V f IF YOUR ^ CD IS MISSING ASK YOUR . NEWSAGENT 9 " 771320 l, 745001 mm m. impressive B 5 (110 IIIOS,(j Ljonorom m \ crunch test” Die 1 Game Fan PlayStation me m crashes we ro< m ins Distributed by S6Q3 • Ozisoft pty limited a.c.n. 05603*476 Contact Shockwave BBS for Screenshots and Demos on (02) 669 6041 or phone (02) 317 0044 for your closest retailer. Winning isn’l everylhing... Survival is. Hirama HYPER» Publisher: Phillip Kcir Editor: Stuart Clarke Art Director: Mark Gowing Deputy Editor: Ben Mansill Editorial Assistant: David Wildgoose Cover Illustration: Mike Koelsch (Shiny) Advertising Manager: Mellissa Opie National Sales Director: Steve Watson Office Manager: Roberta Meenahan Accounts: Martine Sue Receptionists: Wendy McEwan. Margaret Puletua Contributors: Julian Schoffel. Russel Hopkinson. Eliot Fish. Stretch Armstrong. Harry Maragos. Roger Bolton, George Soropos. Steve Polak, Mark Lingane. Max Autohead. Harry Maragos, Tim Levy. Peter Brodie. Printed by: Wilke Colour Separations by: Pica Overseas Distribution by: NDD Ph. 353 9911 All copyrights reserved by Otter Publications Pty Ltd WRITE TO HYPER! PO Box 634. Strawberry Hills. NSW 2012 Fax: (02)310 1315 Advertising: (02) 310 1425 E-mail: freakscene®next.com.au 8 NOWS ECTS Report, Simpons Doom, Spaceball controller, Net Cafes, Star Trek Omnipedia, 3D Blaster cards, more Quake bits and lots of other stuff ... 17 Charts 18 Net Trawlin’ 20 Anime Reviews 22 ^AflN WIN ^AflN We've got so many competi tions going that you'll have to turn to page 22 to find out what they are Here's a hint - games, games, games.. Features a 26 Shiny Happy People Nick Jones, one of Shiny Entertainment's top programmers and friend of HYPER, talks about Earthworm Jim 2, supe con soles and who he reckons will win the current video game war Previews 28 Druid PC CD ROM Wetlands pc CD rom Casper saturn/playstation/3DO 30 Hexen pc cd rom Killing Time ;do Tek War PC CD ROM 32 Super Hang On SATURN Sega Rally saturn 34 Riddle of Master Lu pc CD ROM 36 Firestorm: Thunderhawk 2 SATURN /PLAYSTATION/PC CD ROM 38 Wing Commader 4 pc cd rom 40 Bermuda Syndrome pc cd rom EA Cricket PC CD ROM 42 Arcade This month our resident COIN BOY checks out the sequel to Ridge Racer - Rave Racer, as well as Sega's Indy 500 and Rail Chase 2. Reviews 44 46 48 50 52 54 57 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 Earthworm Jim 2 snes/mega drive ARL Rugby League mega drive Yoshi’s island: Super Mario World 2 snes NHL 96 SNES/MEGA DRIVE Batman Forewer SNES/MEGA DRIVE Weaponlord snes/mega drive Off World interceptor Extreme PLAYSTATION/SATURN Wipeout PLAYSTATION Cyber Speedway saturn Clockwork Knight 2 SATURN Rapid Reload playstation Shin Shinobi Den SATURN Magic Carpet 2 pc cd rom Fade to Black pc cd rom Downunder Dan pc cd rom FIFA 96 PC CD ROM Crusader: No Remorse pc cd rom Need For Speed pc CD ROM 88 94 Byte Size Kileak the Blood PLAYSTATION Digital Pinball SATURN NBA Live 96 MEGA DRIVE Garfield MEGA DRIVE Micro Machines 96 MEGA DRIVE Witchaven PC CD ROM Loadstar PC CD ROM Heroes of Might and Magic PC CD ROM Caesar 2 PC CD ROM Empire 2 PC CD ROM Fury3 PC CD ROM PGA Tour Golf 96 PC CD ROM Command Aces from the Deep PC CD ROM interactive Sailing PC CD ROM US Navy Fighters Gold PC CD ROM Guide Cheat Mode Letters/Hypermart THE HYPER CREW RESERVE 1 ME RIGHT TO GET IT WRONG »HYPER ECTS Report Christmas comes around faster and faster every veay^don’I^vou think? Watching your life lldSll by with no remote control to pause on the excellent bits is fairly depressing but we can always rely on a pre>Christmas rush of Hot games to keep us shiny happy people. This Christmas season is no exception • •• We got so many good games in the last few weeks that we're doing this issue in a state of gamus interruptus...all we want to do is keep on playing and playing. But we stopped playing and put this bumper pre-Christmas extravaganza together so you too can join in the good times. Actually we received so many games that quite a few missed inclusion in this issue so don't think that these are all the big releases • there's a lot more to come. Let's start with the cover game. Earthworm Jim. we love the worm and now he’s back in his second adventure which thankfully keeps the insanely high standard of^his first outing. Legendary fun. MdtlO’s also made his way back to the SNES and Yoshi’s Island doesn't do him any harm at all. In fact, it's another classic so check that one out. On the PlayStation my current favourite is Psygnosis' superb anti-grav racing game, Wipeout. Everyone should make the effort to see this gem in action as it's a truly stunning game, pc people have an embarrassment of riches this Christmas. Wing Commander 4 is nearly here and looking good but it’s going to have some stiff sales competition from Hexen, FIFA 96, Need For Speed, Crusader: No Remorse, Magic Carpet 2 and many of the other hot titles that you'll find within these pages. It’s going to be a hot summer that's for sure • •• Stuart I am the ghost of Christmas Present.. I bring tidings of joy for this years silly season. The ECTS (European Computer Trade Show) was the last trade convention before Xmas and therefore the last chance many publishers had to demonstrate their potential hits. What this year’s ECTS effectively displayed was that the publishers and development houses are terrible at keeping secrets. Most of the product on display were titles that we had been expecting. We had already seen the screen shots and played the demo and all that was left to do was to test the final product. Not to say that products on display weren’t good, or brilliant in some cases, it was that it wasn’t that exciting. Mind you, there were a few secrets that were let out of the bag to certain special journalists. Last year’s show was very much PC dominated. This year, with the release of the Saturn and Playstation, a more balanced show was expected. What was delivered in real terms was the surprising level of commitment to the Playstation. The humble grey machine was everywhere. It was very much the star of the show with the PC following closely behind. Three important names were missing, those being Sega and Nintendo (who seemed happy in being represented by third party developers), and iD. Quake was slated for a Christmas release and it was surprising not to see them there. It seems like we’ll have to wait until 1996 now.. (sigh). The big news came from a prominent Playstation supporter’s stand where the big news is that Ridge Racer for PC is due out in March ‘96. The source said that is was pixel perfect and should blow away any racing game currently out or due out in the next six months. Speaking of racing games, car sims were flavour of the show with just about every major publisher having their own one. Psygnosis had Demolition Derby for PC and Playstation which is as good as it looks. Virgin had Screamer but a stand out was Gremlin’s Fatal Racing which can best be described as a combination of Mortal Kombat and Stunt Car Racing. There was Wing Commander IV (EA) which is beginning to sound like the Star Trek movies and Silent Steel (Ocean) which are both movies which you can control rather than being a game where you can shoot things. Together the budget of these films go over ten million dollars. And. surprisingly, they look like it too. Last year the game's industry grew up. This year it got serious. Mark Lingane MEDIUM LEVEL ANIMATED VIOLENCE ravenous least Born of O 1 i oo a . t b> * M ' Sl^ht > 10 »HYPER 1 ’ • “ L ^ . I ; ^ - * . r" r; - . Jlj Quaking in Anticipation These new Quake grabs came our way recently, and unlike the last lot we showed you these ones have moving parts. One moving part that is, a mother of a huge evil ass-kicking hell beast if you want specifics. These are the latest in a tantalising trickle from iD. They're not giving any of their juiciest secrets away just yet and probably won’t reveal anything really meaty before the game itself is released. Still, we re grateful for this wee tidbit... Like hell! Come on iD! We want Quake now! . . please? Doom Your It didn’t happen overnight, but it had too. . .and now it has. Yes kids, you can now get a little closer to the complete Doom experience with the Doom II Screen Saver. It’s an official product from the house of iD, so if you're the sort of freak that collects this stuff then feel assured because it’s kosher. Four modules are built-in. None of them seem to do your monitor's phosphorous much of a favour, as the action is usually restricted to a just a small part of the screen. But we don’t give a damn and neither should you, screen savers aren't about saving screens any more - they’re about watching cool stuff without the bothersome inconvenience of interaction. In Barrels-O-Fun random barrels spread out over the screen, Monitor then a Cyberdemon marches through blowing them all away. Boring The Duel is better, two randomly selected beasties go the tong until one is dead, then it happens all over again. We had fun betting on which beast would win... we re suckers for dumb stuff like that. Skeet Shoot flings beasties up from the bottom of the screen, with our old friend the shotgun despatching them near the top. Best of all is the Fireworks module, a handful of beasties at a time are launched skywards, exploding fireworks style in pretty patterns of blood and offal. It’s about the most useless bit of software we’ve seen since the last screen saver we saw. That hearty recommendation should be enough to help you make up your minds. It retails for $49 95. Springfield Massacre We all know the beauty of the Doom WAD. Thanks to the patience of a select few Doom freaks, all new levels — some including wildly different graphics and sound — are constantly appearing on the Net. Who could forget the first Aliens WAD or the awesome Raven WAD? Well, dust of your BFG one more time, because it’s time to send a fresh ball of plasma into the glaring yellow face of Mr. Burns and all your other favourite Simpsons characters. This one is almost too good to be true! Every monster has been carefully replaced with a walking, talking, wise¬ cracking Springfielder Swing yer chainsaw into Barney’s belly! Send a rocket into Ned Flanders’ god-lovin’ mug! All with the accompaniment of some of the funniest Simpsons dialogue you've ever heard And the deaths are hilarious 1 See Patti and Zelma explode into a pile of ciggarette butts, gasp in awe as Moe the bartender's eyeballs roll out of their sockets, recoil in horror from the undead power of Mayor Quinby. You take the role of Homer, and even a baseball bat swinging Bart isn’t safe from your super shotgun. Simpsons, Simpsons. Simpsons. We love it. Of course, if you don't. . then why not check out the new Star Trek WAD? Next Generation style Deathmatch on the Enterprise is very cool indeed. An Imp in a Klingon Starfleet uniform has to be seen to be believed! Of course, this one is choc-full-o samples to. So, where can you get a copy? You can download them both (including other hot WADs) from our glorious Hyperactive website. Too much fun is never enough w . . n LOADSTAR THE LEGEND OF TULLY BODINE "There is tons of video, a good story and more action than you've ever before experienced in this type of game" INTERACTIVE WING NUTS "What would happen if Hogan's Heros had been a World War 1 flying squadron? 1 NOW ON PC CD ROM CADILLACS & DINOSAURS "The 3-D effect is wonderfully speedy and detailed...the graphicnovel feel comes through loud and clear • NSW - All Brashs Super Stores, Adamstown - Sound World; Bankstown - Powerstation; Bass Hill - Wayne s Music World, Bondi Junction - Downbeat; Brookvale - Mall Music; Castle Hill - Castle Record Bar; Castle Hill • Sanity; Crows Nest - Music Plus; Erina - Edels Music; Hornsby - Edels Music; Hurstville - Edels Music; Lokehaven - Clear Haze Records; Lithgow - Gary's Sounds N' Systems; Maitland • Popmuzik; Miranda - Powerstation; Newcastle - Sound World;Parramatta - Vox Entertainment; Penrith - Edels Music, Sydney - Edels Music, Sydney - HMV. • VIC - All Brashs Super Stores, Ballarat - Ballarat Records & Tapes, Bendigo - Roundobout Music; Chadstone • CC Records; Echuco - R & J Sound; Eastlond • C.C. Records; Geelong • C.C. Records;Knox - CC. Records, Malvern - Todds Records; Melbourne - Gaslight; Melbourne - Hipper Records; Melton - Sadbro Sounds; Northland - C.C. Records, Sunbury • Sadbro Sounds; Traralgon - Traralgon Plaza Records, Wangoratta - Disclocation Music Shop; Wendouree - Ballarat Records & Tapes; Wodonga - Just Music.. • OLD - AH Brashs Super Stores Aspley - Pick N' Play; Carindale • Side One; Indooroopilly - Harlequin; Ipswich - Cosmic Music; Loganholme - The Record Market;Moroochydore - Vox Entertainment; Southport - The Record Market; Toombul - Toombul Music, Toowoomba - Central City Music. • SA-All Brashs Super Stores, Glenelg - Glenelg Compact Discs & Tapes; Port Augusta - Milhinch Music • TAS - All Brashs Super Stores, Hobart - Tracks; Launceston - Wills & Co.NT - Alice Springs - Murray Neck Music World, Casuarina - Cosuarina Sounds of Music • WA-All Brashs Super Stores, Morley - Mixcha; Perth - Soundz; Perth - 78 Records, Perth - Wesley CD's;Perth - Trax City Mega Store._ 12 »HYPER aam ml Readers Review Net Cafe A Special Blend of Cafe Sad But True Fact #1: not everyone has a Pentium PC or PowerMac with internet access through a speedy 28800bps modem. Think that's bad? It gets worse; there are people out there who don’t have a clue what the internet is all about, despite our best efforts at community education. There are several solutions, most of which involve forking out wads of big time cash and enduring days of painful learning curve navigation. But wait! Now there’s a better way. Welcome to the age of the internet cafe. These funky places are popping up everywhere. For the most part, they resemble your traditional cafe in all the important ways - you know, great coffee, fab snacky foods and that certain special ambience. Your average net cafe though, also has new and fast PCs hooked into the net just waiting for you to sit down and surf. Friendly over the shoulder tuition is commonly available for newbies, and if you couldn't give a damn about the ‘net you can just play deathmatch Doom. Melbourne is especially well catered for, it boasts Australia’s first ‘net cafe: the CyberNet Cafe. At 789 Glenferrie Rd Hawthorne, CyberNet is festooned with books and mags covering funky cyber stuff and they specialise in running comprehensive training sessions. Also in Melbourne is the NetCafe; 94A Acland St is where you'll find it and expect sensational yummies and a convenient closing time of midnight. Virtual Access is at 129 Maroondah Hwy Ringwood, we don't know a thing about it but it’s probably real cool. Last up for Melbourne is the Milano Coffeenet, and if you hang around Shop 28-29 Ringwood Market with both eyes open, you'll probably notice it. Their deal seems to be a huge range of sensational coffees, which is a good thing. Sydney surfers can do their thing all over the place. Earthlink gets the honours of being the first in Sydney. Wednesday night chat forums are something they’d like you to be a part of, as well as lots of other fun activities. 254 Pacific Hwy Hornsby is Earthlink HQ. Well Connected at 35 Glebe Point Rd is a particularly cool place to hang out, it's a typical Glebe cafe with computers, which is all you need to know. In town you can visit the imaginatively named Internet Cafe, a dedicated ISDN link is the major drawcard, cruise into Hotel Sweeney’s at the corner of Druitt and Clarence Sts and check it out. Up the coast a bit in Newcastle is Planet Access. An earthy environmental theme is a good thing, free coffee an even better one! 22 Beaumont St Hamilton is where to look. Another Internet Cafe is in Canberra. Sniff around the 4th floor of the National Library to find it. Brisbane and the Gold Coast have a couple of cafes in the works, but nothing official yet, so ask around or check directories. Perth has the Net Trek Cafe at Shop 8, 3 Bannister St Fremantle, and the Cafe Aria at 7-9 South Tee Fremantle. Both offer the whole gambit of net cool stuff, so check ’em out. In Adelaide you’ll find Cafe.On.Net (love those dots) at 187 Rundle St. PCs named after Blake's Seven characters are an indication of how warped they are. so beam over now! In the burbs is The Cyber Net Space (leaving no buzz word unturned). Look for it at Shop 12 Bay Mall Our New Zealand friends can get a piece of the action at the Cyberspace Internet Cafe. 31 Panama St Wellington is an excellent place to shelter from the bitter cold, with great food and training courses to further entice you. And when our many HYPER readers in Hong Kong aren't playing the latest games, they’re cruising the ‘net at Cyber Cafe Club at the Rickshaw Club, 22 Robinson Rd So there you have it. If a net cafe isn't within walking distance of home right now. chances are one will open real soon - hey, it might even be an entrepreneurial you that gets one off the ground in your area. Just remember to use words like cyber, net, virtual and link in the name. It’s the go Our reader's review this month comes courtesy of Tomas Keraitis who has reviewed a Mac game we've never even seen. Onya Tomas! Sensory Overload (Mac) Tired of Doom? Finished Marathon? Well try Sensory Overload, the work of Reality Bytes software Sensory Overload is set in the year 2010 and you play the part of an undercover CIA agent investigating the Biotex research labs for "superwave broadcasters". Apparently the naughty people at Biotex have been jamming communications signals with these things and you’ve got to stop them! Sensory Overload is a 3D shoot-em-up in the Doom tradition and you are stuck inside the Biotex lab complex for the majority of the game, running around finding weapons and items to help you unravel the mystery of what Biotex is really up to Now, onto the good stuff! A 45 is just behind the first door, so grab that and your ready to do battle with the terrorists. Sort of. The screen is split up into areas, one for left hand, one for right and one for items, plus your message window, and of course, your "Viewport’’ in which you play the game through “But does it have something that Doom doesn't?". I hear you say Sensory Overload's strongest point is that it is VERY atmospheric. Dare I say even more than Doom? Blasphemy! But the haunting background music and claustrophobic little rooms really add to the feeling, and you always get a sudden rush of adrenalin when a Ninja pops out only to have his head blown off with your electrogun The game has the same sort of interface and items as others of others in its style ie: armour, health points, ammo so nothing much new in the originality area Now. all this is fine and dandy until you realise your gonna need a Mac with at least 33mhz 030 processor And even then you’ll have to turn off floor and ceiling textures and reduce the screen size The thing I disliked most about SO was the speed Not that my computer was slow, but you walk incredibly slowly, and there is no "run" key The other letdown was that you must explore every inch of a level If you miss a room that contains a passcard or item, certain disaster awaits on the next level But you can progress forwards and backwards through the levels - if for some reason you wanted to take the lifts all the way back to level 1 to get that 45 clip you left behind, you could. Other than those complaints. Sensory Overload is great fun Not everybody will like it however, so grab the demo and see what you think i&siis The end is near... You’re DOOMED! Hexen’* ©1995 Raven Software Inc AH rights reserved Created by Raven Software. Inc Published by id Software Inc Certain software code owned by id Software Inc is contained within HEXEN and is used under license by Raven Software Inc The id Software Inc software code ©1993,1995 id Sotlware Inc All rights reserved Distributed by GT Interactive Software Corp Hexen trademark and logo Hexen character names and distinctive likeness Heretic trademark and distinctive likeness thereof are the exclusive property of Raven Software Inc The id Software** name and logo’* are trademarks of id Software Inc GT 7 * and the GT logo’* are trademarks of GT Software Corp Package design by slates, Marge and The Chad Man The Richards Group R&D ©1995 »d Software Inc. All rights reserved DWANGO is a registered trademark of Interactive Visual Systems Corp IBM© is a registered trademark of the International Business Machines Corp MS© is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation All other trademarks are properly of their respective companies 14 »HYPER Spaceball 3D Gaming Made Easy Spaceball. It’s a word. Up ‘till now it meant the World's Worst sci-fi parody movie. Not any more! Now it means the Worlds Finest 3D action game controller. The ungainly looking device is the revolutionary change these games so desperately needed. Moving around efficiently in a 3D world of death like Doom takes considerable dexterity; new muscles grew in our hands as we struggled to deal with the un-intuitive keyboard controls, mousing offered little salvation and it soon became screamingly clear that something totally different was needed. Welcome the Spaceball age. We've been road-testing the thing and it really works. Like so many of life's more enjoyable pursuits, it's a two handed operation. The obvious bit are the buttons; your right hand rests comfortably over the bulbous bit, with a bit of easy thumb action to manipulate the six buttons. For games with built-in support like Doom, Heretic and Descent they do useful stuff like select weapons, open doors and shoot. So far, so-so. The radical bit is the big blue sphere on the left. You twist, turn, push and pull it to steer your Space Marine in ways never before possible. It takes some getting used to, but if you invest the time and figure it all out you’ll be untouchable in deathmatch. The manoeuvres you can pull are amazing, you can rotate around an enemy and remain facing him the whole time, combination strafing, running and turning is no problem at all either. With a Spaceball Avenger you'll literally run rings around anything you come up against. Because the Spaceball s special moves can’t be duplicated with the keyboard, the Doom world looks weirdly different. The walls float past you smoother than ever before, with a new sensation of movement that’s way more real than the old way. The Avenger does games like Descent a major favour too. It s normally a hard slog to control, but with the Avenger it all comes naturally. Future games that are just as complicated as Descent won't be a problem either, as native support for the device is becoming more and more common, so it’s unlikely that the Avenger will go the way of the Logitech Cyberman - that is, a premature death through lack of software support. As good as it is, the Avenger still has a little way to go. The sphere is (in my opinion) a little too large to hold comfortably. It could also do with just a bit more movement. As it is, the ball barely moves at all, this means for very precise movement, but it doesn't quite feel right with only a couple of degrees of "play”. Still, what we have now is a huge leap forward and it's a hell of a lot better than anything else. Need another reason to buy? Cop this then: it's an Aussie innovation! The Spaceball Avenger, tell your folks you want one for Christmas or you'll never eat you vegetables again. That should do it. Master Blaster If you’ve got a PC it’s time to make an emergency revision to your Christmas wish list. Take a pen and scratch out whatever was at the top of the list and write in "3D Blaster' This is something PC gamers must have. Graphics accelerators are nothing new, but up till now the term has been applied to almost any old video card, with speed increases of around 20%. Good old Creative Labs have upped the ante, the 3D Blaster delivers a boost that clocks in at a grunty 1000%! We’ve seen it in action and it’s for real. Creative showed us a bog standard 486 with the 3D Blaster installed running next to a Pentium 90 without one. Running the same games the old 486 ran smoother than any PC we've ever seen, while the Pentium chugged along at about a quarter the 486’s frame rate. Amazing stuff. The 3D Blaster works its magic by way of several custom graphics chips. They take the load of the CPU, so incredible results are achieved from slotting one of these babies into just about any old PC - although Creative recommends a 486DX2/66 as the minimum. Games need to be written to get the most out of the card, but existing games will also see a small improvement, say Creative. Blistering speed isn't the only cool thing about 3D Blaster, as Creative claim that the card delivers superior graphic quality to the current breed of super consoles. This means higher resolution and no warping. The 3D worlds Creative showed us looked more solid and real than anything we've seen so far. The first versions of the card still need a standard video card in your PC, but Creative are working hard to develop a 3D Blaster that replaces your video card entirely. Other enhancements to the technology will follow over the next couple of years, Creative are planning a version that incorporates real time speech transmission, so deathmatch Doomers can shout mean things at each other amidst the carnage. First off the rank will be the Vesa Local Bus version. A PCI bus model will follow early in the new year. At $649 it's not cheap, but compared to the upgrade cost of fast Pentiums, it's a blessing. This is the advance PC gaming has been waiting for since the word go. What it'll do for your PC is truly miraculous. Pick Your Accelerator The 3D Blaster isn't the only 3D kid on the block, other video card manufacturers are due to release their own 3D boosters right about now. Already available is the Matrox Millennium Matrox cards are traditionally dead slow so it was surprising to see the Millennium hit the shelves first We haven’t seen it run, but apparently it’s performance falls short of what the others offer. Big time vid card makers Diamond are getting in on the act too Their Edge card uses acceleration techniques completely different to the others, with the big question being how well it’ll be supported by developers. The Edge has built-in sound, as well as a digital gameport. Number Nine make a funky range of hot cards and will shortly be releasing their Rendition 3D booster Those in the know say it offers the biggest bang, but like the Diamond may suffer from a lack of developer support. Only time will tell, a new age of PC gaming is dawning and the next few months will show which way this new world is heading What we really need is a 3D standard like the Vesa super VGA standard, but getting so many competing manufacturers to agree on a compromise is not exactly the most likely thing in the world That's why we like the 3D Blaster Microsoft are supporting their standard and because it comes from the makers of the Sound Blaster, the support of the industry is almost guaranteed * Hundreds more titles available on all formats ★ Best prices ★ Huge range of ' import titles from U.S.A. & Asia ★ We trade & sell used Sega & Nintendo, 3DO & IBM CD ★ Hardware and accessories ★ Friendly service & expert advice ★ Toll free order line ★ Orders from New Zealand, Asia & the j \ s Pacific are welcome & delivered by air mail. Free members card on purchase of a control deck, hand held unit or once you have spent $300. Members entitled to an extra 10% off discounted prices. 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MEGAMAN X. 69.95 MEGAMAN X 2. 99.95 METAL MORPH . 139.95 Quick SNES DRAGON VIEW $89.95 SNES LUFIA.$89.95 (Great RPG games-US Versions) SNES SUPER METROID .... $69.95 SNES JUNGLE STRIKE.$89.95 TITUS ACME ANIMATION.. 79 95 ADDAMS FAMILY VALUE (RPG) 99.95 BATMAN FOREVER 119.95 BIKER MICE FROM MARS . .99 95 BLACKHAWK. 59 95 BOMBERMAN 2.6995 BRAINLORD (RPG) .9995 BRANDISH (RPG). 13995 BREATH OF FIRE .. 11995 BRUTAL PAWS OF FURY. 69 95 BUBSY .49.95 CACOMA KNIGHT (RPGl. 69 95 CANNON FODDER .89 95 CASTLEVANIA:DRACULA X .9995 CHAOS ENGINE. 5995 CHRONO TRIGGER (RPGi. 139 95 CIVILIZATION... 13995 CLAYMATES. 09 95 COOL WORLD . ... 69 95 DIDDY KONG QUEST. 9995 DOOMSDAY WARRIOR. 4995 DONKEY KONG COUNTRY.. 99 95 DRAGON VIEW (RPGjT"”~~ 99*95 EARTH BOUND I RPG). 12*95 EARTH WORM JIM 2 . 11995 EMPIRE STRIKES BACK . 79 95 FIFA SOCCER 96.99.95 FINAL PHANTASY 3 . 139 95 F-ZERO. 49.95 FOREMAN FOR REAL.119 95 GEMFIRE(RPG). 9995 GHOUL PATROL. 5995 HAAHH REAL MONSTERS 99 95 HAGANE ...99.95 MORTAL KOMBAT 3.. 109.95 MUTANT CHRONICLES 119.95 MYSTIC QUEST LEGEND.49 95 NBA LIVE ‘96. 99.95 NHL HOCKEY *5.59.95 NHL HOCKEY ‘96.99.95 NEW HORIZON (RPG).119.95 NIGEL MANSELL . 49.95 NOSFERATU.„.129.95 PILOTWINGS. 4995 POWER RANGER 2 MOVIE. 139.95 PAC ATTACK . 49 95 PILOTWINGS.49 95 PlOK .49.95 POCKY A ROCKY 2 .109.95 PRIMAL RAGE .119.95 QUARTERBACK CLUB 96.99 95 RAMPART .. 69 95 REAL MONSTERS .109.95 RETURN OF THE JEDI.89 95 REVOLUTION X. 119 95 ROBOTREK (RPG).99.95 SAMURAI SHOWDOWN. 89.95 SECRET OF MANA..79.95 SECRET OF EVERMORE (RPG) . 139.95 SECRET OF STARS.129.95 SENSIBLE SOCCER.89.95 SIM CITY.49.95 SOCCER SHOOT OUT.69 95 SPIDERMAN & VENOM.129 95 STAR TREK DEEP SPACE 9 . 109 95 STUNT RACE FX . 69 95 SUPER BOMBERMAN 2.79.95 SUPER DROP ZONE.99.95 SUPER MARIO PAINT. 69 95 SUPER METROID . 69 95 SUPER MARIO WORLD 49 95 SUPER MORPH.89.95 SUPER PINBALL . 49.95 SUPER PUNCH OUT. 69 95 SUPER STREETFIGHTER 2. 99.95 TETRI&DR MARIO. 69 95 THE BRAINIES . 99.95 THEME PARK.119.95 TURBOTOONS. 109.95 ULTIMARUINS OF VIRTUE IRPG) 119.95 UNIRALLY . 49.95 URBAN STRIKE. 129.95 VEGAS STAKES.49.95 WILD GUNS. 10995 WIZARD OF OZ.99.95 YOSHIS ISLAND.99.95 ZELDA3 .79.95 CORPSE KILLER (CD). 99.95 COSMIC CARNAGE ... 89 95 I METAL HEAD..99 95 I MIDNIGHT RAIDERS.99.95 MOTHERBASE . AME4B0Y4 COlOuh GAME BOV. 69.95 indudingcase & batteries PRO ACTION REPLAY__8995 ALADDIN....5695 ANIMANIACS .59 95 ASTEROIDSMISSILE COMMAND 39 95 BATMAN FOREVER . 69 95 CENTIPIDE/MILLIPEDE.39.95 CHAOS IN WINOY Cl TY __ 69 95 DEFENDER'JOUST__39.95 DONKEY KONG.59.95 DONKEY KONG LAND.59.95 EARTH WORM JIM.69 95 GALAGA'GALAX IAN.39.95 GREAT GREED (RPG).49.95 JUDGE DREDD...69.95 JUNGLE STRIKE .. 59 95 KILLER INSTINCT.59.95 KIRBY'S DREAMLAND 2 . 5995 LION KING...59.95 MARIO'S PICROSS ..44 95 MEGAMAN 5..49 95 MICHAEL JORDAN. 69 95 MORTAL KOMBAT 3 .59.95 MS PACMAN..44 95 NBA JAM TOURNAMENT . 69.95 NBA LIVE 96...69.95 PAC IN TIME.„.44 95 PRIMAL RAGE.69 95 SPACE INVADERS.39.95 STREETFIGHTER 2..59 95 SUPER BC KID..59.95 SUPER MARIO LAND . 44.95 SUPER MARIO LAND 2.59.95 SUPER RETURN OF JEDI .69.95 TETRIS 2_*. 59.95 URBAN STRIKE ...6995 WARIO BLAST.. 44 95 WARKJ'S LAND.59.95 WATERWORLD .. 69 95 NBA LIVE 96. 99.95 NHL HOCKEY 96.99.95 OTTIFANTS.39 95 PGA GOLF 3.99.95 PHANTASY STAR IV (RPG) 149.95 PHANTOM 2040.99.95 PRIMAL RAGE «c» All pnen are subject to Change Without notic* Age: Phone:( Address: City/State: Systems owned: 3DO: DRAGONS LAIR Arcade FMV Game now $49.99 (Save $50) YES! Please send me a FREE catalog . Name: Postcode: ■w3 . This month ROGER BOLTON takes a trip into the Suture oS the Internet, down¬ loads iD’s latest game and helps out all you Mac users. Thanks Uncle Wodgie!! Alpha World INTJfcWA.CTlVI If you want to see the future of the internet, then this is one of the happening places to see it. Alpha World is written by Worlds Inc, the same guys that did "World's Chat", the 3D chat pro¬ gram that got mentioned a few issues back. AlphaWorld takes the idea just a few steps further. To view AlphaWorld you must have a fast PC (486 DX50 or better) and the 32 bit extensions (or Windows 95), then log onto the AlphaWorld site and down¬ load the special browser program. Once you've got it, run the Aworld browser and you instantly parachute down into the middle of Alpha World. This is a true 3D environment where you can walk (and fly) around a virtual world, chat to other people all over the internet and even build your own house, hovel or palace. Alpha World has it s own newspaper, bar, shops, palaces, castles, hidden caves, parks, ancient ruins and LOTS more to find. This site is seriously one of the best to appear on the net ever. If you’ve got the PC, go download it now. http://www.worlds.net/alphaworld/ tale puts you in the running for prizes. A good idea that has been well executed, the story reads well and it looks pretty cool too. For fans of crime stories and puzzle solving this site is a winner. http://www.spikewebb.com/ S.P.Q.R. The Quest Begins It's not Quake, but it's the next coolest Doom-like thing to come along until then. Hexen is the sequel to Heretic, the medieval Doom game from Raven and iD software. The full game should be available for purchase by the time you read this, or you can download the free beta four level version to test it out. Among the many enhancements over Heretic are amazing atmospheric effects (lighting and wind), loads more spells and a choice or playing a Cleric, Fighter or Mage. http://www.idsoftware.com or for a site in Australia try http:// hyperactive .com. a u/ga mes/d u mp/ Another interactive net game, S.P.Q.R takes you back to the blood, dust, and decadence of Roman times and lets you wander the streets of Rome. You must search for scrolls containing clues to preventing the fall of Rome and discover secrets within the hidden catacombs beneath the streets. Hmm, well it looks pretty but the download times to Oz may stop you solving the whole game. Well designed and worth a look if you’ve got the patience. http://www.pathfinder.com/twep/rome/ S.P.Q.R. Spike Webb is a net detective. a digitally wired crime buster roaming the infobahn on the lookout for assorted bad dudes. This site lets you follow his adventures with a new episode added weekly. Following the trail of clues through the site and assorted related sites and solving the puzzles and codes in the Macintosh owners who for years have been pitied and laughed at in school playgrounds because of a lack of any decent games, your revenge has come! Doom II and Dark Forces are out for Mac and Descent is coming! For more Mac related games info, check these sites out. MacPlay http://www.macplay.com/ One of the biggest Macintosh games publishers, working on Descent for Mac. Macintosh Doom Page http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/~rkinion/macdoom.html Pointers to loads of info for Mac Doom players. Happy Puppy Mac Games OnRamp http://happypuppy.com/games/mac/ This page has pointers to virtually every Mac shareware game on the internet ever made. Macintosh Entertainment Software Page http://www.usyd.edu.au/~dchallis/MacES.html Local Australian list of Macintosh entertainment products and publishers. Local Australian Archive for Mac Shareware Games ftp://archie.au/micros/mac/umich/game/ This mirror of the University of Michigan Macintosh archive has hundreds of Mac games. Macintosh: The Final Frontier http://www.astro.nwu.edu/lentz/mac/software/mac-trek.html Pointers to many neat toys which Trekify your Mac. Icons, sounds, screen savers, fonts, the works. Pilots, Top Gunn el s. C omba ted High F ly ers and Ci tizens A ACTUAL PICTURE TAKEN FROM ^ COCKPIT DURING A BRUTAL AIR £p TO GROUND BATTLE. AVOID GAME CONTACT WITH SONY PLAYSTATION. * Don't call the so called PlayStation PowerLine on 1-902-262-662 ITM Calls are charged at a rate of $1.50 per min. A higher rate applies from public and mobile phones. the[J]& PlayStation are trademarks of sony computer entertainment inc. tOJECT A-KO PROJECT A-Ki story is pretty bland too and requires you to ignore some pretty huge holes in the plot 0 e^° ** - VER Collectors Edition 1 is now available in Newsagents & Record Stores Recommended Retail Price: $9.95 It’s Rock On Multimedia The World’s Cool. t Music Mag, Reviews by Max Autohead BABEL 2 The story goes something like this.. Many years ago an alien accidentally crash landed on Earth. Unable to fix his space-craft, the alien starts to erect a tower which provides means to hide his technology. The alien dies but prepares all for the coming of the “CHOSEN ONE". a successor to his power Crash cut to today, as a day dreaming school boy, Ko-lchi. is troubled by weird arse nightmares. Shunned by all his friends, Ko-lchi stumbles upon a group of psychics headed by a leader who covets world domination for his own sinister ends Funny things start happening to Ko-lchi and as he faces peril he is revealed as Babel 2, the chosen one! With his protector side-kicks Rhodem. Poseidon and Robross, .. (mi Ko-lchi fights the mother of all battles to protect the Earth from evil psychic domination. Babel anime quite possibly one of the cheesicst and most boring amines I've ever seen. The animation is that tacky, stilted kind that we’ve come to ' ovc f rom budget animation, and it ^ moves about as smoothly as the / Tinman in a rock quarry. The ABC test patterns. Rated MA15 Distributed by Kiseki 4/10 I know, I know Project A Ko came out ages ago and some of you may have already seen it. However, for some reason our friends at Siren never sent me a copy when it was First released, but the images of a Japanese schoolgirl running into the sky on a stream of missiles is too good a thing not to review After Tokyo has once again rebuilt itself from the ruins of mass destruction, two schoolgirls (A-Ko and her dizzy friend/side kick C- B-Ko) start their first day at a new school There they are spotted by B-Ko, an ultra smart but ultra vicious waif of a girl, who decides that C-Ko must be her best friend. However, for her plans of friendship to succeed she must eliminate all possible competition being A-Ko! Building twenty story high robots and tanks of doom, plus weapons of massive destruction, B-Ko wages an all-out war on A-Ko. who somehow is so fast and so strong she manages to always destroy everything B-Ko throws at her! Meanwhile, on the other side of the solar system, a huge and mega alien force approaches Earth to retrieve their long lost princess to rule their entire empire; none other than C-Ko! Project A-Ko is an anime that had me in stiches with its fast hitting cheesy humour It’s original and fresh and is so immersed in trash anime culture that any Manga patriot would be proud There are times of idiocy, but these blur into moments of comic trash genius. If you haven’t seen Project A-Ko before then I highly recom¬ mend that you do A must for all anime freaks. . Rated PG Distributed by Siren Entertainment Of 10 SNES ,U> Megadrive’" Playstation'" Saturn ” PC CD-ROM Pmudiy distributed by v/ ROADSHOW $7 NEW MEDIA MIDWAY 22 »HYPER Core Design make cool games, Sega make a nice machine to play them on, it’s called the Saturn and if you own one you'll be wanting to enter this fab comp. The incomprehensibly lucky winner gets: 1 copy of the amazing Thunderhawk 2 for Saturn 1 copy of the equally amazing Shellshock for Saturn A cool Shellshock T-shirt, a Shellshock wallet to stick in your pocket, a sticky Shellshock sticker and a big Thunderhawk 2 poster. Think that's cool? Well sit down ‘cause we've got three of these bundles of joy to give away. Having three first prize winners doesn’t seem quite right, so we’ve rounded up the equation by making seven second prizes, each of the seven slightly less lucky winners gets: 1 Shellshock T-shirt, the Shellshock wallet, the Shellshock sticker and the big Thunderhawk poster. We had a look at Shellshock as part of the 3D games preview in HYPER # 23, it’s homeboy Doom and looks real cool. You can read about Thunderhawk 2 right here in this very issue, it smoulders. Thanks to Sega Ozisoft for these cool goodies. To have a hope in hell of winning this rip snorter of a competition, write the answer to the question on the back of an envelope and send it in. What company makes both Shellshock and Thunderhawk 2? Core Design Comp. HYPER PO Box 634 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 Rocket Science Sure, we’ve given away the odd T-shirt and cap. You may have even won one or three. But the day the Rocket Science gear arrived we all chorused in unison, “geez, this stuff is real quality". Really we did. The glacially cool Rocket Science logo looks par¬ ticularly superb on the cap, which comes complete with a gen-u-ine leather peak. Video tapes of the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs cartoons Rocket Science based their games on look equally hot, as does the game Loadstar which features super-fast graphics that’ll blow you away. We’re not telling you this for nothing. Yes kids, we can feel a competition coming on. The five first prize winners get: A Rocket Science T-shirt and cap, the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs video and a copy of the PC version of the Loadstar CD ROM game. The twenty five (25!) runners-up get a Rocket Science T-shirt. Do the back of an envelope thing with this question: What TV show is the game Cadillacs and Dinosaurs based on? Rocket Science Comp. Hyper PO BOX 634 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 I Wanna Be Just Like Tom ••• Spectrum Holobyte know a thing or two about flight sims. Their Falcon 3.0 is still about the best there is and they’ve been beavering away at Top Gun for ages now. It’s due out right about now and thanks to our chums at Sega Ozisoft we’ve got some choice Top Gun goodies to throw around. There are five lots of this Top Gun pack to go around, so we’ll be drawing one winner from each state. Each winner gets a copy of the Top Gun game for PC CD ROM (natch), the Top Gun video, the soundtrack and a truly trendy Top Gun jacket. Entering will improve your chances immeasurably, just put the answer to the question on the back of an envelope and send it in. What was Tom Cruise's call sign in the movie 1 Top Gun”? Top Gun Comp. HYPER PO Box 634 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 Logical Giveaway We’ve got some new friends in Western Australia. They’re called Logical Computers and Entertainment and to celebrate our new found love for each other, we’re giving away some choice goodies from their monster mail order catalogue. That’s what they do you see, their big thing is fast delivery and an extensive catalogue. They’re total game freaks too, so give them a buzz on (09) 227 5266 and have a yarn about the latest stuff they’ve got to sell you. The winner of this comp, gets to pick two games from the following PC titles: Rebel Assault 2, Wipe Out, Destruction Derby and 3D Lemmings. Write which ones you want on the envelope. What sort of business are Logical Computers and Entertainment in? Logical Computers Comp. HYPER PO BOX 634 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 Command Get It Command & Conquer is one of the better games we've played lately. Because we love it so much it seems only fair to spread the joy around. Sega Ozisoft have given us five copies (all PC CD ROM) to give away, if you want a chance at winning then answer the question and send it in. What game is Command and Conquer the unofficial sequel to? Command & Conquer Comp. HYPER PO Box 634 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 GAME LINK \PHONE & MAK ORDER VIDEO GAMES AND ACCESSORIES PHONE (09) 592 7770 FAX (09) 592 3304 QUALITY AMERICAN MADE STEERING WHEEL AVAILABLE FOR PC, MEGADRIVE, SNES, 3DO & PLAYSTATION. PHONE FOR BROCHURE & DETAILS. SUPER NINTENDO $ MASTERBLASTER JOYSTICK.49.95 TOPFIGHTER GUN.49.95 PRO ACTION REPLAY 3.94.95 SIX BUTTON CONTROLPAD.24 95 SUPERKEY CONVERTER.29.95 SIX PLAYER ADAPTER.45.95 ARCADE STYLE JOYSTICK.79.95 BATMAN FOREVER.109.95 BUBSY 2..84.95 EARTHWORM JIM 2.109.95 FIFA SOCCER ‘96.95.95 FIREMEN.95.95 MADDEN NFL ‘96.94.95 MECH WARRIOR 3050.95.95 MORTAL KOMBAT 3.95.95 NBA LIVE *96.95.95 NHL HOCKEY ‘96.95.95 PREHISTORIK MAN.105.95 PRIMAL RAGE.109.95 ZERO THE KAMIKAZE SQUIRREL.59.95 VIDEO GAMES & ACCESSORIES AVAILABLE FOR MOST GAME FORMATS. PHONE FOR LIST FOR YOUR MACHINE SEGA MEGADRIVE $ MASTER BLASTER JOYSTICK.49.95 TOPFIGHTER GUN.49.95 PRO ACTION REPLAY 2.94.95 FOUR WAY ADAPTER.55.95 SIX BUTTON CONTROL PAD.24.95 AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE.95.95 FIFA SOCCER ‘95.89.95 FIFA SOCCER ‘96.95.95 MADDEN NFL ‘96.95.95 NBA LIVE *95.89.95 PLAYSTATION $ CONTROL PAD.45.00 GAME SAVER.71.95 ACTION REPLAY.75.95 NBA JAM TE.95.95 r—--i Please fill out & send to GAME LINK, | 94 Penguin Rd, SAFETY BAY I WESTERN AUSTRALIA 6169. ITEM PRICE SUBTOTAL $ POST & HANDLING TOTAL S .Bcrd Mcrd Visa Chq M/O POSTAGE & HANOI JN'G Please allow $4.50 for standard and $10 for express delivery. ORDERS Phone: (09)592 7770 Fax: (09) 592 3304 Post: 94 Penguin Road. SAFETY BAY WA 6169 PAYMENT We accept Bankcard Mastercard,Visa cheque Money Order Please allow 5 working days for cheque clearance. Prices are subject to change without notice and some items may be unavailable at date of printing. Expiry Dale./..x. Name... Add ress............. ® Phone....—.System.......................... L — _ — _ _J □ OK, so you’ve got a status problem. The bloke next door’s going out with Claudia Schiffer and your best mate just bought a Porsche 911* Ahh, life sucks sometimes... The solution? Get yourself a HYPER subscription and all your friends will immediately be green with envy. Need more motivation?^ Cop this then! One lucky subscriber this month will a copy of the sensational new Mario game, Yoshi’s Island (which we love and respect so much we award¬ ed it 92%). Haven’t got a SNES to play it on? No worries, we’ll give you one o£ those too! NO EXCUSES • SUBSCRIBE!! © (SECRET MESSAGE FOR MUM AND DAD - A HYPER SUBSCRIPTION WOULD MAKE FOR AN EXCELLENT CHRISTMAS PRESENT). Fill out this coupon and mail it to HYPER, Reply Paid 634, PO Box 634, Strawberry Hills, NSW. 2012 Name ---System - Address_______ . Postcode Suburb/Town_ Enclosed is my cheque/money order, or debit my credit card for $44.95 d Bankcard L] Mastercard CH Visa Expiry Date_ Card No Signature J- ismsaxi] FIGHTER'. ADO ON) $39 $73 $88 $90 $38 $61 $91 $64 $40 NOV $95 $95 MARIO TEACHERS TYPING MASTERS OF MAGIC_ MECH WARRIOR II Wt 9WTSFORS A Of TO BLA MICROPROSE GRAND MINDSCAPES BIG TO MIRAGE MORTAl ‘ OMBAT MORTAL KOMBAT II MORTAl KOMBAT Hl_ MS ART GALLERY_ mm® MS COMPLETE BASEBALL - wmmm SEAL TEAM ISM SIM CITY (B4HANCLD) ORIGIANl SIM CITY 2000 _ $97 $95 $99 $32 $91 $91 ■ $73 SIM CITY 2000 COLLECTION __ SIM CITY 2000 FOR WINDOWS SIM CITY 2000 SCENARIO IBM SIM ISLE SIM TOWER FOR WINDOWS_ SPACE ACE__ SPACE QUEST 4_ SPACE QUEST ANTHOLOGY_ SPEED_ l ' STAk' CRUS ADEL STAR CRUSADER 3 5' , STAR TREK FINAL UNITY M 11 ’ . 'RAPE f.' A SEGA SATURN HARDWARE/GAME s SEGA SATURN CONSOLE $785.00 DAYTONA USA $75.00 CLOCKWORK NIGHT $75.00 PANZER DRAGOON $75.00 VICTORY GOAL $75.00 VIRTUA FIGHTER $75.00 1 ACES OF THE DEEP $89 ADVANCED SPELLING $64 AH* WARKIO* $39 ALONE IN THE DARK 3 $91 APACHE LONGBOW $80 ARMORED FIST $91 AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS_ $78 AUSTRALIA THROUGH TIME $139 BARBIE'S MAGICAL HOUSE $84 'BATTLE BUGS IBM 34“" $64 BATTLE ISLE 3 $86 BATTLE ISLE II $86 ’BATTLEDROME 3.5'"" $73 BENEATH THE STEEL SKY $98 BETRAYAL AT KRONDOR $89 BOfORGE $91 BLACKTHORNE $73 "BLO005TONE 3.5'” $20 BLOOD WINGS $91 BLOWN AWAY $59 BUG ADVENTURE $64 BURN CYCLE $71 CIVILIZATIONS FOR WINDOWS $89 COMANCHE MAXIMUM OVERKILL_ $80 COMMANCHE VRS WEREWOLF _ $91 COMMAND AND CONQUER $90 'CONNON FODDER II 3.5" $55 CREATURE SHOCK $91 CRUSADER $91 CYBERACE $91 CYBERIA $91 CYBERWAR 4 CD’S $86 CYCLONES $86 DARK CRUSADERS $36 DARK FORCES $86 DARKER $86 DAY OF THE TENTACLE $71 DESCENT 3.5' 30 LEVELS $73 DESTRUCTION DERBY $86 DOOM 2 $80 DOOM 3 5' (FULL VERSION) $68 FLIGHT SIMULATOR VER 5 FLIGHT UNLIMITED FULL TROTTLE FX FIGHTER_ GRAND PRIX II HARDBALL 4 _ HEINDALLII HELL CYBERPUNK THRILLER _ HIGH OCTANE_~ HISTORYUNE 1914-1918_ IBM AFL 95 MULTIMEDIA FOOTBALL INCA d_I IND CAR TRACK PACK 3 5"_ INOI CAR 3.5'_ INDI CAR TRACK PACK II 3.5'_ INDIANA JONES FATE Of ATLANTIS _ INFERNO_ MS EXPLORAPEDIA PEOPLE. MS FUGHT SIMULATOR 5.1 MS HAUNTED HOUSE MYST NASCAR, NBA JAM TOURNAMENT NBA UVE 95 NEED FOR SPEED NETWORKS _ NHL HOCKEY "95". NOCTROPOUS_ OUTPOST _ PERFECT GOLF PETER PAN IBM _ PGA GOLF 486 _ PGA TOUR GOLF 96 INTERPLAY ANTHOLOGY 10 YEARS JUNGLE BOOK_* KINGS QUEST 6_ KINGS QUEST ANTHOLOGY (1 TO 6). KINGS QUEST VII_ LANDS Of LORE_ LEGEND OF KYRANDIA_ LEMMINGS 3 WORLD OF LEMMINGS, LEMMINGS 3D_ LESUtRE SUIT LARRY ANTHOLOGY LESUIRE SUITE LARRY 6_ LUCAS ARCHIVES SEVERAL TITLES | MAGIC CARPET _ MAGIC CARPET II __ MAGIC SCHOOL BUS EXPLOR SOLAR SYSTEM_ MARINE FIGHTERS (US NAVY PHANTASMAGORIA 7 CD S PINBALL FANTASY DELUXE_ PITFALL PRIMAL RAGE . PRINCE OF PERSIA BUNDLE 1 A 2| PRISONER OF ICE PSYCHO PINBALL . RAVENLOFT - STONE PROPHET REBEL ASSAULT II REBEL ASSUALT RELENTLESS RENEGADE JACOB'S STAR REUNION RUGBY WORLD CUP 1995 SAM AND MAX HIT THE ROAD SCIENCE ADVENTURE SCOOTER'S MAGIC CASTLE STAR TREK JUDGERIGHTS _ STAR TREK MOVEMENT AND SOUND . 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POSTCODE PHONE SIGNATURE As you can probably tell from our cover. Earthworm Jim is back and he's looking better than ever!! Despite some changes at Shiny HQ over the last year (Jim creator Doug TenNapel and some other pro¬ grammers left to start their own game company, Neverhood), Dave Perry and the boys have come up with another master¬ piece of video gaming. HYPER caught up with one of Jim's master pro¬ grammers, NICK "Captain of Coding” JONES and asked the following stupid questions... Cows play a major role in |im 2. We think that’s great. What led you to give your meaty bovine friends the attention they so richly deserved? The game was designed in many meetings with the entire team. If somebody suggested something in the meeting and everybody laughed, it was added to the game scenario. Our first cow gag was obviously in Jim 1 when you make the fridge fall onto a branch which launches the cow into space. I guess we got cows stuck on our minds after that! What are the major differences between EWJ2 on Mega Drive and on SNES? For Jimi, I felt that the Mega Drive version was slightly better, but this time I think Jim2 is better on the SNES! The graphics were upgraded, the colours are sharp¬ er and better defined. There are more sound effects, more parallax’s and you also have the ability to both collect, and select the weapons you want on the SNES. However. I think that both versions are much better than Jimi. I think we have now reached the limit of what these machines can do in terms of performance. Jim 2 plays as a totally different game for every new level. Where do you get all your ideas and have you got any left? Everybody likes to categorise a game, and Jim has been labelled as a ‘Platformer’. In truth though, we try to keep a basic ‘Platform’ feel to the game so that there is some consistency, but we also try to bring in something new wherever we can for variety. This means that when you complete a level, you’re not going to see just the same gameplay with new graphics; you really have no idea what is going to happen. You might sud¬ denly be a Flying Blind Cave Salamander, or you might be able to inflate your head, or carry a marshmallow to bounce puppies with. This huge variety of ideas and playing techniques is achieved by having the entire team design the game. Everybody has a different vision of what the game is going to play and this is reflected in the final game. We’re really dumb and don’t understand the quiz at the end of the Salamander Level. What’s it all about? This was making fun of American TV Came shows. You get asked one question for every worm token Happy Ppnpl Any top secret Shiny projects underway featur¬ ing revolutionary new gaming concepts you’d like to tell us about? We’ve heard you’re doing a game for the UltTa 64? you find in the level so search around for them. Every time you answer a question correctly, you get the bonus object next to the trophy, and the bonus object gets upgraded to a more useful one. If, however you get a question wrong, it goes back to the basic energy atom object (pretty useless). So the idea is to answer consecu¬ tive questions correctly. The answers are all nonsensical but they are always the same. So, for example, when you are asked the colour of lim's Red gun? and the possible answers are yellow, green, blue, the answer will ALWAYS be green. So it basically makes you learn totally useless trivia. Also, a lot of the answers can be gleaned from read¬ ing the manuals from both Jimi and Jim2! We haven’t got the Earthworm |im cartoon in Australia yet - what does Jim’s voice sound like? Butch, nerdy, assured self confidence...? Doug TenNapel was the voice of Jim in the game. But Universal Studios decided to use a Voice actor for the cartoon series. Dan Castanella (the voice of Homer Simpson) was the final voice of Jim. He’s definitely put a new slant on our favourite superhero and his catch word is the good old 'Cerrr—Roovy’. I think it would best be described as assured and self confident in situations when he shouldn’t be. When is |im coming to the Playstation, Saturn and Ultra 64? jim is currently being developed for the Saturn and Playstation. Shiny currently only develops original games, and we leave the ports to other people. We have an excellent team called 'Screaming Pink’ who are developing it. I’ve been informed that the Sega Saturn version will be available first just after Christmas with a Playstation version following shortly afterwards. Shiny has now established itself as a top games developer. Now that we’ve finished Jim2, we have to look to the future which means the new machines coming out. Shiny will in future be developing two games simultaneously. One project will be exclu¬ sively for the Ultra-64; the other will be for the Sony Playstation and the Sega Saturn. I can’t tell you any¬ thing about the earning or Idea concepts but needless to say, you can be assured that they will be incredible! What’s your opinion on the state-of-play in the video games industry at the moment? Who’s winning - Sega/Sony/Nintendo/PC and what have we got to look forward to in the next couple of years? If I had to bet my money on a winner, I’d place it 50/50 on both Nintendo and Sony. My experience of the Saturn and the Playstation is that the Sony machine is quite significantly more powerful. This is the machine that all developers are really talking about or want to be working on at the moment. However the Ultra 64 promis¬ es to far out-class even the Sony. My forecast is that Nintendo will definitely deliver the goods they’ve been promising for so long. The other big issue is CD versus Cart. I’ve heard so much talk about how much cheaper it is to put a game onto CD instead of a cartridge. A CD costs about 50 cents for the actual disc whilst the cart costs nearly $30 (before you've even thought about creating a game to put onto it). But the reality is that games for the Sony Playstation are still in the range of $90 - $100. So where is this promised saving? The other thing to remember is the target audi¬ ence for our games. I still expect teenagers to be the main games players. You can take a cartridge and drop it, wack someone round the head with it, throw it across the room and it’ll still work. But a CD is another matter altogether. Chances are that someone’s baby sister or brother might get hold of it and have a good chew on it, or you might spill something on it or you could get some grit on it and scratch it. Now what! You have an expensive coffee coaster, and need another $90 for a replacement CD. What games do you play when you’re not playing or work¬ ing on Jim? I keep an open mind on all games. 1 don’t try to classify the games I like into Racing Carnes or Fighters or Platformers. I just play them for what they are and see if I like them. I think secretly I’ve had a yearning for multi-player games ever since I played Bruce Lee on the C-64. So DOOM on our PCs with 4 people playing simultaneously was good. DESCENT was an incredible experience. I found RIDCE RACER on the Sony tedious to start with, but after a little practise I became addicted. However my all-time favourite game is with¬ out a shadow of a doubt MARIO KART for the Super Nintendo. The gameplay is absolutely perfect. It just goes to show that the best games are based on their gameplay and not their graphics. One thing about the new machines, is people are expecting to see more realistic graphics, and this tends to make you head for more realistic movements which really hampers your ability to fiddle with gameplay mechanics. After all, if you’re playing with a perfect looking human, and you press the jump button, you don’t expect the player to jump twice their height on-screen, even if you may need to do that to make it playable. Is there life outside Jim? What do you guys do for kicks? Do you have lives, or is it all work work work? A game currently takes about 1 year to create from initial design concept to completion. The first six months are OK and we lead normalish lives, but the last six months are always hell. This is usually when we realise how much work we still have left to do, and so the very late nights start! In our normalish period, we are all dare-devils and will pretty much have a go at anything. I’ve tried my hand at Scuba-Diving, Water Skiing. We have a mountain range i hour outside L.A which is great for Skiing/Snowboarding in Winter. Next month I’m going Sky-diving which I'm really looking forward to! Is it really great to see your hard work and creative brilliance lead to untold wealth and the respect of your peers? Actually, programming video games does have these benefits. But that’s not why 1 do it! I've been program¬ ming video games for 12 years. I started when I was 18 years old and there really was no video games market. Home com¬ puters were just starting to become popular, and I was total¬ ly hooked on them. My first game took 15 months to create (I programmed the game, drew the graphics, and did the music/sound effects too). 1 eventually sold it for about $400. That’s right, four hundred dollars! I used to dream about computers like the Sony Playstation and the Ultra-64. Video games fascinate me as much today as they did then. The really great thing for me is to put every ounce of energy 1 can into my game; adding things right until the last minute so that when the game finally goes out, I know I did everything I could to make it the very best. Then I sit back and wait for the reviews. Picking up the magazines and reading about what they have to say is my one moment of indulgence. I really don’t care if they say good or bad things about my game; if they have something bad to say and they have a point then I should have fixed it anyway! PACE TWENTY SEVER. 28 »HYPER Casper Hmm, this is a dilemma. Normally we do these previews to hype you all up. get you all excited about these amazing new games coming your way. to give you a glimpse of The Future. It's easy to do when it’s something that actually looks good (like Wetlands or Firestorm), but when it’s something like, ooh say. Casper, it’s bloody difficult. So we won’t bother. This looks like cack. When we first saw the rolling demo of Casper we immedi¬ ately thought it must have been for the Mega Drive. Casper wanders around this very brown building, searching through bookcases and the like for jigsaw puzzle pieces. Everything is shown in that use¬ less slightly-raised topdown perspective which means all the furniture has to be lined up against the back wall for the player to be able to see anything. And it’s very brown. Yuck! Having said that. Casper himself moves quite nicely. But gee, we expect a bit more than that in a video game. It might do OK with the younger gamers and the Casper fan club but that’s about it. Still, we won’t write it off totally until we see it so expect a review shortly Druid - Daemons of the Mind Bored with the same tired old RPG fan¬ tasy nonsense? Fed up with stats and stats and stats getting in the way of a good adventure? Hate Dungeon Master 2 as much as we do? Well, what all need is something like Druid - a simple-to-play action RPG with a uniquely Celtic flavour. The world is made up of islands, each one ruled by a powerful Druid. Things are going well until one of the Druids (the improbably named Lawson), van¬ ishes. For reasons too complicated to repeat here, you, as the grandson of one of the Druids, must search for Lawson. This will take you through lots of lovely- looking isometrically-viewed scenery which Sir-Tech claims doesn’t suffer from the sterile 3D Studio graphics dis¬ ease. Yet after a brief glimpse of Druid in action we’re not totally convinced - the animation is stilted and the whole environment feels very empty. The inter¬ face, however, is a dream, employing only the two mouse buttons and a heart¬ ening lack of menus and icons. Druid also promises multiple endings and a story that stays true to the legends of the Druids themselves. Let’s just hope it’s better than Ultima: Pagan,eh? % 4 mm Wetlands Following the lead of Full Throttle, Wetlands is a cartoon-styled animated action adventure that looks fantastic. The animation is super-smooth, the characters are big and beefy, and the action is fast and furious - and I don’t think you can say that about too many adventure games. Plot details are a bit thin on the ground, but the general gist we picked up from the demo disc goes something like this. Lantern-jawed Hero gets into all sorts of seemingly undefiable situa¬ tions often involving armoured soldiers and menacingly-directed firearms, makes an improbable escape using a combination a brute strength, guns, a cunningly concealed flick-knife, and a speedy vehicle with the keys left in the ignition. Lantern-jawed Hero then finds himself in a 3D shoot ’em up sequence, hurtling down various tunnels or across the bottom of the ocean and blowing things to pieces. And it all looks beau¬ tiful. Detail has been sacrificed in favour of speed and fluidity, which is surely a wise move because Wetlands is clearly the most attractively presented adventure yet. But how it plays is a different matter. We've no idea how the actual adventuring mechanics work (the puzzles and things), though we suspect it would be fairly sim¬ ple stuff. And the shoot ’em up segments were very easy and not exactly thrilling. Still, we’ve only seen a demo thus far, so it would be unfair to make any further comments until we’ve got our hands on the real thing. We await Wetlands with an air of excitement tempered somewhat by the cool breeze of reservation. 1 Believe It orAbt/ THE RIDDLE OF MASTERUt 30 »HYPER s * * * * Killing Time Just looking at this new 3D0 title, you might think that it's a standard Doom clone. There’s the chunky 3D graphics for starters, as well as the range of weird’n’wonderful yet viciously violent monsters, and the obligatory gun poking up from the bottom of the screen. Yes, it certainly has all the hallmarks of your run-of-the-mill Doom-alike. But it isn’t. Oh no, Killing Time is more than a bloody, mindless and bloody-minded gore-fest, although it is just that too. With its bizarre 1930s haunted mansion (Alone In The Dark- esque) setting, its cleverly unravelling plot involving stolen clocks in the Middle East (no, we didn't make that up), and its emphasis on interaction over vio¬ lence, Killing Time has "graphic adven¬ ture" pretensions, believe it or not. 3D is the future of adventure games - hell, it’s the future of ALL games - so with Killing Time, Studio 3DO appear to be taking a step in the right direction. Let's hope they don’t trip and. er. sprain an ankle or something. Tekwar This one's full title is actually "William Shatner’s Tekwar”. That is because it is actually based upon the Tekwar series of books written by none other than William Shatner himself - the man who, for some of us, will always be the true Captain of the Enterprise. It seems that a couple of clever and well-respected cyberneticists have mys¬ teriously gone missing. One was an expert in the "Matrix”, the other was similarly talented in the field of "Tek" itself. The suspected culprits are the evil "Tek Lords". (Oh, Tek is a drug by the way) Anyway, in the FMV intro Bill (yep, the man himself) is a bit worried that this situation could cause a few problems. Indeed, he says that if the Tek Lords start broadcasting Tek via the Matrix then there will definitely be some big problems. This is where you come in. You have to find out what exactly is going on, and stop it basically. Tekwar is essentially Doom. With a plot. It’s a crazy idea, we know, but who knows, it just might work. First impres¬ sions are favourable - the graphics are realistic and detailed, the action takes place over a vast city and the buildings within which is a nice change, and you can get run down by speeding lorries. Which we like too. And Bill says "You’re the best” to you as well. Which is even better. Hexen Whoooaa! Pinch me gently and tell me I'm not dreaming, this game is gooood! Hexen - Beyond Heretic pushes the Doom engine just about as far as it’ll go, accord¬ ing to Doom god John Romero and we're all nodding vigorously in agreement. The starting point for any respectable Doom clone is the level design, here Hexen excels. Aside from the outstand¬ ing architectural creativity that sucks you in instantly, the worlds also make extreme use of devices. You like moving parts? You’ll like Hexen. We re not just talking plentiful elevators and platforms, Hexen also features revolving doors, falling columns and earthquakes that shake the screen and shatter great bridges. This is just the shareware beta too, so expect some pretty incredible stuff from the full 41 level final. Another advance is the utter lack of any linearity in the game Hexen’s 41 levels are in no way merely progressive stages, the portals that seemingly herald the official end of each level can in fact be used to revisit the earlier levels. This isn’t just a gimmick, as the shareware’s last level is called “seven portals” and apparently this level is just one of many central hubs which you’ll be popping back to for access to higher levels as they become accessible. Switches may open doors in completely different levels too, so to get your mind around the con¬ cept, think of it all as one monster level divided into 41 linked sectors. Where Heretic had a vague whiff of RPG about it, Hexen jumps in head first. From the outset you’ll have to decide whether you want to play as either a Fighter, Cleric or Mage. Each has their own set of weapons and each specialises in a particular flavour of combat. The idea is to choose the one that suits your style. Fighters use only close range hack¬ ing weapons, although some of them cast forth flung fireballs. The Cleric is the compromise character, it mixes close-in weapons with long-range ones, while the Mage packs only long-range weaponry. Hexen should have been released on October 30th. The promotional cam¬ paign includes the World’s Biggest Deathmatch Competition. We're not exactly sure what form it'll take, but whatever it is, we'll be in it. Grab the shareware game from Hyper@ctive’s Dump area, then buy the thing when it comes out. It's awesome. 32 »HYPER s * * Disappointed by Daytona USA on the Saturn? Yeah okay, who wasn’t, right? WeB. Sega obviously think they’ve learnt from their mistakes (or they think we ll buy any old crap as long as it's got a road and several wheels in it. no matter how many visual glitches there might be), because they have not one. but two brand spanking new racers lined up on the grid, engines revving, waiting for the green light to come on. Hang On GP ‘95 V Hang On GP ‘95 is the latest in Sega's Hang On series of bike racers. The origi¬ nal Hang On was the first arcade game to boast the now ubiquitous, sit-on-bike form of control, if our memories serve us correctly. This new version should be lightning fast, like all the Hang On games, very bright and deliciously pretty to look at. and hopefully, as playable as it is in the arcade. It features two views - a “looking-out-over-the-handlebars" view, and a “peering-over-your-own-shoulder" view. And. personally, I love these things and can't wait to get my hands on this one...or maybe the one below. Sega Rally Sega Rally, a direct conversion of the rather good coin-op of the same name, is the second new Saturn racer. Just how accurate Sega Japan s AM3 programming team manage to get this new home ver¬ sion will be a matter of no small interest. In terms of graphics, we don’t seriously expect it to match the coin-op (as Daytona as proved to us), but as long as the speed is up and the re-draw is down, the loss of background detail will be easy to swallow. However, what they should be able to achieve is getting the “feel’' - yes, the “feel”, perhaps the most important aspect of any decent racing game - arcade perfect. This'll be a beauty if they can. Considering the limitations of Daytona though, I have a sneaking suspicion that Hang On, rather than Rally, may be the title to watch out for. You'll only find out in HYPER anyway, after we’ve given them both a "test drive”. Sorry. r-L.*’ H l ■$&< '>*'•, :;*i. ' £Wi 4 wl »i , •;•< -M.&M JBlI Distributed by Sega*Ozisoft contact Shockwave BBS for screenshots & demos on (02) 669 6041 or phone (02) 313 4000 for your closest retailer 34 »HYPER The Riddle of Master Lu This is something that we re quite excit¬ ed about, and hopefully you are too - HYPER’s very first cover mounted CD is here. No doubt some of you ripped it off the front, played it through before even opening the mag, and thus know all about it already. For those of you who possess a little patience, The Riddle of Master Lu is a point-and-click adventure developed by the same smart people who brought us the acclaimed Buried In Time. This is the first of a series of games based around Robert Ripley, and his cartoons called “Believe It or Not!”. Ripley was a man who loved travel and adventure - he was, in fact, a bit of a real-life Indiana Jones. In this game you play Ripley, and the plot revolves around the mysterious tomb of Chin Shih Huang-Di, the first Emperor of China. For the purposes of the demo, you, accompanied by your compan¬ ion, Mei Chen, begin in the Chinese city of Peiping (now Beijing), and your task here is to gain entry to the Hall of Classics. Normally in a preview, we'd go into details about how the game works, what the graphics look like, and so on, but there seems little point in this case. You can judge for yourself. We will say though, that it does indeed look lovely... Okay, instructions. Once the demo is underway (see box for more info) you should take a look at the Game Intro. Then you can select the Demo. Here you'll see yourself (in the hat), Mei Chen, and a bald guy. The icons at the bottom are Pick Up. Use, and Look, respectively. To the right of them is your inventory. And the Finger icon takes you back to the menu screen. Enjoy. Oh, and if you get a bit stuck there's a Walkthru text file on the CD. Simply quit the game, and at the DOS prompt in the demo’s directory, type EDIT WALK- THRU. TXT to get some assistance. How to play your HYPER Cover CD 1. Remove CD from cover of mag. Sorry. 2. Turn on your computer and place CD in your CD ROM drive. 3. At the DOS prompt, type D: (or what ever your CD ROM drive is). 4. Type INSTALL and the very easy-to- use installation program will pop up. 5. Follow the install through until it is complete. 6. At the DOS prompt again, type DEMO to start your Riddle of Master Lu demo. 7. To start the demo, type DEMO at the C: prompt and press ENTER. 7. If it doesn’t work, go back and select the Normal installation, and make sure you read through everything. For more info, see README.DOC in the \RIPDEMO directory. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS • 486/25 (486/33 recommended) • DOS 5.0 • 8 MB RAM • 8MB Hard drive space • Double speed CD ROM drive • VESA compliant Super VGA video card (with VESA driver installed) • Sound Blaster or compatible sound card • Mouse PC CD ROM Available: NOW Category: ADVENTURE Players: ONE Publisher: SANCTUARY WOODS v Coming December 1995 ENTERTAINMENT E-mail’ bl/zrdenti$aol.com www blizzard.com ViV r At'l 1 ^ & *R K N€ $ $. |rpii ' "■* imd j L The battle for Azeroth continues over - land, sea and air. dataflow COMING SOON 1 George Place, Artarmon NSW 2064 Phone: (02) 417 9700 • Fax: (02) 417 9797 TO A DEALER NEAR YOU! 36 »HYPER Firestorm: Thunderhawk 2 The first Thunderhawk was a BIG hit - well, it was on the Mega CD at least, and even though that was probably because it's the only good game on the damn thing, there’s no doubting that is was a GOOD game. In fact in the very first issue of HYPER it scored the not inconsiderable score of 94%. Anyway, the sequel is here, and Core are promis¬ ing that it will be “faster than anything you’ve seen". What the HYPER crew is waiting for is a game that is just so fast you can’t even see it at all. Now that would really enhance the gameplay, don’t you think? Firestorm is, like the original, a 3D heli¬ copter arcade combat simulation shoot 'em up type experience, but with the obligatory all-new graphics and other innovations. Like the potentially cool “virtual cockpit" which allows the player to swivel around 180 degrees, making it much easier to track the enemy. A par¬ ticularly useful feature whilst in combat I would anticipate. And there looks like being quite a bit of combat too, as 37 missions make up the game. Core are promising to have Firestorm out by Christmas, and we’ll do our best to review it by then too. PC/SATURN PLAYSTATION mpouNPtum •- l.HM XIA ~ 1500(1(10 sng ]. |f 0300000 .*A/I |S (055000 5. (. .« = 0010000 Available: DECEMBER Category: SHOOT’EM UP Players: ONE Publisher: CORE Annihilate Exterminate, , V .'|1 Proudly Jutrihut, A by -v/ ROADSHOW NEW MEDIA i ,■■■ is iHEBI In a remote galaxy, a mutant strain of genetically j engineered insects produced a honey so toxic it wiped out all life on the planet. Quarantined for decades, the planet has recently been inhabited by the Black Nexus Mob, who genetically re-engineered the insects and turned the toxic honey into a deadly biological weapon. You must infiltrate the Black Nexus, save a compatriot, annihilate The Hive, ^ and exterminate the Hivasects. True 32-bit autoplay. Killer graphics and 18 levels of awesome action/arcade gameplay 1 that takes place on two planets - developed exclusively for a use with Windows®95! THE The Hive k a trademark of TrimarK Interactive. ©1995 Tnmairfc Interactive All rights reserved Wlndws®95 is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. V TRIMARK 38 »HYPER Wing Commander 4 It took three monster games, three spin¬ offs and more mission disks than we can remember, but we finally got those Kilrathi beat. So what's a space fighter jock to do with his new found spare time? In the case of Christopher Blair (your character in the games, played with ani¬ mated flair by the man of a thousand expressions, Mark Hamill) it's back to farm boy status. Your life is a simple one and that's the way you like it. Not even the temptation of a womp rat shoot in Beggar's Canyon could draw you from your hard earned existence of uncompli¬ cated peace... or so you thought. Origin had to spoil the party by giving another $10 million to Wing Commander producer Chris Roberts, so it’s back to the cockpit for you, my boy. It seems a bunch of trouble makers are stirring up some grief for the peace lov¬ ing citizens of Earth and civil war has broken out. The Confederation vs. the Borderworlds are the teams and guess whose help the Confed needs? Wing Commander 4 features quite a few evolutionary enhancements to the game engine that’s remained basically unchanged since the beginning. The most obvious is the shedding of the cockpit graphics, in favour of a full screen view with cool looking and highly functional HUD graphics. The full screen option has always been there in the Wing games, with its selection being the first thing most serious pilots do at the start of a mission. It seems the Origin team had a look at the way people play their games. It also seems they had a look up into the night sky and realised space is pitch black, instead of the irri¬ tating navy blue of Wing 3. Aside from these subtle changes, the graphics remain mostly unchanged. Explosions are better, but that's about it. We re not complaining though, Wing 3 was the best looking space combat sim ever, Wing 4 is better still. New ships to fly and new ones to destroy are naturally included. The pre¬ view copy we played revealed improved dogfighting Al. They'll pull some serious manoeuvres now, instead of making pre¬ dictable and repetitive head-on attacks. We re yet to see the sort of missions Wing 4 will have us flying, but cool mis¬ sion design is a solid feature of the Wing series, so we’re pretty confident. Truckloads of interactive movie bits should please fans of this sort of thing. Wing 3 used computer generated backdrops for Mark, Malcolm and co. to do their stuff against, whereas Wing 4 has twice the budget so it has real sets. Big time drama and a gritty storyline make for some entertaining viewing between dogfights. Start getting exited now kids, and we ll tell you the full story next issue. PC CD ROM Available: DECEMBER Category: INTERACTIVE MOVIE/ACTION Players: ONE Publisher: ORIGIN Play Your Favourite 3D PC Action Games at ; not keyboard speed! Some Happy Campers § ACTUAL QUOTES FROM SATISFIED USERS II 64i loved it... It truly was like playing the game at * | BRAINSPEED. Using it is so natural I can't even tell ° g you how I do the moves. It would be like trying to explain walking, you just DO IT. 9 9 The Ultiim Games Ci V DESCENT” %X DESCENT II ” MECHWARRI0R2 “ DOOM & DOOM II ” RISE Of THE TRIAD ” DARK FORCES' WITCHHAtfEN” TEKWAR” HEKEH" \ v HERETIG” \ K-WING'” SYSTEM SHOCK ” WOLFENSTEIN 3D ” BLAKE STONE ” CORRIDOR n AND MANY MORE! 4 4 Definitely the BEST controller for 3D games! 9 9 4 4 The best thing is the ability to MOVE IN ANY DIRECTION without having to use and think about which keys to hit and which button to press. 9 9 4 4 Probably the most MEMORABLE and AWESOME controller I’ve ever used. Simply awesome in Descent. 9 9 4 4 The look and feel of the Avenger is WONDERFUL I shudder at having to use a joystick or keyboard/mouse combo again. 99 44 A new INNOVATIVE DESIGN that totally liberates me as a game player! 9 9 4 4 FASTEST controller going. If you want to rule the 3D environment, use the Avenger. I’m killing everyone on my LAN!!! 99 Buy How for Christm, Only $iggoo save Price may vary Does not include shipping and handling DIRECT ORDER ON 1 800 061 351 Australia and New Zealand only ORIGINATED AND DISTRIBUTED BY melee IMG Level 8.139 Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Phone 02 251 6385 Fax 02 251 5778 Email spatiaK&ozemail.com.au Name: I would like to pay by: Street Address: Q Bankcard U Visa □ Mastercard Q Cheque Phone: ( State: Postcode: (Optional) Age: Sex: Please Supply G Spaceball Avengers at A$199 each + P&H (Aust $9,95 NZA$ 18.95 Per Unit) Total $_ Card Number: Expiry Date: Cardholders Name: Cardholders Signature: Return Address: Soatiol Svstems Limited level R IRQ AAnrnnnrie Street Svdnev NSW 9ODD 40 »HYPER Bermuda Syndrome You are Jack Thompson. No, not the sun-baked larrikin Aussie actor, but J.J.Thompson, an American bomber pilot on a secret mission over the Bermuda Triangle. And we all know how weird and mysterious the Triangle is... woooo! Sounds like an action/adventure to me. And a very scrumptious looking one too. If you harbour amazing powers of deduction, you may be able to tell from the screenshots that things look a bit Flashbacky.. and you’d be right. The in¬ game action looks like a pumped-up, Flashback of the future, with the digi¬ tised characters leaping about in a very familiar fashion. Of course, being a CD- ROM, the amount of data they’ve crammed in means that the level of ani¬ mation is far superior. Very life-like indeed. The dinosaurs look fantastic — in a 3D rendered kinda way — and it all looks set to be a pretty damn yummy- looking game in the final version. The wow-o-meter is throbbing violently. It seems that being trapped in an alternate time-space dimension has never been so much fun! 250 locations, 70 enemies and up to 50 levels of play is certainly noth¬ ing to sneeze at. We can’t wait. PC CD ROM Available: DECEMBER Category: ADVENTURE Players: ONE Publisher: BMG INTERACTIVE \ EA Sports International Cricket Thwack! The meaty sound of leather on willow has resonated forth from PC speak¬ ers in more than a few forms over the years. Oddly though, none of the cricket games we’ve played has captured the feel of crick¬ et accurately. No PC game yet has both¬ ered to do more than duplicate the basics of chucking a ball and having it pelted by the bloke at the other end of the pitch. Enter International Cricket from EA Sports. It started life as Super International Cricket for the SNES, but the hormone treatment it’s undergone has transformed the game into some¬ thing different entirely. This is a good thing. The SNES game was OK. but had the misfortune to be released at the same time as the vastly superior Brian Lara Cricket on Mega Drive. International Cricket features loads of FMV. Normally this would bother us a bit, but here it works. Do something incredible and the shot of a bunch of cricket yobs cheering madly warms your insides. As does the hammy performance of the Wide World of Sports style com¬ mentators - complete with grossly mis¬ guided dress sense. We only had the beta to muck around with, but the potential for a gem of a game was plain. You can actually see most of the oval during fielding. The player animations are also revolutionary, the bowlers especially move beautifully. You can even go the bodyline approach and chuckle with glee when the batsman goes down screaming. International Cricket is shaping up to be a right boomer. We’ll give you a full commentary after the break. NetComm IS GIVING AND ONE PLUS INTERNET ACCESS WITH FREE ONLINE this Christmas TIME LOOK THIS PACKAGE CONTAINS ALL THIS FOR THIS: Offer applies while stocks last. Some packages may not contain a clearcase modem as stocks are limited. THE ROADSTER V.34 288 MODEM FEATURES: • High Speed data up to 28,800bps • Sleek external design for your desktop or portable • Online help system and phone support • Fax send and receive Class I and II up to 14,400bps • 3 Year Warranty Offer Applies to the Roadster 288 V.34 Modem in Packs identified by this graphic. Available From: PICK^SMITH ELECTRONICS DAVID JONES NetComm Limited ACN 002 490 486 For more information call Telemarketing on 1 800 269 950 m2-rZ0 m l* imm\ '•V L f* I - ft >L_!. %«r75i Rave Racer ^ Nainco Hurray for Rave Racer! Narnco has finally upgraded the classic Ridge Racer anrf left it in its own cloud of ozone depleting exhaust. Carbon dioxide doesn't e/ist in Rave Rar er These ears are propelled by pure lollipop Rave Rar er feels totally artificial which is the reason it's so cool After getting over the tacky biker girl on the prorno screen, you are confronted (again) by scantily clad females. Then there is the standard auto or 6 speed manual and the choice of tracks. Choice of tracks is subject to the decision between 'Link' or ‘Solo* play Make sure you choose link over solo (even if you're playing solo) as the track options are more interesting The selections for solo are Ridge Racer (easy); City (medium); Mountain (hard), and Mountain E/pert (really hard) For multiplayer (link), the tracks are Ridge Racer Short (novice); City (intermediate); Ridge Racer Long (advanced) and Mountain (professional). If you haven’t guessed already, the Ridge Racer tracks are duplicates of the original RR tracks. But now it's far more exciting as you're in control of a Toyota Supra, which drives like a dream. The viundtrack in some parts is truly excellent, with the manic beats and melodies totally enhancing the game's dreamy playability. Both City and Mountain courses are truly excellent with the graphics being almost faultless. It is easy to predict the type of corner approaching as road signs and visual clarity enable you and your vehicle to get the most (sideways action) from both tracks. But not. only are the corners challenging, there are now bigger jumps. This reviewer found himself power fish tailing out of a few corners just like in real life Yeee Harrr!! That's enough from me you know what you have to do Get out of the house and summon the crew. After all, there’s a lot of killing and racing to do Just make sure you're doing it at the arcade it’s safer for everyone! ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 Tz m: ■ m jr li'lffcr. Fxbfli The picture: Indianapolis 500, a sun scorched four sided racetrack, huge horsepower engines, thousands of macho beer chugging Americans and mandatory flag waving babes So what! What’s the point in a rectangular track? We came to the conclusion that it’s all in the accidents Accidents are exciting especially at JGOkph But there are no ferocious firehallirtg accidents, no screeching of tints, no deep throated engine howl, no shuddering crash barriers None of it just a smooth ride with sun bleached colours whi//ing by. Suddenly the game becomes pointless. Behind all this fancy packaging and superb graphics is a game iri which mastery of gear changes, breaking and fine tuned cornering all add up to make every time check a close one Many times you’ll find yourself just mere metres short of a check point or finishing line. Otherwiv: the game is in the tradition of all good car racing games, ie auto / manual, gears, variable view points and of course track selection (Indi 000 boring. Highland raceway medium, Bayside Street hard) A highlight of the game is the driver's viewpoint in which one can see the spinning front wheels, dashboard and the driver's arms Add this to a pumping guitar solo track (very ZZ Top inspired) and a few friends and the game can finally be in a league of its own. For pure fun though, it doesn't touch Daytona or Sega Rally. ★ * ★ 1/2 V Sega You've just escaped from a giant fortress deep in the heart of wartime Bavaria and your final objective (an airfield) is at the bottom of a really long hill. Conveniently, a discarded rail car with two machine guns and 20 million rounds of ammunition has been obtained and from here it's all downhill So the plot has been set for a scenic trail of destruction You and your beautiful blonde female companion (alternately, you and your ruggedly handsome male companion), will be plummeting through mines, factories, forests, villages, canyons, towns and of course a shrine The whole game doesn't just smell, but reeks of the mine car chase from the film 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'. Even though this game is a polygon upgrade from its predecessor, it still fails to give me the weapon control I lust for The fighter pilot joystick just doesn't cut it Nor do the (at times) barely legible crosshairs. I want to see those cursed Nazis running from the flaming barrel of a giant machine gun. As for realism, the graphics flow fairly smoothly, though at times they could encourage vomiting as the track has so many twists and turns that sometimes the pj/d outrun themselves Nonetheless, this game is still beyond just novelty value and will definitely satisfy your Indy fantasies Make sure you check it out with a friend who hates Na/is but loves a great arfventure ★ * ★ 1/2 ?! LEGEND ™ presents the most popular 0 A fantasy series in the world... n A do The Shannara novels by Terry Brooks are the # 1 best selling fantasy books in the world. Now the series comes to life in a thrilling multimedia adventure. •Sophisticated 3-D modelled images •Spectacular animated sequences • Face awesome magic, hostile terrain and fearsome monsters on your quest ! to repair the Sword of Shannara. || • Interact with over 40 speaking 0 characters. ' & " “ x 1 IK:** xl 000 L UQQQ IOtH5 HH\lt BEER Hi BHDULD m RTTEI1TI0II. EHHTH 1 UQRFI 1 dim i IE H IRRETERPIEEi hnojEn mill hrd td be dragged komg add elrerijiiiii rflum THE erihe td uirite THIS REMIEUi... Let’s talk worms. Jim 1 was a winner because it set an outrageously cool worm of action in a world of starkly black Jhumour, which in turn was crammed with just about the finest platform action we've ever seen. For Jim 2 we want ■exactly the same please, but heaps more if it’s not too much trouble... Ia frierq erlled shot They delivered! Thanks to the talented Shiny team, our Jim is back, packing a whip of his own and attitude to burn. He's got a new pal too. and we d like you to meet Snot, ‘cos he’s (it’s?) about the most useful lump of green ooze [we’ve ever come across. Snot stretches forth from his home in Jim's backpack to do either his stretch and cling Tarzan I [swing thing, or his amazingly helpful parachute impression. It’s good to have friends like Snot, because the world of Earthworm Jim 2 will soundly test every skill you’ve got... or wish you had. Like Jim 1, the sequel changes its tune dramatically with each new level. Nothing’s boring here, as each time you tart a new level it feels like your jumping into a whole new game. Jim 2 opens to a traditional platforming level called Anything But Tangerines that’ll have you feeling right at home. [Get cracking with that whip and let loose with Jim’s rapid-fire plasma gun - it’s the same main weapon Jim packed orig- I jinally, and it’s possibly the coolest thing you can shoot in any console game. There’s plenty in this first level to practise ith and find your Jim form again. Ultra-potent weapons are lying around everywhere, there’s a homing-in missile [launcher that’ll dispatch anything (with little homes), or the amazing screen-clearing smart bomb gun called the Barn Blaster that unleashes a massive burst of energy and leaves Jim on the ground scratching his head in bewilderment. hdierl u-turr But where level one is as traditional as an Earthworm Jim level can be, each one after takes a radical U-turn. Take the ■Flying Cave Salamander level; it smells a lot like the Mega Drive classic Subterrania. but instead of a cool spaceship explor¬ ing some deep caves, you control a kind of sausage larval thing with almost non-existent wings. This is presumably a Flying I Cave Salamander and holding down a button gets it flapping madly, ever so slowly it inches in your desired direction, gravi- | Jty taking over once you let up. The cave walls are plastered thick with a wriggling amoeba sort of substance, get too close land it’ll suck you in. The caper is to manoeuvre carefully through the cave maze, not so easy when most narrow gaps are "surrounded by pinball bumpers that’ll shoot you straight into the sucking walls if you so much as breathe on them. The ■pace is way slower here than on other levels, but the gameplay is compelling and the concentration you’ll need is intense. Get through and you’re in for a few minutes of Puppy Love. This wee interlude shows up between most levels, with your job to move an exhausted Jim back and forth, saving falling puppies by getting the big cushion thing Jim is carrying under them before they splatter. Jit's pretty damn silly, but it's so much fun lesser companies could have gotten away with releasing it as a stand-alone game. Another thing that you’ll get at the end of a level is a warm "well done" from a big and happy looking cow. A small ■touch that makes a big difference. IlDUIE, UDDERS ROD UFD5 Shiny appear quite fond of our bovine friends. Cows play a big role in the level called Udderly Abducted, where you ■must collect cows as they grow from cow plants (you knew that’s where they came from, didn’t you?), then a heavily ■overloaded and appropriately slowed Jim has to lug each cow a hefty distance to the milking shed. Once there, the Imilk weighs down a huge pail, which in turn raises a gate by way of a pulley. Watching Jim stagger along under the ■weight of a cow three times his size is a hoot, as is trying to fend off the UFOs which continually harass. You just don't | ■put cows in a game without making the old UFO cattle mutilation joke - even if you're as cool as Shiny. In other stages, Jim literally blasts through an underground maze ( called Lorenzen's Soil), or inhales the contents or | la gas tank (contents unknown) for an inflated head flight, he'll do the Zaxxon thing in an arcade scroller and take on ■the invincible might of the killer filing cabinets. There's heaps more too, this is a big game and every bit of it is magic. |There’s life in the old 16-bit machines yet!!. Jim’s real funny too. and as we all know, games that make you laugh out loud are rare. This, plus gameplay to die |for, makes Jim 2 a game you simply have to own. As for me, I’m off to play it again for the zillionth time. It’s tough work, but I need to keep at it so I know when it stops getting better each time.. I» MU/tr Color «5 Jin‘5 ©to gum? x998 drrphics an - Jim's cm the irdues, the whs he oets hruurd cities "fluid nnimnnan" H UIHTER3 flEUI HlEHRinO, FDR SHEER ST3LE RDTHIRC ERR TOUCH THIS, ■ SDUF1D X - CREHT IDUSIC, HILRRIUUS EFFECTS HRD IRERT3 UIERPDD RDISES. THESE RRE CDDD THIRDS, ■ 0HR1EPLRS SR - THE CHmEPLHa SPRRKLES UIITH HR ETHERERL SPECIHLRESS THHT'LL HRME SDU TIROLIRO RLL DMER UIITH mRCICRL JOS... IS THHT CLERRF ■ LDRCTERm 3D - DF COURSE! IT'S R BLOODS DODD CHR1E HRO SOU'LL REMER DET SICK DF IT, DKr 1 ■ DUERRLL as - BUDDIRC CRmE OESICRERS SHOULD HHRC OUT UIITH THIS M DUS FDR H UIHILE - THES miCHT LERRR SOmETHIRC, DRE DF THE BEST CflmES IR THE UIHQLE WIDE WORLD. \IISUHLS 22 - R TUUUH RIUIlIRTIOfl TASK HDD THES'UE QQI1E R FIRE JOB. THE LASERS NRME TD BE SIML, BUT THE DETHIL ITIRRE5 UP FUR IT, ■ SUUnU 2U - 5TRHUHRD SPURT MUSES, HLTHUUUH THE SUURU UF THE PLHSER HITTint THE UUHL PU5T IS R HIGHLIGHT. ■ UHdlEPLRS 22 - LUTS TU UU, BUT RLL HERS LUGILRL, FRSTER HI1U TUUGHER THRO RUUBS UIURLU LUP ■ LUFIGTERITI SU - in TUIU PLASER IDUUE, UIITH H FELLUUI FHI1, SUU'LL BE PLHSinU THIS FUR R LUnt TIE, ■ UUERRLL 27 - I LUME THIS. HS HULL FHI1S UF SPURTS URIBES UEnERRLLS. nun-FHHS mns uihot tu lhelk it uut first, 46 »HYPER IUDTRRLIRII DPDRTD LILEI1DE HUD UIHRDDDfl KIM IT'D H IWIUIER iTRETLH RRIRSTRDRt ID THE IDRI1 UIITH THE SHLL Well, first up I had better declare my interest. I am a card-carrying, season ticket-holding, Footy Show-watching Irugby league nut. Yeah, yeah. I appreciate that it's a sport developed by, played by, watched by and administered by (boof heads, and that its reportage carries more cliches per column inch than any other sport, but I love it all the same. I cried when Artie Beetson left the Roosters, I laughed when Don McKinnon became concussed and pissed on the field and I despise the Brisbane Broncos with a passion that's somewhat unnatural I am, from the comfort of my lounge, (prepared to go the hard yards, to put self preservation on the back burner and, at the end of the day, I'm just happy to come away with the two points. At my place, rugby league is always the winner. And, given that I love the league, that I love sports games and that the league has now transported itself to the digi- Rised arena (sans Tina Turner. I'm glad to say], I'm as happy as a steroid dealer at a Gladiators' barbeque. RHIIlfi IT UP THE miDDLE Dreamtime is a local company and, in conjunction with EA, they've taken the engine from EA's Rugby World Cup (a game we loved here last Christmas) and converted it over to the league format. Along with that, they've snagged the official ARL licence and so all the current Winfield Cup teams, British teams, State of Origin and international teams |(though not the real players) are at your disposal How those teams will all stack up after the ARL/Super League court pase remains to be seen, but that, as they say, is another story. While it does use the rugby union game as its base, this game has some significant advantages: first, the nature of Irugby league as a sport lends itself more readily, I think, to game conversion. Two less players per team opens the field ■up considerably and the game doesn’t get bogged down in interminable rucks and mauls, my one major gripe about ■Rugby World Cup (RWC). Also, the pace of the game itself has been stepped up significantly and the passing is much |more reliant on your skill as a player, making the game altogether more challenging and hectic as a result. Graphically, it will look very familiar to players of RWC. Yes, the players are small but with 26 of them to fit onto the field that’s inevitable. Given their smallness, the detail is excellent - you will now notice an ability to fend and to throw Ithe dummy (a necessary option for all you ball hogs out there) as well as to simply munch the opposition in defence. The occasional one on one tackle looks more like an Alfie Langer trip, but that just tends to generate greater verbal abuse among participants when you're in multi-player mode. IUT PHUDb THE LOVER DEFEIILE Option-wise, there’s plenty going on as well. You can play a full 22 round ARL premiership, along with an English pre- niership or an international tournament. Apart from that, of course, there’s exhibitions available between all teams as Iwell. So if you’ve long argued that the Papua New Guinean Kumuls would be too good for the NQ Cowboys (and who (hasn't?), here’s your chance to put that theory to the test. Allowing for that, a lot of work has gone into emulating the various strengths and weaknesses of each team and it’s a big improvement over RWC, where the teams were largely generic. So here, when the Manly second rower breaks through and out paces the cover defence, he may not have “S. iMenzies" written on his back but we all know that's who it is (unless it’s actually HYPER's ex-deputy ed Andrew ■Humphreys. That boy can play!). This, and the fact that the players have their number at their feet as they play, will (impress real students of the game Do we have complaints? Well. some. The dummy half can occasionally take an age to arrive and sometimes the com¬ puter defence is so eager its hard to get yourself moving (Eddie Ward must be reffing) but we re told this has been cor¬ rected from the Beta version we reviewed. Also, I've had some trouble getting clearing kicks away but that may just be due to the fact that I insist on playing as the Roosters. The downside of accurate team emulation is that my beloved |team are as big a joke on the Sega as they are in real life. Why is life so cruel? All up though, the negatives are very minor and this is a top notch Christmas contender. If this is to be a franchise, my (wish list would include real player names, more individual player stats and season play leaders, as in the US baseball games, but right here and right now this game is a big winner in one player mode and an absolute hoot with two or ■more. League fans are sure to embrace this, and now there never need be an off season a Score Record Hanly Cronul(a Tr i es Gonversions urop uoats Pend t t '3 Kicks TOTAL ■■ GRDHU THE ITRUHn-HIHERItHn PLUDIBER HUD HID FHITHFUL IHDUI1T7 jQShI FIDRLLS RERPPERRED III Rll OLO'STDLE PLHTFDRIH TITLE, BUT THERE'S DDTHIDD QL0-5TDLE RBflUT THIS BRIDE, STEVE POLRH PULLS OD Rn OVER-SIZED RED LRP HDD DDES THE IDHRIO THRDD,,, If there was one character who symbolised Nintendo's success as a gaming superpower it would be Mario. The feisty little plumber who was named after Nintendo of America’s first landlord has been Nintendo's biggest money magnet. That said, s been a touch quiet on the cap and ridiculous moustache front recently. But finally something new is here, and Mario can expect to be totally enraptured for hours on end when they get their mitts on the latest instalment in the saga. PERRRIltEE HRE DEEEIH First impressions of this game are deceptive, and you might even feel like Nintendo have taken a step backwards. Y'oshi’s Island doesn’t have the SGI factor of recent Nintendo hits Killer Instinct or Donkey Kong Country. Neither does t appear to be a revolutionary new game formula like the innovative Unirally. But this game is still quite a gem, which deserves a place in your collection. I HERR JQU R5H, Well, Yoshi’s Island is one of the few games to receive the Miyamoto treatment. And it is fair to say that this one man las contributed more to Nintendo’s coffers than any other individual in the company, due to his insightful genius when it omes to finely crafted fun. Were it not for Miyamoto, Yoshi’s Island (and the whole Mario phenomenon for that matter) ould have never existed. And it seems that the man has done it again as Yoshi’s Island is so beautifully playable that it’s o o M DIRRIQ BUBBLE fmWm —~— hard to fault. There are heaps of new special weapons, and the way you control Yoshi (with the young Mario riding on top) is so intuitively easy it is a joy for experienced Mario maniacs as well as initiates who haven't touched digit to joypad yet. BRER in TIIT1E ^ Yoshi’s Island takes the player back in time, as you steer an adolescent Mario (complete with oversized hat. baggy ;pants, and minus the all important moustache!) through a vast world of platform levels in search of his kidnapped brother Luigi. Mario was on the way to his parents (in the stork’s beak if you don’t mind), but unfortunately the delivery bird was mugged by one of King Koopa’s cronies, and Mario was only saved from certain death by Yoshi’s intervention. Mario now has to save his brother and deliver the prerequisite comeuppance to Koopa. OK so its not much of a plot, but at least it is better than Melrose Place (what isn’t). Yoshi's Island is the first Super FX technology based cartridge to be used for 2D sprite based graphics (rather than the 3D polygons of Stunt FX or Vortex), and as such you might wonder at first why Nintendo bothered with the RISC pro¬ cessing power of the chip to produce a conventional title such as this. But Yoshi's Island does benefit from the technolo¬ gy, it's just not so obvious from the start. Firstly the sprites animate, and morph' with a degree of fluidity which previ¬ ous Mario titles were simply not capable of. Also the end of level bosses are huge, and extremely well animated. In contrast to the starkly realistic SGI rendered images of more recent titles like Killer Instinct and DKC, Yoshi's Island marks a return to the good old days' of user friendly cartoon visuals. However don't think that this is a step backwards [in terms of visual sophistication, as the style may be a return to the past, but the way that the visuals are implemented is very tasty. The SFX chip seems to handle graphic tricks like parallax scrolling and even ‘morphing’ with relative ease and there are even a few 3D bits which would not have been possible without SFX. iTEEHfllERL BRILURfltE PLUS ADDICTIVE ERfHEPLRJI However all of this technical brilliance would be no use if the game lacked the all important addictive gameplay factor. I Yoshi's Island does backflips in this critical department, as there are heaps of well thought out touches which should bring a wry smile to most players faces. In particular check out the cheesy subgames, where you play scratch lotto, and I ther great culturally enriching pursuits in order to gain extra lives and bonuses. This sort of comic entertainment is syn-1 mymous with Miyamoto’s style, and Yoshi's Island delivers lashings of it. There are also multiple routes through the vorlds (a Miyamoto trademark), and a wonderful sense of varied and eclectically constructed game worlds which are a Imile away from the boring "left to right" platform scrolling fare most other games companies seem content to release. Yoshi’s Island delivers an eminently playable package, which somehow breathes life into a genre which most people are I [finding rather dated these days. Therefore it's a must for all SNES owners when it finally hits the shelves in December. iRHPHICS 3S ■ BRIGHT. COLOURFUL, CRRTDDDS - THE DRRPHICS IHIUHT LOOK CHILD-LIKE BUT fHES'RE ROT, THERE HRE EDDIE HERS SEHS CRRPHIC TRICKS USIDC THE SFH CHIP, ■ SOUDD S3 - T5 VERS ZELDR - 53DTH3, RIDBIEDT STUFF IUITH SDIDE CHEESS IDRRIO CHDDDS THRDUID ID FOR iOOD IDERSURE, ■ DHD1EPLH3 SI - THE CLHSSIC IDRRIO ORIDEPLRS IS HERE ID BUCKETLORDS HDD T DDESD'T D1RTTER IF SDU'RE H IIETERRD DR DOMICE - SOU'LL LOME THIS CHDIE, ■ LODCTERD1 ID - IT'S H IDRRIO ORDIE!! 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Im Whilst most of Electronic Arts’ sports series tend to rehash, reinvent and sometimes ruin older ideas (that didn’t really Ineed tweaking in the first place), NHL 96 burst forth as a totally new game that had me in a gibbering state within moments of the first punch-up. That the reinvention is so complete and so utterly brilliant, left me stunned and a little pit excited about the prospects of 32bit hockey in the near future. If you have even the remotest interest in Ice Hockey (the best and stupidest of America’s big league sports) or Sports Simulations or just life, you will put down this magazine and rush out and find this absolute gem of a game. It doesn't ^ ^ j j| matter if you’re packin’ a Mega Drive or a SNES, as both versions are identical (with the SNES looking a tiny bit sexier put not significantly so). lUERLUHEUIflDU FHDT o * — ®€G> snaiii ujHHTf* Phew.where to begin? We ll start with the “FIFA-esque” game view, smaller yet better animated sprites and some [truly cool sound effects. The players literally storm into the sinbin, throwing down their gloves with righteous indigna¬ tion! The fluidity of the game is better than ever and it gets so fast that it will overwhelm you on the first couple of attempts. The game really simulates the extremity of Ice Hockey s gameplay; drop your guard for even a moment and you’ll pay dearly. Of course NHL ‘96 is a trainspotter's paradise with all manner of statistics and game modes to muck around with, fou can trade and create players and keep records of your team's progress. That’s the thing with this series, there’s so Imuch in here and the game itself is so chocka-block with intricacies that you'll be kept busy right up until NHL '97! There’s no easy way to play this and even in ’’rookie” mode it gets pretty hot. Learning control and accuracy are the |first major hurdles, and although it’s a hard, unrelenting game you never feel like throwing in the towel. When the Gretzky game came out a lot was made of its “Fighting” mode, with some feeling that it encouraged bad Sportsmanship. E.A. circumvent this dilemma by making the “Fighting” mode an option so those pacifists out there can peel at ease by switching this funniest of modes off. Personally. I feel a Hockey game without a fight is like a cheese andwich without the cheese. Besides, the incidental animation of the players throwing their gloves and sticks down and |partaking in a bit of biff is quite hilarious. Add to it the over excited roar of the crowd, and you’ll feel like all you need is i warm mug of cheap Yank beer and a couple of hot dogs to make you believe you're really there. REUQIDUD EHPERIEI1LE J 7 /u -J-J/u 4/11 jy^iKS/jiSfjij/u JJi ?jii!;ig»^iyAy J 'Ji y/j Like all of the great E.A. sports games, NHL 96 really takes off as a social exercise, with 4 way play being a religious xperience on a par with any of the great sport games. The playoff modes are excellent as well and with a lot of hard work you’ll find yourself hoisting aloft the Stanley Cup in an end ceremony that only appears when you win the tourna¬ ment. Don’t hold your breath though, there’s a lot of hard work to be done before you have that privilege! Are there any downsides to this king of violent sport simulations? Well, the puck is very small and it can be quite hard [to work out where it is and if you add to this the complexity level of the gameplay, then some might feel it’s a task too great for them. The music is quite bad but it doesn't really interfere, as great games can never be ruined by bad muzak. \part from that I can't really fault this game. In an age where the cash-in is king, it’s nice to see someone taking a bit of time and care with an established ‘‘fran¬ chise’’ game like NHL ‘96. What could have been just another ho-hum sequel (a few new players and some snazzy pack¬ aging) is a triumph for all concerned. You can no longer doubt that Electronic Arts are the undisputed Kings of the [sport sim. If the mooted Rugby League and Aussie Rules games are anywhere near as good as this, I will most probably [join a religious group because I will have realised there is a God after all. ‘X BBBrBEsaiai MZ>*i i J£ _, GD FOR IT! I can only repeat: Get this game now! .711 RvRILRdLl: ODUJ ■ LRTlLQRj: PLRTrQRm/BERT W UP > PLfliltRS: l-g ■ PUBLISHER: RLLLRIfT) ■ PRILL: S313S ■ RRTIflL: L2 4 * GAS SPRAY T V F* £Z : S€ SPEED : WE • Grr T : C 3TCR : **4- FLR5HJ UISURLS, Jim CRRRE] BEH1E FUlini H SLR] RDBID, HI EMEn SEXIER QREIU BRRRJH 1 QRE ROD, (DDST imPDRTRUTL], HI miLHREL HEHTOII. LHF1 THE GRIDE PD55IBLS LOIXPETEP 5TRETEI RRmSTROdt IS THE HSPER BQ] IHDITDER... Just how long is forever? Surely they don’t expect us to believe that, for the Caped Crusader, this really is it? Forever? I Perhaps they should have called it Batman Until The Next Sequel. Whatever, and no matter how long '‘forever’’ turns out to be, you can be sure they'll keep milking this baby until forever finally arrives. And this, dear reader, is the next instalment in your trip to the Batman Forever dairy. But, as we always say here at HYPER, “it’s okay to get milked if jthe hands on the udder know what they’re doing". Well, at least I think that's what we say here at HYPER, though I (could be thinking of somewhere else. Which is a roundabout way of saying that it’s okay for the Bat-moguls to cash in as long as they do it in a way that we | can enjoy. Here, and for the most part, they have done that. While the fact that I think this has more style than sub¬ stance (like the movie, huh?) will prevent me getting quite as excited as we did in the preview of the game (see HYPER |#23), there’s no doubt this definitely has a couple of features to recommend it. riD LRRTQDna BHT5 HERE The game's greatest recommendation is, as you already know, it graphics. Though we also dug the graphics in the recent Batman it Robin on the Mega Drive, there's no mere cartoon animations for these bats. No, here you get the full MK style digitised experience. The pictures in the booklet and the packaging may lead you to think that the real cast pulled some Kung Fu poses and are living in the cart, but I have my doubts. Let’s face it, it could be Stuart and Ben under those masks (you know. I’ve never seen Stuart and Batman in the same room .... hmmm) and the red haired |Riddler may well be Fatty Vautin, but that’s no big deal, because it looks damn fine anyway. The game, of course, is a scrolling beat ’em up. Lazily, these games usually concentrate more on one aspect than I another and in my experience it’s the platforming, with the beating often little more than a button pummelling exercise. Here it’s the opposite: The fighting is pretty cool, with the usual combo based moves and a heap more flexibility and enjoyment in fighting than is usual in the genre. It can’t truly compete with the top line fighting games, but I guess it’s not supposed to. Most of the combos are described in the booklet, which detracts somewhat from the joy of discovery and the toughness of the encounter, but seeing as you lot seem to love cheating so much you’ll probably be happy about | it. The platforming aspect, it must be said, is pretty bloody basic. For all the gadgets and weapons available to you, and the odd puzzle, it comes across as an afterthought and is really little more than a device to get the next fight. UflD!! BRHDJ Qfl DRUGS Level wise, there's eight to get through, in addition to a most welcome training level. The challenge couldn’t be described as easy, and eight levels, even if it’s a bit on the light side, is not a bad whack. The real drawback is that, apart from cosmetic differences, the levels are not all that dissimilar, so the thrill of reaching a new level may not exactly | bring you the new and sexy thrills you’re looking for. Speaking of allegedly sexy, fans of the midget-Cindy Brady-on- drugs genre of womanhood, will find a digitised Drew Barrymore in Level Four. What that means to you is an individual matter, but if you can't find the special move you’re after or your taste tends more to willowy Scientologists, you'll have to get through to Level Eight before the world's best dressed woman (ie Nicole Kidman) shows up. Yes. you will have fun with this one, but whether the initial romantic flush will blossom into a fully fledged love affair remain^^^eer^W^ay^nio^^whil^Uasts/caus^hi^abydoesrftr^N^iav^h^tayingpoweryoifreafter. _ [■ 1 jr aj j7 bTREEl RLL ! IE uniE 5 4 »H\ bEEIl IT BEFDR rpER E... b a Fit Ml M ft Ti iMj i rj j d ■ ll^i RMRSLE: NOW • ERTELQR3: riGHTIM • PLR3ER8: 1-8 • PUBLISHER: UEERO • PRILE: 883.88 • RRTIIK: RIIS+ 113 HIIUlHtH MuHllllu K! UJUU-HUU! UK HUU“HUU H3 IHL LH3t lim? ir ELIDT FISH HRD H Vim FUR im* TlfTlt Ht| rntnuunt streetfighter in this RtMitni It seems the beat 'em up genre will just never go away and die. I can see us all in the year 2000, taking a break from our space-flight simulator to give Blanka a good belting up the backside in Streetfighter VI: the revenge of Cammy's daughter's son. Like the platformer, endless streams of titles get released, all regurgitating the same formula, each one touting to be the "final word". In most cases, the “final word" was the first title that came along - and all subsequent games are just desperately cashing in on the former's success. There have been some shocking beat 'em ups released, and I'm happy to announce that Weaponlord isn't one of them. What we have here is a solid, tough as nails, interesting fighting game. But original it’s not. And better than Streetfighter it’s not. And it’s certainly no Killer instinct. But don’t kurn that page yet... Weaponlord is no smelly stinker! It’s just that if you pass it on the shelf at your local gaming store, [you’re not missing out on anything new. This one’s for you insatiable hardcore beat ’em up fans knu 5111ERTS RflD PISSED OFF Step aside weaklings! Welcome seven new meaty, sweaty and perpetually pissed-off fighters into the arena! Four Idudes and three scary-looking gals, all packing iron (the long, sharp, pointy type) are here... well... to bust heads, basi¬ cally. All the classic character-types are present, from the Zangief-type brutal muscle in the form of Bane and his big stone club to the tree-top jungle-maiden Talazia and her Chun-Li-like speed and agility. There’s Korr, the Ryu “Mr. |Average”, and there’s Zarak, the big M Bison-like Boss figure. The novelty though in this case, are the character’s use of weapons to do the talking, instead of their hands. In IWeaponlord, it’s axe to sword, pike to club warfare, but when it comes down to the controls, there’s no real difference - khe characters may as well be punching and kicking - because the moves are still stock-standard beat ’em up moves, pure there are a bundle of special moves - like the Axe-wielding Zorn's twirling throw - but they’re just different graphi¬ cal versions of the classic dragon punch and spinning attack. Admittedly, I saw some pretty damn cool feats of biffo in there, but it's nothing new enough to make you wanna linvite all your friends around for an eight-player tournament (which the game allows). The actual control-pad execution of these special moves is all new though, so that in itself provides a new challenge for all you diagonally dexterous beat ’em up hacks. Your control-pad prowess is out the window, with new button combinations needed to perform all the tasty moves. Throw in a few hit combos ala Killer Instinct, a few fatalities ala Mortal Kombat and some spurting blood, and wham, bam thankyou person (politically correct cliche) and you have a contender for beat ’em up of the year. Well at least that’s what the programmers think. But us gamers can’t be fooled. This is nothing new. And now that Killer Instinct is available, Weaponlord looks like last night’s leftovers. Albeit, very delicious-looking leftovers! iRTTLE CRIES ROD IDRCICHL HIERDTRTIOIIS The cart is a fat 24 megs of biffo, and it shows in the big sprites and all round lush graphics (on both the SNES and Mega Drive). Each character is extremely detailed and the animation is smooth. The fighting moves along at a fairly decent pace, but unfortunately there is no speed setting!! That is a BIG minus. Four levels of difficulty are available, and even on Adventurer (the easiest setting) the game is no wimp. Anyone who can finish the game on Warlord setting is a true master. The sound is all there too - nasty battle cries, magical incantations and clanging metal. The voices are loud and clear and the music chugs along in a nice, terrifying way. But my final word on Weaponlord has to be so... it’s la great fighting game and a challenge even for beat ’em up champs. But sadly, it’s just the same old thing dressed up in (different duds For fanatics only Itt/mEGH Includes Spacefighter and Formula One game sequences Cat. No: 6346263 Includes a medieval game sequence and trouble from Hexadecimal. Cat. No: 6346283 AVAILABLE FROM ALL VIDEO RETAILERS For your convenience, should your Retailer be temporarily out of stock, you can call AUSTRALIA'S DIAL-A-MOVIE on Sydney (02) 9936 7979 and buy any PolyGram Video title for normal retail price plus postage and handling. Please have the video catalogue numbers and your credit card or payment method available before calling. We can deliver anywhere in Australia. ReBoot™ & ©1995 Mainframe Joint Venture. Distributed by PolyGram Video, P.O. Box 17, Millers Point NSW 2000 PolyGram Video “Alliance” with the stylized “A” design is i registered trademark of Alliance Communications Corporation. All rights reserved. THE QUICK AND THE FED MEDUSA WHEEL CRIME. RRLE/5HD0TII1I hctidiip GQQQ, belruee chmidi (LUILQGCD5E HRS SOT H RE\IIEW HERE THRT SHOULD BE RIDHTl lUP JOUR HUES... Here we have a conversion of a 3DO title that was called. I unsurprisingly. Off World Interceptor. Yet for reasons I known only to themselves (actually, because they've tarted | lit up a bit), Crystal Dynamics have decided to tack an "extra “Extreme” onto the name for the Playstation and Saturn releases. First impressions of OWIE might lead you to believe that it is a racing game. For one, you drive a buggy-type vehi- and you can do so at very high speeds However, only a | small amount of play-time would reveal that this is indeed a shoot 'em up. I’ve no idea about the story behind OWIE, and I've no intention of finding out either because it really doesn't mat- . What it boils down to is this - you drive a buggy-type vehicle around various terrains full of suspension-destroying hills, shooting at other buggy-type vehicles, collecting some of the seemingly endless array power-ups, getting shot at by numerous big-grey-buildings-that-shoot-at-you, and attempting to reach the posts at the other side of the game which kinda act like a finishing line. Then you can do some shopping for extra missiles, shields and other improve¬ ments for your buggy-type vehicle. Or even a completely new buggy-type vehicle, if you like. And then you go out and | do it all again. It is great fun for the First few goes, but I can't see it last- I ing - in single player mode anyway. The gameplay is very , and it doesn’t change at all - it's just drive and the whole time, with the occasional Boss to break up. It isn’t significantly different from the 3DO ver¬ sion (the graphics though are markedly sharper) and they’ve had almost a year to change things around. The Playstation especially is capable of better than this and this can’t compete with the likes of Wipeout. The two player mode works surprisingly well though for a I screen race, so grab a friend and there's little doubting I II have some fast, adrenalin charged fun. In fact. Off Id Interceptor Extreme is by no means a bad game, it does do, it does very effectively. It's just, well, a bit I A “fast, frenetic, exhilarating blast" kind of limit- but still limited all the same. MISUHLSi 77 ■ 5DUI1D: 7D ■ CHdlEPLHl 20 ■ LUntTERID: 62 ■ OVERFILL: 20 HYPER» 57 ^ 13 Q 8 ^v'b 126 0 v OVHS.O OV26.0 Venue Altima Closs Venom %U **•'"**"* h<44 TtgM Trock Oefoils MiaUHLS 31 - FEEL THE POWER OF PLHSSTRTIOOI! THI3 0H01E 13 STUOOIOU TO LOOK HT ROD FH3T R3 [DELL! THE DESIOOER'S REPU8LIL RL3D LEAVE THEIR 3TRIRP DF LLRS UIITH DRIUIOHL T3PE HOD LODOS, ■ 3DU0D 3E - THE IHILKED BERTS OF LEFTFIELD, DRBITRL ROD THE LHEmiLHL BROTHERS PL03 SOIOE EHCELLEDT EFFELT3 EQ0RL3 5D0IL BLISS, ■ DRI0EPLR3 30 - THERE'S 00 ESLRPIOD THE FRET THRT THIS IS JUST ROOTHER RHUOO UHIHE BUT IT'S THE SLILHEST L001BHT RRLIOD TITLE RRDUOD, ■ LDOOTERIO 28 - IT TAKES TIIDE TO LET 0000 HT THIS UH01E UIHILH lOEHOS THRT SOU'LL BE SPEODIOO R LOT DF TIE 10 FROOT DF IT. THE TUIO PLR3ER LIOH-UP OPTIDO HULL IOLRERSE LDOOEMIT3 IOOEFIOITEL3. ■ OVERALL 30 - UIIPEDUT IS SET ROOTHER SUPERB PLH3STHTI00 TITLE FR001 PS300DSIS, R [OUST HAVE FDR HLL PLR3STHTID0 DUIOERS UIHO LIHE THE ODD ROLKET UIITH THEIR RRLIOO, 58 »HYPER out C lanti use) ‘LA35TATIDI1 LHO DD flflD THEY'RE DQIflt IT LIKE THERE'S W rDdlDRRDlil. STUART LLARKE TESTS OUT THEIR LDI1G-RI1IAITE IRUflt EAITIE... This is one seriously sexy looking game. But hey, I could probably say that about most of the current crop of [PlayStation releases. Luckily this plays as good as it looks. Imagine Mario Kart crossed with F-Zero, spiced up with amazing graphics and sound and you can imagine something very close to Wipeout. But don't imagine too hard, go and find a PlayStation with Wipeout and play it yourself because if you don’t then you’re missing out big time. 1ST LEnTURU rURITIULA QflE Wipeout is Formula One racing for the mid 21st century. Transportation has been revolutionised by the discovery of stable i-gravity devices and the Formula 3600 Anti-Gravity League races are now the highlight of the global racing calender. Of :ourse, by the middle of the 21st century everyone's a bit bored with old-style round and round and round (and round...) he track racing, so weaponry and defences have been added to the equation to make things that bit more exciting. Your craft is equipped with weapons and shields at all times but they can only be activated by a Weapon Grid (ie run¬ ning over a coloured tile on the track). The Weapon Grid will give you a randomly generated power-up which include mines (laid in a burst of five these are good for knocking out opponents who are hot on your tail), Shockwave (causes raft to stall and become uncontrollable for a few seconds), heat-seeking missiles (rockets that lock-on to target and ause loss of power and speed) and rockets (similar to the missiles but without lock-on, so carefully aiming is needed for A shield and Turbo speed can also be picked up through the Weapons Grid. You’ll have to always keep an ear out, s you are warned as to what an weapons an opponent behind you is packing. For example, if you hear "Rocket" then t’s time to get a shield or time to start dodging. There are two classes of racing craft; Venom and Rapier. You can’t race a Rapier class until you've qualified for all enom tracks. The only difference is speed but because the learning curve for Wipeout is so steep (the intricacies of the :ontrol system take a while to master), there’s no way you’ll be ready for the speed of Rapier until you’re good at enom so don’t be too impatient. The speed of the Rapier ships is truly incredible and the PlayStation shows off its runt by the sheer feeling of speed it manages to convey. The frame rate is incredible - these babies can fly!! (1BEATABLE PACKAGE So far there's been nothing too revolutionary about Wipeout, right? I mean look at Mega Race, Hi-Octane and the ^aturn's Cyber Speedway - all futuristic combat racers with similar features. Wipeout doesn't really have anything that hese racers don’t but at the same time it has everything that these game are lacking. The many elements needed for a :lassic game all come together to make Wipeout, as an overall package, unbeatable. The graphics are truly amazing (right down the way cool Designers Republic logos and type) and the sensation of peed is stunning (there are no screen refresh problems as with Saturn’s Daytona even though it seems to go much aster). The courses are well designed and vary in difficulty. The controls, while initially difficult, are superb and very esponsive (it’s just a matter of getting familiar with them - especially the air brakes). And finally, the music seriously [kicks. Three of the best "techno” acts in the world, Orbital, Leftfield and Chemical Brothers, are included on the undtrack, with Orbital recording a track especially for the game. The track you're listening to can be changed even during a race and personally I can’t go past "Chemical Beats" from the Chemical Brothers for sheer adrenalin surging itement while racing. Check out the warped effect on the music when you go through a tunnel too! This is one game hat you’ll be turning up. not down. Add all these elements up and you've got a racing game that comes close to being perfect. I've got to admit that ini- thought Wipeout was just another fabulous looking round-the-track racer. After sitting down for a few laps and tting a grip on the controls though, I realised that this is the futuristic combat racer that everyone's been trying to for ages but never '* " “ kially I \i\ .L 'Ll PL Some say the PlayStation has the edge on the Saturn when it comes down to the beef under the bonnet. But when ega pulls out titles like Cyber Speedway it's time to step back and have a second look. This could be one of the best aturn releases so far; it looks fast, fun and very addictive. The idea behind the game is simple, fly your cool looking anti-grav sled around the 5 courses and beat your opposition | through skill mixed with quick thinking, and we mean quick thinking. Cyber Speedway is one of the few games that suc¬ ceeds in giving the feeling of breakneck speed, and lightning reflexes are needed in order to control your craft, let alone MtPDlS HRRDEORE SPEED A • * ■ Sega has devoted much energy into putting loads of impressive detail into the backdrops for Cyber Speedway, whether the sled is skimming across the water sending up jets of spray or fanging through a city landscape whizzing past trains, the game's emphasis is on real, hard-core speed. The track itself widens and narrows, and is full of twists, turns, and tunnels. On some worlds the track floats in the clouds (a really nice touch), where on others there are icicles, stalactites, flaming volcano spurts and mines to avoid. Initially (if you're playing Story Mode and not just single races), you start on Earth then move on from planet to planet, always starting last out of five, with the aim being first to qualify (not a problem) then finishing each planet with enough points to proceed (a bit more of a problem). Flying the sled requires you to learn to use the boosters which don’t propel you forward, rather sideways, to help you take those tight turns. Use your boosters wisely for if you | run out, you'll have the manoeuvrability of a brick. Out of the two viewpoints you have, external and internal, we strongly recommend internal, as the perspective is much improved and a hell of a lot easier to navigate with. The better you fly, and the better you are placed, the better upgrades you can choose from; booster (cool), shield (useless) and weapon (very cool). In the music and sound effects department, Cyber Speedway is a game that has blessedly avoided a boring or repeti¬ tive soundtrack and no annoying and unnecessary effects. However, although the FX and sound can be described as the Saturn has huge sound potential. wrii.ElfiTH'tWniflRDMnr Since the invention of computer related entertainment, an eleventh commandment has been added to the slightly ^dated ten: "There is nothing more satisfying than a good solid missile strike”. I And Cyber Speedway obeys the commandment. How often when you’re at the wheel of the car in second place and you can see the car in first place about to cross the finish line; he's in your sights, its a straight road, and then you can't [help yourself: "Why the hell aren't these cars armed!! C’mon just one missile!" Such incidents are fixed here but that doesn't mean you get off that easy....Your only weapons are missiles, you start [with none, you can only carry five, plus they are few and far between, slow and unguided, and have poor detonation [strength. Added to this is the difficulty of picking one up at 300+ Kph and then finding a long enough straight to fire pne. You're probably saying "well what's the bloody point in having them???" Well, remember the eleventh command- [ment! You've got to be quick, accurate, know the missile speed and how much ahead of the target you must fire. Trust ps, the one hit out of ten misses will make you very proud of yourself (and just make sure someone’s watching). Although you do not destroy your target with your shot, the missile scrambles their systems like a massive EM burst, knocking them out of commission for a few seconds, which is ample time to scream past and get a decent lead. Although Cyber Speedway has been well thought, nothing’s perfect. Although each of the levels are awesome there are Koo few of them, so just when you think you're doing really well the game's over. Also, although at the beginning you pave a choice of normal or advanced tracks, that’s the limit to how you can affect the game. There’s also the occasional loss of edge detail which is noticeable when close to a wall, and although this is fortunately rare, it’s not forgotten. The courses themselves could have possibly been a bit more interesting too, and a few more canyon drops or some loops and upside down sections would have made this game extra slick. But the only really annoying thing is that out of the 5 dif¬ ferent sleds at your disposal, each with different attributes, only the default sled can be used for the championship. As far | as the two player mode goes - the horizontal split screen looks like you're driving with tunnel vision - forget it. So the game has a few problems, but it really does deserve a good look. However, as it was originally named Gran IChaser by the boys at Sega in their attempt to compete against the forthcoming release of Sony's awesome title Wipeout, perhaps they should have kept the word "chaser" in the title. a 0'2*'-73 “ 0' 00“-00 0 " 00 ' 00 O'OO^OO 0 "no on TCTIU 0' PS' 73 tmilT JW*P» ppp> § ■■§.. 0'P9~5S 0 " 13 so o'oo on O'nn'on O'OO on TCTJU 0'43 * 1 * *06»T $*W0 i*p pcs &m t srotf a -S? nfmon BWUT^PWfP *fff£ J*P WJ7TCK fXQPl tililtJ PWP gv j\ oooso |[ mM BUIUT PCWfP *t!U*T KV*P *PffP wum &£UT*r rcn rci c^r AXEL SOHICS RUKA HETFIELD 00009000 crmioc S3 - THE tRIHE'S WORST : ERTURE. UTTERLY FRUSTRRTIIIt R00 DDLS 001 LDnETERm 57 - THIS REFERS TD THE LODOTERHI PERIOD SOU'LL BE Ull! DMERHLL RRTIOO ■ DMERRLL SS - 0000 THRT SOU'RE REHDIRO THIS. 'EH REHLLS DDLS FDR R PRRTILULRR BREED OF OHmER. DOn'T SRS WE n Tf| If Ipl R'COITIE'Rh! wm □Qil ij wH ■II J|if f^l TOjfcJ in |,§ ![]■ Iil 11 pI»iTbI -u 00016900 PcmTrK G 00021200 fijnaa * o ” i.-v Woiu Hnc<: j-_ 00021200 -> _ O cmnrc •* naW : "OfoHr. ! " 1 ; s i - uisurls 62 - sturriro? HmHzinbP THwnt mm td h red level? hot rt HLL. ■ SUURO S3 - I FlflD IT HELPS IF 3DU JUST STRRT HUmiRIRL R LITTLE TUnE TU 3UUR5ELF, PLR3IRL RIR'bUITRR HllO-tRHlE IS RUT RDVISRBLE, ■ LRIREPLR3 7E - RILE LQRTRDLS RRD SUR1E LOUD. UL0-FR5HIURED PLRTFORIR FRQLILHIR'. ■ LQRLTERIR HI - STRILTL3 H FEIU HOURS FUR UR R RRIR3 HFTERRUDR, ■ QUERRLL SO - UROERDHELIRIRIiLS HUERROE. PLR3 REUEROE OF SHIROBI flLfllR IRSTERD. 66 »HYPER m ui uuuu TO REPRODUCE JOU CRfl SEE IT DIFFICULT 15 su nit THE UlRITTEfl mm ITTLE nmjR UERL5 LUITN INSIST HUmPHREHS LUILL IRTHER (IDT CD BUT RnOREHJ There’s always a few routes to travel down when you’re starting a game review. First, and most obviously, I could make a pun on one of the words from the opening sentence. In this case, "route" is just asking for trouble "Travel" , on the other hand, provides more of a challenge. Then again, I could always begin with an appraisal of the hardware, rather than the game. That would go something like this: “A few more dud releases and we’ll be forced to officially declare the Saturn dead in the water. So far, only Virtua Fighter and Panzer Dragoon have distinguished themselves and compared to the Playstation, the machine appears to be a bit of a barker. The Saturn needs a winner blah blah blah. ." Which, of course, leads you all to wonder. "Is Shin Shinobi Den that winner?" But that's probably overly dramatic. Instead, I might opt for a run-down of the Shinobi series, from Master System to Mega Drive, pointing out that Revenge Of Shinobi (one of the earliest Mega Drive carts Sega released) is rightly regarded as a classic of the Ninja platformer genre. Or I could just crap on endlessly to fill the space. Guess which option I prefer? IT1R5NED IDIOTS in BfTlH CERR Unfortunately, Shin Shinobi Den is not a breakthrough in 32-bit gaming. Even by 16-bit standards it looks a little Itired to say the least. You might even say it’s up way past its bed-time. Staying faithful to the original concept (a Ninja with a few nifty moves jumping here, spinning there, whacking this, slashing that) is one thing, but it would have been I handy to throw in just an ounce of originality. Sure, it looks a little nicer, but when it comes down to it. Shin Shinobi Den does nothing that Revenge of Shinobi didn’t do (and didn't do better) in 1988. Mind you. they didn’t have full-motion video intros and cut scenes back in 1988. And if Shin Shinobi Den is anything to go by. all I can say is, "Thank God" . A couple of masked idiots in BMX gear straining to lift their under-exercised legs for the cameras as they attempt to look heroic and/or sinister does not make for attractive viewing It does, howev¬ er, provide a few laughs and presumably sets the scene for the game to follow. (Wouldn’t you know it, someone's stolen Joe the Ninja's girlie, causing a bit of irritation in the old Ninja chaps.) What follows is this: a bog standard platformer (there’s even a mine-cart section ferchrissakes) in which Joe (or Trevor, whatever his name is) runs, jumps, chucks and slashes his way from level to level and boss to boss. He still throws those Ninja stars around with gay abandon and he's as handy as ever with the ginsu carving knife, only this time (he's (wait for it) digitised! Not that you'd notice, given that the sprites (Trevor and his enemies) are unforgivably puny. Ilf it wasn’t for the liberal splashes of the sauce whenever you slice someone in two, there'd be nothing much (visually land otherwise) to hold your attention. 7HE PORE in THE ESE HJITH R BURNT STICK As for the sound, I can’t even begin to pretend that I even noticed it. Which (in case you're wondering) is not a good thing ^ few beeps, a few whistles and that’s that. Needless to say, like the rest of the game, it’s hardly pushing the boundaries. Still, it’s not a total loss. Despite its general sloppiness, the familiar controls are tight and responsive and it’s hard not Ito enjoy pulling off that famous Trevor the Ninja "double-jump and chuck five stars" move. In fact, it’s hard not to ■enjoy pulling off, full stop. It's predictable and only slightly challenging, but there's something reassuring about the ■whole misadventure and — for an hour or so at least — you'll probably enjoy it. OUi VI9URL9 90 - m DH9 90U'LL BE ROLL TO PLH9 IT in 9U0R, BUT TUB STRIIDHRD MLR 19 90 0000 SOU'LL UIDn'T REHLL9 LHRL. SOU lURflT FH9T 90? 90U tURFIT ITIRLIL 9DUnD 90 - RLRLL9. RLHLL9 0000. THE FIRST OHIRL IT1U9IL I'ML LOFT 0(1 FOR H0L9 nnD EFFLLTS THRT'LL HRML 9DU PUIRPinO IT RIOHT UP. R 9PLLIRL OlEnTIOn FDR THE LHME UIRTER DROP. ■ ORmLPLRS 90 - R LITTLE BIT OF EMERSTHIflL in ERRLTL9 THE RIOHT DD9E, MERS TOUOH in PLRLE9, BUT LOIDPELLinO EODUOH TO DRIVE 90U OH. BRILLIRF 1 TLS OE9IOnED 011991009, ■ LOnOTEROI SH - 90U'LL FIOHT LINE HELL 'TILL SOU ME BERTEn IT. THEn 9HELME IT FDR R COUPLE OF fOOflTHB BELHU9E THE EHPERIEIICE LOmPLETELS DRRinED 90U. THEn 90U'LL PLH9 IT HORin, ■ OMERRLL 90 - ORE OF TH09E RRRE 0RIDE9 THRT JU9T RBOUT EMERSBODS L0ME9. 00 IHRTTER I1IHRT FLRMOUR OF ORRIinO TRKE9 9DUR U9URL FHfILI THI9 ORE 19 OURRHnTEED TO PLEH9E, Ahhh Magic Carpet, welcome back to my PC. Bullfrog's masterpiece of 3D fantasy combat has entered its second [incarnation and vast hordes of gamers (including me) couldn’t be happier. The gaming gods at Bullfrog didn’t mess [with the meat of the game, instead they've enhanced (a most overused word, but spot-on in this case) the gameplay elements we liked most. An abundance of new landscapes are part of the spruce up, but best of all is the tweaking of Jer and in my book that makes it just about 75% better. r«To"Tnriiir The new game engine features another nice improvement. It’ll now run in SVGA on machines with a mere 8 megs of A, compared to the 16 that was needed for high-res in the old version. Things as good as this should be taken with a grain of salt (like chips or baked potatoes for example, which should actually be accompanied by several grains of salt, |but I waffle on... waffles aren’t so great with salt incidentally) The ancient gaming adage “all the best games just don’t vork in high-res mode with existing PC technology" is still as true as ever. We took to the skies on a Pentium 100 and vitched to SVGA... it was sloooow. Not a jerky frame rate slow, it was still as smooth as a recently Mr Sheened™ teak able, but compared to the sumptuously fast VGA mode, it was unplayable plod. Where the VGA mode throws the creen around at amazing speeds, SVGA's rate of progress is on par with digging through a city block made of plasticine [using only a Paddle Pop™ stick for excavation. It’s actually kind of helpful when you’re overwhelmed by attackers, [flicking to SVGA lets you fight accurately and carefully - as long as you don’t mind the complete lack of excitement. So it’s back to low-res. No problem that, it looks so fantastic that the usual disappointment of an out of bounds screen qual¬ ity is quickly forgotten The new worlds differ wildly from the steady brown and green of the original. Sunny outdoor mead- > are still abundant, but you’ll also find yourself whipping through underground caverns with molten lava floors, or sneak- 5 around stealthily in the dead of night, or perhaps skirting towering mountain ranges... you wanted variety, you got it. Your task in this fast and pretty land is unchanged - accumulate Mana (a magical substance that contains the life |force of the world and is essential to the equilibrium of the spiritual and mortal planes - but that’s not important right |now, think of them as Sonic’s rings - just get ’em OK?) and dispatch whatever evil beasties come your way. This time around the world of harmony you worked so hard to create is threatened by Vissuluth the Dark One, a Master Demon |who’s bright shade of crimson suggests he didn't apply the SPF 15+ that sunny summer day. Vissuluth brought seven of his demon chums along to help out too. They appear from time to time over the game’s 25 levels and it's no great Ifogressively tougher. Ultimately you’ll face off with Vissuluth himself. I’ve heard some criticism from uninformed quarters (hi Roger!) that the Carpet series is just a colourful arcade [shooter., wrong! From the very first mission you’re in for serious grief if you’re not going to use your head. Multiple objectives are the norm, with the way through never clear. The monsters you’ll face each have particular strengths to |avoid and weaknesses which must be exploited for success. Mastering spells is essential for survival. There are 25 basic spells to be found through the game, each of which can |be upgraded twice as you gain experience. Each upgrade adds new features, so it could be said that 75 different spells are there for your casting pleasure. This abundance of spells is not so you can pick your favourite and stick with it. as situations will arise that can only be dealt with by casting a particular spell. In the course of the game you'll use every one - from the lowly Fireball to the impressive stage 3 Volcano. In the heat of an intense battle you’ll be busy changing between spells as quickly as possible. This means for some |frantic keyboard work; no support for 4-button joysticks like the Thrustmaster or CH Flightstick is a weakness that is only barely forgivable thanks to the customisable keyboard layout. The default layout is good enough, but you’ll still |be taking your eyes off the screen at critical moments. It’s a small bug in an otherwise perfect game. Like it’s predecessor, Magic Carpet 2 offers adrenalin-charged game- |play with a hefty dose of tactical challenge. The worlds are a magically beautiful place to be a part of, zipping around on your flying rug that handles like its been given the triple-Scotchguard™ treatment. The first game won just aboi ^verygamin^awa^nas^ea^th^equeM^arsijjerio^ncHhatjnakesJoi^aJieJUrfajjJa^^eH^ HLK IS BHLK ULIHd SLHOFFEl HRS H PDLJHI1 RQMEI1TURE While Fade to Black is touted as the sequel to Flashback, the two titles are very different games. Flashback was ssentially an arcade game in the Prince of Persia style and Fade to Black really has more in common with Bioforge nd Alone in the Dark than its arcade predecessor. The player will have one major question from the outset of Fade To Black: will I be able to get used to these funky amera angles? If you give the game a chance and play a couple of levels the camera angles really present no major [problem. For those of you who haven't played Alone in the Dark or Bioforge and are wondering what the hell I am alking about, let me elaborate. In FTB the player views the action from a series of different angles. It's as though there was a tiny helicopter com¬ pete with camera crew flying around Conrad. After a couple of hours play you learn how to adjust the viewpoint by |re-positioning Conrad. The only time these camera angles present a problem is when Conrad flies his spaceship: in hese instances the camera has a tendency to swing around to a side-on view when the ship goes under or over a ridge. This can be very disorienting and usually results in the player sending Conrad s ship into a wall. Why did pelphine use this technique? Well if they didn't they would have had to choose between Doom style 3D or boring 2D iewpoints. both of which have already been done to death. OK now I've got that viewpoint thing sorted out I can tell you about the game itself. In FTB Conrad has been floating [through space in suspended animation for the past fifty years. At the start of the game he has just been picked up by some lorphs, thawed out and imprisoned. Conrad’s first goal will be to break out of prison with the help of a weird looking guy who looks like a cross between Thomas Dolby, Robert De Niro and a thunderbird puppet. Once Conrad has won his freedom he hen links up with some human fighters who are out to eliminate the Morph presence in our Galaxy. The game is divided into levels and Conrad has a specific mission goal on each one. They range from stealing plans, to rescuing old scientists (complete with Colonel Klink accent) culminating in the destruction of the Morph super brain on Earth. The levels themselves are not omprised of bare walls and Morph cannon fodder, instead they are intricately designed deathtraps chock full of puzzles. In his travels Conrad will come across a wide variety of shields, scanning devices and weapons. The main question laguing the player’s mind will be - when is the right time to use them? For example, some traps can only be seen ^sing the Field scanner, but the Field scanner also happens to drain a lot of power thus weakening Conrad's shield, imilarly the superior devices like the Camouflage shield also use lots of power, so making good use of your resources hile not leaving yourself vulnerable forms the backbone of any successful strategy in FTB. rule not leaving yourself vulnerable forms EHMH DUT2 HRRDUJRRE. While FTB does have a SVGA mode, it requires some heavy duty hardware I only just managed to get through the ame in this mode and that was with a Pentium 120 with 16 MB of RAM and a fast PCI graphics card! Even then the ame would go into slow motion if a lot was happening on the screen. What’s it going to take before we can be confi- lent our PC will run a new game fast and at its optimum detail settings? This system requirements issue has always ieen the bane of the game player and it’s about time somebody came up with a solution. Maybe all our prayers will be | nswered by the new generation of 3D accelerator cards (see News section for more details). One of the best parts of FTB are the absolutely incredible rendered cut-scenes. They appear often and will blow your I |mind (yes, even the minds of jaded reviewer types who think they've seen it all). The second most impressive aspect of | he game were the sound effects. Delphine have given the game a sort of 3D audio effect and the player can hear which direction a sound is coming from and how far away it is. FTB is a solid game which plays a lot like Alone in the Dark and Bioforge. The graphics are good (great in SVGA) land the sound effects are excellent. The only negative aspect of the game were the spaceship levels: they really look pretty crappy and don’t allow the player a great deal of control. But don’t let this put you off as there are only two of hem, the second one being the final level of the game. FTB is also very large and extremely challenging, Delphine Ihave managed to use some of the best rendered footage I have ever seen to great effect. Be prepared to spend some ime getting used to the dynamic viewing angles, but if you give the game a chance you won t be disappointed. 70 »HYPER i vw. < i * T mf •# ni:n*iii:iiliil»j'an:i« VISURLS 2S ARE LREAT WHERE SDU THERE'S A MAPDRI5E. • AfID TRAPS. THE SEAR. - inLREDIBLE REDQERED A01ATID05 REALLS SPILE UP THE LHIHE, THE in-LHHIE LRRPHILS IH SMEiH. ■ SDUnQ SU - SIIDPLS FAIITHSTIt. THE AUDIO in THE bHIDE HAS A SD QUHLITS LAn UIURK DUT THE DIRELTIUn M DISTAnLE OF DIFFEREnT SUUnUS. ■ LRIHEPLH3 2D ■ LOT TD DD in THIS LAIRE, LDRDS OF TRAPS, PUZZLES AND nUIRERDUS RIORPHS TD LOnOTERm SU - MERS LARUE LEVELS, LOTS DF miSSIDnS, LOADS DF nASTS PUZZLES ■ OVERALL 2S - FADE TD SLACK IS DnE DF THE BEST ALTIDH/RDVEnTURE URdlES OF IT'S EVER BETTER IF SOU HAVE THE HHRDUIARE TD PLHS THE EjAIHE in SVUA IADDE. H V P E R » 71 m 3K 1 ■ ■fag TTT 1 1II ■ J fl|l|l| ■■■■'1:111 «l*l :HMl!lliiH«i c> n "> r ? f J T ’ » * ' | vPT v i k , JjF NT TOW •\ mr~ ■ i ■ TIM Hfi nf jii i n ij;ji Lilil iff h sh JU J .into flfio TD an rss, but hs bimi sqrqpqs QiaLQ\itRa, i plrj nn minmi grttie. thht uses hussi LDcnnana,,, Strewth Shirl, it's a fair dinkum, you beaut, pearler of an Ozzie game! But with a name like Down Under Dan what else could it be? Resplendent with box art depicting kangaroos and boomerangs you could be forgiven for mistaking it s some sort of “Keating grant" inspired Japanese tourist guide, but don’t let the cringe worthy packaging scare you off s it belies the fresh and amusing game that lurks beneath 1UTBRCK SHS SURFIdE Dan is a bush pilot down on his luck, flying to Fifteen Mile Ridge to try and cash in on an opal strike in the area. Of [course, in the interests of plot development, his Cessna blows a gasket forcing you to bail out somewhere over the Dutback, sky surfing and Pelican dodging on the way down. What pelicans are doing flying over inland Australia is (beyond me, but if you let too many of them slip you the beak your tinnie cracking days will swiftly be over. To further complicate matters, Dan’s parachute gets tangled, leading to a nasty bash on the head and some ‘Young and the (Pointless* style amnesia. "Duh, where am I ? What am I doing here ?” That sort of thing. From the moment the game starts you’ll notice something strange, almost eerie; Australian accents, real ones and loads of ’em. You know the real meaning of the term cultural imperialism when the sound of your own language can seem so alien and refreshing amid a vast sea of American dross. Thousands of lines of speech have been sampled for (Dan, and the program has a different response for almost everything you do. adding more than enough variety to keep you interested from go to woe. rRHIL BIKE RIDING RflQ RABBIT 5HQ0TII1D All the action takes the form of video captured sprites animated over photographic backgrounds. The interaction |between the two is seamless and, unlike a lot of games, doesn't add to the already complex problems you have to deal vith. A peeled eye is an important thing to have too, as some objects are cleverly hidden or disguised. As Dan you’ll get [to take part in many quintessential^ (country) Australian activities, such as eating witchetty grubs, hooning about on a rail bike, shearing sheep and, my favourite, rabbit shooting ! The programmers (who claim to have funded the project vith a winning entry in Funniest Home Videos) obviously have their eye on the novelty value of Australian culture over- eas, using it as a lever to try and push their way into an overcrowded market, and why not ? The interface is straightforward enough with icons selectable from an onscreen toolbar or with button two on your I trusty rodent, a few more keyboard hotkeys’ would be handy though. Saving games is quick and easy and you’ll need to do it often. Smart On-line help trickles out hints on request to stop you throwing your little brother out the window r stabbing the neighbours cat when you reach that infuriating, dead end puzzle. Good for people with low boiling |points and ready access to Firearms. The overall neatness of the game impressed me, and while there’s nothing remarkably innovative about Dan, it’s a t first effort for Powervision and, not wanting to sound too diched, stands up well against any comparison HYPER» 73 RURILRBLE: 00111 • LRTEEQRJ: SPORTS • PLRSER5: l-t • PUBLISHER: E.fl. • PRIEE: SSS.SS • RRTIOt: 0 nin:iiliinwi4:iai:i«iiM:|.-vl I.'IIFPWJR'II'IIII PDRTE OF FIFH. 5DLLER HRS nE\JEH LQDHEQ“aU'MDD Dll P'Q EFORE, DROID UIILDDDDSE IS THE ITIHII UIITH THE BHLL... For me FIFA Soccer has always been just a small-time kick around the park compared to the mighty Sensible Soccer. is a true football game - a San Siro Stadium to FIFA's Leichhardt Oval. But FIFA ‘96 is something else again. It is | n incredible game. FIFA ‘96 is Tony Yeboah thundering a volley from 25 yards into the net. It is a Boban-Savicevic one-two splitting the nter defence. It is Romario gliding past defenders. It is George Weah scoring with a spectacular bicycle kick. It is Eric antona... simply existing. FIFA ‘96 is everything that makes football truly majestic and the greatest sport in the world. The original FIFA looked vaguely like a real football game, but it didn't play like one. Sensi played so very nearly like real football, but sadly looked nothing like it. FIFA ‘96, however, does both. Nearly everything has been executed per¬ fectly - from the feel of each match to the presentation and options, it is a stunning achievement. ./ectly - from the teel ot each match to the presentation and BEAUTIFUL. FLUID. HTDltlDPHERIL Let’s begin with the graphics. They are beautiful, each player is rendered in lovely Super VGA and the animation is fluent. The matches are all played inside a huge stadium that looks magnificent and, with the cheering fans close to the pitch, it ups the atmosphere stakes no end. FIFA’s big gimmick though is the variety of camera angles There are seven from which you can play the game, plus a couple more used in the Instant Replay feature. They look fantastic, but sadly only about three are of any real practical use - and the Sensi-style overhead view is, quite nforgivably, only available for replays. Then there’s the speech. Wow. Commentary is provided throughout the match with every incident (goals, near misses, auls, etc. even the name of each player who touches the ball) being mentioned. This is all the more astonishing when ou consider that there are teams from the first divisions of countries such as Holland and Malaysia as well as the more /ell-known Italian and English leagues. International sides are also included - Australia to Zambia, they’re all there. But still I haven’t mentioned the greatest feature of FIFA ‘96. I’m talking about the gameplay, of course. E.A. can be eservedly proud of themselves in achieving what so few football games ever manage (in my opinion, only Sensi has ome close before this); that is. making the player really feel like they're actually playing a game of football. As opposed o some sort of bizarre pinball-esque arcade game. The player dictates the pace of the game, you're given plenty of time ,on the ball, so you can opt for a measured passing game. Or if you prefer, a brutal dogs-of-war approach, or a swift one- s entirely up to you sinc e yo u're not forced into playing in a particular way. s entirely up to you sinc e yo u re not forced MTUlflDE, H1TELUDEHT Passing is simple, intuitive and intelligent. Smooth, flowing passing movements and sweeping length-of-the-field attacks soon become second nature. Defending is not as futile or hit-and-miss as it usually is, thanks to the realistic :omputer Al - defenders usually hang back a bit, instead of diving in as soon as a player gets the ball. But don't be deceived, despite this FIFA ‘96 remains a difficult opponent. True, you won't get hammered 10-0 to begin with, but scoring yourself is not easy and therefore far more rewarding when you finally do so. Shooting is as easy as passing, the after-touch is good and not as hopelessly exaggerated as in other games. And thankfully, there are no mathematical in the goalkeeping routines for you to exploit (well, none that I found, at least). Clearly, this is the ultimate soccer sim, and possibly - oh. what the hell - definitely the best sports sim you can get. In I may as well go the whole way; FIFA '96 is one of the best games ever, and certainly my favourite release this year. Hmm, but perhaps you don’t like football that much, or sports sims aren’t usually your thing? If so, then I implore you brush aside any Misgivings you may have, look Doubt sternly in the eye and say. ‘‘Away with ye!” in a threatening "’manner, and give Hesitation a forceful clip around the ears. This is a game for everyone. What other game presents I such a unique and long-lasting challenge? What other game can provide within minutes, the thrill and exhilaration of levelling the Cup Final 3-3 deep into the second half, then the frustration and inconsolable despair of losing the same match 4-3 with just seconds to go? (God, how I hate Germany for that). What other game looks so beautiful and plays I so angelically? None. Like I said, FIFA ‘96 is an incredible game. _ 74 »HYPER \IISURLS ER - HUlRZinC, THE 9V&H HULL TRKE JQUR BRERTH RlilRI ■ SDUflO 87 Pustralia H 5 tuctptr ► r« Pustralia ' « Norn ii:mm:wiMi:tn«