NOVEMBER '97 



WIN THE LATEST PC £ PLAYSTATION CANES! 


$ 5.95 

NZ $6.95 
inc GST 


AUMKALAS I A ' S BES T i \AMES MAE 


mw skmt 

St mwibhs km 


Grade-A action on PC and PSX 

Rapid Racer 

Sony's wet and wild racer 

Street Fighter EX+ 

Street Fighter rocks in 3D! 


7713 2 0 7 4 5 001 





















© 1997 Lucashlm Ltd and LucasAm Entertainment Company All flights Reserved Jech Kmgfn. Dark Fortes 
Star Wars, and the lucasArtt logo are trademarks o< lucastilm Ltd. used under authorisation 











INTRODUCING THE 
FIRST GAME YOU CAN PLAY 
WITH THIS JOYSTICK. 



THE LIGHTSABER. THE ELEGANT WEAPON OF 
THE STAR WARS'" SAGA. NEVER BEFORE HAS 
ANYONE BUT A JEDI KNIGHT BEEN 
WORTHY OF CARRYING ONE. UNTIL NOW. 

fa MATURE 
















)EDI KNIGHT™: DARK FORCES'" II CONFRONTS YOU WITH THE )OYS OF |EDI KNIGHTHOOD. 
THERE’S COMBAT. MORE COMBAT. (DID WE MENTION COMBAT?) YOU LIVE LIFE AS A MARKED I EDI. 

INTERGALACTIC ASSASSINS ABOUND ON TWENTY-ONE 3-D LEVELS. EACH WITH THE SINGULAR 
INTENT OF PUTTING "I KILLED A |EDI” ON THEIR RESUMES. BOSSK. GORC. )EREC - EACH EVIL ENEMY 
YOU FACE WANTS YOUR |EDI SKULL ON A STICK. AND THERE'S DEFINITELY NO |OY IN THAT. 



www.Lucasarts.com 

THE OFFICIAL STAR WARS' WEBSITE: 

www.starwars.com 


play it on 20ne.com 


© 1997 lucaslilm Ltd aid LucasMs Entertainment Compaq All Rights Re saved Jed fought. Dari fata. Star Wan and ihe UttsArn logo are trademaits <* lucashtm Ltd. used under aiAhonsatwn 





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GET A LIFE 


GET HALF-LIFE 
COMING SOON 



DEVELOPED BY 

VALVE 


Exclusively distributed by 



A 


©1997 Sierra On-Line, Inc All rights reserved ® and " designate trademarks of. or licensed to Sierra On-Line. Inc. All rights reserved 







10 »HYPER 


NEWS 




0 > 

s 

% 


We're still confused about whether or not 
it’s our birthday this issue, but we celebrated 
that last issue anyway. There's still cause to 
celebrate though, because this is the biggest 
Hyper ever! The PlayStation RZALiy kicked in 
this issue, with eleven (woah Nelly!) big 
reviews. The pick of the crop were Final 
Fantasy VII (no surprises there). 
Rapid Racer . Street Fighter 
EX Plus Alpha, and G-POLICE. This 
really does pose an interesting question 
though... "Is the market there to support all 
these games ?We truly hope sc, but with so 
many games available, surely some titles 
must be making lower sales figures than they 
deserve, purely because no-one can afford to 
buy all the good games coming out. 

Whilst the Saturn had another quiet month, 
we did hear a bit more news on the next Sega 
console. We’re still yet to hear Sega make a 
formal announcement yet, so who knows 
what’ll happen. DlSCWORLD 2 was a 
great game... but may not be released here 
now! We were hoping to see Last Bronx in 
this issue, but it didn’t show up. 

Bit of the usual story with Nintendo... Only 
one game this month, but god it was good! 

Lylat wars had us all ribbing each 

other as we dogfcught to cur hearts content. 

Only two of the hotly anticipated PC titles 
turned up in time this issue, being 6- 
POLICE and Hexen 2. The good news is 
that all the other PC titles were of a fairly 
high standard too. Just missing cut on cur 
deadline was Total Annihilation, which 
should be a huge ’un next month. 

First entries for the Quake comp were 
arriving around our deadline, and we were 
seeing some great times. We’ll do a special on 
the winning entries net issue. 

I’ve been gaming for 18 years now, and just 
when I thought I couldn’t be amazed 
anymore, an entourage of stupidly 
impressive games arrive. Last month was 
great... this month was fantastic... and next 
month is looking like it could be even better! 
Now is a good time to be a gamer... 



Sega have bitten the bullet and started making moves on their new super console which 
we’ve all been speculating about! One minute it’s called Black Belt, then it’s called Dural and 
now it’s being referred to as the Dragon project. Although Sega are currently being sued by 
3Dfx for terminating their hardware development contract, it hasn’t stopped them reportedly 
showing a demo of it’s next PowerVR based system behind closed doors to several key 
developers! The system was running an arcade perfect translation of either Super CT (the 
Model 3 based racer) or some other unknown Model 3 based game. The Hitachi SH-4 CPU that 
drives Dural is i28bit but is limited to a 64bit bus, so yes you could sort of say that this next 
Sega console will be i28bit! Yikes! As far as the graphics hardware goes, it will contain the 
NEC PowerVR ARC technology which can handle maximum texture resolutions of 512 X 512 
(compared to the Nintendo 6a’s 64 X64). Dural also reportedly has eight megs of SDRAM and 
four megs of VRAM, which is way. way more than any other current console. Not only will it 
also have an inbuilt modem, but the console’s OS will be based on Microsoft’s Windows CE 
utilising DirectX, meaning that potentially you could play any current DirectX PC title on 
your new console from day one. Awesome. But what would this mean to the PC industry? 
Because of the PC compatibilty, why would everyone pay thousands on a new PC. when they 
could pick up a beast of a console that not only can run all the latest PC titles, but you can 
plug it into your big fat TV! Sega surely realise that this machine is their last chance to 
dominate the home gaming market, and after their problems with the 32X and the Saturn 
being the first of the next-gen consoles to lose support from developers, this machine is 
going to have to be something quite incredible to win back the gamers. From looking at the 
specs... incredible is exactly what it is shaping up to be. f F 


DAN 










11 ROADSHOW 

*7 INTERACTIVE www.mlerictive.vHUge. 

Limited. All Rights Reserved. The 4t logo and “PlayStation" are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. 


©Ocean Software Limited 1997 Developed by Eutechnyx™ 


T>^ saua " E 


m hi mm 

WUM 


36 tracks with 42 cars 


Stunt tracks which test your skills 


EMKfS 

Iffn/a'jJii&m 


5 types of driving - Indy Car, Sports, Dakar, Rally, Road Rally, Buggies 


4 player split screen option via link cable 


■ 












One of our old contributors, Mark 
Lingane was fortunate enough to be 
over in the Old World around the time 
of ECTS... 


The ECTS is the final trade show before I 
Christmas. For several years it was THE I 
trade show to attend, but with the I 
success of E3 some of the shine has I 
been dulled. But in the spirit of I 
competition, this year saw the best I 
ECTS to date. All the major publishing I 
houses were there and some of the I 
obscure European ones. 

The ECTS this year was popular for one I 
main reason - Britsoft. The name comes I 
from a derivative of Britpop (Oasis, Blur I 
etc) and its sudden worldwide I 
popularity. Britsoft is much the same. I 
European developers at the forefront of I 
new technology and coding, bringing I 
the best to the world. If not the best I 
then certainly something unique. 

Over 200 developers with at least three I 
titles each! There were millions of titles! I 
Covering racing games, third person 
perspective games, first person 
perspective games, more racing games, 
platformers, more racing games, beat-’em-ups, 
more racing games and racing games. You could 
say that there was a certain theme running 
through most of the stands. Racing games are in 
BIG time. Race on land, water, space, air, 
imaginary dimensions and movie sets. Race in 
cars, boats, jetskis, motorbike, go-carts, 
bicycles, big spaceships, small space ships, big 
robots, small robots. It was insane. Competition 
between companies is so hot that the racing 
genre has - in both quantity and quality - gone 
through the roof. 

Acclaim was pushing Croydon-based Probe new 
masterpiece, Extreme G (a racing game), for the 
N64 proving that the Nintendo can play games 
for adults. Unfortunately, as with most of 
Acclaim’s product it was all of high quality but 
little innovation. Maybe the US connection’s 
kicking in. 

Eidos, Europe’s premiere publishing house had 
its latest titles on display featuring the standout 
Ninja and Fighting Force. The jewel in the Eidos 
crown was, of course, Tomb Raider 2. With Lara 
Croft lookalikes draping over motorcycles it was 
hard to focus on the game. All in all it looked like 
more of the same except Lara was more... well 
rendered. 

And that brings me to another point. Thanks to 
Ms Croft, female heroines are all the rage. And it 
seems to be drawing the feminine side of 
gameplaying in as well. But Lara at the moment 
is it. She’s an icon - the ultimate virtual babe. 
With a TV show, movie, multiple magazine 
covers she’s bigger than Elle! Or will be when Elle 
freezes over. 

Ocean, last year pontificating that they were 
focuising on quality rather than quanity, have 
turned the tables a bit. From releasing a 
mammoth five titles last year, they have raised it 
to six this year. Or something. Big news: Falcon 


4.0 is due out real soon now (yeah, right!) 
Originally designed to run on a cutting edge 386 
way back in the dark ages, time may be running 
out for the latest installment of the seminal 
Falcon series. Ocean also have Worms 2 from 
Team 17 - a bunch of Amiga weirdos that may 
possibly be the most creative coding team on the 
planet. Anyway, Worms 2 is, well, more worms 
just more colourful and weirder. Looks very good 
though. 

Europress, better known for educational 
software and the Oasis songbook, released a 
game last year to such phenomenal success 
that they are releasing three new ones. Last 
year’s title - Rally Championship (a racing 
game) has spawned a sequel - International 
Rally Championship (another racing game) The 
other two titles are also racing games except 
’’Plane Crazy” involves an Aeroplane. 
Europress, if not one dimensional, at least 
stick to what they know. 

Obscure French House, Cryo, displayed their 
unique brand of amazonian warriors, extreme 
violence, divinity and psychosis in the most lush 
graphics seen this side of Riven. 

Nintendo decided to make a showing, and 
featured the two standout European titles - 
Goldeneye and Diddy Kong Racing. Goldeneye 
looked good, Real good. But not as good as the 
Bond Grrls. They looked REAL good but were less 
interactive. Almost two dimensional characters. 

SCI featured a Carmageddon update (the Splat 
Pack) and something involving bald people. 
Carmageddon was pretty much it with them. 
Looked very promising. 

Gremlin also looked interesting. Big titles 
included the movie licenses for Men In Black 
(looks like AITD) and Judge Dredd (looks like a 
Stallone film - lots of explosions). Gremlin 
followed up their big Actua Sports titles of last 
year with sequels and got closer to finishing 


some titles that had been promised last year. 

What else was big? Peripherals continue tol 
make inroads with force feedback joysticks all I 
the rage. Tactile response through the plastic! 
stick in front of you seems to be important fori 
some reason. I wonder if the Bond Grrrls have) 
one... Anyway ... 

Sony was Sony, big and bold as they could be. 
Sitting on top of the 32 bit heap they showed! 
little excitement this year. Again standout titles! 
came mainly from Liverpool based Psygnosis| 
with its jaw-dropping Colony Wars and G Police. 
Don’t forget Crash Bandicoot 2 which is about as | 
interesting as the first. He’s still orange. 

This year the PC, with the help of 3D graphicl 
accelerators, has gone through the roof. Many! 
titles looked beyond belief on the PC shaming! 
the PSX and N64 versions. Pity it costs 10 times as | 
much. 

I felt quite excited walking away from the show I 
for the first time in years. After several years of I 
stagnation in the market where visual appeal! 
ranked over gameplay it seemed now (mainly! 
through the intense competition) that games! 
workshops are once again spending time ini 
making the games fun. Hot titles such as Grand! 
Theft Auto herald a new era where visual! 
excellence compliment what is in essence al 
brilliant game, and that’s the way it should be. | 
Except for the Bond Grrrls. 


Editor’s Thoughts: A bit of a shame there! 
wasn’t much new since E3, with the exception of | 
Diddy Kong Racing. ECTS is important to us, 
since it essentially is a representation of the PALI 
market, but we never learn that much there. Still,! 
come to think of it, if I had to go overseas and go I 
to a video game trade show... I’d rather go to| 
Europe... 


















14 »HYPER 




Real Wild Child 


Oz rock! Maaaaattte! It’s part of Australian culture, from Molly 
Meldrum and Countdown to Silverchair and Crowded House, 

Australian music has really helped shape the Aussie society we exist 
in now. Roadshow Entertainment have got their hands on an 
excellent CD-ROM called Real Wild Child which carries on from 
where the exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney left off. 

Thanks to some cool artwork from Reg Mombassa, and an odd genius or two, this is one of the very few 
"interactive” CD-ROMs to actually be worth your money. Not only is Real Wild Child bloody hilarious, but it's a very 
accurate exploration of Oz music from the 1950s to the 90s. With a bit of help from Triple J, Richard Fidler (from the 
Doug Anthony Allstars) and some people with some cash, a seriously clever piece of software has been put together 
solely in the name of entertainment! It features over 100 movies, 2000 images and 200 sound clips and the odd sub¬ 
game which was rather Monty Python-esque. Now if they’d have only included Big Heavy Stuff... ahem... (and the 
Telemetry Orchestra ss). c F 


Resident Evil 


The Movie! 

Hey it surprised us too! It seems that Hollywood’s latest 
craze is making movies out of video games instead of the 
other way around for once. Resident Evil was such a huge 
selling game, that it’s no surprise that the movie execs saw 
dollar signs when the option came up to make this film. So 
who’s been cast? Well it seems that Jason Patric will be 
Chris, Samantha Mathis with be Jill and the plot will be 
taken directly from the game. This means Zombies, Zombies 
Zombies!! We dug up this teaser poster for the film and a 
shot of one of the cast in his S.T.A.R. outfit. Stylish! 

According to our sources, there are also 
some other big game/films on the way. 
Tomb Raider is in development and our 
vote for Lara would have to be Elizabeth 
Hurley. Doom is being scripted and who 
else but Arnold Schwarzenegger would 
be perfect to play the space marine! And 
last but not least, Duke Nukem is being 
made and supposedly, Dolph Lundgren 
has already signed to play the Duke! 
Wooo! Lots of cool stuff on the way! t f 


overflow 

Mot and spicy! Those Spice Cirls 
are moving into the world of 
videogames, with Sony announcing 
Spice World, an interactive Spice 
experience for the PlayStation! 
Featuring video footage, music and 
interviews of the gals, you’ll also 
get to create your own Spice Cirls 
dance routines. C’mere Posh, let me 
tell you where to put your legs... 

With the arcade machine only judt 
hitting arcaded. Mortal ICombal 4 i& 
already in development tor the 
PlayStation. Nintendo 64 and PC. you 
probably won’t dee it until late '98 but 
redt addured the work had begun to brins 
thid baby home. Ad tar ad tightins 9 ame * 
50. there d dtill no word on Tekken 3 tor 
the PlayStation though. Boo hoo. 
Activision recently acquired the 
rights to two old classic Atari 2600 
games, Asteroids and Battlezone. 
Taking retro-gaming to new 
heights, they will now remake both 
games Mineties-style, so that'll be 
interesting. They have also just 
released the first new text-only 
Zork adventure for free over the 
internet, in anticipation of their 
new Zork: Grand Inqnistor graphic 
adventure which is on the way. The 
text adventure, Zork: Undiscovered 
Underground, was even written by 
one of the original Infocom 
authors. Cool moves, Activision. 

Ottioiald in Vietnam recently deized 
over 450 Tamagotchi toyd trom children 
entering the country and thede were 
touridtd! Ho Chi Mtnh Cily’d People 
Committee daid that the game wad 
’’harmtul " and that it "deperated 
children and even adultd trom their 
normal lite". Thid tollowd the Tamagotchi 
being banned trom dchoold all around 
the world! Scary. 

If you like the look of Final Fantasy 
VU on PlayStation, but you’re a PC 
owner and are having a bit of a cry, 
then get a hold of yourself! It's 
okay! A PC conversion is underway. 
Not many Japanese RPC* make it to 
PC, but if ever there was a big epic 
RPC that should make it to PC, this 
one is it. We’ll have more details 
once we know who’ll be publishing 
and distributing the PC version. 




MURDER... DEATH... KIU.7 


LOW LEVEL 
ANIMATED VIOLENCE 


Proudly distributed b\ 

Pood shun Interact ice 

www.interactive.vilUge.com.au 


COMING ON 


J, 


PlayStation 


NOVEMBER '97 


THE ULTIMATE 3D SHOOTER FOR THE PLAYSTATION 



r A 


ShTnV 


Vllllll 


PtmiSHED RY SHINY ENTERTAINMENT INC DISTRIBUTED 8Y INTERPLAY PRODUCTIONS IFD. © SHINY ENTERTAINMENT INC MDK 1060 AND All RELATED CHARACTERS ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OE SHINY ENTERTAINMENT INC All RIGHTS RESERVED 















16 »HYPER 





The Fun 
Never Stops! 

This is what we like to see... game companies 
actually finding the time to improve and add 
to the cool games that we’ve coughed up cash 
for. LucasArts are well known for releasing 
add-on packs for their Star Wars games in 
particular, and X-Wing vs TIE Fighter fans are 
going to simply peak at the news that the add¬ 
on pack, Balance Of Power, is on it’s way. Not 
only will this XVT upgrade give us 3D card 
acceleration (YES!), but the pack contains 2 
entirely new single player and multiplayer 
campaigns with rendered cut-scenes! Not only 
that but there will be new melee missions and 
combat engagements too, and wait for it... 
new craft! Yes, the B-Wing is back and there is 
also a Super Star Destroyer which will feature 
as a major battle target! Wow. A patch simply 
for the 3D support should even already be out 
as you read this. While we’re on the topic of 
Star Wars, PlayStation owners will be rejoicing 
that Dark Forces and Rebel Assault 2 have 
finally arrived, so there will be many happy 
young Jedis around Australia at the moment. 
Word has it that LucasArts have even started on 
some amazing new games to co-incide with 
the release of Star Wars: Episode One in 1999. 
Another LucasArts game, Outlaws, has also 
recently been upgraded to V2.0, which not 
only fixes some bugs but adds another 4 single 
player missions and 5 new multiplayer arenas! 
And it's free! Blizzard’s masterpiece Diablo is 
yet another game to soon receive a cool add¬ 
on pack called Hellfire from Sierra On-Line. 
Hellfire will include a new character class - the 
Monk - and 30 new magic items and 5 new 
spells! It will be a whole new bunch of single 
player quests based around the demon Na- 
Krul, which will lead the player into battles 
with over 20 new monsters and a bunch of 
other surprises. This will keep us adventuring 
until late 1998 when Diablo 2 is set to release. 
Diablo 2 will shower us with 5 new character 
classes and 4 whole new towns, including all 
sorts of new weird and wonderful quests. It 
will also have an advanced combat engine and 
quite simply we are all hoping here at HYPER 
that it will rock as hard as Diablo. ef 




A/VVWWW' 


mm) 



NINTENDO 64 


1. Lylat Wars 

2. Mario Kart 64 

3. Super Mario 64 

4. Blast Corps 

5. Wave Race 

SATURN 

1. Fighters Megamix 

2. Daytona USA 

3. Bomberman 

4. Pandemonium 

5. Virtual On 

6. Hexen 

7. Virtua Cop 2 

8. Tomb Raider 

9. Sega Rally 

10. Manx TT 


PLAYSTATION 

1. V-Rally 

2. The Lost World 

3. Warcraft 2 

4. Dark Forces 

5. Rebel Assault 2 

6. Raystorm 

7. Soul Blade 

8. Wipeout 2097 

9. Crash Bandicoot 

10. Tomb Riader 


PC 




Competition Winners 


mere s oniy one 
thing scarier than 
receiving 

competition entries 
from you bunch of 
freaks, and that’s 
receiving letters 
from you! If I don’t 
see a glimmer of 
sanity soon, I’m 
running for the 
hills... 


Rally Cross 

Matthew Smith, Qld 
Harrison Jones, Tas 

Robotech 

Rohan Harrison, WA 
Damian Carr, Qld 
C. Bowkett, Tas 
David Kerr, ACT 
Kip Norris, Vic 
Josh Hobbs, Qld 


Grant Armitage, NSW 
Patrick Wyers, SA 
Keith Essex, NSW 
Adam Jones, NSW 
Michael Anderson, NSW 
Irwin Wong, Vic 
Paul Hodgson, Vic 
Luke Tefier, SA 
Max Hemmings, NSW 
Grant Higgins, Qld 
Ryan Garland, NSW 


Madura Malwatte, NSW 
Ron McCorkill. WA 
Brad Tibbetts, Qld 

We diidn't print the 
100 Timezone comp 
winners for rather 
obvious reasons . 


1. Dark Reign 

2. Moto Racer 

3. Outpost 2.0 

4. Dungeon Keeper 

5. Warlords 3 

6. X-Wing Vs TIE Fighter 

7. Red Alert 

8. Ecstatica 2 

9. Quake 

10. MDK 














VUGM! M THE KMCUUUS - CMBCK 1KSE Mill 




. 




Tone 


Rebellion 


Win 


95 



















TotallyN E Wgame. Totally N E Wmonsters with IQs the size of their APPETITE 
f° r FRESH Wood (this time they can evade your ATT A C K strategically position 
themselves for an ambush, and |-J LJ ^your ass down^ Totally new environments 

with talling^rocks to dodge, rockets to duck, shadows to J-J | ^ in, narrow 

shafts to CRy\WL through, and plenty of room tog AT I S F Y y° ur primal urges. 




‘‘Quake II, without a doubt, the game of E3.” 

‘ * .* . - — Computer Gaming World 







Jili 


i 



AcliVisioN. 


www.activision.com 

V i 


Coming Soon on 
Windot*e®95/NT CD-BOM 

www.idsoftware.com 


QUAKfc II™ © 1997 Id Software; Inc. All Right* Reserved. Disirihutcd by Activivinti. Inc.!' 
tinder license. QUAKE® j s a registered trademark of Id Software. Inc. QUAKE jp*. 
the Ironware name, the "Q II" logo aiid^iiic id logo arc trademarks of Id Software. Inc. 

—^division®,is a registered tradcm^^l Activision. Inc. A H oth er trademarks 
and trade naim-^Mteroperties of theUt^kstivc owners. 

















ALL ENTRIES CLOSE NOVEMBER 15TH 1997 


•RRGE7 \ 


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lifl 


'fj H 

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50 ITi ^ 


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Gonad Police? 


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iiRnnon 



Due to there being so many ass-whippingly great games around, it 
only makes sense that HYPER give you some! This way you can carefully 
choose your next purchase, happily knowing one awesome game is already 
in the bag. Psygnosis have come to the party with 5 copies of G-Police 
because they're not only smart, but extremely generous! We have both 
PlayStation and PC versions to give away, so just indicate which one you 
would like on your entry. Now, to win a copy, just answer us this question 
(you can use your imagination here)... 

What does the G in G-Pclice stand tor? 

Put your answer on the back of an envelope and send it off to: G is for 
Games!, Hyper, 78 Renwick St, Redfern, NSW 2016. 


HIO 


U1 . B 



SFEX+ABIahBlahBlah 

Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha is here for PlayStation, and it’s all the Street 
Fighter action you've grown to love in glorious 3D. Virgin are distributing 
this little beauty, and they’ve always bestowed great prizes upon HYPER, so 
it’s no real surprise that they said we could give away 5 copies of SFEX*A for 
all you hardcore fighting game freaks. There’s no doubt the Street Fighter 
series will continue, so the big question on everyone’s lips is... What the 
hell are they going to call the next one? 

If you would be so good as to send us your thoughts on the next Street 
Fighter title, then you will go in the draw for one of the five games. 

Write your answer on the back of an envelope and post it to: This is 
getting silly, Hyper, 78 Renwick St, Redfern, NSW 2016. 














SM/ISHEn 


* A % 


rs a mm ▼ -v** 

n/u oh ** •**• — — •• 




- “ id; ” 

» V « 43 

‘ -* ^ 

! ~ ~ 


Serious Biff Action 


There's beat em ups, and then there’s beat em ups. Core Design are brining us the very spiffy 
looking Fighting Force, which looks like it’ll be the best game this genre has ever seen! It*s one of the 
games we’re hanging to get our grubby little paws on, and no doubt you want it too. Well, thanks to 
a burst of generosity from Sega Ozisoft, you’ll have your chance to own a copy of this fabbo title, if 
you can just answer this simple question: How many characters can you select ftrorn in 
Fighting Force? 


Write the answer on the back of an envelope, along with the version you’d prefer (PC or 
PlayStation) to: 


Punching, kicking and uncouth behaviour, Hyper, 78 Renwick St, Redfern, NSW 2016. 




Finally It's Here 




\ 


We’re rather fond of Final Fantasy VII in case you 
hadn’t noticed. Dan even took a week off life to play it! 
Well, no doubt you’re all bouncing up and down waiting 
for Christmas so some genorous individual can stuff it in a 
stocking for you? Well, in case you don’t know anyone that 
generous, we do! Sony Computer Entertainment really want 
three lucky Hyper readers to score a copy of Final Fantasy 
VII. It’s really quite simple to be in the draw, all you have 
to do to be in it is answer this simple question: 

How many times did Dan use the word " and” 
in the Final Fantasy VII review? (Now we’ll see 
who’s keen eh?) 

Write the answer on the back of an envelope and post 

it to: Finally counted all the "and"s, Hyper, 78 Renwick 
St, Redfern, NSW 2016. 


■&nafl 


r 

etitive 




PlayStation 


logue 
controller and 
neGcon 
compatible. 


























By MAX AUTOHEAD 


AMIMEI 


CL 

>• 


CM 

CM 


Fatal Fury The motion Picture 


What's it all about? 

Before Christ, a man named Guadeamus donned himself in power armour 
and wrecked havoc on the ancient world. The power of the armour made 
Guadeamus a god, but it also drove him totally insane... such is the price of 
power. Only the strength of four unknown warriors was able to defeat 
Gaudeamus, and his armour, now known as the "Armour of Mars", was dis¬ 
assembled and scattered and hidden in the farthest reaches of Alexander 
the Great’s empire. 

Crash cut to the late Twentieth century, and a descendent of Guadeamus, 
Laocorn, is gathering up the lost pieces of the Amour of Mars, in hopes of 
surpassing the genetic flaws that make him human, and to ESTABLISH HIM¬ 
SELF AS A GOD!!!! 

With his vast and powerful minions, he seems unstoppable, since only four 
individuals stand in the way of stopping Laocorn... they are. Andy and Terry 
Bogard. Mai and Joe, the star characters of Fatal Fury! 

So what's it really all about? 

FATAL FURY is the beat em up fight game hit that followed the success of 
the all time great STREETF1GHTER. 

(Man, I still remember when Streetfighter two first hit the arcades... it 
meant C* average test results and bye bye pocket money!) 

Sadly. I never really picked up on Fatal Fury, but Dan assures me that it’s 
a damn good fighting game. 

Fatal Fury the motion picture follows the quiet success of the two OAV 
releases; the first episode featuring the all time bad guy with my fave name 
for any character; GEESE HOWARD!!!! 

Geese shows his cheesy face again in yet another cameo in this film, threat¬ 
ening to step back into Terry Bogard’s life again in some future sequel. 

The second episode featured another Mr Bad Guy hailing all the way from 
Germany... more invincible than Geese Howard. 

Both episodes made good appetizers, but then the main meal came along... 

"Nice Game, Shame about the Movie " 

That's what I felt about the Street Fighter animated series. Sure it sold squil- 
lions around the world, but did it capture the raw drama, the pants pound¬ 
ing tension, the speed of the game it was based on? A bit more than the Van 
Damme live action version, but hey, that’s not really saying much, right? 

Though the FF Movie makes the OAV’s look clumsy in retrospect, the whole 
series concentrates on what FF fans like to see; FF characters in kick arse ani¬ 
mated fight sequences. 

As you would expect in a cinema 
release of FF, everything’s better, slick¬ 
er, faster, with more eye candy and 
pants pounding action/fight 
sequences thrown in to boot! 

What surprised me though was that 
the narrative was actually really, really 
good (excusing the cheesy "cool" 
sequences we’ve all come to love in 
Anime). 

A lot of people in the animation 
industry make the mistake of judging 
the skill of animation with how many 

frames are used to make the characters move, "has it been done on one’s or 
fours man?’’. 

However, a good narrative needs to be told well. The strength of Anime is 
not only the strong concepts and adult themes, but also in the fact that the 
best anime concentrates on storytelling layouts. 

FF Movie pushes this boundary. It is without a doubt the best animated 
martial arts slug fest movie I have seen. 

True beat-em up fans everywhere should see this film. 




Heauu metal 



ID/ID 

RAIMI MIS'. 01SIRI Bll 11II BY KISEKI MIMS 


The mouie 

Two years ago I had the good fortune to meet one of Australia’s greatest poet songwriters Don 
Walker. To my great delight I discovered that he was a reader of comics, and cited Heavy Metal 
Magazine as an influence to his work. 

Well now, here it is, the Heavy Metal Movie. After hearing so much about the movie for so 
many years, it’s a great pleasure to not only be reviewing Heavy Metal, but to get paid to do it 
at the same time (heh heh heh). 

Heavy Metal Magazine was in the seventies and early eighties one of the leading adult sci-fi 
comic magazines. It published work from all time legend comic artists from all around the 
globe, including Moebius, Bernie Wrightson and Richard Corban (just to name a few). 

In my opinion the most paramount achievement of Heavy Metal Magazine was that it helped 
introduce, to audiences outside of Europe, some of the leading and more serious comic creators 
working in the medium. (Artists such as Katshuhiro Ottomo - of Akira fame - has cited Moebius 
as a huge influence...check out the Memories graphic novel published by Reed Books if you 
don’t believe me!) It’s effect was certainly felt in North America too. and helped encourage a 
wider diversity of work being produced by publishers and creators alike. 

You can still pick up Heavy Metal Magazine, these days with Kevin 
Eastman of Mutant Ninja Turtle’s fame sitting at the helm, and it still 
retains that soft porn cheesecake quality it had when it was being pub¬ 
lished in the seventies and eighties. 

So what’s the movie like? 

Weeeelllll... This movie was created and released in the early eighties. 
Like the magazine that it’s based on, it’s an anthology of stories side 
by side, but connected here with a singular theme. Watching the video 
made me think back to playing pinball machines in greasy fish and 
chip shops. The years have not been kind, yet surprisingly enough, 
Heavy Metal the Movie has some occasional moments, such as the 
beginning of Captain Sternn, or the Flight sequence at the end. What 
surprised me most was the inclusion of Neverwhere Land, which was 
dropped from the original cut of the movie, on grounds that the film 
was too long. It’s here at the end of the tape, but I had to shake my head in disbelief, since 
It’s the best thing in the movie, the only piece which hasn’t dated...and it was never in the 
original release!!! 

Doh! 

Heavy Metal fans should get what they want from this video. Those of you who like "adult” 
animation should have a look also. Sex, Drugs and a Rock and Roll soundtrack from bands such 
as Cheap Trick, Black Sabbath and Devo makes this a retro extravaganza ahead of it’s time 
(there I go with those oxymorons again!) 

-i.5 /in 

IBM BIS1RIBUIED BY EOIUMBIA IRIS1AR 



exclusive version 


includes game and 
Namco's new 
light-gun, the 
G-CON45. For the 
best arcade 
shooting action at 




Out November 


V, 

HtNS. 






Pi • «I9P/ 

T 1 Wj ^1 

|V ^fe4M 


1 ftk 

MJ 

M BrA ^ 

















Forget today's big egos and endorsements 


In the future, athletes will be 


thing: this bright, glowing Plasmorb 


Introducing BallBlazer 


Champions. A futuristic 


sports game created 


Eight champions fiercely 
compete for the Interstellar 
BallBlazer Championship. 


PlayStation 


PlayStation 


part racing, and 


part insanity. It's 


an action-packed 


real-time 3D gaming 


Mega-huge arenas give you 
plenty of room to manoeuver. 
And show off your winning moves. 


experience like no 


you can. Players compete 


for the Plasmorb. Which is sort 


disregards the laws of gravity. You can't 

kick it, dunk it, or catch it. So how do you control it? 

Jump into your hovering Rotofoil, grab onto the Plasmorb 


Glide along in your Rotofoil 
as you battle for control of the 
elusive, glowing Plasmorb. 


© 1997 LucasArts Entertainment Company All Rights Reserved BallBla/ens a trademark of LucasArts Entertainment Company The LucasArts lot 





DRAFT RESTRICTIONS AND 
GHT IS THE FUTURE OF SPORT? 




and blaze it into your opponent's goal. You’re not alone. 

Of course, your opponent is trying to 
do the same thing. And, that's 
when all the fun begins. 
The competition will be 
fierce, fast-paced, and 
frenetic. Whether you 
compete alone, in 
single-player mode, or 
or in two-player mode 
via split-screen. 
But, however you 
play, you're in for the 
most action you've ever 
had. In this galaxy, or 
any other. BallBlazer 
Champions. With 
anti-gravity arenas, blazing 
thrusters, cloaking devices and 
nitroid injection systems, it's the way 
sports will be played in the future. So, you 
better start practicing now. http://www.lucasarts.com 




You shoot, you score! You’ll 
taste the thrill of victory as 
you launch the winning goal. 



Earn the title of Master Blazer. 

and you’ll bask in the glory 
of piloting the Ultimate Rotofoil. 




http://www.metrogames.com.au 


trademark ot Lucasf.lm Ltd. used under authorisation PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc 






26 »HYPER 


NET TRAWLIN’ 


Scooping the bottom oh the pool is what 

Warlords 3 g 

Broderbund are the publishers behind Warlords 3, 
the latest in SSI’s awesome D£D style strategy 
series. Warlords 2 was an absolute classic so if you 
are new to this game - go and take a look at the 
Warlords 3 website. That’ll get your saliva glands 
flowing. Simple, elegant but incredibly addictive 
stuff. If you’d like to see what other games Broder¬ 
bund have up their sleeve (another Loderunner 
game perchance?) then visit the Broderbund site 
for maximum info. It’s all here! 
http://www.broder.com/ 
http://www.warl0rds3.com/ 

Microprose 

Aliens are taking over the earth! Stuff diplo¬ 
macy - kill them all!! That's XCOM Apocalypse 
for ya. The latest in the series is the most 
intense XCOM of all. You can thank Microprose 
for this, as well as for a host of other cool 
games. CrandPrix2, Masters of Orion 2 , Civi¬ 
lization 2, and the hot flight sim Falcon 4.0 
which is still in development. Their website is 
a tasty showcase of what’s been, what’s here 
and what’s coming, so trawl for all it’s worth. 
http://www.holobyte.com/ 

Aliens Online 

Game over man, game over! Fox Interactive is on 
the verge of unveiling their online gib-fest, Aliens 
Online. You can choose to be either a space marine 
or one of the Aliens, and fight it out in your chosen 
team. The marines have specific mission goals, as 
do the aliens, so there's room here for some strate¬ 
gy as well. Regardless of how good this game is, 
you know it’s going to have a cult following of 
some sort - so check it out. With the new Aliens 4 
movie on the way, a whole new era of Aliens- 
related games is dawning. 
http://www.ariesgames.com/games/aliens/ 

Square 

Hey, now it really IS hip to be Square! Final Fanta¬ 
sy VII has taken us all by the nads here at HYPER, 
and it only seems right that we point you to 
Square’s Los Angeles website so you can enrich 
yourself with FFVII stuff. Of course. Square are 
based in Japan, but there’s no point in visiting the 
Japanese site unless you can read Japanese (and so 
can your browser), so the USA site is what we’ve got 
for you here. But it’s just as cool! 
http://www.sqla.com/ 

3D Gaming 

1st person perspective games have totally domi¬ 
nated the gaming industry over the last few years, 
so it’s no surprise that there’s a crap load of them 
around. If you’ve had any problems with ANY of 
them, then visit 3D Gaming for a comprehensive list 
of cheats for every 3D action game that’s ever been 
released. Or so they say. The index sure is huge, so 
go and grab a couple of codes - there’s enough for 
everyone! fve listed the no-frames URL, but you 
can always change this once you get there. 
http://www.3dgaming.se/3d/index_nfr.html 



does best ... 






Coming on the N64N OVEMBER ‘97 



COMPATIBLE 


RUMBLE 


mniuomirv 

niua 








/ j Mt 


tignt rug 


NINTENDO 64 


ormance, fully customisable vehiclew 

^ True 64 bit visual detafflt 
On and off roadJe/rai^ 
Alternative routes on every ^purM 


© 1997 GenK* Co »»« 


Mmagineer Co Ltd. Nintendo <&, Nintendo 64 . and 


are trademarks of Nintendo Co . Ltd. 


«aS f ROADSHOW 
V INTERACTIVE 

www.interactivrvtlUgC-Com.au 













28 »HYPER 


A R C APE 



> 

> 




Darius nito 

In 1986, the arcade world was content living in a 
’sprite’ infested world. Sprites were conglomerations 
of pixels which could be moved independently from 
a background. To use the adage ’history repeats 
itself, but in a different wardrobe’ seems apt and if 
something worked before then maybe it will work 
again. Fastforward a decade. As I have killed off the 
cells containing information about the decade 
between 1986-96, I can’t tell you much about the 
original space shootemup Darius. BUT I can warn you 
- get your dodging skills ready cause Darius has just 
been re-released. 

Prologue: A fierce battle in space has decimated the 
entire planet. Evolving life forms unleashed from the destroyed planet have 
decided to go on the rampage (who can blame them) in their vast array of 
ships and (of course) take out the human race. 

Your mission: Stop the mysterious evolving life forms dead in their tracks 
before they have time to wreak revenge on the peace loving human race. 

Beginning in ’Alpha Zone’ you pilot your puny space ship towards your 
obvious annihilation. But fear not the latest, cutting edge , state of the art 
weaponry is now in control of your deft little fingers. Not only is your 
machine highly manoeuvrable and has massive amounts of firepower, but 
you are now able to capture enemy ships and ho ho, use them against their 
former masters ha ha. 

To capture an enemy ship, press button B facing the enemy ship of your 
choice to launch a 'capture ball’. Enemy ships have their own ’signature’ 
weapon/shooting style to suit any occasion. Once facing insurmountable 
odds, the power from a captured ship may be utilized as a massively pow¬ 
erful death ray by depressing the A buttons for a short duration. To discard 
the captured ship press button B. 

As you continue your scroll horizontally onwards, you will face a factory 
full of enemy ships, each with their own individual attack formations. After 
decimating the opposing forces, it’s time to face the traditional ’end of 
stage boss. A lot of thought has been put into this section. Cinormous poly¬ 
gon space battleships in the form of mutoid animals go through their paces 
and unleash a series of sequential attacks. So if you’re into the Japanese 
Robot genre, you’ll dig this scene immeasurably. 

Lasers, heat seeking photons, missiles, space mines, bullets, force fields 
and every projectile short of the kitchen insinkerator will be launched 
against you. At times the whole screen will be choked with projectiles and 
’bad’ guys. But fear not, most of the time the computer is quite sporting in 
the fact that, although seemingly impossible, there IS a way through the 
veritable minefield of death. 

There are five stages to complete, though a choice can be made as to which 
stages you choose (there are 10 courses overall) Choosing to play in two play¬ 
er mode could be a major mistake as it is difficult to keep track of your own 
ship due to the screen being totally choked with missiles, and bad guys. 

It is a relief to see that the arcade world has not been completely over run 
by 3D games, and with minor classics such as Darius, it’s good to see that 
the 2nd dimension is in good hands. 



THE HYPER CREW 
CHOOSE TO GAME AT 
TIMEZONE, WHO 
HAVE THE LATEST 
ANR GREATEST 
SELECTION OF 
ARC ARE GAMES IN 
THE COUNTRY. A 
RIG THANKS TO 
TIMEZONE! 


X X X X 


Off Road Challengs fJlidiuag 

'Ivan Stewart is the most winning driver in off road racing history. His 
name is synonymous with the sport, and now he has teamed up with Midway 
to create the most exciting off road game yet.’ 

YET?? Hmmmm Big call indeed. 

Although no ’on road’ classic Daytona or 'off road’ classic Sega Rally, Off 
Road Challenge does have some bonus thingies that make the game more 
interesting than it would be if it was just a standard race sim. 

The basic driving package is a fairly standard affair. The vehicle you start 
off in (there are eight to choose from) is VERY bog standard. The aim of the 
game is (yes you guessed it) to place first in each race. This is no easy feat. 
The only way to really stand out from the pack is to use the bonus items 
(nitro, super nitro, invulnerability ) To stay competitive in the harder cours¬ 
es, a trip to the 'speed shop’ at the end of every race is in order. Depending 
on your placement in the previous race, you are awarded a cash prize from 
a bikini wearing buxom beauty (Money is also awarded on the racetrack in 
the form of treasure box icons). And now, with this cash, you can now cus¬ 
tomize your truck. 

Upgrades include . . . 

ACCELERATION: Reach your top speed quicker. 

SHOCKS: Faster on rough terrain. 

NITROS: A quick burst of power. 

TOP SPEED: Increase top speed. 

TIRES: Cet better handling. 

After upgrading your truck, it is if someone has taken off the handbrake 
as now the vehicle can REALLY perform. 

The race tracks are not overly inventive though they do have a few 'short 
cuts’ hidden ramps and jumps. There are six tracks to choose from, with all 
of them varying widely in terrain and difficulty. Their description reads like 
a travel brochure (thanks Midway): 

Take a trip through the searing hot MOJAVE DESERT and experience some 
of the desolate but incredible gorges and canyons. 

Race through the picturesque BAJA PENINSULA in Mexico, from the small 
town of Ensenada all the way to the beautiful Pacific Ocean. 

Take part in one of the most famous hill climb races in the world. Try 
your hand at racing to the top amid the frozen tundra of the ROCKY 
MOUNTAINS. Watch out for the local moose population, they can damage 
your truck. 

Tour a desolate GHOST TOWN as you race toward the finish. Legends say 
it’s bad luck to break a tombstone. 

Explore the deep south’s CAYJUN BACKWATERS at breakneck speeds 
where at times, the trail is so narrow, there’s only room for one truck. 
Tour the historical meadows where the civil war was fought. 

Race to Las Vegas through the top secret military base known as "AREA 
51", then plunge into an abandoned silver mine while battling for position. 
With what seems to be a low rate of frames per second, O.R.R is a little 
behind the times in the graphics department. The vehicles movements 
also seem a little blocky, though that may be because 1 neglected to 
upgrade my suspension. 

All up, if you like your vehicles big and tough, grab a couple of baddies 
and head down to the arcade for a duel in the dust. 

XXX 1/4 







w 


A 


— A Nintendo 64 , 
'mble Pak G Three E ; 


1ST) B S C R I R F 


ylat Wars with 
ra Controllers!! 


Every time you read a copy of HYPER magazine, do you weep openly at 
all the screenshots? Do you cry yourself to sleep at night, haunted by the 
sounds of Super Mario 64 emanating from the neighbours’ house? Do you 
run around the garden holding a cardboard box around your waist, pre¬ 
tending you’ve just picked up a turbo mushroom? Er... yeah... well my 
point is, you can solve all this misery in one swift stroke! Subscribe to 
HYPER (hey, you get it anyway - why not get it CHEAPER and SOONER 
than everyone else?) and you will go in the draw to win this absolutely 
incredible prize from the ever gracious Nintendo Australia... 

A Nintendo 64! A copy of Lylat Wars! A Rumble Pak! 

3 extra controllers for instant multiplayer action! 

will win a copy of Lylat Wars and a Rumble Pak! 

Woo-hoo! 

So is this simply the BEST competition you’ve ever seen? And to think that 
you’re also getting HYPER 370/0 cheaper over 12 issues or 440/0 
cheaper over 24 issues! Hurry up and subscribe to HYPER to be in it! 


(§) 






SEPTEMBER Subscription winner: JASON MCKAY, WA. 

Pme: Dark Reign. Hexen 2. Quake 2 and Heavy Gear. Lucky sod! 




How To 


Cut or copy the form and post it with a cheque or 
money order, or your credit card details, to: 

Hyper Subscriptions 

Reply Paid 634, 78 Renwick St. 

Redfern, NSW 2016 


Fax a copy of the completed form, with credit card 
details, to: 

02 93101315 


ubzcrihe. 

Fill out this coupon and mail it to HYPER, Reply Paid 634, 78 Renwick St. Redfern, NSW 2016 


Name 


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email your name and address with credit card 
details to: 

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IMgMBMBMBMBlBMBMBMgMBMBMBMBMBMBMBMBMBigMBlBM 


aBMBMagMBlSlBlBlBlBMBlBIBlBMBlBElBMBMBlBlBMB. 



IF BATTLING THE 
CYCLOPS AND THE 
FOUR-HEADED HYDRA 
ISN’T FUN ENOUCH, 
YOU CAN ALWAYS 
CO TO HADES. m t 


>hI 




V-. 






jgigiBigigigigjgMBlBiaBlBMBMBMBMBMBMBlBlBlBlBigiE 












SiaBJBlBMBMBMagiBJBigiBigMBlBIBlBigigiBIBlBIBlBigfgia 


El 



w In addition to all the other freaky 
creatures, you'll have to battle a boar. 
Which is anything but a bore. 

Zeus not only has to conquer Hades, 
but also conquer the heart of Atlanta. 
(A Herculean task, indeed.) 





In Hero's Adventures™, unlike life, to 
have a happy ending, you'll have to wind 
up in hell. After all, that's where you 
must duel with Hades, god of the 
underworld, to save civilization. 

STRENGTH OF 
CHARACTER . You'll go 

into battle as one of three 
heroic, mythological characters, 
each one with unique powers: 

Hercules possesses super strength. 

Atlanta has lightning speed. 

And, Jason - savvy street smarts. 
WEIRD WEAPONS. Sure, you get 
the usual arrows, slingshots and swords. 


So many Martians, so little time! And, 
to make matters worse, they've got 
jason surrounded with ray guns. 

Unfortunately for Atlanta, the Cyclops ► 
has a huge appetite for destruction. 

Not to mention beautiful warriors. 


http://www.lucasarts.com 

© 1997 LucasArts Entertainment Company All Rights Reserved Here's Adventures is a trademark of LucasArts Entertainment Company The LucasArts logo is a trademark of Lucasfilm ltd. used under authorisation PlayStation and 
the PlayStation logos are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment 


But, you can also arm yourself with ray 
guns, houses, sheep and inflatable cows. 

EVEN WEIRDER BAD GUYS. 

Freaky weapons are perfect for 
fighting even freakier enemies: 

A one-eyed Cyclops, the four- 
headed Hydra, and snake-haired 
Medusa. Plus sword-swinging 
skeletons, crazy clowns, nasty 
Martians and more. No wonder 
Electronic Gaming Monthly says it “...has 
you laughing too hard to fight." In the 
end, its up to you to save the world in this 
crazy twist on Greek mythology. And, if you fail? 
Well, at least you'll die laughing. 




a 


SIEIBIElEIEIEfEIEMBIBIBigiBMBlBlBiBJBJBiBiBigigisiBJBElBjgf 







































32 »HYPER 



» Oiddg hang Haring 

Nintendo 64 


HUHIlHBll • 1ST MIRHTTR RB 
[RUCOHV: RRCinC 
PIHWS: l-t 
PUBUSHIH-. niRURDO 


Diddy Kong Racing has been a very well kept secret over at Nintendo’s hidden 
laboratories. The game was not mentioned at E3, and developer Rare have not 
uttered a word about the game even though they’ve been working on it for two 
years. All of a sudden, DKR (as we’ll affectionally call it) is the N64 game on every¬ 
one’s lips. At first glance, you’d think you were staring at a sequel to the awe¬ 
somely good Mario Kart 64. Well, even though there's no Mario here, DKR may very 
well be the game to fill those shoes. Officially, this is a completely different game, 
and once you play it for awhile, you’ll agree that the gameplay in DKR is utterly 
different to Mario Kart. The new characters have allowed Rare to cook up a whole 
new take on the Kart concept, even introducing elements from other genres to 
make the game much more of a single-player experience, and in turn making the 
multiplayer game something wicked. Initially, you choose between a bunch of 
new characters (Diddy Kong from the Donkey Kong games, Conker the squirrel 
from Conker’s Quest, Banjo the bear from Banjo-Kazooie and about five other ani¬ 
mals) and take to it on small karts. As you play through the game, you will get to 
fly a small aeroplane and pilot a cool hovercraft too, with each craft having dif¬ 
ferent abilities. The aeroplane for instance, can fly around the world in complete 
3D! Racing isn’t the only aim of the game though... Rare have made the world 
much more explorable with hidden areas and powerups all over the place giving 
the gameplay more of an adventure feel to it. Some courses have other objectives 
to just winning the race, such as defeating your opponents or finding special sil¬ 
ver coins before your opponents. The courses vary quite dramatically and Rare 
promise they will be extremely interactive, with short cuts galore, speed tunnels, 
volcanoes and odd creatures to make your objectives that little bit harder. An 
exciting new element will be the inclusion of bosses at the end of every five stages, 
making the single player game more purposeful, with something like 25 levels all up 
for you to explore. Who knows, there may even be a plot! Graphically, DKR is look¬ 
ing quite superb, with Rare unveiling their new Realtime-Dynamic Animation tech¬ 
nology in the game. Basically this means the game is rendered on the fly, providing 
huger levels than was possible before due to the cart not having to carry as much 
information on it thanks to the RDA. Drool over these screen shots! DKR will also sup¬ 
port the Rumble Pak (yay!) and Memory Carts, so you gotta be happy with that. At 
this point in time, we can safely assume that DKR is going to be the best multiplay¬ 
er game on the N64. Lunchtime here at HYPER will never be the same... ef 



















KTDJfaASSHDW 

HOTOfflW** 


ONE SICK NINJA PUPPY 


v.v.'.vsbatfowwamorccm 

SfAOOVV VArWCfT* ‘ -*J'JO iVMlf'S. f-1er-u«-.-eri A,l 

Som.,1 '• Coiv GT s .1 T.iaeruwH arc re GT 'egc s •■.jsifw 


ROADSHOW 

INTERACTIVE 


b> GT inter:tctive 
omt^en 














ujoiu-o-meter 



Judge Dredd is the man, though he’d prefer to 
say that he is the Law. The 2000AD comics are leg¬ 
endary, and Mega-City One has never been faith¬ 
fully recreated in a computer game to date. 
Hopefully, Gremlin’s attempt to help us forget 
Sylvester Stallone will be a successful one, and 
Judge Dredd will once again be able to hold his 
head high in this upcoming light gun game for the 
PlayStation. Curious choice for a genre, but I guess 
a platform game or adventure doesn’t really let 
you enjoy what Judge Dredd is all about, which is 
Extreme Vengeance with a Big Gun. Over 17 levels, 
you’ll get to blast your way through an extremely 
tasty-looking collection of techy environments, 
coming up against bizarre cyborgs and evil 
weaponry. Hidden powerups will be scattered 
throughout the levels, so some fancy shooting will 
be neccessary. One thing to remember though, in 
this game the citizens must be spared ala Virtua 
Cop, so if someone’s in your way you’ll have to 
curb the Judge’s lust for Justice and let them 
through. Visually, the game is looking very special... 
word is that the game takes a few ideas from Virtua 
Cop, but let’s hope Gremlin modelled the gameplay 
on Time Crisis and god forbid they even took one 
look at Area 51. You will agree though, that the light¬ 
sourcing and backgrounds are looking cool. The 
man behind the artwork for the game is none other 
than Simon Bisley, who was an artist on the actual 
comic, so this could very well be the Judge Dredd 
game every fan has been waiting for. e f 



Uampire Sauiour 

Saturn 


MJHIIRBU: TBH 
(UMOHV: FIG HI me 
pimns: i-3 
PllBlISHIH: CHPIOm 


Darkstalkers has been a huge hit at the arcades, and it’s 
no wonder, as it’s a kick-ass game! With some of the 
funkiest characters you’ve ever had the pleasure of beat¬ 
ing around (mummies, vampires, Egyptian gods - they’re 
all here), the latest in the series, Vampire Saviour (which 
is Darkstalkers 3), is going to make it’s way to the Saturn! 
Rejoice! There are 15 playable characters in the game... 
though Pylon, Fobos and Donovan have been dropped... 
Sniff! Still, expect some cracking animation and all the 
sick moves which has made the series the excellent tonk- 
fest that it is today. There is a rumour that the game will 
make use of a 4MB cart which plugs into your Saturn to 
give it a bit of extra grunt, though don’t bet on this as the 
Virtua Fighter 3/plug-in upgrade rumour turned out to 
be absolute hooey. ef 




















PREGNANT WOMEN, INDIVIDUALS WITH BACK PROBLEMS AND 
RECOVERING HERNIA PATIENTS SHOULD NOT LIFT THIS PACKAGE. 



The Lucas Arts Archives™ Vol. Ill 

Just a ton of award-winning games. 
(Without spending a ton of money.) 


INCLUDES 

THE DIG™ • FULL THROTTLE'" ‘STAR WARS : DARK FORCES™ 
AFTERLIFE™ - MONKEY ISLAND MADNESS 
PLUS A BONUS DEMO SAMPLER 
FOR PC CD-ROM 
www. I uicasarts.com 

* 4 C1997 Lucasfttm Lid. an) LucaArls Eitortanment Compwy Ail Rights Reserved Used Under Authorization 


Exclusively distributed by 



v>: t n w 

MATURE 















uiaui-a-meter 



■£v 


Burning Bangers 


£> Grandia 


Saturn 


RURIIRBIE .• 

[RUCORV: RPC 
PIRVIRS: 1 

PUBUSRIR: CRR1E RRTS 


As if Saturn owners didn’t already have a whole 
pile of great RPCs to get stuck into, those lapanese 
programmers are positively churning them out! 
Incredibly, the standard of all these RPCs is surpris¬ 
ingly high, and this new one tentatively called 
Grandia, is looking like a beaut. The game’s creators 
have been planning, writing and generally stressing 
out over this game for around three long years, so 
not only will they be relieved to finish it, but we’ll 
be relieved to finally get to play it. The world is a 
fully rotatable polygon masterpiece, allowing you 
to view the action from any angle, yet all the char¬ 
acters have been drawn by hand. The gameplay 
appears to be classic stuff, with overhead perspec¬ 
tives and combat ala the Secret Of Mana series. 
Skywalker Sound are taking a break from their 
Hollywood movie schedule to provide the music for 
the game (wow!) and it will probably ship on two 
CDs. It’s set in the same old semi-futuristic medieval 
world, like half the other RPCs on the planet, but 
from the screenshots we see here, it’s looks like a lot 
of work has gone into making this one seriously lush 
game. If you can’t get enough RPC action, then put 
some bucks away for Grandia... ef 


Yuji Naka and the Sonic Team have been busy, but not 
on another Sonic game. In fact this doesn’t even remind 
us vaguely of Sonic or Nights, but rather something new 
and different. Burning Rangers looks like Rosco McQueen 
more than anything else we’ve seen come to think of it, 
basically because you play the part of a firefighter who 
battles with robots and saves people. Burning Rangers 
appears to be a slightly more ambitious title however, 
with what looks to be a far more interesting gaming envi¬ 
ronment, and top notch visuals. The graphics engine of 
Burning Rangers is said to be derived from the Nights 
engine, and will feature transparency effects and light 
sourcing, which are traditionally left alone in a lot of 
Saturn titles, so hopefully we’ll be seeing one of the pret¬ 
tiest Saturn games to date. Level sizes are comparable to 
those found in Tomb Raider, and your performance in 
these levels will be judged, and scored, like in Nights (the 
good old A to F system). Burning Rangers was announced 
and shown for the first time at the Tokyo Came Show and 
was at that stage was apparently only 10% complete. We’ll 
run another preview on Burning Rangers if some more 
interesting gameplay information manages to make its 
way out of the Sonic Team HQ. dt 


Ifllli'VriSHfc* 


Saturn 

RUHIlRBI(: sno auRRTER 98 
[rmbrV: be nan 

PIRVIBS: 1 
PUBUSRIR SERB 
















Storyline crammed onto three dynamic discs in possibly the biggest PlayStation v game yet! 


m PlayStation 

_ » _ ' 


Breathtaking images, extravagant real-time special effects and realistic graphics, marking a 
huge technical leap from the previous Final Fantasy titles. 

More than 40 hours of gameplay. 


SONY 


PlayStation 

4k and PlayStation are trademarks ol Sony Computer Entertainment Inc All product titles, publisher names and brands and associated imagery are trademarks and/or copyright material of their respective owners All rights reserved 
Final Fantasy VII © 19% Square Co.. Ltd All Rights Reserved Final Fantasy and Square Soft are registered trademarks of Square Co, Ltd 






















Air AIL ABLE 



Pn dtstTilwh'J In 

- ROADSHOW 
V INTERACTIVE 

http://www.interactive.vlllage.com.au 


AcWisioN 


RAV 


http://www.actlvlsion.com 


















40 »HYPER 



Belda 61 

r* Nintendo 64 

RUHIIHBK: 1ST HURRIES 1R9B 
IHmOHV RTTIOn/RDUTniURT 
pinws: 1 

puBusm n / nun00 

Zelda 64 has got to be one of the most heavily 
anticipated video games of all time, and it’s prob¬ 
ably responsible for the sale of many a Nintendo 64 
already, with the game not due until next year! 
We’re all trembling with excitement here at HYPER 
because we know that Nintendo know that Zelda 64 
simply HAS to be amazing if the Nintendo 64 is 
going to win it’s war against Sony. If Zelda turns 
out to be a big pile of poo, N64 owners will be out¬ 
raged and many gamers will lose faith in the sys¬ 
tem. The money riding on this game really is that 
big. It’s no wonder that the game keeps getting 
pushed back, as Nintendo want to make sure that 
it’s perfect. There’s no doubt that Shigeru 
Miyamoto (the genius behind Super Mario 64) 
won’t settle for anything less either, as the Zelda 
games are his babies as much as they are 
Nintendos... Anyway... link is back, and this time 
he’s just a little bit older. As opposed to the classic 
top-down perpective in the older Zelda games. 
Zelda 64 is of course going to be in gorgeous 3D 
(much like Super Mario 64) with sweeping camera 
movements and a true cinematic feel to all aspects 
of the game. One thing I still haven’t figured out - 
why is this still the Legend of Zelda, when the 
Hero’s name is Link? Zelda is the princess who just 
gets captured all the time - what’s so great about 
her?! Hmmm. We’re happy to hear that the won¬ 





derful game mechanics from the early games is 
going to remain intact, with Link pretty much get¬ 
ting around and fighting in his familiar way. As you 
can see in the screen shots, the screen layout and 
icons up in the top corners are very similar to Zelda 
on the SNES, so fans of the game should be able to 
hop right in and play. A startling fact which has 
come to light, is that the game is still arriving on 
cartridge, weighing in at an incredible 32 
Megabits! To give you an indication of how amaz¬ 
ing this is. just consider that Super Mario 64 was 
only 8 Megabits!! The gaming world in Zelda 64 is 
set to be huge, sprawling and quite simply massive 
- every adventure gamer's dream. The land is going 
to be so big that Link now is going to have to ride a 
horse around the place, so already a new element to 
the game is revealed. Another funky new idea, is 
that the game’s designers have abandoned the 
Status Bar, only to instead have Link’s sword, shield 
and clothes change in colour to indicate their 
power and strength! A great idea! Even though 
Zelda 64 is going to be full of surprises (new 
weapons, objects, enemies) lots of the old favourite 
beasties will be back looking meaner than ever. 
Gannon, the evil boss, will of course again be the 
main troublemaker, probably kidnapping the 
Princess in an attempt to obtain the Tri-Force, 
though the plot of the game has been just as secret 
as any of the other elements, so we won't know for 
sure till it’s released. You can be almost guaran¬ 
teed. though, that Zelda 64 is going to be some¬ 
thing very special indeed. ef 





© 1997 Cryo Interactive Entertainment. All rights reserved. 



DON’T WAK£ UP... 


It starts out a dream. 
Will it end a nightmare? 
■ You decide. 


OFFICE Of FILM AX» inttOT wianoN 


MATURE 

(15 YEARS & OVER) 
HIGH LEVEL 
ANIMATED VIOLENCE 


to reality 

Available on PC CD-Rom 
in November. 



Exclusively distributed by 


9 9 



CRYO 

INTI .liAvtlVF. 

I N n HT \I\MLM 













ujouj-o-meter 


PREVIEW 


s> [rime hitlers 

PlayStation 

„ HumiHBii: nouimBEn 
■< (rucohV: re non/sHoo ter 

PIHVEBS: 1-S 

- pubusheb. miERPLRV 

Crime Killers is like the bastard child of Tron and Blade 
Runner, putting you in the shoes of a futuristic cop on the 
back of a pumped up bike on a mission from Cod. Sorta. If 
G-Police was set in the streets, rather than the air and they 
took out the strategy, then maybe you'd be getting closer. 

I know, how about a cross between Tunnel Bi and... Oh this 
is silly. Just take a look at the screen shots will you?! What 
you can't tell from these images, is that Crime Killers has an 
insanely fast frame rate. I played it for a little while and 
developed a nasty headache, so er... I guess that’s good. 
Your bike (and later in the game, your car) is equipped with 
a standard gun weapon and a big. fat meaty rocket launch¬ 
er for picking off the scum in the streets. The objective it 
seems, is to race around the city blowing the living day¬ 
lights out of various criminals in their funky vehicles. The 
game plays like an eternal car chase, which is made even 
the more fun by the ridiculous speed with which you can 
tear around town. The handling of your bike is ultra sensi¬ 
tive and if you want you can do a U-turn on a dime (or is 
that 10 cents?), you can. There didn’t seem to be much else 
to the game other than chasing things and shooting at 
them, but we were playing an early version. Anyhow, 
Interplay are onto something quite original and fun here, so 
we look forward to seeing the finished game. ef 




Fighting Force 

PlayStation/PC 

HUHIlHBIE: OCTOBER 
CHIEOBBV: BERT ER1 UP 
PIHVIBS: 1-B 
PUBUSHIH : EIOOS 

Double Dragon had a rather amazing effect on video arcades, inventing 
the side scrolling beat em up. This genre eventually evolved into the 3D beat 
em up, with Die Hard Arcade being the most memorable in recent times. The 
Core Design team (Yes, the people who did Tomb Raider) are taking the 
genre further with Fighting Force. You choose to play one of four charac¬ 
ters... Just for a change a couple of them are young nubile females with open 
minds, and PVC outfits that are so form fitting, they had to be sprayed on. 
The other characters are a couple of guys whose biceps are bigger than their 
heads... but hey, all cynicism aside, this looks to be one of the best games 
in the field of beat em ups. 

For starters the inclusion of weapons is well thought out. If you smash a 
hand railing during a fight, you can grab the rail and use it as a weapon. In 
the event you get belted into a drinks machine, a bottle may well pop out 
which you can use as a weapon. Each character is said to have around 40 to 
50 different moves, although we’ve heard this before with beat em ups and 
been let down, so hopefully Core will come through with the goods to add 
some depth here. The 3D environments in Fighting Force look like they offer 
a lot more freedom than in Die Hard Arcade, and the environment certainly 
looks more interactive. 

Fighting Force also features an arena mode, so you can play it just like a 
fighting game, rather than have to play through the twenty five stages over 
and over. Should be a good 'un. di 



CM 






MORTAR 


You what? Ooh no, the 
only game I know's the 
building game. Not much 
call for computers round here. 
Unique cinematic 
interface? More than my 
job's worth matey. 

Build an entire city by 
Monday? Right-o! 


AVAILABLE TO 

BORN BUILDER? FROM? 

NOW 

on PCCD-^ROM 




COSTTlCTtf 


LOW LEVEL 
ANIMATED VIOLENCE 


Constructor™ & © 1997 Acclaim Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Acclaim is a registered trademark of Acclaim Entertainment. Original concept developed by System 3 






















s> Hair lire 


PC 

RUHIIHBU : TBR 

(HUCOHV: 1ST PEHSon SHOOTER 
PIRVERS: 1-38 
PUBUSREB. SI EH RH 


Half Life was one of the most impressive games at this year’s 
E3, being one of the few "Quake-killers” that actually looked like 
it could challenge Quake 2. The 3D environments are simply 
stunning, with transparent windows and water and coloured 
lighting in a nice techy sci-fi setting. In fact, you get to explore 
a decomissioned missile-base where there have been some 
creepy experiments. Now, those experiments are on the loose, 
and you have the military and a host of bizarre aliens after your 
nads. Based on the Quake engine, Half-Life has been created 
using some fancy new rendering technology so that more tex¬ 
tures, transparencies and coloured lighting can be used on a PC 
in 16-bit mode without 3D acceleration. How considerate! Of 
course, if you do have a munching 3D accelerator then you can 
run the game in 24-bit colour and have it looking as smooth as 
butter in the sun. The character animation and AI should be pret¬ 
ty mean too, with enemy soldiers actually having to crouch and 
re-load in the midst of fire fights! Whack one full of a few bul¬ 
lets, and watch the arterial spray! If there are more than one 
monsters in a room, they’ll even pack together to gang up on you 
as opposed to the one-on-one suicide attacks seen in other 1st 
Person Shooters. On the multiplayer side of things, Half-Life will 
support up to 32 players simultaneously! Woohoo! The architec¬ 
ture and monsters are both looking like something special, so 
expect Half-Life to be an immersive gaming experience. ef 



s> Battlespire 


I 

1 

Q 

1 

I 



PC 


RURHRBU. TBR 
[RUBDRV: BPS 
PIRVERS : 1 TO OWl Tl 
PUBLISHER: BETHESOH 


a The Elder-Scrolls series is going from strength to strength, with the awe- 

w some Daggerfall wowing gamers with it’s huge world and 3D engine and 

now here comes Battlespire which is shaping up to be possibly the great- 
2 est Bethesda RPC yet. Though not officially the sequel to Daggerfall (that’s 

in the works), it’s still an Elder Scroll game and the story goes like this... 
Battlespire is a training facility and the ultimate war college for the 
^ Emperor’s personal guard. You set out to visit the place, determined to 


test out your skills. When you arrive at Battlespire, you find all the warriors 
dead and the place empty. Not good. It’s seems that the Daedra Prince 
Mehrunes Dagon has taken Battlespire as his own dominion, meaning that 
you’ve just walked into the midst of an even greater challenge than you 
had previously thought. As is the usual RPC way, you create and custom 
make your character and then wander off into a richly textured new 3D 
world, which looks like the most stunning Elder-Scrolls game to date. With 
3Dfx support, the game is not only going to be high-res, high-colour and 
smooth as a baby’s butt but it means that Battlespire is way more action 
based than it’s predecessor, Daggerfall. Hell, they’ve actually included a 
multiplayer mode where you can play Team Vs. Computer, Team Vs. Team 
or Deathmatch! Yeehaw! Imagine being able to use your custom made 
spells in Deathmatch! The system specs for the game thankfully look very 
realistic, with the minimum currently standing at a Pentium 90. The game 
is nowhere near as large as Daggerfall and has a tighter single-player 
story but Bethesda still project it to be a 40 hour plus game. Phew! As long 
as Bethesda have retained the depth of gameplay they’re now reknowed 
for, and all goes to plan, Battlespire is going to rock our gaming world, e f 












Gran Turismo 


PlayStation 

& *+ 

MJMimt: TBR 

i 

ehuobbv. rreirg 

Q 

pinms. i -8 

a 

pubiisheb, sonv 

_11 1 


If you’ve ever thought the replay mode in racing games 
was useless, dull and trivial, then wait until you wrap your 
eyes around Gran Turismo. From the early demo we got to 
play, the replay mode of the race is one of the most realistic 
and staggeringly watchable in a videogame to date. Never 
before have we crowded around in the office to bother 
watching a replay of a race, until we had a go at Gran 
Turismo. It's bloody good. As for the game, well that too was 
pretty impressive. It’s been a big secret over at Sony up until 
right now, so as soon as we sniffed it out, we just had to take 
a look at this polished racer. lust about every street car you 
can name is selectable in the game, from a Honda Civic to 
an Aston Martin, you can hoon around in a whole variety of 
sexy cars. The handling was very smooth, and maybe a tad 
unrealistic, but the demo only allowed us to drive in Arcade 
Mode so that could well explain why the car never seemed 
to really lose it around corners or over the grass. In Gran 
Turismo mode, you can buy and alter a new or used car from 
any of the car manufacturers and use it to achieve your 
petrol-head glory on a huge array of beautifully realistic 
tracks. The graphics are really solid, with hardly any pop-up 
and the cars look nice and shiny, reflecting their surround¬ 
ings as you pull them through the circuits. In fact, in some 
ways Gran Turismo is reminiscient of Porsche Challenge, 
both in it’s looks and physics. It’s too early to really make 
any judgements about Gran Turismo, safe to say the game is 
looking very, very good. ef 











[astleuania Gt 

Nintendo 64 

■a 

HUfHMBlt : tTR BURR TER 199B % 

tnncoHV: retior/rduerture ± 

piums: 1 i 

publishes: honRmi I 

a 


In the last issue of HYPER, I stated in my preview of Castlevania for the 
PlayStation how great it was that Konami had chosen to stick to 2D for the 
upcoming Symphony Of The Night. Well, tear up those words, stick them in a 
bun and smother it in tomato sauce, cause I’m having them for lunch! 
Castlevania is coming to the Nintendo 64, and not only is it going to be in full 
3D, but it’s going to take the Castlevania series to new heights. In this new 
installment, you’re back as Simon Belmont the cool Vampire hunter and with 
your trusty whip in hand, you’re off again to beat the living daylights out of any 
foolish undead monster to wander in your path. There will be two other charac¬ 
ters to choose from at some stage in the game too, a young girl with magic abil¬ 
ities and a beefy-looking pirate type with a pistol. Castlevania 64 looks similar 
to Zelda and Super Mario in it’s execution, though the Castlevania series has a 
definite style of it’s own, so expect it to stay true to what fans all over the world 
will be expecting - which is more candle-whipping and lots of platforms! All the 
characters will be fully-polygonal, with yet more fancy camera perspectives to 
dip in and out of the action to help and hinder your progress. The game is still 
a long way off though, so we'll check back on the game when it’s getting clos¬ 
er to it’s release. For know, sit back and oogle at the pics. ef 


45 »H Y PE R 








top off yolr c 


aN award WiNNiNd 


COLLECTION 




4 \ |nC 'c 
Kin* 4 


huj’a (@ucat 1 

2vmg’a (fhaat 2 
iKnrn’a ©ueat 3 


COLLECTION 


Leisure Suit Larry 1 


COLLECTION 


Leisure Suit Larry 2 


Leisure Suit Larry 3 uUEST FOR GLORY 1 


QUEST FOR GLORY 2 


QUEST FOR GLORY 3 


Uoi 

vei 





























































Quest 1 


Silent Thunder 


Ultra Pintail 


Red Baron i 


The ImmlrM* 


A-io Tank Killer 


M whine J.o 


Hoyle Classic Cmes 


Ace oy the Pacific 


they'll find an activity to make the 


Exclusively distributed by 


dullest day brighter. 


• > , n clu^‘ 


SI997 Sierra On-Line. Inc. All rights reserved ® and ™ designate trademarks of. or licensed to Sierra On-Une. Inc. All ngtits reserved 

















































48 »HYPER 


REVIEW PLAYSTATION 



Good lord, could it be? It seems that LucasArts 
have released a game that has nothing whatso¬ 
ever to do with Star Wars. Strange, but true. 
Nevertheless, Here’s Adventures is a damn fine 
game based upon the exploits of ancient 
mythological Greek bloke, Hercules. It doesn’t 
appear to be a license of either the TV series or 
the new movie, which is odd. But perhaps that 
explains why they didn’t use Here’s full name in 
the title. 

Incorporating a number of Greek gods and 
legends, the plot behind Here’s Adventures 
concerns Hades (the God of the Underworld) 
kidnapping Persephone (the Goddess of 
Agriculture), causing all the crops, fields and 
water throughout the land to die and dry up. 
Zeus (the God of the Cods) calls upon Hercules 
and his dual sidekicks, Atlanta and Jason, to 
ask Hades if he would just step outside for a 
moment. Nah, it’s not as simple as that. Here 
has to journey around ancient Greece and 
Egypt, visiting Athens, Crete and the like, to 
receive assistance from Zeus’ fellow gods, Hera, 
Athena, Poseidon, etc. Eventually, he’ll meet 
up with Hades, give him a good tonk, then 
make off with Persephone for a nice, happy 
ending. 












Greek or Japanese? 

Structurally, the game is similar to a lapanese RPC like Zelda or Final Fantasy, and 
to a limited extent it plays like one. too. You have a fair degree of freedom to wan¬ 
der around the place, back and forth between towns and other areas, and people 
give you various tasks to complete. But the actual gameplay isn’t quite so sophisti¬ 
cated (and, believe me, Zelda and FF are very clever games). Puzzles are kept to a 
minimum for the most part, meaning much of your time will instead be spent dis¬ 
patching Hades' legion of minions back to the Underworld from whence they came. 
Skeletons are the basic monster, and you’ll find them unsparingly littered over the 
land, often coming at you in groups of ten or more. Soldiers can be a real pain to 
kill, as can the boars that rush across your path and the carnivorous fish that infest 
all waterways. The giant cyclops should be avoided at any costs, as they hurl boul¬ 
ders and can crush you between the palms of their great hands. Most amusing, 
though, are the deranged, toothless old women who keep trying to pull Here’s loin¬ 
cloth off whenever he turns his back. Found at the end of each area are the tradition¬ 
al bosses. These also come from Creek mythology, so Here will be up against the 
Minotaur, Medusa, Hydra, and Cereberus, Hades’ vicious three-headed dog. 

Greek Ninjas ? 




The game that Here’s Adventures reminds me of most is that 
old SNES favourite. Legend Of The Mystical Ninja. Anyone who 
enjoyed that excellent little game will find much that is also to 
their liking in Here. It’s the sense of fun that gets to you - 
whether it’s the piles of garbage you can pick up as a special 
weapon (so that you’re lobbing fish bones and old socks at 
the enemy), or the ’’Population” sign in the Underworld that’s 
virtually a blur as it rapidly increases, there’s just so much in 
this game to keep you interested. You can collect hot peppers 
and then breathe flames at monsters, while animal traps can 
be dropped to lure the hapless boar. Fat, moustachioed men 
will sell you kebabs to restore your health, while scribes in 
each village act as save points. Birds are available to lend a 
helping claw, as you can get them to circle around you in 
combat to ward off your foe - or even steal the heads of any 
skeletons! Inflatable cows can be planted as decoys to further 
assist in a fight, Muscle Men will help you improve your 
strength for a price, when you get killed you are sent to the 
Underworld and have to battle your way back out (a sure 
incentive not to die if ever there was!), and countless more 
novel, funny or just barking mad ideas combine to make Here 
a thoroughly entertaining romp. 

If I had to make a few complaints I would suggest that the 
save points tend to be too far apart, necessitating some 
tedious backtracking at times, and the relentless combat can 
get a bit monotonous - but it’s no worse in that respect than 
something like Legacy Of Kain and here you’re always guaran¬ 
teed of finding something of new interest soon after anyway. 
The lovely, big cartoon graphics compensate very well for 
these couple of negatives and the successful multiplayer 
option that allows two people to play at once (as any of the 
three characters) is a huge bonus. Oh, and an extra two marks 
for when Jason yells out, "Here’s a wimp!”, at seemingly ran¬ 
dom moments during the game. 



AVAILABLE: NOV 


CATEGORY: 

ACTION/AOVENTU RE 


PLAYERS: 1*2 


PUBLISHER: LUCASARTS 


PRICE: *89.95 


RATING: G 



HYPER» 49 





















50 »HYPER 


REVIEW PLAYSTATION 



Final Fantasy VII 

r\_r___ j ~ L ^ l^ 


Dan Toose went on holiday and only took one game with him 
The long awaited Final Fantasy VII. 


— J 

*4fc&** w ^ i 


& 







Every once in a while we get a game that we’ve been 
hanging for, for so long that you almost believe it’ll never 
arrive. It happened with games like Quake, and it hap¬ 
pened again with Final Fantasy VII. Many console RPCs can 
be summed up as "cute”, and be pretty much left at that, 
with the appeal being limited to those that have grown to 
understand and love the genre. Final Fantasy VII is more 
akin to being an epic fantasy movie as opposed to just 
being "another Japanese RPC". 

Final Fantasy VII is based on a fictional world that is essential¬ 
ly under the rule of a company called Shinra Inc. which have a 
monopoly on the power source of the planet, Mako energy. The game 
starts with you working as a mercenary in a terrorist group known as 
Avalanche which are trying to destroy Shinra’s mako reactors which are 
essentially bleeding the planet dry of energy and life. Within FF7 how¬ 
ever, there are countless subplots which all meld together in what can 
only be described as one of the most amazing RPC experiences the 
world has ever seen. 

lapanese RPCs are traditionally pretty unimpressive visually, with 
simple little sprites moving through low res environments. We wonder if 
we’ll ever see another one like that again, because Final Fantasy VII 
destroys any conceptions that jap RPGs can’t be a visual treat. To create 
a sense that you’re in a part of a massive world, a game needs to be 
non-repetitive, and FF7 has countless background scenes that help 
make each area you walk into, actually stick out in your mind as being 
somewhere new. The art department for Final Fantasy VII have done an 
outstanding job, with each background capturing that feel of a future 
civilization mixed with archaic magic and natural wonder. The back¬ 
grounds also include depth, and the way you move around from scene 
to scene looks totally natural, and cinematic. 

The characters themselves are all made up from polygons, and this 
has allowed for character animation which includes a lot more humour 
and charm than sprite based RPCs do. Even the outdoors map mode 
looks great, and works on a 3D engine, which really helps give you a 
better idea of your surroundings. 

Besides simply getting around, the game also has combat scenes, 
where you get more detailed versions of the characters, going at it, 
depending on what orders you give them. The actual attacks of the 
characters don't look that amazing, but the magic does. 

The music in FF7 leaves other games in the genre for dead, and 
although is probably the least impressive element of the game, it is still 
of a very high standard. The tempo of music changes when you’re 
fighting boss monsters, etc. The sound effects of various attacks and 
spells is good. The only possible let down with FF7 is that since the 
whole thing is on CD, perhaps speech could have been included. Some 
may argue that this would destroy the sense of character that you make 
up in your mind, but the rest of the production is so over the top, and 
polished, that it would have completed the entire package perfectly... 

Oh well. 


HYPER» 51 




52 »HYPER 


REVIEW PLAYSTATION 




SUB-GAME CITY 

To break the routine, Squaresoft have included numerous sub 
games within FF7 to help make you feel like you’re really partici¬ 
pating in all the action as opposed to just watching it in FMV. 
Some of the sub games include snowboard riding, riding a 
motorcycle and taking on other bikers attacking your friends, 
chocobo racing, administering CPR, and even doing power 
squats! There’s even a sub sub-game (you do underwater sub 
combat) As silly and off the wall as some of these things may 
sound, they fit into the game perfectly, and add so much. 
Coolest of the lot was easily the motorcycle section, which 
instantly reminded us of Akira, except that instead of chains and 
clubs, you swing your enormous sword either side of the bike, 
taking out the goons trying to capture your friends escaping in 
a ute. What we found even more amusing was that the handling 
felt better in this sub game than in a lot of the racing games 
we’ve seen this past year. 

















Squaresoft have approached Final Fantasy VII with an 
open mind, and have really worked on making the game 
as playable as possible. An example of the cleverly 
thought out game mechanics can be seen in shopping 
for items. When you go to buy a new weapon, it shows 
you who in your party can use it, what their current 
attack strength is, and what their attack strength would 
be if they used this new weapon. It’s a simple thing to 
do, but for so many years we’ve had to stuff around by 
equipping everything and making mental notes of 
which gear gave you the best value... Tedious stuff. At 
all times, menus are easy to use, and once you've played 
the game for a few minutes, you’ll be able to access any¬ 
thing you want in a flash. 

Your objectives are always pretty clear, and the puz¬ 
zles throughout are cool. Rather than stump you on an 
extremely hard puzzle, Square opted to included hard 
puzzles so you can earn some extra special secrets. 

Combat is handled slightly differently to your average 
RPC in that time constantly ticks over, yet you still issue 
commands as you would in a turn based combat system. 
In other words, if you stuff around too long, you'll miss 
your turn. Sometimes waiting a few secs can help you 
better decide your plan of attack, and other times doing 
everything as quickly as possible will be the key to vic¬ 
tory. This is the only aspect of the game which may pos¬ 
sibly scare the mainstream away. If you’ve never played 
a jap RPC, don’t let this indirect way of handling the 
action deter you if you haven't given it a go. If you are 
into this style of game, you’ll love the way FF7 combat is 
set up. The boss monsters are generally perfectly bal¬ 
anced to ensure they'll provide an adequate challenge 
for your party. 

Of course besides combat and travelling there’s also 
diversions like sub-games and gambling to help spice 
things up. Regardless which way you look at it, Final 
Fantasy VII has outstanding gameplay throughout, and 
is easily one of the most comprehensive RPCs to date. 

There’s around 50 to 55 hours of gameplay from start 
to finish, which might not sound like much, but that’s 
all progressive gameplay, not just walking through the 
same environments over and over. Also, you’ll never find 
everything on your first trip through, and there are 
numerous points where your actions can lead to differ¬ 
ent outcomes in certain areas. 




HYPER» 53 





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MAGIC, MATERIA AND SUMMONING 

As mentioned, the combat in Final Fantasy VII 
looks great, and whilst the physical combat looks 
okay, the magic looks fantastic, with cinematic 
spell sequences that will have you dying to have a 
need for that spell again. The magic system in 
Final Fantasy VII works differently to most RPGs, 
in that rather than your characters developing 
their personal spell powers, they simply have a 
rating for magical aptitude, but their real power 
is determined by Materia. Materia is a crystalline 
compound of Mako energy, which has a specific 
focus, that allows the bearer to wield that type of 
magic. The Materia actually develops simply by 
having it equipped into the slots in your weapons 
and armour (yeah, we don’t know why you have 
slots there either, but who cares?). This allows you 
to experiment with different combinations of 
spell selection for the different members of your 
party. Some Materia works in unison with other 
Materia, like "Enemy-Air Materia which causes 
the Materia in the coupled slot to affect all your 
adversaries. 

While zapping your opponent with a bolt of 
lightning might look pretty cool, it’s nothing 
compared to the visual treat of summoning a 
powerful spirit to attack your foes with some 
serious firepower. The Summon Materia ranges 
from calling a fire demon that gives your oppo¬ 
nents a brief roasting... through to the ridicu¬ 
lous might of Neo-Bahamut, which tears up the 
chunk of earth the enemy stands upon, raises it 
to the heavens, where the granddaddy of all 
dragons obliterates the baddies, plus the huge 
mound of earth in one fell breath of destructive 
energy. Even if you don't like this type of game, 
no one will be able to deny that the magic in 
Final Fantasy VII is worth watching on it’s own. 






















What a plct 

The best thing about FF7 is the thoroughly engrossing plot, which 
will suck in anyone who starts playing the game and reads any of the 
conversation text. Whilst you control a main character, you also con¬ 
trol his companions, and as a result end up delving into their person¬ 
alities, histories, and their general role in the scheme of the whole 
story. So many RPCs have very stale predictable storylines, where you 
play the hero who essentially just amasses enough power to take on 
the forces of nastiness, and then does so. FF7 includes huge elements 
of mystery, character development, background, with such twists as 
your main character having a blank space in their memory which 
seems vital to understanding exactly what's going on in the game. 
Squaresoft have gone to unheard of lengths to ensure you finish Final 
Fantasy VII with the same sort of satisfaction that you get when you go 
and see a really good movie, except only better in that you feel like 
you really took part in the story. Most games suffer from the lack of 
reward for your perseverance and devotion to the game, and FF7 sets a 
shining example of how to make a gamer feel happy with their efforts. 
None of that "You won, thank you for playing" crap... FF7, has big 
chunks of FMV and pre-animated cut scenes that tell the story in full, 
and breathe true life into the world. Most games simply piss you off 
whenever long cut scenes are introduced, but there’s so much you 
want to learn and find out, and the way FF7*s cut scenes slowly reveal 
new bits of information is nothing short of perfect. 1 could probably 
waffle on about the plot for several pages, but I’d be taking away the 
best part of the game from you... play it through and find out your¬ 
self, it’s well worth it. 

There’s no other way to sum up Final Fantasy VII other than to call it 
the greatest jap RPC epic of all time. Prior to this game I don’t think I 
could say I ever played a jap RPC that had that same feeling of being 
in some huge epic adventure with a totally immersive world like 
Richard Cariot’s Ultima games, but FF7 has definitely fulfilled that 
wish. The game may be visually impressive enough to pull some new¬ 
comers into the genre, but we wouldn’t be surprised if those that 
found lap RPCs boring before, also find FF7 tedious. It really depends 
if you can handle the turn based combat or not. Anyone who ever 
enjoyed an RPC should definitely check this one out. There’s around 50 
to 55 hours of gameplay from start to finish, which might not sound 
like much, but that’s all progressive gameplay, not just walking 
through the same environments over and over. Also, you’ll never find 
everything on your first trip through, and there are numerous points 
where your actions can lead to different outcomes in certain areas 



HYPER» 55 

















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REVIEW PLAYSTATION 



Croc has been hyped up to be the PlayStation’s answer to 
Super Mario 64, but there’s no point in drawing too many com¬ 
parisons, because these games are on two separate platforms. 
However, there’s no doubt that Croc should have been sooooo 
much better, and I can’t help but feel Fox Interactive have 
stuffed this one up. Croc looks great, but it suffers from very 
poor level design and an annoying control system that makes 
playing Croc more frustrating than fun. ’’But it looks great in the 
screenshots!” I hear you all cry, and yes it does, but we all know 
that great graphics does not maketh a great game, and I feel that 
Croc has had too much attention paid to it’s looks and not 
enough to it’s overall gameplay. 

Did Someone Say Linear ? 

Croc lives in a truly beautiful 3D world, with a host of colourful, 
nicely animated creatures. Each level consists of a variety of plat¬ 
forms, crystals and out of reach objects (as is the case in most plat¬ 
formers), requiring Croc to make his way to the exit collecting what 
he can on the way. What you may expect from the screenshots, is a 
large, wide-open explorable world - but the reality, is that each 
level has been constructed in what seems to be a small shoebox, 
with your path to the exit clearly marked out with either a trail of 
crystals or a one-way path of platforms suspended over deadly 
things. The design of these levels is totally disregarding the beauty 
of a 3D world, in that you can go in, out, through, under and over - 
exits can be hidden, and puzzles can be introduced. But Croc still 
feels like a 2D platformer the whole time. There’s only ever one 
proper way to go, and there’s no challenge or "requirement” to pass 
through the level... if you wish you can just walk straight to the exit. 
Why?! Some areas begin with so much promise and then reveal 
themselves to be pointless collections of hanging platforms and 
annoying enemies. The bosses are probably the best bits of the 


WHERE’S A BRIDGE WHEN YOU NEED ONE? SHOULD HAVE LEFT THAT MUSHROOM FOR MARIO 








Hi m 


AVAILABLE: NOW 


CATEGORY: PLATFORM 


PLAYERS: 1 


PUBLISHER: FOX 


PRICE: S89.95 


RATING: G 


FREAKOMETER 


Platformers are for 
everybody 


VISUALS 

Gorgeous, lovely, 
stunning 


SOUND 

B “I 

Very, very lush 
and fun 


GAMEPLAY 

in 

for the younger gamer 


OVERALL 

11 

Fun boss monsters, 
with miles of 
tedium inbetween 


game, as not only do they look really cool, but as you would 
expect, they’re fun to beat and the animation is great. Croc usually 
just whips them with his tail or jumps on them, but the environ¬ 
ments are fun and there's real charm in the characters. I must say. 
Croc is exceptionally cute and he’s been lovingly created, but the 
little guy is annoying to control. Unlike Mario, who turns and inter¬ 
acts with his environment as a separate entity, Croc can’t turn 
around without the whole world rotating with him and sometimes 
this can prove to be fatal. The camera is always fixed on Croc, 
rather than being adjustable for the gamer to position where he or 
she needs. lumping platforms sometimes means you can’t see the 
platform you’re jumping to when Croc reaches the top of his jump! 
If the camera was fixed at an angle - you’d be able to not only 
judge distances between platforms, but you’d actually be able to 
see where it is that you’re falling!! 


Amphibious Reptiles Anonymous 

As in the Sonic games, when Croc gets hit he drops everything 
he is carrying (in this case crystals - which are your "health”) and 
if you are then touched again - you die. Unless of course, you 
manage to pick any of them up again before they vanish. 
Basically, this means that whether you have i or 50 crystals it 
doesn’t make a difference to your vulnerability. Get hit twice in 
succession and you die. Why? Why can’t Croc slowly lose his 
health when he gets hit, making picking up crystals more pur¬ 
poseful? In most cases you’ll want to just walk straight to the exit 
to finish the level and just ignore all the crystals and any of the 
challenges just to save you the bother - there’s nothing here to 
encourage the gamer. Another thing here, is that if you do hap¬ 
pen to die, you’re back at the start of the level and must traverse 
it's dangers again - rather than just losing a life and continuing 
on - like in most platformers. The design in this game just let’s 
everything else down - Croc looks and sounds beautiful but the 
levels are way too si 


HYPER» 61 















62 »HYPER 


REVIEW PLAYSTATI0 N 



I’m very proud of my trusty PlayStation. Why? Because it 
can produce remarkably gorgeous games like Rapid Racer, 
that’s why. Big, solid, colourful, lightning fast polygons fly¬ 
ing around my screen like the world is going to end tomor¬ 
row and gameplay that gets your butt cheeks clenching. It's 
enough to make any cynical gamer proud of the hardware 
they handed over good cash for. Rapid Racer is a fantastical¬ 
ly well made game, which pushes the PlayStation to extremes 
no-one previously thought it could reach. The programmers 
have unearthed a few tasty tricks to force the PlayStation into 
achieving impressive visuals at a blisteringly fast frame rate. 
When you see Rapid Racer for the very first time, you'd swear 
it was on the Nintendo 64, it really is that pretty. The next 
thing you’ll notice, is that the game looks a bit similar to 
Wipeout 2097 • and you'd be quite right. But once you actu¬ 
ally have a go at racing one of the speedboats in this game, 
you’ll realise that Rapid Racer is quite unique. It really does 
feel like you’re racing through turbulent water, and getting 
the hang of this will take you a while, but in the end you’ll 
be hooked. 


Tearing Through The Foam 

It’s quite a sickening sensation bouncing around on the 
water, ripping through hairpin turns, fighting with the swell 
at 50 frames per second. Yeah, you heard me, 50 frames per 
second! Hell, the NTSC version plays at 60 fps! There is no 
other racing game quite like this on the PlayStation to date 
(bar Wipeout 2097). and no doubt the developers are onto 
some sort of driving game using the same engine. Rapid 
Racer also has the most solid, realistic backgrounds I've seen 
in a PlayStation game, making this one hell of a pleasant 
experience for the old eyeballs. The boats feel ultra-realistic, 
and you can feel the water virtually pushing your boat where 
it doesn’t want to go. You’re trying to turn into a corner, but 
depending where you are, the water is simply swelling the 
other way, so bad luck buddy! The way your chosen craft 
lurches over lapping waves, and bumps off the odd rock is 
quite rad and it’ll feel bizarre at first, but Sony have done a 
great job at capturing a water-racing sensation. The default 
camera view is just above and behind your boat, but by 
pushing the Select button you can race just above the water, 
or from the bow of your boat - the latter perspectives giving 
you the greater sensations of speed. You’ll probably barf all 
over your PlayStation though. My only gripe would be that 
your boat never leaves the centre of the screen, so at times it 
looks "stuck on". This and the fact that the water tends to 
look more solid than liquid, with dips and ridges that seem 
to be in the same place as you do your laps. These don’t 













really affect the gameplay though, as Rapid Racer is akin to Wipeout 
2097 in the sense that it’s a ’’trance” racing game. You end up 
spending the race looking ahead at the corner after the corner 
you’re in, lining up your boat, rather than looking at what’s hap¬ 
pening around you. Once you get into a flow, you really do fall into 
some sort of racing ’’trance”, and this is when you know that you’re 
having an intense gaming experience. 

Lets Ot Courses 

There are three initial courses in Rapid Racer, but if you race well 
and finish in the top three, you’ll unlock another two cool tracks. If 
this isn’t enough for you, then you’ll be happy to know that once 
you crack those, you get to race all the tracks again at night, which 
not only looks very tasty, but it makes the turns that little bit harder 
to see and provides a smidgen of extra challenge. Now, once you 
polish these off, you have to race mirror versions for each of the five, 
which is just as good really as a bunch of extra tracks. And if you’re 
still unhappy, then you may want to know that there is also one 
majorly vicious rapid-crazy course which you can unlock at the end 
of the game. Sony have also hinted that there’s something extra cool 
for those of you who actually complete every course in the game, 
which could potentially make Rapid Racer an infinitely fun game 
(Like a fractal driven random course generator). I didn’t get to see it 
though, so I guess that's something for all you freaky freaks to try 
and discover. Did I mention split-screen? Yes indeed. Rapid Racer 
has an awesome two-player mode, and you can’t really beat some 
good two-player action. There’s a slight difference in the graphical 
quality, but ail up, the game performs really well - and it’s a multi¬ 
player win. Some bunch of techno dudes called Apollo 440 have 
provided the funky soundtrack, and there’s the standard crazy 
american announcer commenting throughout the race, and from 
every angle, Rapid Racer is a classy product. 





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64 »HYPER 


REVIEW PLAYSTATION 



As far as I’m concerned, The Lost World (the movie) started promisingly enough. 

My mouth was agape with awe when those brontosauruses (or whatever, I'm not really 
an expert in dino identification) came crashing out of the jungle and splashing 
through the creek. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from the time Pete Postlethwaite 
arrived with his cretinous band of hunters and the film descended into cliched mon¬ 
ster movie stodge. The fact that there were dinosaurs seemed purely incidental - they 
may as well have been aliens, giant vegetables or twenty-foot tall gorillas for all the 
difference it would have made. And most of the action sequences managed to be 
remarkable only for how boringly tedious they were. 

By comparison, The Lost World (the game) also looks promising to begin with. 
Essentially, it’s a platform game in a similar vein to the recent Pandemonium, 
but with sufficient original and interesting ideas to make it different - if not 
actually better. Pandemonium, if you remember, was a 2D side-on platformer 
that tried to appear 3D thanks to a moving camera view. Here, Dreamworks 
Interactive have done the same thing for The Lost World. When controlling your 
dino (or human), you move left or right along a fixed path. These will more often 
than not take you behind rocks, around trees, or even at angles heading into or 
out of the screen, with your view of the action turning, retreating or zooming 
depending upon the situation. 








2 or 3 D? 

Expanding on the Pandemonium formula, though, the lev¬ 
els of The Lost World are not always linear. Every now and 
again, often several times on a level, the path you’re follow¬ 
ing will branch in two, leaving you to decide which way to 
go. This is a good idea, as it gives just that bit more freedom 
and keeps you alert for new ways to go. Another good idea is 
the fact that you get to play as three dinosaurs as well as a 
human. The first levels have you as a dinky little 
Compsognathus (or Compy for short), while later you’ll be a 
Velociraptor, one of the human hunters, and then (of course) 
you are a T-Rex. Each one plays in a way vastly different to 
the last (speed, abilities, modes of attack all change) and go 
quite some distance to adding the right amount of variety 
that platform games sorely need. Oddly, the human levels 
tend to work best, that grappling hook is a thing of great 
beauty and damn useful in a tight spot as well. It’s not quite 
enough, though, since a lot of the game is basically mediocre 
platform jumping and dodging. 

My! ycure handsome ... 

Compensating at least to some extent, are the graphics. 
Cranted, the first few levels, and the odd ones a bit later, 
appear to be pretty drab and nondescript - slabs of green or 
brown for the ground and the occasional tree or log aren't 
particularly exciting. Wait until about level four, and then 
almost all of the raptor and human levels, and the visual side 
of the equation starts looking far more attractive. You’ll see 
vibrant jungles pulsing with life, caves stuffed with waterfalls 
and contraptions, buildings teeming with crates and tear gas, 
and underwater bits, too. Spoiling this somewhat is the rather 
poor collision detection that raises its ugly head at times, 
can’t even begin to tell you how maddening it is to think 
you’ve made a particular jump, only to see your hapless dino 
fall straight through a perfectly solid floor to his death on the 
rocks below. 

Where The Lost World really does fall down and struggles to 
reach even the Triassic Age of gameplay, is with the controls. 
They suck, to be brutally honest. You never feel utterly confi¬ 
dent that what you think you're doing with the control pad is 
going to happen on screen. All four characters are just too 
unwieldy to feel comfortable with. They move either too 
quickly or too slowly, too far or not quite far enough, and 
you’re never exactly sure what they’ll do. Frequently I found 
myself pressing buttons then waiting for the animation to 
catch up. 

Couple this with the bad collision detection, the surprising¬ 
ly high level of difficulty, and the way you keep dying when 
you’re the T-Rex because he takes too damn long to eat those 
puny dinos and so doesn’t turn around in time to stop those 
other pesky critters from nibbling at his tail, and you have a 
game that had the chance to be good, but never quite suc¬ 
ceeds. And that game is The Lost World. 




HYPER» 65 




















66 »HYPER 


REVIEW PLAYSTATION 


Rosco McQueen 





We all like a man who can grip his hose with confidence. 
That’s why Eliot Fish get to review this one... 


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He may sound like Steve McQueen’s long lost brother, but 
Rosco McQueen is but a quirky new PlayStation hero with a 
funky haircut. Rosco gets up in the morning, slips on his stur¬ 
dy boots and grabs his backpack, then spends about five 
hours in front of the mirror perfecting his quiff. He’s a bit like 
Agent Armstrong, maybe a bit like Duke Nukem, but whatever 
was his inspiration, one thing’s for certain - Rosco is as 
cheesy as Hell. That’s if Hell is filled with vintage dairy pro¬ 
duce of course. He’s a smug, wise-cracking sock full of poly¬ 
gons in a game full of gratuitous coloured lighting effects. In 
fact, this is probably the most colourful 3D action title I’ve 
seen in ages - maybe due to the fact that the programmers 
were definitely trying to capture some sort of 1950’s cartoon 
feel to the graphics. I can see elements of everything from Ren 
D Stimpy to the Jetsons in there, yet sometimes the polygon 
art can look rather amatuerish as well. Rosco’s main objective 
is to stop the building from burning down by travelling from 
level to level, tonking the evil robots and putting out the fires 
with his powerful hose. Before you picture some superhero 
freak with a bladder problem, let me tell you that Rosco is in 
fact a futuristic firefighter. Thankgoodness for that. 


Dent Wizz On The electric Fence 

The 3D engine in Rosco McQueen is kinda like a simplified 
version of Tomb Raider. Rosco wanders through and hacks at 
things with his axe. and can also climb up onto ledges, jump 
gaps and operate switches and things. The camera is posi¬ 
tioned behind Rosco the whole time, but the camera perspec¬ 
tive zooms in and out depending on where you’re standing in 
the room. The game moves quite fast, and I actually devel¬ 
oped quite a bad feeling of motion sickness from the constant 


TIME FOR SOME nOT TONKIN 






rotation of the camera when Rosco turns left or right. 

But then, I’ve been getting a lot of headaches playing 
games lately... maybe it’s a symptom of late 9o’s 3D 
polygon overload. Anyway... take Rosco into a room 
and you'll notice there’s some pink robot putting fire¬ 
bombs near piles of boxes, which promptly explode 
and set the goods alight. Bastard! You now have to not 
only put out the fire before the temperature gauge gets 
too hot and the building explodes, but that pesky robot 
is still hanging around making life difficult. A quick 
axe swipe to it’s chrome dome will soon fix that. 
Throughout the game, Rosco comes across stronger 
axes (for chopping down steel doors etc.) and more 
versatile axes (like the throwing axe which can take 
down a robot from across a room). There are also a vari¬ 
ety of powerups and helpful objects to find too. Most 
things are hidden in lockers, which can be opened with 
the graceful swing of your axe, but some are hidden 
away on high ledges or in secret rooms. Scattered 
around the joint are innocent people to save too. 
Everyone from Japanese schoolgirls to hippies and 
mechanics have been stupid enough to get stuck in the 
burning building, so you have to "beam” them to safe¬ 
ty with the aid of your little robot pal who buzzes 
around your head like a mozzie. 

Hi He Hi Ho... It's Oft To Work We Go 
At the end of each level, you’ll be rated on how many 
people you saved, how many goods you saved from the 
flames and be given an overall score. The levels are a 
bit repetitive in the objective stakes (open the door, put 
out this fire, hit this robot), but the later levels become 
a bit more puzzle orientated and the variety is paced 
rather well. You’ll be particularly amused by Roscos 
fearless comments, and his robot’s funny remarks 
which just add that little bit of extra fun to keep your 
attention. The gameplay is simple, and it seems that 
Sony have aimed at a younger market for this one, but 
the gameplay is still quite addictive, and I enjoyed my 
adventurings with the whacky Rosco and Co. If you dig 
3D platformers and don’t mind pointing a hose at some 
burning boxes, then give Rosco McQueen a look in... it 
just might do it for you. 


PHUNKY STUFF 


AVAILABLE: NOW 


CATEGORY: ACTION 


PLAYERS: 1 


PUBLISHER: SONY 


PRICE: *69.95 


RATING: G 



HYPER» 67 




















68 »HYPER 


REVIEW PLAYSTATION 


Nightmare Creatures 



Fighting moves and gothic stuff) oil in one... 

surely Dan Toose is destined to love Nightmare Creatures? 


Sony boasted a very strong lineup for the rest of this year, 
with grade A titles coming out their proverbial ears. One of 
those titles that sparked a lot of interest was Nightmare 
Creatures, developed by Kalisto, a French company that is 
also working on an PC RPC that is looking outstanding. 
Nightmare Creatures is set in the 18th century, where you 
play either Ignatious (a bloke), or Nadja (a femme), who are 
attempting to thwart the rather unpleasant plans of the seri¬ 
ously disturbed Adam Crowley, who is essentially making 
monsters and setting them loose in the streets of London. 

First impressions with games are always visual, and 
Nightmare Creatures does look very pretty (in a macabre sort 
of way). The game is entirely made up of texture mapped 
polygons, bringing you a 3D environment, with 3D charac¬ 
ters and monsters. Assuming Kalisto were after that 
H.P.Lovecraft style of horror setting, they really hit the nail 
on the head. The night time setting in the streets of 18th cen¬ 
tury London is the epitome of creepy, with things in the dis¬ 
tance being obscured by darkness, and fog lingering around 
to emphasis the damp cold. Whilst being perfectly in theme, 
the dull colours can make for a somewhat dull setting once 
you’ve been wandering around in it for a while. Whilst never 
a major problem, there was just something about some of the 
walls and structures that looks like they were suffering from 
thin polygon syndrome. Sometimes this was apt, since it 
might be a breakable structure, but you may get the feeling 
you're in balsa wood central. Character and monster anima¬ 
tion seemed to vary in quality. Some moves were quite 
smooth and clear, while others really could have done with a 
few inbetween frames. The viewpoint moves around to suit 
the situation, although this occasionally might differ with 
what you want to see. 





The scundA cf Alienee... 

Nightmare Creatures is also one of those games where the lack of 
music (there is a tiny bit of ambient murmur), actually serves the 
game well... giving way to the eerie silence of the environment. This 
makes you listen for the monsters lurking about, just as you would 
in your character’s shoes. The sound effects are all very good, with 
nice effects like echoing footsteps, monster groans, the works. 


A tew tlawA... 

It can be argued that an action game should have simple gameplay 
to move the focus to intuitive controller skills, however Nightmare 
Creatures has a bit of a flaw that sort of negates those sorts of skills. 
Some monsters are awfully predictable, and whilst that doesn’t render 
them defenceless, it does make them next to no challenge for someone 
who's played the game a bit. The fourth stage, set in a sewer is signifi¬ 
cantly harder than the sixth stage, sheerly because the attack patterns 
of the monsters aren't really readable. You may as well look away from 
the screen when you attack, because whether or you or they get their 
attack in seems almost entirely up to chance. I tried for ages to pick a 
pattern that nullified a particular opponent, at varying time in relation 
to their attacks and everything, yet it seemed nothing existed that 
worked regularly. Combat is controlled with a swing button, which 
launches an attack with your weapon, and a kick button. There’s actu¬ 
ally quite a limited number of moves to pull off with only a few basic 
combos being available to both characters. Besides that batch of 
amazingly lethal monsters in level four, the rest of the combat was in 
the other end of the spectrum, where you simply pick a basic combo 
attack as you near your opponent, and watch their limbs fly off. 
Another odd thing about Nightmare Creatures is that if a monster is not 
on screen, it does not advance upon you or attack you. This means by 
turning your back to an opponent, you can actually just move past 
them... which is pretty stupid. It would seem this was included so you 
don’t have the crud beaten out of you when you get surrounded, but it 
does essentially let you cheat your way around things. Naturally, there 
are things to collect like health powerups, weapon upgrades, pis¬ 
tols, mines, and some magic goodies to help you overcome those 
particularly nasty adversaries. 


The most annoying thing about Nightmare 
Creatures is that if you even so much as step into 
water that is more than ankle deep, you lose a 
life instantly. With the somewhat fiddly controls, 
this means you’ll be screaming in frustration as 
you lose a life because your right foot was a few 
centimetres over the edge of that plank you were 
standing on. Also, if you were trying to tap in the 
opposite direction when you fall in, this will usu¬ 
ally make you leap away off the other side of the 
plank/bridge and you’ll lose another life. We 
thought the days of losing a life because your 
undies got wet were over... what a shame we 
were wrong. 

If you're after a game with lots of limbs flying 
off, gothic settings, and monsters with huge ten¬ 
tacles. then you’ll no doubt have a blast with 
Nightmare Creatures. If you’re after something 
with complex combat, or you can’t stand games 
where fiddly controls get you killed when you’re 
just trying to do the most mundane tasks, then 
you may shove your controller through your TV 
after playing Nightmare Creatures for a while. A 
great game concept, with a few annoying flaws 
in the execution. 


AVAILABLE: NOW 


CATEGORY: ACTION 


PLAYERS: I 


PUBLISHER: SCEE 


PRICE: $69.95 


RATING: Ml5* 


FREAKOMETER 


Great gothic 
environments. A 
rather attractive 
game 


The near silent music 
effects, groans and 
squelches make for 
grade-A audio effects 


b 5 


Even games like 
Double Dragon had 
more moves and 
variety in gameplay 


I 5 


Good gory fun, but 
a lack of depth and 
fiddly controls stop 
it from being great 


HYPER» 69 



















70 »HYPER 


REVIEW PLAYSTATION 



17MT 


LET’S GIVE IM A BIG HANDS LADIES £ GENTS 


Street Fighter Ex Plus Alpha 


3D or not 3D? 

It was an easy task for the PlayStation to handle the con¬ 
version of SFEX*A due to the game being polygon based with 
a 2D background. It all looks pretty much arcade perfect, 
which will no doubt frustrate many an arcade owner. Whilst 
everything looks 3D, don’t be fooled into thinking this is a 
true 3D fighting game, as all the moves you perform are not 
affected by where you are in relation to your opponent. For 
example, Akuma can move into the foreground or back¬ 
ground, but all this does is change the axis along which the 
battle is fought. On the up side this means old Street Fighter 
enthusiasts will be able to pick it up immediately. On the 
down side, it would have been cool to have dodging as an 
option. Funky effects such as transparent fireballs, light¬ 
sourcing and shadows are all in included in SFEX+A, and as a 
whole, the game looks great. 


Starved for a good fighting game. Dan Toose gnawed uncontrollably on 
Street Fighter £X Plus Alpha. 


Before we get into the review, Hyper would like to give 
Capcom the "Most ridiculous game naming system in the 
universe" award, for their perpetually stupid use of "alpha”, 
"plus", and combinations of letters like "EX" which have 
absolutely nothing to do with the game. All that aside, we 
think that Capcom's first venture into the world of 3D fight¬ 
ing games was really cool. Street Fighter has managed to 
reign supreme as the number one 2D fighting game ever 
since the release of Street Fighter 2, and there have been more 
versions of SF than any other arcade game to date. 


iiU 


LULU 


mem 




















Street Fighter games have always had amusing battle cries, 
and SFEX*A is no exception. We here at Hyper have just as 
much fun coming up with stupid variations of "Hado-Ken" as 
we do actually playing the game. Every character in the game 
has their collection of speech samples, screams and grunts. 
The music, whilst not being something you’d bug a DJ to play 
in a nightclub, is well suited to the game, and you’re more 
likely to go nuts from repetitive "Hado-Ken” screams than 
you are from the tunes. 

It might be a bit of a cop out to say so, but SFEX+A is really 
just like SF Alpha with 3D polygons and no Alpha counters. 
There is one new move that adds a little scope to the game, 
and that’s the guard break, which stuns your opponent, 
regardless of whether or not they’re defending themselves. 
Whilst being easy to avoid by simply hitting the person using 
it, we sometimes found it a little cheap. The motions for spe¬ 
cial moves are the old faithful quarter circles, semi circles, 
dragon punch pattern, back-forth, and down-up moves we’re 
all familiar with. The only real difference is that stringing 
together super specials is now possible, so there’s scope to do 
some ridiculously long combos if your timing is up to scratch. 
If your timing isn’t quite up to scratch, there’s a training 
mode, which includes standard training, plus an expert mode 
which gives you set moves to practise, which not only makes 
you a better player, but also goes towards unlocking extra 
characters. 

As for other game modes, it would seem Capcom were quite 
happy to go with the current trend and include vs mode, time 
attack mode, team battle mode, arcade mode, watch mode 
(which includes the ability to view from the character’s per¬ 
spective). The good news is there are plenty of new characters 



although most of the new ones are really Ken/Ryu 
derivatives. A couple of the new ones include Hakuto 
looks like Aoi from VF3, Skullomania (a freak in a skull 
suit). Pullum (an arabian dancer), C.lack (a burly boxer 
in a hat), Darun (a Turkish wrestler), and Blair (a kick 
crazy femme). 

For those that got crabby over the loading time of 
Street Fighter Alpha 2, you’ll be pleased to know the 
loading time in SFEX+A are quite short. This is due to 
the PlayStation’s ability to handle polygons far easier 
than a variety of large sprites. 

To say that Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha has the depth 
of other 3D fighting games such as Tekken 3 or Virtua 
Fighter 3 would be incorrect. However, this is one of 
those few games which go to prove that simply being 
playable and fun are just as important as being diverse 
and deep. Anyone who enjoyed any of the Street Fighter 
games should have a blast with this one. 



AVAILABLE: DEC 
CATEGORY: FIGHTING 
PLAYERS: 12 
PUBLISHER: CAPCOM 
PRICE: $89.95 
RATING: G8 + 


FREAKO METER 

toma 

Plays like a 20 
fighter, so anyone 
can pick it up 

MULTIPLAYER 
As long as your 
opponent is around 
your level, this 
rocks multiplayer. 

VISUALS 

BB 

Nice animated polygon I 
characters make this 
one real purty 

SOUND 

Bb 

All those silly 
screams and "Hello* I 
Ken”’s are great 

CAMEPLAY 

B □ 

Not real deep, but 
very playable and fun I 

OVERALL 

BB 

Not particularly 
original, but damn 
good fun 


HYPER» 71 

































72 »HYPER 


REVIEW PLAYSTATION 



When Felony 11-79 boots up in your PlayStation, the first thing you see is a little warning mes¬ 
sage just letting you know that what you see in the game could be dangerous to your health! I'm 
not sure if they were taking the piss, or if this is some new legal device to cover their asses if some 
kid decides to hijack a truck and take out Westfield shopping centre, but it was pretty funny 
nonetheless. Next it will be Mario - "jumping on people’s heads is considered a dangerous exer¬ 
cise" or Mortal Kombat - "picking a fight with some dude with six arms is not recommended", 
and this is coming from the Australian distributor who got Carmageddon past the censors! 
Anyway, I was then a little perplexed as to what the 11-79 tag stood for... possibly this is one of 
those police codes for a felony being commited or maybe they’re cashing in on the funky date 
idea like Interstate *76 or Wipeout 2097. What significance November 1979 could possibly have is 
anyone’s guess - maybe it’s the birthdate of their target audience. But really, who cares? Felony 
n-79 is a fun romp, and although it falls short of being great... it’s worth checking out. 


Legend In A Lunchtime 

I finished the game in about half an hour. I hate to be blunt, but three levels is not going to 
make many gamers very happy. The game’s designers insist that the depth to the game is the 
huge selection of vehicles that you get to unlock as you play, and all the hidden shortcuts to 
discover. Well, that’s really great, but once you’ve finished the main objectives and polished off 
the game before your PlayStation is even warm - secret cars and alternate routes to an ending 
you've already witnessed is absolutely no concession. The three levels that are there though, are 
awesomely good fun. If only they had packed in another 5 levels, Felony 11-79 would be a Must 
Play game. 

From the screen shots, you probably think this is just a racing game with a bit of carmageddon- 
esque gameplay thrown in for good measure. Well, you’d be partly right, but what you don't see 
from these screen grabs, is that each level has a bunch of objectives for you to meet in order to 
successfully progress. You play a mercenary who is hired to steal some ancient artifacts some 
creepy old guy needs to open a magically sealed egyptian casket. In the first level for instance, 
you begin the game by driving your car through the window of a shop and grabbing the first arti¬ 
fact. To then escape town, you have to pick up all the dynamite placed around the streets, so you 
can blow up a gate which is blocking your exit from town. On the second level, you have to track 
down a white stretch limo and put it out of action, then find your way past a police roadblock. 

This is all a great deal of fun - but it’s not at all difficult, and this is where Felony 11-79 suffers. 


VESP 


ERROR OK TWO WHEELS 











An expensive Holiday 

The element of variety is in which vehicle you choose to use to 
complete the level. At first, you can choose from a red BMW-type 
car or a yellow pickup. As you play through the game, and depend¬ 
ing on the secret areas you find and the speed in which you com¬ 
plete the level, you’ll unlock some hilarious pieces of machinery. 

Try completing the game on a Vespa bike, in a huge garbage truck, 
a tourist bus or a black limo... It’s a good laugh, and pretty good 
fun seeing what sort of damage you can cause in these vehicles, but 
this is no concession for a meagre 3 levels of gameplay. The bus for 
instance, is impossible to drive, and though you can actually set¬ 
up each vehicles suspension, brakes and grip and then test them 
out on a test track, actually getting around town in anything other 
than a fast car is purely for laughs. 

In the corner of the screen you have a map of your surroundings, 
and as you drive about, you’ll notice that there are multiple 
turnoffs and streets not marked on the map. This is because there 
are a number of ways to get from A to B and if you feel like it, there 
are some outrageous places to drive your chosen transportation. Off 
bridges, through train tunnels, through shopping centres - it’s up 
to you. You’re not only trying to get to the exit within the timelimit, 
but everything you destroy gets tallied up in dollars, so there’s 
usually a whopping damages bill at the end of the level. But this is 
good. There’s even a black list to show which players have caused 
the most damage! Careful though, as each car (depending on it’s 
build) can only withstand so much negligent driving, and you may 
find that you’ve wrecked your car and the stage is unfinishable. A 
minor disappointment, is that pedestrians seem invulnerable to 
your bumper bar, and they just bounce unharmed out of the way - 
screaming happily. Inanimate objects aren’t so lucky though, and 
everything from shop windows and manniquins to flower boxes and 

police cars are totally smashable. Mmmmmmm.Felony 11-79 is 

good fun, and exploring the maps will keep you happy for a while, 
but it’s criminal the game is so short. Buy at your own risk. 





AVAILABLE: NOV 
CATEGORY RACING/ACTION 
_ PLAYERS: I _ 

PUBLISHER: ASCII 
_PRICE: IRA_ 

RATING: TRA 



HYPER» 73 




























74 »HYPER 


REVIEW PLAYSTATION 



If there is one thing that is always immediately obvious 
with all Namco games its the quality of their presentation 
and wealth of options, and this rule applies to their latest 
effort Ace Combat 2. A FMV intro that rivals that in Tekken 2 
starts the experience and then with each mission your treat¬ 
ed to an impressive high res mapped display of all targets 
and surface topography, with a regal military sounding nar¬ 
rator giving you the background on all mission objectives. 
From here you can select the type of aircraft you will fly in 
the mission, with each plane drawn in high res with full 
detail and decals that would accompany their real life coun¬ 
terparts. Further adding to the games initial impression is 
the substantial improved graphics engine and over ten dif¬ 
ferent delectable planes, each with different handling char¬ 
acteristics. 

Indeed with all this superficial gloss that covers Ace 
Combat 2, the game could be forgiven for retailing many of 
the gameplay traits that the original had.or can it? 

Searching... Seek & Destroy... 

As with the original Ace Combat, the games missions con¬ 
sist of search and destroy, escort and ground target mis¬ 
sions. New to Ace Combat 2, though, are the missions flying 
through narrow canyons and having to land your aircraft 
safely after certain missions. These different missions cer¬ 
tainly ensure variety in the 20 available for play in Ace 
Combat 2 and combined with three difficulty levels a the 
game should theoretically keep game players happy for 
some time. 

Graphically the engine in Ace 2 is a big improvement over 
the original. Gone is the bothersome pop-up, now replaced 
by a fading-in effect of the polygons, and this is only evi- 








dent in the far distance, with most of the screen constantly covered 
with scenery. The terrain is now very mountainous at times, replac¬ 
ing the mostly flat and barren surfaces present in the original, and 
these mountains set the screen for some adrenalin pumping dog¬ 
fighting whilst flying at low altitude between the mountains peaks. 
The city landscapes are a site to behold, and are littered with huge, 
well detailed skyscrapers and various smaller buildings. Many maps 
also contain large bay areas that have docks and large bridges that 
the cocky pilots out there will want to fly their plane under. The tex¬ 
ture maps that make up the games scenery have good detail consid¬ 
ering the amount of polygons on screen, with everything from 
buildings to aircraft landing strips receiving good attention to 
detail from the programming team at Namco. A replay mode now 
accompanies all successful missions, with a three to five second 
replay showing successful strikes when in battle, that although cool, 
can become rather silly and dangerous on higher difficulty levels as 
you are vulnerable to crashes/missiles at this time. Extra details like 
the cloud cover that can be flown through to reveal clear sky and a 
attractive bed of clouds lined up to the horizon; the moving ailerons 
and flaps visible on the external view of your craft; and the stars vis¬ 
ible in the night missions, all show the effort Namco have put into 
the titles graphical facelift. 

Keck on ... 

Sound is also quite impressive and suitable for this type of game 
providing rocking tracks that set the mood for some frantic dog¬ 
fighting and explosions and gunfire that is just as satisfying. A 
cockpit voice accompanies your moves, providing warning signals 
for incoming missiles as well as a queue for the right time to fire 
upon the unsuspecting enemy. 

Improvements aside the gameplay of Ace Combat 2’s gameplay 





unfortunately doesn’t differ that much from the 
originals formula. Even though all the missions 
offer different targets, landscape and surroundings 
the still suffer from the same methods of achieving 
your goal. This usually involves applying the after¬ 
burner to reach the required target and then firing 
off a few missiles after getting a missile lock. Sadly 
the aircraft's cannons rarely play a part in the dog¬ 
fights and this isn’t helped by the excess amount of 
missiles you have(over 50) when you start the mis¬ 
sion. Further adding to the game s problems is the 
lack of manoeuvrability of the aircraft, with turns 
still taking too long to initiate and the controls 
seeming all too sluggish even on the best of the air¬ 
craft available. Also given the ease of the overly 
successful search and destroy’ tactic it doesn’t take 
one long to complete Ace Combat 2, with most, if 
not all. missions being seen in a day or two. 

Even with all of the graphical additions to the 
sequel, Ace Combat 2 still fails to fully capture an 
audience with its overall simplicity in its game¬ 
play and slow control system leaving it with little 
to offer for those after a long term challenge. 

Still, if flying games are your thing Ace Combat 2 
could make you a happy person, just don’t go 
expecting gameplay to match the adrenalin rush 
the movie Top Cun’ gave you. 



HYPER» 75 



































76 »HYPER 


REVIEW PC/PLAYSTATION 



Anyone caught wearing a G-string will be terminated, sc say the G-Poliee. 
Well, that's net really true, but Eliot Fish put seme boxers on to be sure.. 


LIZUZLZHn 

COnTHZnER 







Take the dark, futuristic world of Syndicate Wars, ele¬ 
ments of gameplay from TIE Fighter, some hardcore 
sound effects and stunning graphics to boot and throw it 
all in a blender. Now puree to perfection, pour it into a 
long, tall glass and sip on it slowly. You’ve just had a 
taste of C-Police, the latest from Psygnosis and maybe 
one of the best games to come from them this year. We 
received the PlayStation version and the PC 3Dfx version, 
so I’ll fill you in on the merits of both - safe to say that 
they’re both spankingly great for their respective plat¬ 
forms. 


Heavy On Plot 

C-Police whirls you away in it’s first seconds of screen 
time with a beautifully rendered intro that sets up the 
story behind the game. I won't repeat it all for you here, 
because these things are meant to be experienced first 
hand from the comfort of your own chair in the dark with 
the sound turned up nice and loud... and besides, the 
intro goes for about five minutes! Rest assured, C-Police 
is heavy on plot. Conspiracies, murder, intrigue, corrup¬ 
tion - it’s all here and you’re right in the middle of it. As 
you might have guessed, you are one of the C-Police, 
and from the cockpit of your Havoc gunship (a bit like a 
futuristic Hind helicopter) you watch over the inhabi¬ 
tants of a series of bio-domes in the year 2097. Yes, the 
year of the big Wipeout tournament. Heh, nice one 
Psygnosis! At first, you’ll be carrying out standard cop 
duties like inspecting mysterious cargo, scanning 
freighters and refilling the donut jar, but things aren’t 
always what they seem... the world’s governments have 
all but crumbled leaving only the giant "Corporations” 
to keep things running. As far as law and order goes, 
only the C-Police are around to keep things in check, 
and none of you are exactly model citizens either. There 
are enough wildcards in the C-Police force to win ten 
hands of Poker in a row. As long as you carry out your 
duties though, the rest of the C-Police will turn a blind 


HYPER» 77 





78 »HYPER 


REVIEW PC/PLAYSTATION 



eye to the odd bit of "road rage" - that is, if you obliterate a few inno¬ 
cent civilians whilst trying to take out some drug smugglers, it's OK... 
you’re just doing your job! In fact, you can just decide to blow the crap 
out of anyone in your way if you feel like it. As you delve deeper into the 
game's plot, though, it will become clearer who your enemies really are. 


High Tech Killing Machine 

Your Havoc gunship has the same sort of manoeuvrability as the craft 
in Descent, so there’s a bit of training to be done before you head off on 
your first mission. Due to the fact that the crowded dome cities in G- 
Police are full of tight corners, tall buildings and traffic flows not only in 
the streets, but up around the buildings ala the Fifth Element or 
Bladerunner, you’re going to need to be quick and nimble with your 
controls. You can hover up and down, turbo forward and reverse and tilt 
your craft on an X and Y axis giving you the sort of performance that’s 
needed from a pursuit vehicle. In the PC version, this is a dream with any 
good joystick, and you’ll really feel like your flying a good heli-sim. On 
the PlayStation things feel a little trickier due to the digital pad, but the 
response is fast and you’ll soon get used to using the shoulder buttons 
for your vertical manoeuvres. C-Police also supports the analogue con¬ 
troller (woo-hoo) and any force-feedback devices you may have for your 
PC. The Havoc also carries some tasty weaponry, which are matched with 
some equally delicious sound effects. You have your basic rapid-fire 
"cannons", dumbfire rockets, various bombs, plasma and electromag¬ 
netic weapons - all which look stunning on both the PC and the 
PlayStation. The lighting effects in this game are really quite amazing, 
for instance your missiles light up surrounding objects with their purple 
trails and explosions and fire look incredibly realistic. When you first 
hop into your Havoc, you'll fly around blowing up all the innocent hover 
cars, just to marvel at all the beautiful visuals. For instance, if you man¬ 
age to nail someone with your cannons, but don’t finish them off mid¬ 
air, their engines will catch on fire, and you can follow them down as the 
plummet out of the sky, only to watch them explode on impact with the 
street below. Bombing is exceptionally cool too, with your handy HUD 
and radar helping you target various buildings and other punishable 
objects. The detail in the cities must be noted too, with flashing bill¬ 
boards, industrial chimneys and even small street details like traffic 
lights, all helping to create the living world that exists within G-Police. 
Later in the game, you even get to fly around in some more "open" envi¬ 
ronments, and if you play well, in different craft, like one of the hover 
cars on the street, so there’s a bit of variety here too. 











Sfa> On Target.., 

The missions in C-Police are not simple pursue and 
kill type affairs, though thankfully there are quite a 
few of those. Akin to something like TIE Fighter, you’ll 
be escorting vehicles, inspecting suspicious trucks, 
going on bombing runs and carrying out objectives 
on the fly. Your HQ buzzes you with info as you are 
flying your mission and sometimes circumstances can 
change quite suddenly. This can depend on how well 
you’re completing your objectives too, as failing to 
achieve your primary objectives in time will totally 
alter what happens next. Everything you do in G- 
Police ties in with the story, and the game is inter* 
spersed with cool cutscenes which introduce charac* 
ters and generally keep you glued to the screen. Both 
the PC and PlayStation versions have ail the funky FMV 
bits, so don’t worry console owners, the story is so 
important to the game that you’ll get every little bit... 
the PlayStation version comes on two CDs! In fact, the 
only real difference between the two platforms, is that 
the PC naturally has spunkier graphics. The polygons 
are more solid, the draw-in is disguised with more 
fogging and as you can imagine with 3D card acceler¬ 
ation - everything is mip-mapped and filtered, mak¬ 
ing G-Police one of the most jaw-droppingly fantastic 
3D games I’ve seen on a PC to date. The minimum 
requirements are around the Pentium 133 mark, so you 
really do need a 3Dfx card to get the most out of this 
game. Surprisingly, the PlayStation version had an 
option to lower the framerate in place of spunkier 
graphics or vice versa, which was a nice touch. But the 
most important thing about G-Police is that it’s a hel¬ 
luva ride, and incredibly good fun to play. The com¬ 
plex missions, interactive environments, wonderful 
controls and interesting story make this a game you’ll 
be addicted to till the very end. There are a lot of big 
games coming out this Christmas, and it’s a hard deci¬ 
sion as to where to spend your money - that’s for sure. 
But if you can only get a few games, or even only one, 
then you can’t go wrong with G-Police. Get it. 



HYPER» 79 




















80 »HYPER 


REVIEW PLAYSTATION 





Facls* fciEr £ 


£ Discworld 2 


Cven though he's not knewn tier his love cjj adventure games 
Steve O’Leary fiad erect thumbs with this one. 




Thanks to the utter stupidity of the local comic 
and part time wizard. Rincewind, the city of 
AnkhMorpork is in utter turmoil. Its previously 
deceased occupants now wander the streets in a 
state of perpetual undead. Rincewind thought 
himself knowledgable enough to defuse a 
makeshift bomb placed on a street cart, but when 
he naturally failed, the resulting explosion 
caught the unsuspecting hooded character Death 
in the middle of his daily chores. Now Death, the 
seemingly immortal character whose task it is to 
collect all the souls of the recently dead, was 
rather befuddled due to his exposure to the 
explosion, and has now taken off to some far 
away place leaving his potential clients to just 
linger about in the streets not knowing quite 
what to do with themselves. Of course the dead 
are quite boring, and with so many of them about 
the situation needs amending, so it’s up to you as 
Rincewind to find good old Death and try and 
coax him back into the workforce in the latest 
adventure game to hit the Saturn, Discworld 2. 








Starting in the city of AnkhMorpork, you have to guide 
Rincewind, together with his immense powers of deduction and wit 
(cough, cough...), through the various streets and buildings in an 
effort to solve the various puzzles and somehow locate Death. 
Discworld 2 is basically a point and click affair, where you control 
the large cartoonish animated character, Rincewind, and are able to 
interact in the game mostly through speech and the old “use A with 
B" method of gameplay. Speech, for the most part, takes the major 
role in the game, where you have to constantly talk to the other 
occupants of AnkhMorpork and question them to find possible clues 
to guide you in your quest. Given that Discworlds’ characters are 
based on Terry Pratchetts original characters designed and made in 
England, it helps to be somewhat familiar with his writings and 
humour to get the most out of this game, as all too often you can 
miss the intended pun lines that are meant to create some laughs. 

you talk too much... 

As mentioned, most of the game revolves around your speech with 
other characters, and the clues they give you. The way Discworld 2’s 
programmers have gone about his has its good and bad sides. You 
have four Icons to use on the point and click speech bar. They are; 
the smile for conversation starting; the jesters head for a little sar¬ 
casm; the question mark for general questions; the candle for a 
personal reflection where you state your opinion on the person you 
are talking to; and the waving hand to terminate the conversation. 
This is quite a simple arrangement and it also allows the skipping 
of speech for the many times you have to enter the same conversa¬ 
tion with characters to find out new clues. Other icons pop up from 
time to time, especially when you have to take an item, or ask for 
an item from someone in the game. Unfortunately speech can 
sometimes be very drawn out and long winded, with some relief 
given with the skipping button, but all too often this can be an 
annoying factor in the game. 

The game’s speech, though, can be quite entertaining at times 
with Rincewind always trying to sneak in the odd sarcastic quote 
in an effort to ridicule those around him. At all times the speech is 
clear, with excellent samples and sound effects providing the per¬ 
fect atmosphere for the games many environments. The music also 
is very atmospheric, from the eerie tunes that accompany the 
graveyard and side alley scenes to the music that softly plays 
inside the local pub, it never fails to make the you feel a part of the 
games surroundings. 



Rather attractive... 

Graphically at most times the game looks a 
lot like an animated cartoon, with large char¬ 
acters drawn with a great amount of detail, 
often displaying very humorous animations as 
they walk and/or talk. The backgrounds are 
both varied and interesting, containing lots 
of colour and style in their appearance and 
this combined with the characters appearance 
and animations easily put the original 
Discworld to shame. 

Apart from the graphical and audio 
improvements from the original game, 
Discworld 2 offers better puzzles that seem 
more balanced and logical in their solution, 
together with plenty of clues provided by the 
people you meet in the game for those who 
become stuck from time to time. The whole 
game spans over four acts together with an 
epilogue and it’s claimed that over one hun¬ 
dred hours of playing time are guaranteed by 
Discworlds’ programmers, although experi¬ 
enced puzzle solvers may find themselves 
completing it long before that time. 

The only complaint that can be levelled at 
Discworld 2 is that it does contain a large 
amount of dialogue and at times this can 
become quite frustrating. Given that there is the 
speech skip button to avoid this, the characters 
do seem to waffle on for quite some time before 
they get to the point. 

Aside from this, Discworld 2 could prove to 
be a very enjoyable game for those who love 
this type of adventure/puzzle solving game. 

Eric Idle, the famous English comedian, helps 
the plot along with his frequent sarcastic and 
witty comments that make this title attractive 
for those who would not usually bother with this 
game genre. Combine this with the game’s 
length, content and overall polish, Discworld 2 
does come well recommended. 




HYPER» 81 




















82 »HYPER 


REVIEW NINTENDO 64 


Lylat Wars 






GOOD VIBRATIONS 

The Rumble Pak doesn’t make or break Lylat Wars, but 
it bodes well for future games (like fighting games!) 
and when you consider that you’re getting the Rumble 
Pak and Lylat Wars together for only $99 95 (cheaper 
than most N64 games) - then it’s an absolute BARGAIN! 
I’m serious. 




Cocky Little Freak a 

If you never got the chance to play Starfox 
on the Super Nintendo, then you missed out on 
what was an excellent mixture of space combat 
shoot ’em up and clever hidden tricks and 
puzzles. Most SNES owners played it to death, 






Lylat Wars has been on everyone’s Most 
Wanted lists for some time now, being one of 
the first titles that Nintendo announced would 
be heading to the N64. Screen shots have been 
haunting the web for months and everyone was 
holding out to see how a great game on the 
SNES (Starfox), would make it’s transition to the 
world of 64-bit gaming. I guess one of the rea¬ 
sons this game has been so heavily anticipated, 
is that none other than Shigeru Miyamoto is the 
man behind it. He of Super Mario 64 fame, is 
simply a game genius, and his games never fail 
to be quite incredible. Another reason people 
have been hanging to play Lylat Wars, is that it 
would be the first N64 game to use the new 
Nintendo Rumble Pak. This new fangled force- 
feedback device, plugs into the bottom of your 
controller and true to it's name - rumbles 
everytime you get hit or crash into something. 

It even vibrates when you use your turbo thrust, 
and although it’s nothing groundbreaking, it’s 
pretty funky and makes Sony’s lapanese 
PlayStation control pad (not available here) feel 
like a bee in a sock. 









and it still stands as one of the nicest looking carts the 
machine ever saw. So here we have the long-awaited Lylat 
Wars, and from the moment it pops onto your TV screen - you 
know this is going to be one classy piece of game design. 

Well thankfully, the charm and basic game mechanics from 
the first game are still present in Lylat Wars, but the game 
has been enhanced in so many areas, it’s simply a far superi¬ 
or product from every angle. Which is what everyone expect¬ 
ed it to be. You play the role of Star Fox, the coolest mercenary pilot 
fox in the galaxy (probably ’cause you're the only one), and you 
only accept missions which can include your animal co-pilots - 
Falco, the hardcore ace pilot who takes no crap from anyone; Peppy, 
the sensible Hare who plays it safe; and Slippy Toad the... Well let 
me tell you about Slippy. Slippy's the sort of guy who was probably 
beaten up every day at school, and now he’s a pilot in the Star Fox 
team, he probably gets beaten up in the changerooms after every 
mission. As our friend Craig here at the office said, "He’s like Ralph 
Wiggum in Platoon!". Thankyou Craig. Slippy is always getting into 
trouble, and you’re always having to save his sorry arse. But he 


makes the team complete, and it’d be mixed emotions to not see Slippy turn 
up in the next game. It’s fun seeing if you can shoot him down during the 
missions though. These dudes do have a purpose, and if they succesfully 
make it through the mission with you, each co-pliot has different skills to 
aid you in the game. Falco can show you hidden areas; Peppy gives you 
hints on the bosses weaknesses; and Slippy can give you a gauge showing a 
bosses shield level. So they’re not completely useless. 


Cat Laser Monkey Boy 

Again you’re up against the dreaded Andross and his monkey goons, 
and much like the first Starfox game, you start things out defending the 
peaceful planet Corneria. If you take a look at the star map, you’ll notice 
that there are three paths to the enemy planet of Venom. The bottom 
(blue) line is Easy, the middle (yellow) path is Medium and the top (red) 
line is Hard. You cannot select the difficulty level though. In an inspired 
piece of game design, it actually depends on how you fly your missions as 
to which path you get to take next. In the first stage, there are a few 
requirements you must meet to proceed down the hard path. Halfway 
through the mission, Falcon buzzes you for help as he flys by with four 
enemies on his tail. You can either concentrate on the blast-fest around 
you, or turbo forward and pick the baddies off. Falco then tells you to fol¬ 
low him, and lo and behold the missions changes and you actually get to 
attack a completely different boss than if you’d not helped him out. Other 
stages have completely different requirements, such as shooting down ioo 
enemies, saving a base before it gets destroyed and shooting certain tar¬ 
gets which in turn will effect the outcome of your mission. Either you will 
"complete" your mission, which means that you pretty much did it the 
normal way - or you will get ’’mission accomplished" which will then take 
you to a harder stage. If you include all the different missions, plus the 
fact that missions can completely change mid-way, and then factor in a 
few secret levels, there are probably about upwards of 18 stages in the 
game - or even more. 


VERY CONVENIENT SOIAR SYSTEM SETUP... 


HYPER» 83 










84 »HYPER 


REVIEW NINTENnO 64 


*.*£3 feJ 



Sexy Hardware 

Your Starwing is a very clever craft. You begin with a 
simple one shot green laser, which can be charged by 
holding down the A button. Once charged, it will lock 
on to an enemy within your crosshair. Along the way 
you can pick up laser upgrades which give you double 
shot and then a more powerful blue laser. Bombs are 
also at your disposal, which you fire ahead of you and 
then trigger if you wish with the B button - these will 
also home in on targets that you lock onto with your 
charged laser. Handy. Your charged laser burst can take 
out quite a few enemies at once, which you may need to 
do during the game, as I’ve never seen quite so many 
enemy craft on screen at one time in any other 3D shoot 
’em up I’ve ever played. Probably one of the coolest lev¬ 
els in the game is the one on Katina which is actually 
quite a funny piss-take on Independence Day. This is 
dogfighting heaven, with something like 40 enemy craft 
and then another 20 or so friendly craft, shooting it out 
over a pyramid-shaped base at sunset. Then along 
comes the enemy mothership - which you have to take 
out if you want to progress to a harder mission. This is 
really quite a spectacular mission, and one you’ll want 
to play over and over again. The sky is just packed with 
dogfighting craft and you can pretty much shoot any¬ 
where to take something down, though, you can take 
out friendly craft too!! The game simply looks stunning 
all over. Loads of textures, colours, fancy effects and 
big, fat, chunky, mean-looking bosses! In fact, some of 
the coolest looking bosses you’ll ever get to blow to 
crap are in this game. 












Stay On Target... 

In some missions, the game will actually change from 
the standard 3D scrolling mode, to All-Range Mode 
which is essentially a 360 degree arena. This means you 
can perform some tricky manuevres in your craft to get 
the job done. Pulling back on the analog stick and 
using your turbo will make your ship do a corkscrew/U- 
turn which is handy for turning around after an attack 
run. The same technique with your brake button will 
make your Starwing do a somersault which can get you 
out of trouble when you’re dogfighting. If you fly reck¬ 
lessly, you can even lose your wings, though there are 
repair powerups hidden around the place. It’s in the 
Multiplayer Mode where you’ll really need to use your 
fancy flying techniques. Lylat Wars has a four-player 
deathmatch mode, which is really quite good fun. It’s 
nothing on the single player game - and the windows 
that you play in are rather small - but it’s still a fun 
experience. What was disappointing, was that the 2- 
player deathmatch didn’t split the screen... You still 
play with the screen divided up into four sections, with 
the other two windows being used as roving cameras. 
This doesn’t matter much though, because you’ll be 
buying Lylat Wars for the amazing single player game 
that it is. There are so many hidden things to find and 
the missions are so varied, that you’ll be inspired to 
find everything. 

Braving The Clements 

Not all missions require you to shoot around in your 
Starwing. There are some ground missions where you drive 
the Landmaster, a tank which can hover, roll and make 
things go boom; and a submarine level which isn’t men¬ 
tioned in the booklet that comes with the game. In the 
underwater level, the game is quite graphically breathtaking 
(hoho), with your sub submerged so deep underwater that it 
gets extremely hard to see. You light the way by firing off 
torpedoes which illuminate the objects around them as they 
trail off into the distance. Beautiful stuff. This game has just 
been so lovingly created, that you can’t help but "ooh” and 
”ahh” during some levels. Lylat Wars is right up there with 
Super Mario 64 as a Nintendo 64 game you have to have. It’s 
a little bloody masterpiece. 



HYPER» 65 























86 »HYPER 


REVIEW PC 


Birthright 


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Aftfer admitting he wa6 an old RPG freaky boy 
George Argy promptly had Birthright itufified into his in tray 


RPC's are increasing in popularity and that can 
only be a good thing. Most of them are usually 
overhead or ist-person perspective action games 
which try to give you DSD in your face in real¬ 
time, or let you manage kingdoms and the like. 
Sierra have tried to do something slightly different 
with Birthright by combining action and strategy 
and by love, I think they've almost got it. 

The storyline (which is as relevant in this game 
as it is in an Arnie flick) is that you are a regent, 
or emperor, of a domain in the land of Anuire. 

You are imbued with certain "blood-abilities" 
due to your lineage, and your objective is to 
build a great empire. Oh, and you may like to kill 
the evil gorgon and make most of the citizens of 
Anuire a little happier. The game is non-linear 
like most RPC’s giving you freedom to do what 
you want, but where this game really stands out 
from the pack is it’s three very different game 
modes which make it feel like three different 
games that just so happen to be linked: "realms", 
"adventures” and "battlefields". Realms is the 
most complex aspect of the game, and unfortu¬ 
nately may be enough to turn off many people. 
You start the game here, and basically pick the 
realm you wish to rule over with an iron fist. You 
can choose basic gameplay which handles all the 
boring stuff for you like tax collection and build¬ 
ing roads, advanced play which gives you some 
more control, and expert play where you manage 
every aspect of your realm - Bachelor of Business 
Degree required. 


. . . ^ 


Target Archers 
Shoot units highlighted red. 

Move to grids highlighted blue. 


Reserves Cancel 


Reserves Status Retreat Command view 

Till THE SMALL ROT ON THE RIGHT TO ATTACK THE ROT ON THE LEFT... 


MERIEVIL FANTASY FASHION SHOOT... 


EXCITING COMRAT SCREENS... 










Quest ter nads... 

Adventuring is the ist-person aspect of the 
game where you and three other non-player char¬ 
acters go off on a quest to find the Sacred Pickled 
Dragon's Scrotum, or whatever other artefact takes 
your fancy and it comes in two flavours: real-time 
or turn-based. I found this aspect of the game to 
be the most disappointing. Listen up developers - 
gamers are used to 3D graphics being shit-hot, 
and will not tolerate any sub-standard Catacombs 
Abyss type visuals! Oh yeah - and it really, really 
shits me in any 3D game when you can’t configure 
the keys - why should I get used to keys that don’t 
come naturally after years of my own set-up? This 
frustrated me no end, and the fact that you also 
have to use mouse/keyboard combos to choose 
attack types, spells and inventory items means 
that you almost always get your ass kicked in 
real-time mode. 

For all those strategy heads out there, the game 
also has a turn-based battlefield mode where you 
get to slug it out with the enemy troops, legion 
versus legion. You are the commander of platoons 
which you move around on a small screen much 
like chess pieces, and then watch the action 
unfold in the main display. You can choose from 
various units ranging from archers and infantry to 
cavalry and knights. Throw in a mage or a priest 
for the fireworks display (and pure genocidal 
power) and you have yourself one helluva blood¬ 
bath. The battles are heaps of fun, but you are 




very limited in what your troops can do - you can move them 
one square at a time, or you can sling arrows or cast a spell, but 
that’s about it. They also aren’t very challenging - even on the 
hardest difficulty I finished all the training battles in under 
about half an hour. 

Bit of a complex ... 

If all this sounds like too much complexity for one game, you’d 
almost be right but Birthright saves itself from completely over¬ 
whelming you by incorporating a number of features that allow 
you to get up to speed at your own pace. The manual is all of 48 
pages and is essentially an install guide and spell reference tome 
- all the help you will need is laid out very logically online, and 
the game tutorials and training missions give you a much better 
way to learn a game of this complexity. There is even a ’non-DSD’ 
option for those not familiar with the game which removes all the 
jargon and lets you get on with the game. Sierra have also put a 
lot of thought into varying the difficulty settings instead of just 
making the game harder. You choose from three difficulty setting 
(basic, advanced, expert) that not only makes the game more dif¬ 
ficult, but removes most of the complex management options in 
realms mode and lets you get on with forging strategic alliances 
or declaring war on some trees. 

For all it’s good points, Birthright is really let down by it’s 
graphics and sound engines. The sub-standard graphics in the 3D 
mode are more suited to a game made five years earlier, and the 
overhead view lacks the visual richness of strategy games like 
Warcraft. The absolutely pathetic sound makes this aspect of the 
game seem like an afterthought - the voices sound like B-grade 
American actors and the music is repetitive and anachronistic. Wise 
up Sierra; if we’re playing a fantasy game we want to hear flutes 
and lutes, not some Jimmy Page try-hard strangling his strat. 



AVAIL ABLE: NOW 
CATEGORY. 

ACTION/STRATEGY RPG 
PLAYERS: 1-8 
PUBLISHER: SIERRA 
PRICE: $59.95 
RATING: Ml 5 + 


REQUIREMENTS: P75, 8MB 
RAM, 4XCB ROM 



H Y P E R » 87 








































88 »HYPER 


REVIEW PC 



Extreme Assault •_-« 

Despite the inclusion of the £ word Dan Toose 1008 quite keen to review 
Blue Byte’s latest action title. 




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When the word "extreme" is tacked into the title of a video 
game, it usually has dire consequences. This time however, 
the use of this most overused word is not a kiss of death, and 
instead Blue Byte have delivered a rather funky little game. 
The general gist of Extreme Assault is that you're the idio.. I 
mean dauntless hero who’s going to save Earth from alien 
forces that have been setting up base here, and are about to 
make their move. 

Being a rather simplistic action game, a key factor to the 
success of the title lies in the visuals, and Blue Byte have 
delivered. Not only have they managed to include all the gor¬ 
geous visual effects that we’ve come to expect in a 3DFX sup¬ 
ported title, but also managed to include all these effects for 
those that don’t own a 3D accelerator. Sure, it doesn’t look 
quite as good, but the fact remains that Extreme Assault looks 
great, regardless of whether you have a 3DFX card or not. 
Everything is polygon based, except for the trees, which look 
kind of funny being the only non polygon thing around, but 
they don't spoil things at all. 

As you get further into the game the visual rewards 
increase as you discover cool alien stuff (who doesn’t love 
aliens in jars?). 

The weapon sound effects are cool, with satisfying zap, 
bang and kapow sounds abundant. The speech briefing at the 
beginning of each mission is a nice touch. The music, whilst 
not inspiring, does not grate on one’s nerves, and is the 
generic action game music and otherwise nondescript. 

Blue Byte had the nouse to include lots of "destroyables" 
which always adds to the enjoyment of an action/shooting 
game. If there’s a bunch of large canisters in the corner of the 
room, chances are you can blow them to bits. If you want to 
offend someone from Greenpeace who’s watching you play... 
toast that tree! In terms of variety and lastability. Extreme 
Assault does have quite a bit to offer. There are fifty-seven 
single player missions to play through, although most of 
them are really quite short/small. The missions take place in 
varying terrains, including jungle, caverns, snow, volcano, 
and man/alien made tunnels. There’s also some specific mul¬ 
tiplayer maps, and the game works really well multiplayer, in 
fact it’s probably got far much more potential this way. It 
would have been better if you could play with more than four 
players in a LAN game though. 

There are two craft to control, a helicopter and a tank. 
Besides the tank’s inability to go up and down, both vehicles 
handle exactly the same. A definite down side of the game is 
the way the chopper handles so slowly. A little bit more open 
air and speed would have been a nice addition for the chop¬ 
per levels. There also was the inability to turn and strafe at 
once with a Thrustmaster controller, which sucked, as getting 
around your opponents with ease is the best thing about a 
chopper. You do get used to how to deal with this, but it 
shouldn’t be necessary. If there was a game that Extreme 
Assault felt most similar too, it would have to be Descent. 

Enemies range from being dull little gun turrets, through to 
cool mech nasties that phase in and out of a solid state, which 
adds a bit of variety into the combat scenarios. While most 
enemies are derivatives of each other, there are over forty dif¬ 
ferent types of craft to take on, so the repetitive factor is pret¬ 
ty low. 

The best way to describe Extreme Assault is an action 
shooter for those that like the idea of playing out military 
style missions, without the need to refer to a map, or a set of 
mission objectives while they play the game. The missions are 
generally short and straight forward enough to ensure you 
won’t get too confused. The game looks great, and is defi¬ 
nitely a lot of fun. Those who like their action games very fast 
and furious may find getting into Extreme Assault a bit 
tedious, as your craft don’t exactly enable you to whiz by 
enemies, taking them out in a quick attack. It’s the perfect 
game for someone after the future military sim game, without 
the need for a manual, a photographic memory, and a con¬ 
fusing control system. 





HYPER» 89 











90 »HYPER 


REVIEW PC 


Ah little grasshopper, wise man say those who mess with 
Wang will soon go blind, but those who treat Wang with care 
will have many many children. Of course I’m talking about 
Lo Wang, the protagonist in 3D Realms’ latest shooter 
Shadow Warrior. 

The story, for what it’s worth, begins with Lo Wang 
searching for his Ninja master. Eventually Wang catches up 
with him. impaled on a big stick by Zilla’s evil minions, and 
swears death upon those that would interfere with the way 
of Wang! It’s an old story but 3D Realms have used it to 
good effect, especially in the way in which the levels all 
flow thematically from one to the next. The other thing that 
3D Realms have done well is use the strengths of this now 
aging engine to produce a game that is still up there on the 
top shelf. 



An act ct bravery? 

Some may say that 3D Realms are brave to release another 
title based on the trusty old Duke Nukem engine with so 
many high tech first person shooters on the way (Quake 2 , 
Unreal. Half-Life etc.) But those who downloaded the four 
level demo all those months ago will know that this is not 
true! Shadow Warrior would have to be a contender for ’the 
funniest game ever’ title and that in itself makes it worth a 
look. The other element of the Duke engine which fans of that 
game love so much is the interactivity with the game envi¬ 
ronment and Shadow Warrior certainly doesn’t disappoint in 
that regard either. Just wait 'till you start deathmatching in 
the tank levels! 

Aha! Yes tanks, and forklifts, turrets and machine gun 
nests are peppered throughout the game and when you see 
one you know that there’s going to be a lot of fun goin’ 
down. Somewhere nearby there’ll be a switch or a door or a 
pick up that triggers the sudden appearance of twenty or so 
monsters. Hightail it back to your tank/turret and go ballis¬ 
tic...’Who wantsa some Wang?’ As for the 'normal' weapons 
in the game 3D have done a good job in terms of balance 
and enjoyability and there are certainly more useable multi¬ 
player weapons in Shadow Warrior than there was in Duke or 
Blood. The beating heart weapon that creates a shadow 
Wang ally and the rocket launcher with heat seeker card 
being my particular favourites. There’s also a UZI that can be 
doubled up, Ninja stars, sticky bombs, a fire breathing sev¬ 
ered head, grenade launcher, rail gun and an awesome 
gatling shotgun with two modes of operation: single four 
barrelled shot or automatic! 






















MIGHTY MOUSE 

Duke games have always been the poorer 
cousins of Quake when it comes to death¬ 
matching (to most people anyway) because 
of the game engine’s poor ’mouse look’ per¬ 
formance and the lack of really useable 
weapons. 3D Realms, the original developers 
of the ’build’ engine, have tweaked Shadow 
Warrior a bit to make it run a little smoother 
when playing with 'mouse look’ on and they 
have also created a range of weapons which 
are all useable and fun in deathmatch situa¬ 
tions. Therefore I can say in confidence that 
this is not only the funniest but the best 
multiplayer Duke engined game to date too. 


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Funny Shit ... 

The other important element of Shadow Warrior is its’ sense of 
humour! I know, so many games have tried to be funny but for my 
money this really is the funniest game ever. What other first person 
shooter allows you to breed rabbits in the comfort of your own home 
or cracks every conceivable Wang joke in a genuinely funny way? 
The quality of the voice acting is a large part why these old lines are 
so funny. Wang is a crack up. Whoever did the voice over is a trea¬ 
sure that 3D Realms should hang on to at all costs. 

The other way a company can make a good game from an old 
engine is to design great levels and Shadow Warrior has ’em. It’s 
been a long time since the first demo was released and 3D Realms 
obviously spent that time working on the levels. You’ll trek through 
lofty mountain passes, subterranean sewers, floating fortresses and 
steamy bathhouses searching for your masters assassins. And. while 
the puzzles are challenging they are not impossible to the point 
where your enjoyment of the game will be interrupted for very long. 

On the negative side though I finished the game too early. While 
the levels were good, the fact that there are only 18 new ones in the 
retail version might aggravate players who mostly or always play 
single player. The fun stops too soon! Other than that though I think 
this is the best Duke engined game to date (and probably the last) 
and fans of that title will lap it up. 



AVAILABLE: NOW 


CATEGORY: 1ST PERSON 
SHOOTER 


PLAYERS: 1 - MULTI 


PUBLISHER: 30 REALMS 


PRICE: S89.95 


RATING: Ml 5 + 


REQUIREMENTS: 4860X4100 
8MR RAM, 2X CR 



H V P E R » 91 























92 »HYPER 


REVIEW PC 



Warlords III: Reign of Heroes 


In an age of real time strategy adventures, Warlords 
brave release Ross Clarksmith thought otherwise. 


e called 








Warlords II is one of those games that is an old favourite of 
strategy gamers. They pull it out when they are having a 
hard time getting past a scenario in another game. Yeah, 
even though it is a classic game, it is easy to beat which 
helps to boost the fragile ego of strategy gamers stuck in the 
depths of despair. Well that wont be happening with its big¬ 
ger brother. Warlords III: Reign of Heroes is crammed to the 
gills with new features, most of which are behind the scenes. 
Of course this makes the game almost exactly the same in 
appearance, with the added bonus of making you the player 
have to crank up your brain a few notches. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Warlords 
game, the idea is pretty simple. It’s a strategy based con¬ 
quest game, with area being held and taken over by the pos¬ 
session of cities. Each city produces armies of differing 
types, and these armies romp around the countryside attack¬ 
ing your enemies (or allies). Of course these armies can also 
defend your cities and they will have to if you expect to do 
any good at all against the AI. 

What’& the ditference ? 

That’s where the main difference lies in Warlords III, the 
AI. In the old version you could get away with moves against 
a computer player, if you tried it against a real person, your 
butt would be whooped from here to tomorrow's breakfast. 
This is due to a ground up rewrite of all the code in the game 
including the diplomatic option, which for my money was 
the only glaring omission in the last version. Now if you 
attack another player, you are likely to have that player’s 
ally declared war on you. 

The other thing is that each unit re-evaluates its options at 
the beginning of each turn, so there will no longer be those 


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suicide missions, from the AI players, yours real life friends 
still have a programming fault. Which brings us to the idea of a 
player game. If you are looking for a strategy game to play 
ist friends that won’t take days to finish, you don’t have to look 
uirther. Warlords III has almost too many multiplayer options to 
here’s serial link, modem, local IPX network, and Internet con- 
Dn. Included in the whole package are two third party areas to 
other players online. 

? basic look of the game and the controls have been kept the 
as the last version, a great idea. The biggest immediately visi- 
ifference is the shift from a flat view to an isometric one. 
rently those programming gurus at SSC have modelled the ter- 
>ff real aerial photos, but apart from the perspective change 
is not that much obvious difference. All the units have been 
in new detail and fully animated. They also have their own cool 
noise when selected, horses whinny. Pegasus flap their wings. 


?an take your money and... 

ire are a couple of other things you can do with your gold, 
now and then a group of mercenaries will offer their services 
u for a price. They are usually in an out of the way place, but a 
eature of the game allows you to move any unit between any 
ities you own in only two turns. The other benefit of gold is 
s, who will also offer swear allegiance to you for a certain 
int of money. They sometimes bring with them special units 
ir elementals or dragons, and when grouped together with 
units, can provide all sorts of bonuses in combat. 

; combat system has been totally revamped, and with the 
iuction of new units like elven archers, and spiders, there are a 
; group of new factors, including poison, assassination, spells 
nissiles. So grouping different unit types together for combat 
ever been more effective. 


The inclusion of a campaign was a welcome addition 
to Warlords III. The campaign is basically a group of sce¬ 
narios that link together to form a story. This is a pretty 
basic idea, but it allows you to see the development of 
your heroes beyond the basic few levels. Normally the 
scenario is all but over by the time your heroes reach 
third level, and as there are ten levels to advance 
through, a campaign is really the only option to your 
heroes and heroines become top notch. 

The one beef that I had about the changes was the way 
a city produced different unit type. In the original game 
when you took over a city that produced spiders, you 
could then make spiders in that city. In Warlords III you 
can only ever build units that are generic to your nation. 
For example, the knights can only produce knight-relat¬ 
ed units, horsemen, cavalry and Pegasus. So if you con¬ 
quer a city that is producing ghosts, you can’t build 
them and will most likely have to pay for another pro¬ 
duction option. 

The background music in this game is incredi¬ 
ble, it sounds as if they guy who did the score for 
’’Braveheart’’ worked on this project as well. The music is 
kept well in line with the feeling of the game, rising and 
falling in intensity, but not enough to be overtly notice¬ 
able. The best thing is that the music never became 
repetitive or boring, even in a long playing session. 

On the whole those clever folks have taken a 
classic, dusted it off, found out what was wrong with it, 
twiddled an tweaked it, given it a new coat of paint 
brought it into the nineties, and ended up with a 
damned fine product well worth checking out. 


AVAILABLE: NOW 


CATEGORY: STRATEGY 


PLAYERS: 18 


PUBLISHER: STRATEGIC 


PRICE: $89.95 


RATING: G8 + 


HYPER» 93 























94 »HYPER 


REVIEW PC 



Atlantis 






r&M 


Atlantis, a city ruled by women... we send infjamcus gigolo 
David Wildgoose in to take care cfj things. 


Once upon a time there was a game called Myst. When people 
saw it they marvelled with their eyes wide at the beauty of its 
still, flick-screen graphics. So bedazzled were they that, instead 
of noticing how boring Myst was, they merely said - "Ooh, ain’t 
it pretty!”. The trouble with the slideshow-style graphics was 
that the game felt strangely uninvolving. 

Next was Zork Nemesis. It was just as visually wondrous and 
bonkers surreal as Myst, but had the added advantage of letting 
you turn around on the spot at each still location. This improved 
matters to some degree, but playing remained an empty and 
detached experience. 

The Natural PrcgreMlcn... 

Now we have Atlantis, an adventure in the above tradition 
from genius French blokes, Cryo Interactive. Atlantis, then, looks 
even prettier than both Myst and Zork; is set in an equally 
bizarre world where the women are in charge (although, to be 
honest, I’ve always found that quite appealing) and ships with 
magical sails fly through the sky; not only lets you turn around 
on the spot at each still location, but look up and down as well; 
and also smoothly moves you from one location to the next in 
pant-wettingly fantastic 3D. What we have with Atlantis is an 
adventure that draws you inside the game world more than any 
other title before it. You really will believe, my brothers, that 
you are in the legendary city of Atlantis. 

So what are you doing there in the first place? Okay, you’re 
Seth, a recent initiate into the Queen’s Companions. But, the 
thing is, the Queen has been kidnapped by a rival for her power, 
the evil Consort. You have to rescue her and then stop the 
Consort from unleashing the potentially terrible Hidden 
Knowledge. This quest will take you from the palace at Atlantis 











to a small fishing village, arctic lands inhabited by Eskimo 
types, a verdant forest full of witches and boars, several 
strange islands, and the Very Depths of Hell, too. Probably. 

Along the way you’ll come across plenty of obstacles hin¬ 
dering your progress. Unlike the consistently stunning graph¬ 
ics, the puzzles in Atlantis do vary quite radically in quality. 
Some are quite good - I’m thinking of the highly amusing crab 
race to decide who’s telling the truth, and the occasional dra¬ 
matic dialogue where a couple of misplaced words could get 
you killed. The average ones usually involve asking someone 
about something, turning up at the pub to meet someone, or 
using an object in a fairly obvious way. Worse are the occa¬ 
sional jigsaw puzzles, tangrams and sliding block rubbish. In a 
similar vein, but slightly better, are the weird contraptions set 
by the even weirder Rat Catcher - but these sort of make sense 
in context, so I’ll excuse them this time. 

Grade-A Puzzles 

Thankfully, though, there are loads more puzzles that are 
simply brilliant. A list of the best examples would include 
creeping through the forest as Seth tracks down the rare White 
Boar, armed with only a bow and arrow, and keenly listening 
for the smallest rustle in the bushes. The heart-thumping ten¬ 
sion created here wouldn’t be possible without Cryo’s superb 
Omni 3D graphics engine. Likewise, no other game could 
manage a scene like the scintillating chase through the very 
same forest, or the clever combat sequences (especially the 
one in which you don’t even have to fight - very sneaky!), or 
the bits where you tip-toe around the palace so as not to alert 
the treacherous guards. 

This is precisely why Atlantis succeeds. Sure the 3D is truly 
immersive, that helps a hell of a lot. More importantly, the 
designers have created situations and puzzles that realise this 
engine’s potential, taking full advantage of all that it offers. If 
I had to pick one moment that shows just how excellent this 
game is, however, it would be the scene where you first find 
the Queen imprisoned. To rescue her you need to get her to 
wear a priestess robe (that you yourself had only recently 
taken off!). When I told her this she asked me to politely turn 
around to let her undress. So, with a brief swing of the mouse I 
faced the other way. While looking at the cell door I could 
actually hear her changing and, obviously, I couldn’t resist a 
quick peek - just to see what would happen, of course. I dis¬ 
covered soon enough, as she slapped me hard across the face 
and, before I was able to see anything, my view swiftly swung 
back around to that dull, grey cell door. Ouch! 

Atlantis, then. I like it a lot. 



Veterans like me will 
love it, and non¬ 
adventurers might 
just be converted 



H Y P E R » 95 


























96 »HYPER 


REVIEW PC 


Hexen 2 h 

Being a noted Hexen junkie... Dan Toose ran to his PC. 




mouth teaming when Hexen 2 arrived. 

w 




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Doom was responsible for many clones, most 
of which left something to be desired. There 
was however one clone which shone, due in no 
small part to the fact it was actually made in 
conjunction with id software. Raven brought us 
Heretic, which took Doom that extra step further 
with usable items and an inventory system, 
giving a much more versatile single player 
game. It also gave all the fantasy freaks who 
had no interest in space marines the chance to 
get in some quality first person action. lust as 
Doom was sequelled by Doom 2. Heretic was 
sequelled by Hexen, which added even more 
variety with multiple character classes, and 
features like breakable glass. After the release 
of Quake, all other first person shooters were 
pretty much put to shame, and it was obvious 
that true 3D engines were the way to go. It’s 
been a long wait, but the fans of the serpent 
rider games can now rejoice as Hexen 2 arrives 
at last. 

So pretty ycu'll make a pass at it... 

If you’re after a game that looks pretty, 

Hexen 2 is it... as long as you have a 3D effects 
card. You can bump the res up with standard 
Hexen, but naturally this hurts your frame rate, 
and when you’re trying to weave inbetween 
enemy attacks to swing your sword at your 
opponent and then duck out again, this is a 
problem. One thing that Hexen 2 does do is 
offer transparency effects, even for those that 
don’t own a 3D accelerator! This makes struc¬ 
tures like buildings with windows seem that 
much more true to life, when you can actually 
see the bad guys getting ready to attack you 
through a window. The monsters in Hexen 2 
look amazing, with superb modelling and more 
frames of animation than Quake, to really help 
bring life to your adversaries. While a fair bit of 
the scenery is grey, all of these bits are in con¬ 
text, and in terms of colour and richness, Hexen 
2 has the goods. This is really played up with all 
the domestic decorations, so a bedroom actual¬ 
ly has a bed. a table (with candles), a book- 




Jp 



v i-lj 4| jMr 



i i arti i 

jlaLi , 95 


MULTIPLAYER MAYHEM 

Hexen 2 is a different style of multi¬ 
player deathmatch game to other first 
person shooters, as the emphasis is 
on your ability to use the special 
items to maximum effect, as opposed 
to your ability to line up your oppo¬ 
nent, or dodge an incoming attack. 
Until an equivalent of QuakeWorld is 
made for Hexen 2 (HexenWorld per¬ 
haps?), Hexen 2 will suffer from some 
latency problems when playing 
online, so if you want that fix today... 
you better have access to a LAN. 



shelf, chairs, and other things you'd expect to see. 

Hexen 2 offers a selection of either CD music, Midi music, or for those 
that don’t like to be distracted, no music. The actual music is perfectly 
in theme, oozing medieval fantasy vibes out at you. The sound effects 
can lend a major hand in your efforts to guess what’s going on around 
a corner, or when you’re being attacked from behind, so a lack of music 
helps in Hexen 2. The sound effects are of the same sort of standard as 
Quake. 

A lot of class... 

There are four character classes to play as in Hexen 2: the Paladin, the 
Crusader, the Necromancer, and the Assassin. Each has their own 
strengths and weaknesses, and more importantly, special abilities, 
which you actually develop as your character gains experience from 
battles. These abilities all suit the characters perfectly. For example, the 
assassin learns how to hide in shadows and backstab. The execution is 
natural, with the assassin simply having to stand still and let them¬ 
selves blend in. 

Hexen 2 has a four main weapons for each character, and the use of a 
Tome of Power (a magic item) can turn each of these weapons into even 
better variants. So technically, there are thirty-two weapons in the 
game. Whilst thirty-two is an adequate number, the reality of the situa¬ 
tion is that you as a character only actually has four weapons. The Tome 
of Power does make them look and perform better, but it doesn't feel 
like you have a wide variety of attack options. 

To make up for this, Hexen 2 more than compensates with a vast vari¬ 
ety of items to collect that you can use to aid you in your quest. Every 
angle you’d want is covered, from healing potions (weak and strong), 
trap devices (the assassin’s tripwire glyph is extremely cool), defensive 
items (including armour and magical protection), offensive items 
(Tome of Power to upgrade weapons, through to device that turns your 
target into a sheep!), and miscellaneous items (imp summoning, tele¬ 
portation, flying, etc). 

The monsters in Hexen 2 look cool, and are considerably more intelli¬ 
gent than in games like Quake. For example, an archer will not chase 
you around a corner, he’ll just wait for you to come back into view 
where he can nail you. Maybe I’ve just played too much Quake, but I 
found all the monsters (with the exception of the Werejaguar) to be 
slow enough to deal with at my own pace. If you have plenty of ammo, 
then combat is generally quite easy, the issue is more one of your 
ammo reserves as opposed to your opponents being difficult to kill. 
When you have to resort to melee combat against a monster with a 
ranged attack, it’s easy to get worn down. The monsters include 
archers, spiders, skull wizards, golems, scorpions, mummies, imps, 
werejaguars, medusae, hydras, angels of death, and the boss monsters. 


HYPER» 97 









98 »HYPER 


REVIEW PC 



HEXEN 2 VS QUAKE 

It may seem an odd idea to compare these two. but it 
does serve well to see what improvements have been 
made over time. Visually Hexen 2 is a bit two faced. If 
you have a 3DFX card, the game is utterly gorgeous, 
with textures, 3D models, animation and transparency 
effects that really put Quake to shame. If you don’t 
have a 3D accelerator, Hexen 2 suffers badly by the 
nature of all the complex textures and models, which 
once pixelated, are harder to distinguish. 

As a single player game, Hexen 2 simply has far more 
depth than Quake ever did. with the hub system mak¬ 
ing for bigger and better puzzles, and a real sense of 
"completing a world”. Hexen 2 is also far more diffi¬ 
cult than Quake as a single player game. This is not so 
obvious in the lower difficulty levels, but on hard or 
nightmare, the lack of ammo will require you to end 
up going hand to hand far more often, making the 
whole thing much tougher. 

Hexen 2 is great co-operative, but as a deathmatch 
game. Quake still reigns supreme. Hexen 2 does allow 
for a greater variety of tactics compared to Quake, yet 
most of them seem like real cheap shot attacks as 
opposed to a greater variety of balanced play. 
Turning your opponent into a sheep, then summoning 
an imp, and making yourself invisible and invulnera¬ 
ble all at once may sound cool, but it ends up 
detracting from the fun of just using raw skill to take 
down your opponent. 

Hexen 2 is definitely a technical advancement on 
Quake, but will not have the same impact on the PC 
gaming community. 








So who’s the boss? Well the story 
includes the four horsemen of the 
Apocalypse, and you have to take all 
four of them down to make it through to 
the last episode (there are five), where 
you track down Eidolon, last of the 
Serpent Riders. Unlike Korax, Eidolon is 
a damn site nastier than Korax was in 
the first Hexen game, and by jove he 
looks pretty damn cool too. 

Break &tutt- it's tun! 

What we have here is a shining exam¬ 
ple on how to take a step forward in a 
gaming genre that has been done to 
death. Hexen 2 features destroyable 
objects, which means you can bash fur¬ 
niture to bits, or even break through 
weak sections of wall. This may not 
sound like much, but the effect is fan¬ 
tastic. I found the classic example to be 
when I was attacking a wizard, who 
promptly teleported out of the way as 
my sword was being swung at his neck. 
Rather than that just be the end of it, 
my sword hit a bookshelf in front of me, 
and I took out half the books in the 
process. It felt right! 

Hexen 2 also allows for crouching, 
which has been done before, but now 
some of the monsters duck out of the 
way as well. 

All up Hexen 2 is pretty much as we 
expected... An outstanding use of the 
latest id 1st person gaming engine. Like 
the first game Hexen 2 was a very strong 
single player game, and a decent, yet 
not as addictive multiplayer game. If 
you’re fussy about your visuals. Hexen 2 
really shines, although without a 3D 
accelerator, it really doesn’t look even 
remotely as good. If you liked Heretic 
and Hexen, you won’t be disappointed. 
If you thought Quake wasn’t good 
enough as a single player game, then 
maybe this was what you were after... 


HYPER» 99 
























100 »HYPER 









Beasts B Bumpkins 

Boland Harms 

PC 

PC 

RURUHBK: nOUJ 
\ [RUBOR V: STB RUG V 

PIRVfRS. 1 

PllBUSHlR: ER 

PRIU: $89.95 

RRIIRC: GB 

RURIIRBU: nOW 
[RUCORV: SPORT 

PIRVIRS: 1-1 

PllBUSHlR: IRIERPIRV 

PRIU: $79.95 

RRIIRC: G 


Resident (nil 

Saturn 


ruriirbie zbr 

[RIRCORV. SIRRUGV\R[TI0n 
pimns: 1 

PIIBIISHIR: ERPT0R1 
PR IK: TBR 
RRIIRC: KIR 15* 




Crap name, I know, but don’t let it put you 
off. Beasts 6 Bumpkins proves to be quite an 
adept and addictive little strategy game. 

Comparisons may be odious, but christ 
they’re useful when you need to describe a 
game in 300 words. B£B is a resource 
management, town building, real-time combat 
strategy game that’s part Settlers, part Warcraft, 
part The Horde. The Horde bit is obvious, as 
these two games look remarkably similar with 
their quaint medieval settings and top-down 
isometric graphics. But B£B does find more in 
common with the other two titles. The most 
important task at the start of each mission - of 
which there are 30 - is to begin housing and 
feeding your peasants. Huts and chicken coops 
will do these jobs nicely. Later on you’ll have to 
construct bakeries, farms, wells, guilds, 
breweries, a town hall, church, etc. Meanwhile 
the female half of your population ought to be 
busy milking cows or picking apples and 
mushrooms. During the night, however, 
everyone will retire to their cosy huts for some, 
and I’m quoting here, "nookie”. This is 
accompanied by lewd propositions of ”Do you 
want some rough and tumble?” and all manner 
of suggestive giggles. If you’re lucky you’ll also 
hear the bloke yelling "Wa-heyl”, followed three 
seasons later by the heartening cries of a new¬ 
born baby. I swear this is all true. 

The sound in B£B is one of its strong points. 
In fact, it can get quite eerie when your town is 
failing, the population is decreasing, and you 
can hear only the occasional voice or door 
opening and closing. Combat is very 
Warcraft-esque. You train peasants 
as footmen (or even wizards) and, 
barely two mouse-clicks later, send 
them out into the countryside to pick 
on wolves and giant wasps. B6B looks 
good, has a mostly friendly interface, 
and a difficulty curve pitched well 
enough to gradually introduce you to 
the basics while still providing a 
challenge right from the start. In a 
word - infectious. 


“14- 


Bb 


Ten things to bear in mind while you 
consider purchasing Roland Garros French 
Open Tennis: 

1. it’s a tennis game, and tennis is great. 

2. It's a tennis game, but every tennis game 
- at least on the PC - has sucked big time. 

3. Compared to its rivals, Roland Garros 
has come closest to simulating the actual 
physics of a tennis match. Sure, it's not 
perfect, but often the ball does give a good 
impression of realistic movement. Volleys? 

4. Yeah, but Smash Tennis (on SNES and 
PSX) was never the most accurate sim and it 
was wonderful anyway. That’s true, but 
sadly Roland Garros lacks all the cute and 
amusing touches that made Smash such a joy 
to play. This is meant to be serious. 

5. Consequently the graphics are pretty 
realistic too. The animation of each 
polygonal player performing a shot is 
peerless. There's plenty of variety as well, 
since they make minor adjustments 
depending on how close you are to the ball. 
Running around the court, however, isn’t 
quite so hot. Glide is perhaps a more 
appropriate term. 

6. The ball has a shadow, but the players 
do not. This is annoying. 

7. Disconcertingly, the umpire calls ‘’Fault!” 
for faults AND for when the ball goes out 
during a rally. This is even more annoying. 

8. There are tournament and multiplayer 
(including IPX) options. And the replay is 
rewarding and immensely, er....replayable. 

9. You will need a 2-button 
gamepad to play properly. Sorry, but 
the keyboard just ain't up to the task. 

10. it might be stating the 
bleeding obvious, but you have to 
actually like tennis to get much out 
of this game, if you do enjoy the 
feeling of graphite and grass, then 
the PC at last has a decent tennis 
game to boast about. 

ED 


“14- 


1E 



The long waif ts over and finally Saturn owners 
can $ot their hands on arsuably one ok the best 
Playstation titles ever, the sory and gruesome 
Resident Cvii Takins control 0 h either Jill or Chris. 
who are members ofi the Special Tactic and Rescue 
Services Team, its your task to solve the mystery 
surrounding the disappearance oh over 20 people on 
an estate in the middle oh nowhere. The majority oh 
the some takes place in a huge mansion and its 
surroundins areas, where you must solve puzzles, 
try and locate the rest oh the members oh your team. 
and kill as many zombies and satanic creatures aa 
you can. 

As a conversion hrom the Playstation, this version 
is remarkably similar, with all ordinal heatures and 
Sraphics ported hoithhully to the Saturn. The 
character graphics are slishtly seiner in this 
version, with a noticeable absence oh the gourad 
shadin g that smoothed out the Playstation . but 
nonetheless the games graphics are more than 
adequate with special mention to the flacf that the 
game has remained uncensored with all blood 
ehhects still present. 

The games degree oh graphic violence is how it 
gained its reputation, as blood is hrequently 
splashed across the screen, with zombies heads 
exploding hrom repeated blast hrom shotguns, giants 
snakes who endeavour to eat you whole, and 
hounds oh hell that ponce on you and proceed to rip 
your throat out. No doubt the game will flind an 
audience here, as it did with the original Playstation 
version, but the game to some may be rather sedate 
in its pace and irritating in its control scheme. 

Unhortunately. even giving the lengthy conversion 
time, there seems to be no 
improvements or modihications in the 
original's gameplay and plot. There 
could have been more save points and a 
slightly dihberent storyline to 
accompany the Saturn release, but alas 
no such ehhort seems to have been 
injected into the game. Nevertheless 
Resident Cvil is a game that wilt no 
doubt provide Saturn owners with many 
hours oh suspense hilled g ameplay. 


SIEVE O'LEARV 





































































Outpost 3 


PC 


HuiHiMf: now 

(HUOHY SIRRTfV 
PlHYfHS. 1-5 
PUBUSm SIE5RR 
PHItl: $89.95 

mm: c 

Bill: PBO. 15 RIB RRR1. 191R 95 



BYTE S I Z E 


Blood Omen : legacy of ha in 


PC 


HUHIlHBlf: no 19 
[HUBBY: RCTI0R/RP5 
PlHYfHS: 1 

PUBIISHIH: RCTIUISIOR 
PHIff.TBR 
HHIIHO: R1R15* 


moh 


PlayStation 


HUHIIHBU: ROU 
(HUCBHY: hi non 
PlHYfHS: 1 
PUBlISHfH: SHIRV 
PHIff: $59.95 
HHIIHO: R115* 


The biggest problem with the original outpost 
was that all you really did was build, there was no 
time limit and no one came to try and wipe you 
out. All in all it made for fairly flashy but boring 
game play. Outpost 2 has retained a lot of the 
flashiness but has given players a will to play. 

The story goes that two separate factions 
evolved in the first colony, those who wanted to 
terraform and those who went for the minimalist 
adaptation approach. When push came to shove, 
the colony split and the minimalist greenies got 
booted out to start their own colony. Now all of 
a sudden you have two forces that want to 
whoop each others butt right off the planet. 
Hehehe, now that is a reason for playing more 
than one scenario and hoping that rip off 
merchant in the games shop will exchange the 
dud game he recommended. 

Basically Outpost 2 is a Command and 
Conquer clone that takes place in space. It is 
produced by Sierra, and as such is a well- 
polished bit of product. They have come up with 
some really cool ideas that are genuine 
innovations in this type of game. One of these is 
the way you build your vehicles for war. You 
have several types of weapons to choose from to 
mount on different styles of chassis. So there are 
light medium and heavy chassis’, that have 
differing levels of armour and different speeds, 
and you choose what type of weapon turret 
mount on the body. The turrets are all really cool 
and have awesome sounding names like Thor’s 
Hammer, Starflare and Supernova. All the 
weapons have individual graphics for their 
effects and cool sounds to boot. 

The tutorial was a bit of a let down 
in that it required a lot of reading 
which could have been incorporated 
electronically. If you like reading. 

Outpost 2 has a small story to go with 
every mission, which builds the 
game into something with a real 
storyline instead of a few loosely 
associated scenarios. 


Bl 


GAMEPIAY 


“ID 


Face it: if a game starts with you being 
thrown out of Ye Olde Village Tavern by a 
broken bottle-wielding publican, after which 
you’re mercilessly impaled by the friendly 
townspeople, you'd figure its going to be a 
seriously fun ride. Sadly, Blood Omen doesn’t 
quite match up to what you’d hope for. As 
fledgling vampire Kain, you navigate through 
countrysides, castles and underground 
passageways, casting a variety of spells at 
mutants, fire-demons and assorted undead in 
typical RPG style. You can morph into several 
forms (bat, wolf, mist and human) as well as 
suck your victims blood by telekinetically 
ripping it from their throats straight into your 
gullet. Yummy! The story’s fairly basic: having 
been ’made’ by the necromancer Mortanius, 
you discover that to save the mystical Pillars 
that protect the land, you must not only kill 
your maker, but also his eight buddies. On the 
way, you pick up armour, spells, power-ups, 
etc. One of the discouraging aspects is that 
the creatures you come up against have set 
patterns of attack that are easily countered 
after the first couple of skirmishes. Also, the 
nine end-of-level bosses aren’t as difficult as 
actually getting to them, making the thrill of 
putting their severed heads in your knapsack 
not as much fun as it should be. 

On the technical side, you get the best 
graphics at high res but, alongside a dramatic 
decrease in speed, you also get the inability to 
zoom-in (a must when you've got a character 
that looks as cool as Kain and feeds in such a 
grisly way). The controls are 
effective and easy to use, so that 
you can change spells or weapons 
several times during an attack by 
multiple opponents. 

in the end though, its the kind of 
game where you can either laugh or 
cry when your ghostly spirit guide 
tries to get away with saying: ’’But 
Kain, I’m only a shadow of my 
former self!” 


BD 


Bl 


Maybe Don Knows? More Drink <5 Kevin! Murder 
Death Kill! This baby rolled in a while ago on PC. 
and we liked it. Since then it was made even 
better by a 3DFX patch available on the Internet, 
and a save game peature (now that was a clever 
thins t0 leave out wasn’t it boys?). When MDK 
arrived on the PC. we were quite amazed at how 
you could zoom in on a target in the distance, and 
instantly g et all that "up close and personal" 
detail. One would have figured a lot op RAM was 
neccesary por this to happen, but that was 
disproved once we saw the PlayStation version op 
MDK. which handled it all just pine por a machine 
with 2 MB op RAM! 

For the uninitiated. MDK is a action shooter 
which plays with a very similar peel to Doom, yet 
takes a 3rd person perspective. Whilst 3ames like 
Doom don't have the same sort op control as on 
the PC (where the mouse/keyboard combination 
reigns supreme), por some reason MDK pelt just 
right on the PlayStation, with the control pad 
suiting this game to a T. Most op the game is spent 
progressing through puturistic techy battlepields. 
pacins the hordes op alien robots that have taken 
our planet and bent it over in one pell swoop. 
Besides having some interesting puzzle elements 
and gobs op humour thrown in. MDK peatures a 
special sniper mode which adds a new element to 
gameplay. and aa mentioned above, works just 
pine on the PlayStation. 

In comparison to the PC version, the prame rate 
was better, but the resolution was lower, with the 
overall eppect being about the same. 

IP you want to run around blowing things up in 
a 3D environment, and Doom style 
games don’t cut your mustard... Go 
take a good look at MDK. 







“lb 




HYPER» 101 


























































102 »HYPER 


.^UU iMQTC Ga(v|ES HOt LINE 


Sega 

1902 555 444 

Calls charged at a rate of ,95c per min. A higher rate 
applies from public and mobile phones. 

Sega PC 

1900 142 100 

Calls charged at a rate of $1.50 per min. A higher rate 
applies from public and mobile phones. 

Roadshow interactive 

1902 962 000 

Calls charged at a rate of $1.00 per min. A higher rate 
applies from public and mobile phones. 

Disney Interactive 

1900 957 770 

Calls charged at a rate of .95c per min. A higher rate 
applies from public and mobile phones. 

Sony Powerline 

1902 262 662 

Calls charged at a rate of $1.50 per min. A higher rate 
applies from public and mobile phones. 

Electronic Arts 

1902 261 600 

Calls charged at a rate of .95c per min. A higher rate 
applies from public and mobile phones. 

Virgin Interactive 

1902 220 058 

Calls charged at a rate of .95c per min. A higher rate 
applies from public and mobile phones. 

GT Interactive 

1900 957 665 

Calls charged at a rate of .95c per min. A higher rate 
applies from public and mobile phones. 


Daytona 

Championship Edition 

SATURN 


Drive a Hovercraft: 


Hold Up ♦ R at the ’Gentlemen, 


Start Your Engines screen. 


Extra Lightning Choices: 


When the "Gentlemen, Start your 


Engines" screen, hold any of the 


combinations below. 


Morning 


Night 


Streetlight 


Summer 


Make Jeffrey Spin: 


driving backwards near the 


Jeffrey statue 


Mirror Mode: 


To play any track in reverse, hold 


X ♦ Y ♦ Z while selecting a track. 


Play as Daytona Super Car: 


At the main menu, hold X ♦ Y ♦ Z ♦ 


R and then press C to select your 


game mode 


Play as Uma: 


Enter the Play as Daytona code, 


then return to the main menu and 


hold X ♦ Z ♦ L and press C to 


select your game mode. 


If you d prefer to earn this vehicle, 


place first on all five tracks in 


Hard mode 


Play as Uma2: 


Enter the Play as Uma code, then 


return to the main menu and hold 


L ♦ R ♦ Y ♦ Z and press C 


to select your game mode. 


If you’d prefer to earn this vehicle, 


use the Uma to finish the game in 


Normal mode. 


Slot Machine: 


When you see the slot machine on 






















































































CHEAT MODE 


cameras, pause the game and 
press Right, A, Left, Left, Y, 

Down, Up, Left, Left. 

Final Lap: 

To make whatever lap you’re on 
the final lap, pause the game and 
press Left, Left, Left, A, A, Left, 
Left, Left, A, A, A. 

Three Turbos: 

To gain three turbos, pause the 
game and press C, Right, A, Z, Y, 
C, A, Right. 

Buster Bros. Collection 

PSX 

Bonus Levels: 

In Buster Buddies, start a NORMAL 
game by pressing X on both iP and 
2P controllers. If done correctly, 
you will get 10 extra stages. 

Level Select: 

In Super Buster Bros, and Buster 
Buddies, press Down ♦ X when 
choosing a NORMAL game. 

Lifeforce Tenka 

PSX 

All Weapons: 

Pause the game and hold Li and 
press Triangle, Ri, Triangle, 


Square, Ri, Circle, Square, 

Square. Then release Li. 

Level Warp: 

Pause the game and hold L2 and 
press Circle, Circle, Square, 
Triangle, Ri, Square, Triangle, 
Circle. Then release L2. 

The Lost World 

PSX 

Play as a Hunter: 

Enter the password - Square, X, 
Circle, Triangle, X, Circle, 

Square, Triangle, Square, X, 
Circle, X. The game will start but 
sound effects will be off. Now exit 
the game, fix the sounds (in 
Options) and re-enter the code. 
Play as Human Prey: 

Enter the password Triangle, X, 
Triangle, X, Circle, X, Square, 
Triangle, Triangle, Square, 

Circle, X. 

Play as the Raptor: 

Enter the password Square, X, 
Circle, Triangle, X, Circle, 

Square, Triangle, X, Square, 
Circle, X. 

Play as the Tyrannosaurus Rex: 
Enter the password Triangle, 
Square, Circle, Square, X, 


Triangle, Triangle, Circle, 
Square, Triangle, Triangle, X. The 

game will start but sound effects 
will be off. Now exit the game, fix 
the sounds (in Options) and re¬ 
enter the code. 

Start with 59 Lives: 

At the "Press Start" screen press 
Triangle, X, Square, Triangle, 
Circle, X, Square, Circle, Square , 
Triangle, X, Circle. The game will 
start but sound effects will be off. 
Now exit the game, fix the sounds 
(in Options) and re-enter the 
code. 

View Compy Gallery: 

Enter the password X, Triangle, 
Triangle, Square, X, Circle, 
Triangle, Square, Triangle, 
Circle, X, Circle. 

View Hunter Gallery: 

Enter the password Triangle, X, 
Square, Triangle, Circle, X, 
Square, Circle, Triangle, Square, 
X, C. 

View Prey Gallery: 

Enter the password Triangle, 
Square, Circle, Square, X, 
Triangle, Triangle, Circle, X, 
Square, Triangle, Triangle. 

View Raptor Gallery: 

Enter the password Circle, 


Square, Triangle, X, Circle, 
Triangle, Square, X, Circle, 
Square, X,Triangle. 

View T-Rex Gallery: 

Enter the password Triangle, 
Triangle, Circle, Square, 

Triangle, X, Triangle, Square, 
Square, X, Triangle, Circle. 

Xevious 3D/G+ 

PSX 

Unlimited Continues: 

At the game selection screen hold 
Li ♦ Ri ♦ L2 ♦ R2 and press Circle. 

Thunder Truck Rally 

PSX 

Big Trucks: 

At the main menu press Li, R2, L2, 
Ri, Up. You will hear a burp to 
confirm it. 

Super Car: 

At the main menu press L2, Left, 
Right, Up, Down, R2. You will hear 
a burp to confirm it. Start the race 
and zoom ahead to first position! 

Take No Damage: 

At the main menu press Left, Left, 
Left, Left, Up, Down, Li, R2. 



Register Now for QUAKE comp.^ 


: Unit 41/5 Anella Ave Castle Hi 
: (02)9894-1344 


W 21 


AcTiVisioN 


: invsyd@invisagetech.com.au 







104 »HYPER 


CHEAT 




Hexen64 

N 64 

Cheat Mode 

While playing, pause the game and 
press C-Up, C-Down, C-Left, C- 
Right. A CHEAT option will appear 
on screen. Enter this menu, then 
quickly enter one of the codes 
below. 

God Mode: C-Left, C-Right, C-Down 
Full Health: C-Left, C-Up, C-Down, 
C-Down 

Level Select: C-Left, C-Left, C-Right, 
C-Right, C-Down, C-Up 
Butcher: C-Down, C-Up, C-Left, C-Left 
No Clipping: C-Up 20 times, C-Down 
Collect Mode Cheats 
Enter these codes on the Collect 
Mode screen. See your manual for 
details. 

All Artifacts: C-Up, C-Right, C- 
Down, C-Up 

All Keys: C-Down, C-Up, C-Left, C- 
Right 

All Puzzle Items: C-Up, C-Left, C-Left, 
C-Left, C-Right, C-Down, C-Down 
All Weapons: C-Right, C-Up, C- 
Down, C-Down 


that’s enough to change the 
game’s appearance. 

To alter the bits, use these controls: 
C-Down ♦ R: changes head size 
C-Left ♦ R: changes body size 
C-Up ♦ R: changes height 
Here are a few examples: 

100000: Stocky Players. 

010000: Stocky Players, Big Heads. 
110000: Stocky Players, Small Heads. 
001000: Small Players, Small 
Announcer. 

000100: Large Players, Large 
Announcer. 

000010: Crunched Players, Small 
Announcer. 


press C-Right, C-Left, C-Left, C- 
Right, C-Down, C-Up, C-Up, C- 
Down, C-Left, C-Right, C-Right, C- 
Left, C-Right, C-Left. If you did 

this right you should get into a 
fight every 5 to 20 seconds! 

Note: This code must be re-entered 
each period. 

Sure-fire Goal: 

For a goal every time, skate 
between the two face-off circles, 
then perform a Flaming Net shot by 
pressing Shoot and Turbo 
simultaneously. 

Trade Players: 

At the Options screen hold L and 


superhoops: Explosive pedestrians 
igloofun: Hot rod 
goggleplex: Drive under water 
spamforrest: Instant hand 
intheloft: Drugs (?) 
buyounextgame: Jelly suspension 
chickenfodder: People bounce 
when hit 

funnyjam: Turbo pedestrians 
tramaresuper: Extra pedestrians 
islandrules: Vesuvian cops 
smalluddders: Giant pedestrians 

US Navy Fighters 

PC 


Wayne Gretzky's 
3D Hockey 

N 64 

Bonus Teams: 

At the Options screen hold L and 
press C-Right, C-Left, C-Left, C- 
Right, C-Left, C-Left, C-Right, C- 
Left, C-Left. If you did the code 
correctly a V should appear on 
the 10th spot from the left. This will 
give you the extra teams: Williams, 
Canada, USA, and Northeast. 
Choose Your Opponent: 

To choose your opponent, 
highlight the team you wish to 
play against, then press C-Right 
three times. If you did it right, 
you’ll hear a click. 

Debug Mode: 

At the Options screen press C- 
Down ♦ R, C-Left ♦ R or C-Up ♦ R. 

A screen will appear where you 
can modify a 16-bit register. You 
can only alter the first 6 bits, but 


000001: Elongated Players, Large 
Announcer. 

110110: Large Players, Small Heads, 
Large Announcer 
010010: Crunched Players, Large 
Heads, Small Announcer 
010101: Large Players, Large Heads, 
Large Announcer 
010001: Elongated Players, Large 
Heads, Large Announcer 
Forfeit Game: 

To forfeit a game, press pause and 
enter the OPTIONS screen. Hold L 
and press C-Left nine times. Resume 
play and you will lose 1 - 0. 

Invisible Players: 

During the opening face off, pause 
the game and select Replay. Make 
a player flash by pressing L or R, 
and while he’s still flashing, press the 
Z trigger button to make the player 
invisible. You can repeat this trick 
until the entire team has vanished! 
Non-stop Fighting: 

At the Options screen, hold L and 


press C-Down, C-Down, C-Up, C- 
Up, C-Down, C-Down, C-Right, C- 
Right, C-Down. Return to the main 
menu, choose Records and enter 
the Team Stats screen. When it 
appears, press C-Up 10 times. To 
trade players, highlight a team and 
press A, then select a second team 
and press A again. Press Start to 
enter the Trade screen. 

Two-player Practice Mode: 

You need two or more controllers to 
do this one. When you get to the main 
menu, move the joystick onto Practice 
mode and A on one controller. Then 
at the same time, hold A on another 
controller. It will let two-players in 
the practice mode. 

Carmaggeddon 

PC 

While playing, enter one of the 
following codes quickly, 
bigbottom: Bodywork trashed 


Atomic Moth: 

Before you select a new mission 
(whether it’s a quick misson, 
single mission, or campaign), 
hold the right Alt ♦ Ctrl ♦ Shift 
buttons and select the mission. 
DON’T RELEASE ANY KEYS. The 
Atomic Moth will be added to your 
available aircraft. Select this plane, 
start flying and release everything. 

Sonic & Knuckles 

Collection 

PC 

To take a screenshot, press F9 
while playing. 

Tunnel B1 

PSX 

All Weapons 6 full energy: 

Press Li+Ri+R2*L2+Triangle+ 
0 *X*Square at the same during 
the game. 










I greatest games 


■ ; wjji 



N 


r[7*f tTnff 

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|f!lt 



























106 »HYPER 


CHEAT M Q PE 



PSX 

Cod Mode: 

For invincibility and unlimited 
weapons at the same time, hold Li 

♦ Ri ♦ L2 ♦ R2 and press Up, Down 
Left, Right, Right, Left, Down, 


Homing Napalm: 

Obtain three Napalm. Shoot one 
off, but don’t release the fire 
button. While holding the fire 


Blood Omen: 

Legacy of Kain 

PC 

Try these combinations during 
the game: 

Full Health: Up, Right, Attack, 
Action, Up, Down, Right, Left 
Full Magic: Right, Right, Attack, 
Action, Up, Down, Right, Left 
Preview Dark Diary: Left, Right, 
Attack, Action, Up, Down, Right, Left 

Meat Puppet 

PC 

Type these codes in during 
gameplay: 

Full health: ingesth 
Full ammo: ingesta 


Full ammo: ingestw 
Full energy: ingetste 

Wipeout 2097 

PC 

Try these cheats: 

Type at the title screen: 

RUSH - Silly ships 

Type at the main menu: 

XTEAM - Enable Piranha team 
XCLASS - Enable Phantom class 
XTRACK - All tracks 

Pause the game during a race 
and type: 

PSYMECA - Infinite weapons 
PSYPROTECT - Infinite energy 
PSYTICKER - Infinite time 
PSYRAPID - Machine gun 
FRAMERATE - Display frame rate 


button, press Up, Down, Down, 
Left, Left, Left, Right, Right. If 

done correctly, you will receive 12♦ 
napalm, and in i-player mode you 
will see the words "Homing 
Napalm" at the top of the screen. 

Mega Guns: 

While playing, hold R2 and press 

Up, Down, Left, Right, Right, Left, 
Down, Up. Your machine gun now 
has the power of a missile! 

Tiger Shark 

PSX 

Try out these passwords: 

BUGGY Bug riders preview movie 
BURAN No collisions 
DNEPR Collision boxes 
KAMOV Sound test menu 
KIEV Movie menu 


KIROV Infinite ammunition 
KURSK Invulnerability 
LENIN Don’t get shot at 
MINSK Reset all cheats 
ROGOV Random-colored 
terrain polygons 
RUBLE Improved weapons 
RUSSI "Clean" pause 
SNEEG Bonus Sea Hunter 
game 

SOYUZ Minimal gravity 
VOLGA Random-colored terrain 
boxes 

Ware raft II 

SATURN 

Cheat Codes 

Press Start while playing, then go 
to the ENTER PASSWORD screen 
and enter these passwords using 
the C button. 

TSGDDYTD Invincibility and 255 
damage weak against 
magic 

DCKMT Full upgrades 
VRYLTTL All spells and renewal 
of mana with each 
spell cast 

NSCRN Show entire map 
GLTTRNG io f ooo gold 5000 
lumber and oil 

MKTS Fast building and 

upgrade 

NTTHCLNS Level skip 
NGLS Disable magical traps 

(runes, ect.) 

HTCHT Two chops to harvest 
lumber 

THRCNBNLYN Quick ending 
NTPRF Laser show 
YPTFLWRM Instant defeat 

Three Dirty Dwarves 

SATURN 

Password Screen: 

To access the password screen, go 
to the OPTIONS menu and press L ♦ 
R simultaneously. 

Level Select: 

Access the password screen as 
shown below, then enter the 
password "MOSHOLU” 

Outlaws 

PC 

Freeze Enemies: 

To freeze your enemies, type 
OLREDLITE while playing. 

Unlimited Ammo: 

For unlimited ammo, type OLASH 
while playing. You’ll need to 
reenter this code on each level. 





cufcr 


• FEATURES 3D BREAKTHROUGH ENVIRONMENTS 
• CHOOSE FROM 12 WICKEDLY COOL CLAY CHARACTERS WITH UNIQUE PERSONALITIES, 

FIGHTING ABILITIES AND SPECIAL MOVES 


NINTENDO 64 


nTTOS&ASSFEw 

1KORCEOFI1MNG 

UJBWUR£GASSR>nON 


NOVEMBER '97 


COMING ON THE 


+< ‘ ROADSHOW 
INTERACTIVE 


© 1997 IMTISfLAY HtODUCDONS ALL RIGHTS KSEIVtD CUYRGHTEI 431/3 AMD INTEtPUY at TUDOUMS Of INTEtTUY ItOOUCTlONS All KGH1S AESEtVED 
EAKTHWOIM JIM CKAIAfTK © SHINY ENTERTAINMENT INC LICENSED IY NINTENDO NINTENDO THC OFFICIAL SUL NINTENDO M AMO THE 30 V LOGO UE TIADEMAIKS Of AMERICA INC © 1996 NINTENDO Of AMERICA INC 


** irn 






















LETTERS 



The Force is strong with this 
one... We had a sneak lock 
at Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 
2 whilst working on this 
issue, and it was most 
impressive. The 
architecture was simply 
incredible, the cutscenes 
were amazing and 
hopefully we'll have a big, 
hat review of this cool ist 
erscn shooter next issue... 


HVPEB Letters 
PO Box 634 

Strawberry Hills. NSW 201? 
Fax: 1021 93101315 
e-m ail: 
freakscetieonexi. tom.au 

SNIFFERS 

Dear Hyper, 

No, I haven't wrote to tell you 
your mag rules (though it 
does). I have just written to ask 
you a couple of questions 
(seeing my last letter didn’t get 
replied by you measly little 
butt sniffers!!!!!) 

1. What will Dark Reign 2 be 
like and what price? 

2. How come 1 can get games 
like Hexen and Bedlam here in a 
3rd world country (yes that’s 
Fiji for ya). for only $40,00 to 
$50.00 when they are $80.00 to 
$90.00 in Australia. 

3. Regarding a letter in issue 
46. Asswipe , Why the hell 
didn’t you just use leaves?? 

4. What games do you know 
that are M 15* but not extremely 
violent (mum hates 'em). 

That’s all for now. 

PHILLIP LEWIS 
Phil, 

We can’t reply to all the letters 
we get dude... And it’s not due 
to a quest for unsavoury 
odours. 

f. Oh come on... At the time we 
received this. Dark Reign 
wasn’t even out. Auran have 
plans, but it’s too far off to give 
any details, as none are 
concrete as yet. 


2. Games like Hexen and 
Bedlam don’t cost that much 
here, budget titles now. 

3. Good to see some Hyper 
readers are practical thinkers. 
Maybe there wasn’t a tree in 
the toilet though... 

4. Hmmm. M15*■ is pretty much 
reserved for violent games. 

THRASHING LIKE A 
MANIAC 

To Hyper, 

Filth mag (Love the cover 
artwork!). I’ve got a couple of 
questions that I’m sure you 
legends can answer for a dude 
down on his luck. But first I’d 
like to say a big ’’Seeya” to 
George Soropos. George, you 
and your humour will be surely 
missed from the pages of this 
cool mag. 

Now to the questions.... 

1.1 just recently bought an 
analogue controller and a copy 
of V-Rally for the Playstation. 
Now, both you and the Aussie 
Playstation Mag said the 
controller works with the game, 
but mine doesn’t. I have since 
been told that the analogue 
controller only works with 
Porsche Challenge and Rally 
Cross. What’s the deal? 

2. Don’t you think 85% is a 
little too low for V-Rally? You 
only had the beta to review it, 
so would you still give it 85% 
after playing the finished 
product? 

3. Could you please name 
some other games the analogue 


CL 

>- 


& 

>\ 


if 







00 

o 


controller will be used on. 

4. Dan (or anyone else for that 
matter), could you name your 
most eagerly anticipated 
playstation releases scheduled 
for the rest of the year. 

Gotta Go, 

Wl PLASH. 

Queensland 

Wiplash. 

you’ll be chuffed to see that 
George is still around, as he 
managed to get enough time to 
do a review on Shadow Warrior 
for us this issue. He’s very busy 
with Hyperactive, but he misses 
doing stuff for the mag, so you’ll 
probably see the odd review 
from George once in while, 
t. Infogrammes pulled the 
feature from the game before it 
went to the factories for the 
final CD press. Sony didn’t 
know about this, and suffice to 
say. it left a lot of people very 
pissed off... 

2. As much as we thought the 
game was technically brilliant, 
it wasn’t quite as fun as we’d 
hoped. Don’t get us wrong, we 
thought it was great, but it 
didn’t have ua coming back for 
more quite like some other 
games around at the time. If it 
had the track editor tike 
Infogrammes had proposed, 
then it would have been a 
slightly better game. The final 
product played a tiny fraction 
better than the version we used 
(which we were told by 
Infogrammes was final), but 
considering they pulled the 
analogue controller support, 
that has to count as a minus. 

3. Most games developed from 
now on will support the 
controller. Cven fighting games 
like Bushido Blade, etc. 

4. Geez... um... Final Fantasy 
VII was my big one. Can’t wait 
to get my hands on a PAL copy 
of Time Crisis. Castlevania. and 
Metal Gear. There’s a lot of 
PlayStation stuff that we’ve 
just covered that I really like 
(Street Fighter CX Plus Alpha. 
Oddwcrtd. G-Police). but 
personally, the stuff I’m really 
dying for is mostly on PC 
(Quake 2 being the big ’un). as I 
really love network gaming. 

N64 QUERIES ... 

To the LEGENDS that are Hyper, 

I am 14 years old and own a 
N64. Since I bought this 
legendary system in January I 
have every edition of Hyper and 
I must say that you guys do a 
terrific job. I really enjoyed all 
the hints for MK64 which you 







L E T T E R S 


included. By the end of this August I 
should have enough money to get 
Mortal Kombat Trilogy. Is this game 
worth buying? I would also like to ask 
whether or not there is going to be any 
good car racing games coming out on 
N64 and for my last question I would 
like to ask whether Carmegeddon is 
coming to N64. 

This letter is a reminder of how you 
guys are the biggest legends there are. 
Keep up the good work!! 

Yours Sincerely, 

SCOTT FINLAY SON. 

Scott, 

MK Trilogy is. in cur opinion, not one 
of the better N64 games available. It 
you love MK then you'll probably 
enjoy the game, but considering the 
N64's capabilities, we expected more 
from this one. 

There's several in the works, with Multi 
Racing Championship. Rev Limit, and 
Lamborghini 64 all springing to mind. 
Interestingly. Rev Limit will have a link 
up mode, with a cable coming out oft the 
top oft the cart, which is a first ftor the 
N64. Haven’t heard confirmation oft 
Carmageddcn tor the N64. only ftor 
PlayStation. 

GET IT RIGHT SONYIII 

On the day of the release of the 
awesome V-RALLY, I had saved $150 and 
bought a copy of V-RALLY and one of 
Sony’s trendy new double analogue 
controllers BUT when I went to play it 
the controller didn't work. The game 
didn’t support it, no worries I had read 
in a magazine, my new controller was 
Negcon compatible ’’NOT". The Negcon 
is endorsed by Sony so why was their 
new controller not made compatible? I 
realize you guys were reviewing a Beta 
copy (unfinished version) of the game 
V-RALLY but isn’t the final game 
supposed to be better. Why did 
Infogrammes drop support for the new 
controller and what happened to the 
link-up? 

PISSED OFF P.S.X. OWNER 

Dear PCPSXC. 

Okay, the report we were given on the 
matter was that Infogrammes said they 
didn’t have the code required to 
implement the analogue controller 
support from Sony, and thus withdrew 
the feature from the final version they 
sent to be manufactured. The things we 
don’t understand here are 0 Why on 
earth they didn't tell Sony about the 
absence eft this support in the final 
version, as Sony were using the game as 
a way to promote their new analogue 
controller. 2) The version we had 
seemed to have good analogue 
controller gameplay. We figure leaving 
what they had in would have been fine, 
you're right... the final version is 
supposed to be better, but like I said in 
cur "3 Go Mad in Redfem’’ feature last 
issue, sometimes things just come cut 


different. We asked details about ANy 
changes we could expect from the 
final beta version oft V-Rally... and 
guess what, there were more than 
what they said. 

Something for all oft >ou to remember, 
as this is something that happens with 
all systems... Don't just blame the 
company behind the system. Most of the 
time, it’s the 3rd party that is at fault. 
Sony for example, were just as 
surprised and pissed off as you with 
the V-Rally situation. Another example 
is people blaming Nintendo for some oft 
the releases on the N64 being " crappy", 
and all oft the titles complained about 
tend to be titles developed by other 
companies. If you can’t get your copy oft 
a PC game to work properly on your 
Pentium... Do you blame Intel? 

WHO Y'ALL CALL'N A REDNECK? 

Dear all you rednecks at HYPER, 

First I must congratulate you on your 
awesome mag, it kicks ass!! 

Questions: 

1. Does the Saturn Steering Wheel come 
with pedals? 

2. What is the best racing game on Saturn? 

3. Do you have any news on Wipeout 
2097 on Saturn? 

4. Is there going to be a sequel to Sega 
Rally? 

5. Is Daytona USA CE any good? 

6. What % did Sonic 3D Blast on 
Megadrive get? 

hope you can answer all my questions. 

REDNECK 

Mr Neck, 
your answers. 

1. Not the standard one. no. Apparently 
there’s a steering wheel available that 
is compatible with Saturn. N64. and 
PlayStation that has pedals, although 
it’s only available on import. Steve 
O’Leary said he saw them available at 
Games Infinity in Haymarket (Sydney), 
sc you could try approaching them. 

2. We all tend to think it’s Sega Rally. 

3. It should be cut around the time 
you’re reading this. We’re keen to see 
how the conversion went, because 
Wipeout on the Saturn was 
disappointing. 

4. Not that we’ve heard oft. Sega have 
done other racing games since, and we 
guess that’s the way they'll keep doing 
it... Making new racing game* as 
opposed to sequels. 

5. It’s alright, but not up to Sega Rally 
standard. 

6. We’d stepped reviewing Megadrive 
games before it came cut. We did it on 
Saturn, and gave it 63%. The original 
Sonic games were fast and fun. this one 
wasn’t 

INHAT HAVE YOU DONE 
TO SEGA7 

Here's two letters getting at the same 
point... 


Dear Hyper, 

I am writing in about the lack of Sega 
Saturn games in your magazine. Over 
the last couple of issues, there have 
been one or two or even none Saturn 
reviews and previews. Some stores have 
stopped selling Saturn games and other 
mags are saying Saturn will probably be 
the first one to drop out of the 32/64-bit 
console war due to lack of sales and 
increasing interest of the 64-bit Saturn, 
which I say won’t be around for a while 
like 1999/2000. So my question is THE 
SATURN DONE FOR? 

Please print and reply my letter, for I 
am a concerned owner of a Sega Saturn, 
and purchase a Saturn because of it's 
games range and it’s strong games line¬ 
up in the future and I don’t want a great 
console to go in an early grave 

Thankyou 
MONEY MAN 

Yo fellas. 

I don’t mean to be rude or be an 
asshole or anything, but I think you 
have virtually booted the Saturn out the 
door. Admit it, there is no way near as 
many previews or reviews or even news 
for the Saturn. All it is, is N64, N64 or 
PC, PC and maybe a bit of PlayStation. 
Also, don’t give us that bullshit that 
they haven’t made that many games 
that month or you only print the games 
that bring interest. I mean how do the 
Saturn mags produce business every 
month. What good is a cool game, on PC 
going to do for a Saturn owner. Hyper 
was my favourite mag, until I saw the 
light. 1 feel as if I have wasted my 
Subscription money so please give a 
good explanation for this. 

BRAD HIPPER 
Dcshdude & Brad. 

We are sent very few Saturn games for 
review compared to other systems. We 
considered doing more reviews off 
import versions that our contributors 
own. yet there seems little point when 
we have no idea if the games will ever 
be released cut here. To further 
emphasize this. Sega Curcpe sent us 
Discwcrtd 2. yet upon speaking to Sega 
Oziscft (just after we finished reviewing 
the game and laying it out), we were 
told the game won’t be released in 
Australia (which is a big shame 
considering how good it is). We could do 
some more Saturn previews than we do. 
but eft all the Saturn games we hear 
about that are coming cut overseas, 
several oft them will not be released 
here, sc we tend to hold back a little till 
we get some confirmation about a 
release. For those wondering why we 
only do Byte Size reviews oft games like 
Resident Cvil for Saturn, it’s generally 
cur policy to only do a small review on 
a game we’ve already reviewed on 
another system. We wouldn’t say the 
Saturn is done for. with great looking 
games like Grandia, Burning Rangers. 



IflUR OF THE monw 

STAR FARTER 

To the crew at hyper, 

Do I have to suck you or something to get 
my letter printed? F@*$ that!! If you don’t 
print this letter I’m going to pray to the 
devil and put a curse on you stupid pricks. 

Your mag is still very cool, it’s just you 
haven’t printed any of my letters and I’m 
getting pissed off. OK!! Anyway i had this 
side scrolling shooter called Parodius on my 
SNES and NES. it is so spun out. 

I sold my SNES and now even though I’m in 
64 bit land I still pull at my crusty old NES 
just to play Parodius. Its so cool. Its just the 
craziest shit I’ve seen in a video game. I 
mean the games designers must be f@#$ on 
acid or something while they were making 
the game. I mean what other game has 
dancing girls and Easter island heads for 
enemies: octopus thingies for ships and 
punching gloves as weapons. 1 could go on 
for ages about how tripped this game is. It’s 
that cooly bizarre. Oh yeah, my point is I 
was just wondering if there are any planned 
versions for N64, PSX etc, even if only on 
import. Please I’m desperate, and desperate 
men do desperate things. I’d like to say my 
bit about Mario 64 .1 think its utterly 
brilliant... until you finish it in a few weeks 
and never play it again. The ending makes 
me want to puke and punch Mario in the 
head. I mean what a dodgy ending. ’’Yay 
lets go bake a cake and have a f@#$n tea 
party’. What kind of shit is that. Then Mario 
gets a cute little kiss from the princess. 

F@*$ that off. After saving the castle and 
the princess’ life he deserves a good root!!! I 
laughed at how gay it all was and 1 thought 
maybe if i get 120 stars I see a decent 
ending. But noooo. You see Yoshi and then 
he just pisses off. I might have played it 
again if you could ride him or something. 

Instead you get 100 lives and Mario farts 
stars when he jumps, What’s the point? 

See you in hell if you don’t print my letter 

otherwise many thanks 
PATRICK SA 

P.S Don’t worry about that devil shit. I 
don’t have any of your personal items. 

Not much we can say to this one. other than 
we laughed, you’re right though... the 
ending teas a little understated considering 
the effort required to get there. 


HYPER» 109 







110 »HYPER 


LETTER S 


Ninja, and the possibility of 
Virtua Fighter 3. all ensuring 
the system will have a decent 
lineup tier seme time yet. The 
Saturn is locking worse than it 
is. simply because the 
PlayStation is getting sc much 
support from all the 
developers, and there are 
literally more PlayStation 
games around than you could 
possibly hope to collect. The 
Saturn is a good machine, with 
a light, slow trickle of titles. As 
for the Saturn mags, there are 
none made in this country, 
because there isn't a big enough 
Saturn market to support it. 

The Saturn has done amazingly 
well in Japan, alright in 
America (yet no longer is 
drawing the interest it once 
did). 


DEFENDER OF THE 
GEORGE 

Dear Hyper, 

I’ve been buying your mag 
since issue 32 and the other day 
I was looking through the old 
ones and 1 noticed the vast 
improvement. It’s great!! Keep 
up the good work!! Now I just 
wanted to note that I’m a N64 
freak and I’m f@*$%n 
disappointed as shit! Some 
games for the 64 are OK- but 
they lack in Graphics ie. Mario- 
Kart, then Turok - there’s 
slowdown in the damn game!! 
then K.I Gold - the characters 
stances and movements are 
jerky! Then to that load of shit 
"Star Wars" it’s one of the 
craziest games!! in issue 46 
there was a wanker who called 
himself Lukeskywalker!! Listen 
dickhead- Star Wars is crap. 


George Soropos is a f@*$n 
weed smoker so leave him alone 
or I’ll kick your ass punk!! 
George is right so leave him 
alone you stupid bastard! 

Now I’ve had my damn say 
and print the letter OK!! 

P.S Make a Turok playguide (I 
hate puzzle games!!) 

from M fU-TANG 
W.T. 

Wahay! Who had too much 
coffee this morning? George is 
truly touched by your defense 
of his review. The visuals of N64 
games ia often debated. Some 
say the blurry mip-mapping 
effect is great, others find it 
overly surreal. One thing is for 
certain, the N64 is definitely 
great at holding a bunch of 
polygons together to give a 
really solid effect. Take one 
lock at Super Mario 64 or Lylat 



Wars... everything locks rock 
solid. The constant complaint 
however is that most of the 
games developed have not 
utilised the power of the 
machine at all. Mario Kart 64 
is an example. with sprite 
based characters being 
adequate, yet still not 
anywhere near as good as they 
could be. 

YOU CHEAT! 

To Hyper, 

Although I didn’t enter the 
Soul Glo drawing comp I am 
writing to complain about the 
extra winner in issue 46 because 
the drawing is a copy of an X- 
man trading card and it is a 
breach of copyright to copy 
another artists work and win 
prizes for it. Enclosed is the 
card and it will prove that the 
artwork is exactly the same and 
I would like it if it would be 
printed along with this letter 
and take the prize off the prick, 
Ceoff Wilton for an unfair entry. 

Yours Sincerely 
JOEL CURRIE 

A devoted X man collector. 
We've had a whole mess of X- 
Men fans writing in about this 
one. The sad truth is. unless 
Geoff Wilton decides to send the 
stuff back, there's little we can 
do about it. For future 
reference, all competition 
artwork entries must be 
original (unless stated 
otherwise), and we'll be 
checking our winners with Max 
Autchead (who's probably read 
more comics than anyone else 
in the country), just to make 
sure this sort of thing doesn't 
happen again. Apologies to 
whoever would have won the 
prize in Geoff's absence. 

F FOR 

FOULMOUTHED 

To the Editor of Hyper, 

1 am a widowed mother of 3 
sons (14,11,9). I got the boys a 
PlayStation last XMAS after a 
year or so of scrimping and 
saving and every birthday l get 
them a new game for it. I’m 
working full time so we're not 
exactly poor (but struggling). 
You see, one of the few treats I 
can manage for my boys is a 
copy of Hyper for them every 
month, and I’m always talked 
into buying the Playstation 
magazine as well. Over the last 
6 months or so, Hyper mag has 
been more and more foul 
mouthed, and in the August 
issue you people went all the 


way and used the ”F" word. 

Now I’m not a prude and I’m 
well aware that my kids could 
hear such language just about 
anywhere but that doesn't give 
you the right to swear willy- 
nilly. I used to find Hyper quite 
a funny read, now it’s just too 
juvenile and vulgar!! or are you 
a kid as well Mr Toose?? 

My sons begged me not to 
stop buying Hyper, so I’ve 
relented. But if you cretins keep 
this up I’ll stop putting $5.95 in 
your pocket every month. Also, 
don’t think the drug references 
you've slipped in recently went 
unnoticed!! They may have 
gone over my sons heads but 
not mine! When my sons swear I 
smack them with a wooden 
spoon.. I won’t offer to smack 
you people, you’d enjoy it very 
likely!! But maybe I could 
distend your bowels with it!! If 
us parents stop buying Hyper, 
you people would starve!! 

MRS PRICE 
Mrs Price. 

Congratulations on being one of 
two people to complain about 
the use of the "F word” that 
issue out of the hundreds 
(thousands?) of letters we 
received that month. The truth 
is it wasn't a conscious decision 
to print the "F word”, as I 
usually do a string search to 
find the word and adjust it. but 
that month I forgot to. you seem 
to be talking about the sex and 
drug references as though they 
were a recent addition to 
Hyper... when in truth, they've 
been there since issue 1. Hyper 
became the most successful 
video game magazine in the 
country due to its colloquial 
nature. We don't seek to teach 
children ethics, we simply seek 
to give them what they want... 
an entertaining games 
magazine. 

We’ve got a near cult following 
with cur readers, and it's 
because we don’t sit around 
stressing about how politically 
correct we are. we just say 
what we irant. We could cut cut 
all of our expletives, puerile 
toilet humour, and whatever 
other irresponsible prattle we 
write... but we'd lose more of 
our readers doing that, than we 
would lose people such as 
yourself (remembering that you 
are not the target audience) 
who find the magazine 
offensive. The only thing we're 
conscious of avoiding is 
objectifying women (which we 
believe is done far too much in 







LETTERS 




video games). 

Something tier you to consider, 
playing Quake doesn’t make 
people pick up shotguns and 
kill people. Carmageddcn 
doesn’t make people run over 
pedestrians... Do you really 
think cut of all the social and 
media input your children 
come in contact with, that 
Hyper is what would cause 
them to swear? If the drug 
references go over their heads... 
then why does it bother you? If 
it didn’t go over their heads, that 
means they’re already aware of 
drugs, and we wouldn’t have 
told them anything they don’t 
already know. 

We understand your concerns 
for your children, but 
considering that swearing exists 
in media everywhere (The "F 
word" is allowed on television 
in Australia after 9.00 PM), 
and in the classrooms, 
playground, and wherever else 
you care to mention, do you 
honestly believe Hyper 
encourages your sons to swear? 
If you want to remove the 
swearing forcibly, cut cut the 
letters section before letting 
them have the magazine, as 
that's where the vast majority of 
all expletives reside in Hyper. 

BRING ME A 
DREAM ... 

Dear Brian,, 

You wrote in issue 46 some 
advice to you: go f@#$ yourself! 
Okay now Dear Hyper, I have a 
couple of favours to ask you 

1. could you please do a review 
on UltimalX 

2. Do any of you guys know 
whether Michael Moorcolk was 
involved in the making of 
UltimaVlI because the black 
sword from it sounds very much 

like Elric’s sword? 

thanks for your time 
SANDMAN 

the land of Dreams 
Mr Sandman. 

Keep that prczac handy... 

1. Maybe we should wait for 
Origin to make the game first... 

2. Very doubtful it had 
anything to do with 
Stcrmbringer... let’s face it. it’s 
a cliche fantasy storyline 
element. 

MORTALLY 

OFFENDED 

Dear Hyper, 

thanks for printing my last 
letterOt’s me Mario) you guys 
rule!! 1 decided to write in 
about all the pathetic HYPE 



THIS ONE WAS ONLY HISSING ROCK ANO ROLL I IT* S GOT THE OTHER TWOI. 

some spirrv artwork by Jennifer leei 


about Mortal Kombat. I think 
your review on MKT was spot 
on. 1 mean half the people out 
there don't listen to your 
legendary reviews and go and 
buy the game which is stupid 
cause it sucks. Like my friend, 
Luigi, he bought it and was. 
well, mortally offended! 

well off the chat and on to my 
questions 

1. Are there any wrestling 
games coming out on the N64? 

2. Will there be a D64? 

Thanks a lot Dan, 
yours faithfully mario 
P.S. I love Random Access, 

What is the artists name? He 
rules too! 

Mario. 

We’re glad we’re not the only 
people who aren’t MK fanatics 
(we thought we were for a 
while), but we're quite 
interested in MK4. which does 
lock rather attractive on first 
impressions. 

1. Not that we’ve heard of. 

2. D... as in the adventure 
game? We hope not... as we’d 
then have to deal with the 
squilliens of letters 
complaining about how the 
game is over in 2 hours. 

P.S. Oliver Crrington... He does 
rule, when we can get in 
contact with him! Where are 
you Ollie?! 

CAN YOU BELIEVE 
IT MON? 

To the legends at Hyper, 

Gasp..choke...cough.. Can you 
believe that F**%%d up show 
Today Tonight? Yesterday they 
were doing a story on the game 
Carmageddon. They were going 
on about how it shows kids that 
it is alright to run over innocent 
pedestrians. One wanka even 
said "kids will go out in cars 
and see pedestrians and think 
that if they run them over they 
will get points and they will be 
a hero". Oh yes, this is very 
common. After I played Quake 1 
went down to the local mall 
with my rocket launcher and 
went crazy on the innocent 
shoppers. And after 1 played 
Red Alert I went and got my 
army and took over Russia and 
after I played Interstate ’76 ,1 
put a bazooka and a chaingun 
under my hood and relieved 
some built up road rage. I 
totally agree with Phil from the 
letters section of July. Anyway 
here are my 
QS. 

1. What are your first 
impressions of the N64 game 


Rev Limit? 

2. What is the Hyper best time 
for Luigi Raceway and Koopa 
Troopa Beach 
from your faithful reader 

BEN HARTNEY 

Ben. 

It's a sad state of affairs, but 
often the people who pass 
judgement and laws on 
censorship of various things in 
this world have absolutely no 
practical experience or 
knowledge in that field. This is 
particularly heinous in the 
field of video games, where 
some of the older generation 
can't relate to today’s youth, 
and their ability to see fictional 
violence as a form of 
entertainment. 

1. It locks really good. We 
haven't received a beta or 
anything yet. sc we can’t really 
pass much comment. 

2. We don’t really pay attention 


to tap times in Mario Kart... 
we're more concerned with 
beating one another in four 
player games. 

AFL FAN 

Howdy Hyperios, 

On the 27 of august I was 
looking in Hyperactive and I 
saw pics for an AFL 98 .1 was 
wondering what consoles this 
game is on (I own an N64. SNES 
and PC) and when it is released. 
It looks bloody good (are EA 
sports making it?) Ahh well, 
here’s some questions 

1) Is C8C2: Tiberium Sun out 
this year? 

2) Do you guys like Diablo? I 
only like Battle.net on it. 

3) Do you sell mags in the US? 

4) How do you, Dan, put up 
with the same line at the start of 
each letter? 1 can't stand it 
anymore! I go insane after 
reading things like "You are the 


best mag in the world" or that 
letter in the September issue 
that said "good work, but don’t 
keep ya hopes up". 1 HATE BUTT 
SUCKERS. 

5) How come the Hyper mag 
comes out in the middle of the 
month that is before the month 
on the front cover (I'll subscribe 
soon). 

See ya guys 

chuckster , melbourne 
Chuck. 

It does lock good doesn’t it? 
We'll be doing stuff on it next 
issue. It is only scheduled for 
PC and PlayStation release at 
this stage. 

0 No. unless Westwood are 
keeping it secret... which would 
be really stupid. 

2) yeah, but we're not playing it 
anymore... sc many new games 
to play. 

3) No 

4) My eyes just serta skim over 


HYPER» 111 




















12 »HYPER 


LETTERS 



it without thinking... you get 
used to it. 

5> The answer is actually kinda 
long and involved, regarding 
publishing strategies and the 
like, and would probably bore 
you to tears. 

FEELING OKAY 
DAN? 

Hiya there Hyper 

I have a comment and a few 
questions for you to ponder 
over if your not too busy. 

First. Hey Dan... errm... did 
you have a headache while you 
were answering questions in 
issue 46???... because... Well, it 
looked like you were really 
tired, pissed off, or just bored 
(in your responses)... 1 say this 
because your replies to most of 
the letters were kinda banal... 
no offence ‘smile* 

Though I do agree to your 
responses to mista Akuma and 
the shitface that called you 
guys assholes... who does he 
think he is??? Well... now the 
part you all know of... the 
questions... :) 

1) I heard you were doin’ a 

poster issue.any chance of 

including a big picture of Lara 
Croft??? (if you can... Here’s some 

suggestions.the one that she is 

leaning on her bike with an uzi, 
the one that says "hold me, thrill 
me, kiss me, kill me) 


2) I dont know if this is for real 
or not... but I heard a rumour 
that Diablo will be able to 
support 8 player multiplayer 
game on b-net... They say this 
is gonna happen when Blizzard 
release the V 1.05 patch update 
for b-net... is this real???? 

3) I read your console Quake 
news on Hyperactive... it said 
only N64 £ Saturn 
versions....does this mean no 
PSX version??? 

4) Will Quake 2 take as long to 
come to console as Quake 1 or 
will it be a fast conversion???... 
if it is coming to a console... 
Which ones??...when??? 

Well... thanks for your time 
and keep up the great work... 

HyPeR rUlZ 

from AKURA 

v00d007@quantum.net.au 

/ often get a headache 
answering letters, as most oj 
the Questions are simply asking 
how much something costs, 
when it will come cut. and it it 
will be available on a certain 
console. Halt the rime the 
distributors here can't even 
answer the questions, and it's 
about a* fun as hitting ycurselt 
with a cricket bat trying to get 
the answers tor people. I really 
love the tetters that talk or ask 
about something that isn't a 
price, release date. etc. Sorry it 
I "sounded" uninspired... I 


bounced while I typed... reallyf 
I didn’t mind the letter ftcm 
"Shittace". I just called him 
that since he started eft by 
calling us assholes... Which 
really doesn't get an emotional 
response out ct us at all. I 
think I sniggered twice (which 
took about 1.5 seconds). 

Oyou heard right... We ll be trying 
to get the best Lara image we can. 
Naturally we can only print what 
the publishers give us to print sc 
we’ll see what we get eh? 

2) Just keep an eye out at 
http://diablo. scorched, com. au / 
Blizzard don’t send that sort of 
into cut to the press, they just 
do the updates and ma>be tell 
the people at scorched. 

3) At this stage, yes. 

4) / wouldn't expect to see 
Quake 2 on any ct the current 
consoles, with the possible 
exception ct the Nintendo 64. 
Main reason being. Quake 2 is 
going to require a powerful PC 
to run the game efticiently. and 
none ct the consoles will be 
anywhere near as efticient at 
running a game like Quake 2 
due to the RAM required to play 
the huge levels. Quake 2 is 
pushing the limits ot high end 
PC gaming, and those limits 
exceed the current line ct 
consoles. 


PIRACY PANIC 

Say one day... ya on butt 
bored outta ya brain waiting for 
i8meg demo of Monkey Island 
3 to download... and you think 
gee why don’t I go see what this 
pirated software business is all 
about. So you type warez at the 
net search prompt and low and 
behold THE TOP 50 WAREZ 
SITEZS. So ya sitting there 
waiting for it to connect and up 
pops several directories: apps, 
games, and uploads... and 0- 
day warez list at the top of the 
site hmmm... Monkey Island 
only up to 9 meg now... so ya 
click on games... takes a while 
to load... The first directory 
comes up your eyes widened... 
Hexen 2 beta... you start to 

drool...Tombraider 2 beta... 
you’re starting to 
hyperventilate at this point... 
and there it is 

DarkReign_Final...I guess the 
question is what do you... WHAT 
DO YOU DO? 

Basically I ain’t a pirate, I was 
once a while ago, but I don’t 
agree with it now. This pirating 
issue is a big one really 
something’s gotta be done. I 
just think there is so much more 
to it than what poeple realize i 
could go for ages about whats 
going on in the underground 
net... its an issue which dosen’t 
get enough attention. I hate the 


feeling that hundreds of 
people across the world are 
sitting there playing Quake2 
before me (now every man and 
his dog seems to have a t3 in 
the US). Thanx for letting me 
have my say in the mag (that is 
if you print it). Keep the issues 
roilin out. 

ThanX alphad 
Alpha D. 

Software piracy is a problem, 
and anyone who wonders why 
on earth games cost sc much 
should look no ftirther than 
software piracy. The other thing 
is. you can be assured that 
unless you're downloading it 
within a week or two beftre 
release, the version you get is 
NOT the ftnal version ct the 
game. Dark Reign ftnal... when 
you sent us this email, we were 
talking to Activision, and they 
were telling us which day the 
ftnal version was going to 
code... in other words, the game 
wasn’t ftnished. Maybe my lack 
ct excitement ct pirate 
software comes ftcm the tact 
I'll see it all eventually anyway, 
but as someone who sees lots 
ct beta versions, they’re 
generally tar interior to what 
the ftnal game is. Sc to those 
idiots out there pirating stuft. 
why not just sit back and wait 
that extra month sc you can 
get the real thing, without 
bugs, without breaking the 
law, and without forcing 
software companies to keep 
their prices up. 

SIZE IS 
IMPORTANT7 

To you animals at Hyper, 

lust writing to annoy you and 
ask questions that you can 
hopefully answer, please 
publish our letter or else we 
would be wasting money on 
half a stamp, (we had to take 
out a loan for the other half). 
Reading the letters each month 
since *40 it seems more and 
more people seem to be 
complaining about the size of 
some N64 titles... to the people 
behind those letters, WHAT THE 

*£% DO YOU WANT? Stupidly 
long and boring games with no 
valid reason to play them apart 
from "If you collect more than 
100 cobwebs while playing this 
game you’ll get a mickey 
Badge" Maybe some people 
expected so much more from 
the N64 because of the long 
wait it really got to their heads, 
take Vince and Josie T. "we 
played Mario 64 it's one of the 



























L ETT E RSl 


easiest games we have ever 
played” , read "EVER”, is that 
meant to be exaggerated 
because if so you haven’t 
played many games. Mario 64 
is a good solid and fairly 
challenging game, and it’s well 
worth a look at, now read 
played, what is your definition 
of "played”, maybe looking 
around with a dumb ass look 
on your face saying "where’s 
the keyboard’’?, or even doing 
unspeakable things with the 
controller, either way your 
criticism over Nintendo’s 
successful attempt to make a 
kick-ass game was uncalled 
for and plain ridiculous. GET A 
LIFE GUYS!! 

Now for some questions. 

1. Will Pandemonium be on 
the N64? 

2. Will programs like Mario 
Paint and a good word processor 
come to the N64 along with a 
Keyboard and mouse. 

3. How soggy and heavy was 
the Kart meisters Bikini after his 
first sitting (please no big 
numbers-they give me a rash) 

Well thanks for replenishing 
our thirst for Knowledge and 
listening to us scream in anger, 
now our souls are free to wander 
and we are at inner peace and 
understanding with ourselves 
and each other (my ass). 
SKIPPY AND JONES INC. 
PTY LTD 
S&K Inc. 

We found the "I finished Marie 
in a day " comment particularly 
hilarious. Guess that'd he like 
me saying I didn't die once in 
Quake when I played through 
it, the first time I loaded the 
game up. 

Answer time: 

1. No netoa of it, and we doubt 
it, considering Super Mario 64 
was sc much better than it. 


2. Maybe applications like that 
might appear once the 64DD 
arrives, but seriously... you 
emailed this letter in... just use 
your PC. 

3 Very. 

I KNOW , IT'S ONLY 
A GAME . 

Dear Hyper. 

Referring to David Wildgoose’s 
Regression Session in your sister 
mag, PC Powerplay *14 ,1 thought 
it was a shame that he plucked 
only the PC games from his 
favourite gaming memories. 
Understandable really when you 
consider that it IS a PC mag, after 
all, but I can't help recalling 
some of my favourite game 
moments were from many 
different formats and I thought 
that Hyper may like to hear them. 

Possibly my first real 
Computer Game moment was 
when 1 had finally collected the 
anti-gravity boots and hopped 
into the robot suit of the 
Commodore 64 game The 
Sacred Armour of Antiriad. 
Wow... I could fly. 

What a buzz that game was 
and so beautifully done. Some 
other computer game moments 
for me have been: Picking up 
that awesome three-in-one gun 
from the ground of the alien 
prison in Another World 
(Amiga). Even today Another 
World is my favourite game I 
have ever played. Seeing my 
friend Travers reach a state of 
oneness with himself and the 
game of Tetris (Mega-Drive) for 
an hour. Those shapes were 
coming down faster than I 
could see and Trav still kept 
playing. Eventually he had to 
pass the game on to me. He just 
couldn’t be beaten, Naturally I 
screwed it up in the first five 
seconds that the controls were 


in my hands. Getting past the 
dragon to the beautiful tunes of 
The Last Ninja (C64). Finally 
getting into the secret 
laboratory in Maniac Mansion 
(C64 ♦ disc drive). Outwitting 
an entire 12 level security 
building and back again, all 
from the surreal confines of 
cyberspace in Intephase 
(Amiga). Meeting the Berserker 
as one of the Fist Of Earth space 
pilots in the terrific game 
Warcraft (Amiga). Hooking up 
my flatmate’s amp to my 
computer and going ballistic at 
full volume in Doom (PC). Being 
surrounded by an ocean on top 
of a rocky plateau as an angel 
fires yellow beams from her 
eyes. They luckily pass over my 
head as I crouch low 
performing a power punch that 
creates glowing blue orbs 
around my body. I successfully 
knock her backwards and send 
her rolling along the ground, 
winning the bout. Yes, Wang vs 
Angel in Tekken2 (PSX). Roaring 
through the air on my 2000CC 
motorbike as the flames of the 
explosion lick the back of my 
leather jacket in what has to be 
the finale of all finales, the 
macho-istic mega-game Full 
Throttle (PC). Running under an 
overpass as I am being fired 
upon above. I keep running. 1 
start to hear terrible groaning 
and carving noises as I make 
some distance from me and the 
danger. I turn and look back at 
the two figures fighting each 
other on the overpass. 1 use the 
zoom to take a closer look at the 
action. The gruesome 
choreography takes up my 
entire screen. 

In front of a torch lit wall are 
two silhouettes going hard at it. 
Taking chunks out of each other 
and doing my grisly work for 


me. A deathknight and a fiend 
go head to head for my 
personal amusement in the 
sickness that is Quake (PC). 
(Thanks Hyper). 

Of course the list could go on 
for a very long time and I am 
aware that my Computer Game 
Moments are accurate only to 
me. Not only may some people 
flat-out hate some of these 
games I have mentioned but I 
have only to comment on the 
games I have played, since I 
have not played every game out 
there.(Thank God). I always 
wanted to play Sam and Max, 
Bioforge and Myst but never got 
around to buying them even 
though I know there 
are some great 
moments to be had in 
them. And then there 
are the games that I 
never quite finished 
but got teeth 
grindingly close. 

Games like D- 
Generation, Cauldron 
(C64), Warcraft 
(Amiga), Barbarian 
(C64). That @*%ing 
wizard!!. But what 
really shits me is the 
games that I have 
always wanted to play 
but never could, only 
because the game 
developers never 
released them. Judge 
Dredd for the C64. 

Another world 2. (No, 
not Flashback. There 
was a proper sequel 
to Another world), 

Heart of Darkness. This 
looks incredible!!! Oh 
the tragedy. The 
anticipation!! 

Well,now I seem to be 
rambling on, but I guess that's 
what the letters section is all 


about, eh? 

MATT BRADY 

Matt. 

C-gad... you spend even more 
time on your letters than your 
artworkf Good to see someone 
getting retrospective about 
gaming. If it's any consolation, 
you didn't miss anything by not 
finishing Cauldron or 
Barbarian... their endings 
sucked. 


MATHEW STACEY SENT IN 
SEVERAL BITS OF PHUNKY 
ARTWOnk... THIS IS THE ONE 
WE STILL HAO SPACE FORI 
THANKS MATI 




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Wing Over 
Hercs Adventure 
Jurrassic Park 2 
Monster Trucks 
Moto Racer 


88.00 Golden Eye 
88.00 FI Pole Position 
88.00 NBA Hang Time 
Sega Saturn 
Dragon Force 
Megaman X 3 


$ 78 00 
$ 98.00 
$ 98.00 
$ 98.00 
$118.00 
$ 98.00 


88 00 
88 00 


48.00 

68.00 


Shining the Holy Ark$ 48.00 


PC CDROM 

688i Hunter Killer 
Betrayal at Antara 
Dungeon Keeper 
Extreme Assault 

Guts & Garters 

MDK 

Magic: The Gathering 
Meat Puppets 
NBA Live ‘97 
Phantasmagoriga 2 
Starfleet Academy 
X Com Apocolypse 

PC Games in Bold, while stocks last 


Check out 
www.asquared.com.au 


ALL PRICES INCLUDE DELIVERY!!! 


% 65.00 
$ 65.00 
$ 65.00 
$ 65.00 

$ 75.00 

$ 65.00 

$ 75 00 
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$ 85.00 
$ 89 95 
$ 85 00 
$ 65.00 












IhypBrmart 


Advertising in is free for private advertisers, and make 

sure you include your phone number (inc. area code). 
Send them to: HYPERAAART, 78 Renwick St, Redfern, NSW 2016 


FOR SALE 

Red Alert $50 (PC-CD ROM) In 
good condition. Phone: (079) 
466934 after 5pm 
1 Playstation NBA Jam Extreme 
Came $60. never used still in 
wrapper. 1 Sega Mega Drive Master 
System Converter $30.1 Master 
Systems II Power Base $20, needs 
new controls. Sharron Haigh, 15 
Syncline Court. Long Cully VIC 
3550 Ph: 03 54414148 
Super Nintendo with 2 
controllers, 3 games: Mario All- 
Stars, Yoshi’s Island and Donkey 
Kong Country. $150 Sydney area 
Only. Phone (02) 9624 4076. 

Sega Saturn Cd*cartridge, 
allows play of import games. $45 
incl. P.P. Ph: Bret (07) 3290 2307 
or email Nirgal@netski.net.au 
N64 game: Turok Dinosaur 
Hunter $70. Call (02) 94982992 
Sega Megadrive with 6 game 
pack - Phantasy Star 4 (with 
playguide) and converter $250. 
Plus Sam £ Max for P.C. $30 (with 
playguide). Everything $280. Call 
Tim on (02) 9649 3084. 

Saturn Carnes: Alien Trilogy, 
Nights and Daytona USA. $50 
each. Call Chris on (03) 9435 6359 
Sega Saturn Carnes:- Nights $50. 
Daytona $30. Virtua Fighter $30. 
High Octane $30. Phone (079) 
466934. after 5pm 
Super Mario 64: Boxed ♦ 
Instruction in perfect condition, 
only 2 weeks old -$40 Crusader, 

No Remorse (PSX) Brand new, seal 
untouched-$40 if interested, call 
Simon on (52) 434837 between 
4.30 and 7.30pm. Geelong area 
only. 

Mega Drive, Mega CD 2 with 2,6 
Button controls 4 cd games inc. 
Thunder Hawk and Battle Corps, 12 
Cart games inc. MK3, SF2 SCE and 
Ren and Stimpy plus free speakers 
worth over $800 sell for $260 ono 
PH(07)38866262. 

Sega Saturn with 2 controllers 6 
game, Sega Rally, Mortal Kombat 
II, The Need for Speed, Virtua 
Fighter 2, Golden Axe:Duel, Tomb 
Raider. All in good condition. A 
Bargain at $350 o.n.o. Also N64 
Came Crusin USA, cheap at $30. 
Call Grant on (02) 63820094. 
PTeferbly Mon, Tues. 

Playstation with memory card ♦ 

3 controllers - $200. NFS II, Die 
Hard Trilogy, Crash Bandicoot, 


Tomb Raider and Fi - $65 each. 
WC3, Fifa 96. NFS and SF Alpha - 
$35 each. All PAL and in good 
condition. The lot for $600. Call 
(02) 9983 9880 ask for David. 

Sega Satum - Including Virtual 
On, Sega Rally, Virtua Cop, 
Streetfighter Alpha 2, X-men, NBA 
Action £ Demo Disc ♦ 2 controllers 
6 gun. $300, Ring Marco after 5pm 
on (02) 96931786 

A megadrive 2 with 9 games 
including: Sonic, Sonic 2, Sonic 
Spinball, Sonic 3, Sonic and 
Knuckles, Sonic 3D, The Lion King, 
Street Fighter 2 special 
championship edition and 
Earthwom jim. Plus! 2 control 
pads - one six button and one 
three button. Great for newcomers 
to the world of video gaming. All 
boxed and with instruction 
manuals and in excellent 
condition. The lot for $150!!! To 
get this superb package please 
phone Robert during the hours of 
4pm to 6pm weekdays on 07 
38707068. 

Sega Satum with 2 control pads 
and arcade racer wheel -14 games 
included: Tomb Raider, Fighters 
Megamix, Sega Rally. Pandemonium 
♦ NHL Poweplay Hockey. All with 
instructions. Good condition $850 
ono, call David on (02) 93318382 
(after 8pm) 

N64 games: 

* Mario 64 -§45 

* Shadows Of The Empire - $35 

* Mario Kart 64 - $60 

* Turok Dinosaur Hunter - $45 

* MK Trilogy - $40 

* Fifa 64 - $25 

I am also interested in swaps, 
will consider Blast Corps or Super 
Superstar Soccer. Ring Matt 
Clifford on (02) 9897 5182 anytime 
after 5pm. Will send COD 
anywhere 

Super Mario 64 and Pilot Wings 
64, Both for $120 or $65 each. Also 
Dragon Heart for Gameboy $35. 

ACT area only, phone Daniel (02) 
48494684. 

Bloody Cheap Atari Lynx 2 in mint 
condition. 3 games, Ishido, Batman 
Returns and Bill and Ted’s Excellent 
Adventure. Power Adaptor and Canry 
case included $160. Ask for Ryan on 
(08) 98412649. Po Box 1388, Albany 
WA 6331. 

Playstation, 2 control pads, 7 
games (inc. Doom, Fi, Soviet 


Strike £ Fifa 96), 6 demo discs, RF- 
unit £ A/V Cable, AC power cable. 
Worth $900, sell $550. William: 
(08)8381 8730 (SA). 

I will sell my Mortal Kombat 
Trilogy on PSX (PAL) for $60 or 
swap for a good game. Call Gareth 
on (02) 9740 5128 (Sydney only) 

Mad Catz Steering Wheel, 
Unwanted Gift, 1 week old, $95. Ph 
Andrew on (02) 9621 7467 

SWAP 

Attention: N64 Gamers!! I have 

2 copies of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter 
that I wish to swap for 2 copies of 
Mario Kart 64. If u want a copy of 
Turok look no further! Contact Carl 
on (02)95341159 or 0416 014 559. 

Will someone please swap their 
Nintendo 64 ♦ Mario Kart 64 for 
Mortal Kombat 1,2 and 3, Killer 
Instinct, Plok, Donkey Kong 
Country, Itchy and Scratchy and 
Super Mario Kart plus Super 
Nintendo with two controllers. 
Please call Ashton (08) 82443959 

I will swap my Sony Playstation 
with demo CD and Doom, 2 
controls and a memory card all 
still in the box ♦ a Super Nintendo 
with games. Plok, Mario World, 
Super Metroid, Allstars, Simcity, 
Yoshi’s island. DKC, Battle Toads 
and two controls ♦ a Nintendo 
with 5 games - Mario’s 1,2 and 3, 
Pool and Wrecking Crew. All for a 
64 with one control, Mario 64 and 
Wave Race 64. If you want to swap 
for this, do so and if you do and 
Pickup and deliver I will throw in 
a GameBoy with Wario Land 
(Mario3) Peter Sabados Ph: 02 
9725 7918 

I’ve got Broken Sword for 

Playstation (PAL) or Earthworm 
Jim 1, Doom 2, Simpsons Doom i, 
Simpsons Doom 2 and Deathmatch 
2, Doom 2 for (PC CD-ROM)... That 
I’ll swap for Donkey Kong Country 

3 (Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble) 
with box and booklet for SNES 
(PAL) or Worms for SNES (PAL), has 
to be in good condition. PH: Peter 
after School hours on: (03) 
54503714 or Email me: 
rocsta@kerangths.vic.edu.au 

I will swap Mario 64 or Wave Race 
64 for other good N64 games. Call 
Paul on (02) 9918 3362. 

Hi my name is Rakesh, I am 
willing to swap Batman or Kirby's 
Dreamland (on gameboy) for 


Worms (on gameboy). So ring 
anytime you want on (077) 

436712. 

WANTED 

Warcraft 2 $30 Nintendo 64 with 
or without games $150. ph: 

9535142 Michael 
WANTED, SEGA CAME CEAR 
with 3-4 games for around $55. 
Will pay extra for the TV 
connection. Any platform games 
eg.Sonic and knuckles wanted 
and NBA JAM. Call Leigh on (08) 
83961377- Adelaide only 
Nintendo 64 games. Pilot Wings, 
Turok, Starwing, Blast Corps, 

Banjo Kazooie or Top Gear Rally. 
Will pay reasonable price, call 
Nick Reid on (03) 64243564. 

Neo Geo. CD32, Jaguar, 3DO, 
Turbo Duo. Will pay top cash for 
any of these old systems. Also 
want Warriors Of The Eternal Sun 
on Megadrive. Ph (02) 67624383. 

PENPALS 

Hi there all, My Name is Dusan 
Kosovic and I’m a 16 year old male 
and I am looking for penpals 
aged 12-16 male or female. Write 
to me about anything. I promise 
to reply to everyone who writes. 
Dusan Kosovic 
10 Studio Drive 
Studio Village 
Oxenford QLD 4210 
Wild Walrus? Sexy Seal here. 
Make sure you’re male, 17-19, 
creative and willing to write. As 
says, I’m a sexy seal and I’m 
looking for some interesting guys. 
Replies guarenteed, but hurry my 
offers about to run out. Seal, 6 
Dore Court, Tully QLD 4854 
Hi! My name is Brendan and I 
am 13 years old. I am Looking for a 
Male or Female Penpal between 
the ages of 12 and 15 .1 have a PC 
and a Playstation. I promise I will 
write back to whoever writes to 
me. If you are interested write to: 
Brendan Van Der Vust - 18 Proctor 
Street, Chisholm ACT 2905 
Hey! I’m a 17 year old girl 
looking for a penpal aged between 
17-19 who is interested in 
computers. Please write to - Susan, 
PO Box 5148, Mordialloc VIC 3195. 

Howdo. My name is Kris, I am 12 
yrs old. I’m looking for a penpal 
(male/female) age open. I have a 
PSX, N64 and PC. I like playing 


and watching many different 
sports and collecting things and 11 
really love Star Trek and spacey 
things. I will reply to all of your 
letters. Kris Butler, Po Box 164. 
Wahroonga NSW 2076. 

To anyone looking for a friend 
or penpal, I’m female 40’s and I 
own a SNES and N64 .1 like RPG £ 
Platform games. I get tired and 
fed up with one or 2 letters then I 
hear no more, I like keen writers 
who write long letters. I prefer 
mature people but younger 
people also welcome if keen 
writers. Write to Frances, PO Box 
1195. Penrith NSW 2751. 

Hi! My name is Fluffy and I’m 
looking for a male or female 
penpal aged between 11-14 who is I 
f*!%ing tired of getting no mail. 
(Apart from the odd cheque from 
granny.) I love C£C Red Alert. 
Pleeeeeeaaaase write to me at 89 
Hows Rd, Toombul. QLD 4012. P.S 
Address letters to Fluffy 
•Confidential*. 

I am looking for a penpal. My 

name is Aron Wilkinson £ I am 12 
in September. I really like the 
Power Rangers, Mortal Kombat 
video games, £ 1 own a PC-CD 
ROM. I don’t like sports. Wanted 
male or female pen-pal between 
the age of 10 £13. My address is Po | 
Box 180, Loveday SA 5345. 

Hi, PC lovers! I’m Marshall, and 
I’m looking for a penpal, male or 
female, around 15 years old, who 
is into the latest PC games. We 
could exchange cheats! All letters | 
sent to me WILL be answered. If 
you’re not really into PC games, 
we could talk about anything 
your want to talk about. Send you | 
letters to: PO Box 357, Yeppoon, 
QLD 4703. 


WE BUY AND SELL all computer games •The largest range of new and used games • Huge titles • 

• NINTENDO • SEGA • IBM • CD • GAMEBOY • SONY PSX • SATURN ACCESSORIES • 

• A BIG VARIETY OF RPG • FIGHTING • ADV • OLD & NEW • Nintendo" 

CASH MONEY FORYOUR GAMES, SEND YOUR USED CARTRIDGES. MAIL ORDER FROM ANYWHERE IN AUSTRALIA 

Located near the Station 

99 OLD TOWN PLAZA BANKSTOWN 2200 


Phone / Fax 

( 02 > 9793 7707 















Sony PlayStation or Nintendo 64? tyo(C c/tOOS&. 
Either way we have a huge range of games, accessories & deals 
to keep you playing HARDER, FASTER & MEANER for longer. 


PlayStation 


Sony PlayStation 
Console - with mind- 
blowing 32-bit graphics & 
awesome CD sound. 


Sony PlayStation Memory Card. 1Mb Namco Arcade 
Controller. The original of memory allowing Stick. A must for 
pronged design for you to save up to 15 Doom-style games, 
ultimate gaming control. games. 


NINTENDO 64 GAMES 
FROM $RQ95 


Take up the challenge of... 

• Super Mario 64 ...$99 

• Wave Race 64.$79.95 NINTENDO 64 

• Pilot Wing 64.$59.95 


Nintendo 64 Hand Controller. A 

multi-purpose controller provides the ideal 
layout for any type of game. Features 
14-button control. Lots of colours. 




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• CAMPBELLTOWN 02)4628 4068• CARINGBAHSUPACENTA i02)9542 7088• CHATSWOODWALLACEWAY(02)94196133 • FAIRFIELD 32i 97278777 

• GORDON (02) 9498 * 49* • MOORE PARK SUPACENTA |02| 9313 6500 • PENRITH 02)4732 1566 • WILEY PARK ;02) 9740 6055 NSW COUNTRY 

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1 02 1 6752 7531 • MUDGEE i02l 6372 6514 . NEWCASTLE SUPERSTORE l02l 4948 4555 • NOWRA i02) 4421 5755 • ORANGE 02) 63614111 • PARKES 
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(07) 3834 1100 NOW OPEN • CARINDALE 107) 3843 170C • MT GRAVATT 37)3849 4299 • OXLEY 07) 3332 HOC • WINDSOR (07) 3357 7777 • GOLD 
COAST 107) 5538 3155 OPEN 7 OAVS QUEENSLAND COUNTRY • SUNSHINE COAST 07) 5444 8277 OPEN 7 DAYS • BUNDABERG 071) 51 1570- CAIRNS 
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NOVEMBER WESTERN AUSTRALIA • CANNINGTON (08) 9311 1100 NOW OPEN • OSBORNE PARK i08l 9441 1100 OPENS OCTOBER NEW ZEALAND 

• WAIRAU PARK. AUCKLAND i09) 441 9750 NOW OPEN • MANUKAU SUPACENTA 09) 262 7050 NOW OPEN HN16364 


Nintendo 64 Console. 

The hardware system power 
to burn. Features 64-bit 
graphics, CD quality sound, 
awesome running speed, 
analogue control stick and 
high quality games. 


i 

H ; 

CRASH | 

Mooiaim ■ 

3 1 


$gg 95 

Crash Bandicoot 

















































































CHATSWOOD 

Westfield Shoppingtown 
(02) 9413 2970 

HURSTVILLE 

Westfield Shoppingtown 
(02) 9585 1588 

LIVERPOOL 

Westfield Shoppingtown 
(02) 9824 0711 

MOORE PARK 

Moore Park Supa Centa 
(02) 9313 8355 


PARRAMATTA 

Westfield Shoppingtown 
(02) 9893 8700 

PENRITH 

Shop 3/120 Mulgoa Road 
(02) 4722 3677 

KOTARA 

Garden City Shopping Cntr 
(02) 4957 7311 

MIRANDA 

Westfield Shoppingtown 
(Opening Soon) 


ERINA 

Erina Fair 
(02) 4365 1300 

BELCONNEN 

Westfield Shoppingtown 
(02) 6253 3355 
CHADSTONE 
Chadstone Shopping Cntr 
(03) 9569 8697 
FRANKSTON 
Balmoral Shopping Cntr 
(03) 9783 8695 


HIGHPOINT 

Highpoint Shopping Cntr 
(03) 9318 3833 

KNOX CITY 

Knox City Shopping Cntr 
(03) 9887 2900 

MELBOURNE CENTRAL 

Lonsdale Building 
(03) 9663 8697 
NORTHLAND 
Northland Shopping Cntr 
(03) 9470 5186 


ASPLEY 

Pick 'n' Pay Hypermarket 
(07) 3862 8711 

INDOOROOPILLY 

Westfield Shoppingtown 
(07) 3878 9571 
MOUNT GRAVATT 
Garden City Shopping Cntr 
(07) 3849 1500 
PACIFIC FAIR 
Pacific Fair Shopping Cntr 
(07) 5572 8697 


Distributed by Home Entertainment Suppliers Pty Ltd. NSW. Playstation is a Registered Trademark of Sony. 


RUNDLE MALL 

Rundle Mall 
(08) 8223 7580 

TEA TREE 

Tea Tree Plus Centre 
(08) 8396 4899 

PERTH 

Hay Street Mall 
(08)9481 7866 
MORLEY 
60 Russell Road 
(08) 9375 7055