Electronic Games 1993-01

PLETE PLAYERS 9 CUID

$3.95/$4.95 Canada/£2.25
January, 1993

0 14302 80184 5

VIDEOGAMES COMPUTER GAMES MULTI-MEDIA GAMES PORIABLE^GAMES ARCADES

AND YOU PICK
THE WINNERS!

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I

He’s back, she’s
back and it’s back!!!
And they’re hunting
foryor/in these hot
new sci-fi video
game blockbusters.
T2™: THE ARCADE
GAME™ explodes
with all the incred-
ible action of the
arcade smash!
ALIEN 3™ pits you
against deadly face
huggers and acid-
spitting aliens.
PREDATOR 2™ is
the final showdown
between the inter-
galactic stalker and
LA’s finest.

So get the good,
the bad and the
ugly... before they
get you!!!

®

Milk

ARENA

ENTERTAINMENT™

ALIEN 3 TM & © 1992 Twentieth Century Fox Film
Corporation. All Rights Reserved. PREDATOR 2 TM & ©
1990, 1992 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.

All Rights Reserved. TERMINATOR, T2, Endoskeleton and
the depiction of the Endoskeleton TM & © 1992 Carolco
Pictures Inc. (U.S. and Canada); Carolco International N.V.
(All Other Countries). All Rights Reserved. Sublicensed
by Midway Manufacturing Company from Acclaim
Entertainment, Inc.© 1991 Midway Manufacturing
Company. All Rights Reserved. Sega, Game Gear, Genesis
and Menacer are trademarks of Sega Enterprises Ltd.
Nintendo®, Super Nintendo Entertainment System®,
Nintendo Entertainment System®, Game Boy® and the offi-
cial seals are registered trademarks of Nintendo of America
Inc. Arena Entertainment™ is a trademark of Arena
Entertainment. © 1992 Arena Entertainment. All Rights
Reserved. LJN® and The Arcade Game™ are trademarks
of LJN, Ltd. 1992 LJN, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

DEPARTMENTS

Power On! 6

Feedback 8

Hotline 10

Insert Coin Here 20

Game Doctor 22

Video Game Gallery 58

Software Gallery 80

CD Gallery 90

Portable Playtime 96

Joystick Jury 100

Fandom Central 102

The Kunkel Report 106

Gaming On-Line 108

Test Lab 110

Lore 112

The EG Poll 113

Things to Come 114

You decide which games are the years best!
EG’s 1992 Game Awards Page 26.

Toys — from movie to video game.
Playing With Toys Page 46.

The Sega CD is here and EG has it!
CD Gallery Page 90.

FEATURES

• National Fan Club

The first national electronic
gaming fan club, and EG has all
the information so you can
become a member 17

• EG’s 1992 Game Awards

EG lets the readers pic the best of
the best for our first annual
Electronic Games’ Awards of
Excellence 26

• Player’s Guide to Gaming Gifts

The Holiday Season is upon us,
and EG has gone all out to provide
our readers with some great gift
giving ideas 37

• Playing With Toys

A brief look at what is sure to be
one of the biggest holiday films,
and the game license made in
Hollywood Heaven 46

• Ultimate Helicopter Simulator

Electronic games have many uses,
including training the country’s
best chopper pilots how to do their
jobs better 50

• EG Interview

Tom Kalinske has helped change
Sega from an 8-Bit midget to the
16-Bit master. We talk to him in
this months intreview 54

About the art— We at EG would like to thank the following artists for their contributions to this issue:

Jeff Mangiat — Cover art - Mario and Link © 1992 Nintendo of America: Sonic and Tails © 1992 Sega of America: Mega Man, Chun Li, and Ryu
© 1992 Capcom: Battletoads © 1992 Tradewest: Leisure Suit Larry © 1992 Sierra On-Line.

Eric Curry — All department logos, and various photography
David M. Davis — Gaming On-Line logo
Ed Renfro — National Fan Club
Cliff Spohn — EG Interview

Mark Watts — EG Award of Excellence and Players' Guide to Gifts

And Special Thanks to Electronic Arts for use of graphics from LHX Attack Chopper for our Helicopter Simulator article.

Watch this space for future deals on SPAM™, the lunch meat with an attitude, and Norman’s Vienna Sausages — MMMMMMM-Good!

4 Electronic Games

As if things weren’t ooky
enough! Now Pugsley
Addams must go on a
simply torturous
scavenger hunt. There’s
all sorts of unnaturally
delightful traps. And
hidden switches all about,
which produce the
loveliest, blood-curdling
effects when Pugsley runs
into them. There’s even
magic money which has
an extra lively effect you
won’t want to miss. So get
ready to get spooky, and
get set to get kooky. ..it’s
Pugsley ’s Scavenger
Hunt! En garde!

Screen shots shown are from the
Super NES version of the game.

© 1992 H-B Production Co. All Rights
Reserved. Based on the characters
created by Charles Addams. TM
designates a trademark of Paramount

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Pictures. Game program © 1992 Ocean

Ocean of America, Inc.

Software Limited. Ocean is a registered
trademark of Ocean Software Limited.

1855 O'Toole Ave., Suite D-102
San Jose, CA 95131

GAME BOf

Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Game Boy™,
and the official seal are registered
trademarks of Nintendo of America, Inc.

A Look Ahead Is Better Than None

Predictions are as much a part of celebrating the new year as noisemakers
and champagne. From supermarket tabloid psychics to Sunday morning T.V.,
people are taking a sneak peek at things to come. Prophecy is a tricky busi-
ness. I’ve learned a few tricks in my 12 years as an electronic gaming maga-
zine editor. The vaguer the forecast, the more likely it is to come true. The fur-
ther in the future it's set, the less chance anyone can say “I told you so.” (Nos-
tradamus is now well beyond the reach of carping critics.) Seers walk the line
between exciting long shots and surefire ones that put the audience to sleep.

Focusing my crystal ball on the next 12 months, here are some of the things
we can expect in 1993. At the sacrifice of some mystery, I’m also including an
indication of how I arrived at each prediction.

• The SNES will become the number one selling 16-Bit system. Smart mar-
keting and solid software has closed the gap. Nintendo should be able to
retake the top spot it lost when the Genesis captured gamers’ fancy.

• More video game cartridges will be released in 1993 than in the year just
ended. Licensed and unlicensed third-party publishing is on the upswing, and
strong hardware sales should send it through the roof by Christmas ‘93.

• 16-Bit multimedia games won’t replace ROM carts in the U.S. It will take
great software to get families to pop for an expensive peripheral, and I don’t
believe there’ll be enough good titles to pry open those wallets.

• The first multimedia game hit (100,000+ copies) will appear. This may
take cross-system publishing, but the CD audience is expanding fast. Introduc-
tion of 32-Bit game consoles in the last quarter would cinch this forecast.

• Cartridge prices will drop, but it won’t be across the board. “Top shelf”
games will cost about the same, but look for more titles at low and medium
price points. The tag on hits will stay high, because publishers don’t feel
“must have” titles are price-sensitive, and probably see marketing advantages
in keeping ROM cart prices up to make CD software look like a bargain.

• Despite the appeal of the basic concept, “black box” systems will still be
looking to make a breakthrough at the end of 1993. The Tandy VIS system,
also offered under the Zenith label, may have the best shot, but lack of
enough entertainment software limits the market for such appliance machines.

• The divorce between audio and video CD will be well on the way. The limi-
tations that the audio standard imposes on multimedia entertainment are too
confining to suit most hardware and software manufacturers, and alternative
formats will be enlisting heavy industry support by the second half of 1993.

• Fandom will continue to boom, led by the ever-improving crop of regular
fanzines. NAEGE (see story in this issue) will foster a lot of fan activity. The
first national convention won’t turn from dream to reality in 1993, but expect
serious discussion of this mammoth project by next Christmas.

It’s always nice to end on a surefire, guaranteed-to-please prediction. Flere’s
mine: You’ll find out whether all these other prognostications are pipe dreams
or the real thing right here in the pages of Electronic Games magazine!

— Arnie Katz

JANUARY, 1993

VOLUME 1, NUMBER 4

A DECKER PUBLICATIONS, INC. PERIODICAL

PUBLISHER

Steve Harris

EDITOR

Arnie Katz

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Bill Kunkel
NEWS EDITOR

Joyce Worley

SENIOR EDITOR

Marc Camron
MANAGING EDITOR

Ross Chamberlain
ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Russ Ceccola, Ed Dille

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Martin Allessi, Jay Carter, Danyon Carpenter,
Joe Funk, Steve Honeywell, Franklin Horowitz,
Alex Reese, Shey Stevens, Mike Valias,

Mike Weigan, Scott Wolf, Rick Zalud

ART DIRECTOR

Juli McMeekin

PRODUCTION

Colleen Bastien, Production Manager
Tim Ostermiller, Copy Editor
John Stockhausen, Ad Coordinator
Suzanne Farrell, Ad Manager

CUSTOMER SERVICE

( 515 ) 280-3861

NATIONAL ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Andrew Eisenberg
Eisenberg Communications Group
2121 Avenue of the Stars, 6th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90067
(310) 551-6587

DECKER PUBLICATIONS, INC.

Steve Harris, President
Mike Riley, Vice President of Operations
Mark Mann, Financial Director
Cindy Polus, Financial Manager
Harry Hochman, Circulation Director
Renee Delgado, Circulation Manager
Harvey Wasserman, Newsstand Director
Donna Cleppe, Newsstand Manager
John Stanford, Manufacturing Director
Debbie Maenner, Manufacturing Manager

DISTRIBUTED BY:

WARNER PUBLISHING SERVICES, INC.

Electronic Games (ISSN #1063-8326) is published monthly by Decker
Publications, Inc. 1920 Highland Ave., Suite 222, Lombard, IL 60148.
Subscription rates for U.S.: $23.95, Canada and Mexico: $33.95, and all
others by air mail only: $80.00. Single issue rates: $3.95. POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to Electronic Games, P.O. Box 7311, Red Oak, IA
51591-2311. For subscription changes, change of address, or correspon-
dence concerning subscriptions call 800-444-3334. The editors and the
publisher are not responsible for unsolicited materials. No part of this
publication may be reproduced without the expressed written permission
of Decker Publications. Inc. Copyright © 1992, Decker Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. All materials listed in this magazine are subject to
manufacturers change and the publisher assumes no responsibility for
such changes. Printed in the USA.

6 Electronic Games

Blast your todf through dangerous ,
low-level attacks. (RBMB)

Sink enemy ships with torpedoes and dive
bombs - if you can. (Aces of the Pacific )

Take on the great Axis and Allied acei
in one-on-one duels. (Red Baron)

Hang on as enemy jire rips U
your cockpit. (WWII: 1946)

The Great War Planes ™ Series

From the mud-filled trenches ofWWI to the smokin:

[g ruin of Pearl Harbor, the

evolution of flight is celebrated in Damon Styes epic Great War Planes series of his-
torical flight simulations. Beginning with the award-winning Red Baron 6 , the series
continues with WWII Pacific Theater combat in Aces of the Pacific and moves into
modern-day action over the Persian Gulf with A-10 Tank Killer IS". Now the excite-
ment continues with all new expansion disks for Red Baron and Aces of the Pacific. The
Red Baron Mission Builder updates the classic WW1 simulation with new planes, new
aces and a powerful mission builder that allows you to create your own historic mis-
sions. For Aces of the Pacific comes WWIJ 1946 , an expansion disk that explores the
new planes and missions of an alternate future where the atomic bomb was never
dropped and WWII continued past the boundaries of history.

PART OF THE SiERRA FAMILY

now,

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,

A Gaming Pioneer
Comes Home

I was thrilled to see your magazine
on the newsstand. I was even more
pleased to discover that you are
geared toward the older gamers. I
don't buy the vast majority of the
gaming magazines, because they
make you feel guilty if you're past
puberty. Electronic Gaming Monthly
and Computer Game Review do a
great job of covering video games
and computer games respectively,
but I've also been looking for a mag-
azine that reports on the industry as
a whole. It appears that my search is
over. Judging from your first issue, I
have a lot to look forward to. Thanks
for the great first issue and keep up
the good work.

Chris Wu, Pensacola, PL

Thanks, Chris. It’s always a thrill to
hear from old readers like yourself.

The Family that Plays Together...

I’m 51 years old and compete
against my son, daughter and their
spouses on SNES and Genesis. My
subscription card is in the mail. Your
goal and philosophy (Power On! A
New Beginning...) puts you right on
top of my reading list.

Arthur IVI. Smith, Chanute, KS

Isn’t it great how games cut
across all ages? They are truly an all-
family experience.

Some Good Ideas

I loved the first issue of your maga-
zine! Finally, a magazine for the older
game player! Please continue to
keep the same amount of reading
material in your magazine. I am so
tired of the kiddie gaming magazines
filled with comics and pictures.

FEEDBRCK

Letters From Our Readers

I think it would be better if you
could print your subscription
coupons and other coupons or forms
to send in on the back page of adver-
tising - something we wouldn’t miss
or ruin by cutting out the coupon.

I enjoyed the Kunkel Report on joy-
sticks. I too learned to play video
games on the Atari 2600. Maybe
that is why I had so much trouble try-
ing to learn the Nintendo control
pads. I adapted, but I prefer the pis-
tol grip joysticks. Do you know if
there are any pistol grip joysticks
planned for release for the SNES?

Mrs. Martha Guilliams,
Barberton, OH

Thanks for the good suggestion;
we’ll pass it along to our art depart-
ment. Be sure to check Ross
Chamberlain's article in December’s
Players ' Guide for information on the
latest controllers.

More History!

I did not quite know what to expect
when I picked up the first issue of
EG. I have been a die-hard gamer for
just over ten years (I’m 19). As I
thumbed through EG, I was delighted
at the quality.

I have one suggestion. How about
a detailed history of video games,
with pictures of early 80’s games
(arcade and home)? There are mil-
lions of kids out there who do not
believe the planet Earth existed
before 1985. Besides, all of us
codgers would love a trip down mem-
ory lane, since a lot of us have sold
our old systems. Anyway, I hope EG
sticks around for ten more years,
cause this time the road ahead is
paved with silicon, and there ain’t no
crash in sight!

Cypher-D-Snark, Kingman, AZ

Well, Cypher-old-buddy, we sure
hope you get your wish: we hope EG
lasts forever! And thank you for your
suggestion about the history article,
it goes right along with our interests,
and we will surely keep it in mind.

Wants Game Design Info

I'm 14 and I've played video
games since I was 2 years old, so I
became interested in video game
magazines.

I do have some suggestions to
make, though. You need a letter sec-
tion to tell people the steps of
designing a video game, and where
to send it to see if any businesses
are interested.

Bob Petty, Russell Springs, KY

How’s this for sen/ice? Ask for a
letter column and here it is! And, an
article about game design is also a
good idea. We 'll try to do just that.

About that Ad...

I saw the subscription page which
showed issue 1, but as my eyes
strolled down further, another EG
cover was shown with "Players'

Guide to Role Playing" on top, with
the issue number Vol. 1, Issue 1!
Was this mag a prototype turned
down in favor of the released first
issue?

Josh Bay, Fremont, NE

That's a keen observation, Josh,
and a good question. Actually, that
was a prototype done for the poten-
tial advertisers before EG started.

But there 's nothing to buy; all the
interior pages were blank!

Keep those letters coming to:

Feedback, c/o Electronic Games,
330 South Decatur, #152,

Las Vegas, NV 89107

8 Electronic Games

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CHALLENGE

MLSA Expands
to Non-Sports

Long a stats-sport
game maker, Micro-
League moved into the
non-sports arena with
Laser Squad, a space-
based tactical war game.
This new direction fol-
lows an alliance with
Krisalis Software Ltd. of
England, which resulted
in a name change from
MicroLeague Sports
Assn, to MicroLeague
Interactive Software.

President Neil Swartz
called the game “an
exciting entry into a new
market for us,” but
pointed out, “We’re not
so much getting out of
our sports programming
background as we are

building on it.” The com-
pany also introduced
Ultimate Cards, which
provides 12 computer
opponents for Whist,
Spades, Crazy 8’s,
Hearts, Gin Rummy, or
Oh Hell!

A third non-sports title
is Revelation, which
asks the gamer to figure
out combinations to
crack safes.

Far from giving up the
roar of the crowd, the
company also premiered
MicroLeague Action
Sports Soccer, an
action/arcade approach
to stat play, produced in
conjunction with Krisalis.
MicroLeague Football 2,
an update of its classic
coaching simulation
game, also came out.

Sega CD Debuts
on Big Screen

There were games
over Times Square when
Sega did its roll-out of
the new Sega CD in New
York City (see associat-
ed story elsewhere in
this issue). Cory Fox, a
ten-year-old from Long
Island, NY, manned the

controller to demon-
strate Sewer Shark on

CD.

New Yorkers on their
way to work were treated
to the sights and sounds
of fast-action gaming on
the world’s largest TV,
the 750 square foot
Sony JumboTron, as
Cory described the
action on Good Morning
America.

Apple Introduces
New Macs

There are new Macin-
tosh computers growing
on the Apple tree. Apple
introduced its Macintosh
Performa line, a series
of computers for first-
time buyers. They come
in three varieties, and
each includes pre-loaded
applications to make it
easy for new computer-
ists to get started.

The Performa 200 is a
black & white, based on

the Mac Classic II. Per-
forma 400 is based on
the Mac LC II, with a
256 color display. Both
come with 4 MB of RAM

and 80 MB hard disk dri-
ves. The Performa 600,
a new design with a
32MHz 68030 micro-
processor and color dis-

play, comes with 4 or 5
MB of RAM, and a 160
MB hard disk. There’s
also an optional CD for
the 600. All three mod-
els include an enhanced
version of System 7.

Prices range from
about $1250 for the
200 to $2500 for the
600 with CD-ROM. It will
be easier than ever to
find them, since they’ll
be sold in Sears, Mont-
gomery Ward, Silo,

Office Depot, OfficeMax,
Staples, and other retail
stores.

T

Spud Speller Spiels
for Wordtris

And the word was not
potatoe."

Twelve-year-old William

rarairasai]

Figueroa signed with
Spectrum Holobyte as
the national spokes-
person for Wordtris, the
word game in the Tetris
family. Figueroa gained
fame last summer when
he corrected Vice Presi-
dent Dan Quayle on the
spelling of potato.

Wordtris, which he
will help promote as an
action game with an
educational twist, is
available for the Super
NES, Game Boy, Macin-
tosh and DOS systems.

EA, ESPN
Settle Fight

Electronic Arts and
ESPN, the cable net-
work, have settled their
differences over the
EASN logo that resulted
in suits and countersuits
last fall (EG December
1992, p.12). ESPN had
claimed trademark
infringement, and EA
filed counter claims
including one to restrain
ESPN from using its
marks in the interactive
entertainment business.
Following the settle-

ment, Electronic Arts
renamed its sports ori-
ented video game line
as EA Sports and will
advertise the games on
ESPN.

Stan McKee, Electron-
ic Arts senior vice presi-
dent and CFO, said,
“We’re pleased to come
to a swift and satisfacto-
ry solution of these legal
issues.” ESPN’s execu-
tive vice president, net-
work marketing and gen-
eral counsel stated, “We
look forward to exploring
other mutually beneficial
opportunities with EA.”

Street Fighter II
Clobbers Pirate

The pirates don’t have
a chance when they
come up against Street
Fighter II Champion Edi-
tion. A FHIIIsboro, NJ
retailer, Steven Law of
Cointek US, has been
arrested for copyright
violation. Fie was
accused of making and
selling illegal copies of
Capcom’s hit coin-op.

The counterfeit boards
were confiscated in
Maryland.

The FBI arrested Mr.
Law in September 1992,
and the case has not yet
gone to trial.

According to a state-
ment from Mr. Law’s
attorney, he is innocent,
since (according to Mr.
Law) Capcom’s copy-
rights are unsecured.

Nintendo Brings
Starlight To Kids

Nintendo joined with
the Starlight Foundation
to help brighten the
days for hospitalized
kids, with a donation of
$525,000 to finance
Nintendo Fun Centers
for 68 hospitals nation-
wide. The Fun Centers,
trolleys with a TV moni-
tor, SNES, library of
games, and VCR, pro-
vide entertainment for
patients at bedside.

Actress Emma
Samms, founder of
Starlight, officially
launched the program,
with a presentation of
Nintendo Fun Centers to
the pediatrics ward at
L.A. County+ USC. On
hand for the cere-
monies, along with
numerous actors, med-
ical personnel and Nin-
tendo officials, were
Mario and Yoshi cos-
tumed characters.

Emma Samms explained

why she thinks the pro-
gram is important: “This
donation will bring video
game entertainment to
more than 6,500 hospi-
talized children each
month... [Nintendo’s]
donation will help so
many of these children
forget about the pain of
treatment or surgery and
allow them to cope with
the long days in a hospi-
tal room."

"fiU ' r n

Phil Rogers, VP of
Operations for Nintendo,
expressed pleasure at
the gift, “Our business is
to entertain children,
and this donation
ensures that hospital-
ized kids can play games
just as if they were lead-
ing normal lives.”

Happy Birthday,
Pac-Man

Pac-Man had a birth-
day! 1992 marks ten
years since the yellow
chomper’s wocka-wocka
was first heard through-
out the land.

Born in Japan to proud
parent company Namco,
Pac-Man first saw the
light as a coin-op in the
Island Nation. The maze-
chase game became the
first mammoth hit of the
arcade era, partly
because it was the first
game with wide appeal
to women players.

At the peak of Pac-
Man fever, players put

over 50 million quarters
per week into coin-op
slots, to guide the bright
yellow smile-profile
through eating dots, col-
lecting energizers, and
avoiding Blinky, Pinky,
Inky and Clyde until they
turned an edible blue.

Pac-Man spawned a
host of maze-chase rip-
offs, and even managed
an entire family of his
own: Ms. Pac-Man,

Baby Pac-Man, and
other variants like Pac
Land.

But to him goes the
honor: EG salutes Pac-
Man, and Namco, the
company that gave him
life. Flappy birthday!

Electronic Games 11

Games Fly High

FlightLink, a digital in-
flight computer commu-
nications system cur-
rently being tested on
USAir 757s and soon to
be on some Continental
Airlines’ MD-80 aircraft,
lets travelers use phone
and fax services, get
stock quotations, and
play video games in the
l air. So far, the games
offered are fairly primi-
tive, such as tic-tac-toe
and a version of Othello.

The FlightLink system
puts an LCD screen
above the food tray at
each passenger's seat,
with a telephone hand-
set beneath the armrest.
Buttons and a credit

Sony/Nintendo
Hatch CD Plans

Sony and Nintendo
caught many people by
surprise with the
announcement of a
game console which
Sony plans to release
next August. The
machine combines a
SNES with a CD-ROM
drive, and accepts both
SNES cartridges and CD
software.

card reader on the hand-
set allow passengers to
select and pay for specif-
ic services.

The system is a devel-
opment of In-FLight
Phone Corp., the brain-
child of John D. Goeken,
a pioneer in the high-
tech communications
field. Goeken was a
founder of MCI
Communications and the
FTD Mercury Network of
Florist Transworld
Delivery Association.

Additional information
and entertainment ser-
vices are planned,
including digital broad-
cast reception, access
to connecting gate infor-
mation, express car
rental and hotel check-
in. As far as
games are
concerned,
color screens
with improved
resolution are
expected, and
negotiations
are under way
with game cre-
ators. Goeken
promises the
number of
games will be
increased to
200 .

Nintendo plans to
make a CD attachment
for the SNES, which will
be fully compatible with
the Sony system. It’s
also slated for August
launch.

Nintendo is also work-
ing with Philips to estab-
lish a format to make
SNES-CD-ROM software
compatible with Philips
CD-I equipment. This will
be welcome, in light of
the many CD titles
already made by Philips.

A Look To The East...

by Marc Camron

Trends

In the early 1980s,
the Atari 2600 was the
system of choice for any-
one who wanted to play
video games at home.
There were other
machines (ColecoVision,
Matel’s Intelivision, and
even other systems from
Atari), but none
remained as popular as
the 2600.

Later, trends shifted to
the Nintendo 8-Bit sys-
tem. This followed a
period of decline in the
video game industry. The
public wanted more out
of their home systems,
and companies had a
problem delivering.

Now, the trends have
shifted again; this time
to 16-Bit systems,
namely the SNES and
the Genesis. The public
is still demanding more
from their games, but
now the companies are
in a position to deliver.
Bigger games are being
designed all the time,
some on cartridge and
now on CD. There are
innovations being made
in graphics, sound, and
user interface.

At their trade show in
Tokyo, Nintendo
announced a new 3-D
graphics chip for their
Super Nintendo. This chip,
based on the highly publi-
shed RISC technology, will
allow programmers to cre-
ate such effects as tex-
ture mapping, shading and
a real-time 3-D perspec-
tive. Games utilizing this
chip should be available in
Japan in early 1993.

There has also been a
step taken in user inter-
face, with the SNES
Mouse. This product is
currently available in both
the United States and in
Japan. While only a few
projects have been
announced for the U.S.
market, Japan is preparing
quite a few mouse games
including Sim Ant and
Populous 2.

Another mouse game
that marks another break-
through for the SNES is
Royal Conquest. This
game, from Jaleco, is the
first to offer full Dolby
Surround sound. It will be
made available in the U.S.
under the name King
Arthur’s World.

It is advances like these
in home gaming that keep
the hobby alive. Can “vir-
tual reality” be far behind?

.NDERERS FROMYS^l

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Crystal Ball

This month, Strategic
Simulations, Inc. gave
us an advance look at
some of the role-players
scheduled for 1993.

Veil of Darkness, cre-
ated by Event Horizon
(who also developed The
Summoning), casts the
player as a downed
cargo pilot in Transylva-
nia, in a horror-fantasy
that pits the gamer
against the resident
vampire. It features over-

head views and animat-
ed cinematic sequences.
It’s said to be “the scari-
est, but easiest-playing
Gothic horror story” ever
done, and is scheduled
for March completion.

Eye of the Beholder
III: Assault on Myth
Drannor is the finale to
this epic. This one is
being developed in-
house, and SSI promis-
es more detailed graph-
ics, a more complex
plot, and three times the
cinematics as the previ-

ous games in the series.
It’s over 50% larger than
Eye II, due in April.

The Grey Isles (expan-
sion disk) adds 17 more
levels to AD&D: Dark
Sun. Later in ‘93, AD&D:
Dark Sun II continues
the story with new art
and system upgrades.

Science fiction and
horror fans won’t be for-
gotten. M and M II are
RPGs set on alien
worlds. Sky Realms of
Jorune is a vast, non-lin-
ear science fantasy

world with real-time com-
bat and action.
Scheduled for April,

Forgotten Realms
Unlimited Adventures:
Build Your Own Fantasy
Role-playing Epic

promises to be the
biggest design kit ever.
The name says it all;
there’s a library of char-
acters, monsters, and
art on disk, so players
can create their own sce-
nario for and then emu-
late in their own design.
Definitely a winner!

Sega/Accolade
War Continues

We spoke too soon
when we said it was
over. Sega filed for a
rehearing of their copy-
right infringement case
against Accolade, after

the appellate court lifted
the injunction that had
prevented Accolade from
marketing their Genesis-
compatible line of video
games. At that time, the
court said that an opin-
ion would follow.

The court acknowl-
edged that copying soft-

ware code in order to
create compatible, com-
mercial products is an
undefined area of law.

Sega spokesmen indi-
cate the company plans
to “vigorously pursue"
the case, which means
Ballistic's future is still
in doubt.

Accolade Chairman Al
Miller opined, “Neither
copyrights nor trade-
marks are intended to
provide a ‘lock-out’
device to prevent... com-
patible software for any
computer-based system,
including the Genesis
video game system."

ourney back
in time to the
year 1957 on
an expedition
to the dark
heart of the Amazon
Basin. A desparate,
crazed message sends
you on a perilous search
through a land where
legends come to life,
danger hides behind
every corner, and
incredible treasures wait
to be discovered.

AMAZON is designed
in the style of the serials
of the 1940’s and 50’s
such as Flash Gordon,
The Lost City, and
Rocketman.

These serials were made
up of intriguing, fast
paced episodes which
placed the hero in unbe-
lievable peril. AMAZON
contains 14 exciting
episodes filled with plot
twists, mysterious charac
ters and heart stopping
cliff-hangers. You haven’t
had this much fun since
the drive-in days!

Metal monsters seek your
destruction!*

Galoob Uncorks
SNES Genie

Galoob rushed out a
SNES version of the
Game Genie, just in time
for limited quantity sales
during the holiday sea-
son. Packed with the
video game enhancer is
a handbook containing
sets of codes for over
fifty games, ranging from
Act Raiser and Addams
Family to Xardion and
Ys-Wanderers from Ys
III, plus a free offer of
fifty more sets of codes
when available from
Galoob.

Up to five effects
codes can be entered at
a time to select added
lives, starting levels and
resources, or, for mas-
ters, to start out with
fewer lives and heavier
difficulties to overcome.

Bobcat Challenges
Hedgehog

Bubsy in: Claws
Encounters of the
Furred Kind

(Accolade/Genesis &
SNES) will give a certain
hedgehog a furry fight
when it hits the market
in March. It features the
same kind of high action
and great graphics that
kept Sonic rolling to
record sales, and a catty
sense of humor guaran-
teed to make gamers
meow with delight.

Bubsy Bobcat has to
stop Earth’s latest band
of invaders, the Woolies
from the planet Rayon,
who’ve come to steal
our yarnballs.

The furmeister travers-
es a monster-sized uni-
verse, recovering yarn-
balls and destroying

Woolies, while avoiding
a large variety of ene-
mies as he travels
through five worlds and
fifteen chapters before
he reaches the final
boss.

The graphics are out-
standing, and the game
world is huge. Bubsy can
do over 40 animated
actions, speak, and dis-
play many expressions
and mannerisms. He
flips, floats through
water slides, flies, and
explores each world
while collecting yarn-
balls.

The production
team is headed by
Senior Producer
John (Cosmic
Osmo/Mech War-
rior) Skeel and
designer Mike
Berlyn. Lead pro-
grammer for the
Genesis version is

Mike Schwartz, and
Scott Williamson on the
SNES version. Has Sonic
met his furry Match?

for

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We’re so sure you’ll love our new
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Digital Books
Write New Chapter

The Digital Book Sys-
tem is a pocket-calcula-
tor size device that
accepts two ROM chips,
each with up to 45
megabytes of data, and
can cross-reference their
data. Two Digital Books

are packed with the sys-
tem and sold at a com-
bined price of $199.95:
Merriam Webster Dictio-
nary Plus (including Mer-
riam-Webster Collegiate
Thesaurus and Spell Cor-
rector) and Word Games,
a collection often inter-
active word games.

Weighing in at 4.6
ounces, includ-
ing lithium bat-
teries (for up to
60 hours of run-
ning life) and the
two chips, the
Digital Book Sys-
tems will initially
be sold through
the chain of
Tandy’s Radio
Shack stores.

The Force
Flips Out

R2D2 jumps to action
as the Star Wars trilogy
takes on a new format in
Data East’s pinball,
available in early Decem-
ber. The player joins
Luke Skywalker and the
Rebel Alliance in collect-
ing tri-ball and double
jackpots to destroy the
Empire’s Death Star. All
to the original themes
from Star Wars,

The Empire Strikes Back
and Return of the Jedi
are represented.

EG Readers’
Popularity Poll

January 1993

Favorite Video Games:

1. Street Fighter 11/
Capcom

2. Legend of Zelda-Link/
Nintendo

3. Sonic the Hedgehog/
Sega

Favorite Computer
Games

1. Wing Commander 11/
Origin

2. Ultima 7/ Origin

3. Leisure Suit Larry-
Caribbean/ Sierra

Favorite Coin-Op Games

1. Street Fighter 11/
Capcom

2. X-Men/ Konami

3. Terminator-2/ Midway

High-End CD
Shines In Boston

The CD-ROM Exposi-
tion & Conference, held
September 29 through
October 2 in Boston,
stressed high-end prod-
ucts, such as systems
for writing to CD-ROM
and specialized, fixed
databases, but there
were a few morsels for
entertainment fans.

Sony introduced its
Electronic Book Author-
ing System for its fan-
tastic Data Discman;

New Media Schoolhouse
showed Talking Classic
Tales, which includes
five illustrated electronic
fairy tales.

Young Minds, Inc.,
impressed game-seek-
ers with an as-yet-unti-
tled baseball game fea-
turing full-motion video,
real players and stats.
Although the baseball
game suffered slightly
from compression lags,
its graphics are
absolutely breathtaking,
the closest thing yet to
watching a game on TV!

Behind the Headlines
With Joyce Worley

High Fiber Diet

The September ruling
on fiberoptic delivery of
electronic media may be
the single most impor-
tant event in the history
of our hobby since the
invention of Space War
in the MIT computer
labs.

The Federal Communi-
cations Commission
ruled that fiberoptic
cable networks can con-
nect to local phone ser-

vices, and download
electronic media. Now,
IBM and Apple are
rumored to be consider-
ing joint ventures with
cable companies, look-
ing to provide interactive
entertainment. Numer-
ous software manufac-
turers are also looking at
the possibilities inherent
in such home-delivery
systems.

It will take a few years,
but eventually games will
be downloaded into
homes, much as cable
TV is delivered to the
home viewer. The end
user will have a piece of

gaming equipment
attached to the televi-
sion, and select from a
list of available software,
just as we now choose a
movie from the pay-per-
view menu.

Will this make home
software obsolete? Not
in the near future. Every
movie is not available on
channel, and so will the
lists of games available
be limited. Nonetheless,
fiberoptics seems likely
to hold the future of
home gaming. And, as
such, it should bring
about a bonanza of
games. The mass mar-

ket serviced by such
systems will provide
game companies the
kind of volume needed
to increase game devel-
opment and reduce cost
to the end user.

Game delivery via
fiberoptic networks
should produce the envi-
ronment to promote big-
ger, more intricate inter-
active entertainments at
cheaper prices than
could ever be possible
in today’s gaming econo-
my. It may take a more
than a decade — but I
sincerely believe it will
happen.

16 Electronic Games

Digispeech Launches sound sources, including

External PC Audio Sound B ! aste ' audi0

standards and Windows
Now it’s not necessary multimedia extensions,
to open your computer The Port-Able Sound

to install quality sound. unit runs on AC or DC

Digispeech’s external power, includes a built-in

audio system for DOS microphone and speak-

systems, due out early er, and features FM-syn-

in 1993, plugs into the thesis and DSP (digital

PC’s parallel port and is signal processing) capa-
said to be compatible bility. Suggested retail

with major industry price is $189.95.

Sweeps Winners
See Big Games

Three lucky sports
fans each won trips for
two to top events in Kon-
ami’s Triple Sweeps pro-
motion for Game Boy
titles. Greg Pierce, 11, at the Indy 500; and

of Hudson, NH, who pur- Karen Parks, 30, of

Harahan, LA, won a trip
to a pro basketball play-
off game with her entry
from Double Dribble.

Until they get to view
their prizes, they'll be
experiencing them on
their Game Boys!

chased Blades of Steel

and sent nning entry, will
see a professional hock-
ey playoff game; Stanley
Weeks, 48, of Bain-
bridge, WA, picked up
World Circuit Series and
will join the spectators

Interplay Signs
King of Clay

Cineplay Interactive, a
division of Will Vinton
Studios, has signed with
Interplay Productions
(Santa Ana, CA) software
publishers for two years’
exclusive distribution of
new products. Cineplay
was founded by game
designer Kellyn “Defend-
er of the Crown” Beck

and Claymation creator
Will Vinton.

Interplay founder and
president Brian Fargo
said, “Our companies
are an ideal match. As
we get more involved
with clay animation, we
could not have asked for
a better partner... We
have valuable expertise
to offer Cineplay as they
get more involved in
computer animation.”

Top Coin-Ops; Aug.'92

Figures courtesy of
Replay Magazine, based on
an earnings-opinion poll of
operators.

Best Upright Videos

1. Mortal Kombat,

; Williams

2. Street fighter ll:CE,
Capcom

3. Terminator 2, Midway

4. Double Axle, Taito

3. Lethal Weapon 3,
Data East

4. Getaway, Williams

5. Fun House, Williams

6. Hook, Data East

7. The Machine,
Williams

8. Black Rose, Midway

9. Hurricane, Williams

10. Super Mario Bros.,
Gott./Prem.

Top PC Games:Aug.'92

5. Sunset Riders,

The list of top-selling

; Konami

computer software was

6. Space Gun, Taito

compiled by PC Research

7. Steel Gunner, Namco

of Washington, DC., based

8. Turbo Out Run, Sega

on sales data received

9. Captain America,

from Software Etc., Elec-

Data East

tronics Boutique, Babbages
and Waldensoftware.

: 10. S.C.I., Taito

Best Deluxe Videos

TOP MS-DOS Games

1. Links, Access

1. X-Men, Konami

2. Civilization,

2. Race Drivin', Atari

MicroProse

3. Final Lap 2, Namco

3. Aces of the Pacific,

4. Steel Talons, Atari

Sierra

5. Mad Dog,

4. Indiana Jones: Fate

Betson/ALG

of Atlantis, LucasArts

6. Hard Drivin’, Atari

5. Ouest for Glory 1,

7. Road Riot, Atari

Sierra

8. Final Lap, Atari

6. Legend of Kyrandia,

9. Rad Mobile, Sega

Virgin

10. Galaxy Force, Sega

7. F117A Stealth

Best Coin-Op Software

Fighter 2.0, MicroProse
8. Powermonger,

1. World Heroes, SNK

Electronic Arts

2. Street Fighter II,

9. G unship 2000,

Capcom

MicroProse

3. Aero Fighters,

10. Darklands, Micro-

McO’River

Prose

4. Wrestlefest, Technos

5. Total Carnage,

Midway

1 Op IVIo-DUo huUCcmOll

Games

6. Raiden, Fabtek

1. Where in the World is

7 . King of Monsters 2,
SNK

8. Atomic Punk 2, Irem

Carmen Sandiego,

Brpderbund

2. Mavis Beacon Teach-

9. Fatal Fury, SNK

es Typing,

10. Steel Gunner 2,

Software Toolworks

Namco

3. Where in the USA is

Best Pinball Machines

Carmen Sandiego,
Broderbund

1. Addams Family,

4. New Math Blaster

Midway

Plus, Davidson

2. Terminator 2,

5. Your Personal Trainer

Williams

for the S.A.T., Davidson

Electronic Games 1 7

INTRODUCING-.

GAMING'S
NATIONAL
FAN CLUB

Inside the First Fan-run
Club for Gamers

by Arnie Katz

Electronic Gaming Fandom is on
the rise! After months of burning
phone lines and burdening mail carri
ers, the world’s leading video and
computer gamers have formed a
group to promote the interests and
activities of electronic gaming fans.

“There are two main reasons why
we’ve decided to form the National
Association of Electronic Gaming
Enthusiasts,” explains Edward Fin-
kler, the dynamic and youthful presi-
dent of the new organization. “The
first is to foster greater communica-
tion among electronic gaming fans,
including those who are already
publishing fanzines.

Right now, there
are large seg-
ments of the fan
community that
are separate from
each other, and I
want to bring
those elements
together so
that

everyone is more
aware of the activity
that’s taking place
in fandom today. It
can be a starting
point for many elec-
tronic gamers who
would like to con-
tact fandom.”
Among the activi-
ties planned by the
club are two bi-
monthly magazines
which members will
receive free. The
NAEGE Journal will
be the club maga-
zine. Besides infor-
mation about the group’s activities,
the NAEGE Journal will carry fanzine
listings, thought-provoking essays,
listings of forthcoming games and
new releases, international gaming
reports, and many other articles and
features of interest to video and
computer gaming enthusiasts. The
first issue will be ready to ship in
January, so new members can
expect to get something for their
dues as soon as they join.

“The other publication is called
Gamer’s Forum,” explains Finkler. “It
will be a running discussion of impor-
tant gaming topics.” Knowing how
seriously many gamers take their
interest, this should be a lively bi-
monthly publication.

NAEGE plans to develop an
array of activities and ser-

house and an amateur press associ-
ation. The club can already offer
members four free publications: a
membership roster; The Cheater’s
Compendium (an anthology of video
game Easter eggs), a directory of
fanzines, and a classic systems
checklist.

“The other reason is to promote
the interests of the gaming public to
the industry,” he continued. "NAEGE
will allow gamers to have more of a
voice with the industry, and it will
give game companies a way to con-
nect with fanzines.”

Besides a president, NAEGE has a
council of five directors who will act
as the group’s legislature. Although
the founders of the group will fill
these posts on an interim basis,
NAEGE will be strictly democratic,
and the membership will elect their
successors.

“One thing I feel very strongly
about is doing a national gaming
convention for fans,” Finkler states.
“It probably won’t happen immedi-
ately, but NAEGE will work toward a
position in which it can sponsor and
support a convention.

“NAEGE has to crawl before it can
walk,” Finkler admits. “First, we
must get the organization going.

Once we are functioning, I promise
that we will listen to any ideas for
future activities. If something will
help electronic gaming,
we’ll support it.”

Want to get
more out of electron-
ic gaming? Join the
National Association of
Electronic Gaming Enthusi-
asts (NAEGE), the only national
organization run by and for fans
of the world’s most exciting
hobby.

A charter one-year membership
costs $10. Send check (made
payable to Richard Karpp, NAEGE
treasurer) to: P.O. Box 240523,
Honolulu, HI 96824-0523!

CALL FOR A FREE VIDEOTAPE
OF HIGHLIGHTS FROM SUPER
BATTLETANK AND OTHER
ABSOLUTE GAMES!

($4.00 handling charge for each
tape, applicable toward a purchase
of Super Battletank. Ask the
operator for details. Offer may be
withdrawn at any time.)

ABSOLUTE

The Soviet-made T-72 tank ^ r irPr^T'' -

turns toward you and fires. ^3 ... <afin» r

A near miss-its shell bursts
with awesome force.

You return fire and the - ^ f

enemy explodes in /'/

a furious blaze.

This is Operation ^

Desert Storm. You I

are the commander of ; M

the Ml A1 Abrams battletank-the most
powerful ground assault vehicle ever built. It’s up to you
<; jj l to search for and destroy heavily-armed enemy tanks, helicopters,
SCUD launchers, and strongholds before they blow you off the map.
The combat is intense, loud, and lethal. And you only have to go as far
as your living room and your Super Nintendo ™ or Genesis ™ system to feel it.

Designed by Garry Kitchen and Alex DeMeo.
Genesis program by Mark Morris.

Actual Genesis screens may vary.

Published by Absolute Entertainment, Inc. Super Battletank: War in the Gulf is a trademark of Absolute Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. Absolute Entertainment is a registered trademark of Absolute Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. Nintendo, Super
Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES and the Official Seals are trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. ©1992 Nintendo of America Inc. Sega and Genesis are trademarks of Sega Enterprises Ltd. ©1992 Absolute Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.

INSERT
COIN HERE

SHOW STOPPIN’ &
FINGER POPPIN’

by Jay Carter

They came from around the world,
more than 8,000 strong, to view the
latest and greatest, the best and
brightest from over 200 companies
each helping to shape the future of
coin-operated amusement entertain-
ment. The occasion was the 1992
AMOA Expo (The Amusement &

Music Operators Association’s Inter-
national Exposition), one of two
annual industry trade shows where
the inside movers and shakers actu-
ally move and shake.

An event that travels from one
venue to another, this time the fes-
tivities were staged at the Opryland
Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, Those
in attendance were filled with antici-
pation, a little apprehension, and a
great amount of interest. There was
the realization of the fact that this is
one leisure time field that appears
more than ready to continue its
explosive global growth and
increased popularity.

Apart from looking ahead at what
the future will hold for game players
everywhere, the industry also took
this opportunity to look back and
honor those efforts that had not only
been the most successful, but also
deeply influenced the business over
the past year. Coming as no sur-
prise, the best video game for 1992
was Capcom’s Street Fighter II
Championship Edition, while pinball
honors for best of the year went to
Bally’s The Addams Family.

In addition, operators during the
Expo’s proceedings voted on the
much-heralded Best Game of AMOA

1992, awarding Konami with the
honor for their all-new digitized
graphics in Lethal Enforcers.
Undoubtedly created to capitalize on
the popularity of Midway’s Termina-
tor 2 gun game, this two-player effort
has added appeal and interest due
to the fact that it features company
personnel on-screen as part of
the cast of characters. The
player portrays a law
enforcement officer out to
take on criminals in a vari-
ety of settings. The first
assignment is a bank rob-
bery already in progress:
get the bad guys and pro-
tect the innocent! Of
course, some of the gang
has to get away for a high
speed car chase down a
crowded city street.

The action then moves to
Chinatown with scenes including
subway turnstiles, a station platform
and a moving elevated train, for
encounters against some surly nin-
jas and a very dangerous goon
squad. Survive all this and advance
to Metro Airport (which looks suspi-
ciously like Chicago’s O’Hare)
where a hijacking must be
stopped. But the fun doesn’t end
there; more awaits with drug dealers
and a dockside duel. Finally, there’s
a chemical plant with more hidden
enemies, toxic explosions and a
chance to try out night vision equip-
ment before an AH-64 Apache heli-
copter blows the roof off all the
action.

In between stages, players can
hone their marksmanship at a shoot-
ing range where statistical accuracy
advances them up in rank from
patrolman to commander. The

weapon is an easy-to-handle six-
shooter (reminiscent of Nintendo’s
old favorites, Duck Hunt and
Hogan’s Alley), although power-ups
along the way award magnum bul-
lets, an M-16 rifle equipped to fire

three-
round
bursts, a
grenade launcher
and a 12-gauge shotgun.

One important fact to remember
is that there’s limited ammo at any
given time during the game. Reload-
ing is accomplished by aiming any-
where off the screen and pulling the
trigger before you can get back into
the fray.

20 Electronic Games

clown, Lee Pai Long; the champion
of the dark side, Mickey Rogers;
madman John Crawley or Ryuhaku
Todo, master of ancient Japanese
fighting arts.

Controls are via an eight-way joy-
stick and four action buttons,
although there is also an added abili-
ty of recovering a special ‘spirit’
power. This is not a simple task
since there’s an ‘art’ to keep your
distance from an oncoming adver-
sary and replenish your strength.

New storyline with new characters,
new secret moves and new strate-
gies: Art Of Fighting has all this and
much more.

Segueing away from fighting
games and offering its own one-two
punch is Sega’s remarkable Virtua
Racing simulators in both a single-
player deluxe cockpit or linkable twin
sit-down models that bring the latest
in computer graphics technology to
life. Based primarily on a 32-Bit CPU,
the sense of visual realism displayed
is dynamically enhanced by power
that processes 180,000 polygon
images per minute.

Those fortunate enough to have a
local game room with the Virtua Rac-
ing DLX model will discover the com-
fort of an almost plush driver’s seat
that will have you feeling G-Forces.
These are courtesy of Sega’s High
Response Drive System that pulls
you over to the side of the cockpit
when you hook into a turn, and
makes you feel the force of the
tires pulling at the steering
wheel.

The 32-inch wide vision moni-
tor is a sight to behold, with
three different courses — begin-
ner (The Big Forest), medium
(The Bay Bridge) or expert (The
Acropolis). There’s a butterfly
shifter along with accelerator
and brake pedals and the option
to test your mettle in a manual
or automatic powered Formula
race car.

Whether competing solo or in a
Twin Type cabinet that can allow
from two to eight racers to compete
head-to-head, players can choose
one of four different viewing perspec-
tives that range from above the race
course to a dramatic, heart-thumping

Other highlights from the AMOA
Expo, especially for the millions of
Street Fighter fans out there, was
the announcement by Capcom of an
official TURBO upgrade for SF2
Championship Edition. Game play is
faster, that’s f-a-s-t-e-r, to really put
skills to the test. There’re also new
secret moves and combinations that
should make this favorite an even
more challenging experience.

Not to be outdone in attracting
martial arts enthusiasts, SNK has
released a two-player, head-to-head
street fighting game that uses 102
megabytes of computer memory
(nearly twice the megs of any previ-
ous Neo»Geo game). Art Of Fighting
takes advantage of this increased
power to deliver oversized, detailed
characters and action that zooms in
and out for a constantly changing
perspective of the conflict on-screen.

Whether the backdrop is a dimly-lit
piano bar, restaurant or a once
peaceful Japanese dwelling, Art Of
Fighting uses a tried and
true formula of different
(eight in all)
and bonus
rounds

(three) to get
through a best two-of-
three match, as players attempt to
move up the winner's ladder. There
are eight characters to choose from,
including the legendary acrobat

first person driver’s view. Basic
game play is a five-lap race, during
which the operator must pass a
series of checkpoints in order to
earn bonus time and the opportunity
to race for the checkered flag.

Without a doubt, the graphics are
what makes this game so appealing.
The incredible speed of graphics
reproduction and the smooth-flowing
feel of actual racing bring the gamer
into a entirely new environment. The
first-person perspective allows the
most intense view of the racing
action. You'll see cars splinter apart
after impacting an obstacle, and the
pavement will speed by at an amaz-
ing rate! This is definitely not a sim-
ple game-it requires great hand-eye
coordination.

Also speeding to game locations is
a follow-up to one of the most popu-
lar driving games in recent history,
Final Lap. Namco unveiled the origi-
nal only a couple of years ago and
then introduced a sequel that is now
followed by Final Lap 3. Once again
putting the emphasis on driving tech-
nique as well as speed, the linkable
(up to 8 players) sit-down twin mod-
els or the upright versions provide an
adrenaline-pumping Formula One rac-
ing experience. This time the circuit
focuses on a tour of Europe, includ-
ing France, Spain, England and San
Marino. Each track features its own
not-so-subtle challenges, from the
high speed straightaways of England
to the precision hairpin curves of
San Marino.

From fighting to driving and every-
thing in between, the world of coin-
operated amusement games contin-
ues to forge ahead resulting in a new
crop of games that should keep each
of us reaching into our pockets for
more change. And the best only gets
better as we get ready to embark on
a new year of thrills. Next time we’ll
take a closer look at a broad variety
of attractions highlighted by Atari’s
innovative Space Lords, Irem’s styl-
ish Skins Game golf challenge, a
two-player novelty machine from
Data East called Lizard Command,
pinball and much, much more news.
Until then, keep playing and experi-
ence the latest in gaming!

Electronic Games 21

EG’s Answer Man Speaks

by The Game Doctor

Back again, crew, with more ques-
tions and answers from the wide
world of interactive electronic gam-
ing. We have the usual impressive
array of questions this month, so
let's get on with the show...

Q: I come to you near the point of
complete frustration, Game Doctor.
I’ve been playing video games since
the mid-80s and have a nice collec-
tion of older games and magazines. I
am attempting to put together a
complete list of all the video game
systems that were ever released and
I have come across several refer-
ences to systems known as Adven-
tureVision and UltraVision. I know
these systems existed, as friends of
mine tell me they remember seeing
ads for them, but for the life of me I
can’t find anyone who actually owned
or even saw one. Got any info,
pleeeeeease?

The Game Maven
Broadway, PA

A: Sure do, Maven. The problem
you 're having, however, Is probably
related to the fact that neither of
these machines were, strictly speak-
ing, video game systems (i.e., they
did not hook up to a home TV set),
and one of them was never even
released.

AdventureVision was a tabletop
system from Entex that offered a
6, 000 dot matrix display, with two
joysticks each boasting four action
buttons. It was priced at less than a
hundred dollars and came packed
with Defender. Although the system
was released along with subsequent

GRME

DOCTOR

software (including an adaptation of
the Stern coin-op, Turtles), it disap-
peared into the sunset pretty quickly.

The Ultravision was a somewhat
different story. Also a stand-alone
system, it was advertised as a com-
bination high-end arcade machine
(complete with headphones and two
joysticks), color TV and home com-
puter (an optional Master Keyboard
was scheduled for subsequent
release). The two games which were
supposed to initially support the sys-
tem were Condor Attack and
Karate. For whatever reason, howev-
er, this system never actually made
it to the market. As a matter of fact,
the Doc was present at the press
conference where the system was
scheduled to be unveiled. The sys-
tem never showed, however, leaving
a flustered and embarrassed P.R.
woman holding the bag.

Both systems are circa 1982, if
that helps. And while we 're taxing
the Doctor's already uncertain mem-
ory, here's a real stumper...

Q: I went to this place that has
this club of gamers, and I was told
that they have a lot of things that no
one else has. This includes over 30
titles for the ColecoVision Super
Game Module and a full color Vec-
trex! I saw one game that they had
running on an old computer in a very
dark room that I have never seen
before. It is a sequel to an old game
that I used to play on my Atari called
Nexar, which was put out by Spec-
traVision in 1982. The box features
a big, white train-like spaceship that
rides on a green highway destroying
these chemical factories and enemy
fighters. There is also a small, white
vehicle that resembles a high-tech

sports car that rides beside it. The
main character of this game is a
cute little mouse-clown.

I am left in total shock over all that
I have witnessed. Please help!

Michael Anderson III
North Metro, GA

A: Let’s get this over right now: I
can 't imagine what game this could
be, and neither could my half dozen
or so primary game consultants. I
am, therefore, calling upon the col-
lective memory of Video Gamedom
Assembled.

Here 's what I was able to deter-
mine: the VCS game you refer to is
The Challenge of Nexar, published
by SpectraVision. It appeared in
1983, but was based on a 1982
computer program published by Sir-
ius Software and developed by David
Lubar, a famous name from gam-
ing's past. After an exhaustive
search of software published by Sir-
ius during that year, the only other
major science-fiction release I could
find was Repton, which does not
sound like the game you described.

Anyone who can supply the answer
to this stumper earns themselves a
Game Doctor Prize Packet!

Q: There are many different compa-
nies that make cleaners for the
SNES and SNES carts. Many of
these are not licensed by Nintendo.
Will these possibly harm my soft-
ware?

Kris Johnson
Rockwell, NC

A: As long as cartridge cleaners
have been around, I have yet to hear
any complaints from readers as to
adverse effects. I'm less sure about

22 Electronic Games

IKfmiti

Get ready for the hottest sports' games this side of the

and interactive close-up plays. Get ready to
* rumble as George Foreman and show the world the |
power of a Big George Super Punch! Take it to the hoop "
with 27 NBA' All-Stars in the most intense one-on-one o-ball
action! Tackle Super High Impact " for all the bone-crunching
football excitement of the arcade smash!

When you're tired of watching from the sidelines...
it's time to Play with the Pros!

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GEORGE FOREMAN'S KO BOXING'

NBA 5 ALL-STAR CHALLENGE

CRME DOCTOR

cleaners designed for use on the
actual hardware, but since the main
thrust of these cleaning systems
seems to be eliminating the gunk
that builds up on the metal contact
plates, I don’t see how they could in
any way harm hardware or software.
After all, video games, especially
NES software, have a tendency to
accumulate impurities after exten-
sive play, a problem which is espe-
cially acute on frequently rented car-
tridges. When the dirt buildup on the
metal contacts becomes thick
enough, it literally blocks contact
and does not allow the game to run
smoothly, if at all.

You may want to patronize game
cleaner manufacturers with a history
of stability. Doc’s, for example, (a
company in no way related to yours
truly) has been around for years and
has a line of quality products.

Q: You guys said that Wing Com-
mander by Origin is going to be
released on the SNES. I have Wing
Commander for my 33mhz IBM and
it runs at a fairly good clip. Yet the
SNES only runs at 3.58mhz. Won’t it
run tremendously slow?

Doug Trueman
Calgary, Alberta CANADA

A: Once again, we see how fruit-
less it can be to compare absolute
specs on two totally different sys-
tems. Software Toolworks ’ SNES ver-
sion of Wing Commander runs at
pretty much the same speed it ran
on the Doc’s old 386/33 (with a
Turbo feature that took the speed up
to over 50mhz). Yet, as you point
out, the SNES runs at under 4mhz.
Why are the speeds comparable?

Several reasons, actually. The

major advantage the SNES holds
over the PC in this regard is its abili-
ty to use sprites, on-screen charac-
ters and objects which can be easily
manipulated. On the other hand,

PCs, which were not designed pri-
marily to play games, require that
the entire screen (or major portions
thereof) be regularly re-drawn.
Because of the time it takes to do
this, the PC requires a much greater
speed to accomplish what the SNES
can do at a much slower rate.

Remember, as Doctor S.M., one of
my most gifted consultants, pointed
out, we’re dealing with different
brains here. And, just as no two
human brains are exactly alike, no
two computer and/or video game
systems work in exactly the same
way. Simply comparing specs, the
way the hardware companies too
often do, is frequently deceptive.

Q: I wanted to ask your opinion on
something. I’m really into what goes
on in the electronics business and I
got to thinking about the renting of
SNES and Genesis carts at [stores
like] the Blockbuster chain. My opin-
ion is that, with prices being higher
for the 16-Bit games, if the compa-
nies do not release a big sequel to a
popular game or license a hit coin-op,
they will not sell as many copies.

Obviously, I have thought this
through and was wanting to know
your opinion on this and what could
happen in the future to sales.

Jay Graham
Pennsauken, NJ

A: Okay, Jay, that’s a fair question.
But the first thing you must realize is
that the actual number of copies of
video game software sold to rental
outlets is relatively small potatoes
compared to overall sales numbers.
Thousands of stores around the
country are renting out video games
to one degree or another, and when
a major new title (let’s say Sonic 2)
comes along, the average store will
pick up anywhere from 2-6 copies.

On a game that is not a hot sequel,
doesn ’t feature Mario, and has no
strong license to hype it, the stan-
dard order is probably one or two
copies. So we're probably talking

about 25-35 thousand copies on the
titles that are purchased, with only
the obvious potential mega-hits likely
to get broad-based orders.

The reason rental outlets purchase
so few video games is twofold: one,
there are considerably fewer video
game machines than there are
VCRs. This is augmented by the vari-
ety of game machines in use. While
there used to be two types of VCRs,
that has been pretty much narrowed
to one: the VHS format. There are
currently three major video game sys-
tems, with several less popular and
handheld ones. The system with the
largest following is the NES, and its
popularity is starting to wane.

Then there’s a secondary problem.
Even if the rental stores can sell
dated video games at bargain rates,
it is common for frequently-rented
cartridges to be in less than exem-
plary condition. The unscrupulous
consumer could take that used, bat-
tered game, walk to a software out-
let, and exchange it for a new copy.

The area where rental games have
a more profound impact than in
sales is in the way they allow gamers
to try a game out for a night or two
at a couple of bucks a pop, giving
them an inexpensive look at a game
they would otherwise be forced to
spend $50-$60 to purchase. If play-
ers are turned off to bad games,
they avoid purchasing them. This is
very good for the gaming industry.
After all, how many $50 turkeys
would you buy before deciding that
video games are just too expensive
and stale?

I would also hope that this ability
to play a game before the point of
purchase will lead to a decrease in
popularity of the generic side-shoot-
ing, meet-the-boss contests which
already glut software shelves.

And that about brings this month’s
office visit to a close. Thanks for
stopping by, and remember to send
all questions, comments and correc-
tions to:

The Game Doctor (EG)

330 S. Decatur
Suite 152

Las Vegas, NV 89107

24 Electronic Games

All Addictive SUtteg# VVcu (Efciuc
KetwciL tud /stcdeLu Cciu^ettblc

ecu. hceiiuific Let

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bl CeLuL:Ut0J A, Lx
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^ Ytiieus DilvtCULty ^eitLiwE
^ Ccui[:lcieLv Llc-LHuyebfe

The Modern Version Of The Award Winning Classic

• AdvaS

• Superi

By Mark Baldwin and Bob Rakosky

AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL SOFTWARE RETAILER OR DIRECT FROM NEW WORLD AT 1-800-325-8898
(OR 1-818-999-0607 outside U.S.) P.O. BOX 4302 HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA 90078-4302)

^1992 New World Computing, Inc and White Wolf Productions. Empire Deluxe is a trademark of New World Computing, Inc.

New World Computing is a registered trademark of New World Computing, Inc.

IBM screens shown. Actual screens may vary. t

1993 Electronic
Gaming i Awards

#

4U

Here are the nominees -
now you pick the winners!

ml by The Editors of Electronic Games

fj It was a great year for electronic gaming.

When EG’s editors and writers pooled
I their experience to produce this salute to
the best video and computer funware, we
found that the original plan to just pick win-
ners in each category was inadequate. There
were too many excellent games, each with its
own supporters within the staff.

That’s why we’re turning the final decisions
over to the best-informed and most experi-
enced gamers in the nation — the readers
of this magazine. This article introduces
all the award candidates and tells why we
think they merit such prizes.

In some instances, we’ve nominated the
same game in more than one category. Actual
winners will receive awards in only one cat-
egory, so that we can honor as many
of these excellent titles as possi-
ble.

Now it’s your turn. Just fill out
the ballot, return it to Electron-
ic Games by the deadline, and
then check out the March issue
of EG to find out how your
favorites fared in the overall
voting.

26 Electronic Games

Video Game of the Year

During the 1950s and 1960s, the
motion picture industry's slogan was
“Movies are better than ever!” Thanks to
16-Bit consoles, that line would work just
as well for today’s video games. Not only
does the hardware, augmented by
sophisticated ROMs, give designers and
developers more scope for their cre-
ations, but experience enables them to
more fully utilize the systems’ extensive
capabilities.

Street Fighter II, the first 16 Meg game,
is the one to beat for game of the year.

NHLPA Hockey ‘93 (Electronic
Arts/Genesis). Hockey is fourth among
team sports, but this compelling simula-
tion could turn anyone into a rink rat. The
incredible realism of the skaters as they
swoop up and down the vertical playfield
is unsurpassed.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega/Gene-
sis). Bigger, faster, and better is definite-
ly the name of this game. The addition of
Tails allows the sequel to offer split-
screen, simultaneous two-player action.

Street Fighter II (Capcom/SNES).
There’s more to this combat masterpiece
than big sales numbers. Great audiovisu-
al effects and frenetic action make this
one of the most successful sequels of
all time.

Computer Games
of the Year

When test pilots extend the capabili-
ties of an aircraft, it’s called pushing the
envelope. That’s what most leading pub-
lishers do these days. The reason:
designers and developers can hardly wait
to get to the next level of hardware.

There are even computer titles that are
obviously trial runs for multimedia
games. The programs in this category
are not only the best of the year, but per-
haps the best of all time.

Aces of the Pacific (Dynamix/MS-
DOS). This air combat classic builds on
the Red Baron game system to make the

planes of World War M’s Pacific Theater
take wing again. When a flight simulator
combines authenticity, playability, and
audiovisual brilliance, a Game of the
Year nomination is the inevitable result.

Civilization (MicroProse/MS-DOS). Sid
.Meier vvas primarily known for flight simu-
lators. Then came Railroad Tycoon. In
1992, Meier tried his hand at a world
building game with equally spectacular
results. The player takes control of a civi-
lization and attempts to help it survive
and thrive through the centuries.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
(LucasArts/MS-DOS). Seldom has an
adventure based on a license been truer
to its inspiration, yet so original. Design-
er Hal Banwood spins a well-told tale of
a Nazi spy who steals the contents of a
statue which Indiana Jones has discov-
ered in a museum warehouse. Beautiful
artwork depicts over 200 locations.

SimLife (Maxis/MS-DOS). This “god
game” starts with the creation of a com-
plete ecosystem and its lifeforms. Then
the computerist must modify the climate,
manipulate the beings genetically and
control the evolution of the planet. This
open-ended simulation teaches some
valuable lessons as it seizes the player’s
total attention.

Spear of Destiny (Id Software/MS-
DOS). Despite the odds, it's still possi-
ble for a tiny company to hit the software
heights. This first-person castle crawl
has superb action, impressively somber
graphics, and an animation speed of 30
frames per second for the smoothest
play-action ever seen on a game of this
type.

Aces of the Pacific is one of the best-
selling flight simulators of all time.

Wing Commander II (Origin Sys-
tems/MS-DOS). This outer space adven-
ture combines high-impact dramatic
scenes with thrilling first-person ship-to-
ship combat. Especially when played
using the add-on voice disk, Wing Com-
mander II is like becoming a character in
a big-budget space opera movie.

Multimedia Games
of the Year

It’s true that there's a lot of shovel-
ware, but originals are much more com-
mon on CD than just a year ago. This cat-
egory, which may be new to many of our
readers, includes multimedia games for
personal computers, "black box" sys-
tems, and video game set-ups.

Dragon Slayer (TTI/TurboGrafx Super
CD). The same design team that pro-
duced Book of Y’s gets the credit for this
tour de force. It clearly demonstrates
how far multimedia has come in a very
short time, because Dragon Slayer is
just about everything the earlier title was
not. This mammoth quest game is metic-
ulously detailed and incorporates highly
involved game play.

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Dragon Slayer is an Epic Role Playing
adventure for the Turbo Super CD-ROM.

Night Trap (Sega/Sega CD). Full-
motion video adds horrifying realism to
this invasion by vampires from space.

The player must prevent the blood
drinkers from feasting on a house party
full of beautiful young women. Dealing
with rapid-fire threats is sure to keep the
would-be protector hopping.

Loom (LucasArts/PC-CD). When is
shovelware not shovelware? When the
publisher orders an entirely new set of
graphics, rewrites the music score, and
adds wall-to-wall speech to the skeleton
of an outstanding computer adventure. A
great innovation is the “hot spot” inter-
face in which any object the cursor touch-
es appears in a special window.

Portable Game
of the Year

Gaming on the go continues to gain
wide acceptance among many players of
all ages. It is rare to get on an airplane
and not discover at least one or two
passengers fervently trying to conquer
the next level with one of the three major
hand-held systems. EG’s excellent
“Portable Game of the Year" lineup well

Electronic Games 27

J 1993 Electronic
M Gaming Awards

fS Here are the nominees -
11 now you pick the winners!

ELECTRONIC C

represents the
diversity of sub-
ject and imple-
mentation possible on these tiny fun
machines.

cart employs a variety of viewpoints,
including side-scrolling, jumping/shoot-
ing, topdown and even a cockpit-style
perspective.

Caesar’s Palace (Virgin/Game Boy).
Fantastically detailed, angled topdown
graphics present the player-character as
he moves through the fabled Caesar's
Palace casino in Las Vegas. Instead of
monsters and aliens, the gamer encoun-
ters slot machines, blackjack, poker and
other games of chance.

Rampart (Atari/Lynx). Take a classic
action-strategy arcade game, shrink it
down to Lynx size and you're frequently
left with very little in the way of graphics
and play action. In this case, the devel-
opers rate a pat on the back for preserv-
ing the game’s appeal and tossing in
some sterling graphics.

Shinobi (Sega/Game Gear). Shinobi
fans should do double backflips over this
fantastic, side-scrolling action game. The
player must rescue four color-coded nin-
jas. each the possessor of a special
power. Once the player assembles the
quartet and heads into the final sce-
nario, the challenge of picking the right
ninja to handle each situation makes
this game even more compelling.

Star Wars (Capcom/Game Boy). It may
not be original, but Capcom really
stretched itself on this one, combining
the basic elements of the three films
Into a series of mini-arcade games. The

Fifteen years after the movie was first
seen, Star Wars is making a comeback.

Best Action Video Game

Real-time excitement is still the corner-
stone of video gaming, but 16-Bit has
broadened the scope of this category.
Twitch games, which depend on sheer,
blinding reflex speed, are still a staple of
the field, but the 16-Bit carts feature a
much wider variety of action and often
require some quick thinking, too.

Axelay (Konami/SNES). Despite its
"one-starfighter-against-the-horde” plot-
line, this is a truly original shoot-'em-up.

It introduces a brand new pseudo 3-D
viewpoint, created with the power of the
SNES' Mode 7, that provides players
with a completely novel play experience.

Look no further than Space MegaForce
for the hottest SNES shooting action.

Space MegaForce (Toho/SNES).
Incredible audiovisuals make this an
exceptional blast bonanza. The illustra-
tions, the animation of the weapons, and
the magnificent bosses are three exam-
ples of the breathtaking graphics in this
scalding shooter. The alternative rock
musical score is another big plus, and
the digitized explosions are like a physi-
cal force.

Street Fighter II (Capcom/SNES). See
entry under "Video Game of the Year"
category.

Super Mario Kart (Nintendo/SNES).
Some cynics may have thought “what a
farfetched use of the ‘Mario’ license!”
when they first spied it in the store, but
booting this rambunctious racing game
was a surefire mind-changer. Despite the
“cute game” graphics, the multi-level rac-
ing action is a guaranteed fan-pleaser.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Tur-
tles in Time (Konami/SNES). If these
awards included a “Best Sequel” catego-
ry, this translation of the popular coin-op
would’ve been a serious contender for
the honor. Excellent use of the SNES’
“Mode 1” to create striking visual
effects.

Best Action/Action-
Strategy Computer Game

Video games are synonymous with
action, but real-time thrills are also an
important element of entertainment soft-
ware. There's often a leavening of strate-
gy, because computerists like to exer-
cise their brains as well as their fingers.
But the cathartic value of an unre-
strained shooter can’t be dismissed.

Domark adds some new twists to an
old classic with Super Space Invaders.

Agony (Psygnosis/Amiga, Atari ST).
Who says computer software can't have
the visceral appeal of topflight video
games? Psygnosis has been disproving
that statement for years. Agony is the
latest case in point. The smooth scrolling
and fluid animated graphics compare
favorably with 16-Bit side scrollers.

Aquaventura (Psygnosis/Amiga, MS-
DOS). Those who think only video games
have contests fit to challenge action
aces should try this nautical shooter.

The player can save the survivors of an
alien invasion of earth by using the semi-
aquatic craft to destroy enemy bases.
Each level includes a first-person 3-D
sequence.

Hunter (Activision/Amiga). Seventeen
vehicles are available in a campaign to
free the islands of the Archipelago from
Mainland domination. The player blazes
through a huge polygon-fill landscape,

28 Electronic Games

) CLASS FIGHTERS, TRAIN, SPAR, PICK A STYLE OR CREATE Yl
LAL ARENA, MAYBE YOU'LL BE GOOD ENOUGH TO BE INVITE]
THE CHALLENGE AWAITS . . .

ENTER

Official

(Nintendo)

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CNintendo)

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1993 Electronic
Gaming Awards

Here are the nominees -
now you pick the winners!

displayed in
pseudo-first-per-
son, to com-
plete single missions, major offenses, or
a full campaign scenario.

Spear of Destiny (Id Software/MS-
DOS). See entry in the "Best Computer
Game of the Year" category.

Super Space Invaders (Domark/MS-
DOS). Gamers have cried for re-publica-
tion of the classics, and this update of
Space Invaders certainly fulfills player
expectations. The aliens are trickier than
the ones gamers faced in 1978, espe-
cially when they break out of their order
at the higher skill levels.

Best Adventure/RPG
Computer Game

Home computing has come a long,
long way since the crude adventures pat-
terned on the mainframe text classic Col-
losal Cave. The parser-driven puzzle
quests are now part of gaming history,
replaced by icon-, menu- and controller-
driven games with eye-blasting sonic and
visual effects. The development of more
intuitive interfaces makes it possible to
create adventures and roleplaying games
with the rich texture of a novel or movie.

Black Crypt (Electronic Arts/Amiga,
MS-DOS). This 20-level dungeon crawl
combines cutting edge art and sound
with combat-oriented roleplaying ele-
ments in a vast subterranean labyrinth.

Monsters leap to life in vivid animation,
backed with pulse-quickening sound,
instead of just taking up space in the
display window.

The Dagger of Amon Ra (Sierra On-
Line/MS-DOS. Amiga). Bruce Balfour con-
tinued the exploits of Laura Bow in an
adventure set in 1926 New York City.

This time, she's on the trail of a missing
relic and a remorseless murderer. Illus-
trations with a tinge of art deco dovetail
perfectly with deft story-telling.

Darklands (MicroProse/MS-DOS).
Medieval Germany provides the backdrop
for this ambitious dark fantasy adven-
ture. The grimly realistic artwork creates
an ambience in which supernatural ele-
ments seem plausible. Sumptuously cut
scenes also enhance this remarkable
roleplaying game.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

(LucasArts/MS-DOS). See the entry in
the "Computer Game of the Year” cate-
gory.

Ultima VII (Origin Systems/MS-DOS).
The start of a new storyline has invigorat-
ed Lord British’s chronicle. The new con-
trol system is close to transparent. This
allows the armchair adventurer to con-
centrate on the menace of the Black
Guardian. The graphics are the best so
far in the series.

Best Adventure/RPG
Video Game

Darklands is a different sort of RPG,
offering an alternate to Germany's past.

Finding games for this category
would’ve been a quest in itself as recent-
ly as 1990. but video gamers have
become enthusiastic adventurers in the
last two years. The games themselves
have quickly gone from slightly more
strategy-intensive action quests to game-
worlds of fair depth and complexity.

Equinox (Sony/SNES). In this sequel
to the eight-bit Solstice, the player
becomes a wizard who must venture
through increasingly challenging puzzle
dungeons. The unusual graphics make
splendid use of mode 7.

Dragon Warrior 4 (Enix America/NES).
Creative ideas like letting a character buy

John Madden Football ‘93 will set the
standard for all video gridiron contests.

Equinox offers action, adventure,
problem solving for the advanced gamer.

a weapons shop soften the effect of the
generic material. The game unfolds in
five chapters. A different character stars
in each of the first four, and then all of
them combine for the big finish.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (Square
Soft/SNES). The third Final Fantasy role-
playing adventure elaborates the game-
system, graphics and sound of Final Fan-
tasy II to spin a yarn about ridding the
Focus Tower of a plague of monsters.

The player must unlock four doors that
guard the crystals of the Earth. The
menu-based command scheme helps the
player handle weapons, armor, and
important objects.

Best Sports Video Game

When 16-Bit extended video gaming’s
demographic reach to include older play-
ers. one result was a tremendous
increase in the quality and quantity of
sports titles. The editors' toughest task

in this category was winnowing the out-
standing sports carts down to a manage-
able number of nominees.

Joe Montana NFL SportsTalk Football

3 (Sega/Genesis). This latest version
has improved graphics and more natural
play-by-play announcing. The play-section
system is strictly “learn as you go," but
that doesn't prevent this lively game
from duplicating pro grid action.

30 Electronic Games

John Madden Football ‘93 (Electronic
Arts/Genesis). From the pregame scout-
ing reports to analyst Madden's helpful
hints, the latest revision upholds the
high standards established by the first
two entries in the series. An innovative
play-option is “sudden death" mode.

NCAA Basketball (Nintendo/SNES). It
shatters the mold of previous roundball
simulations with mode 7 magic that
keeps the up-and-down-the-court action
continuous in this five-on-five contest.
The on-the-court view makes NCAA Bas-
ketball an especially exciting and
engrossing basketball simulation.

NHLPA Hockey ‘93 (Electronic
Arts/Genesis). See the entry under the
“Video Game of the Year” category.

Side Pocket (Data East/SNES). This
enjoyable pocket billiards simulation fea-
tures a beautiful table in direct overhead
perspective, and the evocative sound
effects work well with the realistic ball
action.

Best Sports
Computer Game

After a couple of incredible new prod-
uct years, the pace of sports game intro-
ductions slowed in 1992. Just because
there were fewer debuting titles doesn’t
mean there was any decline in quality,
though. To the contrary, this year's nomi-
nees are as good or better than the
cream of the 1991 crop.

The programmers at MLSA hit another
home run with MicroLeague Baseball 4.

4-D Boxing (Electronic Arts/MS-DOS).
Distinctive Software introduced its Tru-
Motion technology in this unusual ring
simulation. The slickly animated three-
dimensional polygon graphics may sur-
prise first-timers, but the pugilistic action
is championship caliber.

John Madden II (Electronic Arts/MS-
DOS). The original John Madden grid pro-
gram for PCs was a mess. The totally
revamped sequel snatches victory from
the jaws of defeat. Monday morning
quarterbacks control every aspect of the

pro game. The “from the end zone” view
makes it clear what the well-animated
players are doing on the vertically
scrolling gridiron, and even a relative
newcomer will have no trouble giving
orders to the offense and defense. Grid-
iron gusto is alive and well.

MicroLeague Baseball 4 (MLSA/MS-
DOS). The world's best statistical replay
baseball simulation keeps getting better.
This version cleans up the algorithms a
little, but the major changes are in the
audiovisual effects. The graphics are
256-color VGA and include full-motion
digitized sequences and fully detailed
representations of stadiums.

MicroLeague Football II (MLSA/MS-
DOS). The top publisher in the stat base-
ball field has taken some time coming up
to the same high standard in football,
but this extensive revision scores a
touchdown and converts the extra point.
Jim Nangano's revamped interface keeps
the details from overwhelming the player-
coaches.

World Circuit (MicroProse/Amiga. MS-
DOS). Formula One racing is beautifully
simulated in this exciting game that lets
computerists test their driving skill on all
16 grand prix tracks. The graphics utilize
both polygon fill and bit mapping to pre-
cisely mimic every detail of the actual
courses.

Best Strategy
Computer Game

Cartridges outsell floppies five- or ten-
to-one, but the computer is still supreme
when it comes to braingames. Time is a
factor in the vast majority of video
games, but those who want to immerse
themselves in contemplative strategy
inevitably turn to computer software to
get the special kind of mental stimula-
tion that only a top-of-the-line strategy
game can provide.

Civilization (MicroProse/MS-DOS). See
entry in the “Computer Game of the
Year” category.

The Lost Admiral (Quantum Quality
Productions/MS-DOS). The first game
from a new publisher successfully
bucked the trend toward progressively
more detailed tactical war games with a
sweeping strategy contest of naval
supremacy. It’s great against a human
opponent or the outstanding computer-
ized foe.

SimAnt (Maxis/MS-DOS). After build-
ing cities in SimCity and planets in
SimEarth. players were ready for this
ingenious excursion into the minuscule
domain of the humble ants. This is much
more than an electronic ant farm; players
defend the ant colony and struggle

against the forces of nature, the incur-
sions of mankind, and the menace of the
ferocious red ants.

Solitaire’s Journey (Quantum Quality
Products/MS-DOS). This imaginative pro-
gram is a dream come true for those who
enjoy a quiet game of solitaire. It
includes 105 one-player card contests,

Even an outwardly simple card game
can require much thought and strategy.

arranged in tournaments, tours, and
quests. The clever settings provide excel-
lent visual diversion.

Theatre of War (Three-Sixty Soft-
ware/MS-DOS). The designers crossed
the strategic war game with chess. The-
atre of War presents a streamlined bat-
tle with troops based in the Middle Ages.
World War I, or the contemporary era.

One or two players fight these real-time
skirmishes on a playfield, shown in
angled overhead, that combines ele-
ments of the chess board and a terrain
map.

Best Action-Strategy/
Strategy Video Game

The large number of worthy award can-
didates in this category proves that video
gaming has moved to a new level of
sophistication. Though there are few out-
right braingames of note for video game
systems, the action-strategy format has
found a ready audience among more
mature and experienced players.

Desert Strike returns players to the Gulf
for a shot at personally winning the war.

Electronic Games 31

1993 Electronic
Gaming Awards

Here are the nominees -
now you pick the winners!

Crue Ball (Elec-
tronic Arts/Gen-
esis). A lot of

thought went into the layout of the play-
fields in this video pinball game. The
mutating tables are a fine blend of light-
ning action, tantalizing play features, and
that dash of flipper skill that separates
champion silverballers from mere pre-
tenders. Even the Pinball Wizard would
be challenged by this video flipper-fest.

Desert Strike (Electronic Arts/Gene-
sis). The Mother of All Mideast War
Games boasts some of the most intense
military combat action ever seen in an
electronic game, yet this is more than a
mindless blast-a-thon.

Rampart is a build-and-conquer strategy
contest designed for one or two players.

Monopoly (Parker Brothers/Genesis,
SNES). This electrified edition should
please the purists while delighting those
who prefer their games with crisp anima-
tion and music-to-make-money-by sound.
One to eight can play a standard game or
one of 12 variations. No more looking for
lost paper money and scattered playing
pieces.

Rampart (Electronic Arts/SNES). The
latest reworking of this durable game
outfits it with a new set of special fea-
tures without upsetting the delicate bal-
ance of its much-admired game play.
Among the new elements are the option-
al three-quarter perspective and cus-
tomized difficulty parameters.

Wordtris (Spectrum HoloByte/SNES).
Just when satirists were inventing a par-
lor game in which contestants guess the
next bizarre transmutation of the classic
Tetris, Spectrum HoloByte came up with
a truly inspired switch on the falling
blocks formula. This time, the object is
to manipulate falling letters to form
words, the longer the better.

Best Electronic
Game Graphics

Those who worship at the altar of play
action are fond of saying “You can’t play
the graphics." That’s true, but it neglects
the pivotal role of the visuals in estab-
lishing player involvement and creating
the encompassing play environment that
yields the most satisfying games. Eye-
popping graphics can't turn a bad game
into a good one, but it can lift a strong
program to classic status.

Darkseed (CyberDreams/MS-DOS).

The renowned H.R. Giger provided the
artwork for this clever trans-dimensional
adventure. The look of the game subtly
transforms when the plot carries the
player from our world to the dark-tinged
world on the other side.

Hook (Sony ImageSoft/SNES). Brilliant
graphics highlight this action contest
based on the popular film. The fine back-
grounds, crisp figure animation, and mul-
tiple perspectives give this charming side
scrolling, jump-and-hack action contest a

Some of the finest game graphics can
be found in Hook, by Sony Imagesoft.

unified visual appearance like no other
game on the market.

Links 360 Pro (Access/MS-DOS). Talk
about realism! Golfing enthusiasts and
game players alike will admire and enjoy
this breakthrough game. Smooth game
play and incredible graphics add to the
playability. Ads for this excellent gold
simulation compare actual scenes with
the depictions in the game, and only the
most eagle-eyed are likely to spot differ-
ences.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega/Gene-
sis). See entry in the “Game of the Year"
category.

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss

(Origin Systems/MS-DOS). Most game
people believe that first-person perspec-
tive is the ideal way to present a fantasy
roleplaying adventure, but it has taken
awhile for implementation to catch up
with aspiration. Ultima Underworld’s
new technology makes movement flow
naturally and monsters more menacing.

Best Electronic Game Sound

Audio used to be the stepchild of
video and computer gaming. What a dif-
ference a few years make! Extensive

Willie Beamish offers excellent sound

and wonderful voice characterization.

speech and multi-layered musical scores
make the on-screen images seem more
solid and enhance the drama of crucial
game situations.

Loom (LucasArts/PC-CD). See the
entry in the “Multimedia Game of the
Year’’ category.

Space MegaForce (Toho/SNES). See
the entry in the “Best Action Video
Game" category.

Willy Beamish (Sierra On-Line/Sega
CD). This game, quite entertaining as a
floppy, is especially notable for its audio
as a multi-media adventure game. The
light-hearted, lilting melodies are just
right for this tale of the nine-year-old Willy
Beamish. The upbeat score also pro-
vides the perfect background to the
game’s visual humor.

32 Electronic Games

TTWf

Available at your favorite software retailer or call 1-800-999-4939 for MC/VISA.

Copyright © 1992 ORIGIN Systems, Inc. Ultima is a registered trademark of Richard Garriott. Origin is a registered trademark of ORIGIN Systems, Inc. Serpent Isle is a
trademark of ORIGIN Systems, Inc. We create worlds is a registered trademark of ORIGIN Systems, Inc.

UJc O U&u Ut ’ :

SERPENT ISLE FEATURES:

• An original story line continuing
the Ultima VII adventure, but

no previous Ultima experience is
necessary. Serpent Isle is a
stand alone game.

• An unexplored region of
Britannia with new terrain
features — you'll even trudge
through ice and snow.

• "Paper-doll" system that lets
you select clothing, armor and
weapons from a detailed,
full-length view.

• Large, close-up portraits of every
character you meet - in 256
color VGA/MCGA graphics.

• Digitized speech, enhanced
sound effects and a dynamic
musical score (with supported
sound boards).

• Available for 386SX, 386, 486
or 100% compatible systems.

1993 Electronic
Gaming Awards

Here are the nominees -
now you

Most

* Humorous

Electronic Game

Even those who take their gaming seri-
ously enjoy a dash of lighthearted fun.
Putting laughs into video and computer
games is no easy task. About the only
thing harder is making players recoil from
the screen in fright. Here are 1992's
best at finding electronic gamers’ funny
bones.

pick the winners!

Bart's Nightmare takes players into the

world of our favorite underachiever.

Bart’s Nightmare (Acclaim/NES).
Sculptured Software successfully brings
the humor of The Simpsons prime-time
cartoon series to the interactive screen
in a multi-phase action adventure. When
Bart falls asleep while doing his home-
work, he dreams that a gust of wind
sweeps his term paper into a series of
wild and wacky dream worlds.

Greendog: Beached Surfer Dude
(Sega/Genesis). This send-up of fantasy
adventures sends the player, as a water-
logged beach bum. on a quest to find a
powerful artifact: the Surfboard of the
Ancients. Well-animated figure work and
clever sound effects enhance the fun in
this moderately challenging action adven-
ture.

Death Valley Rally (Sunsoft/SNES).
Beep-beep! You're the irrepressible Road
Runner in this madcap interactive Looney
Tune. Wile E. Coyote is hot on the speed-

Cartoon or reality? It is up to you to
decide when playing Death Valley Rally.

ster's tail as they race from level to level
in this solitaire action contest. At the
end of each level, the Coyote has one of
his screw-loose traps.

Willy Beamish (Sierra On-Line/MS-
DOS). Those who found Sierra’s best-
known humorous adventures (Space
Quest, Leisure Suit Larry) a bit heavy-
handed got a very pleasant surprise
when this amusing title hit the stores.
Sight gags and sly bits of kid humor are
plentiful in this charming game. Willy
Beamish shows humorists don't need a
sledgehammer.

Best Science Fiction or
Fantasy Electronic Game

Fads in game subject matter come and
go. but science fiction and fantasy are

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Looking for a fantasy role-playing game?
Kyrandia is possibly the best one ever.

the perennial popular choice. The year
just ended was no exception, so there’s
a superb group of candidates for this
particular prize.

The Legend of Kyrandia (Westwood
Studios/MS-DOS). The group behind Eye
of the Beholder, the finest adventure of
1991, have created a new system that
blends roleplaying with a puzzle quest.
The player's on-screen surrogate jour-
neys through more than 100 gorgeously
rendered scenes to vanquish the mad
jester Malcolm.

Super Star Wars (JVC-
LucasArts/SNES). It isn't easy to put a
new spin on the best-known series of sci-
ence fiction movies, but this multi-phase
thriller pulls off the trick in fine style. The
gamer plays action sequences that fol-
low a new plotline, but everything comes
together for the assault against the
dreaded Death Star!

Wing Commander II (Origin Sys-
tems/MS-DOS). See entry in the "Com-
puter Game of the Year” category.

Best Fanzine

In its third year, fandom arrived as a
significant component of electronic gam-
ing. That’s why Electronic Games has
decided to recognize the contributions of
gaming fanzines with an annual award.

Computer Gaming Update, edited by
Danny Han and Terrence Yee (P.0. Box
240523. Honolulu, HI 96824-0523/12
per copy). This attractive fanzine concen-
trates on computer software and fea-
tures the most intelligently written news
analysis section in fandom.

Digital Press, edited by Joe Santulli
(29 Cupsaw Ave., Ringwood, NJ 07456-
2818/$1.25 per issue). The highlight of
the year was the electronic gaming scav-
enger hunt, but Digital Press delivers
well-written reviews and authoritative arti-
cles issue after issue.

Mindstorm, edited by Aaron Buckner
(9474 Fallston Ct., Blue Ash, OH
45242/$l per issue). Aaron leads a top
cast of contributors in this wide ranging
fanzine. The accent is definitely on video
games, but Mindstorm also provides
intelligent discussion of fandom itself
and even ventures into other fields of
pop culture.

Paradox, edited by Chris Johnston.
Jason Whitman, and Justin Schuh (316
E. 11th Ave.. Naperville. IL 60563/$l
per issue). The editorial troika is explor-
ing new territory for electronic gaming
fandom by producing a fanzine largely
devoted to discussions of the hobby
itself. Exceptionally well-written and more
attractive than ever, Paradox is enjoy-
able reading for any gamer.

34 Electronic Games

The 1993 Electronic Games Awards

Official Ballot

Vote for one item only in each category, and please do not
vote in any categories with which you are unfamiliar. Please
vote only once, and send your ballot to Electronic Games
Awards, 330 S. Decatur, #152, Las Vegas, NV 89107.

Photocopies or handwritten ballots will be accepted, so you
don’t have to tear up your copy of EG.

Deadline: January 20, 1993.

Video Game of the Year

NHLPA Hockey ‘93 (Electronic Arts)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega)

Street Fighter II (Capcom)

Computer Game of the Year
Aces of the Pacific (Dynamix)

Civilization (MicroProse)

Indiana Jones - Fate of Atlantis (LucasArts)
SimLife (Maxis)

Spear of Destiny (Id Software)

Wing Commander II (Origin Systems)

Multimedia Game of the Year
Dragon Slayer (TTI)

Night Trap (Sega)

Loom (LucasArts)

Portable Game of the Year
Caesar’s Palace (Virgin)

Rampart (Atari)

Shinobi (Sega)

Star Wars (Capcom)

Best Action Video Game
Axelay (Konami)

Space MegaForce (Toho)

Street Fighter II (Capcom)

Super Mario Kart (Nintendo)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV:

Turtles in Time (Konami)

Best Action/Action Strategy Computer Game
Agony (Psygnosis)

Aquaventura (Psygnosis)

Hunter (Activision)

Spear of Destiny (Id Software)

Super Space Invaders (Domark)

Best Adventure/RPG Computer Game
Black Crypt (Electronic Arts)

The Dagger of Amon Ra (Sierra On-Line)
Darklands (MicroProse)

Indiana Jones &

the Fate of Atlantis (LucasArts)

Ultima VII (Origin Systems)

Best Adventure/RPG Video Game
Equinox (Sony)

Dragon Warrior 4 (Enix America)

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (Square Soft)

Best Sports Video Game
Joe Montana NFL Sportstalk Football 3 (Sega)
John Madden Football ‘93 (Electronic Arts)
NCAA Basketball (Nintendo)

NHLPA Hockey ‘93 (Electronic Arts)

Side Pocket (Data East)

Best Sports Computer Game
4-D Boxing (Electronic Arts)

John Madden II (Electronic Arts)

MicroLeague Baseball 4 (MLSA)

MicroLeague Football II (MLSA)

World Circuit (MicroProse)

Best Strategy Computer Game
Civilization (MicroProse)

The Lost Admiral (Quantum Quality Prod.

SimAnt (Maxis)

Solitaire’s Journey (Quantum Quality Products)
Theatre of War (Three-Sixty Software)

Best Action Strategy/Strategy Video Game
Crue Ball (Electronic Arts)

Desert Strike (Electronic Arts)

Monopoly (Parker Brothers)

Rampart (Electronic Arts)

Wordtris (Spectrum HoloByte)

Best Electronic Game Graphics
Darkseed (CyberDreams)

Hook (Sony ImageSoft)

Links 360 Pro (Access)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega)

Ultima Underworld (Origin)

i

Best Electronic Game Sound
Loom (LucasArts)

Space MegaForce (Toho)

Willy Beamish (Sierra On-Line)

Most Humorous Electronic Game
Bart’s Nightmare (Acclaim)

Greendog: Beached Surfer Dude (Sega)

Death Valley Rally (SunSoft)

Willy Beamish (Sierra On-Line)

Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Electronic Game
Betrayal at Krondar (Dynamix)

The Legend of Kyrandia (Westwood Studios)
Super Star Wars (JVC-Lucas Arts)

Wing Commander II (Origin Systems)

Best Fanzine

Computer Gaming Update
Digital Press
Mindstorm
Paradox

Electronic Games 35

MU Hyl Staotl Rktel

Advanced combat flight
simulator with 360°
polygon graphics.

All-new graphics
with action on both
sides of the street!
Coming | an. '93!

Build fortresses
and position
cannons before
the battle !

full line of Tengen hits at Toys"R”Us,
Kay-Bee Toys, Target, Babbage's, Electronics
Boutigue, Software Etc. and other fine retailers!

Or call 1-800-2-TENGEN to order.

TENGEN

VIDEO GAMES

PAPERBOY: TM and ©1984 Atari Games Corp. Licensed to Tengen, Inc.
©1991 Tengen, Inc. All rights reserved. RBI: TM and ©1987 Atari Games
Corp.; licensed to Tengen, Inc. ©1991 Tengen, Inc. All rights reserved.
RAMPART, STEEL TALONS: TM Atari Games Corp.; licensed to Tengen,

Inc. ©1992 Tengen, Inc. All rights reserved. Sega, Genesis and Game
Gear are trademarks of Sega Enterprises, Ltd.

Get Tengen’s great hits for your
Genesis" and you’ll do more than
play. Everything’s so real, you’ll
live the action and excitement!

RBI"4 has such awesome anima-
tion, graphics, sound and realistic
play, you'll experience every crack
of the bat, every roar of the crowd
as you play in the big league!

In STEEL TALONS; feel your
stomach drop,

your hands sweat and your heart
pound as you fly the Army's most
advanced attack helicopter on
dangerous combat missions!

Fire away in RAMPART,” an
explosive game of superb strategy,

graphics and action
— and more!

graphics and
action, as you
seek to conquer
the Middle Ages!

Ride your bike
with twice the
fun and laughter
when you wreak
mischief as
PAPERBOY 2!

On

Sale

Now!

by Joyce Worley, Ross
Chamberlain & The EG Staff

It’s the holiday season and time
to think of gift giving and getting.
The staff of Electronic Games has
compiled a catalog of some of the
best, most interesting and helpful
high-tech gadgets we’ve seen.
Some help you play better; others
help you work more efficiently. All
are guaranteed to excite any lucky
person who finds one or more of
these items under the tree. These
all should be at your computer
retailer, but we’ve listed phone
numbers in case they’re hard to
find.

the Game Boy,
at $9.95, or the
Portable Carry
All Deluxe, also
for Game Boy,
at $14.95, will
hold and com-
plement the
game unit.

They’re all from
ASCII Entertain-
ment Software,

Inc. (415-570-
6200).

The Pro

Pouch+ is an all-
purpose carry
case for most
hand held game
units, retailing
for $19.99, by
NAKI International
(310-657-2247).

The Light Boy Game Keeper
is a durable hardshell case
designed by Vic Tokai, Inc. (310-
326-8880), to hold both the Game
Boy and Light Boy, plus six game
cartridges, ear phones, the game
link, and the Nintendo recharge-
able battery pack. It costs $27.99.

adjustable
magnifier, a
sound amplifier with
speakers, and a thumb joystick
with a contoured fire button. It’s
$39.95 from STD Entertainment
(USA), Inc. (410-785-5661).

Gaming On The Go

To keep your expensive portable
equipment safe, the following
items are worth consideration.

ASCIIware’s Game Gear Carry All
for $19.95, Portable Carry All for

The Game Keeper will organize even
the messiest Game Boy collection.

Lighting The Screen

These gadgets help cut the
squint of the LCD screen.

NAKI’s Brite Beam adjustable
magnifier and light, for the Game
Boy, lists at $19.99.

NightSight, Tengen’s light and
screen magnifier for the Game Boy,
at $19.99, can be powered by 2
AA batteries or the company’s AC
adapter (408-473-9400).

The Light Boy, by Vic Tokai, uses
replaceable bulbs to give the Game
Boy bilateral lighting and cuts sur-
face refraction. The rugged original
unit retails for $24.95; a mini-pack
version is going for under $20.

The Handy Kit has everything
needed to enhance the Game Boy,
including replaceable lights, an

Keep Them Playing

To keep from running out of
juice, NAKI’s 12 hour Action-Pak
Plus snaps into a Game Boy bat-
tery housing. The $19.99 unit
includes an AC Adapter/Charger
and can be charged up to 500
times, for 6,000 hours of playtime.

The Game Gear player can get
3000 hours of battery life with
NAKI’s Game Gear Turbo Twins 6
hour rechargeable battery, for
$39.99.

Tengen’s Tranz Power car ciga-
rette lighter adapter allows for
juice on the highway for $12.95.

Tengen’s Power Clip ($24.95) is
a rechargeable battery pack that
clips directly into the Nintendo
Game Boy battery compartment.

38 Electronic Games

Ion /4vuf, Occa&iM

Keep Them Working Right

Video games may become erratic
and quirky if cartridge contacts get
worn or dirty, so the NAKI Elimina-
tor uses a 3M strip to clean the
contacts. System specific units
plug into cartridge slots of Ninten-
do, Game Boy, Genesis orTurbo-
Grafx, and all retail for $11.99.

Hard-playing gamers who are
rough on their video game systems
might need one of these Tengen
repair kits: the Pad Repair Kit for
Genesis controller; Pad Repairz Kit
for NES controller; or Boy Repairz
Kit for Game Boy (prices vary).

Staying In Control

Original-equipment controllers
are okay, but watch that avid
gamer’s eyes light up when one of
these is unwrapped.

Cure video game thumb with the
revolutionary Turbo Touch 360°.

Video gamers tired of thumb
fatigue and erratic directional con-
trol will welcome the Turbo Touch
360 from Triax Controls, Inc. (800-
858-7429). Its application of the
touch sensitive capacitance plate,
used for 20 years in elevators, is
said to be a breakthrough on a par
with the switch from vacuum tubes
to transistors. It’s available for the
Sega Genesis ($34.95), the Super
Nintendo ($34.95) and NES
($24.95).

The Triton Game Master pro-
grammable controller models store

favorite combination moves with
which to combat the opposition.
There are also turbo moves, accel-
eration, repeat, and an auto pilot
mode that allows preprogrammed
combinations to continue hands-
free during regular play. Made by
Triton Toys, Inc. (408-268-5527),
it’s available for the Genesis,

SNES or NES.

Hunters and would-be Rambos in
the living rooms of America might
like the feel of Sega’s Menacer, a
modular target shooter for Gene-
sis. It’s composed of three inter-
locking units, the firing module, a
stock, and a binocular scope
which, with an on-or-off visible
screen cursor, allows a variety of
play options. A cartridge with six
games is packed with it, for
$59.99. It comes from Sega of
America, Inc. (415-508-2800).

Similarly inclined Super Nintendo
players can get the Super NES
SuperScope 6, essentially a shoul-
der pack and rifle-like unit using
infra red technology to aim at the
screen. Nintendo of America, Inc.
(800-255-3700), packages it with
a cartridge containing six games:
three varieties of Blastris and
three of BattleClash. It retails for
$59.95.

For youngsters and whimsical
adults with PCs or Macintosh sys-
tems, Logitech’s Kidz Mouse is
designed for smaller hands. Its
cute, rodent- shaped design hous-
es a fully functional two-button
mouse. Included in the suggested
$79 retail price is a tutorial and an
educational program, Dinosaur Dis-
covery Kit by First Byte Software.
It’s available from Logitech Inc.
(510-795-8500).

TurboGrafx-16 owners who dis-
like all the controller switching
involved when more than two play
will find that Turbo Technologies,
Inc. (800-366-0136) has met their
problem with Turbo-Tap, which per-

The Kidz Mouse is just for fun and
built especially for little hands.

mits up to five Turbo Pad con-
trollers to be attached to the Tur-
boGrafx-16 game unit simultane-
ously.

The Video Game Super Chair is

the ultimate control device for seri-
ous gamers. The player sits in the
padded chair with his feet on the
leg rest. Body movements control
on-screen action. Fire and select
buttons are in the handle grips. It’s
$149.95 with carrying case, from
Games 2000 (619-369-7400).

For the multimedia fan with the
new CDTV multimedia interactive
system, the next step might be to

The Menacer is Sega’s latest
attempt at a light gun peripheral.

record combined visuals from the
CDTV and a video camera, tape or
even live TV signals. This can be
done with the Video Genlock Card,
$249.99 from Commodore Busi-
ness Machines, Inc. (215-431-
9100).

Electronic Games 39

"PCatyeM,’ tyuicte, fo
fazmivta

Some Dedicated Fun

Something old, something new
applies in more ways than one to
each of these slightly different
approaches to electronic entertain-
ment.

Love classic video games? Tel-
eGames USA’s Personal Arcade.

$29.95, is said to be compatible
with over 90 ColecoVision games.
TeleGames (214-227-7694) has
the old games, too.

The Chesster Challenger will not
only give the family chess fiend a
serious game, but it also senses
moves and discusses its play, for
$249. German and French speak-
ing models are also available from
Fidelity Electronics (305-597-
1500).

Portable Smarts

We live in the age of the informa-
tion revolution. One of the handiest
reminders of this is the electronic
book that puts lots of information
right at your fingertips.

For that baseball fan who knows
almost everything, the hand-held
Big League Baseball Electronic
Encyclopedia holds over a million

baseball stats, including 620,000
batting and 270,000 pitching sta-
tistics, with personal data on any
player in the history of the National
or American Leagues. The shirt-
pocket marvel comes from Franklin
Electronic Publishers, Inc. (609-
261-4800), for $99.95.

The crossword puzzler who can’t
seem to track down that elusive
word need only consult Franklin’s
Crosswords Puzzle Solver, a 1.8
oz. pocket-size package that holds

250.000 words and phrases,
including proper nouns, for
$59.95.

For the secretary (or boss),
Franklin also produces the Spelling
Ace Plus, a 7-oz. electronic book
that can check and correct

100.000 words, including 20,000
legal and business related terms,
for $59.95. And, for the visually or
physically challenged, the $500
Language Master Special Edition
is a fully speaking electronic dictio-

Boom Box turns your IBM into
a musical monster machine.

nary, thesaurus, spelling corrector
and English language resource.

Planning a trip? The pocket-size
Berlitz Interpreter from Selectron-
ics translates between English,
French, Italian, German and Span-
ish. It can interpret 12,500 words
and 300 travel phrases per lan-
guage, and includes an exchange
calculator for three currencies. This

The Miracle Keyboard is for those
serious about learning how to play.

$79.95 unit and other Selectronics
products are marketed by Vi-Tel
Electronics (201-440-8700).

Selectronics also makes a credit-
card-size 26 Language Translator
that holds 1000 words each, for
$59.95. Colorful national flag
icons are used to select among
languages.

Music For Your Ears

The whole family can rock around
the Christmas tree in style with
one of these high-tech musical
devices.

Boom Box lets IBM and Amiga
users make music using a bank of
different instrument sounds,
drums, bass and synth patterns,
then record their creations to play
back. It’s a snap to use, with many
extra features like echo, remix,
samples, turntable scratches, and
lots more. Order it for $59.95 from
Dr. T’s Music Software (617-455-
1454).

Software Toolworks’ Miracle key-
board is the ultimate musical add-
on, since it replicates 128 instru-
ments, contains its own stereo
sound system, and is MIDI compat-
ible. It also features The Miracle
Piano Teaching System, for begin-
ners or adepts who need to brush
up. The Miracle can track a class-
room full of students, now avail-
able for Macintosh ($499.95),

IBM, Amiga, Super Nintendo and

Hum 7ift> tfo ‘Volume

40 Electronic Games

Genesis ($479.95), and Nintendo
($379.95) from Software Tool-
works (415-883-3000).

Sound Ideas for Gift Giving

A computer gamer without
enhanced sound is missing out on
almost half the fun. Music, sound
effects and even speech have
become integral parts of the gam-
ing process.

Ad Lib (418-529-9676) was the
first company to make it big in the
PC sound board market. The Ad Lib
sound board quickly became the
standard in the industry, until it
was somewhat overshadowed by
the speech synthesis offered by
the Sound Blaster series. Ad Lib’s
light dimmed slightly a year or so
ago when the vaunted Ad Lib Gold
board was delayed. The good
news, however, is that the long-
awaited Gold, or SRP board, as it
is now known, is available for a list
price of $299.99. The original Ad
Lib board is also still available for
under $50.

Creative Labs (408-378-3838) is
a prime mover in the PC sound
sweepstakes with its Sound
Blaster ($149.95) and the newer
Sound Blaster Pro ($299.95). The
Sound Blaster offers speech capa-
bilities not found in the standard
Ad Lib board. The Sound Blaster
features 11-Voice FM music syn-
thesis, a digitized voice channel
and is fully Ad Lib compatible. The
Pro offers an 8-bit digitized voice
channel and 4-operator, 20-voice
0PL-3 stereo FM music synthesiz-
er. It also interfaces with Creative
Labs’ CD-ROM drive and Windows
3.1.

Omni Labs’ (818-813-2630)
AudioMaster has 24-voice poly-
phonic, multitimbral stereo synthe-
sis, an on-board 68008 micro-
processor, 384Kb RAM and multi-
channel PCM playback with inde-

pendent vol-
ume con-
trols. The
package also
includes
some great
software and
retails at
$299.

Media
Vision
(510-770-
8600),
whose Thun-
der Board
was quite
popular, now
has the Pro
Audio

Spectrum 16, a

16-Bit version of the
company’s PAS-8 sound
system. These boards use Yama-
ha’s OPL-3 sound chip and offer
the convenience of SCSI (Small
Computer System Interface) com-
patibility, allowing the board to

Game playing gloves make a great
stocking stuffer for the enthusiast.

interface with CD-ROM, hard and
optical drives. The PAS-16 lists at
$349.

Another new entry to the sound
board sweepstakes is the

Advanced Gravis UltraSound

(604-431-5020), a 16-Bit, 32-voice
sound card that’s a real bargain at

$199.95.

This board is also available in a
bundle with Chuck Yeager’s Air

Combat (EA) for $219.95. The air
combat software has been
retooled to take maximum advan-
tage of the Ultrasound’s unique
capabilities.

Stocking Stuffers

Here are some little extras that
any gamer would love to own.
Check out these delightful items.

Few handle their video games
with kid gloves, unless you count
these gloves for kids: Champion
Video Game Gloves are colorful
gloves with a variety of popular
license names and symbols, such
as Superman, Batman, Sega,
Sonic the Hedgehog, TurboGrafx
and most recently, Home Alone 2.
Retailing for $13.99, they’re made
with leather palms, a spandex
back and a padded thumb for
reduced fatigue, by Champion
Glove Manufacturing (800-247-
4537).

uxtk 'THuAiozt (fyfo

Electronic Games 41

Special Helpers

Here are some things to make
your computing time more fun and
more productive.

able; it makes even idle moments
entertaining. Johnny tries to
escape his desert island in a
series of randomly generated
sequences that unfold a story in
full color, with as much animation
as a typical adventure. It works
with Windows 3.1, supports all
major sound cards, and retails for
$34.95 from Sierra.

Johnny Castaway is the answer
to all those boring screen-savers.

Turn your television into a coloring
book with the Video Painter.

Mario Teaches Typing works for
all ages, but has definite kid
appeal with the familiar plumber as
on-screen tutor through games and
drills that make learning fun. It’s
$39.95 for MS-DOS computers,
from Interplay Productions (714-
553-6655).

For The Newest Gamers

Get the kids off to a good start

Sound Explosion for Windows,

from Programmer’s Warehouse,
(602-443-0580) adds sound
effects to any Windows program.
Over 500 effects (buzzers, clash-
es, bells, explosions, alarms, and
many more prerecorded sounds)
can customize computing, even
without a soundboard. It adds a lot
of pizzazz for only $49.95.

Screen Antics: Johnny Castaway
is the greatest screensaver avail-

expubsox

MVindows

Over 500 Incredible Sound Effects

Sound Explostion provides hundreds
of sounds for hours of enjoyment.

Be aware of the world with Mac-
Globe 1.3 from Brpderbund Soft-
ware (415-382-4400). The $59.95
package for the Macintosh has pro-
files of 208 countries, with
detailed maps and data, including
updates on 18 emerging nations in
Eastern Europe.

If you can’t type, you can’t com-
pute. Fortunately, there’s no better
typing tutor than the computer, and
there’s software to help learners
better their skills.

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing!
is the best typing program avail-
able. It gives customized guidance
through exercises and games, and
even contains a resume writer. It’s
for all ages, available for most
computer systems and even CD-
ROM (which includes an invaluable
dictation mode to help stenos pick
up their speed). For children or
adults, it’s $39.95 - $49.95,
depending on system, from
Software Toolworks.

The IQ Unlimited is designed for the
beginning computer user in mind.

as they play with some neat pack-
ages for the younger set. Some are
equally helpful for adults who
aren’t ready to tackle full-sized
computers.

Vtech’s IQ Unlimited Computer

was designed for kids, but is great
for computer-shy adults, too. It
hooks to a TV and contains a word
processor, spreadsheet, database,
graphs, BASIC, BASIC tutor, calcu-
lator, spell right, calendar, two edu-

42 Electronic Games

King James, Revised Standard Ver-
sion, and New International Ver-
sion. Listing at $249 but generally
available at $199, each contains
both the Old and New Testaments.
This device also features instant
reference capability, a built-in
search thesaurus, phonetic
spelling corrector and a pronuncia-
tion guide, as well as a multiple
bookmark function. This is a must-
have for any serious bible scholar.

Selectronics has an expandable
Electronic Bible in the New
International Version, with both
Old and New Testaments and
all the footnotes found in the
standard NIV, and full concor-
dance capability for $299.95.
Cartridges are available that
provide features such as a
daily devotional guide, Hebrew
and Greek language aides, and
an English spelling guide including
definitions.

<Ktd

cational games and an art studio,
for $200, from Video Technology
Industries (708-215-9700). An IQ

Unlimited Printer is available sepa-
rately, or it connects to most
Epson printers.

Texas Instruments gets kids off to
the right start with their computer.

Vtech also has Video Painter for
young artists. The laptop sketch
pad plugs into the TV and lets you
use pencil, crayon, bold line, letter-
ing or paint mode, and many other

features (including save to VCR
tape), for $99. Extend your child's
creativity!

Texas Instruments’ Talking Mas-
ter Mouse Computer introduces
computing to children as young as
4 with 24 activities including math,
preschool spelling, music and
games, including word games.
Large, colorful program cards fit
into the monitor screen and an
LCD display shows through a cen-
ter window. With a suggested list
price of $65, it’s available from
Texas Instruments (800-842-2737).

Heavenly Holidays

To honor the holiday season,
whether celebrating Christmas or
Chanukah, here are some
reminders that even in this high-
tech age there are some things
that never get obsolete.

Franklin Electronic’s Electronic
Holy Bible is available in three of
the most popular versions: the

The Interactive Old Testament

contains the King James Version of
the Old Testament on CD-ROM,
with dictionary, concordance, and
many other components. Additional
features include children’s stories
with illustrations, maps and geog-
raphy, archaeological discoveries
and political, cultural and econom-
ic histories of the bible lands. A
comparison of theologies is also
provided. It’s costs $79.95 from
Azeroth (206-392-9941).

Davka’s offering for this
Chanukah will have the whole fami-
ly smiling. Jerusalem Stones is a
tumbling-block game, with Hebrew
letters on the falling pieces. Back-
ground scenes depict beautiful
sites in the ancient city. It works
with Windows, and is available for
$24.95 from Davka
(312-465-4070).

All of the gifts presented in this
section can be found at your local
electronic or discount store.

Electronic Games 43

At Sony Imagesoft, we’re
revolutionizing the video gaming
world with a totally unreal lineup of
games for the Sega-CD. We’re the
first to put the power of music
video creation in your hands with
two music video games featuring
smash music artists Kris Kross
and C+C Music Factory. They’ll
blow you away with incredible CD
sound, digitized live-action music J

SONY

We’ve also taken Chuck Rock and - animation, Chuck Rock is
our own movie-based Hook and definitely gonna kick butt and take

powered them up for the Sega-CD. names. And Hook for the Sega-CD,

With nine more levels than our 16- which features digitized scenes
bit version, plus incredible new -I from the movie, never-before-

seen computer graphics of Hook’s
ship, and CD-quality audio from

the film soundtrack, takes our „ for a totally new, totally unreal
critically acclaimed 16-bit game to video game experience, you

the next level. So if you’re looking _ ; found it. From Sony imagesoft.

It’s a whole new game.

- video clips and the awesome
power to direct, edit and produce
your own music videos. .^4=*;

Sewer Shark, our action-shooter,
takes you to a new realm of game
play. Digital video of live actors and
CD sound put you in the cockpit of
this flight simulation shooter. Set in
rat-infested sewers following a
nuclear holocaust, you’ll team up
with ace sewer-jockey Ghost to
transport supplies to human
outposts. Your mission’s clear:
deliver the goods and fry the rats.

Miss a turn and you’re history. But
make it all the way ... and you’re in — i

4 *

p- Solar City, maxin’ out to beaches,
babes and awesome rays.

IMAGESOFT

C+C Music Factory/Make Your Own Music Video. Kris Kross/Make Your Own Music Video, Sewer Shark, Hook and Chuck Rock are distributed by Sony Imagesott Inc., 9200 Sunset
Boulevard, Suite 820, Los Angeles, CA 90069 Sony Imagesoft and Imagesoft are trademarks of Sony Imagesoft Inc. C+C Music Factory appears courtesy of Columbia Records, Inc.
©1990 CBS Records Inc. ©1990 CBS Records Inc. Kris Kross appears courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment Inc. © 1992 Sony Music Entertainment Inc. ©1992 Sony Music
Entertainment Inc. Sewer Shark developed for Sony Imagesoft by Digital Pictures. Inc. ©1992 Digital Pictures, Inc. All rights reserved. Sewer Shark is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc.
Hook ©1991 TriStar Pictures. Inc. All rights reserved Hook™ and associated character names are trademarks of TriStar Pictures. Inc Chuck Rock is a trademark of Core Design
Limited. ©1992 Core Design Limited. Sega and Sega CD are trademarks of Sega Enterprises. Ltd. All nghts reserved.

SEGABS

LICENSED BY SEGA OF AMERICA. INC,
FOR PLAY ON THE SEGA CD™ SYSTEM.

UNREAL PEOPLE

UNREAL VIDEO

by Russ Ceccola

Games based on TV or movie char-
acters and properties date back to
the Atari 2600 with games like E.T.
and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Such
licensed games usually go in one of
two directions: they either follow the
plot of the movie directly, or just use
the characters as dressing for a
game that bears no resemblance to
the spirit of the source. Games that
take a licensed movie, TV program or
character and actually expand on the
original with creative and new game
play are rare.

David Crane and Alex DeMeo, two
designers at Absolute Entertainment
with a good track record of success-
ful licensed games, are involved in a
joint effort based on some scenes
from the Barry Levinson movie, Toys.
Toys for the Super NES and Genesis
game systems will reflect the fun of
the movie and give players enough
flexibility and challenge to enjoy the
game repeatedly.

David Crane acted as creative
director on Toys and Alex DeMeo
was the technical director, responsi-
ble for the code and the translation
of Crane’s ideas to the 16-Bit game
systems. In a recent interview, Crane
described their approach to the pro-
ject. “Whenever you have a movie
license, the question is always how
to make a game from it. If the movie
is out, you can see it and get your
ideas from the source. In our case,
we only had a script and tried to

design the game to match the look
and feel of the visuals we were able
to see and those we imagined.

“The game is a license and you
want it to reflect the look, the char-
acters and the feel of the movie, but
it’s up to us to make it a fun game,"
Crane remarked.

In Toys, the player controls Leslie,
Robin Williams’ character in the
movie, as he defends the Zevo toy
factory from a general who has taken
over the factory and wants to manu-
facture war toys. There are multiple
levels in the toy factory, with game
play and layout of the rooms some-

what different on each. In every
room, the player must pit his arsenal
of toys against the general’s war
toys and take out the security cam-
era. Rooms are rendered right from
set stills, but Toys does not limit the
player or require him to go through
the rooms of a level in any specific
order. Players have freedom to try
any of them and the challenge
increases as the game moves on,
with additional war toys and good
toys on the later levels.

Crane thought that the matchup of
war toys and Leslie’s toys could be
an exciting basis for a game. He

TOYS TM & © 1992 Twentieth Century

Photo: Sidney Baldwin © 1992 20th Century Fox Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

46 Electronic Games

mentioned that “the inventory of
good toys makes for interesting
game play because you can experi-
ment with the toys and their attribut-
es in the battles throughout the fac-
tory. We created our own toys for the
video game because we weren’t sure
what director Barry Levinson was
going to use in the movie and
because of the limitations of render-
ing on the video game machines.
Objects had to follow certain size
constraints and we needed to fit a
number of toys on a game screen to
have a fun battle.”

Zevo Toys comes home with the

Super NES game from Absolute.

Indeed, the idea of battling toys is
something new to video games and
holds great possibilities. Leslie’s
good toys are the type you might find
in the preschool section of a toy
store. The general’s war toys might
be tanks, jeeps or helicopters. This
variety is what will make Toys differ-
ent for each player.

As research aside from the normal
gizmos and gadgets he buys, Crane
admitted that he “took a field trip to
a toy store during the design of
Toys. At that point, I felt we didn't
have enough bad toys in the game,
so I tried to find some that we could
pervert into bad toys. I also had to
put myself in Leslie’s shoes and
think of what toys might be turned
against me."

The mixture of toys and scenery
from the film will bring to mind the
battle scenes from the movie, yet
allow the player to control all the
action. This is the kind of game
design Crane enjoys. He revealed
that “I try to design my games so
that, even though I might know how

Photo: Sidney Baldwin © 1992 20th Century Fox

to get through them, there may be
someone who can get better at them
than me. I do that by designing alter-
nate ways to complete challenges in
the game."

Toys gives players many possibili-
ties and methods to take out the war
toys. Although some ways might be
better than others, the discovery of
the best matchups is half the fun of
the game. You might be more skillful
than Crane at Toys, but he still
remains undefeated at his own
SNES tennis game, Amazing Tennis.

Toys will be out in February or
March, not too long after the movie
is gone from theaters. The idea
behind the game is unique and will

more than likely become another
success in the careers of Crane and
DeMeo. The inventory of bad toys
and good ones is not certain at this
point, but there will be plenty of fun
regardless of the final mixture.

Crane affirmed that “there’s a lot
of action, but also a cerebral ele-
ment to the battles. We’re proud of
the overall concept and it will be dif-
ferent than anything you’ve seen
before in a game. The game is going
to be visually stunning and we hope
to capture the whimsical and feel-
good nature of the film.” This is the
mixture which all licensed games
strive toward. If anyone can pull it
off, Crane and DeMeo can.

TOYS TM & © 1992 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.

Electronic Games 47

The Game That Never Was

Many movies have featured arcade
or video games in certain scenes.
Atari’s Missile Command appeared
in War Games, with the film notably
using the game’s "GAME OVER”
screen as its “The End” screen. In
Terminator 2, the Robert Patrick Ter-
minator chased John Connor through
an arcade. The writers of the horrid
Freddy’s Dead included a dream
sequence in which a victim imagined
himself inside a video game. The list
goes on and on.

Absolute Entertainment’s design-
ers, longtime contributors to the
video game field since its beginnings

in the late ‘70s, were contracted to
produce a video game for the recent
Barry Levinson film Toys that serves
not as filler or background scenery,
but as an integral part of the plot.

This is not only a landmark accom-
plishment for Absolute, but also for
the video game industry, as the line
between video games and movie
visuals narrows, and the talents of
game designers get put to use in
other areas.

The game in question, Tank Gun-
ner, is an upright coin-op video game
played in an arcade by the general
who takes over the Zevo factory.

Garry Kitchen and Barry Marx shared
the design chores, and Alex DeMeo
and Roger Booth worked on the tech-
nical aspects of the game. Jesse
Kapili took care of the graphics and
Mark Van Hecke contributed the
sound effects in the segment.

Fox contacted Absolute because of
their past relationship on games
their designers did for other compa-
nies, like The Simpsons games for
Acclaim and the Home Alone games
for T.H.Q. They wanted to make sure
that Tank Gunner turned out right
because “the game is an integral
part of the characterization of the
general in the
movie. You
learn a lot
about him by
watching him
play the game,”
Kitchen men-
tioned in a
recent inter-
view.

Although the
segment of the
film in which
movie-goers
see Tank Gun-
ner only lasts a
couple minutes
and worked out
to be roughly
two pages in
the script, a lot of work went into
making it effective in the scene.
Co-producer Charles Newirth acted
as the design team's contact at Fox
and relayed all the messages and
comments from Levinson and others
involved with the scene. Kitchen
revealed that "we had the flexibility
of making the game happen, but we
had to please Levinson and Newirth
and revise it to fit the game they
visualized.”

Tank Gunner was designed on the
Super NES and placed in an upright
cabinet for the arcade scene in a
simulated “attract mode” (demo
mode for an arcade machine as it

Tank Gunner was made for the
movie, and its not in the stores.

waits for a player). Although the
game was implemented on the
Super NES, it has the look and feel
of a real arcade game and incorpo-
rates “fast-action mayhem, with
planes, tanks and helicopters com-
ing from all directions; just the type
of game a general might like,”
according to Kitchen. The Tank Gun-
ner footage took two months to put
together and “it was lot of work and
a long road to get there. In fact, the
game is a lot more complex than we
anticipated from the start, and we
pushed the limits of the SNES.”

Tank Gunner might remind some
people of Super Battletank, but it is
unique to Toys and will not be trans-
lated to the home market as a com-
mercial game.

Kitchen found the experience to be
enlightening, especially about what
goes on during the production of a
film, and rewarding for those
involved. It will be nice to see the
name of a leading video game com-
pany in the credits of a major motion
picture. Kitchen explained that “this
segment is something we’re proud of
and is in our portfolio as a major
accomplishment. We can now let
people know that we have experi-
ence in this type of work and want to
do more projects like it.”

It is a testament to the experience
and talent of the designers at
Absolute to land a project like Tank
Gunner. Perhaps their skills will be
utilized in Hollywood again.

48 Electronic Games

© 1992 Absolute Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Play UkeJ! Champion!

PRO TENNIS TOUR

Available soon
for Game Boy and
the Nintendo
Entertainment
System!

Available now for
the IBM PC.

Published by UBI Soft, Inc. © 1992
1505 Bridgeway, Suite 105 * »

Sausalito, CA 94965
(415)332-8749 ^

Developed by Blue Byte I'W'
Jimmy Connors photos by Duomo
© Duomo 1991

Nintendo, Game Boy, Super Nintendo Entertainment
System and the official seals are registered trademarks
of Nintendo of America Inc. © 1991 Nintendo of America

TOUR MENU

JANUARY

ol

■nl

by Ed Dille

These simulators make high-flying
dreams almost real, but they’re not
for every joystick jockey. Whirly-bird
pilots experience what it’s really like
up in the blue, in this king-of-simula-
tors that trains military pilots.

Situated at the heart of NAS Jack-
sonville, one of the largest Naval Air
Stations in the southeast, the Paul
Nelson Helicopter training facility
educates thousands of naval avia-
tors yearly. The facility, named for a
squadron Commanding Officer killed
when his helicopter suffered a
mechanical failure, uses simulators
extensively to better prepare aviators

for similar in-flight emergencies.
Unlike the training units in Pensaco-
la, which are geared toward student
pilots, Paul Nelson provides continu-
ing education to SH-3 and SH-60F
squadrons which deploy aboard fleet
units.

The SH-60F is the replacement for
the SH-3, which is being relegated to
cargo duties after serving its mission
for over twenty years. The mission of
the newer copter is detection, local-
ization, and destruction of sub-
marines which have penetrated the
outer screen of a carrier task group.
The primary sensor utilized to do this
is an active sonar transducer, low-
ered from the helicopter while the

pilot maintains a static hover a mere
ten feet above the ocean. Once sub-
merged, the transducer is keyed
from the aircraft to send an active
sound pulse into the medium, any
returns of which could indicate the
presence of a “contact of interest."
The flight technique for deploying the
sensor is called dipping and requires
considerable skill to avoid embar-
rassing, costly and potentially fatal
“water landings."

The ability of SH-60F squadrons to
complete their mission is measured
via “operational readiness," Navy
buzzwords that indicate equipment

readiness, manning levels and, most
important of all, training. The staff of
the Paul Nelson helicopter training
facility, which is comprised of Senior
Naval Aviators as instructors and
civilian technicians for maintenance
and support, provides invaluable con-
tributions to the third leg of the oper-
ational readiness triad. Pilots aver-
age three simulator periods a month,
but some have considerably more if
squadron commitments do not
require their presence elsewhere.

The only hard and fast requirement
is that the simulators remain 100%
utilized.

The facility houses two separate
SH-60F simulators, with components
spread through three large rooms.
One area holds SOTS modules
(Sonar Operator Training Simulators)
that replicate ail of the anti-subma-
rine warfare (ASW) functions occur-
ring in the back end of the aircraft.
These simulators are static, but they
are fully integratable with the cockpit
modules in a single mission profile.
The sonar operator experiences
everything he would on an actual
mission except aircraft movement.

A second area houses the cockpit
sections, which are free standing
electro-mechanical hydraulic enclo-
sures, accessed through retractable
gantries. Between the two in a glass
enclosed room is the heart of the
system, a NASA-style control room
where instructors and technicians
bring the system to life.

Two mainframe computers act as
the central nervous system, a Gold
3297 controlling the flight model and
all graphics, and a Gold 3267 simu-
lating ASW functions, including
oceanographic conditions, sound
propagation profiles and submarine
tactics. The system is split so that
each simulator can operate indepen-
dently or, if desired, both can be
linked to allow pilots to fly a joint
mission. When this latter condition is
imposed, pilots are able to see the
second simulator as another aircraft
on their visual display, operating in
the same computer generated envi-
ronment. It is also possible to con-
nect simulators in different locations
via modem to allow national cross
training.

The graphics displayed by the
3297 are geared toward low visi-
bility conditions (i.e. , night,

dusk and dawn), which are the most
hazardous for pilots. The cities of
Jacksonville, FL and San Diego, CA
(sites of both east and west coast
simulators and the squadrons they
serve), are modeled in exquisite
detail, albeit in shades of gray with
some color lighting. During our func-
tional check flight, the Instructor
took off from NAS North Island,
checked the traffic on the Coronado
Bay bridge (yes, the cars are there)
and proceeded to fly through some
of the condominium high rises (a la
Blue Thunder), something that is def-
initely frowned upon in the real
world. Following this, we warped off-
shore via computer magic, practiced
some ASW tactics for a carrier task
group modeled in infinitesimal detail,
and landed on the carrier for lunch.

Flight modeling throughout was
extremely responsive and realistic.
The delay between the pilot putting
the stick over and the helicopter
maneuvering is measured in
nanoseconds, despite the fact that
seven different electrical, mechani-
cal and hydraulic systems are inter-
facing. Also, the computer generated
graphics are projected from below
the cockpit to mirrors filling both

'ectromc 6a ,

window screens, allowing near per-
fect immersion in the virtuality world.
A system upgrade is in the works
which will allow daylight flights with
full motion video, which will permit
total suspension of disbelief. Howev-
er, this is still many years from
implementation.

There are several major advan-
tages to using the simulator over
actual “hops” (a term referring to
one four hour cycle or less), and
absolutely no disadvantages. Given
the fiscal constraints imposed by
decreasing defense budgets, the
simulators are a bargain, since they
provide virtually cost-free training.
Maintenance and electrical costs are
inconsequential compared to actual
flight time, where fuel alone costs
$98 per hour. Further, it takes 18
man hours of work on the SH-60F for
every hour it is flown, not to mention
the very tangible cost of spare parts
replacement.

Of even greater significance is the
fact that many in-flight emergencies
can be recreated in the simulator
that can’t happen in the aircraft with-
out actually risking a crash. A prime
example would be the loss of a tail

rotor, which causes the airframe to
spin uncontrollably in opposition to
the torque of the main rotor blades.
Any pilot who has experienced that
feeling in the simulator is more likely
to react properly in the event of a
real world emergency. System opera-
tors have the ability to program on
the fly and impose any combination
of casualties to the aircraft in the
course of a mission, making every
hop unique. The objective is to test
pilot knowledge of NATOPS (prepro-
grammed casualty control actions
that all pilots are required to memo-
rize), and to ensure familiarity with
unusual situations to promote imme-
diate recognition of potentially dan-
gerous conditions in the real world.

Naval aviators are known for their
tales of narrowly escaping the jaws
of death, usually illustrating the
same with grandiose hand gestures,
but many of them also speak rever-
ently of simulators and those with
the foresight to design them. We can
all hope for a day when warfare itself
is simulated, the results tabulated
via point score vice more morbid sta-
tistics. Perhaps the armed forces of
the United States can look into pro-

ducing simulators for many of our
combat vehicles. One can only
assume that, as in the use of this
helicopter simulator, more simula-
tors for more vehicles would result in
better training, reduced cost, and
most importantly, saved lives. In the
interim, however, it is nice to take
comfort in the knowledge that simu-
lators are saving lives every day, and
this is due to the efforts of everyone
involved in the simulator's perfor-
mance. Electronic Games salutes
the men and women of the Paul Nel-
son Helicopter Training Facility, and
others like it throughout the country,
for a job well done!

Electronic Games wishes to thank the
Department of the Navy for allowing us to
view some of this process. More specifi-
cally, thanks are due to the Instructor,
Lieutenant Commander George Cox and
two employees of Reflectone, Robert E.
Sparkman and Michael C. Bauer, for giv-
ing freely of their time to make this article
possible. Reflectone is a Tampa, Florida
based industry that produces commercial
and military flight simulators in addition
to motion simulation attractions for Sea
World and Busch Gardens amusement
parks. Look for additional coverage of
their projects in future issues.

— Ed Dille

m

mes

'The best simulator
I've ever seen !"
RickZalud, Computer
Game Review

“Makes the term 'virtual'

redundant!"

Dave Moskowitz, Video Games
and Computer Entertainment

“Sets a totally new standard for
helicopter simulations!"

Arnie Katz, Electronic Games

"Redefines the state-of-the-art in

computer simulation graphics!"
Computer Gaming World

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Thanks to NovaLogic's radical new
simulation environment VOXEL SPACE™,
which produces graphics 500 times more
detailed than any of those tired old
polygon graphic games. You'll dive from
mountain peaks, dart through winding
canyons, and roar through pulse-pounding
combat in stunning cloud-filled skies.

unprecedented speed, and
sweat-dripping, teeth-clenching,
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Woifpack, Comanche, Maximum Overkill, VOXEL SPACE, NovaLogic, and the Nova Logic logo are trademarks ofNovaLogic, Inc.,
19510 Ventura 6ivd., Ste. 200, Tarzana, CA 91356 © 1992 by NovaLogic, Inc. AH Rights Reserved.

EC INTERVIEW

A Look at the Force
Behind Sega of America

entertainment that
people will
choose, Jm

Tom Kalinske

by Marc Camron

When considering the driving
forces behind the video
game industry, most people
think about the program-
mers who make the games,
or the designers whose
ideas go into the complex
interactive storytelling nec-
essary to make a game
interesting. Yet, there are
others who have an intrinsic
responsibility in making
video carries a form of

Electronic Game

: v

H I i

V A---:-'-

1

mers, just can- ~

not fit on a cartridge. This
leads to where CD technology will
come into play, if it is not being
geared as a replacement to cartridge

Among these people (the market-
ing specialists, industry analysts,
and advertising moguls), one posi-
tion stands alone. An overseer, ulti-
mately responsible for how well the
company does. A position that will
either reap tremendous reward, or a
prime position in the unemployment
line. The position is CEO. Often com-
bined with the position of President,
this is the most powerful position at
any company, the one at the head of
the battle in good times or bad.

At Sega of America, Tom Kalinske
is this person. Head of operations
since October 1990, Kalinske
brought to Sega more than 18 years
of experience in the toy field, includ-
ing the positions of President and
CEO at Universal Matchbox group,
and President and co-CEO of Mattel,
Inc. He is credited with leading Sega
of America to a 63% share of the 16-
Bit market.

On October 15th, Mr
Kalinske was on
hand in
New

York
City to
officially
unveil Sega's
much awaited CD-
ROM attachment.
Amidst all of the ballyhoo,
Mr. Kalinske found time to
talk to EG about the new direc-
tion his company is heading with
the Sega CD, and the effect of the
CD on gaming in general.

It is said that CD gaming is the
way of the future. Many people have
commented on how this will effect
the sales and development of car-
tridge based games. The impact will
not be as immediate as some think.
“A lot can be done with a four or
eight meg cartridge,” Kalinske said.
“The compression techniques keep
getting better all the time.” This cer-
tainly seems to be the case with
Sonic 2 or Joe Montana NFL Sport-
stalk Football, which features tons

Though a lot of time has been spent on
the CD, Sega still found time for Sonic 2.

based games. Kalinske stated there
are basically five different types of
products being worked on for the
Sega CD player.

The first is the value disc: a CD
which contains four to six existing
games, either previously released on
cartridge, or arcades that Sega was
unable to release in cartridge form.

Second, there are the “enhanced
cartridges.” These are games that
have been previously released on
cartridge, and have had “better
sound, voice, extra video [cinemas]
_and occasionally even extra
levels added.”
Third,
there
are

of digitized
speech.

Kalinske went
on to state that
“There is too
much emphasis
put on memory,
but as long as
the trend is
swinging
towards larger
games, the pro-
grammers will
need to find
ways to make
those games
fit. ”

The CD is the
perfect answer.

There are things that are just not
possible in cartridge-based games.
Full motion video, no matter how
much squeezing there is on the part
of the program-

the
full

motion or
“interactive
cinema”
games: games
like Night Trap and
Sewer Shark, two of
the initial releases for the
CD player.

Next, there is what is being
referred to as “Unique Animation”
games. While very little has been
released on this new type of game,
Kalinske states that “this will be the
first time players will be able to inter-
act with true computer graphics,
rather than bit-mapped images.”

Finally, there is a type of entertain-
ment that defies definition. The other
uses for the Sega CD, like the Make
Your Own Music Videos, and their
latest breakthrough, Virtual VCR,
expand it even further. Many of the
possibilities have yet to be explored.

Electronic Games 55

EC INTERVIEW

What is being done to insure that
the Sega CD receives a warmer
reception in the U.S. than it did in
Japan? Kalinske’s position on the
American arm of the company is that
of strength, not resign. “Instead of
just porting over games from the
software available in Japan, the
majority of game development is
being done here in the States. Fully
one-third of Sega of America’s
employees are involved in research
and development. There is also the
problem that the early Japanese
games did not take advantage of the

right, and with
the proper expo-
sure and mar-
keting, Sega
can gain the
same hold on
the CD market
as we have had
with 16-Bit car-
tridge games.”

Indeed, there
are many differ-
ences between
the Japan and
U.S. releases of
this product.

While games
were sparse in
Japan for the
first year after the CD’s release,
there will be at least fifteen titles
ready for the U.S. Sega CD by Christ-
mas this year. An additional 50-60
titles are planned by the end of
1993, meaning a possible 75+
games by the time Nintendo releas-
es their long delayed CD-ROM
system. Kalinske also
pointed out that by
the time the
first gener-
ation
Nin-

tendo
CDs are
released,
Sega will be on
their third (and
possibly fourth), gen-
eration of games.
Kalinske believes that
Sega has a bright future.
Third party developers are jump-
ing on the CD bandwagon from all
sides. Heavy hitters like Electronic
Arts and Konami are now starting
development of games the system.
There are also some other peripher-
als being developed for the Genesis
, including a six button
controller and a mouse. Both will be
released sometime in 1993.

Finally, speculating on the distant
future for Sega, Kalinske pointed to
their alliance with GE to develop a
“Virtual Reality type military simula-
tor.” He says

aspects
of this project
to will find its way
into the arcade and con-
sumer levels. Kalinske
believes that both 16-Bit and 16-
Bit CD-ROM “will remain for quite a
while. The time technology will move
forward to 32-Bit will only be after
the developers have exhausted the
16-Bit medium, and when 32-Bit can
be produced affordably for the gener-
al public.”

After speaking with Mr. Kalinske,
one thing shone through as being
certain: Sega will be around as long
as video games are. I asked Mr.
Kalinske to sum up Sega's goal, and
he was quick to state that “Sega is
committed to providing the best
interactive experience the consumer
ever had and will continue to do so
until it [the experience] is perfect.

We chase technology not for the
sake of technology, but for the con-
sumer.”

And with that commitment to the
players, how can they go wrong?

56 Electronic Games

Sega’s commitment to new types of
games is apparent with Sewer Shark.

CD’s power. Those were first genera-
tion games, and now there has
been time to work with the sys-
tem and more fully explore
its capabilities.

“Finally, a much more
aggressive marketing
campaign is
scheduled for

that
was exe-

BASSOON

the arcade

SMASH!

1 1 lit I

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iiALL jA£f.bj'J uO

r

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LIL. .

Ill I 1 1 1 IM 1

BONE-CRUNCHING

TACKLES!

Super High Impact for Genesis brings the fast-paced action of the
BONE-CRUNCHING arcade smash home. Choose from 18 hard-charging
teams and over 30 plays, from a red dog blitz to a never-say-die super fly.
“Yer Toast” if the HIT-O-METER rates your tackle “Dweeb”, but you can
settle the score with an all-out team brawl!

Stop watching from the sidelines... This is football action so real...
it’s Bone Crunching! _ . — __

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OVER 30 OFFENSIVE
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Super High Impact “ ©1991 is a registered trademark of Midway" Manufacturing Company. Used by permission. Sega and Genesis are trademarks of Sega Enterprises Ltd. Arena Entertainment™ is a trademark
of Arena Entertainment. ©1992 Arena Entertainment. All rights reserved.

Batman Returns

Konami
NES
1 Player

Okay, all you Batman addicts, time to
put on your skin-tight, black zoot suit and
face the forces of The Catwoman, The
Penguin and Max Shreck.

Batman Returns for the NES follows
the same basic plot as last summer's
movie. Batman must brave the streets of
Gotham City to rid them of the villains
reeking havoc upon the streets. Batman
has been known to be a tough guy and
he uses a full compliment of punches,
kicks and slides to finish 'em off! The
player can also utilize a special attack
where he whips his cape around that can
down even the toughest foes with one
swipe. However, the only drawback is
that this attack drains one hit point from
The Caped Crusader.

The levels are very well drawn and are

Batman has returned to the streets to
fight not one, but many super-villains.

dimly lit to add a sense of mystery to
Batman's crusade for justice. Stage 1-1
puts our hero right in Gotham Plaza.

Here is where the player will hone his or
her skills in basic combat. The enemies
are weak but there are plenty of them. A
unique aspect of Batman Returns is that
the game runs on a hit point system, so
the player only receives one life. While
this may be frustrating for the beginning

VIDEO CRME

GALLERY

player, it really has its advantages, since
the player can take multiple hits without
dying every time. As extra incentive, scat-
tered throughout various stages are gift
boxes that contain heart power-ups to
give you a boost of hit points.

After fighting through an endless
parade of enemies, Batman must face
his first boss. This boss begins by toss-
ing a barrel that can knock the player
down while he charges at Batman with
his fists flying! This is the perfect oppor-
tunity to use the Batarangs. If all five of
his Batarangs hit the boss, his energy
will become half of what it was. Then,
use the special attack to finish him off
for good. Batman's reward is a box that
grants him with more life if his first bar
drops down to zero.

Stage 2-1 takes place in front of
Shreck's department store. The enemies
will attack more and some even wield
machine guns. A very useful technique is
to slide into the opponents, which stuns
them for a brief moment, and then turn
around and unleash a fury of punches to
end their assault. Stage 2-2 is inside the
department store where highly trained
enemies literally leap from walls and
pounce from the ceiling. One of the more
challenging aspects of this stage is
about half way through where Batman
must use the grappling hook to shoot
radio controlled helicopters out of the
sky to stop them from bombing out the
floor.

The goal is to reach the Ivory Tower
where The Catwoman awaits to fight Bat-
man high above the streets. She begins
her attacks with a deadly aerial assault,
but as she receives more damage, she
resorts to using a nasty whip. Using a
combination of of jump kicks followed by
a quick special attack will finish her off
quickly. Afterwards, the story unravels
further with a detailed cinema display.

Although the game has the look and
feel of a Batman game, if you take out
Batman and replace him with a turtle,
you have one of Konami's other video
game hits. Not that it's a bad idea to

port over existing play mechanics, but in
the dying 8-Bit market, having some
unique play options would definitely help.

This is not to say that Batman Returns
will be beaten in a couple of hours. This
is a challenging game that will keep
experienced players coming back for
more. The password feature is a very

The special spin attack is devastating,
but it takes health off Batman’s meter.

nice touch and cuts the monotony out of
beating all those easier levels over and
over again. Also, the interaction between
Batman and boss characters takes place
within text boxes to let the feel of the
movie come alive.

In closing, Batman Returns offers up
some awesome 8-Bit action that has
been noticeably missing from the mar-
ket. With a combination of great control,
catchy tunes, and a good story to follow,
this game will make a fine addition to
any Batman buff's video game collection.

— Danyon Carpenter

OVERALL

85 %

58 Electronic Games

Dragon’s Lair

Data East
SNES
1 Player

Dragon’s Lair first saw the electronic
light of day as a mid-80s laserdisc coin-
op created by former Disney animator
Don Bluth. His output of hit films since
then has elevated him to superstar sta-
tus in the world of theatrical animation.

There wasn’t much game in Dragon’s
Lair, but it was certainly something to
see. This wasn’t just a well-animated
arcade game; it was an interactive car-
toon of a quality considerably higher than
the then-current Saturday morning TV
fare. Granted, the interaction was pretty
primitive. Player-character Dirk the Dar-
ing, seen from behind, moved through
elaborately rendered castle corridors,
and faced a variety of enemies and
deathtraps, all of which could be thwart-
ed only by the timely press of an action
button. The ability to play the game well
rode on the player's memorization capa-
bilities. The action pattern for each
sequence was always the same, and,
once learned, allowed experienced
gamers to breeze through the game, hit-
ting the button and moving the joystick in
a robotic, patterned style.

Basically, there was a lot more watch-
ing than playing, but it drew the curious
into the fading arcades in tremendous
numbers, stimulating business in the
process. The boom was short lived, how-
ever, since by the time the next genera-
tion of laserdisc games arrived, including
Bluth’s own Space Ace and an infre-
quently seen Dragon’s Lair sequel, their
cost proved prohibitive to arcade opera-
tors and their weaknesses seemed sud-
denly transparent to gamers.

Since its dramatic debut on the arcade
stage, there have been several attempts
to bring Dragon’s Lair to home gaming
systems, including a duplicate of the
arcade software that was sold along with

Some corners of the castle are so dark
Dirk can barely see his own movement.

a laserdisc player which could interface
with Amiga and Atari ST computers. More
recently, a beautifully animated, side-
scrolling version appeared on the NES,
and this was the genesis of this SNES
conversion developed by Motivetime Ltd.
for Data East.

Despite the change in perspective,
this version is pretty faithful to the origi-

The map guides Dirk through the castle.

Some levels will lead to several paths.

nal. The player, working at any of four dif-
ficulty levels, is once again cast as Dirk
the Daring, a somewhat bumbling knight
assigned the challenging task of rescu-
ing Princess Daphne from the horrific
castle of the wizard Mordroc. The quest
takes him from the high battlements,
through the castle and down into the
labyrinth-like catacombs beneath it, fac-
ing off against gigantic snakes, bats,
ghosts and, of course, Mordroc himself.

The action buttons permit Dirk to leap,
swing his broadsword or hurl battleaxes,
while the control pad allows left-right

movement and even lets the eternally
besieged Dirk duck. It takes a little time
to master the multiple controls, and
Dirk’s rather loose-limbed movements
make him a little tough to stop on a
dime — or any other unit of currency for
that matter. The largest differences
between this version and the coin-op lie
in the perspective and the movement.
While the arcade version demanded thor-
ough memorization and precise, timely
moves, the SNES counterpart relies
more on overall video game skills of
quickness and coordination.

The graphics are superb, with a nice
variety of backgrounds, including an
effective underwater sequence. It’s even
amusing to watch Dirk die, as he cross-
es his arms in resignation before crum-
bling into dust, reminding the player of
the arcade death scenes.

Those who have heard the name Drag-
on’s Lair spoken in reverent whispers
may wonder what all the shouting was
about, but taken on its own terms, this
is an excellent product. It will certainly
entertain fans of the arcade original.

— Bill Kunkel

OVERALL

78 %

Electronic Games 59

VIDEO GAME GALLERY

Bulls vs. Blazers and
the NBA Playoffs

Electronic Arts

SNES

1-2 Player

Like flight simulators and fantasy role-
playing games, basketball simulations
always seem to be with us. The problem
is that no basketball game has yet
reached the levels of excellence found in
the best baseball, football and even
hockey sims. For whatever reason, the
perfect visual perspective continues to

An instant replay feature is included, so
players can relive their finest moments.

elude developers. This is probably due to
the fact that the basketball playing area
is rather small in comparison to football
and baseball, and trying to manipulate
ten full-grown men with blazing speed
and graceful athletic ability is not that
easy to accomplish. Sometimes watching
a televised game can be a practice in
strict attentiveness!

Bulls vs. Blazers has a number of
strong points. It can be played solitaire
and in twin two-player modes: head to
head and cooperative. It uses all the real
NBA teams and players, offers ratings
and extensive statistics for those play-
ers, and presents the entire package
wrapped in a fairly intuitive interface.
There are three play levels, from pre-sea-
son to the playoffs, and it is even possi-

ble to develop a nice shot repertoire. The
game also features some signature
moves of some popular players.

The program puts a realistic emphasis
on the importance of passing, setting
picks and other roundball nuances.

These tactics will appeal to the hard-core
basketball enthusiasts while also provid-
ing a great gaming environment for the
video game experts.

In addition, there is a VCR-style replay
system similar to those found on most of
the sports games in the EASN (Electronic
Arts Sports Network) series.

The game’s primary problem is a tough
nut to crack: the angled side perspective
is a major-league pain in the neck. In
basketball, with all those players tangled
around one another like Siamese twins,
it is virtually impossible to track the
movements of individual players. Much
of the time, in fact, the player with the
ball isn’t even visible on the screen, or is
buried behind a pack of giants gathered

The only time there is a meter to guide
shooting is when going for a free-throw.

around the key. Sometimes, the player
may feel a lack of complete control, but
this Achilles’ heel is somewhat sur-
mountable. After several hours of play, it
becomes significantly easier to track
specific players and keep pace with the
overall on-court action.

But the bottom line is that there has
got to be a better way to visually present
basketball than side-view, even when
angled.

That said, there are plenty of other
nice features, including the arcade and
simulation play modes. The former offers
fast-moving, relatively mindless basket-
ball, sans fouls and fatigue, while the
simulation mode incorporates those ele-
ments to great effect, forcing substitu-
tions and enhancing the game's realism.
There is also a password system for sav-
ing tournaments in progress.

Overall, the Bulls vs. Blazers' excel-
lent statistical base and numerous real-
istic features will be a definite turn-on to
roundball mavens, but it’s hard to imag-
ine any player who won’t be periodically
frustrated by the program’s display.

— Bill Kunkel

OVERALL

82 %

60 Electronic Games

I'M MARTHA SPLATTgRHEAP'

KBNBGAPB adorn A NP FA&-

WHY, &£RZ£RK£Fi You WOULPNT
Htr a L.APY, WoULp You'd

4 Special "VS. Mode" lets you
battle as any of the 1 6 gonzo
characters and go toe-to-toe
with everyone — even your
fellow Cyborgs!

Blast the blazin' Slash Skaters
under the strobe-lights of the
Lexington Disco.

Go berserk as Berzerker and take
on a fire-breathing Swammy in
the special I -on- 1 "VS. Mode."

The Big Apple's gone rotten and an old ally is at the core.

Your mission: destroy Martha Splatterhead — former Combatribe-babe
turned Gotham gang-queen. But before you get close to this renegade-
mama, you'll have to do some head-bashin' with five of New York City's
most feared gangs — on their turf!

Licensed by

lECHIIOS (Nintendo)

% amERican iechhos inc. u ^ *

The Combatribes TM ©1992 American Technos. Inc..

1 9200 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 1 20, Cupertino. CA 950 14

Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Nintendo Seal of Quality are
registered trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. © 1 99 1 Nintendo of America Inc.

Equinox

Sony Imagesoft
SNES
1 Player

Occasionally, there is a game so com-
pletely unique that comparison with other
games is impossible. Equinox is the
sequel to the cult 8-Bit hit Solstice. Like
the 8-Bit version, Equinox is primarily a
puzzle game. Each room in the dungeons
require patience and thought to com-
plete. Even so, Sony has expanded on
the action and adventure aspects of this
game, bringing each of these game play
characteristics together for one all-out
contest.

Shadax, the hero of the first install-
ment, has been kidnapped by his stu-
dent, Sonia. It seems Sonia’s ambition
has gotten the better of her, and now
she is bent on ruling the world! As the
son of Shadax, it is up to the player to
journey across the land and into the evil
empress’ dungeons.

There are seven lands in Equinox, and
a total of eight dungeons to complete.

The first dungeon only has 16 rooms,
and is not very difficult to finish, but
each one is larger than the one before.
The final dungeon boasts a massive 107
rooms. The objective in each room is dif-
ferent, and oftentimes certain rooms
must be completed in order. There are
different objects to be found, including
keys, magic scrolls, new weapons, and,
in each dungeon, 12 tokens. The tokens
are necessary to summon the boss at
the end of the level. The player can also
obtain potions to increase magic, apples
to increase life, and harp strings (by
defeating the first five bosses) to accom-
plish a special surprise.

The graphics of equinox are outstand-
ing. The overworld is rendered using
Mode 7, and it is possible to rotate the
land around the character while moving.

It is also possible to rotate the overworld
map in the same way. Underground, the
dungeons are viewed from a 3/4 over-
head perspective. While this makes the

game a little more difficult to control, it
has allowed the programmers to create
optical illusions in the game. Sometimes
it is impossible to tell what level an
object lies on until the character
attempts to interact with it. Some may
find this frustrating, but overall, it just
adds to the challenge of the game. The
animation of both the main character
and the creatures is fluid, and even the
large bosses do not suffer from any slow-
down or break-up. It is obvious how much
work went into this game just by looking
at the incredible graphics.

The sound is very good, but can get

Battle creatures in the overworld in
order to power-up your life and magic.

The bosses move in a pattern. Try and
stay alive long enough to memorize it.

repetitious after several hours of play.
Game play, while being smooth and pre-
cise, does suffer due to the perspective.
It is a case of sacrificing some ease in
play for overall appearance and chal-
lenge.

This game also offers a high degree of
challenge. The difficulty is very hard, spe-
cially when fighting the various bosses.

The character can only take one hit
before starting a section over. Frequent
game saving is mandatory.

All in all, Equinox is a game that
stands above the crowd. The story may
not be original, but the execution certain-
ly is. This is a game that exercises both
the mind and the hands. For anyone
looking for something new, or for those
who complain that games are getting too
easy, Equinox is worth checking out.

— Marc Camron

OVERALL

92 %

62 Electronic Games

Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball

Mindscape
Genesis
1-2 Players

For future Hall-of -Famer Cal Ripken Jr.
to put his name on a video baseball
game, you would expect nothing less
than a quality product. That is precisely
what you get in this Mindscape rendition
of America's pastime for the Genesis.

The problem is, this cart breaks no
new ground. It is nothing more than a
polished Tommy Lasorda Baseball, which
came out in 1990.

One factor where this game improves
on Lasorda is the flexibility in game
setup. From the menu at the game's
beginning, the player may choose
between a variety of options: one can
play an exhibition game, a regular sea-
son game or hone those hitting skills in
batting practice. The cart also allows one
to view the respective team rosters and
adjust difficulty settings.

The player can choose to host the
game in a cavernous domed stadium
where homers don’t come easily, a
Wrigley Field-like outdoor stadium with a
short porch on all sides, or a standard-
sized outdoor park.

Pick from one of sixteen teams and a
MVP and All-Star team. The most notable
exception from the teams Mindscape
included is the 1992 World Series Cham-
pion Toronto Blue Jays.

A minor gripe about the regular game
mode is when season records for all the
teams are posted at the end of each

game, teams are not displayed according
to their won-loss record. Instead, they
are listed in alphabetical order with four
teams in each division.

Though the teams are different, many of
the Major League cities are represented.

The game is not licensed by major
league baseball, so all players are fic-
tional except, of course, Cal Ripken Jr.
Teams generally reflect their major
league counterparts from the 1991 base-
ball season.

Once the team(s) are selected, get
ready to "Play Ball!" Listen to the nice
rendition of the national anthem or skip
it and get to the game.

As mentioned earlier, once the game
begins, there is not much difference from
Lasorda. The game has slightly better
graphics, the animation is a little
smoother and the responsiveness more
accurate, but overall, the player may get
the unmistakable feeling that he has
played this game before. One significant
difference between Lasorda and Ripken

is the presence of cinema screens in the
latter. When there’s a close call at a
base or home plate, the player is treated
to a magnified view of the play. The play-
er has no control during cinema screens
nor can he decide whether or not his
baserunners slide during close plays.

Nonetheless, it’s a fun game. Unlike
many baseball simulations, the speed of
throwing, pitching, and running is propor-
tional. For example, a speedy base steal-
er can usually swipe a base if the pitcher
throws a slower speed breaking ball, but
his chances of success are reduced if a
fast ball is thrown - the ball gets to the
catcher quicker which means he can
throw it to second base sooner.

Throughout the game, organ music
starts when the game stops. You’d think
the music would get irritating after while,
but it actually gives the cart a sense of

Cal Ripkin Jr. Baseball even shows how
far the player’s home runs are hit.

atmosphere. The voice -unlike many
sport simulations- also contributes to
the atmosphere. Instead of some cheesy
monotone announcer, the voice has per-
sonality and even shouts, "Strike three!
Yer-r out!" when a player whiffs.

This could have been an outstanding
game, if it was produced three years
ago. But it’s almost 1993, and tweaking
a concept introduced in a first generation
Genesis game just doesn't merit an
exceptional rating. While the graphics,
sound and speech create a festive base-
ball environment, it seems to be just
another baseball simulator. Nothing
really new or ground breaking.

— Joe Funk

OVERALL

76 %

Electronic Games 63

John Madden '93

Electronic Arts
Genesis
1-2 Player

How do you improve on what may
arguably be the best sports simulation
ever?

It's not easy, but that’s exactly what
Electronic Arts has done with John Mad-
den Football '93 for the Genesis.

For those already familiar with the
basic Madden interface, not much has
changed. The screen is still split horizon-

tings at the start of the game, the gamer
will notice that there are a few more
teams to choose from. But these aren't
just any teams; these are eight of the
greatest pro teams in the last two
decades!

Imagine playing smash-mouth football
using the undefeated '72 Miami team
against Pittsburgh's vaunted Steel Cur-
tain of 1978. Or do the Super Bowl shuf-
fle with the colorful cast of characters on
the 85' Chicago team and take on the
Dallas Doomsday defense of 1978.

Besides all these legendary clubs,
Madden '93 has not only an All-Madden
team of '93 All-Stars, but also an All-
Madden, All-Time team - truly the tough-
est of the tough guys, and the best of
the best.

Once the armchair coach has selected
his team, the game begins. Call the coin
toss, consider the wind direction, choose
to kick or receive and which goal to
defend. The game looks pretty much the
same as previous Madden titles.

On offense, choose plays from a play-
book that remains largely unchanged
from Madden '92. New features for the

John Madden ‘93 features the same
great game play as the earlier versions.

Madden' 93 also features an element
that will break new ground in video
games. For the first time, a voice created
by a home video game system is recog-
nizable. Hear John Madden's praise after
freight-training a halfback in the hole:
"Where'd that truck come from?" Or
hear, "Hey, heck of a play" after complet-
ing an 80-yard bomb.

When the game is over, players are
presented with an expanded statistical
breakdown of the game. View not only
the usual stats in offensive and defen-
sive categories, but find out whose run-
ning back gained the most yards on how
many carries, his average yards per rush,
how many touchdowns he scored, etc.
There's defensive player stats, too. See
which player had the most tackles,
sacks, and interceptions.

Like other Madden releases, Madden
'93 is great either in one or two-player
mode. The game has always excelled in
the two-player mode however, because
the computer opponent can be beaten
rather easily with practice. But the unpre-
dictability of a human opponent can keep
this game fresh until. ..well, maybe until
Madden '94.

If there's one way EASN could improve
the Madden series, it would be to
license the NFL in order to use team
names and logos.

Despite that admittedly minor short-
coming, EASN must be commended for
re-working what may be the most cele-
brated sports game ever, and making it
even better.

— Joe Funk

tally for the offense and defense, and all
the pro teams are available to use. And
a defensive back can still lay out a spine
crackling hit on a poor wide receiver com-
ing over the middle.

All the good stuff about the old Mad-
den games is here, but the wizards at
EASN have managed to make the hal-
lowed title even better.

Changes are noticeable the first time
you plug in the cart. On the option set-

'93 playbook include a QB stop clock
play and the no huddle offense.

On defense, make a nasty clothesline
tackle on the punt returner as he tries to
dance by, or taunt the opposing QB after
smearing him into the artificial turf.

During play, Madden '93 coaches will
notice that game play is even faster and
smoother than before. The players have
more moves too, like one-handed grabs
and shoestring catches.

OVERALL

96 %

64 Electronic Games

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- . .And

Win Your

Leader Board

Check out the top qualifiers in each event.

Have you met the Challenge?

400 M Hurt-les

These athletes have what it takes to attack the track and cross the
finish line in record time.

Rank Name

City

Character

Time

#1

Desmond Wu

San Carlos, CA

Wheels

0:54

ffl

Ted Chuh

San Mateo, CA

Wheels

0:54

43

Shannon White

Phoenix, Al

Sting

0:58

44

Bennett Meyer

Richmond, 1 /A

Clint

1:00

#5

Evan Burns

Detroit, Ml

Skip

1:08

Water Slaughter

These water warriors have shown their dominance of the acqueduct
and defeated their opponents taster than anyone else out there.
Rank Name City Character Time

#1

Ted Chuh

San Mateo, CA

Clint

1:40

#2

Desmond Wu

San Carios, CA

Clint

1:41

#3

Jerry Anderson

Edina, MN

Knots

1:44

#4

Howard Issac

Peoria, IL

lack

1:49

#5

Pat Hudson

Denver, CO

Milo

1:53

Skyline Scramble

In the most dangerous event of all, these athletes have proven their
strength and endurance, vaulting 13 buildings and crossing the
finish line in world record time.

Rank Name

City

Character

Time

#1

Ted Chuh

San Mateo. CA

Crash

1:56

42

Desmond Wu

San Carlos, CA

Crash

1:59

#3

Jed Overland

Des Moines, IA

Barns

2:07

#4

Nick Vinnetti

Newark, NJ

Cheese

2:10

#5

Gregory Lee

Omaha, NE

Crash

2:14

Judo

These Judo Masters have proven they've got the brains to outwit
their opponents and the brawn to pummel them in the fastest times
ever.

Rank Name City Character Time

ffl

Desmond Wu

San Carlos, CA

Noise

0:39

#2

Ted Chuh

San Mateo, CA

Noise

0:49

#3

Perry Fazio

Milwaukee, Wl

Cheese

1:27

#4

Brad Worth

Stamford, CT

Zack

1:52

45

Sandy Beck

Kansas City, KS

Crash

2:03

Tie-Breaker Questions

The tie-breaker questions wilt determine the winner if two or more
entrants have achieved the same qualifying time in any of the
events. Make sure you answer both questions.
theauswehs to these questions must be written on a plain 3X5 piece of

PAPER ALONG WITH YOUR NAME , AGE, ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER TO QUALIFY
FOR THE TIE-BREAKER.

Question 1:

What gift does Todd bring Team Thornley at the airport, in the
victory animation sequence following a 1 -player Tournament victory
by Southside High?

Question 2:

How many gold medals are available on the Hammer Throw golf
course?

$5, OOO

r

Show The World Just How Good You
Are... And BAG BIG BUCKS!

In May, 1993 American Technos and Electronic Gaming Monthly
will award a total of $5,000— IN CASH— to the country’s top
gamers. We’ll dole out the dough to the top five record holders
in each of four Street Challenge events: 400-M Hurtles; Water
Slaughter; Skyline Scramble; and Judo.

You’ll be able to keep track of the current world record and
record-holder right here on our World Record Holders Board—
which we’ll update each issue between now and March.

Can you get your name and record up on the board for the world
to see? Even more important, can it stand up against all
challengers
month after
month until
we make
with the
moolah?

Remember,
you’re goin’
up against
the best —
and just like
you, they
can’t wait to
get their
hands on
some
serious
coinage.

Contest Rules Please Read All Rules Carefully!

1. To Enter: Send a photo of the game screen showing your best time in PRACTICE mode
of any of the four listed events to: "I'll Take The Challenge", 2401 Broadway, Suite 103,
Redwood City, CA 94063

Write your name and phone number in ink on the back of your photo for identification (on
Polaroids write on the front border). Then, on a plain 3x5 piece of paper hand print your
name, address and phone number, as well as your answers to both Tie-Breaker Questions
1 and 2 listed here on the World Record-Holders Board.

(See Tie-Breaker below)

2. Entry Restrictions: Entries must be from the game's PRACTICE mode in order to
qualify. (In Practice Mode you are not able to buy extra power-ups, to keep everyone
competing on equal footing.)

3. Photo Requirements: After completion of an event in PRACTICE mode, wait until after

the "WINNER " announcement completely disappears. The screen will automatically

pause. DO NOT PRESS ANY BUTTONS. With the game paused on this screen you can take
your time to shoot your picture. After you have taken the picture, press the start button
to resume game play. Any entries not adhering strictly to these photo requirements will
be disallowed. Illegible entries or tampered photographs will not be eligible. Original
negative may be requested from winners if contest sponsor desires. The decisions of the
judges are final. Sponsor and/or affiliated companies are not responsible for mutilated,
destroyed, undelivered or otherwise damaged entries.

Photo tip: If your camera's flash fires, it may well wash out the T.V. screen and your score
won't be readable. Consult your local camera dealer as to how to take pictures of a T.V.
screen. Polaroid or other color prints acceptable. No slides. Entries will not be returned.

4. Prize Limitations: Enter as often as you like in any or all four eligible events. (Does not
include Hammer Throw Golf.) However, only one entry from each contestant— the best
time on file from that contestant— will be considered in each event upon completion of
the contest. Awards will be limited to one cash prize per household per event, or no more
than four total cash prizes per household.

5. Cash Disbursement: Cash prizes to be awarded will total $5,000. A total of 51,250 for
each of the four events, will be disbursed as follows: First Place: S650 , Second Place:

S300 , Third Place: S150 , Fourth Place: S100, Fifth Place: 550

Winners will be notified by phone and/or certified mail. Winners' names and prize infor-
mation may be used by Electronic Gaming Monthly and American Technos for promotion-
al or advertising purposes without further compensation.

6. Tie-Breaker: In the event of a tie, where two or more entrants have the same winning
time, the contestant with the correct answers to both tie-breaker questions will be
declared the winner. In the event that the contestants have answered both questions
correctly, the applicable cash prize(s) will be divided equally among them.

7. Entry Deadline: Entries must be postmarked no later than March 31, 1993. Winners'
names will appear in the May/June, 1993 Edition of Electronic Gaming Monthly.

8. Contest is NOT open to employees of American Technos, Inc., Sendai Publishing Group,
Inc., or members of their immediate family, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and
promotion agencies and printers. All prizes will be awarded. Taxes are the responsibility
of winners.

9. For a list of winners, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: "I'll Take The
Challenge", 2401 Broadway, Suite 103, Redwood City, CA 94063

Take It To

CWASHBeBOYS

Stef CHteME

“Crash” Cooney and his posse from Southside High
own every sports record in Spring Hill history.

Legends? Heroes? Not in this town — where Todd
Thornley and all the rich snobs up on the Hill think
Southsiders are low-lifes.

So Todd and the silver-spoon mama’s boys at the three
“Hiller” schools have issued a desperate challenge to
save their fading reps: Let’s take it to the streets in the
Southside. ..no rules. ..no refs. ..no penalties— and we’ll
see who comes out in one piece.

And just in case the Hillers can’t handle Crash ‘N’ The
Boys, Todd’s rich daddy has fielded Team Thornley— a
ringer group of super-athletes from Thornley Industries.

Five radical events. Five motivated teams.

Five members per team. Only one winner.

Southside ’s Crash Cooney sets another
400M Hurt-les course record. Crash and the
Southside Boys— Cheese, Noise, Dragon and
Sting-Nay— gut the Hitlers to shame.

Todd Thornley lorgets to let go and takes a
ride in Hammer Throw Gott. His Washington
High team has been humiliated by Crash
once too often. This time it’s personal.

“Sgreck” Sgreckles, Jetlerson High’s
captain shows his lethal moves in the
Water Slaughter. He thinks Lincoln and
Washington are almost as bad as
Southside. Almost.

lECHnOS

amERican iechhos inc.‘

Licensed by

CNinfendoj

Rocky Rockowitz makes use ol the
devastating super kick in the Judo event.

The elite, computer-controlled Team Thornley
is out to crush Hillers and Southsiders alike.

Artie Van Smythe vaults from rooftop to
towering rooftop in the Skyline Scramble.
Lincoln High’s team captain despises the
Southsiders— especially Crash.

Crash 'N' The Boys TM and

©1992 American Technos, Inc.

All rights reserved. American
Technos and its logo are trade-
marks of American Technos, Inc.,
19200 Stevens Creek Blvd.,

Suite 120, Cupertino, CA 95014.
Nintendo, Nintendo Entertainment
System and the Nintendo Seal ot
Quality are registered trademarks
of Nintendo of America Inc.
©1991 Nintendo ol America Inc.

Steel Talons

Tengen
Genesis
1 Player

based hardware. Other hit games includ-
ed Hard Drivin’, Race Drivin and Stun
Runner. Then there was the very popular
Steel Talons. This game put player
against player or player against computer
in a 12 round helicopter simulation that

ii

1

I:

—

, Jrc

The army has Green Berets, the Navy
has their Seals, but the greatest chopper
pilots are known as Steel Talons. In
order to join the ranks of the best known
pilots in the bunch, the player must
prove himself in the simulator before
being allowed to fly a real 15 million dol-
lar gunship. Training is tough and rigor-
ous, so the player must be well prepared

Steel Talons offers three different types
of missions for the player to choose.

was very true to reality and form. This
version for the Genesis has been closely
recreated from the original arcade game
with the exception of only one player
being able to play. Upon enteringthe

to fly 12 action packed missions of dead-
ly situations in order to complete his
training. There is only so much time to
complete every mission; thus, expert
planning is crucial. Will you make the cut
and be given a chance to fly the real
thing? Only time will tell.

Steel Talons was first introduced in
arcades as a two player unit. It was the
fourth game to be made on polygon-

game, select from Training, Combat or
head-to-head play with the computer.
Training prepares the gamer for the chal-
lenge of the other levels and basically
gets him accustomed to flying the heli-
copter. Combat is the real thing with 12
missions of enemy action. Last but not
least, play head-to-head with the comput-
er. It’s the player against a computer
controlled gunship. The objective is to

Weapons, damage, and enemies can be

monitored from inside the helicopter.

destroy the enemy gunship while avoid-
ing ground fire. All three of these selec-
tions are very fun to play and different
enough so they remain interesting.

Flying the helicopter itself is a lot easi-
er than the original arcade machine. It
has been simplified for the sake of game
play. The arcade machine suffered a lit-
tle because players were so preoccupied
with trying to keep their helicopter in the
air instead of destroying targets. Overall,
it subtracted from the fun of the game.
Fortunately, this lovely translation is very
fun to play and simple to control.

The helicopter is very advanced in
weapon and computer equipment. It is
equipped with Hellfire missiles and a
rapid firing 30mm chain gun. It also has
a computer for targeting and locating the
enemy in all directions. The radar screen
will help the player locate himself as well
as the enemies and will assist him in
rapidly destroying the targets.

Overall, Steel Talons is a very well
rounded simulation. The graphics are
accurately done to the polygon style of
the original. The sound and music are
extremely realistic. The speed of the
game suffers very little in comparison to
most poly games done on the Genesis. If
you are a big fan of the arcade game,
you will not be disappointed with this
translation. If you are a newcomer to
these types of games and would like to
try this poly game, I feel you may be
impressed enough to buy others in this
genre.

— Franklin Horowitz

OVERALL

78 %

68 Electronic Games

Battleclash

Nintendo

SNES/Super Scope 6
1-2 Players

Just when you thought it was safe to
holster your light-gun. ..er... light-bazooka,
here comes Battleclash from Nintendo.
This is the first new game since the
Big-N released the Super Scope, but, as
promised, it is a grand one.

Battleclash takes the player around
Earth of the future. It seems there has
been an accident of some sort, and most
of the planet has been destroyed. Many
of Earth’s largest cities are now being
controlled by bosses wearing suits of
very sophisticated battle armor. It is the
players job to clean up the Earth (and
eventually the moon) and regain control.
This is the only way peace and harmony
can be reestablished.

The player takes control of one such
suit of armor, or at least the armor’s
weaponry. There is also a pilot on board
to control the suit’s movement. Listen to
the pilots advice and take careful aim.
The Earth must be brought back under
control.

Battleclash is not the first game to
place the player inside a mech-type unit.
The difference is, this time players need
not worry about the strategy aspects.

The whole point of this game is to blow
away the other guy. Each of the bosses
has a specific weak-point. It is important
to find this weak-point quickly and exploit
it. The character can only survive a little
while against the boss' weapons, so
speed is of utmost importance.

The primary weapon available is the
machine gun. The scope should be set
on turbo-fire. With this, the machine gun
will automatically be the selected
weapon. There is a super-shot available

by holding the
gun's fire until it
has a chance to
power-up.

Once every
round, the play-
er can access a
bomb, but it is
important to fire
this only when
the enemy has
stopped moving
as the bomb
has to reach the
boss the same
way a regular
shot does. The
player can also
obtain some
one-time only
weapons from some of the bosses when
they have been defeated.

The graphics in Battleclash are defi-
nitely the best ever for a home gun-
game. The enemies are innovative and
both well-drawn and well-animated. There
is a good variety in the different bosses,
and some of them even loose limbs or
pieces of their armor when they are fired
upon. The last boss is so large that he
must be blown away a piece at a time.

Unlike the graphics, the sound is
uneventful. The game could have used a
little more attention here, and while the
sound isn’t bad, it just doesn’t stand
out.

The game plays smooth, and the only
thing the player has to worry about is fir-
ing the gun. There is no slowdown, even
when the bosses are zipping all over the
screen.

There is also a wide variety of play
options. One player can go through the
game, defeating all of the bosses and
beating the game. There is also a one
player time trial
mode, with
three different
levels: low,
medium, and
high. In each of
these, there are
a certain num-
ber of bosses to
be defeated,
and the comput-
er tracks the
amount of time
spent on each
one and totals
them for rank.
Similarly, there
is a two player
mode with the
same options.

Instead of just competing for rank, the
players compete against each other.

The only problem with this game is
that it is just too darn easy. It can be
beaten without much thought in an after-
noon. And while the game does hold
some replay value, there is some ques-
tion as to how long a game like this can
remain interesting.

The map shows your route around Earth
and eventually all the way to the Moon.

Overall, Battleclash is exactly what the
Super Scope needed: a fun game with
good graphics. Hopefully in the future,
there will be some more challenging
games for this peripheral, but for now,
Battleclash fills a nearly year long void.

— Marc Camron

OVERALL

81 %

Electronic Games 69

VIDEO CRME CHLLERY

Chester Cheetah —

Too Cool to Fool

Kaneko
SNES
1 Player

There are unexpected twists and turns
in the endless search to find characters
from other media to populate video and
computer games. When Virgin copped
the rights to the 7-Up Spot characters
and produced a winner, other publishers
turned their collective gaze toward ani-
mated product shills as potential video
game stars.

Too Cool to Fool is based on a sub-
cartoon premise: a bully named Mean
Eugene and his toady bulldog have
ripped off Chester’s motorcycle. Chester
is the theoretical resident of a dullsville
zoo where his situation is reminiscent of
the old Tennessee Tuxedo toons.
Chester has his own motorcycle, for
example, and is allowed to dress like a
human being, so this is not exactly the
Attica of zoos. Eugene, on the other
hand, is not only mean, he is downright
nihilistic. He doesn’t want to ride
Chester’s bike, he wants to bust it up
and scatter the pieces over as wide a
terrain as the developers could fit into
the available ROM.

Chester then sets off on a wimpy
quest to retrieve the remnants of his
wasted cycle. He can jump, run and
crawl on his belly like a reptile. His main
agenda is leaping into the air, Super
Mario-style, and capturing what look like
a cross between pizzas and basketballs
but are probably Cheetos. He encounters
springy bugs, who give him a vertical
boost if he lands on them, turtles (why
are video games obsessed with turtles
as enemies?) and various combinations
of Eugene and his bulldog sidekick.

It is unlikely, however, that Cheetos
spokes-feline Chester Cheetah is going
to give the Mario Brothers any sleepless
nights. Based on his star turn on the
SNES, Too Cool to Fool (with a second
game, Power Moves, slated for co-
release), he has neither the charm nor
the content to get him over in gaming.

The turtles do have a neat gimmick:
when inside their shell, Chester can
jump on them like a trampoline without
effect. They are only vulnerable when
they come out of their shells and scoot
around on roller skates. Actual physical
contact with the bugs, turtles, etc., costs
Chester a life.

From snack food to game hero, Chester
Cheetah is just too cool for words alone.

The game seems to have a zillion
power-ups, few of which possess even
the most tenuous logical continuity with
one another. Many of the power-ups are
even bogus. At one point, Chester
encounters an electric guitar. When he
makes contact with it, the game switch-
es to a non-interactive sequence showing
Chester duckwalking slightly to the left
and right, while any enemy creatures that
wander on screen are instantly dis-
patched by his guitar licks. The fact is,
however, that Chester doesn’t make any
forward progress with this power-up. It’s
a sham, the mere illusion of a special
weapon that the character could just as
easily disregard.

The graphics are pleasant, but there is
very little visual background to suggest
that Chester is in a zoo, or anyplace else
in particular. Also, while it is perhaps
laudable to limit the violence quotient in
video games, Chester’s lack of offensive
output leaves the player with nothing to
do but jump. And jump. And jump. This
game seems to be a rushed project-
more thought and game programming
could have alleviated the sparse offen-
sive capabilities.

Perhaps Power Moves will prove a bet-
ter vehicle for Chester, but the character
just doesn’t seem to possess the visual
charisma or personal appeal a winning
video game character needs. Lessons
could be learned from the Mario crew.
Besides, just how cool could a cat char-
acter with a name like Chester really be,
anyway?

— Bill Kunkel

OVERALL

82 %

70 Electronic Games

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Electronic Arts

95( FOB THE FIRST MINUTE, 71

GET ROAD RASH™ II FOR YOUR GENESIS.
JUST CALL (800) 245-4525 ANYTIME OR
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VIDEO CAM E GALLERY

Hook

Sony Imagesoft
SNES
1 Player

One of the biggest
holiday movies of
1991 is coming to
the 16-Bit game
scene in 1992.

Hook, from Sony
Imagesoft, is ready
for release on the
SNES, and a version
with special anima-
tion and scenes from
the movie is in pro-
duction for the Sega
CD.

The story of the
movie remains
intact, but there is a
slant toward the
action that many
movie-to-game con-
versions strive for
but never achieve.

The player assumes
the role of Peter Ban-
ning, a businessman
and father. Living in
the real world has definitely gone to
Peter’s head. He doesn’t even remember
that there was a time when he was
somewhere else. A place where pirates

A map screen is shown before each
level. Jolly Rogers represent levels.

and adventure lie, and where little boys
don’t grow up.

Captain Hook still lives in that place
called Neverland, and wants to trick
Peter into returning to Neverland and fin-
ishing the feud of days past. To fulfill his
evil plan, Hook has kidnapped Peter’s
children, and now Peter must return to
Neverland to rescue them and face Hook
one more time.

The game takes the player through
twelve levels of side-scrolling action, on
a quest to rescue Peter's children and
defeat Hook. The first goal is to best the
leader of the Lost Boys, regain Peter's
sword, and his title of Pan. Once this
task is finished, it is time to clean up
Neverland. There are pirates everywhere,

and treasure for Peter Pan to gather up.
At the end of each level there is a boss
that must be beaten to advance.

What makes this game different from
most games based on movie licenses is
that this game is good! In many cases, it
seems that companies are content to
purchase a license for a hit movie, and
not spend any money developing the
game. Sony has done the opposite.

While the movie was good, the game is
fantastic.

The graphics are top-quality, with much
attention paid to detail. The gameplay
and control are also very well done.

When Peter jumps, he seems to float in
the air, and during a long jump, the char-
acter will execute a flip at the peak to
inform the player that he is on his way

Tink provides Pixie Dust so Peter
can fly circles around the bosses.

down. This floating takes a little getting
used to, but is very smooth. As for
sound, John Williams’ soundtrack

remains intact.

The only real
sticky spot is the
level of difficulty, or
rather the lack
thereof. Once the
pattern of enemies
is learned, as well
as where extra
lives can be found,
an average player
should be able to
walk through the
game. This isn’t to
say that the game
isn’t worth pur-
chasing just
because it is easil-
ly beaten. The
graphics and
sound give the cart
a certain replay
value.

Overall, Hook is
an excellent game,
suitable for all age
groups and levels
of game players. The question that
should be asked in these cases is
"Would this game be any good if it
wasn’t for the license attached?” The
answer here is "Yes." Whether or not a
person enjoyed the movie, Hook remains
a worthwhile game for anyone who wish-
es to visit Neverland one more time.

— Marc Camron

OVERALL

88 %

74 Electronic Games

TURBO TOUCH 360 by triax

Technology Break-through in Video Game Control

Call 1-800-858-7429 for the name of your nearest Turbo Touch 360 retailer

Patent Pending. Sega, Genesis and Master System are registered trademarks of Sega of America, Inc. Nintendo, Nintendo Entertainment System(NES) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System
(Super NES) are registered trademarks of Nintendo of America, Inc. Turbo Touch 360 and Triax are trademarks of Triax Technologies. ©1992, Triax Technologies

For use with

w Sega Genesis'”’ and
Master System ®

For use with
Nintendo
Entertainment
System ®

For use with
Super Nintendo
Entertainment
System ®

TURBO TOUCH
360

OTHER

CONTROLLERS

ELIMINATES NUMB THUMB

Yes

No

QUICK RESPONSE

Yes

No

EASY DIAGONAL

Yes

No

TRUE CIRCULAR

Yes

No

BETTER CONTROL

Yes

No

LONGER PLAY AND HIGHER
SCORES GUARANTEED

Yes

No

TURBO TOUCH 360rDOES

WHAT OTHER
CONTROLLERS DON’T

VIDEO GRME CRLLERY

Captain America and
The Avengers

Data East
Genesis
1-2 Players

With the large show of force and cur-
rent explosion of Batman, it would seem
that DC comics is riding high. The
renewed interest and popularity of this
character can be based solely on the
movie and new cartoon exposure. This

Players choose between The Vision, Iron
Man, Captain America, and Hawkeye.

rush of Batmania has led to many new
products including home video games on
almost all formats. However, Marvel isn't
going to sit back and let "the other guy"
dominate the gaming market. To combat
the surge in cartoon and comic heroes
flooding the market, Data East brings us
Captain America and the Avengers.

In this comic caper, the player battles
against several famous villains from the
comic pages, all under control of the Red
Skull. It seems the long time nemesis of
Captain America has obtained a mind
control device and is using its power to
control the Avenger's worst foes.

To do battle with the onslaught of
super villains, the player can choose
from three of the Avengers, (Vision,
Hawkeye, and Iron Man), as well as Cap-
tain America. Each character has their

own unique abilities and style as made
famous by the comics. Unlike some
games that give you simple movements,
this one exploits each character's attrib-
utes. There are six basic types of move-
ment: normal attack, special attack,
jump attack, block, slide, and throw. All
these movements vary for each charac-
ter. For example, when Captain America
blocks, he uses his shield whereas the
Vision renders his body density so low
that attacks don't effect him. Also, since
the Vision is extremely strong, he lifts
objects with one hand while others may
have to use two. This touch of "realism"
and integrity is refreshing to see.

Another good feature of this game is
that it not only allows for two players, but
it even has a versus mode. You can play
with a friend and clobber the bad guys,
or kill off your pal for stealing the power
ups in a face-to-face battle. Both modes
allow you to configure the controller to

Each of the characters has a special
attack. Cap uses his trusty shield.

your needs, and there are numerous diffi-
culty settings when playing the game's
missions

An added touch of spunk to the game
is the cameos by four other famous
Avengers. Wasp and Submariner both
make appearances in their native territo-
ries (air and water, respectively). Quick-
silver races by and drops off a power pill,
while Wonder-Man supplies flying crafts
for the non-aerial avengers.

Some of the lacking features include
the fact that the game's fighting can be
simplified by constant dashing or always
staying in the air by flying or jumping.

Yet, on the harder modes, action is fast
and furious. There is also a good graphi-
cal representation of the super heroes
and villains. They are accurately drawn
and remain truthful to their characters in
the comics in their fighting abilities.

Fans who have followed these comic
heroes through their "careers" as well as
those who have never seen them can
easily get into this comic crusade. The
enjoyable game play is attractive to all
players. Avengers, assemble!

— Howard Grossman

OVERALL

78 %

76 Electronic Games

Spiderman and the
X-Men in Arcade's
Revenge

LJN/Acclaim
SNES
1 Player

With a title like Spiderman and X-Men
in Arcade's Revenge, you'd expect a
game that matches the intensity and
excitement of the comic book pages
where Marvel's red hot heroes reside.

With this cart the player gets a good
looking, solid-playing game that packs a
decent punch, but it is not powerful
enough to cause a serious concussion.

When the game begins, you must first
assume the role of Spiderman in a pre-
liminary round.

Although it provides an effective prac-
tice session the first few times you play
the game, the preliminary level gets
awfully tedious after while. You must
disarm 20 devices in sequence before
you can advance. Every time you die, you
must re-accomplish this task.

Once this requirement is completed,
the player earns the right to choose
which superhero he wishes to use. Each
character has its own set of superhuman
qualities and a specific mission that
he/she must fulfill.

• Spidey is famous for his super
strength, the ability to stick to almost
any surface, his premonitional Spider
Sense and his trusty Web-Shooters. Use
his skills to get through the warehouse
level. "With great power comes great

responsibility," and Spidey is ready to
take it to the enemies with the gamer's
help!

• Wolverine has unbreakable adaman-
tium claws and an internal skeletal sys-

Each of the characters must escape the
maze Arcade has designed just for them.

tem that makes him incredibly tough.

Can you survive the machine-gun wield-
ing jack-in-the-boxes and find your way
out of the deadly fun house? Do your
best, bub!

• Cyclops possesses a concentrated
ruby red laser beam that can fry his ene-
mies. He can also punch and kick his
enemies at close range. Find your way out
of a mine shaft, but be careful not to
electrocute yourself on the tracks. Utilize
Cyclops' strong character to accomplish
the goal.

• Gambit deals death blows to his ene-
mies by flinging kinetically charged
cards. In his level, the player must stay
active or he will get squashed by the
relentless Doomball. Deal the enemies a

Full House of pain! Gambit pulls no
punches!

• Storm masters the elements by con-
juring up whirlwinds or lightening bolts to
thwart her adversaries. Venture underwa-
ter against an ocean of enemies. Keep
an eye on your air supply or you'll find
yourself belly-up and blue-faced.

Once the player selects his character,
he must remember that there is no time
limit to finish a level. Patience is the key
to conquering this formidable cart.

The game would have been better if
there were more built-in flexibility. One
cool addition would be if you could select
any of the five characters - and any of
the five missions - at the outset. Each
character has different abilities, so the
player would have to learn five separate
techniques for getting through a particu-
lar level defeating a certain boss.

The players must master each of the
character's powers to triumph here.

Instead, he has to use the same char-
acter on the same level every time he
plays. This lack of variety substantially
limits the potential of what could have
been an outstanding game.

Hopefully, Acclaim doesn't get discour-
aged in their effort to transfer comic
book heroes from paper to an electronic
medium. With exciting and colorful art-
work, fan recognition, and built-in story-
lines, comic book heroes have virtually
infinite possibilities in video games. The
incredible plots of some of the best
known super heroes would translate well
to the video game realm-this title
makes a strong case for future releases.

— Joe Funk

RATING

Complexity

Hard

Graphics

73%

Sound

67%

Playability

77%

OVERALL

72 %

Electronic Games 77

VIDEO GAME GALLERY

Andre Agassi Tennis

TecMagik

Designed by: Greg Omi

Genesis

1-2 Players

pointed by this fast-paced take on racke-
teering, because it doesn’t have the spe-
cial touches and overall depth that are
hallmarks of 16-Bit titles.

That doesn’t mean it’s a bad game, or
that Andre Agassi Tennis isn’t fun for a
few brisk rounds. It’s simply that a
licensed tennis game seems to promise
so much more than this one actually
delivers on the screen.

The one or two-player contest, which
also operates in self-play, offers both
singles and doubles competition. There
are three modes of play: practice, tourna-
ment and a skins game. The latter intro-
duces variable monetary rewards for
each point scored.

The helpful practice phase simulates
an automated ball-serving machine. It
sprays them to all parts of the court to

It comes down to a question of expec-
tations. Gamers know their systems, and
they make assumptions about what a
good game for that machine should
include. No one belittles a GameBoy car-
tridge because the sound isn’t as good
as a Genesis, there isn’t as much pro-
gramming as a multimedia title, or graph-
ics comparable to the Amiga. Savvy
gamers judge new titles in light of their
knowledge of the hardware’s capabili-
ties.

Andre Agassi Tennis is a highly
playable, arcade-style tennis cartridge
that would’ve delighted owners of eight-
bit systems had this new publisher
released it in the late 1980s. All but the
youngest Genesis gamers may be disap-

help the video gamer get used to the
control system. Unfortunately, there is
no way to practice volleying, though a
few sets against any of the imaginary
athletes included on the cartridge soon
gets the on-screen Agassi leaping about
the court with his customary skill.

Apart from Agassi himself, the eight
players included with the game are obvi-
ously meant to suggest specific well-
known pros. Pre-match screens display
strength and accuracy ratings for each of
their basic strokes and an overall speed
rating.

The two female netters can be
matched against any of the men without
a ratings adjustment. This produces
some unrealistic gaming in mixed singles

Andre Agessi Tennis even gives players
the opportunity to practice their serves.

matches, especially since one of the
women has ratings superior to Agassi’s.

The four different types of courts are
well-drawn in trapezoidal format with the
net stretched horizontally across the
screen. The surroundings are poorly
detailed and not animated. The judge
does not make calls in a pop-up window
or interact with the players. It is the
absence of such niceties on the playfield
that stamp Andre Agassi Tennis as less
than state-of-the-art.

Sound is equally sparse. The program
verbalizes the names of the players
when each one’s statistical summary
appears, but the music and sound
effects remain unimpressive.

Playability is this cartridge’s greatest
strength. Moving a player within range
and pressing button A (for a smash) or B
(for a lob) is all that is needed to make a
shot. The direction pad controls the
angle of deflection, backspin, and top-
spin. This provides an admirable control
scheme, allowing a new player to quickly
pick up on the mechanics of the game
without becoming frustrated. However,
once the gaming aspects are mastered,
the overall challenge of the contest
begins to wear thin.

Andre Agassi is one of the top-seeded
tennis stars in the world and a threat to
win any major tournament. This game,
however, won’t make the cut for real stu-
dents of the sport. It offers little that is
not available in other cartridges, includ-
ing eight-bit ones.

— Arnie Katz

OVERALL

75 %

78 Electronic Games

Super Battle Tank:

War in the Gulf

Absolute Entertainment
Designed by: Garry Kitchen
Genesis
1 Player

The enemies in this action combat
game are a good deal more active than
the ones our Desert Storm troops faced
in the real war. In the Genesis edition,
which derives from earlier versions for
MS-DOS computers and the SNES, Iraqi
tanks, helicopters, and SCUD missile
launchers are quite eager to slug it out
with the allies’ Abrams M1A1 battle
tanks. However, the M1A1 has some
pretty powerful tricks up its cannon.

Super Battle Tank presents ten
increasingly difficult missions, each of
which is preceded by a briefing. These
non-interactive sequences have minor
animations, such as a pointer that waves
in the general direction of an easel-
mounted map with no particular logic.
Holding down a button makes the pream-
bles run faster, but there is no way to
skip these rather bland and unexciting
segments. The mission stats that follow
the briefing would probably be enough
information for most digital tankers.

The post-mission reports are of greater
interest, mostly because they include a
scoring summary. Pressing the A button
after an unsuccessful battle permits the
gamer to retain accumulated score and
start the next round of play by attempting
the failed assignment again. This contin-
ue feature comes in handy.

Two display screens put the player into
the action. Button C calls up a map
overview with the locations of all tanks,
helicopters, bases, missile sites, mine-
fields, and chemical dumps represented

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The computer will display new enemies
and inform players of their capabilities.

by small, but easily identifiable symbols.
Most gamers will employ the long-range
screen to approach a target and then
switch to the first person cockpit per-
spective for close combat.

The B button cycles through the
MlAl’s three weapons: laser-guided
shells, a 120mm cannon and the
machine gun. The sighting cursor
changes to indicate which weapon is cur-
rently active. Pressing the A button fires
whichever weapon is currently on-line.

The Abrams also has a Night Vision
Scope that helps see in the dark. Unac-
countably, it only works for 30 seconds
at a time, and the number of uses is lim-
ited. The Smokescreen comes in handy
for confusing the enemy, though the doc-

umentation carries a warning against
traveling at high speed through the haze.

The start button is the tank’s gas
pedal. Holding it while pressing the direc-
tion pad up makes the tank go faster,
while pressing down applies the brakes.
Pressing the pad left or right while accel-
erating turns the vehicle. The direction
disk raises and lowers the gun angle or
swivels the turret, as necessary. The
command control system always desig-
nates directions as they would appear
from the tank cockpit, which can be a lit-
tle confusing on the long range screen.

The battle screen includes instruments
that give a lot of information that is inter-
esting, if not always useful. The exact
gun angle, movement speed, and range-
to-target are nice to know, but they exert
little influence over the play of the game
and aren't noticed during heavy battles.

The tank is equipped with long range
radar to track all of the level’s enemies.

The short-range radar, with an over-
head view of the area surrounding the
tank, is much more practical. It helps the
player avoid blind-side attacks from the
flank or rear. Also handy is the Weapon
Status panel, giving an instant report on
the effectiveness of a weapon.

The graphics are about average,
though the coloring of the night missions
is especially attractive. The sound
effects are adequate, nothing more.

The timeliness of the subject is the
main recommendation for Super Battle
Tank, and it is hardly the only treatment
of the Mideast conflict available on the
home gaming screen.

— Arnie Katz

OVERALL

72 %

Electronic Games 79

SOFTWARE

GALLERY

SimLife

Maxis

Designed by: Ken Karakotsios
Macintosh
1 Player

While other major publishers have
been content to simulate the more tangi-
ble components of life on our planet —
from sports games to simulators of
everything from biplanes and tanks to
VTOLs and attack helicopters — Maxis
has always had a more profound agenda.

It began with SimCity, a ground break-
ing gamble that spiraled from a cult sen-
sation to a mass-market phenomenon.
For the first time, instead of coaching a
football team or putting a hot sports car
through its paces, players were given
almost godlike powers that enabled
them to build and maintain simulated
cities. The intuitive interface allowed
users to designate zones for commer-
cial, industrial or residential use, estab-
lish a tax base, orchestrate mass transit
and even construct airports, harbors and
sports stadiums. It was the quintessen-

Genetic engineering for fun and profit.
Design a variety of new beings.

tial example of education as entertain-
ment. While learning firsthand the diffi-
culties of maintaining large urban areas,
SimCity also provided exactly the type of
positive reinforcement that makes good
electronic gaming such a compelling
experience.

Inspired by its success, Maxis tried
the same approach on a variety of fasci-
nating subjects. Sometimes the scope
was broad, as in SimEarth, where users
guide a living planet from its creation to
its demise over a span of 10 billion
years. In other projects, Maxis narrowed
its focus. In SimAnt, users direct the
growth of an ant colony stationed on the
lawn of a typical, middle-class American
home.

These projects have now culminated in
Maxis’ masterpiece, SimLife, a program
that toys not only with state-of-the-art sci-
ence but with crucial questions about the
very nature of life itself. Artificial Life (A-
life) experiments have produced ques-
tions that may shake the very founda-
tions of Western scientific thought. For
example, life has traditionally been
defined in terms of what it was. A-life
suggests that it may be more correct to
perceive life in terms of what it does,
how it reacts to stimuli and whether or
not it evolves to meet changing condi-
tions.

Computer models have already creat-
ed viable, single-cell lifeforms in labora-
tories that mimic actual cellular behavior
to a remarkable degree. Where does it
lead? Will it eventually be possible to
break down a human being, cell by cell,
and store him or her on a memory stor-
age device for modification (the replace-
ment of cancerous cells with healthy
models, for example) and eventual repli-
cation?

Obviously, SimLife will not allow you to
save your pet goldfish to disk, but it is a
remarkable product that provides a mind-
opening introduction to the nature of life
itself. The user creates a model of an
ecosystem, gives it an environment, then
populates it by creating and modifying
lifeforms on the genetic level.

Two of the program’s neatest features
are the user’s ability to control evolution
- an ecosystem can range from a stag-
nant mess to a madhouse of mutation -
and the option of changing the laws of
physics for the simulated universe.

The icon and menu-driven game sys-
tem will be second nature to owners of
earlier Maxis efforts while even newcom-
ers to the world-building business should
find the operation fairly simple to manip-
ulate. The program is large. Breaking
down the creation of an ecosystem to

The habitat and environment must be
controlled to sustain the new life-forms.

the cellular level is not exactly on the
level of a roll-your-own golf course con-
struction kit, after all. But it is surprising-
ly approachable.

Special kudos to computer sound mae-
stro Russell Lieblich, perhaps the best
composer/audio man in the business,
who creates sounds that seem utterly
apt to the on-screen activity.

SimLife is an important game, but
even arcade addicts shouldn’t let that
put them off, because it is also an
incredibly entertaining and enlightening
experience.

— Bill Kunkel

RATING

Complexity Average

Graphics

90%

Sound

95%

Playability

90%

OVERALL

93 %

80 Electronic Games

Plan 9 from Outer Space

Konami

Designed by: Gremlin Graphics Software
MS-DOS
1 Player

The first thing players need to know
about this point-and-click adventure is
that it has absolutely nothing to do with
the actual Edward Wood classic of cine-
matic ineptitude, Plan 9 from Outer
Space. Plan 9 is a mystery adventure
involving the making of the movie. The
Producer hires a detective, the player, to
retrieve some Plan 9 from Outer Space
reels that have vanished from his safe.

The interface is not unlike the one
which Dynamix has popularized in the
last couple of years. The mouse (or key-
board) moves a cursor around a main
display, which fills about one-third of the
screen. A message appears directly
above the display whenever the cursor
encounters possible avenues of travel.
The pointer changes into a direction sign-
post to insure that the gamer is aware of
the opportunity. Clicking at that point
causes the detective to move to the indi-
cated destination.

Other possible actions are listed in a
menu in the lower right corner of the
screen. A point-and-click on any com-
mand causes the cursor to change
shape and prints the action portion of
the command above the action window.
Clicking on any object in the window com-
pletes the printed version of the com-
mand at the top-center of the screen and
executes the order. Sometimes this

causes descriptive text to appear in the
message area below and to the left of
the main display.

The "talk” command triggers the
menu-driven conversation system. The
player picks something to say from a list
of possibilities, and sees the answer in
an on-screen word balloon.

One inconvenience in the control sys-
tem is that once the game implements a
command (except “talk”), it returns to its
original, unhighlighted state on the
menu. If the player wants to examine six
objects in the same room, therefore, it is
necessary to click on “examine” six
times. The conversation system func-
tions until the player ends the discus-
sion; too bad the other action choices
don’t persist in a similar manner.

Which of these guys is not of this world,
and what is the meaning of his warning?

The illustrations are good, if simple,
but the tone is uneven. Some scenes
look like a slightly animated comic book,
while others try to evoke the horror

Clues could be hidden anywhere, so
make sure you leave no stone unturned.

ambience with stark images. Alternating
innocuous and threatening scenes
heightens the effect on the viewer, but
the style of the artwork should be more
harmonious.

Those who thought the days of frustra-
tion ended with the passing of the pars-
er-driven adventure may find their relief
was premature. Too often, the program
tells the player that the current order is
meaningless, unhelpful, or impossible.
Players readily accept something being
physically impossible, but it sets the
teeth on edge when the game flat out
prevents the user from doing something
obviously because the designer didn’t
want to deal with the ensuing complica-
tions. This is lazy game-writing.

The dialogue doesn’t sparkle, and the
prose gets pretty bad in a few spots.
Again, more time in programming would
have been appreciated. The skimpy docu-
mentation answers few questions,
including the whereabouts of the fast for-
ward and rewind features mentioned
prominently on the back of the package.
Another question worth asking is why, in
a game in which the inventory keeps
track of the player’s money, are cab
rides free? (Please, don’t tell us this is
in imitation of Edward Wood’s slapdash
approach to movie production.)

Plan 9 from Outer Space is not worthy
of its clever premise. It is a slightly bet-
ter than average adventure of moderate
complexity. It has some nice moments,
but perhaps not as many as it should’ve.

— Arnie Katz

Complexity

Graphics

Sound

Playability

RATING

Average

OVERALL

75%

Electronic Games 81

SOFTWARE GALLERY

Heaven & Earth

Buena Vista Software
Designed by: Michael Feinberg and
Scott Kim
MS/DOS
1 Player

Heaven & Earth's overall theme, a
kind of New Age path to enlightenment
based on presumed Tibetan legends of
a long-lost land, is as flamboyant as its
name. Indeed, as its excellent docu-
mentation acknowledges at the outset,
“Entertainment software falls into one
of three categories: toys, puzzles, or
games.” And that’s what the three main
segments are supposed to be: The Card
Game is just that, The Pendulum is a
toy, and The Illusions is a treasure
chest of puzzles.

The Illusions comprise twelve sepa-
rate puzzle types, ranging from varia-
tions on the maze theme, through slid-
ing block puzzles of the classic “15” or
“Dad’s” puzzle sort, to some that bring
changes on the jigsaw or tiling theme.
Each type has four difficulty levels, des-

Heaven and Earth is more than just a
game, it is a package of entertainment.

ignated Ocean, Desert, Mountain and
Sky, with appropriate graphics, and
each level contains twelve puzzles (sce-
narios). These generally begin with one
or two easy pieces to solve, mainly to
demonstrate the special features of

File Game Options Help

■ ” T J— r y

that portion.

Then the chal-
lenges begin.

As an exam-
ple, some maze
variants use mul-
tiple cursor
blocks to trace
the paths, con-
trolled together
by the mouse or
direction keys. If
any one of the
cursors is
blocked, all are
prevented from
moving. Not too
difficult to mas-
ter, eh? Then
along comes the
puzzle where

some of the cursors may move in oppo-
site or mirrored directions to the con-
trolled set!

The Pendulum features a weight or
pendant swinging over a bowl-shaped
playfield. In the arena may be one or
more jewel-like vortices with “gravity
wells" that can influence the path of the
pendulum. The path can also be influ-
enced by movements of the mouse or
arrow keys, and the idea is to get the
pendant to pause close to a positive
vortex long enough to be “captured” by
it, at which point the vortex will disap-
pear. But some vortices are negative,
and if the pendulum is captured by one
of these, that scenario must start over
again.

Neither of these two segments could
be totally transferred to physical repre-
sentations, so they must be considered
as computer-requisites. The Card Game
might conceivably translate to a real
deck of cards, but not well. It would
lose the special sounds and animated
graphics that bring it above the ordinary,
and the scoring is sufficiently complicat-
ed. With positive and negative multipli-
ers for certain combinations of special
cards, it’s just as well the computer
takes care of it.

It's said to be based on a traditional
Japanese flower card game, “Flanafu-
da," which is in the rummy family. A pic-
ture card shows a landscape (represent-
ing Ocean, Desert, Mountain or Sky), a
top border representing one of the four
seasons, and a side border denoting
one of the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire
and Water. Certain combinations of
these represent months — almost an
astrological viewpoint.

Scoring depends on creating tricks of
two to four cards out of sets of cards

<<> o n

JU U UU U TO -

3 Landscapes - Sky (300 x 2 = 600 pis.)

Hand Score 700 Hand 1 Deal 8 Game Score

selected from repeated deals. But scor-
ing is complicated by randomly generat-
ed “celestial phenomena," such as
lightning, rain, snow, a tornado or rain-
bow, lunar eclipse or aurora borealis,
and these multiply or negate the value
of the trick in which they’re included.
There are no difficulty levels here, but
background graphics representing the
level names are selectable at will.

There is a fourth element to the
whole: The Pilgrimage, a randomized
sampling of each of the others, high-
lighted by quoted wisdom and poetry.

This sequence awards the player by col-
oring in small segments of a full-screen
black-and-white illustration at each com-
pleted step, which may be a puzzle, a
set of tricks from the card game that
reaches a specific score, the capture of
a vortex by the pendulum, or just an
inspirational poem to read.

The word addiction is a positive
attribute in this hobby, but for this expe-
rience a better word might be dedica-
tion, if not devotion. Heaven & Earth
inspires that kind of attitude for the
gamer who likes to just play. And if
enlightenment should join the gamer
along this pathway, why, so much the
better. Luckily (for some of us, anyway),
it’s not required.

— Ross Chamberlain

RATING

Complexity

Graphics

Sound

Playability

Average

OVERALL

88 %

82 Electronic Games

IBM 256-color VGA

A Technological
Breakthrough m 3-D

Action Fantasy!

THE SMOOTHEST 3-D SCROLLING
GRAPHICS EVER!

Ultima ® Underworld';
move over!

Legends of Valour™
sets a new standard
with the smoothest,
most life-like screen
scrolling in fantasy
adventures. The fast,
seamless first-person
view never jerks or
slows down — even
when you’re turning.

And unlike the
competition, our
256-color VGA
texture and detail
is retained even
when you move
close to an object.

TWO VIRTUAL
WORLDS! Explore two
huge worlds: 28 miles of
overworld town and an
underground series of
dungeons and labyrinths.

Never before has any world
been so massive or fully
developed. The dynamic, evolving
music score further heightens the realism.

SIMPLE INTERFACE, SMOOTH MOVES. Use the
streamlined point-and-click interface to easily interact

with hundreds of characters and
monsters, each with a unique
personality. One-touch icon-
based combat sequences are
fast and furious. Encounters
change depending
on day or night
* conditions.

^ \ And Auto-
mapping
tracks every
step you take.

A LEGENDARY
STORY. Choose
from an array of
professions by joining
any of nine guilds.
Embark on over 45 excit-
ing quests with multiple
endings. Restore a king
to power, slay an evil
demon and become
the stuff of which
legends are written!

LEGENDS OF VALOUR.

3-D fantasy adventuring
never looked better!

For play on IBM and Amiga.
Cluebook available.

SEEING IS
BELIEVING!
Check out our demo at your
nearest software store!

Experience the hottest, smoothest 3-D scrolling graphics ever in an underworld, or any world!

TO ORDER BY VISA/MC: call 1-800-245-4525 (in USA & Canada) . ULTIMA and UNDERWORLD are trademarks of Richard Garriott and ORIGIN Systems, Inc., respectively.

LEGENDS OF VALOUR is a trademark of Strategic Simulations, Inc. ©1992 Strategic Simulations, Inc. All rights reserved.

ran

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□ B,

■ ■

■ ■

■ ■

50FTWRRE CRLLERY

Red Zone

Psygnosis

Designed by: Gallagher, Burcombe,
Watkins, Parkes & Riding
Amiga
1 Player

When Konami/Gremlin released Team
Suzuki in 1991 it was the only serious
first-person motorcycle simulation to hit
these shores.

Now Psygnosis, one of the few soft-
ware publishers still committed to the
Amiga, has released Red Zone. This bike
race simulator is named for the area
where the tachometer maxes out and all
hell threatens to break loose. Although
similar in many ways to Team Suzuki,

Red Zone features enough of the usual
Psygnosis nuances to make it exciting.

The bike in Red Zone is lightning-fast
and the controls are extremely precise.

The main menu offers manual or auto-
matic gearbox, practice laps, single
races, or a full racing season. The rider
can customize just about every conceiv-
able aspect of graphic detail, challenge
and control. Trackside surfaces, sky
detail, mountain backdrops, oil patches
and cheering spectators are all available,
but it slows the display update.

On a standard Amiga, with every detail
option selected, the game looks great
but is almost impossible to play. The
sacrifice in control response results in a
vicious cycle of over-control and crashes.

Things improve immensely with all
detail switched off, but then the tracks
take on an eerie abandoned atmosphere
with only the track and trackside walls
visible through the windscreen. The
default options seem to have the opti-
mum balance of detail and speed, but
players may experiment to find levels
that suit them.

On accelerated Amigas, a specially
optimized code takes advantage of the
higher processor speed and allows a fast
race, even with a moderately high detail
level.

Who said motorcycle racing was a bed
of roses? At least they include doctors.

Using a mouse rather than joystick or
keyboard achieves the smoothest steer-
ing as well as the most efficient acceler-
ation, shifting and braking.

Ten International Grand Prix courses
are available. A qualifying lap determines
the player's position on the starting grid
and then it’s every man for himself. Once
the race has started, unique Psygnosis
touches really kick in. The bike rears
back with bursts of acceleration and
pitches forward in sudden stops, subtle
shadows fall over the instrument cluster
under bridges, and a brilliant shower of
sparks flies when a rival’s bike goes
down.

Options include a map display, nice
but impractical external views, bike re-
centering (but not necessarily facing the
right way) and rear-view mirrors. An
action replay helicopter view shows the
last few moments of the race.

As the inevitable collisions occur, dam-
age accumulates and the bike's handling
deteriorates. Pit stops repair damage,
then it’s back into the fray. Since scoring
is point-based, losing a race or even fail-
ing to qualify doesn’t necessarily end the
season.

Red Zone is not a game for the casual
player. It takes patience and practice to
master but holds a season full of excite-
ment for the determined biker.

— Scott Wolf

RATING

Complexity

Hard I

Graphics

83%

Sound

85%

Playability

81%

C

OVERALL

83 %

The Lost Files of
Sherlock Holmes

Electronic Arts

Designed by: Mythos Software
MS-DOS
1 Player

London, 1888. The fog shrouds the
city like a murky swamp. Suddenly, a
shrill cry rises to the smokey rooftops.
Another victim falls to the terror that is
Jack the Ripper.

In The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes,

the player takes on the role of the
famous dectective while he investigates
a murder in nineteenth century London.
Holmes' frequent antagonist and some-
time colleague, Inspector Lestrade of
Scotland Yard, has asked the detectec-
tive for assistance in the investigation of
a murdered young girl. The case appears
to be open and shut, but Sherlock
Holmes thinks otherwise. The player, as
Holmes, travels all over London, interro-
gating witness, searching for clues, and
interviewing various people who were
associtated with the witness. The many
people involved may or may not be telling
all they know, and Holmes must piece
together the truth hidden behind the hor-
rifying murder. Is this the evil work of the
notorious Spring-Heeled Jack, or has
some other villain decided to copy his
gruesome operations?

This game follows the famaliar play
mechanics of modern graphic adven-
tures, but the overall plot, with its gritty
realism and strong historical background,
makes it stand out. The player views the
game from a third person 3-D perspec-
tive, and has total control of Holmes'
movements and actions. The game
screen is divided by an interactive upper
portion and a point-and-click action menu
and the bottom. Using the action menu,
the player can examine, pick up, talk,
use, look, move, open, close, or give
objects and actions at any time during
the game.

The duo interface is very easy to use,
and provides the player with a unique
perspective of game playing. Holmes is

84 Electronic Games

THIS OPPONENT IS PROGRAMMED
TO BE CHALLENGING.

If you think you’re good at games, then let’s have some
real fun. When you’re online with GEnie® Multi-Player
Games, you’re playing real people, in real time. Some of
the best players around the world. □ Splash a bandit in Air
Warrior®, and you’ve just taken out eight other guys, who’ll
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BattleTech™, and who knows? Could be that jerk from the
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friends. □ With GEnie, the possibilities are endless, the

people are terrific, and even the prices are competitive. So
put some new life into your joystick, and sign on. We’ll see
just how good you are. □ Sign up now: I . Set your modem
for half duplex (local echo) at 300, 1200 or 2400 baud.
2. Dial toll free — 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection, enter
HHH 3. At the U # = prompt, enter XTX992I8, Electric
then press RETURN 4. Have a major credit card or your
checking account number ready. □ For more information
in the U.S. or Canada, call 1-800-638-9636.

AIR WARRIOR

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MULTIPLAYER BATTLETECH 7 '

STELLAR EMPEROR™

Air Warrior is a registered trademark and Stellar Emperor is a trademark of Kesmai Corporation. MultiPlayer BattleTech is a trademark and

GEnie

multi-player games

100% ORGANIC OPPONENTS

MechWarrior and BattleTech are registered trademarks of FASA Corporation.

SOFTWARE GALLERY

London is a big city, and this case will
take all of the player’s best deduction.

free to travel throughout the city, via a
handy hansom cab, always at his dispos-
al. Wherever Holmes goes, Dr. Watson,
his faithful and helpful partner, keeps
careful notes on every conversation that
takes place. This is very useful when
backtracking to find clues, and the jour-
nal may be printed at any time. In addi-

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tion to his note taking expertise, Watson
will occasionally provide help to Sherlock
when a particularly difficult situation aris-
es.

What makes this particular adventure
stand out from the rest is the brilliant
reconstruction of nineteenth century Eng-
land incorporated into the game. The
graphics, while not ground breaking, are
true to the historical period. The many
scenes where Holmes must visit to
search for clues are stratight from the
great Sherlock Holmes films and televi-
sion episodes. This is best seen in the
opening animation, where the player is
greeted with a dark, rainy evening scene
and the acutal murder is played out. The
soundtrack is never annoying, and
changes as Holmes visits different areas
throughout the city.

The game play moves quickly; the play-
er can converse with characters more
than once to gain further information
about the case, and can visit the many
scenes in the game again and again.

This provides the player with the opportu-
nity to backtrack during the game, in
case anything
might have been
missed or forgot-
ten. The game is
quite quick on a
386, and the disk
access time dur-
ing scene trans-
fers is short.

Perhaps the
one drawback to
this particular
title is the overall
difficulty. It is not
a simple adven-
ture - one must
be quite analyti-
cal when playing,
and some of the
solutions to par-
ticular puzzles
seem slightly irra-
tional. For example, Holmes has to ask
for a certain kind of perfume (out of four
possiblities) to gain access to a particu-
lar witness. However, this does not
detract from the playability.

The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes will
provide many hours of enjoyment to the
hard-core adventurer. Elementary!

— Tim Ostermiller

Utopia

Konami/Gremlin

Designers: Graeme Ing and Robert Crack
MS-DOS
1 Player

SimCity and Populous started off a
whole new genre of computer games that
mix strategy and real-time changing envi-
ronments. Utopia, the latest in this craze
that almost glutted the strategy section
of the software shelves, borrows ele-
ments from some of these games, but
remains unique.

Utopia takes place in a science-fiction
environment and requires players to cre-
ate the perfect society, while defending it
from alien cultures and spies. The ulti-
mate goal is to increase the Quality Of
Life rating to 100%, thus creating a
“Utopia” of sorts.

This is difficult, because there are lots
of elements and factors that go into the
Q.O.L. rating. Players must produce ener-
gy, control finances, erect buildings,
strengthen defenses, encourage industry
and develop better machines to bring the
Q.O.L. rating to a respectable level. The
science fiction flavor of Utopia is a new
twist on the genre, although the game-
play might seem too familiar to some
players.

Utopia has a slick, icon-driven inter-
face that enables players to access the
information they need about their colony
instantly. The main view is a three-quar-
ters perspective of the section of the

Sporting game play similar to Populous,
Utopia is heaven for strategy lovers.

map the player wants to examine. Func-
tion buttons along the right side of the
screen bring up all of the game com-
mands. These buttons pop up appropri-
ate screens, including a set of maps of
the game world that visually represent
data with a color scheme.

Game play moves quickly and players
must monitor the map carefully. Utopia
is good as a strategy game, but not so
hot as a science fiction game. It has the

86 Electronic Games

Baseball.

We Play
Hardball.

PRESENTING THE ALL-NEW HARDBALL IIP

a Hard Ball III leads oil with digitized players
and 256 color VGA graphics. Nobody beats this
double play combo. Visuals as eye opening as a line
drive up the middle. Animation as smooth as a
Gold Glove shortstop. From fresh mowed grass
to ivy covered walls, details that capture
The Show.

HardBall III tests each hitter’s power with eight
real ballparks. Famous fields from both major
leagues. Your catcher may have just enough pop
to put it out of Chicago’s “friendly confines!' but
can he go deep in Toronto?

a HardBall III takes a full cot at major league realism. A power line-up that includes printable stats, standings and
box scores; the ability to import data from HardBall //” Earl Weaver ll m and Tony LaRussa™-, plus aTeam & Player Editor
that allows you to alter everything from team logos to a player’s ability.

\rrm \nc

rVUJULT^UL

The best in entertainment software."

HardBall III has the

best play-by-play man in the business. Network
broadcast great Al Michaels joins the HardBall
III Team up in the booth, with a digitized
description of all the action.

HardBall III thrusts you into the heat of a pennant
race. It's a 1 62 game, major league season - complete with
road trips and an all-star game. Compile good numbers
along the way and maybe you’ll make the roster.

The only computer game with Hall ol Fame credentials. You don’t
outsell every baseball title in history by standing pat in the
off-season. New HardBall III redefines computer baseball once
more with real play-by-play announcing; unprecedented graphics,
realism and playability; plus more of the authentic baseball
nuances that serious fans want in a simulation. More runs.

More hits. No errors.

To order, visit your favorite software retailer or call
1-800-246-7744.

HardBall III zooms in on the bang-bang plays.

Five camera angles cover the entire ballpark.
Watch instant replays and save the best for
your own personal Highlight Reel.

HardBall III
plays textbook "team
effort" defense. The strongest
fundamentals in the game. Outfielders back
up one another and infielders act as cut-off

men, coming out to take the throw.

Play-by-play announcing requires 2MB of RAM. Actual game screens from IBM PC VGA version of the game. Other versions may vary. HardBall III, HardBall II and HardBall! are trademarks of Accolade, Inc. Earl Weaver-ll is a
trademark of Electronic Arts. Tony LaRussa is a trademark of Strategic Simulations, Inc. All other product and corporate names are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. © 1992 Accolade, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOFTWARE CRLLERY

flavor of a European game and succeeds
as something a little off-the-wall for
Americans.

The graphics are clean and present
the data nicely. Although the perspective
has been done before, Utopia’s maps
offer new buildings, devices and other

This board of advisors will inform you as
to the condition of the Utopian world.

graphic touches to separate itself from
the crowd. Sound effects are sparse and
music is not a big factor.

Utopia is original enough for fans of
games of this genre, but others might
want to pass it by if they expect some-
thing brand new. Yet, those who tough it
out will find quite a challenge beneath
the familiar surface.

— Russ Ceccota

RATING

Complexity

Average

Graphics

75%

Sound

70%

Playability

80%

OVERALL

75%

B-17 Flying Fortress

Microprose

Designed by: Mike Brunton
MS-DOS
1 Player

Veterans of the early days of computer
games may remember a simplistic but
very addictive Strategic Simulations
game called 50 Mission Crush, named in
honor of the soft combination covers
worn as a badge of honor among bomber
crews that completed that milestone.
More recently, players of LucasArts air
combat games vicariously experienced
the tension of piloting a big, slow target
deep over hostile territory. Until the re-
lease of B-17 Flying Fortress, however,
players lacked a dedicated roleplaying
simulation that personalized the contri-
bution made by these valiant crews.

Prior to beginning a tour of duty, play-
ers select the nose art and name of their
bomber. Next, a crew photo appears to
access individual service records. Every
crew member is rated from poor to excel-
lent in gunnery, bombing, technical, med-
ical and piloting. Crew members are best
at their trained specialty, but they may
have other strengths that will prove criti-

B-17 allows the player to monitor the
positions of the bomber’s entire crew.

cal when trying to bring a damaged
fortress and wounded crew members
home. Those members that survive mis-
sions increase in skill. Wounded crew
members will be replaced by less skilled
“new guys,” but may return after a period
of recovery. Hence, the emphasis of the
game is on bringing the boys home in
one piece wee victory at all costs.

After training, initial missions are
somewhat easier than subsequent ones,
as the Luftwaffe had yet to perfect coor-
dinated intercepts and concentrated anti-
aircraft fire.

The player may only manually control
one crew member at a time, while the

Official

(Nintendo)

Sea! ol Quality

HOTLINE

COUNSELOR

Nintendo, NES, Super NES, the official seal, and Super Mario Bros.1 are registered trademarks of Nintendo America, Inc. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2
copyright and trademark of Ultra Inc., used under license from Mirage Studios. All other elements are copyright 1991 IMN Control.

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fpfc M

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—4 m

LICENSED BY

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Nintendo J

CONTROL

others perform their functions under
computer control. Proper decisions for
first aid, managing bomber damage,
sending timely, accurate radio traffic,
and reassigning personnel as required
aid in higher scores.

Digitized photos and bitmapped graph-
ics make up the static screens, with
polygon-fill aircraft modeling for the flight
sequences. The overall effect is not as
crisp as Dynamix or LucasArts products,
for example, but the animations are clear
enough to permit aircraft recognition.
Flight modeling realistically produces the
ponderous and lumbering feel of piloting
the four-engine heavy bomber.

The only program glitch involves
switching from manual back to computer
control after taking corrective actions for
battle damage. Specifically, this involved
throttling back an overheating engine
only to have the computer pilot immedi-
ately rematch rpm with the remaining
engines when control was returned.

Success comes to those who can fly
straight and level in the terminal phase
of the bombing run despite enemy fight-
ers and flack. It takes nerves of steel to
finish a tour of duty.

— Ed Dille

RATING

Complexity

Average

Graphics

75%

Sound

80%

Playability

80%

OVERALL

77%

Spellcasting 301:

Spring Break

Legend/Accolade
Designed by: Steve Meretzky
MS-DOS
1 Player

Ernie Eaglebeak and his Hu Delta
Phart fraternity brothers are headed
south to the infamous spring break hot
spot, Fort Naughtytail. Filled with
thoughts of sand, surf, sex and sorcery
in the sun, the merry band secured reser-
vations at the Royal Infesta Hotel. After a
brief magic carpet ride, the boys arrive
only to find that their rival fraternity,

Getta Loda Yu, have already initiated fes-
tivities.

The Loda Yu’s challenge Ernie and his
buddies to compete in a number of con-
tests over the course of the vacation.
Physical zealots can flex their pects in
weight lifting, mud wrestling, body surfing
and voileybali. Esoteric thinkers and engi-
neering majors are encouraged to enter
the drink mixing, tanning and sandcastle
building contests.

As often happens in resort towns, the
local authorities are cracking down on
spontaneous euphoria. Consequently,
Ernie is thrown into the slammer with
frightening regularity for innocuous infrac-
tions. He’s forced to come up with
increasingly inventive escapes to ensure
that he is on hand to aid his fraternity
brothers in the competition.

Steve Meretzky established himself as
the king of camp and sexual innuendo
with such early titles as Leather God-
desses of Phobos and the first two
installments in this series, Sorcerers

Women, beer, and beaches: Just what a
sorcerer need for a good spring break.

Get All the Girls and The Sorcerer’s
Appliance. Mr. Meretzky’s success, how-
ever, is not all attributable to the subject
matter. He has developed one of the
best adventure game interfaces on the
market. Players have the option of typing
directly to the cursor, selecting from verb
and preposition menus which are updat-
ed throughout the game, or performing
many actions by double clicking the
mouse on the item to be manipulated.
Spellcasting 301 is undoubtedly the
best installment in an already highly suc-
cessful series.

— Ed Dille

RATING

Complexity Average

Graphics

90%

Sound

94%

Playability

92%

OVERALL

92%

®

CONTROL

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Columbus, Ohio
43220

"Make Mario Run Backwards!"

GAMEHANDLER lets you revive the investment you have in games

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Here's a neat trick you can do only with
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throws his fireballs backwards.

GET A GAMEHANDLER ®/

Cowabunga, Dude! Here's an awesome trick
for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 from Ultra.
Again only with the GAMEHANDLER controller
you can Hyperwarp— actually disappear and re-
appear around the screen. When you push your
jump button on GAMEHANDLER, quickly flick
your wrist right or left. This is helpful when
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Sega CD - Pack-in Software
Sherlock Holmes
Sol Feace
Sega Classics

Sega
Sega CD

1-2 Players (depending on game)

Once again, some marketing genius has
decided to release a system with pack-in soft-
ware based on quantity rather than quality.
Actually, this is sort of half-true. While none
of the games packed-in with the Sega CD are
original, the quality is above that of your aver-

Sherlock Holmes is included to show off
the CD’s handling of full-motion video.

age multi-game pack in. Partially in response
to the Turbo Duo which was recently released
with five games packed-in, Sega now brings
forth their CD unit with six games included.
Please keep in mind that this review only cov-
ers the software included with the Sega CD,
and not the system itself.

Sherlock Holmes is the most original of
the pack-ins, at least original in the sense
that it has not previously appeared on the
Genesis. The game has been seen before,
first on the TurboGrafx CD, and since for just
about every computer platform sporting a CD
drive, making it one of the top selling CD-
ROM titles.

While not being a bad game, Sherlock
Holmes suffers from being several years old.
The video is not as clean as other releases

CD

CRLLERY

such as Night Trap and Sewer Shark.

Sound is excellent, as is the voice, and, while
being short, this is an enjoyable game to
play. A good thinking game for those who
have not seen it before. — Overall 84%
The second stand alone game is Sol
Feace, a shooter originally released as one of
the first Mega CDs in Japan, and later in the
U.S. as the cartridge game Sol Deace. The
CD version of this game does add better
sound, and cinema displays that were left out
of the cartridge version of the game. It
appears that after considering TTI's decision
to pack in the ultra-intense shooter Gate of
Thunder with their Duo, Sega decided to

All of the Arcade Classics are excellent
games, and best sellers in their own time.

— Overall 94%

The only problem with any of these games
is the possible player familiarity with them. It
is assumed that the majority of those who
will buy a Sega CD already own a Genesis.
Unfortunately, this means that said players
may have played one or more of the games.
Even Sherlock Holmes, which wasn’t previ-
ously available on the Genesis, may have
been played before, given its exposure on
other systems.

While this does not effect the score the
pack-in games have received, it may indeed

ILAMir

e. urn am

Sol Feace, while not being spectacular, While a little heavy on fighting games,

is certainly a solid side-scrolling shooter. the Sega Classics disc is a good value.

pack-in Sol Feace as a counter measure. This
was a good choice, as Sol Feace is one of
the better shooters for the Genesis system.
Action is fast and constant, and the graphics
and sounds are both very well done. Sol
Feace is all around a very good shooter, and
Sega should be commended for its inclusion.

— Overall 87%
The final game disc is really four games in
one. The Sega Classics: Arcade Games
offers four excellent Genesis games to those
who have not purchased one or more of them
for their old system. The games included are
Golden Axe, Revenge of Shinobi. Streets of
Rage and Columns, all best-selling games on
the Genesis system. The first three are all
action games, and Columns is a strong oppo-
nent for Tetris.

be a problem for some potential buyers of the
system.

All in all, the pack-in offers a great value,
and the games are all very good. Still, one
original offering would have been a nice
touch.

— Marc Camron

RATING

Complexity Average

Graphics

91%

Sound

89%

Playability

91%

OVERALL

88 %

90 Electronic Games

The Adventures of
Willie Beamish

Sierra
Sega CD
1 Player

Willie is an average young man. He
has a pet frog, plays video games, picks
on his sister, doesn't do his chores,
doesn’t obey his parents, doesn’t think
much of his teachers or others in charge,
and will always come through to save the
town in its time of need. Okay, maybe
Willie is a little too much Saturday morn-
ing cartoon to be called “an average
young man," but he is the hero of our
story, The Adventures of Willie Beamish.

It is the beginning of summer vacation,
and the only thing on Willie’s mind is the
Nintari championships. Willie, you see,
wants to show the world that he is the
best Nintari player there is, no if’s,
and's, or but's about it. Unfortunately,
he doesn’t have the money to get there.

Here is where the adventure starts. It
is up to Willie to find a way to the Nintari
championships. The only way to get the
money is by winning the big frog jumping
competition. The player will find different
obstacles along the way, including a
power-hungry woman, bent on controlling
Willie’s poor town.

Willie would do just about anything to
make it to the Nintari championships.

As a game, Willie Beamish is wonder-
ful. For anyone who wants to experience
a little more childhood (albeit a cartoony
version of how childhood is), this game
delivers quite well. The graphics are won-
derfully drawn, and while the animation
is not as complete or interactive as a
regular video game, the sacrifice is well
made. Make a choice and watch Willie
go off in a direction, causing mayhem
and excitement in his path.

The sound in the game is unparalleled
for video games. This marks the first
time for a console system that all of the
lines are spoken, instead of written on
the screen. The actors chosen to read

the parts are equally impressive, laying
waste to the days when video game voic-
es, even those on CD, where just a
bunch of similar bad voices obviously
reading cue-cards.

This type of game may be new to
some who are used to traditional video
game adventures or role-playing scenar-
ios. Willie Beamish is a graphic adven-
ture, closely related to the text adven-
tures of computer days past. The on-
screen system features a point-and-click
interface. Those who have used a com-
puter and mouse will pick up on it imme-
diately. Actually, the game would be easi-
er with a mouse, but the Genesis con-
troller is adequate, and will do the job
until Sega gets around to introducing
their mouse later next year.

Objects can be used on one another
and with people to solve the various puz-
zles and progress through the game.
While it may look strictly like a kid's

Willie must behave. If he isn’t a good
boy, he won’t get to the championships.

game, the puzzles in Willie Beamish are
difficult, and younger players may need
some help in figuring them out.

Sierra has made a name for itself with
this type of game, and Willie Beamish
more than holds up their tradition of
graphic adventures.

Willie Beamish also marks the first of
the computer “shovelware" for the Sega
CD. That is, games that already exist in
computer format and, many times,
already appear on CD-ROM. Many of
these games are excellent, and they are
so easy to port over, that they offer the
publishers a way to get some extra
mileage out of their games. Sierra has
already signed on to do several more
titles, and other companies have com-
mitted to do the same.

Overall, Willie Beamish is one of the
best initial releases for the Sega CD, and
it shows of some the system's nuances.
It is true that this game doesn’t take full
advantage of the powerful new functions
of the system, and is really nothing more
than a clone of the computer CD original.
But with a game this good, who cares?

— Marc Camron

RATING

Complexity Average

Graphics

Sound

Playability

OVERALL

94 %

Electronic Games 91

CD CRLLERY

Cobra Command

Sega
Sega CD
1 Player

motion video format mixed with a video
overlaid cursor to give players a true
high-action adventure. The helicopter is
equipped with machine guns and a mis-
sile launcher, both having unlimited
ammunition to blast away. As different
video scenarios present themselves,
enemies will be highlighted. It is the play-
er's job to shoot the enemy that is high-
lighted by positioning the cursor in the
bracket and firing the correct weapon.
Machine guns are used for air targets
and missiles are for the ground based
targets. As different views and perspec-
tives present themselves to the player,
different enemies and targets become a
threat, and the player must act fast or be
shot down in a ball of fire.

Although the full motion video is good,
it is a little lacking in color and frames
compared to the original, but this is due

It is almost fun getting hit a few times
just to see the animated explosion.

As a part of the world defense league,
players are equipped with a high pow-
ered helicopter. The mission: stop the
evil forces of earth and their goal to over-
come the globe by spreading chaos to
every human on the planet. Fly to various
parts of the world that are threatened by
evil forces and smash their plans of suc-
cess. Fly fast and hard or the chances of
survival are slim.

Cobra Command is one of the first
games available for the Sega CD player.

It offers full motion video mixed with CD
quality sound. Some people may remem-
ber that Cobra Command was originally a
coin-op game that was done on a laser
disk format by Wolf Team. Surprisingly,
the original people have been contracted
to recreate this video adventure on the
Sega CD. Cobra Command uses a full

Sega and Wolf Team have gone to great
lengths to preserve the original game.

This adventure takes the player
through several scenarios including a
city, a canyon, a swamp, a jungle,
a forest and finally to the enemy’s main
fortress.

to the access speed and capabilities of
the Genesis and the CD player. Being a
big fan of the original, I found this ver-
sion to bring back many fond memories
of the fast paced action and quality
sound of the arcade version. Game play
is impressive, as this game plays just
like the coin-op. A feature has been
added to this version that enables play-
ers to pick the speed of the cursor. This
should please players who feel the
default setting is too slow.

Overall, the look and feel of this game
is terrific considering the limitations of a
five inch CD compared to a Laser Disc.
This game really puts players in an inter-
active movie where they are allowed to
participate and change the outcome. The
sounds and voices are very realistic and
placed into the scenarios very well. Not
enough can be said about how they have
successfully transformed this original
Laser Disc game into a Sega CD game.
The only complaints are technical ones:
every other frame of video is removed to
save memory and to make the game run
faster, and the amount of colors used in
the original have been scaled down. The
final result is that the colors are a little
washed out. Flowever, these are minor
grievances. This game is still lovely to
watch and fun to play. Try cranking this
one through the stereo.

— Franklin Horowitz

OVERALL

87 %

92 Electronic Games

It Took 2,000 Years For Someone
To Make Chess Better*

The power and sound of
CD-ROM brings the most
challenging game on earth
to life in Battle Chess™.
An entire medieval world
at war is reflected on the
checkered field.

“Battle Chess must rank as the most
entertaining chess game around, and the funniest.”
- The Games Machine
Everyone who’s ever had a knight take a
pawn has seen that capture as more than one
piece replacing another on the board. In
players’ minds, the bold knight, resplendent in
his armor of silver or ebon, sallies forth and
slays the foul footsoldier. Combat, mortal
combat, is the heart and soul of chess, but this
aspect of it can only live in the mind’s eye ...
until now!

“Battle Chess is the next step beyond all existing
chess programs.”

- Video Games & Computer Entertainment
Lots of computer chess games capture the
basics of chess. But now the power of CD-
ROM lets Battle Chess™ bring the game to
life by combining a magnificent chess logic
system with colorful, humorous, and dramatic
three-dimensional animations, a dramatic
musical score, superb sound effects and a
complete talking tutorial!

“Every chess player will want a copy of this

program. Highly recommended.”

- Computer Gaming World

M Advanced, state-of-the-art 3D
animation in 640 x 480 resolution
with 256 colors

I Over 3 1 megabytes of animation and
graphics

■ Over 45 minutes of digital CD audio ,
with mood music and combat sound
effects played directly from your CD-
ROM drive

■ Complete 25 minute tutorial: Using
the Battle Chess™ humorous style of
animation , each piece comes to life and
teaches you about its movement, history and
strategy, in stereo CD sound

■ Play against the computer or your friends , or
let the computer play against itself

■ Modem capability for long-distance games

■ Ten levels of play challenge even the most
sophisticated player

MS-DOS and MacintoshScreens Pictured

Interplay

Productions

1 7922 Fitch Avenue
Irvine, California 92714
714 553-6678

To order

BATTLE CHESS™
ENHANCED
CD-ROM, call
1-800- 969-GAME, or
see your local retailer.

© 1992 Interplay Productions. All rights reserved

BATTLE CHESS™ ENHANCED CD-ROM is a trademark of

Interplay Productions, Inc.

Use the control pad to move the
crosshairs around the screen and the A
button to fire. When approaching a
rodent, Catfish will make a box around it
that blinks for easier identification. How-
ever, the player shouldn't just keep
pressing the A button (it rapidly fires - no
turbo stick needed); an energy level is
diminished each time the gun is fired, so
use ammunition sparingly. If the player
runs out of firepower, he may crash or
receive a message from the boss, Com-
missioner Stenchler. He will either com-
pliment the player's work or fire him, in
which case he must begin again. If the
player misses too many targets, Ghost
will scold him and literally slap him
around. As stated earlier, the technical
components are up to par with some of
the other early
CD releases (this
is the same
bunch that gave
us the intriguing
Night Trap).

The problem
comes with repet-
itive game play
and the fact that
the player will
probably expire
his energy levels
before really get-
ting anywhere.

The jargon and
premise are inter-
esting (it is sup-
posedly based on
an upcoming
movie), but at its
core it is nothing
more than a sim-
ulator/shooter.

Perhaps stan-
dards for the
Sega CD may
have been set too high, but this particu-
lar release just isn't very exciting. The
player will be expecting a little more from
the disc, but it is just too repetitive to be
exciting for very long. Frying rats in a tun-
nel can be fun, but not for an entire day.
It's a nice try, but it falls a bit short.

— Mike Weigand

CD CRLLERY

"hole-hogs") through a labyrinth of tun-
nels, blowing away all types of critters-
most notably giant mutated rats, aptly
named ratigators. On this first flight the
player is teamed with a foul-mouthed vet-
eran named Ghost. Ghost gives the
gamer the illustrious title of "Dogmeat,"
and it is off through the tunnels to exter-
minate the ratigators. There is a mechan-
ical probe, Catfish, who speeds ahead of
the player, relaying directions back to his
craft (which pipe to take, where the most
critters are, etc.). Catfish plays a pivotal
role here: when he sends directions such
as "we've got some hungry critters at
twelve, six, three," those are the direc-
tions the player must follow. Simply
translated: go up, down, right.

As the player speeds through the tun-

nels, the arrows at the top of the con-
sole will light up. When they blink in a
particular direction, that means a tunnel
in that direction is coming up. If the play-
er misses the right tunnel, or takes the
wrong one, the arrow will blink red.

Sometimes the gamer can miss one
tunnel or take a wrong one without too
much trouble. But if it becomes a habit,
the player will hit a dead end, run into a
pair of doors that didn't completely open,
or otherwise be destroyed. If the direc-
tions are correctly followed, Catfish will
relay new instructions. To turn into a tun-
nel, push the joypad in the direction of
the tunnel and press the B button. For
the trip, the ship is armed with two pow-
erful guns.

Everybody can use a little bit of help,
and Ghost is as little help as possible.

Sewer Shark

Sony Imagesoft
Sega CD
1 Player

For one of the
newest and earliest
games for the new
Sega CD system,

Sewer Shark does-
n't really deliver. A
lot of work obvious-
ly went into this
game, and the
graphics and real-
life action are syn-
chronized perfectly.

But the game is
rather difficult, and
if the player gets
fired or blown up,
it's back to the very
beginning. The
premise is rather
simple: the player
is starting the first
day of his new job
as an

exterminator.

This job, however,
is a little different.

Since the game is
set in the future, the old methods of the
Orkin man are outdated and useless. In
these times, one flies spaceships (called

RATING

Complexity Hard

Graphics

87%

Sound

85%

Playability

74%

OVERALL

76 %

94 Electronic Games

PAR 2 PLAYER 1

iuiLuUluii

.ilimi suuuffs (crowd noises (K<\)

8 courses
3 hrauejt!

IBM VGA. Macintosh color.
& Amiga screen shots shown

(/T w r*V>i.e

K- 1 1* 4

LJ & / 1
u « — ^ — * J

From “classic” holes to the bizarre, DigiTek Software’s new HOLE-IN-ONE MINIATURE GOLF DELUXE
uses the ease of a special interface (point and click) to provide fun and excitement for all ages (with as many as
four players at once!). Incorporating new state of the art graphics and realistic digitized sounds into the five
original courses from the best selling HOLE-IN-ONE MINIATURE GOLF, and, adding three new courses,
the Deluxe Edition comes complete with a whopping eight (!) 18-hole courses (144 holes). Fight against
gravities, magnets, hills and pits on your quest for the best score. HOLE-IN-ONE MINIATURE GOLF
DELUXE will provide hours of fun and entertainment.

^DigiTek

Software

1916 Twisting Lane
Wesley Chapel, FI. 33543
(813) 973-7733
To order call

1 - 800 - 783 - 8023 !

Tumblepop

Data East
Game Boy
1-2 Players

Tumblepop is one of the most
attractive, engaging and downright
charming additions to the Game Boy
universe in some time. It’s the year
2018 and the world has become

Tumblepop offers game play similar
to the NES classic Bubble Bobble.

hopelessly screwed up in the opti-
mistic manner traditional to video
games and science fiction novels.
There are goofy monsters and mega-
mutants and they’re ready to rumble
to see who gets to keep what’s left
of 21st Century Earth.

Metaphorically, it’s the bottom of
the ninth and the beasties are win-
ning when the player-character steps
up to the plate in hopes of salvaging
the entire war. Instead of a bat, how-
ever, our hero is armed with a “vacu-
ulator," a suction device powerful
enough to not only clean your rug,
but to also devour it, along with any
pets, furniture or family members
unwise enough to be in the vicinity.
Fortunately, it makes a dandy
weapon against the mutant-types.

PORTRBLE

PLRYTIME

erwise th e player simply selects an
entry point on one of the beaten up
buildings and enters.

At this point, the game toggles to
a scrolling, multi-level, side-view
combat mode. The player-character
can move left or right along each
level, and jump one level in either
direction. There are, however, dan-
gers everywhere, and gamers must
remember to pop the monsters back
out once they’ve been sucked up —
if too many mutants are trapped in
the vacuulator for too long, the
machine explodes, costing a life.
Lives are also lost through contact
with a monster, a monster’s bullet,
or a falling into a trap.

When an enemy has been
destroyed, a coin will appear in its
place and these coins can be used
back at the trading post to acquire
neat new gizmos. There is also the
usual collection of bosses and a
special, climactic level which can
only be reached after destroying all
eight zones twice.

It sucks ’em up,
then spits ’em
back out as a
weapon capable
of destroying
their comrades.

The player
begins by
selecting from
among the three
available play
modes: soli-
taire, two-player
or construction,
in which players
can create their
own gamefields.

The Tumble-
pop world of
2018 comprises two areas, each of
which contains four sections. These
eight sectors each represent one
game level. The first four sectors
contain buildings which have been
heavily damaged by the monsters
while the buildings in the last four
zones are inhabited by mutants. The
player-character moves about a
scrolling world map seen from a
slightly angled top-down perspective.
The starting point is a small shop
where items can be purchased, oth-

Each jack-'o-lantern represents a level.
Be sure to stock up outside stores.

96 Electronic Games

NOW WITH I
'• VGA GRAPHICS*
• 2PLAYERM0DE
•MUSIC AND |
SOUND 1

YOUR ADDICTION JUST BECAME 3 TIMES WORSE.

Introducing Tetris® Classic.

Great new VGA graphics.

Great new features.

Great music and sound.

It’s everything Tetris is-and
more! A slew of new challenging
options, including head-to-head
play, competitive or cooperative
modes and a frenzied dual-pit play
field. VGA graphics give the game
a hot new look.

And the music
and sound effects
are worthy of a
5-star Hollywood
production. It
isn’t easy to
improve a classic.

But we just did.

Super Tetris'."

The super sequel to best-selling
Tetris. Super challenging. Super
addictive. Because it comes with a
blockbusting twist-bomb pieces
that help you blast your way down
to the bottom of the pit and discover
treasures. Super Tetris. Just when
you thought you’d broken the habit.

Wordtris."

If you thought Tetris was fun, look
what we did to Wordtris. This time
the falling pieces are letter blocks.
Instead of forming lines, you form
words. The challenge builds as the
levels go higher and the blocks fall
faster and faster. It’s Tetris made letter
perfect. You have our word on it.

Available for IBM DOS, Windows and Mac/Macll.

Available for IBM and Mac/Macll

Also available for Game Boy and Super NES

Tetris Classic available for IBM DOS and Windows.

Spectrum HoloByte

THE TETRIS® PEOPLE

A Division of Sphere, Inc. 2490 Mariner Square Loop, Alameda, CA 94501

For Visa/MasterCard orders call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:
1-800-695-GAME (Orders Only)

For technical questions call: 1-510-522-1164 (M-F: 9am-5pm PST)

Super Tetris, Tetris Classic and Wordtris are trademarks and Tetris is a registered trademark of V/O
Electronorgtechnica. Spectrum HoloByte is a registered trademark of Sphere, Inc.

The two-player version is also quite
interesting, with gamers alternately
cooperating and competing, as is the
construction mode, but it is only for
experienced players.

Tumblepop has a great look, plays
very slickly and should appeal to a
wide variety of action-strategy fans.

— Bill Kunkel

RATING

Complexity

Graphics

Sound

Playability

OVERALL

90 %

Average

93 %

85 %

95 %

Prince of Persia

Tengen
Game Gear
1 Player

Jordan Mechner’s Prince of Persia
has been converted to just about
every computer, video and portable
game system in creation. Most ver-
sions have been extremely impres-
sive, obviously inspired by the high

The player’s goal is to escape from
the dungeon and rescue the princess.

quality of the original. But Tengen’s
Game Gear version, while visually
splendid, has a serious problem:
character movement is too inexact.

As most of you probably know,
Prince of Persia is a multi-level
action adventure in which a superbly
animated player-character must
move through several scenarios in
order to effect the release of the
eternally kidnapped princess and
become the titular ruler of Persia.

The game begins with the player
dropped, sans weapons, into the
dungeons. He can either face off
against an armed guard or traverse
the entire labyrinth in order to find
the sword at the end of the cata-
combs.

The multiple scenarios involve a
series of trapdoors and kinetic puz-
zles which must be mastered in
order to open gates, elude obstacles
and conclude the adventure.

The game’s primary appeal lies not
only in its wickedly clever tricks and
traps but in its exquisite, rotoscoped
animations. Even on the small Game
Gear screen, each character's move-
ment, from leaps to falls to scram-
bling up to a higher level, are all flaw-
lessly articulated. The problem, as
mentioned earlier, is that the player
control is too inexact for a game as
precision-oriented as this. Once the
character gets moving, he often con-

tinues for a few extra steps even
after the gamer has signalled him to
stop. Worse yet, leaps were very dif-
ficult to execute in the beta version.

Death comes in many forms for those
who do not look before they leap.

Given its flaws (serious though
they may be), Prince of Persia is still
an impressive contest with graphics
as good as you’re likely to see on
any portable game system.

— Bill Kunkel

OVERALL

83 %

98 Electronic Games

CHIPS & BITS SEGA & SNES BUY 4 GET 1 FREE* 802-767-3033

'THE MYSTICAL QUEST' starring Mickey Mouse
features lifelike Disney animation, 7 levels includ-
ing Pete's peak & snowy mountains, and magical
suits which give Mickey different abilities. $59

SEGA HARDWARE

GENESIS Systm $125
GENESIS No Cart $99
GENESIS CD Plyr$289
AC Adapter $ 9
Arcade Power Stck $39
Champ Joystick $24
Control Pad $19
Explorer Joystick $19
Game Genie $54
Genistick $19

SEGA ADVENTURE

Strider 2 $49

Sunset Riders $43
Superman $43

Sylvester & Tweety$49
Talespin $39

Tazmania $44

Technocop:Final M $52
TMNT Hyperstone $46
Terminator $49

Terminator 2 $43

Mickey Mouse $42
Mickey & Donald $44
Out of this Wrld CD $54
Paperboy 2 $46

Risky Woods $43
Rolling Thunder 2 $49
Saint Sword * $19
Shadow of Beast 2 $52
Shinobi 3 $49

Phantasy Star 4 $64

Pirates $49

Rings of Power $55
Romance 3 Kingd 2$59
Shining Darkness $45
Sorcerers Kingdom $49
Star Oyssey $59
T raysia $54

Uncharted Waters $59

SEGA SHOOTERS

Afterburner 2 $42

Atomic Runner $42
B Bomb $36

Bio Hazard Battle $44
Cyborg Justice $44
Death Duel $49

Galaxy Force 2 $29

Hellfire $39

James Bond 007 $49

Predator 2 $43

Raiden $49

Road Blasters $39
Smash TV $39

Soldeace $54

Space Invaders 91 $38
Steel Empire $42

Steel Talons $42

Task Force Harrier $32
Thunder Force 2 $37

ThunderFox * $29
Trouble Shooter * $19
Twin Cobra * $29

Vapor Trail $54

SEGA SPORTS
American Gladiatrs$52
Andre Agassi Tenn $44
Aquatic Games $36
Arch Rivals $42

Bowling $46

Bulls vs Lakers $49
C Ripken Baseball $46
D Robinson Bsktbll $39

Evndr Holyfield Bxg$44
G Forman Boxing $43
Hardball $36

Hit the Ice $44

Hooves of Thunder $49
J Connors Tennis $54

SEGA KICK & PUNCH

Beast Wrestler

$56

Blck Hole Asslt CD $49

Chakan Forevr Mn

$44

Deadly Moves

$47

Double Dragon 3

$44

Fatal Fury

$52

Fighting Master

$42

Growl*

$29

King of Monsters

$52

Mystical Fighter

$43

Panza Kickboxing

$49

Pit Fighter

$45

Slaughter Sport

$49

Streets of Rage 2

$56

Street Smart

$39

Two Crude Dudes

$43

SEGA STRATEGY

Breach 2

$49

Chessmaster

$42

Clue

$46

Crue Ball

$36

Dragon's Fury

$42

HUMANS

$49

Jeopardy

$49

Jester

$44

Lemmings

$43

Mega Lo Mania

$49

Metal Fang

$43

Monopoly

$46

Powermonger

$43

Rampart

$42

7 Cities of Gold

$49

Shanghaii 2

$39

Super Conflict

$49

Tyrants

$49

Warrior Rome 1 or2

$54

Warsong

$29

Wheel of Fortune

$49

Where World CSD $49

Where's Waldo?

$49

Happ Control Pad $19
Menacer $59

Power Clutch $34
Power Pad $ 1 4

Triton Control Pad $26
Turbo Touch 360 $29
Wireless Control #1$34
Wireless Control #2$22
SEGA ADVENTURE

Alien vs Predator $39
Aliens 3 $43

Alisia Dragoon $32
Ariel Little Mermaid $36
Bart Space Mutants$43
Batman $42

Batman Jokers Rtn $43
Batman Returns $49
Cadash $44

Captain America $46
Chester Cheetah $52
Chuck Rock $49
Crossfire * $24

Dark Castle * $24
Dinosaurs for Hire $44
Dolphin $44

Dracula $49

El Viento $49

Ernest Evans $49
Ex Mutants $49

Flintstones $44

Furry Friends $36
Gadget Twins $49
Global Gladiators $49
GODS $44

Golden Axe 2 $39

Green Dog $39

Home Alone $39
Hook $49

Indiana Jones LC $49
James Pond 2 $42

Jewel Master $16
Keepr of the Gates $52

allows you to
play Rash and
Zitzasthey fight
rescue the
fair princess.

the way
the Dark Queen
and her evil cro-
nies challenge
Features
12 levels of fun
exciting
with

Tiny Toon
Toxic Crusaders
TOYS
Turrican *

Universal Soldier
Vallis *

Where Time CSD
Wolf Child
Wonder Boy MonsL$46
Xmen $46

Young Galahad $42
Zombie High $36

$46

$36

$49

$19

$44

$29

$49

$45

SEGA ROLE PLAYING

Arcus 123 $49

Battle Master $43

Black Crypt $59

Buck Rogers 1 $54

Cybercop $49

Gemfire $56

Lord of the Rings $59

Might & Magic 3 $49

Outlander $44

Phantasy Star 2or3 $59
PStar 3 Hint Book $14

'STREET FIGHTER II' brings the #1 arcade smash
hit to your SNES. Choose from 8 characters with
unique fighting styles to defeat champion street
fighters from around the globe. 2 players. $64

Simpson KrustyFH $42
Slime World $43
Sonic Hedgehog 2 $49

Vampire Killer $52
Warriors Etrnal Sun$56
Y’s 3 $44

Jen Capriati Tennis$43
Joe Montana 2 $49

J Madden Football * $29

SEGA SPORTS

J Madden ’92 $42

J Madden '93 $49

Jordan vs Bird $39
King Salmon $42
Lakers vs Celtics $42
M Lemieux Hockey $39
Mike Ditka Footbll $29
MLBPA Sprts Talk $52
Mohammed Ali Bxg$54
NBA Super Allstar $43

SNES ADVENTURE

Actraiser $44

Aliens 3 $49

Alien vs Predator $42
Arcus Spirits $49
Batman Rvng Jokr $49
Battle Clash $49
Battle Toads $59
Blues Brothers $49
Chester Cheetah $54
Chuck Rock $49

NFL SPORTS-
TALK RDOTBALL
STARRING JOE
MONTANA' is a

12 Meg football
game with a
play-by-play
anouncer & all
28 teams. Play
a full season,
playoffs, or in
Super Bowl.
Has multiple
field views with
zoom & instant
replay. Fori or
2 players. $46

NFL Sports Talk Fb$46
NHLPA Hockey '93 $49

Nolan Ryan $49

Olympic Gold $45
PGA Tour golf 1or2$49
Pigskin $49

RBI 3 $32

RBI 4 $46

Rgr Clemens MVP $43
Side Pocket $44

Summer Challenge $49
Supr High Impact F$43
Team USA Basktbll$43
Tecmo Superbowl $49
Tony LaRussa Bbll $54
World Class Ldrbrd $42
World Cup Soccer $42
World Trophy Socc$49
WWF Superwrestlg$43
SEGA SIMULATION

Abrams Battle Tnk $48
Chase HQ 2 $44

Desert Strike $42
Devilish $34

FI 5 Strike Eagle 2 $54
FI 9 Stealth Fightr $59
F22 Interceptor $42
Ferrari Grand Prix $42
Granada 2 $54

LHX Attack Choppr$42
Lotus Turbo Challn $42
Micro Machines $44
Mig 29 $49

Pacific Theatr Ops $59
Quad Challenge $45

Race Drivin' $45

Road Rash 2 $44

Road Riot 4WD $46

Stunts $43

Super Battle Tank $49
Supr Monaco GP 2 $44
Test Drive 2 $46

Claymates

$49

Cool World

$54

Death Valley Rally $52

Dracula

$49

Dragon's Lair

$49

Dream TV

$49

Family Dog

$49

Generation 2

$54

GODS

$49

Great Battle

$54

Harley's Hum Advtr$54

Home Alone 2

$49

Hook

$49

James Bond Jr

$49

Joe & Mac

$47

King Arthur's World $49

Lgnd Mysticl Ninja $49

Lethal Weapon

$52

Mickey Mystl Quest$59

Musya

$54

Out of this World

$54

Prince of Persia

$54

Radio Flyer

$52

Ren & Stimpy

$49

Rocketeer

$49

Rocky & Bullwinkle$49

Search Ultra Force $54

Simpsons

$49

Simpsns Krusty FH$49

Skuljagger

$49

Soulblazer

$54

Spanky's Quest

$54

Star Trek

$59

Superman

$49

Supr Shadow Beast$49

Super Star Wars

$54

Super Troll Land

$49

Super Valis 4

$49

Swamp Thing

$49

Tazmania

$54

Teen Mtnt Nnj Trtls

i $54

Terminator 2

$54

SUPER

you to
control 8 differ-
ent WWF super
like Hulk
Ulti-
mate Warrior, &
Savage
with spe-
moves.
ires in and
of the ring
action, singles,
or

Championship
matches. $43

SNES HARDWARE

SNES System $145
SNES no cartridge $99
AC Adapter $ 9

Ascii Pad $24

Champnshp Jystick$69
Competition Jystick$69
Game Genie $54
Happ Control Pad $19
Super Scope $54
Triton Control Pad $26
Turbo Touch 360 $29

Time Slip $46

Tiny Toon Adventrs$54
Tom & Jerry $49
Toxic Crusader $54
TOYS $49

Ultraman $39

Universal Soldier $49
Video Kid $49

Vikings $49

Wizard of Oz $54
X-Men & Spidrman $54
Zelda 3 $49

SNES STRATEGY

Aero Biz
Casino Kid 2
Clue

Faceball 2000
HUMANS
Imperium
Jeopardy
Mario Paint
Monopoly
On the Ball
Populous *
Push Over
Qbert
Rampart

$59

$49

$46

$54

$56

$43

$49

$59

$46

$49

$34

$49

$49

$49

Romnce 3 Kgdm 2 $59
Shanghaii 2 $46

Simcity $46

SimEarth $59

Spindizzy Worlds $49
Supr Buster Brothrs$54
Super Conflict $49
Utopia $49

Wheel of Fortune $49
Where's Waldo $49
Wordtris $43

SNES KICK & PUNCH
Battle Blaze $46
Best of the Best $49
Deadly Moves $49
Double Dragon
Final Fight
First Samurai
King of Monsters
Pitfighter *

Rival Turf
Street Fighter 2
Super Combatribes$54
Super Ninja Boys $49
Supr Sonic Blastmn$49
Ultimate Fighter $54

$54

$49

$49

$49

$46

$54

$64

Inindo $59

Lagoon $54

Lenus $59

Lord of the Rings $64
Lost Mission $49
Magic Sword $54
Might & Magic 2 $54

Might & Magic 3 $59

Outlander $49

Shadow Run $54
Spellcastr Aspct Vlr$54
Ultima False Prpht $59
TERMINATOR2
HE ARCADE
a race
save the fu-
as you
ravel to a show-
own with the T-
1000. Features
levels of en-
jskeletons,
lying Hunter
Killers, and a
ariety of weap-
for 1 or 2
Sega
com-
$43

Smart Ball $49

Space Football $49
Special Tee Shot $54
S Base Loaded 2 $54
Supr Batter Up $49
Supr Bowling $49
S Davis Cup Tennis$44
Supr Dble Dribble $54
Supr Goal $49

Supr High Impact F$49
Supr NBA Basktbll $54
Supr Off Road $49
Supr Play Actn Ftb $46
Supr Power Punch $49
Super Slam Dunk $49
Supr Slapshot $49
Supr Soccer Chmp $49
Supr Tennis $49
Supr Wrestlemania $49
TKO $46

Weaver Baseball $52
World Leag Soccer $49

CHIPS & BITS

PO Box 234
Rochester VT 05767
802 767 3033
Fax 802 767 3382
GEnie Keyword CHIPS

SNES ROLE PLAYING

Arcana $59

Curse Azure Bonds $64
Drakkhen $49

Dungeon Master $59
Equinox $49

Fables & Fiends $59
Final Fantsy Lgnd 2$54
Final Fntsy Myst Q $39
Gemfire $56

Golden Empire $59

SNES SPORTS

NCAA Basketball $49
NFL Football $54
NHLP Hockey 93 $54
Nolan Ryan Basbll $49
Pebble Beach Golf $46
PGA Tour Golf $49
Pigskin $52

Pro Quarterback $54
Rogr ClemensMVP$49
Skins Game $49

'SPIDERMAN & X-MEN' gives you control of
spiderman's web swinging super powers as you
move through 7 levels of arcade-style action.
Battle against famous Marvel villains. $54

SNES SHOOTERS

Axelay $54

Bazooka Blitzkreig $46
Biohazard $39

Blaze On $54

Contra 3 $49

Cybernator $52

D-Force $39

Earth Defnc Force $39
Fire Power 2000 $49

Guerilla Warfare $54
Gun Force $49

Hyper Zone * $19
Metal Masters $54
Phalanx $49

Raiden Trad $46

Smash TV $46

Space Mission $49

Strike Gunner $49
Supr Mega Force $49
Supr R Type $39
Thunder Spirits * $44
Xardion $49

X Zone $39

SNES SIMULATION
Cyberspin $46

Desert Strike $49

Hunt for Red Octbr $49
Kawasaki Carrb Ch$56
Mechwarrior $42
Race Drivin $49

Road Riot 4WD $49
Robosaurus $49
Supr Battle Tank $54
Super FI $49

Super Mario Kart $49
Super Stirke Eagle $56
Test Drive 2 $49

Top Gear $46

Warp Speed $49
Wing Commander $54
Wings 2:Aces High $49

Uncharted Waters $59
Wanders from Y’s $54
Wizardry 5 $64

SNES SPORTS
American Gladiatrs $56
Baseball Stars 2 $54

Bill Laimbr Bskbll * $19
Black Bass $49

Bulls vs Blazers $54
California Games 2 $49
Cal Ripkin Baseball$49
Championship Bxg $49

‘BUY 4 IN STOCK GAMES
AND GET 1 MARKED
GAME * FREE
WHILE SUPPLIES LAST

We accept Visa, MC, & Money
Orders. COD add $5. Checks
Held 4 Weeks. Most Items
shipped same day. Shipping
rates are per order not per item.
UPS $4: 2 Day Air $6: Mail $5:

Jfa llTstar!

[CHAELENGI

'TECMO SUPER NBA BASKETBALL' contains
all 27 NBA teams and actual team rosters, 5 on 5
full court play, regular season or playoffs, all-star
game, special plays, substitutions & injuries. $54

Diamond Challenge$54
David Crane Tennis$49
Extra Innings $49
Football Fury $46
G Foreman Boxing $49
Hit the Ice $49

Hole in One Golf * $39
J Connors Tennis $49
Jck Nicklaus Golf * $39
Madden Footbll '93 $49
MVP Football $49
NBA Supr Allstar C $49

Air Mail Canada $6: HI, AK,
PR, 2 Day $ 12 . Advertised
prices are for new games. Used
carts traded at $25 to $40 less
than new and sold at $1 0 to $25
less than new. Store credit only.

All sales final. Shipping
times not guaranteed.
Defectives replaced with
same product. Price, avail-
ability &offersubjecttochange.

We got some great entries for this,
the first fan-written column of
reviews in EG. It would seem that
there are many up-and-coming game
reviewers out there, ready to give
their opinions.

It wasn’t easy to pick the two best
reviews, because all the writers had
good points to make. Here are the
winners of the review contest, and
some of the runners-up.

Darkseed

(Cyberdreams)

MS-DOS

Winning review
by Evan Karp

Log Entry 545: The embryo has
been planted in Mike Dawson’s
head, the one that will allow us to

As in all adventures, pay careful
attention to every place you visit.

take over Earth. Sure, Mike Dawson
can stop us, but he’ll have a long
way to go. If he can't deal with the
headache he’s going to wake up
with, he has no chance. He’ll have to
travel in his own world before even
entering the Dark World that I live in.
If he makes it that far, I doubt that
he’ll even realize that the two worlds
mirror each other. He'll have to pick

JOYSTICK

JURY

up items and use them at the right
place. If he misses something, even
if it’s a small item, he may have to
start his quest all over again. I also
found out that someone may be con-
trolling Mike Dawson’s actions. Well,
if it’s true, I took precautions. The
person who controls Mike Dawson
will hear great sounds, and see Daw-
son’s area in great detail, as well as
my world. And me, I’ll be recognized
as a work of art, from someone
called H.R. Giger. Good luck, you’ll
need it.

Runner Up Review
by Dan Brown

I think Dark Seed has got to be
the weirdest game on the market.
The game is a sort of horror/RPG
scenario putting you in the shoes of
a man named Mike Dawson. He has
a headache because the new house
he just bought is inhabited by alien
beings, and the aliens have implant-
ed an alien egg in his brain! The
alien will hatch in three days and, of
course, Mike will die in the process.
The object is to kill the alien inside
him before that
happens. The
game’s graphics
and music are
superb, if you like
horrifying scenes.

All the back-
grounds are done
by the artist H.R.

Giger, the same
man who made
the cover for the
Players Guide to
Science Fiction
located on page
47 in the October
issue of EG. I like

the fact that the game gives you a
lot of freedom. Overall, I am
impressed by this title and Cyber-
dreams' work.

Team USA Basketball

(Electronic Arts)

Genesis, 1-2 Players

Winning Review
by Tony Bueno

Team USA Basketball follows in
Electronic Arts’ tradition of great
sports titles, and it will not disap-
point fans of their previous games.

The game play is definitely the
most impressive feature. I found it
very fun and challenging even when
using the Dream Team. During this
game, you have the options of play-
ing 5, 10, 15 or 20 minute periods,
and using any of the Olympic basket-
ball contenders. In two player and
non-tournament mode, you can
choose an All-World team and also
play any team against themselves.
Rules and court configurations are
exactly the same as in Barcelona,
with the trapezoid lanes, free throw

100 Electronic Games

Jit5f(i;rr h&uvt faT [37 fj> f> J |7i7iToo7

zu*.i vj =jji=| j:* > > :l> I i-

lines, two period games, and a thirty
second shot clock.

The graphics and sounds are also
quite good. The players are well-ani-
mated, so they all can be easily iden-
tified. The sounds capture squeaking
shoes on the court and the digitized
voice of the referee. There is also a
lengthy (but somewhat unnecessary)
graphic explanation of the two
teams' countries before every game.

All in all, Team USA Basketball is
a fine sports game for the Genesis.

It is recommended for basketball
enthusiasts and fans of sports game
in general.

Runner Up Review
by Joel Pritchard

“It’s almost real!" Team USA Bas-
ketball is obviously the result of
some brilliant programming. Though
basketball is not a new concept, this
game certainly adds a new dimen-
sion. Utilizing 8 Megs, the program-
mers at Electronic Arts definitely
have created a winner.

The backgrounds are extremely
bright and colorful. Not only do the
players move smoothly, but you can
also read the numbers on their jer-
seys! With realistic player movement
and colorful sprites, video game real-
ism takes on a whole new meaning.

The soundtrack is another positive
aspect of this game. The sound fits
well and never becomes tedious or
distracting. The sound effects make
this game even more exciting.

Be ready for challenge and excite-
ment. Team USA Basketball will test
your hand-eye coordination. You can

pass the ball,
shoot it, or do
signature moves.
Once you catch
on, you won’t
want to let go.

This cart is a
must for anyone
looking for a
game that
applies action,
skill and chal-
lenge. The con-
cept makes you
feel more
involved than
most other
games. The
numerous moves and styles will
appeal to players of almost every
taste. Team USA Basketball is a
must-have!

Honorable Mention Review by
Shawn Shackelford
Team USA Basketball by Electron-
ic Arts for the Sega Genesis is quite
a game! It is a limited edition basket-
ball game which has the great
Dream Team Olympic players all in
one cart. Team USA goes up against
15 international basketball teams.
The game action is a bit complicated
by the slow movement, but it doesn't
detract too much from the overall
playability. The countries' national
anthems was a nice touch, although

Information is offered on countries
players may not be familiar with.

I think that Electronic Arts could have
done the music a little better. If
you’re a basketball fan and like
video games, this one’s for you. The
Dream Team plays on in your Sega
Genesis! On a scale of 1 to 10, I
give it an 8.

The United States occupies over 3
rnillion square miles of North
America and contains some of the
most spectacular natural
phenomena on Earth

Join the Jury

Review a game and win games
in EG’s monthly contest!

Each month, Electronic Games’

critics review dozens of new
releases. They do a great job,
but a lot of our readers are
knowledgeable and perceptive
about the games, too. For the
first time in any gaming maga-
zine, our unique monthly contest
lets you strut your stuff. We’ll
pick two games each month,
one computer and one video,
and challenge gamers to review
them. Then, in “The Jury," EG
; will print the best ones. If we
print your review, you will win a
: video or computer game of your
choice! (Any system except Neo
Geo.)

The rules are simple:

1. All reviews must be of the
nominated games.

2. Entrants can submit only one
review of each game.

3. All submissions become the
property of EG.

4. Reviews should be 200

i words or less, typed double-
spaced.

5. The month’s two best
reviews (one in each division),

: as determined by EG editors,
earn the writers a video or com-
puter game of their choice.
(Sorry, no Neo Geo carts.)

6. The contest is open to any-
one who has not sold profes-
sionally to EG within the previ-
ous 12 months (exclusive of this
contest).

Games for Contest #4:

Joe Montana NFL Sports Talk
Football lll/(video game Genesis)
King’s Quest VI/(computer game)

Deadline for this month’s con-
test: January 1, 1993

Send entries to:

The Jury

(Electronic Games)

330 S. Decatur, Suite 152
Las Vegas, NV 89107

Electronic Games 101

12

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READ WHAT THE
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• Jerry Wolensenko
Psygnosis

• Art V. Cestaro Jr. & III
Odyssey Software, Inc.

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Absolute Entertainment

• Rob Holmes

Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.

• Neil Swarz
MicroLeague Sports

• Bill Stealy
MicroProse

• Brian Fargo
Interplay Productions

• Daniel A. Sejzer
Villa Crespo Software

• Dave Harding
Camerica Corp.

• Phil Mikkelson

American Video Entertainment

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Accolade

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Sculptured Software

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Virgin Games

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Fanzines, Get
Yer Fanzines!

by Arnie Katz

Space is limited this issue, due to
our feature on the National Associa-
tion of Electronic Gaming Enthusi-
asts. So let’s dispense with my
usual introductory spiel and get right
to the good stuff — this month’s
new fanzines.

Totally Super NES #4

Edited by Andy Saito
3216 Colebrook Ct.

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5N 3E2
Bimonthly, $1.50 per issue
8 pages.

News, reviews, and tricks are the
staples of this entirely editor-written
fanzine. As its name implies, this is
100% devoted to Nintendo’s 16-Bit
system, though Andy evidences inter-
est in all phases of electronic gam-
ing, especially coin-ops.

An examination of the Superscope
and its software continues, and
there are also reviews of recent
games, including two Simpsons
titles for Super NES.

Andy’s enthusiasm gives Totally
Super NES a positive attitude
towards the games that is infectious.
This upbeat fanzine would benefit
from longer reviews and more editori-
al presence.

Master Minds #4

Edited by Todd Lintner,

6406 Jacobs Way, Madison, Wl 53711
Frequent, $1.00 per issue
16 pages.

This all-platform 'zine, reviewed in
the October 1992 EG, continues to
improve every issue. Todd keeps the

FRNDOM

CENTRAL

tone light and friendly with feisty,
funny lines like: “My colophon is big-
ger than yours! Nyah! Nyah!” This is
one fan editor who knows how to
have a good time!

That doesn’t mean that Todd
doesn’t take gaming seriously,
though. His reviews aren't long, but
they generally hit the target. He
doesn’t let his overall enthusiasm
for the hobby keep him from pointing
out flaws as well as strengths.

Master Minds is one of the
fanzines leading the way to more
diverse subject matter. Gaming is
still number one, but Todd also gives
us flashes of his personal life and
some interesting movie reviews
along with the news, tips, and cri-
tiques.

Todd provides his own illustra-
tions, with mixed results. The comic
strip wasn’t my cup of tea, but the
cover is more successful. Maybe
Todd could use some of his graphics
talent to letter larger headings for
the sections to make it easier to find
things in this 'zine. There are better
fanzines, but few are more appealing
than Master Minds.

Paradox #2

Edited by Chris Johnston,

Jason Whitman, and Justin Schuh
316 E. 11th A ve„ Naperville, IL 60563
Frequent, $1 per issue, 16 pages

Want a unique fanzine with a wide
range of material about video and
computer gaming? This opinionated
yet humorous fanzine gets the Fan-
dom Central seal of approval, even if
they do call me a too-respectful “Mr.
Katz’’ instead of “Arnie".

This trio of young editors blend
well-reasoned, though forceful, opin-
ions and armor-piercing humor with

unexpected skill. Paradox leans
toward fannishness (meaning arti-
cles that contain material about the
hobby itself), but there’s plenty here
to stimulate and entertain the seri-
ous electronic gamer.

Instead of news and capsule
reviews, Paradox has many short
features and columns, each a tightly
focused essay on a specific subject.
Chris Johnston describes a visit to
Steve Honeywell, editor of CGR.
Readers like Lance Rice cavort in
fandom’s liveliest letter column, and
there’s an “Open Letter to Game-
Busters.” Jason Whitman ponders
the fate of the NES, and much, much
more. Game and fanzine reviews
complete the picture.

Chris Johnston’s commentary on
the need to keep fandom in perspec-
tive as a hobby is welcome reading,
but Paradox’s editors should apply
his views on pseudo-professionalism
to their own fanzine. They’ve reduced
such tripe, but there are vestiges,
like the full-page subscription offer
and numerous apologies for late-
ness. Fanzines can’t truly be late,
because no one should expect them
to meet announced release dates
like a prozine. A good fanzine like
Paradox is worth a little wait.

It’s hard to predict the future of a
fanzine from its second issue, but
Paradox is already making a serious
claim to being one of the elite
fanzines. If the staff can produce six
issues a year, it could soon rival
Maelstrom and Cyberbeat.

Attention fanzine editors: If you

want your fanzine reviewed in
Electronic Games, send your 'zine to
Arnie Katz, 330 S. Decatur, Suite
152, Las Vegas, NV 89107.

104 Electronic Games

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KUNKEL

REPORT

The Virtues of Virtuality

by Bill Kunkel

Your first impression upon entering
a Virtuality center is how far removed
it seems from the traditional concept
of arcades. The boisterous, colorful
and sometimes downright seedy
ambience of the typical coin-op col-
lective has been replaced by a sleek,
almost silent storefront. Inside are
anywhere from five to eight game
systems and a bank of wall monitors
offering two-dimensional coverage of
the ongoing contests. Here, the
sights and sounds are internal rather
than external.

The Virtuality systems at New York
City’s South Street Seaport center
seem more like transporter stations
from the Star Trek universe than
existing coin-ops (appropriately
enough, a Star Trek: The Next Gen-
eration game is already in the
works). Each system consists of a
raised, circular platform onto which
players climb after a concise but
thorough briefing on how the technol-
ogy works. Participants then don the
high tech headgear and pick up the
controller. Large, hoop-like contrap-
tions are lowered to the players'
waist level, in order to keep them
from stepping off the edge of the
platform. (Other centers offer Virtuali-
ty systems in a sit-down format that
more closely resemble existing
arcade games, but these stations
are not as space efficient as the
stand-up models.)

The headgear is the prime compo-
nent of each Virtuality station. Inside
each helmet, a pair of tiny monitors
set into the eyepieces display the
game environment in true 3-D. The
helmet also contains sensors which

track any player movement and dis-
play the appropriate visual images
on the monitors.

The game stations are networked
together so that players can com-

There are both standing and sitting
models of the Virtuality machine.

pete head-to-head or in groups, with
the systems created to accept a vari-
ety of software. The most popular
first generation game seems to be
Dactyl Nightmare, a survival contest
in which players stalk one another
across a multi-level, checkerboard
landscape. Players turn in the direc-
tion they wish to move and press an
action button to go straight ahead

I guarantee you have never
experienced anything
quite like Virtuality.

while a second button fires a hand
weapon. There are objects to hide
behind as well as a wild card in the
form of an avian dinosaur who peri-
odically picks up players and
deposits them in random positions
on the game field.

Is Virtuality the next “Big Thing" in
electronic entertainment? Quite pos-
sibly, though there are drawbacks.
For one thing, operator involvement
is much higher than on the arcade
level. Prospective customers require
extensive explanation and personal
attention; you can’t stick these
machines in the back of a 7-11 and
let them run themselves.

Then there’s the question of the
headgear, which is not only too
heavy for easy play, but comes in a
one-size-fits-all format. While it is
possible to tighten the headpieces,
the monitors frequently fall below
eye level and must be propped up by
the player. There are, in fact,
moments when the technology
defeats itself, when simply turning
around with all that equipment and
dangling wires becomes a challenge
in and of itself. Finally, at current
prices ($5 per player for a three
minute game in the New York cen-
ter), Virtuality is an expensive experi-
ence.

On the plus side, I can guarantee
that you have never experienced any-
thing quite like Virtuality. If someone
told me ten years ago that within a
decade it would be possible to actu-
ally enter the gaming environment, I
would have assumed they’d seen
Tron too many times.

Virtuality is here. It may not be per-
fect, but it works. And all gamers
with an iota of curiosity owe it to
themselves to check it out.

106 Electronic Games

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secrets that will send your scores soaring!

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players, only 100 of whom (on aver-
age) finish the quest each week.
Carmen Sandiego is an on-line
translation of Broderbund’s
popular title that allows play-
ers to start a new mystery
each week and compete
against players from
around the country for rankings
in the “ACME Detective Hall of
Fame." CEO is a non-real time multi-
player business simulation that uses
much of the knowledge one would
acquire in pursuit of an M.B.A., but
at a significant discount.

Custom choice games (pay-to-play)
include Mystery Party, Rebel Space
and Golf Tour. Mystery Party is simi-
lar to the board game, except that
each one of eight characters is
played by a team of members. A sep-
arate bulletin board is set up for
each team to allow players to dis-
cuss events in the game and vote on
the next move. Each game lasts for
four weeks and is updated daily.
Rebel Space is a galactic land rush
game that includes aspects of explo-
ration, conquest, colonization and
combat. Fifty players compete in
non-real time, seeking to improve
eco-spheres and technologies of
primitive races, and consolidate their
holdings against marauding mili-
tarists. Golf Tour offers owners of
Jack Nickalus Golf, Signature Edi-
tion (Accolade) to compete in opens
for up to 150 players, or invitationals
for 4-32 players. Courses are down-
loaded for unlimited practice and,
when the player is ready, a ticket is
requested. The player has three
hours off-line to complete the round
and upload the results. If one makes
the cut, then the next round of play
begins. Additional areas offer one
person quick-play games and other
topics of interest.

The Prodigal BBS

by Ed Dille

Prodigy

1200/2400 baud

Monthly fee with special charges for
some services.

When first introduced in the late
80’s, The Prodigy on-line BBS was
almost as conservative as its par-
ents, IBM and Sears. Fortunately,
the designers of the service were
attuned to consumers and consider-
able evolution has occurred in the
interim.

In the early days, electronic
gamers would have been hard
pressed to find more than common
shareware, but that has changed.
Now, subscribers can access a dedi-
cated Game Center. This banquet of
entertainment combines Prodigy’s
basic service games, custom choice
games, gaming news, a hint center,
popularity polls for games and a
Game Club together under a single
menu.

Among the basic multi-player
games (i.e., those that do not
require additional charges) are Mad-
Maze, Where in the World is Car-
men Sandiego, and CEO. MadMaze
is a classic type mainframe fantasy
RPG that emphasizes communica-
tion and problem solving over hack
and slash. Further, it is a massive
game that boasts 50,000 regular

Fantasy-Football is just one of the
entertainment choices on Prodigy.

lation to Power Shopping (a scary
prospect indeed). Ms. Kane avoids
the textbook approach and writes in
a light, conversational prose. The
book is also heavily illustrated with
actual screen shots to accentuate
the text.

The book will pay for itself by
reducing user access time and
increasing productivity while connect-
ed to the service.

— Ed Dille

It is encouraging to see Prodigy
striking agreements with third party
developers like Accolade and Broder-
bund. Such trends indicate healthy
growth in Prodigy's service.

Prodigy Made Easy (second edition)
Pamela Kane
McGraw Hill ($19.95)

290 pages (softbound)

As on-line services mature, they
tend to become a morass of jump
words and menus that are daunting
to the average user. Furthermore, on-
line time is wasted if you cannot pick
your destination quickly. As such,
guide books such as this are not
only handy, they can be necessary.

Prodigy Made Easy simplifies and
clarifies everything from initial instal-

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108 Electronic Games

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Adaptability Is Uppermost

by Ed Dille

GAMEHANDLER Controls

IMN Control

Prices vary based on model
($49.95 average)

Available now:

GAMEHANDLER NSX - Super NES
GAMEHANDLER GS - Genesis
GAMEHANDLER - NES
Coming Soon:

GAMEHANDLER AI2 - IBM & Apple
GAMEHANDLER FX - TurboGrafx
16 Bit adaptor - Gives upward com-
patibility with SNES

Many gamers^ave wished for
more control and precise movement
when tackling their favorite games.
Companies such as Nintendo have
offered many products to help
increase the player's enjoyment. The
concept of registering player move-
ment in three dimensional space is
not new (remember the Mattel power
glove?), but peripherals which incor-
porate this principle become increas-
ingly valuable as designers move
toward virtual reality-based games.
Dane Galden, president of IMN Con-
trol, has developed a proprietary
gravity sensor that registers both the
direction and speed of movement
away from centerline by the player’s
hand.

The principle of operation is similar
to that of accelerometers used

extensively in scientific evaluations
to measure the force required to
accelerate or deceler-
ate a body in
motion. Most
accelerome-
ters are

mechani- JF

cal sys- r

a mass
suspended

spring in a
fluid which
acts as a
dampening

medium that ■

simulates inertia.

The degree of
oscillation impart-
ed on the mass
as a result of
outside forces
is then convert-
ed to an electric
signal via trans-
ducers.

Disassembly of
the Gamehandler
controller won’t reveal

vidually wired to a microprocessor
which correlates the input of the
motion sensors with that of the six
controller/selector buttons.

Further, the microprocessor
feeds the combined input to
the video game control deck
at a much higher data rate
than traditional controllers,
and the effects of this differ
depending on the software pro-
gram. Some examples of the
special effects and changes
include Mario and Yoshi run-
ning sideways in Super
Mario World, single button
moves for Street Fighter
II. backwards movement
for the Ninja character in
Revenge of Shinobi and
the ability to hyperwarp
Turtles around the
screen in TMNT II for
the NES. Again, these
features are software
dependent and unpre-
dictable since many
games were devel-
oped and pro-
grammed before the
controller actually
became available. How-

such a device, however,
as IMN Controls has replicated the
effect electronically. Ringing the
inner base of the controller are sen-
sors that register changes in electri-
cal potential based upon player hand
movements. These sensors are indi-

ever, it is exciting to see what
moves your favorite characters can
perform with this new joystick. You
might be surprised!

Some newer games will have spe-
cial capabilities built into them in
consideration of the controller, but

Some special effects include Mario and Yoshi running sideways
and the ability to hyperwarp Turtles around the screen.

110 Electronic Games

additional tricks and tips are discov-
ered in the older games all the time.
IMN Control publishes a free monthly
newsletter for registered users of its
products to update these secrets.
Additionally, they sponsor monthly
contests for the best new trick in
that issue.

Selector arrangement is highly
functional, allowing simultaneous
operation of three buttons with the
hand holding the stick, leaving the
off hand completely free. The A but-
ton is normally the large finger grip
on the front of the controller,
although the player can selectively
switch the A and B functions easily,
even in the middle of play. This
comes in handy if a better control
scheme is desired and the player
does not wish to reset the game.

The B button is a small button locat-
ed ergonomically in the thumb’s nor-
mal resting place. Select is located
on the bottom forefront of the unit,
again to allow easy manipulation by
the pinky finger.

The Start button, Rapid Fire and
Slow Motion selectors are also locat-
ed on the top of the controller, within
comfortable range of thumb move-
ment. The slow motion feature is
active only when depressed, allowing
the player to switch back and forth
during tight spots in flying/shooting
games like Battle Command. Addi-
tionally, the controller comes with a
ten-foot cord for freedom of move-
ment.

Controller sensitivity is an issue.
Because the slightest movements
are detected, there is a learning
curve to be overcome. Furthermore,
tilting the controller too far in any
one direction reverses the electrical
field read by the motion sensors and
changes the character’s direction of
movement. In horizontally scrolling
games like the Mario series, howev-
er, beginning with the controller tilted
forward and wiggling the wrist back
and forth can produce the fine con-
trol necessary for precision running
and jumping moves. Regardless of
sensitivity concerns, the combined
advantages of the controller far out-
weigh the disadvantages.

Expandability is a marketing con-
cern for IMN Control. They avoid

Dane Galden: The Man
Behind The Magic

EG: What was the impetus behind
the original idea for Gamehandler?
Galden: / was fascinated with the
idea of character control in 3-D
space, leaving the other hand free
to do other things. Right now that
just means eating popcorn or
something, but soon we will be
releasing other new technologies
to occupy that hand. At the winter
CES in Las Vegas, we will be
announcing a virtual reality based
product that builds upon the exist-
ing Gamehandler system. I can’t
really say more about it now, but I
think it’s unlike anything out there
so far.

EG: What developmental issues
posed the biggest problem?
Galden: / think the biggest problem
is to remain completely upward
and downward compatible. We are
trying to build a line of products
that support and promote one
another, such that players are not
forced to buy new peripherals when
they change systems. Additionally,
we are in extensive negotiations
with several game companies to
get them to incorporate Gamehan-
dler features into new cartridges.
EG: In the interest of keeping con-
sumer costs down, we think the 16

Bit adapter was a great idea. Will
the other add-ons under develop-
ment adhere to both your compati-
bility and pricing goals?

Galden: Oh, absolutely! The RF
remote, for example, can be
plugged into the bottom of any of
the Gamehandlers, making it
instantly compatible for all sys-
tems, so players with multiple con-
soles will only need one. We’re tar-
geting that at $30 retail, to keep it
well within the reach of most play-
ers. Also, because it’s RF based, it
won’t suffer many of the intermit-
tent problems associated with
infrared devices. Also, the remote
allows our earphone and micro-
phone accessories to be fully
remote. As another example, on
the pricing side of the question,
our sensitivity adjust (which will
allow skilled players finer control)
will retail under $15.

EG: What user base do you have
now, and how are you projecting
its growth?

Galden: It’s tough to say exactly
what our base is right now, but it’s
growing daily. We are projecting
tremendous growth during the
Christmas season and the first
quarter of next year, when we for-
mally announce our new virtual
reality product.

— Ed Dille

making their own equipment obso-
lete by providing a 16 Bit adaptor for
their NES controller at considerably
less expense than buying the SNES
version. The objective, naturally, is to
encourage game players to retain
their Gamehandler controllers when
they upgrade to more capable
consoles.

Other Expander Series add-on
products due for release include an
attachable RF remote that avoids the
ill effects of infrared, a microphone/
earphone adaptor that allows kids to
talk back to their games, and a sen-
sitivity adjust for expert players.

The overall ease of use and pre-
cise control make the Gamehandler
a heavyweight contender in the world
of third party game controllers.

Gamers who use their products can
expect a quality piece of merchan-
dise for the price. The obvious mes-
sage is that IMN Control seeks to be
in control of the video game peripher-
al market. Its degree of success in
that endeavor will depend entirely on
how deeply its marketing campaign
can penetrate the user base. With
sufficient units abroad, cartridge and
computer designers will be forced to
program features which support the
controller series; with the current
success of the Gamehandler and
future releases planned, it will proba-
bly happen. Since such inroads are
already being laid in the Asian mar-
ketplace by Mr. Galden and his
team, can the U.S. be far behind?

— Ed Dille

Electronic Games 111

The Official Guide to
Sid Meier’s Civilization

Keith Ferrell, Compute Books, 224
pages (softbound, $14.95)

Only a handful of games ever
achieve the design depth and rich
play experience of Civilization. Guid-
ing a culture from its primitive begin-
nings to the colonization of space is
not only intimidating, it encompass-
es many interrelationships that are
not readily apparent to most players.
Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley antici-
pated this and provided players with
a finely written manual an on-line
"Civilopedia."

Despite their laudable efforts, or per-
haps because of them, mastery of
the game is highly elusive. This
guide, written in collaboration with
Sid Meier, provides players addition-
al enlightenment in their quest to
become either the sole remaining
despot or the leader of the free
world.

The first four chapters delve into
the frame of mind of successful
empire builders, address the issues
of expansion versus consolidation,
and lay a foundation for further dis-
cussion of the ideas portrayed in the
game. A walk-through explores the
initial phases of exploration neces-
sary to survive the primitive era of
the game.

Chapters five and six respectively
explore defensive and offensive mili-
tary considerations, and the oft
neglected importance of diplomatic
units is emphasized. Finally, the
author cautions players against the
stagnating effects of isolationism.

Chapters seven and eight detail
cultural considerations and illustrate

LORE

a proper balance of commerce and
government. Keeping the population
happy becomes increasingly difficult
as one progresses from despotism
toward democracy. Religious consid-
erations, management of the labor
force and proper allocation of
resources between arts and sci-
ences become critical.

The Official Guide To
Sid Meier’s

The Authoritative Guide

The final two chapters concern
periods of global war and peace. The
discussions of nuclear diplomacy,
economic warfare and technological
deterrence are engrossing. Consider-
ations surrounding pollution and
global warming are also included to
aid players who survive long enough
to actually participate in the space
race.

The first appendix delineates 175
hints and tips, categorized by points
in the game, and conversations with
Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley round
out the offering nicely.

— Ed Dille

How to Design and
Sell Video Games

Pat King, Sligo Video, 1 hour video-
tape, $19.95.

At one time or another, most video
gamers have an idea for a game
they’d like to see, and sometimes
they feel the idea is good enough to
try to sell. It’s up against a lot of
competition though.

Prospects are not necessarily
hopeless for the persevering, which
is why this videotape was made. Pat
King, himself a game designer, inter-
viewed a dozen professionals, one a
lawyer, the rest involved with design-
ing, programming and producing
video games, among them EG’s own
Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel. King
asked seven questions he’s heard
over and over from would-be game
creators: how to get a video game
idea programmed and marketed, to
make a presentation, get an entry
level industry job, make contacts,
put together a development system,
protect original ideas, and (the big
one) what are the secrets of good
game design? He caught on tape the
kind of counsel and insights only
those in the industry could offer.

It is made clear throughout that
just an idea is not enough. Solid
preparation and presentation are as
vital here as in any effort. So too is
direct involvement with some area of
the industry. If this sounds daunting,
it shouldn’t; the video game industry
is growing and vital. However, its
economics have pretty much brought
it past the point where anyone can
make a success alone. Some of the
paths of entry are shown here.

— Ross Chamberlain

112 Electronic Games

The Electronic Games Reader Poll

The editors of Electronic Games want to know about you, the reader, so that we can tailor the magazine to meet your
particular needs. The monthly Reader Poll will let us know what aspects of the electronic gaming hobby are most inter-
esting to you. We also want to know what you’re playing, and to receive your vote for the most popular game programs
each month.

Just circle your choices below, then send your poll sheet (or a photocopy if you prefer) to:

Electronic Games Reader Poll, 330 S. Decatur, Ste. 152, Las Vegas, NV 89107.

Sex: Male Female

Age: Under 16 17-23 24-30 31-40 Over 40

Family Income: Under $20,000 $21,000-$35,000 $36,000-$40,000 Over $41,000

I regularly play: Video Games Computer Games Both

I spend hours per week playing electronic games:

Under 2 2-5 6-10 More than 10

I spend under $ per week on computer and video games:

$20 $20-$50 $60-$100 More than $100

Please check all hardware you own or plan to buy in the next 12 months:

OWN

Nintendo NES

Other 8 Bit Videogame

Genesis

Sega CD

Super NES

TurboGrafx-16

Neo*Geo

Game Boy

Game Gear

Lynx

Amiga

Macintosh

MS-DOS Computer

Other (write in name)

I will will not buy a Multimedia gaming system in the next 12 months.

I purchase my software at Toy Store Electronics Store

Mail Order Other

I own video games and computer games. (Please indicate number.)

I plan to purchase video games and computer games in the next year. (Please indicate number.)

Please rate the following game subjects from 1 (no interest to me) to 10 (very interesting to me):

Science Fiction Martial Arts

Fantasy Mystery

Arcade Military

Sports Flight

Other (please write in category)

Please rate your interest in these types of electronic games from 1 (not interesting) to 10 (very interesting):

Video Games Coin-Ops Games

Computer Games MultiMedia Games

My favorite video games are:

My favorite computer games are:

1 .

1 .

2.

2.

3.

3.

My favorite multimedia game is:

1 .

My favorite coin-op game is:

1.

Look For HI I This

Much More Fit Newsstands January 12, 1992!

Coming Rttractions...

The Players’ Guide to
Fantasy Gaming

Grab your trusty sword and
mithril armor, and find out what the
would-be wizard down the street has
planned, because EG’s magazine-
within-a-magazine for February ven-
tures into the mystic, mythical world
of interactive fantasy gaming. This
special section previews the hottest
games in development, offers can-
did conversations with top design-
ers, and takes you on a guided tour
of Lord British’s private domain.

The Making of a
Multimedia Masterpiece

Electronic Arts is pulling out
all the stop to make “The Secret
Files of Sherlock Holmes" a mul-
timedia milestone. Our editors
take you right to the sound
stages and the design depart-
ment to show how everything
comes together.

Goal!: Electronic Games
1992 Hockey Review

Flashing skates and slashing
sticks fill America’s gaming screens,
because its electronic hockey time!
Whether you’re a rink rat or just love
action gaming. EG’s annual report on
video and computer hockey cartridges
and disks delivers the straight scoop
on games based on the world's
fastest sport.

And Be Sure to Look For the Very Latest
High-End Gaming, Including:

Video Game Gallery
The Game Doctor
Software Gallery
Power On!
Multimedia Gallery
The Kunkel Report
The Jury

Portable Playtime
Fandom Central
Insert Coin Here
Lore

Test Lab
Feedback
Playing It Smart

and don’t forget all the latest news in
EG’s exclusive Hotline section!

In the February Edition of Electronic Games

N E -II

The Building of A Dynasty

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( Wjndtrap

Only one house will prevail

Atreides Trike.

SILE

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DM 0

/V\«yV

mtc

*

Control all aspects of combat and construction

Select and build varieties of installations.

Acquire valuable information from your Mentat

Conquer Arrakis this fall on your IBM PC!

for more inhumation, pricing and orders
pleas^call 800-VRG-IN07.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express
ahd checks accepted.

Inc. ©1-984 Dino De Lauremiis

n i versa!

Corpoi

liccn.s

of Dino*
reserved

UNE

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<'"d

Studio

LETHAL WEAPON

are back as
again, fight
|wets of Los
iphjeves, and

msmmm

rtaugh and Riggs,
ios and mayhem i
seles. Conquer th
l:ome tricky oj|

Official

Ninfendo

(Nintendo)

x Seal of Quality /

1855 O'Toole Ave.

Suite D-102
Son Jose, CA 95131

?CeWW!?*WeAPON. characters, names, and all related indicia are trademark!
Warner Bros., a Time Warner Entertainment Company © 1992. All Rights#*
£ 1992 Ocean Software Limited. Ocean is a rraii
re Limited. Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Game.Boy 1
&tered trademarks of Nintendo of America, Irjfc. o

trademark

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