f ' TUROK 2, EXTREME G 2 IPPLY OF JOLT The long awaited N64 futuristic racing game & The only authentic police tactical sim with real time action. Sequel to smash hit Police Quest: Swat. Based on actual LAPD call-ups. IT'S LIFE AND DEATH IN L.A. Create, rule and defend a Roman-era city of your own design. From the makers of award winning Caesar II. Enjoy multiple gameplay objectives in a richer, truer environment. .TTrsrartfirm ML** ’"BUILD a BETTER ROME CAESAR further than ever before Itiple award The next step in the evolution oF 3D action games with the most advanced proprietary technology and dozens oF innovative gameplay enhancements. SIERRA® Look out for these hot new Sierra titles at all major computer stores Draw forth and sharpen your sword. QUEST/^LORY % r> k a q O/p F i R. e Combines the best elements of role playing adventure with pulse- pounding multi-player real-time 3D action. Take a journey fraught with peril y mystery and enchantment. adventure gaming, born again. one indescribable adventure. JJitf'best selling adventure series is ""bafk pushing adventure gaming to cititing new limits, giving players £5* complete freedom of movement and camera control in an immense, real-time environment. seven worlds, three dimensions. Blood or the Sacred Blood of the Damned Xl)c ncit mastery in tljc nnuirb winning (ftnbriel 5tnigl)t2lbocnture Series. ‘Renenl tl)e insibious secrets l)ibbett in on unassuming restful fyrencl) countrt) town. The Solution is Yours. For further enquiries Ph: (02) 9417 9600 FAX: (02) 9417 9676 Visit our website: www.dataflow.com.au WOLF INITFRArTIVF WELCOME TO YOUR MEW RELJQIOM You're about to experience a Heretic revelation like no other. Powerfully intense action. Divine 3-D worlds. Almighty weapons and spells. And awe-inspiring third-person gameplay: a true out-of-body experience. Magical Powers, Spells and Acrobatic Moves to Brandish Underground Civilizations and Sinking Cities to Explore Third-Person, Quake II -Powered Action to Survive Cooperative/Deathmatch Multiplayer Battles to Brave SURRENDER TO THU HERESY COMING SOON SoftwareForPCs.com WWW.ddivision.com Heretic II <0 l'J‘J8 Raven Software Corporation. Heretic is a registered trademark and Heretic II is a trademark of Raven Software Corporation. Developed by Raven Software Corporation. Published and distributed by Activision, Inc. Activision is a registered trademark of Activision. Inc. This product contains software technology licensed Irorn Id Software. Inc. ("Id Technology “). Id Technology HI Haas* ROLLING STONE More than just Australia's defin¬ itive rock & roll magazine! Free CD when you subscribe! Save up to 44% off the cover price! N64 GAMER Cheats, tips, reviews, previews, competitions & a whole lot more.Save up to 40% off the cover price! 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PHONE: 1300 36 11 46 FAX: (02) 9699 0334 EMAIL: subs@nextcom.au (All prices are applicable to Australian residents only - overseas rates on application.) HYXMAS01 . 12 MOUTH SUPPIY OF JOIW! Ready for an all-night gaming session? We have the solution. All you really need to keep you going, is a fridge full of JOLT “twice the caffeine” COLA, a copy of TUROK 2, EXTREME-G 2, and the latest issue of HYPER! Gaming heaven! The JOLT will keep you gaming hard (it’s the gamer’s choice!), TUROK 2 and EXTREME-G 2 will keep you glued to the screen, and HYPER will be there to keep you informed! Thanks to the awesome people at Jolt Cola and Acclaim, 5 incredibly lucky subscribers this month will win this gaming pack¬ age to end all gaming packages. First Prize: A years supply of Jolt Cola and Turok 2 and Extreme-G 2 for PC or Nintendo 64!! Second Prize: Two six-packs of Jolt Cola, 1 Jolt t-shirt, 1 Jolt mousepad, Turok 2 and Extreme-G 2 for PC or N64! Third Prize: One six pack of Jolt Cola, 1 pair of Jolt boxer shorts, Turok 2 and Extreme-G 2 for PC or N64! Two runners-up will also win Turok 2 and Extreme-G 2 for PC or N64! To win, all we’re asking you to do is buy HYPER cheaper than you already do. Crazy, eh? Subscribe for 1 2 months and you will save 37% off the cover price! Subscribe for 24 months and you save a huge 44% off the cover price! Just think... subscribe... and WIN! Don’t miss out!! OCTOBER SUBSCRIPTION WINNERS Adam Kokkola, Qld Congrats! Prize: Nintendo 64 console, five GT Interactive games! Haw To o Call us tollfree on 1300 301140 Monday to Friday 8 am-8pm EST Fax a copy of the completed form, with credit card details, to: 029609 0334 SUbju/rjlifi 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, 7 8 Renwick St. Redfern, NSW 2016 email your name and address with credit card details to: games_subsa)ne xt.com.au or check out our website at https: //www. next. com. au/ publishing/subs/index.htl Allow 4/a weeks for ist delivery Fill out this coupon and mail it to HYPER SUBSCRIPTIONS, Reply Paid 634, 78 Renwick St. Redfern, NSW 2016 Name_ System _ Address Email (if appi.) Suburb/Town Postcode Enclosed is my cheque/money order, or debit my credit card for $79.95/$44.95 2 years/24 issues ($79.95 saving 44%) [_ 1 year/12 issues ($44.95 saving 37%) Bankcard _ Phone Number (_) □ Mastercard □ Expiry Date_ Visa □ Card No Signature WIN WIN WIN Abe is back in this excellent sequel to the hugely popular Abe’s Oddysee, rescuing Mudokons, killing Sligs and generally farting his way to success. Don’t be deceived by how similar the game may appear to the original, as it’s all new puzzles and darn addictive gameplay will keep you chained to your PlayStation for weeks. CT Interactive in their generous wisdom, have given us these great Abe packs which include a copy of Abe’s Exoddus for PlayStation and an Abe baseball cap To win one of five packs, answer this question. Which is the odd one out? A) Rupture Farms; B) Scrabania; C) Paramonia; or D) Bilbobaggins? Put your answer on the back of an envelope with your name and address, and send it to: Fart-tastic!, Hyper, 78 Renwick St, Redfern, NSW 2016. NBA JAM ‘99 Yeah boyee. Basketball games come and go. but the NBA Jam series has always had style and gameplay. NBA lam '99 for the Nintendo 64 is no exception - in fact it’s the possibly the best N64 B-ball game out there. Acclaim have been cool enough to put up five copies of NBA Jam '99 for you to win, so get in quick because they’re gonna go fast! To be in with a chance, just answer this question... What colour is Denis Rodman’s hair? A) Blue; B) Red; C) Green; or D) Any damn colour he chooses? Put your answer and name and address on the back of an envelope and send it to Bouncy, Hyper, 78 Renwick St, Redfern, NSW 2016. Coolio. THE ABSOLUTELY AWESOME ACTIVISION Cl VEAWAY! QUAKE - THE OFFERING Where else can you win prizes as unbelievably good as this?! Activision have blessed the gaming world with more cool first-person shooters than you can poke a rocket launcher at... there’s simply no question that both Quake and Quake 2 have become complete religions. Both Sin and Heretic 2 are upon us now too, and look just as stunning in their own right. Well, to celebrate the release of Quake: The Offering, Activision are going to give away this huge bonanza of PC games! just take a look at what you could win! QUAKE: The Offering which includes... QUAKE QUAKE: Scourge of Armagon mission pack QUAKE: Dissolution of Eternity mission pack QUAKE 2 QUAKE 2: The Reckoning mission pack QUAKE 2: Ground Zero mission pack SIN - plus Sin T-shirt HERETIC 2 Mounted Quake poster signed by id Software!! All in one big mega-pack! 0 e winner wins everything! Yep, we weren’t kidding wher we said 1 absolutely awesome. To be in it to win it, solve this re 0 questioj NAME FOUR ATARI 2600 ACTIVISION GAM Put your answers on the back Of an envi with your name and address and s 3 nd it to: j Triple A Giveaway, Hyper, 78 Renwick St, Redfern, NSW 2016. Good luck! we said it was f 4 ro question... Redfern, NSW 2016. Good luck! ition... AMES jnvilope STEALTH ASSAULT Here at Hyper we like to encourage you to take a break from staring at your computer monitor for days on end. and give your console a rest... get outside, breath the fresh air and slap a Racida Stealth Assault hand-held Virtual Motion Sensor device to your face! Essentially an LCD hand-held shoot-em-up game, the trick is that your gun sight moves with actual real-world movement of the VMS. You may look a bit strange, standing there with this thing held up to your eyes, moving your head around at strange angles - but you’ll be locked into completing 10 levels of shooty. To win one of 10 of these babies thanks to the good folk at Hasbro Australia, answer this question... What does LCD stand for? Put your answer on the back of an envelope and send it to: Radica Dude, Hyper, 78 Renwick St, Redfern, NSW 2016. & ^ f'/y HYPER» 21 com*' '°° Slco.^ <°1 WW 7 so t* err ' OT * I^L •* W PlayStation formula 1 98 For most people it remains a dream, but with FORMULA 1 98 it can become a hair - raising reality. Take the wheel of an FI car and pit your skills against the best drivers on the world's most famous tracks. Ptybadek Psybadek combines 3D platform action with the thrills and spills of hoverdek stunt riding. You'll need to master the ways of the hoverdek before you'll have a chance of beating Krakken, the ultimate villain. Trade Permit Nos: VIC: 98/3819. issued 5/10/98. NSW: TC98/8380. ACT: TP98/1266. NT: 98/2514. SA: T98/3118 PCP SASS 2998PSY The year is 2015. From the ULTRA command base in a corner of the globe, launch yourself and your missiles into an intense and ruthless battle against those who strive for world domination. O.D.T uses incredible graphics and state of the art technology to create a huge, involving action adventure game packed with engaging characters, violent conflicts, puzzle solving and exploration. COu,d frove/ , .“"■'EtT'"*' ° n d feolify r y ** P°wtr of Itt.-ei JO'.I- * Fr* 0vve »0 me *o g , ( Of fk # . ; e m, nd blow n o ,Mm *>» o „ ? P‘>ot *5m°ibp I I som ’° k ' jCTL z? ”1.1. '°" T > Ond yQu ‘' *« *Ofry s ;* <0, m , 0l ° u,d Win y COm P'M,0„ 1 xr»-£* j* •r’ v -» llINMW G-Police 2 PLAYSTATION/PC 5 AVAILABLE IS! QUARTER ‘99 1 CATEGORY: ACTION a | PLAYERS: 1 | PUBLISHER: PSYGNOSIS 3 C-Police made quite a splash when it appeared on the scene a while ago now, and what an engrossing bit of sci- fi shootery it was too. Well, finally, Psygnosis are warm¬ ing up to unleash G-Police 2 upon the gaming populace. We took a look at the PlayStation version to see how things are shaping up. First off, G-Police 2 plays much faster than it’s predecessor, which means for a more accu¬ rate and thrilling game, and you can improve the frame-rate by toggling how close things "draw-in” and by adjusting the level of detail which is nice for a PlayStation game. Everything still looks very much like the original G-Police on first inspection, but once you get a little closer, you see how the game has been tweaked to play even better than before. At this stage, G-Police 2 is looking like something for those who couldn’t get enough of the original, feeling almost like a "mission pack” add-on consisting of a whole new storyline. There’s tons of techy FMV if you love that sort of thing, and we look forward to seeing how this one turns out. ef T’ai Fu PLAYSTATION jB AVAILABLE: JANUAHV 99 I CATEGORY: PLATFORMER 4 PLAYERS:I 3 PUBLISHER: ACTIVISION Tai’Fu is a bad-ass kung-fu tiger, out to clear his name and his clan’s reputation, after being accused of killed the peaceful panda monks. Of course, this means travel¬ ling the land and beating up on other animals. A bit like Fighting Force meets Crash Bandicoot, T’ai Fu is a combi¬ nation platformer and beat ’em up, with T’ai Fu having a variety of cool tigery moves to dispatch his foes with. Besides all the usual kung-fu moves (punching, flying kicks etc), T’ai Fu can use Chi, which is basically a form of magic, but hell it looks pretty on screen. You can use the analog pad if you so wish, as the worlds in T’ai Fu are all in 3D, so moving about the landscape isn’t always along a linear path. In this preview version, the cam¬ era angles were automatic, and generally pretty good, though there were times when you wished you were watching the action from a better perspective. Maybe in the final release, there will be a manual camera option... developers you listening?! T’ai Fu looks promising, with some very pretty levels, and excellent character animation. There’s even a bit of a Disney platformer feel about it, which is actually a good thing. Looking cool. ef HYPER» 25 NIECH WARRIOR 2 Mech Warrior 2 Playstation ■ Mortal Kombat 4 — Id* m CiHWiwCte «*? ver $13,000 worth of prizes! Grand Prize: • Compaq Presario 5170 • Panasonic 51cm TC-51M85A Mono colour television set • Your CHOICE, either a Sony PlayStation or Nintendo 64 • Activision GAME PACK 1 • Telstra Big Pond internet access for 1 year I 2nd Prize: I • Panasonic 51cm TC-51M85A Mono colour television set I • Your CHOICE, either a Sony PlayStation or Nintendo 64 v • GT Interactive GAME PACK ■V • Telstra Big Pond internet access for 1 year I 3rd Prize: m • Virgin Interactive GAME PACK • Telstra Big Pond Internet access for 1 year Plus 50 consolation prizes: • Telstra Big Pond Internet access for 1 month tmry form All you have to do to be in the running for these fabulous prizes is fill in the entry form, answer one simple question and post it back to: Mega Christmas Competition, Next Publishing, 78 Renwick St, Redfern NSW 2016. Entries Close on 24 December 1998. Name Address Postcode Telephone Your prize preference Question: How many bytes in a bit? Terms & Conditions: 1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia & New Zealand except employees and the immediate families of Next Publishing and its agencies associated with the promotion, Only entries completed with these Terms and Conditions will be eligible. 2, Competition begins 4/11/96 and entries close at midnight 24/12/98.3. In determining efcgto&ty the judge's decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. Winner will be drawn at 9.00am on 25/12/98.1998 at Next Publishing Pty Ltd, 78 Renwick Street, Redfern NSW 2016.5 Prizes must be taken as offered and are not redeemable for cash. 7. Total prize value, valued on 20/10/98 is Si3,472 and consists of 1st Prize: 1 Compaq Presano 5170 (valued at $5700) 1 Panasonic TV (valued at $799), Sony PlayStation or Nintendo 64 ($187), Activision game packs (valued at $600), Telstra Big Pond 1 year Internet access package (valued at $600) 2nd Pnze: 1 Panasonic TV (valued at S799), Sony PlayStation or Nintendo 64 (valued at $187). GT Interactive game packs (valued at $600), 3rd Pnze: Virjn Interactive game pack (valued at $300), Telstra Big Pond 1 year Internet access package (valued at $600) & 50 Consolation Prizes: Telstra Big Pond 1 month Internet Access (valued at $50 each) 8. Winners will be notified by mail and results published in Hyper on sale 6/1/99. PC PowerPlay on sale 3/1/99. Official PlayStation Magazine on sale 20/1/99, N64 Gamer on sale 20/1/99. The promoter is Next Publishing Pty Ltd ACN 002 645 647 of 78 Renwck Street, Redfern, NSW. 2016. TP-Pending. COMPAQ. [ Panasonic 28 »HYPER PREVIEWS from CT Interactive. The game involves you controlling Bruce through a vari¬ ety of 3D environments, with the camera angle dynami¬ cally zooming in and out of the action as it plays out. Your gun can be powered up with various hidden bonus¬ es, from it’s default machine-gun to guided missiles and a variety of beam weapons. Simply charge through the level and shoot everything you see, jumping across the odd chasm and flicking the odd switch. Eventually you get to the end, and that’s it. This is very straightforward stuff, yet it’s compelling and addicitive gameplay. The Apocalypse PLAYSTATION AVAILABLE: DECEMBER CATEGORY: ACTION PLAYERS: 1 PUBLISHER: ACTIVISION You can’t get enough of Bruce Willis, that’s what my mother always used to say. She also ate dogfood and got around in a straightjacket, but that’s besides the point. Bruce is a man of action, a kick-ass all- American dude with a big gun and a major bank balance. This is a bit of a first, getting a movie star to be the central character in a game, without it tying in to a major motion picture, but Bruce said yes when they showed him the cheque. Apocalypse is almost identical in gameplay style to the action-fest which was One, the furious shoot ’em up difficulty level has been adjusted to make things easy enough so you never really get stuck anywhere, yet there’s also enough of a challenge here to keep you com¬ ing back for more. The inclusion of Bruce Willis is, ironi¬ cally, completely unnecessary. This is the sort of game that would work with any generic Duke Nukem style char¬ acter. The final version should kick booty. if Shadowgate 64: Trial of tne Four Towers NINTENDO 64 AVAILAB1E: 1SI OUARKR 99 | CATEGORY: RPC i PLAYERS:1 i PUBLISHER KEMCO § For those of you who graduated from the Nintendo Entertainment System to the SNES and then to the Nintendo 64, you may remember an early NES game called Shadowgate. It was a pretty simplistic, yet fun, RPC set in a series of 3D corridors with surprisingly engrossing gameplay for such a basic game. Well, the Nintendo 64 is going to be the vehi¬ cle for the rebirth of this classic game - Shadowgate 64 is shaping up to be as involving as the orig¬ inal, but with gor¬ geous 3D environ¬ ments to explore. Kemco have done their homework, and kept the focus on adventuring as opposed to including token "action’’ bits in this first-per¬ son RPC. The aim is to fully explore all the environments and interact with a variety of objects and items to solve puzzles, in a similar vein to games like Riven on the PC. Don’t fret if that doesn’t cut your mustard though, because there will still be plenty of classic RPC elements, such as character interaction and a slowly revealing plot to keep you hooked. The environments currently look all dark, spooky and atmospheric, so this should be one of those N64 games that the adventure game freaks go nuts for. As long as Kemco ensure that the graphics engine is speedy, this should be an interesting adventure. if PREVIEWS Jackie Chan’s Stuntmaster PLAYSTATION AVAILABLE: 1ST QUARTER 99 CATEGORY: ACTION PLAYERS: 1 PUBLISHER: MIDWAY Jackie Chan is a living legend. Not only is he a movie star kung-fu master, but he’s one of the only people in the world, brave (or stoopid) enough to perform all his own death-defy¬ ing stunts - even if it means breaking his legs in the process! Obviously, he's the perfect guy to have as an action game character, thus Jackie Chan’s Stuntmaster was born. In the game, you play as Jackie himself and fight your way through a series of levels, pulling off incredibly dangerous stunts in the process. The idea, is that Jackie is on the set of his new movie, but something evil is afoot, and some of the extras are actu¬ ally assassins. As you perform a variety of amazing feats, you score higher "box office” takings, so the incentive is to get Jackie to risk life and limb for the pleasure of the cinema patrons. Graphically, the characters have that smooth rounded look of the fighters from Tobal 2, which will hopefully mean that Stuntmaster will play fast and smooth. Jackie Chan himself was also motion-captured for all his movements in the game, which is truly cool. Amongst all the action, you can expect some hilarious moments too, as Jackie Chan’s great sense of visual humour has not been ignored, and Stuntmaster should be truly entertaining. if 30 »HYPER E V I E W S P R WinBack NINTENDO 64 _4m AVAILABLE: JANUARY 99 I CATEGORY: ACIIDN/ADVENTURi X*V* cS V^v V!?** €*. "*y % . j^2i - v ^X?&\*w%' *& *& . % $* # ' 1 {3&» %, *SL •«&* V :^v ■Jtir % » £? m *>% „ W a .k ^&y*% <$$$&% v * s^% A^SSJ 1 A VLrf . Tax . . *M!k* «*&. V v r#\ ., «s®. V A\^^ Ms 'r^> w ' yVV « V V^ «* m ^.isa %/%: % ^V' %>- V' $** '&*£*&. *&* A ' A$f'% ^4 w v '$« v Mi V # M>' . «>\^s f S» Q, .V ^V # tits a»£> x #t# V^Mv \3^

V % % V$£ % xt&v** A ' •V^* % Av V VI. .% • N&* ... A xO^/ "* s5> * <&>.. * 5 «£* aJ'P W> A. '♦SP » V-s3vV V*T V cN'SV A , **\ '^M. J& '$&!. #Va< wl t>>V* ^ w * v* V V'Sf . tV Ms Ms MV .A^V^ts f N< . VI V^ », as Ms a??v V, Ms 'tlk ^ 0 ♦S' A<.'% » iaX^A-, ' W % ^ ^ ,<, a*"A ' A^V5> ✓ V* Vl V .V s A A Aft a* Aft A* Aft S \cV „ ■$ +\ J%SL **<& **v VV ( % ' tf • 'S** >& t *&» % - h This month we gcroverlcaded with neunfvmh. Normally w&d review everything we that issue, but sc many of the gc tints we gS deserved cFlffcent amount of space, and as qj result we've got a tittle pile o f games already tor next issue, **4crt fit think we're just going to for¬ get about them! * Scmf,of t^s^upccming games include Shane Wame's Cr\km, Turok 2, Tomb Raider 3, Crash Bandicoot 3>^|; FIFA '99. and more. Nintendo 64 owners got a good variety this ac ui CM *■ month, with the futuristic racing of Wipeout 64 and Extreme G 2, the sports action of NBA Jam '99 and Quarterback Club ' 99, and even some 3D platform/adventure stuff like Body Harvest and Starshct (although we can forget about that one). With Turok 2 next month, and Zelda 64 out in December, it's a good Christmas fcrNintendc fans. PlayStation was the hardest category to decide game of the month for, as Abe's Exoddus, TCCA 2, and Colony Wars Vengeance were all good enough to deserve the title. Abe fared best on the universal appeal factor though, sc it got the prize. And Finally the PC... Half Life blew us all away (even the console freaks), and it will no doubt be a big hit online with the Quake com¬ munity hungry for new challenges. Grim Fandango proved to be worth the long wait, and is one of the classiest adventure titles of all time. We also saw two killer flight sims with Total Air War and European Air War. A total of Eight big rubber stamps this issue prove that the quality is cut there right now. Here's hoping it stays this way for a while longer. GAME OF THE MONTH WIPEOUT 64 Reviewed on page 48 V IB PlayStation 12 Me’s Exoddus 58 ireath al Fire 3 Colony Wars: Vengeance n Conlboarders 3 Lemmings Libera Grande Madden 99 91 Megaman 49 Megaman legends Rogue Trip 17 Ion Tonring Cars 2 SS Unholy War 91 Zero Divide 2 PC a; Assault I Battlespire 8! Caesar 3 93 Dead Reckoning 93 Deer Hunter II Dune 2000 9 Echelon I European Air War t Jetfighter FullBurn 71 Grim Fandango I Half life I Heretic 2 92 l/FA 18 Carrier Strike Attack 9 NHL 99 l Ring 71 Shogo M.A.D. 78 Total Air War • Wetrix Nintendo B4 4 Body Harvest 8 Bust a Move 3 DX & Extremes2 52 MAJOR‘89 4 Quarterback Club ‘99 94 SXi.R.S. 9 Starshot 4 Wipeout 64 ns mm Km sum Available: When the game is expected to be on sale. Release dates are subject to change without notice for a variety of reasons, so this may not always be correct. Ask your retailer if things don't show up. Category: What type of game it is Players: The number of players a game allows to play it at once. Publisher: Simply the company that publishes the game. Price: The recommended retail price. This is subject to change without notice. Rating: The OFLC's verdict on the suitable ages for the game. Required: The hardware required to play the game on your PC. Desired: The hardware we think you need to get decent performance out of the game. Supports: Which peripherals and hardware you can use with the game. Plus: Notable good points about the game. Minus: Notable problems with the game. Visuals: An indication as to the overall quality and impact of the graphics in the game. Sound: A rating that includes not only sound effects, but music as well. Gameplay: A measure of the depth, features and fun that you come across when playing the game. Overall: The verdict, in a number. HYPER» 43 44 »HYPER REVIEWS NINTENDO 64 NFL Quarterback Club 99 A pumped up Kevin Cheung steps up and prepares to wipe the boyish grin from Brett Farve's face. THE 4 MEG ADVANTAGE QB Club 99 is compatible with Nintendo’s upcoming 4 Meg RAM Pak, which allows the game to run at the N64’s drool-worthy hi-res mode (ie. better graphics). The visuals score is based on the use of the expansion pak. Without the expansion pak, the ani¬ mations are just as good but the textures are less detailed. Subtract 5 marks from the visuals and 3 from the overall score if going without the expansion pak. AVAILABLE: Now CATEGORY: Sports PLAYERS 1-2 _ PUBLISHER : Acclaim _ PRICE: $99.95 _ RATING: JJ SUPPORTS: Rumble Pak. Memory Pak. PLUS The graphics are quite stupefying. N64 in hi-res rocks hard. MINUS Everything bar the graphics and sound is only so-so. VISUALS SOUND GAMEPLAY 91 88 93 OVERALL While the gameplay is severely lacking, the great visuals are a major drawcard. Last year, Acclaim made a pretty big impression on the critics with its first QB Club effort on the N64, espe¬ cially for the fact that the 3D graphics were executed so well. Carnes like Madden 98 were left to eat the prover¬ bial dust. It’s now time for all the 1999 sports titles, and with the battle lines already drawn between Madden and Blitz, where exactly does QB Club stand? The first thing to mention about QB Club is the fact that it is the most drop-dead gorgeous NFL game ever created. Each and every player and referee is superbly modelled and rendered, moving around the seamless field in jaw-droppingly realistic form. The motion cap¬ ture is the most incredible stuff to watch. Sure, anyone can be like Madden and simulate crash-tackles, jumps and so on - but my heart almost stopped when I watched all 22 players lining up for a play, squatting, preparing for cross-blocks, getting borked into false-starts and encroachments... right down to the simple things like breathing! When the quarterback calls out the signals, you can even see his head bob down as makes a hard count! It’s nearly impossible to describe QB Club’s sheer visual beauty to any degree of justice without resorting to profanity to make the point. Hopefully, the point is made. As an aside, the sounds effects are good, especial¬ ly the large amounts of speech. GAMEPLAY MATTERS, RIGHT? In spite of the visual beauty, QB Club plays like a limp sausage. Firstly, the responsiveness of the controls leaves a lot to be desired. You basically press a button, and the corresponding action is always a split second too late. Secondly, the playbook is just too small and lacking in strategy-invoking variety. Sure, some of the plays emu¬ late the actual strategies of the real-life teams, but you only get two or three of them; and the only ’variety’ available to you is the ability to select between good hands, big blockers, and so on that doesn’t really change the plays at all. In other words, there’s not much depth to the strategy. Finally, some of the AI in the game is completely dodgy. For instance, you can pick a run play on 4th and long, and the CPU cornerbacks won’t even move because they're waiting for a punt. In the end, QB Club is best suited to newcom¬ ers to NFL. Some critics believe that its awesome graphics alone make it the best NFL game around, but these are the same people who can’t tell the difference between a line judge and a lineman. The game’s real let-down is its lack of strategy and a decent control interface. Nevertheless, QB Club 99 is worth a look even for hardcore NFL fans, even if only to gawk at the awesome graphics. rj coming soon vJir> for Gameboy - It was towards the end of the year 3000 that the Space Station Silicon Valley wandered back into the solar system. The Silicon Valley project had been mankind's first attempt to produce intelligent, self replicating, evolving machines. Too dangerous to be conducted on Earth, huge orbiting Space Stations were created to house fabulously expensive new technology needed to grow robots. The flagship was named 'Silicon Valley’. It was built in the year 2001 and, seven minutes after being launched, it vanished... 46 »HYPER REVIEWS NINTENDO 64 Body Harvest Unlike wine, Cam Shea believes this long delayed N64 title hasn't matured with age... The Bloodbottler in "The BFG” claims that eating humans is "guzzly and glumptious’’. The aliens in Body Harvest would probably agree. You see, this particular race of aggressive aliens have had enough of that awful vacuum sealed space food, so they’ve seeded various planets with scrumptious lifeforms. That way when they’re in the area, they can come and harvest their crops, kinda like a cosmic drivethrough. Unfortunately, the main course for this rather ferocious race of insectoid aliens are... yep. humans, lust as humans are nearing the brink of extinction in 2050, a secret weapon - a time machine, reaches completion. The future of the Earth is in the hands of just one man - Adam Drake. In the role of the Drakemeister, players travel back in time in an effort to head off the alien invasion and change the course of history. Drake travels to Creece 1916, Java 1941, America 1966, Siberia 1991 and the Alien Homeworld in 2046. EITTA LOVE THE BRAKE... Body Harvest is a curious fusion of genres. Part action, part adventure, and part RPC. Drake must solve various puz¬ zles in order to progress in the game. These are generally overly simple, like finding dynamite to clear an obstruc¬ tion in the path. Still, some are cool, like ferrying villagers in the path of an active volcano to another village. Drake can enter many of the buildings and talk to people. Unfortunately, all the charac¬ ter interaction is mind numb- ingly dull. Environmental interaction is surface level at best. Sure, you can ignite torches on the wall, search through water barrels, even bang a chest of drawers (like Fonzie bangs a juke box) to get powerups. But that’s basically where it stops. Rooms have a barren, lifeless feel to them. Any interactivity feels tacked on to the game, rather than being an integral part. This feeling is compounded by the linearity of tasks which is a shame considering the large size of the maps. Combat in Body Harvest isn’t particularly entertaining and there’s a constant struggle with the controls. Most of the time the auto aiming mechanism must be used because aiming manually is haphazard. Drake can’t run they're so easy to kill. Unfortunately, it seems that only Rare and Nintendo can really make the N64 S hardware sing. Body Harvest's graphics have that all too familiar washed out low res feel. The game engine suffers from clipping problems, low frame rates and uncomfortably close fogging. The fogging prevents any appreciation of landscape design and is disorienting. Constantly access¬ ing the map only serves to break up gameplay. The music is suitable B- grade sci-fi fare. It sounds rather 16 bit and lacks variety, but is context sensi¬ tive, so the pace will shift depending on the situation. and shoot at the same time either which can be a strategical handicap, although he can commando roll to either side and do 180 rolls. Basically though, the best technique is to stand in one spot, point your weapon in the enemies general direction and shoot. This doesn’t lead to compelling gameplay. Taking vehicles into combat is better, since they provide more manoeuvrability and any hits taken are absorbed by the vehicle’s armour. Not only that, but some types of aliens can be run over. Drake can commandeer over 60 diverse vehicles, including jeeps, bi-planes, hover tanks, boats and cable cars. The variety of vehicles add replay value, as each handles terrain in different ways. THE HOB S BACK IN BUSINESS BABY! The aliens beam down in teams, so there are many different types of aliens, each with different abilities and roles. Drone aliens ram buildings to force humans out. Harvester aliens lay blob like entities that go after the humans, trap them and bring them back to be har¬ vested. Another alien is like a hopping proximity mine. It bounces towards Drake and explodes on impact. Supposedly there are over 50 different types of aliens to contend with. They’re cool in design, it’s just a pity that - _ - -- T _ S Body Harvest struggles unsuccessfully to convey a liv¬ ing. breathing world. The level layout and general design ranges from bland to inspired. Interiors tend to be dull and samey. Some levels use interesting, unique textures, but much of the design suffers from a lack of character. Although the concept is great, the RPC ele¬ ments in the game don’t really work, and the combat needs considerable tweaking. I can’t help but think that Body Harvest would be much more fun if the story were the other way around. Who wouldn’t want to play as human devouring aliens?! DUFUS? YO! Whoever designed Drake’s outfit either has a perverted sense of humour, or is a bit of a dufus. Remember the school scene at the start of Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey? Everyone’s wearing these huge boots and suits that look like they’re made out of foam. Drake’s costume is like that, but in bright orange with grotesque black tights. Maybe the aliens will die from laughing too much... AVAILABLE Now CATEGORY: adventure/shoot em up PlAYERI: 1 PUBLISHER Gremlin PRICE: $99.95 RATING: TBA SUPPORTS: Rumble Pak PLUS Maps are huge, so there's plenty of playing time on offer. MINUS Not compelling due to underdeveloped gameplay elements. VISUALS SOUND GAMEPLAY 70 07 72 OVERALL Originally scheduled for release almost two years ago, Body Harvest innovates, but fails to live up to expectations. hyper» 47 48 »HYPER i REVIEWS NINTENDO 64 BETTER THAN F-ZERO K? After talking with the N64 Gamer boys about this, it’s obviously going to be a mat¬ ter of personal taste rather than an unanimous decision the whole world round. There's the school of thought that the physics of Wipeout offer a far greater sensation of anti-gravity racing than F- Zero X. Others believe the "speed” of F-Zero X and the frame rate make it a better title. Quite frankly, the speedo in F-Zero X is just a stupid number with no real bearing on how fast your vehicle is actually traversing the environment. Track design in Wipeout is far more intricate and requires much greater knowledge of the track, and mastery of timing your air brakes. F-Zero X is much easier to pick up and play straight off... so the pros and cons are quite even. I’d choose Wipeout 64, but I’d be advising gamers to give both titles a rent to make their decision, because it’s a tricky Wipeout 64 _ Dan Toose, veteran of the F5000 Anti-Gravity racing league prepares for another season... Nintendo 64 Wipeout game, ever since the N64 was released... and at last it’s here. Psygnosis have gone about ensuring that the latest version of Wipeout is not just a long awaited port, by offering a completely different set of tracks, new music, new challenges, and most importantly, split screen multiplayer racing. For those new to gaming, Wipeout 64 is a futuristic racing game, where you race very fast anti-gravity vehi¬ cles on tracks that Not long after the PlayStation was launched, Wipeout proved to be one of the most exciting and original games for the system, and Wipeout 2097 then bettered it just over a year later, being perhaps one of the finest examples in video game history of high production val¬ ues and going all out in every department... from the money spent on acquiring the music licences, through to the metallic finish on every single page of the manu¬ al... it oozed class. As a result of all this, we’ve been swamped with questions about the release of a really exploit the nasty possibilities of such a racing format. The visuals are nice, with a little more popup than on the PlayStation, but slightly better textures as well. BANG ON! Why has it taken this long to come across a Nintendo 64 game with great electronic music? Wipeout 64 comes with eight upbeat, funky, techno tracks to race along to. Someone out there used their brain and realised that loop based music could be crammed onto a cartridge, and the can not only use their eyes and ears to tell what’s happening to their craft. result is excellent. Two of the tracks are done by Fluke, and Propellerheads also chip in with "Bang On". The Nintendo 64 analogue gamepad makes for an excellent controller with Wipeout 64. Taking long gen¬ tle turns is a breeze, and feels perfect. Being rumble pak compatible, this is also the first time Wipeout fans VERY CHALLENGING Like the PSX Wipeout 2097, there are both tracks and vehicles to unlock, giving incentive to play through the various challenges, which force you to use a certain vehicle on a certain track, with vari¬ ous weapons turned on or off. There’s also time trial and weapon challenges, which focus on sheer racing ability and weapons profi¬ ciency respectively. Trying to kill a certain number of opponents and still finish the race on time is harder than you may first think. Wipeout 64 is an excellent racing title, and if you’ve already got WO 2097, and enjoyed it, the new tracks and challenges will not disappoint (although master players will probably only really be tested by about a 3rd of the challenges). It’s a shame that the four player game is quite cut back and hard to play, but played two player, it does make a good multi¬ player game. Will we see Wipeout DC some day? Hope so... BETTER WITH FRIENDS? Despite the coolness of the whole concept, due to the nature of the courses and the speed of the game, Wipeout 64 has a few problems when it comes to delivering a great split screen experience. For starters, once you go into a split screen mode, the N64 is forced to draw a lot more polygons, and this is not the machine's strong area. As a result, the pop-up is pretty severe, and while this is not an issue in a slow racing class, it does present a big problem when you’re going really fast, since you basical¬ ly don’t see corners and walls until you hit them. Worse still everything but the track is removed in a 4 player game, which gives you very little in the way of landmarks to judge where you’re going. F- Zero X makes for a better multiplayer game if you’re after this sort of thing. AVAILABLE: November CATEGORY: Racing PLAYER S: 1-4_ PUBLISHER: Psygnosis PRICE: $79.95 RATING: 6 SUPPORTS: Memory and Rumble Paks PLUS Split screen action is great for two players. Excellent music. Fantastic feel to the controls. MINUS Pretty hefty popup in any non single player game. 4 player multiplayer is disappointing. VISUALS SOUNO EAMEPLAY 88 85 84 QVERAIL Another excellent Wipeout game from Psygnosis. Definitely the game to buy if you found F-Zero X a bit too dinky. HYPER» 49 50 »HYPER REVIEWS NINTENDO 64 Extreme-G 2 Mild mannered gamer Cam Shea sets the record straight on Extreme-G 2. UMM... A SEQUEL IS MEANT TO BE AN IMPROVEMENT OVER THE ORIGINAL. Graphically, Extreme G 2 is eerily similar to Extreme G 1. There’s slightly more detail, but still the same horribly grainy quality to the visuals. Probe have improved the weapon special effects, and the actual bike and weapon designs are significantly better. These are surface level improvements, however, and add nothing to the game. The graphics engine doesn’t seem to really utilise Nintendo’s hardware, as Extreme G 2 chugs along at a noticeably poor frame rate, and slows down further when there’s considerable action on screen. Extreme G 2 cer¬ tainly has a higher top speed than Extreme G 1, but the slower frame rate is a questionable tradeoff. Extreme G 2 has a generous twelve tracks in all, with each having three variations. The tracks are less colourful this time around and the path can be very deceptive to follow. Although there are sections that are entertaining, much of the track design seems to revolve around hiding the fogging rather than providing innovative courses. Thus, there are constant sharp twists and turns, and none of the gracefully arcing drops and rises as seen in F Zero X. USING MONKEYS AS PLAYTESTERS MAY SAVE MONEY, BUT WILL ONLY ENO IN TEARS. Extreme G 2 has many instances of remarkably poor track design. For instance, there are several ramps placed so cunningly that going off them relatively fast results in crashing into an overpass. Design elements like this are common and reduce the incentive to play on. Even so, the splitscreen option is quite good, and along with the standard single race/tournament options, features an improved tank battle mode. Extreme G 2 ends up feeling like a poor Wipeout clone... again. Indeed, just as the Wipeout series moved from a trancey soundtrack to a drum’n’bass soundtrack for it’s second installment, so too has Extreme G. Wipeout was an inno¬ vator, carved from solid creativity. Extreme G 2 isn't. Pseudo sequels like this are an insult to the gam¬ ing populace’s intelligence. Do yourself a favour and pick up Wipeout 64 or F Zero X, as they both stomp all over this game. AVAILABLE: Now CATEGORY: futuristic racing PLAYERS: 1-4 PUBLISHER: Acclaim PRICE: $99.95 RATING: G SUPPORTS: memory pak PLUS Many tracks, good multiplayer. MRNUS In need of serious playtesting and better use of Nintendo's hardware. VISUALS SOUND GAMEPLAY 68 78 67 OttMLl No sir, I don't like it. Extreme G 2 is as poor a sequel as they come. It fails to address any of the major problems that plagued the original (of which there were many), and basically offers only shallow improvements. This is clearly demonstrated by playing Extreme G 2 for a while and then moving back to the original. What is immediately noticeable is that the Extreme G 2 has a lower frame rate, the same close fogging and similarly poor gameplay. The feel of the bikes in Extreme G 1 was sloppy. The handling in Extreme G 2 is more responsive but somehow lacks the all important precision. The way the bike inter¬ faces with the track has also been altered. You are now far more likely to end up facing the wrong way for entirely trivial reasons. This simply shouldn’t happen as it’s against the grain of Extreme G’s "racing excessively fast” gameplay ethic. V/ /^ UP P9S Wk * l' a 1" V* II * .V 1 O _ . 4 O * wr .rJf 540 urn your PC ini arcade ma li Set new speed records and rack up kill counts on the 12 fastest tracks on Earth and beyond rag _ ^ Take your pick from 12 combat racing machines tooled up and ready for mayhem! Go high with jumps and stunts at 60 plus 30-acceierated frames per second, and land hard with force feed¬ back-enhanced collisions and combat! Race fully loaded for combat with over 10 futuristic weapons and shields. "...the racing pi’lLL of Uni Ell! "dethkarz <> teee deem International dethfcarz Is a trademark of Dea beam International, ail rights reserved Windows is a registered trad* im international Ulelb (mark of lUicroeott eg Dtmm www.melbournehouse.com/dethkarz house is a registered trademark of stion published by tnelboume house ‘ '<@> I Melbourne House I Proudly distributed by ROADSHOW V INTERACTIVE www.games.village.com.au 52 »HYPER REVIEWS NINTENDO 64 NBA Jam '99 B-Boy meets B-Ball as lam Shea takes on NBA Jam (E99. There’s even a lam mode for some old-school frivolity - the ball has a weird trail effect, dunks are over the top, and anything goes. Fortunately, in spite of attempting to cover every style of play from arcarde to simula¬ tion, NBA lam 99 does play a good game of basketball, and it looks superb to boot. LEAPS AND BOUNDS AHEAD OE THE COMPETITION. More than 300 NBA players are included with real faces and pro¬ portional sizes. Some even have their own signature moves. Iguana West have motion captured more than 500 moves for the game, so the animations are nice and smooth. The Ahh... NBA lam. I have fond memories of playing mul¬ tiplayer NBA jam on the SNES. The speed-fuelled arcade play style, crazy dunks, cool cheats and sense of humour kicked serious booty. Over the years though, my enthusi¬ asm for NBA lam and it’s derivatives has waned severely, and it’s rebirth onto other consoles passed by without a care. Indeed, the old NBA Jam style of play may never succeed again outside the arcades, and Acclaim realise this. Thus, NBA Jam *99 represents a radical departure in play and graphical style for the series. NBA JAM II HACK, ANH IT WANTS IEIPECT. NBA jam ’99 has shifted from the old two on two, to a five on five matchup in an attempt to be a serious con¬ tender. Indeed, no expense has been spared. All 29 NBA teams with authentic play styles and exact representa¬ tions of their arena floors are here. Players can dribble their way through the actual 1998-99 NBA schedule, or jump straight to the playoffs. Season length and sched¬ ule can be altered. Players and teams can be created, and the team’s play style customised. For those interest¬ ed in management options, there’s the ability to trade, draft, sign and release players in a more egalitarian sys¬ tem than any other basketball game. The level of realism within the game is adjustable in every way, including player fatigue, injuries and penalties. There’s also a play calling feature that includes a selection of around 50 offensive and defensive plays. Even classic NBA situations from the past can be replayed. All the options are here so you can play how you want to play. real icing on the cake is the graphical detail and crispness. NBA Jam ’99 runs on the same high resolution engine as NFL Quarterback Club ’99. As opposed to most N64 titles, everything is sharp and defined. Player skin textures are smooth, the courts look fantastic, and player motion is smooth and realistic. There are plenty of little touches like reflections on the court from player’s shoes and from the ball as well. Perhaps the only let down in NBA Jam '99 is the com¬ mentary. Whilst the quality of sound is reasonable, you’ll get thoroughly sick of hearing the same calls over and over. Often the commentary is inappropriate and sometimes completely inexplicable. For instance: "He rides the magic carpet in for two", "With no regard for human life", "He’s playing tennis", and "He’s going mad, he’s got mad cow disease’’... hmm. ku Otari ^ ta»a>,.. smji'tb r -j^j «lfe'/i- Wryfiiis WJik if cRj ss^* 1 * Mil i RACE STATION Shock 2 PUMP ACTION GUN 32 TRILOGY 64 MEMORY CARD Guillemot GUILLEMOT CORPORATION IS REPRESENTED BY UBISOFT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD TEL: 1612) 9362 1414 FAX: (612) 9362 1165 fJi/iik mfc hsr www.guiHemot.com ACCESS LINE IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF GUILLEMOT INTERNATIONAL. ALL BRANONXl DESIGNS AND SPECIFICATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. © ^998 UBI SOFT ENTERTAINMENT SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC. THE NINTENOO LOGO AND NINTENDO 64 ARE TRADEMARKS W 4 Respective owners photos not binding. I ON AND THE ’ X * ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF TRADEMARKS ARE THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. 54 »HYPER REVIEWS PLAYSTATION Madden NFL 99 Kevin Cheung lines up to rush Gridiron King-Commentator John Madden. As a dedicated follower of the Madden series since the Megadrive days, the very notion of a polygonal Madden game is tantamount to blasphemy. The N64 had already committed such an act with Madden 98, and it amount¬ ed to being disappointingly sub-par. One would think that the lesson would be learned there. Yet here I am sit¬ ting with another 3D Madden incarnation. Surprisingly, this one is actually good. REALTO-LIEE NFl SIMULATION What we have, first of all, is classic Madden strategy with a few changes. The play selections remain quite huge, offering all of your basic offensive formations with flip and linemen variations; as well as defensive plays that adequately cover the oft neglected nickel and dime formations. The supposed drawcards to 99’s play system are firstly the custom playbook and secondly that the default playbooks are team-specific. That is, they reflect the styles of each team, so the Miami Dolphins won’t ever get run-crazy and you can count on the Colts having trouble in the air. There are several problems to complain of in this department. Firstly, there appears to be less plays avail¬ able than before. Previous Madden games offered option of sending on specialists such as ball-handlers. In 99, these features are gone, taken with it a grander element of strategy. This might be explained by the initially novel team-specific playbook, which eventually AVAILABLE: Now _ CATEGORY: Sport PLAYERS: 1-8 _ PUBLISHER: Electronic Arts PRICE: $79.95 RATING: G _ SUPPORTS: Dual Shock PLUS Madden's strategy level is without peer, making it a superlative NFL sim. MINUS Choppy graphics and hardcore appeal. Free agency sucketh hard, even in a videogame. VISUALS SOUND GAMEPLAY 80 81 85 OVERALI 82 A slightly flawed NFL sim that can easily be improved upon next year. becomes a tad frustrating. For instance, the game won’t allow the 49ers to use a shotgun formation because it’s supposedly not what they do. Sorry, but I know for a FACT that they do, I’ve seen it on TV, and so have several million other fans in the US. GAMEPLAY THAT COULD’VE BEEN, BUT WASN’T. When the game is set in motion, these problems are of secondary importance. In polygonal form, Madden 99 is a vast collection of real-life stadiums and motion-cap¬ tured players who juke, tackle, and charge in frighten¬ ingly realistic fashion. The polygon count might be a lit¬ tle low, but that’s understandable given the huge geom¬ etry taking place on screen. The sounds are also of great quality, especially the realistic crowd samples that roar in Dolby Surround glory. The use of polygons has opened up so many new gameplay possibilities that no other game has ever done. The cameras are close-up and low to the ground, which is perfect for passing and realistic for running. It’s a shame, then, that there aren’t as many new offensive manoeuvres as you’d want, particularly the ability to under/overthrow a receiver. For that reason, the game¬ play is stacked heavily in favour of the defence. Unfortunately for the defence, the cameras are so close up behind the quarterback before the snap that it’s impossible to read what kind of play it’s going to be. This is mostly compensated by the ability to shift your linemen and secondary. In the end, many of the problems I’ve pointed out are more pedantic than realistic, given that I’m such a hard¬ core fan of the game. It’s probably more realistic to say that the frame rate and loading could have been tweaked a little more. Nevertheless, Madden 99 remains the best NFL sim anywhere. Forget Cameday 99: it might have prettier visuals, but it has nowhere near the strategy; and Cameday’s automated commentary can’t even get the team names right, much less sound as charismatic as John Madden. FROM THE MAKERS OF Includes all the 17 tracks of the Championship, an original Retro Mode... And much, much MORE ( http://www.ubisoft.com ) .,. IpJIJJWfWl i i»^: c —a I RMffSSffl * ™-r. NINTENDO 64 PlayStation WOLF Ubi Soft Ubi Soft P.O.Box 43 EDGECLIFF NSW 2027 >' IWX Li hi Soft Knicruinmcm All rijrhts reserved automobile club tic muttaco All rights reserved. PlayStation and the A arc trademarks of Sony Computer Hnlcruininciit Inc Nintendo. Nintendo M and the * we trademarks of Nintendo Co Ltd. All olhet trademarks arc the properly of their respective ownei 56 »HYPER REVIEWS PLAYSTATION Breath of Fire 3 No, this is not a game about eating KFC's hot n' spicy chicken. Kevin Cheung explains. ^ 1 •> .1 AVAILABLE: Now CATIEQRY: RFC PLAYERS: 1 PUBLISHER: Capcom PRICE: $79.95 RATING: G SUPPORTS: Memory Card PLUS Great story, and the gameplay is simple, laid* back, and easy to enjoy. MINUS Inappropriate music, poorly designed text system, and generally lifeless sprites. VISUALS SOUND EAMEPLAY 91 88 93 OVERML A solid piece of work that won't break any new records, but is entertaining nonetheless. One of the funny things about Final Fantasy 7 in Australia is that most people have never bothered to ask where the previous six are. It’s funny because prior to FF7, the Australian market had only dabbled a little in the console-RPC scene with games like Zelda and Secret of Mana. Games like Breath of Fire, Dragon Quest, and even Final Fantasy were, in those days, completely unknown to us. I’d wager that many of them still are. Nevertheless, Australian distributors have grown to realise that there’s money to be made in the RPG genre, which is why Breath of Fire 3 is coming down under even though most of us have never seen the previous two. The game combines polygonal environments with lush textures and animated sprites, viewed from a three-quarter perspective that can be rotated to a limit¬ ed degree. Visually, BOF3 can easily be accused of look¬ ing snessy, but take it on good advice that the SNES never produced 2D effects this good. The environments are furnished with pleasing detail and it never gets pixellated. It’s unfortunate that the characters them¬ selves are so lacking in animations. Most of the time, they just sit there lifelessly and let the text scroll by, flashing their swords only when you’ve told them to. And speaking of text, the programmers should be soundly beaten for not giving us the ability to skip or at least speed up the rate at which the text scrolls by. Word of advice: set it to ’fast’ when you start a new game. The other aesthetic cate¬ gory, sound, is a collection of stan¬ dard effects accom¬ panied by an oddly ’lounge’ arrange¬ ment of music, which is sometimes annoying. NEW IITTIE FEATURES. BOF3 doesn’t offer much that’s new for seasoned RPG fanat¬ ics. But for newcom¬ ers, such as those who started on this genre with FF7, there are some note¬ worthy features. Firstly, every character can actively learn the attacks of the enemy, and there is a gene sys¬ tem that allows you to combine the powers of various dragons. During exploration, you can swap controls between other characters who appear simultaneously on screen. The latter is a bit of a dummy feature, though, since the turn-based battle system negates the possibili¬ ty of putting your characters to active use like in Secret of Mana. Overall, hardcore fans will find it a little ordinary, but most others who give it a try and get into the great sto¬ ryline will find it very likeable. YOU WERE THE BAD BUY? BOF3’s premise is interesting. You start out as a quiet, withdrawn little boy of unknown origins who winds up working for a couple of street kids who make a living out of thievery. Before anyone exclaims ’what the Dickens’ and dismisses this game as an Oliver ’pulls-at-the-heartstrings’ Twist game, it turns out that you belong to an ancient race of beings who once tried to take over the world. The game then becomes a quest for the truth behind your past as you seek out your old companions and slowly uncover a wicked conspiracy of unspeakable evil amongst the nobles of the realm. ALL-NEW ACTION B>IC » M THE CREATORS OF hU): ARE'S ODDYSEE Evil rules - but Abe's new powers mean you're up to the task! Fart possession! No other game has it - no other game wants it! iwfip J LI: mif-mn;- .1 Slap some sense into those Mudokons • but look out tor laughing gas! A full - on Exoddus requires more stealth than a ninja armyi entrepreneurial evil than ever before. Richer language. Lusher environments. Tougher challenges. Deadlier farts. Welcome to the tastiest gaming brew ever concocted. Slug it down. Save your race...again! Save your game...anywhere! Evangelion PLAYSTATION REVIEWS Rogue Trip _ It's a bit hard to be an auto-vigilante with only a skateboard, but Cam Shea will give it a go. Turns out that the year 2012 is going to be a biggie for Humanity. According to Terence McKenna’s Novelty theo¬ ry, on the 21st of December history will end, and Humankind will encounter some kind of transdimension- al object. This may not be such a bad thing considering the picture that Rogue Trip paints for the world by this time. Essentially, the Earth has become a desolate waste¬ land crippled by pollution, radiation and greed. A ruth¬ less kingpin known as Big Daddy has monopolised the vacation industry by securing the only pristine sites left. Only the exceedingly wealthy elite can afford to take a vacation Big Daddy style. Everyone else must simply dream of escaping the poverty and scum, or hire an automercenary to take them on a highly illegal party crashing tour of Big Daddy’s resorts. THE TOURISM INDUSTRY GETS NASTY As one of these insane automercenaries, you’ll need to pick up a tourist and take them to various photo oppor¬ tunities in the levels. The twist is that other psychos are out to steal the tourist away from you and put you out of the business... permanently. So, in a cool new twist on the car combat genre, Rogue Trip involves not just taking out the other drivers, but trying to keep the tourist and earn valuable cash with which you can heal yourself and upgrade your weapons. If the tourist is snatched away, you can get him back by shooting the appropriate vehi¬ cle with an eject powerup. This sends the parachute clad tourist high into the air, and literally up for grabs. THE TWISTED METAL TEAM TRY TO TAKE THE CROWN BACK FROM VIGILANTE 8. Rogue Trip is commendable for trying a different approach, but the execution is substandard. The battle to get the tourist, keep the tourist and take the photos with¬ out dying can be extremely tough. This wouldn’t matter so much if the environments weren’t so lame. Level design and graphics are really dull and far from com¬ pelling. Plenty of secret areas and destructible objects do little to hide the absence of creativity in both setting and design. The developers also seem to have forgotten the premise of the game when designing the levels. If these are exclusive holiday destinations then the rest of the world must just be a gigantic soggy turd, because I sure wouldn’t pay exorbitant amounts of money to go to a post apocalyptic New York. The selection of vehicles and characters are pretty cool, and combat is good but there’s nothing that doesn’t invoke deja vu. The vehicles handle unpleasantly, as they react instantaneously and don’t seem to have any sus¬ pension. Rogue Trip fails to inspire visually either and comes no where near Vigilante 8 in style or sophistica¬ tion. In fact, despite the gameplay twist, Vigilante 8 is far superior in all areas. Of note, however, is that the link cable can be used for four player games, which would certainly be a lot of fun. PRICE: TIA RATING: TIA SUPPORTS: Link cable. Dual Shock PLUS Auto-vigilante tourism is a cool idea. Supports link cable. MINUS Gameplay doesn't come together. VISUALS SOUND GAMEPLAY 77 74 75 OVERALL 76 Despite attempting to put a new gameplay spin on a familiar genre. Rogue Trip falls flat. HYPER» 61 REVIEWS PLAYSTATION Abe's Exoddus Of all the things Kevin Cheuni has to imitate from Abe, it's farting loudly in public. ABE - THE WORST POSTURE IN THE HISTORY OF VIDEOGAMES The Sligs are back, baby! That’s right, Abe, the unlikeliest hero who rescued all 99 of his fellow Mudokens from Rupture Farms, has returned for a new adventure called Abe’s Exoddus. In this little tale, Abe has been visited by the ghosts of his forefathers, who explain to him that the evil Clukkons are using blind Mudokens to mine and otherwise dig up their remains. Fuelled with a desire for truth and justice, Abe sets out to find the bones of his elders, and winds up embarking upon a grand quest not only to bring peace to the spirits of the dead, but also to release all the Mudokens who have been enslaved. For those of you who don’t know about Abe (you’d prob¬ ably think that was the most outrageous paragraph of text you’ve ever read), Abe was the star of a massive revival in 2D platform gaming last year, taking the form of Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. The original game was a masterful combi¬ nation of lush 2D animation, awesome other-worldly graph¬ ical designs, wickedly brain-teasing platform puzzles, water-tight controls, and good clean home-cooked entertainment for the whole family. The fan¬ tastic FMV sequences and off-beat humour - such as the farts - helped a little as well. Abe’s Exoddus brings all of that high quality stuff back - fart move included. Some of the buttons have been changed around and Abe seems to have a larger vocabulary at his disposal, but generally, the game looks exactly the same and as good as its predecessor. EANEPLAY THAT’S SEQUEL WORTHY On that fact alone, I was prepared after playing the game for five minutes to write off Exoddus as a case of ’more of the same’. However, to judge the game on appearance alone would be entirely wrong. You see, the magic of Abe is in the game’s ability to challenge us with new graphically-based puzzles, which of course is limit¬ ed only by the programmers’ imaginations. On that aspect, Exoddus does not disappoint. Firstly, Exoddus provides brand new puzzles to solve, which is a must for any sequel of this kind. Secondly, Exoddus provides a host of brand new characters in addi¬ tion to the usual scrabs, sligs and paramites, which introduces a great new set of dynamics and strategies in tackling the puzzles. Thirdly, Exoddus introduces differ¬ ent types of Mudokens such as blind, sad, sick, angry, or just plain silly from inhaling too much happy gas. This demands even more strategies in tackling the game. For instance, when directing a blind Mudoken towards an escape ring, you actually have to take note of the fact that it is blind and it doesn’t know where it’s going, and it will keep on walking straight ahead unless you tell it to stop. As compared to its predecessor, Exoddus is a much deeper and complex game, making it a worthy sequel in spite of the same-ness of the graphics and sound effects. One of the main complaints from gamers about the original Abe, though, was that it was too damned cere¬ bral or difficult to pull off. While Exoddus nevertheless remains on the difficult/cerebral end of the scale, the level designs contain a notable change in focus from pure brain-power to explosive mindless mayhem, where sequel? By itself, Exoddus is a fantastic game. It might be a little brainy, and it will certainly be too hard for some people, but most everyone will find something to love in it. As a sequel, Exoddus is a very worthy addition to the series. The only people who won’t like Exoddus are the people who didn’t like the original Abe. For the vast majority of us who loved it, Exoddus is 2 CDs long. Added with the new puzzles, characters, and Mudoken interac¬ tions the game is sure to provide many hours of mind- bending entertainment. Definitely a top buy for true lovers of platform games. VISUALS SOUND KAMEPLAY 91 88 83 OVERALL Could be accused of being a rehash, but as soon as you play it, you’re hooked. HYPER» 63 64 »HYPER REVIEWS PLAYSTATION Libero Grande After a quick perusal, Eiiot Fist was hooked by that Namco magic... AVAILABLE: Now CATEGORY: Sport PLAYERS: 1-2 PUBLISHER Namco PRICE: TBA RATING: G PLUS Excellent challenge mode, addicitve gameplay. MINUS Limited arcadey appeal. A tad easy. VISUALS SOUND GAMEPLAY 80 75 79 OKRALL 79 Not hard to like, though getting used to the fixed perspective is tricky. Most soccer games make you feel as though you're directing the action from the Whitman's balloon, or tied to the underbelly of a large pigeon with the godlike power of possessing the central nervous sys¬ tem of any player you so choose. Whilst this is fun for soccer freaks who are into playing thoroughly realistic strategic games, it’s a bit daunting for the casual gamer who likes the sport but doesn’t want to read pages of stats and be required to do everything bar slice the oranges. Libero Crande is the PlayStation port of the Namco arcade game, and it’s a godsend for those of you who are after a quick, entertaining game of soccer with an all-new twist. HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES! Get this. In Libero Grande, you play as only one mem¬ ber of an international team, and play through every match from the perspective of that player. No player switching, no plethora of camera angles and next-to-no realism. This is a good thing, and it works surprisingly well. Playing from the third-person is confusing at first, but the game is engineered to be played this way, and once you suss out the controls, you’ll slip into the rhythm of the game. By keeping the X button depressed (you know, telling it how hopeless it is) your player will always "track” the ball, so you never get lost on the field. The action is fast and furious, and if you desire, you can simply charge down anyone with possession and use some footwork to take the ball off them. Libero Grande is for the gamer who just wants to score, score, score. Various buttons will order your teammates to pass the ball to you, tackle an opponent or shoot for a goal, so there is a small amount of tactical play. Most of the time though, you’ll just be getting them to pass the ball to you, so you can attempt to take it all the way down the field and slam it into the back of the net yourself. You will find that the opposing teams eventually get harder to the point where you are forced into playing more as a team, which is excellent. However, Libero Grande is arcadey enough for you to simply charge and shoot your way through a match. A nice addition is the player challenge mode where you can try out a variety of cool soccer skills in an attempt to beat current records. From dribbling a ball around witches hats to trying to hit a target in a net and learning how to curve the ball, this is one of the most addicitve things about the game. There is also a two-player mode where you can either team up or play against each other in a speedy aggres¬ sive exhibition match. Impressively, there are an amaz¬ ing range of moves your player can perform, and the game adheres quite realistically to actual real-life rules - though you can tum them all off. All up, Libero Grande is fun, addictive and succeeds remarkably with it’s unique one-player third-person take on the soccer sim. Just beware that it’s arcade origins have dictated an unfortu¬ nately easy game and the novelty could wear off rather quickly. Recommended though. :iasiiiliiuiui'j barred adrenaline charged speed lest, you can take on 4 players on split screen on the PSX and N64 with multi player mayhem on the PC. Staggering 30 graphics and sheer driveability make S.C.A.R.S. a game that will really leave it’s mark "WhiplasriVJjM gripping repiayal © 1996 Vivid Image Development Limited. All rights reserved. Graphics and sound copyright Vivid Image and Ubi Soft. Published by Ubi Soft Entertainment. Ltd., Australian contact: Ubi Soft Australia PO. Box 43, Edgeciiff NSW 2027 Sydney Australia • Tel: (612) 9362 1414 • Fax : (612) 9362 1165 • www.ubisoft.com © 1997 Ubi Soft Entertainment. All rights reserved. The and Playstation are registered trademarks of Sony Entertainment Inc. The . Nintendo and Nintendo 64 are trademarks of Nintendo Co. Ltd 66 »HYPER REVIEWS PLAYSTATION The Unholy War Kevin Cheung goes the full tonk in Archon 98... err... Unholy War. POWER VACUUM IN THE GENRE Unholy War has practically no competing alternatives, save Front Mission 2, Final Fantasy Tactics, Archon (not a big seller anymore), and Kartia, which are only avail¬ able in Japan and the US. Why we never see these games in Australia is anyone’s guess... I . JL _ S d In gameplay terms, this puts you in control of several units on a hex-based map, each unit possessing unique powers and attributes. While on this chess¬ board, you can cast all sorts of spells like heal¬ ing, attacking, spawn¬ ing, and so on. When you get close enough to an enemy unit, the game enters a real-time 3D combat zone where the two units fight it out with each other. Turn-based strategy battle games are far and few between on the PlayStation, probably because they’ve literally been overrun by their real-time equivalents. This is unfortunate, considering the immense popularity of the genre on the PC. As such, a game like Unholy War is always a welcome surprise. The question now is whether or not this game plays as well on a console as its PC counterparts usually do. THE RE AUTY’S IN THE STRATEGY Graphically and aurally, Unholy War can’t be said to have been executed brilliantly. The poly¬ gon counts are a low and the backgrounds are sparse, but the game gets by with smooth textures and lots of individual character designs that animate well and have their own distinctive charm. It’s a shame, then, that the real-time battle controls are so loose. The programmers probably wanted to create the feeling of fast-paced action, but the experience ends up being imprecise at times frustrating. The execution is therefore, at best, above average. However, if you play a few levels into Unholy Wars and get to know it better, it is an absolutely enthralling game. Every unit-type has vastly different energy and ammo attributes, special weapons, weaknesses, strengths, movement abilities (such as flight), and so on. With a little time, you’ll find yourself meticulously planning the movements and positioning of each war¬ rior, making sure that your healer is close enough to everyone, backing up each front-line warrior... this is the what ’real’ strategy games are about. Unholy War is not what you'd consider a hardcore strategy title. The real-time battle sequences were designed to appeal specifically to action buffs who enjoy mindlessly blowing things up. That’s why there’s a sepa¬ rate Mayhem Mode. But aside from that, Unholy War will no doubt earn itself a cult following, as it's a game that will appeal to almost everyone. MY GUYS VERSUS YUUR GUYS Unholy War pits two main warrior clans against each other. You have the Arcanes, who are a bunch of peace- loving wizards, swordsmen, and monsters with immense destructive powers; and the Technos, who are a collec¬ tion of cybernetic warriors. The object of both clans is to claim dominion over the land of Xsarra. Seeing as nei¬ ther side is willing to compromise over the territories, it seems as though one clan will have to be completely wiped out for there to be any re-establishment of peace to the realm. PLAYSTATION REVIEWS TOCft Touring Car Championship 2 Serious Racing critic Simon Bailey didn't have many criticisms to make of Toca 2. Ohhhh myyy GoddddM! How the hell do they do it? Let me be the first to boast that the best Touring Car racing game for the PlayStation just got better! And I’m not just talking of a minute change in vehicle polygon count, or one more ’Bonus’ track. I’m talking some Major League improvements here that make you wonder just where Codemasters can possibly go from here! To start with, this is not just a game that simulates the UK’s 2nd most popular form of motor sport, but a game that whacks you smack-bang in the middle of the auto racing lifestyle! Let me elaborate. First, the actual Touring Car Racing side of the game is basically the same as TOCA i, but has been updated with all the official 1998 teams and drivers. 8 cars to choose from, 8 ’real’ tracks to race, with a further 9 being unlocked as you progress through the game. But the real genius in this new incarnation lurks in the ’Support Car Championship’ Mode. What are Support Cars? Well, held before all motor racing events on this fine planet are, short, sprint type races known as support races, in which the young, up and coming Schumacher’s and Hakkinen’s (as well as the wealthy 35-60 year old) show their stuff. GOOD SUPPORT In Support Car Mode you race against cars that are all the same make and model. You can start with either a Ford Fiesta production car, or go for the more driver ori¬ ented Van Diemen Formula Ford. From these two classes you can progress, by accumulating enough points that is, to further categories such as the High-powered Lister Storm or Jaguar XJ-220 series. Anyway you cut it, there is some serious fun to be had mastering this game. The handling on all the cars, especially (I can’t really explain the fuzzy feeling I got when I first raced them) the Formula Fords is pure silk. You can throw the car around and it will just smile and go wherever you want it to go. I love that!!! This new feature alone is enough to distin¬ guish it from its older brother and warrant immediate purchase. Another cool feature of TOCA 2 is the test track. Here you can select any car you want, including the support cars, and go for a hoon around any one of 5 variations of the purpose built half dirt, half bitumen, test track. This is major fun in the wet! 4-PLAYER, SPLIT-SCREEN THRILLS AND SPILLS! The rest of the game consists of the standard time trial, arcade and 2-player mode. This time you can actually have a 2-player championship, competing against all the other computer controlled cars. Codemasters have also included a multi-player link-up mode, where you can join 2 consoles together for all together I’d have to boast that this game is quite amaz¬ ing, and with nearly every conceivable idea included it comes ever so close to being perfect. But we all know there’s no such thing. AVAILABLE: Now CATEGORY: Race Oriving PLAYERS: 14 Link up PUBLISHER: Codemasters PRICE: $89.95 RATING: G SUPPORTS: Oual Shock. Steering Wheels. Link-up. Memory card. PLUS Totally ingenious game modes provide a great learning and awesome longevity. MINUS Analogue control is a bit touchy. Fairly hard on your neck after 5 hours straight! VISUALS SOUND EAMEPLAY 91 91 93 OVIRML If you like racing games and you don't buy TOCA 2.. you’re a bloody idiot! HYPER» 67 68 »HYPER REVIEWS PLAYSTATION Cool Boarders 3 The darling of the 'Aspen turtleneck skivvy society, Cam Shea, needs a serious lesson in cool. CH98SC Boart SWATCH SUPER MOO E l MOUNTAIN YOU’D BETTER SWATCH YOURSELF. Cool Boarders 3 has officially licensed boards from Burton, Ride and Swatch. Oddly enough, Levi’s, Arnette and Butterfinger are also involved. Unfortunately, their corporate logos are boldly plastered all over the courses... pretty true to real life snowboarding tournaments actually. AVAILABLE: Now CATEGORY: Snowboarding PLATERS: 1-2 PUBLISHER: 989 Studios PRICE: $69.95 RATINE: G SUPPORTS: Dual analogue controller PLUS Options and secrets galore Plus, has funky street style. MINUS Need more two player options, the music blows i chunks, and tournaments can be very demanding. VISUALS SOUND GAMEPLAY 86 77 87 OVERALL 86 The Cool Boarders series l finally comes of age. There’s no business like snow business at the moment on PlayStation. Snowboard this and snowboard that seems to be the catchcry as snowboarding games con¬ stantly materialise from the development ether. Given the success of the Cool Boarders series, it comes as no surprise to see a third installment. Cool 3 isn’t so much a sequel, however, as an entirely new gaming entity, as UEP Systems have handed development duties over to Idol Minds. Fortunately, whilst retaining the arcade emphasis of previous Cool Boarders titles, Cool 3 is a more mature and complete package. NO, IT LOOKS GREAT! Gamers familiar with Cool 2’s "look ma, I’ve built a snowboarding run out of lego” graphics engine, where slopes were constantly splitting at the seams, and riders were blocky low polygon models will really appreciate just how tasty Cool 3 looks. The riders are gourard shad¬ ed and well animated, and the terrain undulates smoothly and realistically. The engine is good, allowing reasonable viewing distance, as well as conveying the sensation of speed. Control of your board is also solid. The control configuration is quite intuitive and now fea¬ tures a railslide button for all those fallen trees, logs, pipes and benches just waiting for a radical dude to get busy on, as well as introducing the ability to punch opponents on either side (a la Road Rash). Cool 2 was characterised by raw speed, deviously nar¬ row, windy sections of steep track, and tricks of her¬ culean proportions. Cool 3 has drastically different gameplay and course design. Tracks feel more like trail- blazing, as there are multiple branches and the path is often quite wide, allowing many different racing lines and death defying runs. Cool 3 also succeeds where Cool 2 failed, in creating competitive opponents that are fun to race against. Splitscreen play is worth a look, but rac¬ ing feels a lot slower and there is no tournament mode. SLOPE STYLE TESTS YOUR DOPE STYLE... YEAH BOYEE. Cool 3 is quite a comprehensive snowboarding experi¬ ence, and you’ll need to be proficient in several areas to successfully unlock all the mountains and secrets. Cool 3 has at least six mountains to conquer, each with six events. Win a tournament on one mountain and you’ll unlock the next one. Tournaments consist of racing in all six events: downhill, boarder cross, slalom, half pipe, big air, and slope style. Each tests the boarder in differ¬ ent ways, the aim of slope style, for instance, is to accu¬ mulate the most points in a freestyle stunt session down a course littered with railslides, obstacles and jumps. Each event is explored in full across the six mountains, so even all six half pipes are distinct in design. With such a commitment to depth and variety, as well as excellent visuals and riding feel, Cool Boarders 3 comes highly recommended. FUNKV • FUNKY • FUNKV^tnnnK FUNKV • FUNKV •FUNKY•FUNKV•FUNKV• FUNKY •FUNKV•FUNKV* FUNKY •FUNKV*FUNKY•FUNKY• FUNKY* FI ' * Fid PBianj * ' Two-ployer split screen option 16 different buggies ond fun roce circuits to choose from Cxciting power-ups provide you uiith the rocing edge Short-cuts for truly skilled racers to exploit Buggies which reoct to the terrain just like the real thing Buy it aOHIBIN * 1V1SAH3.; A . 3HX Afl | >iovu±atfnos o cUBNNnU13NNn± a A *' nOA3UVAVS3H 5 ■6zn jo siaivo voi? ~ > i A . £ NMoa a3MCtoi a ■f w i ap/ s* dissanoA ±30 g -t uoijejsApid H i .. _O c.ti3NNntdn3iMNnxnoA3av ■|AIV3tdOS nOA UV3H NV3 3IMOAtl3A3 l3NNfU 3H1 till PanicStations PlayStation Gremlin Interactive Australia Ry Ltd. BorinQ IGQQI crop Unit 15< 42-44 New street, Ringwood Victoria 3134 Australia Phone: 03 9879 3588 Fax: 03 9870 9910 www.gremlin-interactive.com.au J " and “RayStation’* are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. 70 »HYPER REVIEWS PLAYSTATION Megaman Legends Kevin Cheung. Megaman. Nuff said. wmm m im - iiP- described as Tomb Raider without the cumbersome and sluggish rota¬ tion controls. Megaman moves around quickly and smoothly, even though the screen jerks around a little; and the game offers the abili¬ ty to upgrade your weapons and use other special tools of mass destruction. The combination of quirky plot with your personal involvement in Megaman's devel¬ opment is a nice combination in keeping you hooked to the game. Although the focus is more on the shooting/fighting elements as opposed to TR’s exploration and timed acrobatics, Megaman Legends is actually a very decent, if not superior alternative to the 'more hype than substance" adven- AVAIIAB1E: Now CATEGORY; Action/Adventure PLAYERS: 1 PUBLISHER: Capcom PRICE: $79.95 RATING: G SUPPORTS: Memory Card PLUS Anime-style plot with easy- going yet addictive action. MINUS Seen it all before, and the voice acting is pretty bad at times. VISUALS SOUND GAMEPLAY 87 79 83 OVfRALl A great action title to breathe yet more life into everyone's favourite blue bomber. Dedicated fans of the Megaman series will be in for a bit of a shock: Megaman has no helmet, and he has hair. Not only that, but gone are Doctor Wiley and his band of merry robots. Replacing them is a new all-encompassing storyline that will appeal to the insatiable thirst of anime fans out there. You see, the planet is covered almost entirely by water. The societies getting by on the islands left behind are surviving by digging up old technology, literally, from the ground. In particular, they're looking for power sources called quantum refractors. Megaman’s role in this world is that of an adventurer, helping a young lass named Roll find her parents whilst at the same time looking for the fabled Mother Lode, which can supposedly solve the world’s energy crisis. ANIME TOMB RAIDER? The game begins with a simple quest in a tower where you are looking for a refractor. From there, the game plays out in a scripted fashion where you explore, run, jump, shoot, and climb your way through vast polygonal environments. Various goals and sub-quests must be accomplished to unlock certain areas, and the plot even¬ tually reveals itself along the way. What’s amazing about Megaman Legends is the sheer size of the environments and the and attention to detail. For instance, the town at the beginning of the game is unbelievably large and lavishly detailed in its depiction of every minute pecu¬ liarity of the buildings and the people walking around. Heck, the streets are so hectic you can even get hit by a car! Granted, some cynics will say that the graphics are too simple and a little pixellated, but if you consider the fact that Capcom’s intention was to create an anime- style game, the graphics are actually spot on. Megaman Legends is by no means meant to look anything like Tomb Raider, even though the controls are similar. That brings us to the gameplay, which is best PINK ISN'T SUCH A TIGHTENING COLOUR tures of Lara Croft. It’s a pity Megaman isn’t endowed with quite as large a star status. At the end of the day, Megaman Legends isn’t what you’d consider to be a ground-breaking game. It’s all been done before. What sets it apart from the rest is, firstly, that the gameplay is executed very well com¬ pared to its competition, and secondly it has a good on¬ going plot to bring meaning, flow, and continuity to the game. Some games don’t even offer that. As such, Megaman Legends is recommended for fans of the series, anime fans, and those who are looking for a nice spot of adventure. RECOMMENDED FOR HUMAN PRF\ UNDER THE AGE OF 15 NINTENDO 64 ’ • "o • • * * • ' • ictoria 3134 Australia Phone: 03 9870 3588 Fax: 03 98: Trademark of NINTENDO. Gremlin Interactive Australia Pty Ltd. Unit 15, 42*44 New 110 www.grenwi-interactlve.cdfn.au it. Ringwooi Gremlin »HYPER REVIEWS PLAYSTATION Colony Wars: Vengeance If they had included a Death Star, Eliot Fish would declare this PlayStation game of the year... 'K CM The tables have turned. It’s ioo years after the setting of the original Colony Wars, and this time you’re flying for the Colonial Navy, thirsty for vengeance after being weakened by the League and caught in a struggle with opposing tribes. Re- emerging again as a mili¬ tary force, the Navy re¬ opens the warphole and you’re back at war with the League. In fact, you’re attempting to find their homeworld in the Callonigher system, and you’re still led by Kron who works for the Navy. Whilst the original Colony Wars was top stuff, and a delight for console gamers hungering for a space combat sim, it still had room for improvement. Now is it just me, or is Colony Wars: Vengeance something more than just a tweaked sequel...? BIG-BADA BOOM If Colony Wars tickled your goolies, then Colony Wars: Vengeance is going to blow your mind. From the get-go, this is superb stuff, and truly an example of masterful programming. If you didn’t believe a decent space com¬ bat sim could be achieved on the PlayStation, then get on your knees and start singing "Halleluliah!" because this is the best console space-sim ever. Whilst Colony Wars was certainly good, CWV manages to improve on it so greatly, that you’ll want to play this sequel even if you played the original to death. It may look like more of the same from screenshots, but the flight engine has been improved to perfection. We’re talking smoother, faster, prettier and cooler. Your craft now works beautifully with the analogue control, including the shock feedback, and cruising around with the stick is like carving butter on a very hot day. Using the shoulder buttons to thrust and reverse, as well as roll the craft and engage turbo just feels good, and the rumble is used subtley thus enhanc¬ ing the effect when it kicks in. The speed and smoothness of the space flight is joyous, and jumping in and accu¬ rately navigating amongst other space craft is easy. All the pretty graphical effects from Colony Wars are still there, but they’ve been enhanced - including spacecraft models and textures which are all now sharper and cleaner than before. The atmosphere is brilliant, with distant planets, nebulae, jumpgates and asteroids all looking utterly convincing. CWV is just a treat to play. GAME OVER, MAN, GAME OVER! The first few missions ease you back into the game- world, with some simple dogfighting and side-objec¬ tives, such as lancing asteroids embedded with crystal and defending Navy cruisers. As you venture further into the complex story, missions will become tough as nails, and yet the game is compelling enough to keep you replaying them happily. Each ’’Act" comprises of roughly three missions at a time, so you can’t save the game until after you’ve completed the "Act’’, which certainly ups the difficulty level. The missions have been constructed with some truly original and fun objectives, like towing reac¬ tor cores and sling-shotting them into a jumpgate - carefully avoiding getting sucked into it’s vortex when you release your grapple-cable. Oh, and why not help defend the Navy installation whilst you’re at it! What will please those of you who played the orginal to death, is that CWV includes ground-based missions with a new fighter craft. Cruising over hilltops and taking down enemy defenses is very successful and makes a great diversion from the space-based missions. All sorts of funky new weapons have been included in CWV, like the Particle Cun which you charge up and then unleash upon your foes. There are also Pods which hover behind your craft for added offense and defense or even repair freindly craft. The enemy AI has been given an edge too, and they seem to respond more realistically to your actions, which means for more exciting dogfighting. Because of the branching mission-structure which was so popular with the orginal Colony Wars, you’ll find yourself tempted to replay earlier missions just so you can see what would have happened if you got it wrong or vice versa. Some of the missions are so unique, that you won’t complain too much about hav¬ ing to replay them over. Colony Wars Vengeance is such a well-rounded game, that Psygnosis should be applauded for not churning out an average sequel to make some quick bucks. If you didn’t play the original Colony Wars, then drop this mag now and go buy Colony Wars: Vengeance today. It rocks. AVJU1AILI: Now CATEGORY: Space Combat PLAYERS: 1 PUBLISHER Psygnosis PRICE: $89.95 RATIN6 68* _ SUPPORTS: Dual Shock Controller PLUS Amazing graphics, both pretty and fast. MINUS Help me mummy, it's a bit too hard! VISUALS SOUNO 6AMEPLAY 80 88 92 OVEMU A truly brilliant game which will leave you with withdrawl symptoms. HYPER» 73 74 »HYPER REVIEWS PC Ring David Wildgoosf loves a good adventure game... But Ring wasn't quite up to Cryo's usual standards. AVAILABLE: Now CATfEORY: Adventure PLATERS: One PUBLISHER: Cryo PRICE: $79.95 RATINE: C REQUIRED: P133.16MB RAM. 8xCD DESIREB: P200 MMX. 32MB RAM. 24xCD PLUS Typically gorgeous artwork we've come to expect from Cryo MINUS Overly complicated and confusing plot. Unrewarding puzzles. VISUALS SOUND GAMEPLAY 92 70 50 OVERML 57 A stunningly pretty, yet confusing and lifeless clone of better adventure games.