999

108 — Mario Party

If there was ever a game you wouldn’t want to play all alone, this is it. Mario Party is the ultimate inter- active board game. We blow out all the minigames that make this multiplayer wonder so much

6 — Editorial

Johnny England is all about group participation. Find out why.

14 — Letters

Believe it or not, some of you disagree with our reviews. 22 — News

PlayStation games on your Mac, thanks to new emulators. 36 — Gaming Gossip

What comes after the Dreamcast? Look here for info.

128 — Review Crew

Castlevania, Syphon Filter and Zelda: Link's Awakening

136 — Reader Reviews

We love Reader Reviews! Watch this section grow and grow.

PREVIEWS

42 - Dreamcast Previews Sonic Adventure, Shenmue and Buggy Heat.

54 — Nintendo 64 Previews

We have loads of N64 previews this month, including Quake II, Mario Golf 64, Beetle Adventure Racing, updates for Perfect Dark, Twelve Tales: Conker 64 and Jet Force Gemini and plenty more.

138 — Review Archive

A listing of all the scores we've given games in recent mo

142 - Jump Start

We give you the skinny on the multiplayer modes in Turok 2.

144 - Tricks of the Trade

All kinds of kick-ass cheats for South Park.

M8 - Get Some!

What is it about cool silver electronics that makes us want them?

150 - The Final Word

Crispin is sick of deathmatch modes. More love, man...

Contents

Electronic Gaming Monthly, March 1999, Issue 116

x= 120 – The Year of Nintendo? Е Just ’cause you've beaten Zelda doesn’t mean your N64 Game Directory should start collecting dust again. Believe it or not, some pretty big games аге on the way іп "99. We 95 Ace Combat 3 medesime d 50 Aero Dancing examine the titles that could make '99 a very goo 56 Air Boardin’ USA year for Nintendo fans. 129 Akuji the Heartless 62 All-Star Smash Brothers 54 Beetle Adventure Racing 50 Buggy Heat 126 — EGM Grudge Match 58 Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 3 j Dinosaurs or spies—which are more fun to kill? We а Speed L 4 129 Castlevania answer that question and others as we put Turok 2 100 Carrot Crazy Р and GoldenEye 007 to a high-powered duel. 87 Centipede а 95 Chocobo Racing 89 Chocobo's Myst. Dungeon 2 130 Civilization Il 130 Contender Во Driver 92 FinalFantasy VIII

89, 130 Fisherman's Bait 131 Freestyle Boardin’ "99

44 Incoming

95 Internal Section

68 Jet Force Gemini

78 Legend of Legaia

135 Link's Awakening DX

131 March Madness 99

70 Mario Golf 64

133 Marvel SH vs. Street Fighter 134 Monkey Него

88 NBAIn the Zone '99 Í 134 NCAA Final Four

76 Need For Speed: High Stakes 60 NHL Blades of Steel "99

64 Perfect Dark

100 Pokémon Card GB

94 Populous: The Beginning

68 Quake 1

104 Revenge From Mars

134 R-Types

88 Rush Down

95 SaGa Frontier 2

48 Shenmue

94 Smash Court 2

129 Snowboard Kids 2

42 Sonic Adventure

84 Soul of the Samurai

94 Street Fighter Alpha 3

87 Street Sk8er

135 Syphon Filter

44 Tetris 4D

64 Triple Play 2000 (N64)

86 Triple Play 2000 (PS)

70 Twelve Tales: Conker 64

70 Vigilante 8

135 Wheel of Fortune

76 – PlayStation Previews Ace Combat 3, a Final Fantasy VIII update, NFS: High Stakes, Driver and others.

98 — GB Color Previews Crazy Castle 3 and Pokémon Card GB.

104 - Arcade Previews

This month: Revenge From Mars.

у

Going along with our multiplayer- themed issue, we blow out the multiplayer modes in Turok 2. Go to page 142 for the Jump Start.

“мегу impressive indeed.” EGM

As Raziel, stalk the shadows of Nosgoth hunting your vampire brethren. Impale them with spears. Incinerate them with

torches. Drown them in w

uls to sustain your quest —

the ruin of your creator, Kain. Ж УС Seamless gameplay: No loa

i + Shift real-time between th and зреста! planes

“Vampire fans get ready — Soul Reav could B n ишш thriller...” ` —GamePro

PlayStation

Lg ge ee

ku SBS og АШ

Samus, The Savior

lve heard a lot about how Sony created the system that made gaming cool. The PlayStation appeals to the more mature audience, and to me this is why they are No. 1 in the industry today. Sony hit gold by allowing developers to make games with content for teens and adults. Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid and Duke Nukem are good examples of the

trend Nintendo should be getting into.

Nintendo is on the right track by allowing the release of games like Turok 2 and South Park, but Nintendo needs to make some games of their own that break away from the cutesy, clean stuff of yesteryear. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a step in that direction with its serious story line, but a more drastic step needs to be taken.

That is where Metroid comes in.

Nintendo couldn't ask for a better franchise to change their identity from *The makers of the cute little plumber" to *The makers of the bad a** space hunter!" Samus Aran is more than capable of dethroning Lara Croft as gaming's bad girl, given that she receives the right attitude adjustment (give her a little bit of the strong, bad tempered, Solid Snake type of attitude), a deep story line and cinematics to tell her tale. It's too late for this game to save the N64, so! think Nintendo should make it as a launch title for its next console to let consumers know right away that Nintendo can make games with attitude too.

Nintendo, heed my words (and read EGM): Zelda is an N64 hit, but the next Metroid could be the Nintendo savior.

Carlo Santos Bremerton, WA

Old News

I see that Nikki Douglas, the “Grrl Gamer,” has just come to the realization that 99 percent of the movie-to-game conversions are unholy abominations in the industry. But wouldn't it be a good idea for the token female of EGM to at least write about something that isn't a worn-out topic? The

topic of horrible adaptations could

(Есм\ 14

probably go all the way back to Krull оп the 2600! Rent it...test it...if it’s another GoldenEye...BUY IT! If not, make fun of it five years later with your friends (*Remember that god-awful THQ game we rented that one night...?"). Why waste one's precious space on Judge Dredd and The Fifth Element? Maire Flynn maire69@hotmail.com

letters

Compiled by Shoe

You can write EGM at:

EGM Letters P.O. Box 3338 Oak Brook, IL 60522-3338

e-mail: EGM@zd.com

For subscription problems,

please call (303) 665-8930, or check out www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/egm/service/

Please note: We reserve the right to edit any correspondence for space purposes. If you don't want your name, city/state or e-mail address printed, tell us so (but please include your phone number and mailing address for Letter of the Month consideration).

And to that, Nikki Douglas sez, “As a gaming journalist | probably have the fortune and misfortune of playing some of the best and worst video games on the planet. | play many more than the average gamer does and have to give each one my undivided attention when it comes to me hermetically sealed and begging for a chance to show itself off. So many games are in fact worn-out retreads of many other good games, and yet they continue to be produced and developed in studios and published. І say that we must stop the madness! If | can dedicate one tiny parcel of my opinions to help decrease this ever- increasing tide of slap-dash crappo games, then | am proud to do it!”

So there.

Words Of Discouragement

| was just wondering if there will be a video game based on last year’s movie The Avengers. After all, the movie was probably the biggest piece of crap last year, so | am guessing that there MUST be a licensed video game coming based on it.

gkdynasty@hotmail.com

Well, if someone were planning on bringing out an Avengers game, they aren’t going to now!

Psychic Hotline

You guys don’t know it, but you have psychic powers. In issue 115, page 88, you previewed WCW/nWo Thunder for the PlayStation. There you had a picture of Hogan wearing nWo Red colors. Then, on Monday Nitro, Jan. 11, Hogan was wearing

са

EGM

the nWo Red’s colors!!! Are you psychic? Do you have powers we other gamers lack? Or are you secretly working with WCW? Yup, this is a conspiracy. | know it is! Just tell me how you did it.

jbecraft@hotmail.com

Yup. We are psychic. This year, for the WCW, we predict the following events: 1.) A wrestler will leave his faction/team to join another. 2.) Someone will leave WWF to work for WCW...or the other way around. 3.) Someone will try to cheat during one of the matches.

Let us know how our predictions go.

When we previewed THQ's WCW/nWo Thunder, we were using an nWo Red Hogan as an example of how you can change а character's team affiliation; Who would've thought nWo would unite soon after that?

Hard To Please

Now this is bulls***. | can't believe that Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is a s*** filled, corny, sloppy, boring piece of crap game, got more than 5.0 on your review scale. If this wins the Game of the Year award, | will nuke your new EGM offices. OK, maybe | won't, but | will nuke your old offices. OK, maybe | won't do that either. But | will get mad.

On the other hand, if Metal Gear Solid wins the Game of the Year award, | will be forced to subscribe for another year to your wonderful magazine.

Amadis Licerio amadislicerio@juno.com

Рта new reader to your magazine, and ту

friends and | usually decide how good a game is by what ratings you give. One of my

What PC game would

Half-Life.

I'm throwing all my life

to the Nintendo 64.

consoles?

000۸4 о

dec3cm@usa.net

savings (pennies galore) into my local wishing well, hoping for SimCity 3000 to head over

casio123@utm.net

friends is pro-Playstation and told me that you gave Metal Gear Solid four 105 and a Platinum Award while you gave Zelda three 9.55, a 9.0 and a gold award. | just want to say that you know damn well that Zelda makes MGS its bitch. Now | have to admit | have played MGS all the way to the end, and it is one hell of a game. But | just couldn’t believe you would give it a 10...maybe a 9 or a 9.5, but not a 10. Zelda is the best game out there and MGS looks like s*** compared to it. Your bias is now apparent. | dare you to print this.

Kerry Drake nuke_troop@hotmail.com

have been reading your propaganda about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the past year or so. Most of the time you guys know your stuff, so | figured this game can’t be bad if you guys keep saying it will be great. Based on your testimonies, and the fact that | am a big Zelda fan, | bought the game totally unbiased. | got the game, played it and beat it within 25 hours, and I accomplished all of the miniquests and found all of the secrets.

After defeating it, | found that your reviews were way too positive. This game 15 in no way perfect. You guys were too biased when reviewing this game. You had too much hype riding on this game that you couldn't afford a bad review. If you guys give this Game of the Year it only adds to your deceitfulness. In the future, don't blow unreleased games out of proportion. altoid1@hotmail.com

Sorry, after reading these immature, misinformed and accusatory letters, we just have to get something off our chests:

@^5\\?*#$5!@%{*%!?!!

Whew. That felt better. Now let’s address these one at a time.

Amadis: Fine. That’s your opinion. But we're not the only ones who think Zelda is fine like cherry wine (see the letters following this, plus the Reader Reviews in this issue).

Kerry: What on earth is your friend talking about? We gave Zelda four 10’s. Next time, before opening up your mouth and saying something stupid, please use your head. It don’t cost nuthin’. And please, knock it off

) === letters

with the “1 dare you to print this" crap.

Altoid1: You are entitled to your opinion. But we've said this before and it's obvious we have to say it again: A "10" does not mean the game is absolutely flawless. It simply means it's an excellent title that truly excels in all areas. We never said the game is perfect, and we certainly mentioned a few flaws in our Zelda review.

Also, we don't have any obligations to anything or anyone. We had a lot of coverage on Zelda over the past year because, correct us if we're wrong, that's what you, our readers, wanted. If the game ended up not quite living up to expectations, we'd tell you all about it. We've done that with other cover stories in the past, like MK 4, Yoshi's Story and Parasite Eve. In fact, we've pretty much proved we're not victims of the hype we help generate, as many of our cover story games don't end up earning gold awards— some don't even get a silver!

If Zelda (or Metal Gear Solid or whatever) ends up getting Game of the Year, it'll simply be because we liked that game the best, nothing else. It's a rather novel concept, wouldn't you say?

What? People Actually Liked Zelda?!

| think you guys made a great decision giving Zelda: Ocarina of Time straight 10's. Zelda 64 mixes action and RPG elements like no other game I've played. | mean, the graphics are incredible. It also provides a great challenge even to veteran RPGers. The puzzles are great, too. Congratulations to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo for making probably one of the greatest video games of all time.

Matt Ward

Homer3167@aol.com

| totally agree with your reviews of Zelda. The game totally kicks ass.

Andy Metz Seattle, WA

*@:+{$%@#!?=!@!

...| mean, woo hoo! We knew some of ya liked the game. See this month's Reader Reviews for more reader opinions on Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Question of the Moment

A full, uncut version of the upcoming Ultima IX: Ascension (not censored, watered-down bull$#!+ like the previous console ports of Ultima). sprules@usit.net

Total Annihilation. SLepore789@aol.com

| would like to see Jedi Knight: Dark Forces |, because it’s ssswweeeeettt, baby!

| would really like to see Tie Fighter for the PS. amadislicerio@juno.com

Scorched Earth, but with hundreds of weapons and updated graphics. gaistbst@yahoo.com appollo@raex.com Quest For Glory V: Dragon Fire. This game is up there with the best PS RPGs. DOOki99@aol.com

Next Month’s Question of the Moment: Besides what’s been announced, what video game would you most like to see made into a movie? Send your short but sweet responses to EGM@zd.com with the subject heading: MOVIE

& “< EGM 1999

Getting Ahead Of Ourselves

| hate being one of those people who writes in with mistakes you’ve made, but in issue #115 you said that the Hyrule Tattler was from issue #133. I’m just wondering if I'm so far backed up on my subscription that you guys have already sent 133 and I’m only at 115. Anyway, you guys kick ass! Jon Harris jonh@execpc.com

1#A¥*@%uffl?*I1,2\@%!

Mix Up Sorry to nitpick, but on page 76 of the February issue, you called the main character in Neon Genesis Evangelion by the name of Shinji Mikami. The actual name is Shinji Ikari. Michael Dozark brood@teleport.com

You’re right. Shinji Mikami is actually a producer on the Bio Hazard series for Capcom in Japan. We just got the Shinjis a bit mixed up.

*%@^#-1*}5@!!

Let The Credits Roll

In last month’s issue, you incorrectly credited me as having been the lead designer on Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. | was the design manager at Crystal during the development of Blood Omen, and contributed to the game’s design in that capacity—but crediting me as the lead designer is inaccurate, and diminishes the contribution of those people who worked tirelessly for many months on the project. The proper acknowledgment goes to Denis Dyack, Ken McCulloch, Seth Carus and Armando Marini (and the countless other members of the combined Silicon Knights/ Crystal Dynamics development effort). | also wanted to acknowledge the other Soul Reaver teammates who weren't present for the team photo and therefore didn’t get a mention—Arnold Ayala, Tom Desmarais and Damon Redmond are also members of the (massive) Soul Reaver effort.

Amy Hennig Producer/Director,

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Crystal Dynamics

Wrong Idea

Let me start this e-mail by saying that | am not out to bash the magazine; I’m just stating how | feel.

| realize you folks aren't trying to offend anyone. But you are read by quite a few people, so what you say makes an impact. In the response to the Letter of the Month for the February issue, Shoe talks about some of the really bad Japanese games that have

been made. From a list of I'm sure a lot of

g eae 8А š =

games, the one that is chosen is a “homosexual shooter.” Now | am sure this game sucks, but the only reason that Shoe gives for this suckage is that it’s homosexual. What was Shoe trying to say, that he’s glad “cultural boundaries” kept a gay game out of America? If this rambling has any meaning, it’s this: Please try to be more responsible with what you print. |, like most people, read your magazine for the video game information, not for your personal opinions of which groups of people or behaviors are acceptable.

Oh yeah, and you can print my e-mail address. | am not especially bothered by the idea that someone wants to lose their ISP by e-mailing me hate mail.

Alex Pippard Senshiboy@aol.com

Don’t try to stir up trouble here! You left out the part where | said (and І quote), “Nothing wrong with being a homosexual shooter, mind you...” You want me to spell out why I’m glad Choaniki: Great Brother didn’t make it into the States? OK, you got

Letter Art WINNER

David Torno Las Vegas, NV

Congratulations, your prize is on the way—an ASCII Specialized Control Pad for the PlayStation. It features rapid-fire controls for all buttons and slow motion for those intense moments.

letters

it: It’s a crappy (no pun intended) shooter that has a lot of near-naked men, on some occasions practically humping each other in the rear, with giant penis weapons flying out of their crotches. How’s that?

I'm certainly not passing judgement on any particular lifestyle or sexual orientation. I'm also not saying video games shouldn't have men dressed in tight speedos (hey, we straight males get half naked women in games...the other half, and the other, “other” half should get something too).

I'm just saying video games shouldn't have near-naked men, on some occasions practically humping each other in the rear, with giant penis weapons flying out of their crotches.

00PS

Last month, in our Top 1o Selling Japanese games list, we accidentally listed PopoRogue as a Saturn title. It's a PlayStation game. You'd think we would've caught that since the game is published by Sony Computer Entertainment. You'd think.

ка0?)^(!#*%тп!?$#@!*$?!!

Where creativity, your favorite video game and a stamp can make you immortal!*

Close, but no controller

Kim Hyewon Jacksonville, FL

Put your creative skills to the test by decking out a #10 envelope (the long business type) with your own unique touch. Send your letter art to:

EGM Letter Art PO. Box 3338 Oak Brook, IL 60522-3338

Chris Hagewood College Grove, TN

Joshua Redfearn—Cheraw, NC

A W

(All entries become the property of ZD Inc. and will not be returned!)

TN 3 а

IT'S AN ATTITUDE.

THIS AIN'T NO G.I. JOKE SOLDIER. MCFARLANE TOYS REVEALS ALL THE DEADLY DETAILS FROM THIS YEAR'S HOTTEST VIDEO GAME.

= 8 % Е E 5 E E 2 в = ө 8 Б El s E E E

Mystery Signs No More

1 saw the letter іп EGM #114 about Sushi-X being advertised by people at WWF RAW. | thought you might be interested to know that this 5ивһі-Х is an Internet wrestling reporter from http://www.prowrestling.com. That’s who the sign was referring to.

islesdx@optonline.net

I got a ton of letters and e-mails from helpful little elves just like Andrew informing me of the origin of

the Sushi-X signs. Thanks to everyone for their help!

After spending hours with the best game of all time, | have to ask: Do you guys know if there will be a sequel to Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time? | had read somewhere that there wouldn't be, and if this is true, | was wondering if you knew why? It seems like all Nintendo would have to do is update the engine to support hi-res, give us a great new story and it would sell like crazy.

Alexander Novozhilov snova@email.msn.com

Haven’t you been paying attention? Nintendo doesn’t “slap” together an update to make cash. If they were like that, they would have released Star Fox 2 on the SNES. There will only be a sequel to any given title when something new can be done with it, so high-res graphics and a new story line alone won’t cut it. Nintendo took their time with Ocarina of Time, which is precisely why it’s so amazing.

It’s pretty obvious the Street Fighter games are your favorite. What | don’t know is, are you a casual player or a dedicated World Warrior? Since you consider yourself

hardcore and SF’s one of your favorites, | imagine you can hold your own. | also imagine you're familiar with the arcade sponsored tournament scene, especially last year’s National Tournament (held Nov. 7-8 ) in which American and Japanese champs Alex Valle and Daigo Sukuzama competed for what | call the IBR (International Bragging Rights) Title. | know EGM doesn’t revolve around Street Fighter, but even а simple line or two in Sushi-X Files would've at least given this monthly loyal subscribers’ page some kind of interesting context for once. | can only assume уоште a casual player, therefore you wouldn't represent SF to the fullest. Nothing’s wrong with that, but 125 fortunate enough Capcom (miraculously) bothered flying Japan’s champ overseas, showing some degree of respect to those loyal supporters of the drastically declined SF scene. While many can’t stand the thought of all the Street Fighter incarnations over the years, this game has and continues to pass the test of time. Long live Street Fighter and all who help keep it alive.

Ed Blakely eblakely@ibl.bm

I would love to have mentioned the tournament, but it slipped my ninja radar as you may have seen from our mountain of reviews and monstrous-size holiday issues. My apologies. The sad truth is that back in the day, Street Fighter Il was the only game in town. Now, there are great fighters coming out all the time. It gets kind of old getting beaten in Tekken and saying, “Yeah, but Pll kick your butt in SF." | guarantee if you lined up, at random, 20 different fighting games that I'd come out on top overall. Such is my power...deal with it. That said, SF Alpha 3 is the best installment in the series in years and no one can touch me at it.

Sushi, you claim to be a lover of fighting games. If you are, how come The King of Fighters gets no love from you guys? KoF, in my opinion, is better than any Street Fighter. It has better gameplay and has more creativity when it comes to the characters. | would like to ask, if you have one, what is your best King of Fighters team and which one is your favorite?

William Brown wbrown@anselm.edu

(cu) Sez letters

Who's the most hardcore gamer of them all? Why it’s our very own Sushi-X, Electronic Gaming Monthly’s top video game expert. If you have a game-specific question for our mysterious ninja freak, er, friend, write him! He'll pick out a few and answer them as only he knows how. Send your questions to:

Sushi-X

P.O. Box 3338

Oak Brook, IL 60522-3338

e-mail: sushi_x@zd.com

| have a Neo cart system and a Neo CD at home, Willie. While | love the KoF series, they add very, very little innovation each year, making them all blend together. They really should take a year off and make something killer for the next edition. Best team: Kyo, lori and Shii Kensu. Favorite team: Benimaru, Shii Kensu and Geese Howard...Repuken! Double Repuken!

What do you think of the Ranma 1/2 fighting games? Are there any new ones coming out in the U.S.?

Michel Fiallo-Pérez michfp@hotmail.com

l love the Ranma 1/2 series. | even own that awful SNES mockery of Ranma as well as the original Japanese version. There was recently a 3D Ranma fighter released for the PS in Japan, Ranma 1/2: Battle Renaissance, but no one has picked it up for release here. It's not very good though.

Quartermann stated that Capcom is now directing itself more toward the Dreamcast. If | decide to go with the Playstation 2, | might not be able to play ports of SFIII and other Capcom fighters. And if | decide to go with the Dreamcast, well, let's just say | don't want my money wasted on “another system" from Sega. Also, as | haven't seen any U.S. commercials for DC. | am starting to get a little worried as Christmas is right around the corner.

Fernando Padilla fp1@dpsworld.com

No matter what type of support Capcom gives Sega, you can bet there will still be ports of SF games for the next Sony console. Christmas is right around the corner? It’s barely February?! Look for TV ads to appear this summer.

prayer |@

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