Get Season 2 of Burn Notice on Blu-Ray

This week we finish up the Burn Notice reviews (for now), with a review of the show’s second season. I haven’t watched Season 3 yet, but once I do, you can expect a review.

The Premise:

Following the conclusion of Season 1, Michael finds a few answers about who burned him – sort of. To be more accurate, he’s lost the FBI surveillance and instead has found himself in the care of Carla, his new handler. So, while now trying to make ends meet by helping the helpless, he now must also try to find out who Carla is working for, and what they want to do with him.

The Good:

Season 2 starts off very well, and continues to be paced pretty well. While we don’t have total resolution over who burned Michael, and how to get out from under their thumb, we do feel like we’re getting somewhere. It’s different from, say, Lost, where you get this sensation of taking two steps forward, and then one step back (and sometimes more). The show always feels like it’s getting forward momentum in terms of the plot. I also liked the reference to the George Smiley novels with the name choice for Carla.

The Bad:

Michael appears to rely on his guns and his explosives a bit too much. That said, he does try to keep with his MO of manipulating other people into doing the necessary killing for him.

The Ugly:

Michael’s mother taking him to the group psychiatric sessions again. Look, I know Michael has issues that he needs to work out with his family, but they did that for a B-Plot last season. It was annoying when they did it as a B-Plot last season, and it’s annoying this season. If they’d changed it up by having it be Fiona and Michael, that’d be something else entirely.

Gaming Usage:

The same general usage as last season. The show remains the perfect TV resource for Shadowrun GMs and players, at least in terms of missions, tactics, and group dynamics.

The Verdict:

The show’s changed for the darker tonally, but it’s still a great show, and I’m still giving it my recommendation.

Well, I tried to beat this game. I couldn’t. This game is very hard. That said, I made it through Tatooine, with the help of the map in Nintendo Power, and I made it through the asteroid sequence through what I guess is dumb luck. However, after arriving on the Death Star, I ran into a brick wall. Well, not literally, but figuratively. I couldn’t find where to go next. That said, I do feel that I experienced most of the pieces of the game experience, at least enough so that I feel comfortable rating the game. So, let’s get started

The Premise:

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away… oh you know the whole plot already. Seriously, the game sticks fairly close to the basic plot points, though it embellishes on them to bring the game to a length that would be acceptable for a commercial release.

The Good:

The weapon selection of the game is moderately balanced. All the playable characters carry blasters, which don’t do a lot of damage, but have very good range – in that the shots go the entire length of the screen. However, they don’t deal a lot of damage in comparison to Luke’s light saber, which will kill most enemies in one hit. However, most enemies will kill you in one or two hits if you make contact with them, but blaster bolts will take a bunch of hits to kill you.

Additionally, spikes won’t kill you instantly. Usually, if there’s a platform nearby at a jumping height you can survive while losing only about one-third-to-one-fourth of your life bar. After being killed numerous times from Castlevania to Mega Man to Ninja Gaiden by lightly brushing spikes, this is a very nice touch.

The Bad:

During the asteroid sequence I didn’t get much feedback about where the asteroids are coming in, and having enemies on the over-world on Tatooine when you can’t fight back is also a pain in the neck. Some of the jumping puzzles were also a nuisance, and I’m not a fan of the falling damage – that’s a “feature” that could have been eliminated from the game entirely.

The Ugly:

From Mos Eisley on I found myself basically encountering bullet-hell segments in the game. In particular, the Bounty Hunters on Mos Eisley are incredibly cheap, as once you shoot them they’ll take off with their jet-pack while still shooting, and if they hit you once, all their bullets will home in. Also, once I got on the Death Star, I actually ran into a situation in one room where there were enough bullets being shot at me on screen that the game lagged. Now, if this were Contra, where my gun had more power to it, and I could shoot on the diagonal, this wouldn’t necessarily be a problem. But it’s not Contra, I can’t shoot on the Diagonal, nor can I shoot straight up or down, or jump high enough to take out some of the more dangerous enemies who are shooting at me. Thus, the deaths I end up experiencing can justifiably be described as “cheap”.

Yes, I am aware that this is an “old-school” NES game, and old school NES games are hard. However, as I’ve said repeatedly, they weren’t always hard in a good way. Some times they were hard because they tied one or both hands behind your back. That’s not a good way of being hard, that’s a bad way of being hard.

This game is hard, in the bad way.

The Verdict:

For now, I’m going to recommend giving Star Wars for the NES a miss. As it is there’s Super Star Wars as well, which I’ll be reviewing later, when I come to it.

This week’s Nintendo Power recap finally takes us into the 16-bit era, with issue #28 for September of 1991 and our cover story is Super Mario World for the SNES. I’m strongly considering dropping my “no classics” restriction for this game. However, let’s see what else we have this issue first.

Letters: We get a bunch of suggestions for future contests.

Super Mario World Guide: We get coverage of Mario’s new companion, Yoshi, as well as the game’s power-ups. We also get notes on some of the enemies in the game, along with some of the over-world maps. We also get notes on what levels are where, but we don’t get detailed level maps – which is kind of unfortunate, as this is the only mainstream Mario game I’ve gotten lost on. For the record, I also got a little lost in Super Mario RPG, but that’s a slightly different matter. We also get some notes on finding the Star Road – but again, they don’t get in a lot of detail on anything.

Nester’s Adventures: This issue Nester’s playing Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and… I can’t figure out what the tip’s supposed to be. Is it “hide in the bushes to escape persuing enemies” or “search the enviroment to find the number for the era you want to go to”? I miss Howard!

Star Wars Guide: A long time ago, on a 8-bit system far away, JVC and Lucasarts put out a game based on the first Star Wars movie. This is also looking like a strong canidate for my Quality Control pick (particularly since I haven’t played this one). We get the over-world map for Tatooine. We also get the maps for the various areas on Tatoonie. We also get some notes on the levels after Tatoonie, though not particularly any detailed maps.

Smash TV Guide: Smash TV has been ported to the NES, with several of the levels missing, and as a single stick/d-pad shooter. Well, sort of – you can use two sticks to replicate the twin-stick setup. We also get notes on 3 circuits.

Kickmaster Guide: We have a guide for the kick-boxing themed fantasy game from Taito. We get some notes on the levels, but not a lot of maps on the levels.

WURM Guide: Asmik has an underground exploration themed shooter, with a bit of the Blaster Master changing vehicle thing going on. We get some detailed maps this time, on the other side of their F-Zero poster.

Game Boy Coverage: This issue we get coverage of Final Fantasy Adventure – the first game in the Mana series, and some very, very detailed maps. I’m impressed with the amount of coverage we’re getting here. We also get some coverage of the Game Boy version of Tecmo Bowl, and a similar port of Marble Madness.

SNES Previews: We get a preview for Super Castlevania, which returns us once again to Simon Belmont, and introduces 8-way whipping. We also get a peak at some of the stages (and some of those get re-used in Rondo of Blood). We also get a preview of the home port of Sim City, and the first 16-bit brawler – Final Fight, though we don’t particularly need maps for those games.

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Now Playing: This issue the also-rans include Eliminator Boat Duel and Bo Jackson Baseball.

Councelor’s Corner: We have questions about Star Tropics, and Legacy of the Wizard. The Legasy of the Wizard question is particualrly useful as it covers which characters you should use to get what crowns, and what screens you have to go through to get there. We also have questiosn about getting some of the 1-ups and past some of the obstacles in Ninja Gaiden III, along with questions about finding WarMech in Final Fantasy, and getting into the castle at the end of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Top 30: Well, this issue I no longer have a nice, convenient two page scan to put up for my Top 30 section, so it’s time to type out the list again. I’m going to switch to the monthly system here, particularly since Nintendo Power has been monthly for several years now, and I’ve stopped counting total run, instead going for the current run (more or less – they don’t give time of run for stuff lower than 10 on the list).

1. Super Mario Bros. 3 (9,039 pts.) – No Change (23 months)
2. TMNT 2 Arcade (7,582 pts.) – No Change (10 months)
3. Mega Man III (5,616 pts.) – No Change (10 months)
4. Crystalis (5,251 pts.) – Up 3 (11 months)
5. Final Fantasy (5,156 pts.) – Down 1 (13 months)
6. Bart vs. The Space Mutants (4,511 pts.) – Up 2 (5 months)
7. Dragon Warrior II (4,474 pts.) – Down 2 (9 months)
8. Tetris (4,371 pts.) – Down 2 (19 months)
9. Startropics (4,350 pts.) – No Change (6 months)
10. Dr. Mario (3,429 pts.) – No Change (8 months)
11. Battletoads (3,219 pts.) – New!
12. The Legend of Zelda (2,908 pts.) – Up 8
13. Super Mario Bros 2 (2,541 pts.) – Down 2
14. Mega Man II (2,351 pts.) – Down 1
15. Destiny of an Emperor (2,324 pts.) – Up 3
16. Double Dragon III (2,066 pts.) – Down 6
17. Bases Loaded II (1,838 pts.) – Up 11
18. Dragon Warrior (1,779 pts.) – Up 6
19. Ultima IV (1,740 pts.) – Down 5
20. Tecmo Bowl (1,663 pts.) – Returning!
21. Double Dragon II (1,523 pts.) – No Change
22. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1,470 pts.) – Down 3
23. Castlevania III (1,386 pts.) – Down 9
24. Maniac Mansion (1,368 pts.) – Down 9
25. Faria (1,168 pts.) – New!
26. Wizardry (1,146 pts.) – Down 10
27. Duck Tales (1,144 pts.) – Up 1
28. Battle of Olympus (1,074 pts.) – Returning!
29. Little Nemo (1,045 pts.) – No Change

Celebrity Profile: Oh you’ve got to be kidding me! Bart Simpson? Look, regular celebrities which are actual human beings are fine. Hell, if Koko the gorilla (or any other gorilla) was tought to play video games as part of an experiment, a profile of him or her would be fine too. Bart isn’t real! Lame!

Pak Watch: Among the interesting upcoming titles are a Tale Spin licenced game and a Might & Magic for the NES. The SNES has Darius Twin coming out, Nosferatu, which is sort of Prince of Persia meets Castlevania. There’s also Super Battletank.

Letter to The Readers: This issue we have a little note from Scott Peland, the writer of Howard and Nester, and now Nester Adventures, with a little peak behind the scenes.

Well then, my Quality Control pick for this issue is going to be the NES Star Wars game from JVC. I’ll move on to the SNES versions later, when they come out – unless something more interesting is up against it. Also, I’m considering dropping GamePro. I don’t feel like I can trust their reviews. However, EGM has started up EGM^2 around this time, plus I also have access to a small archive of DieHard Game Fan. So, I’m interested in both of those. If you have a preference, please post in the comments. Thank you.

This week we continue with our EGM recaps with issue 63 for October of 1994. Our cover story for this issue is Donkey Kong Country for the SNES, one of Rare’s latest games.

Editorial: Well, last issue, Steve Harris teased an announcement this issue about Capcom’s responce to their lower review for Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Well, this issue we learn Capcom’s response – they blacklisted (at least where Advertisements are concerned) EGM to “make a statement” in the words of Capcom’s director of marketing. Steve Harris says that the only statment coming from Capcom here is that they don’t have faith in their products, and I can’t help but agree. Further, I’d expand on that by saying that any game publisher or developer who engages in the journalistic equivalent of the Tarkin Doctrine only succeeds in making them look like the bad guy to the gaming press. If they blacklist a blogger or web site, then they’re picking on the little guy. If they’re blacklisting an established bastion of games journalism, then they’re making a Nixon-esque enemies list. Further, this is only aggrivated when they’re doing the blacklisting for a review that isn’t particularly bad. The Street Fighter II series had been pushing perfect scores in EGM for most of its run. This is the first game that didn’t, and thus they get upset over it.

Letters: We get letters about how game developers choose what new concepts to turn into games, about the fate of the 32X once the Saturn comes out, and about old Tengen games for the NES with the Seal of Approval. That last one I don’t need to explain, if you’ve been following the EGM recaps, and have learned the sad tale of the Tengen/Nintendo feud. Also, EGM now has an E-Mail address, through Compuserve. Obviously, this E-mail address is now out of date, so I’m not going to share it here.

Review Crew: Once again, as a reminder, our crew is Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, Al Manual, and Sushi-X.

1. Final Fantasy III (Square, SNES): Final Fantasy III/VI has gotten released – and I really need to get around to beating that game. The game gets 9s across the board, with the crew having nothing bad to say about the game. Overall: 36/40 and the game is Game Of The Month and recieves the Editor’s Choice Platinum Award.
2. Mortal Kombat II (Acclaim, SNES): This version of the latest installment in the MK series gets a 9 from Ed and 8s from everyone else. The consensus from everyone is that it’s an arcade perfect port, though the controls are looser than the arcade version. The main disagreement is, I suppose, between Ed and everyone else over how much of a problem this is. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
3. Demon’s Crest (Capcom, SNES):. This is a semi-port/sequel of Gargoyle’s Quest (the spinoff of Ghouls & Ghosts). Al gives it a 9, everyone else gives it 8s. The consensus is that this game is fantastic – and they’re surprised Capcom isn’t promoting it. Now, I don’t know how much of this is, Capcom isn’t sending them promotional materials, or that Capcom isn’t advertising it at all. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
4. Mortal Kombat II (Acclaim, Genesis): The Genesis version of MKII doesn’t do as well – the game gets an 8 from Ed, and 7s from the rest of the crew. They find it similar to the arcade version, but inferior to the SNES in most respects. Overall: 29/40.
5. Contra Hard Corps (Konami, Genesis): It’s the Genesis turn to get a Contra game. Ed gives the game a 8 and the rest of the crew gives it 7s. The main complaints are that the game is a run-and-gun bullet hell shooter, which means there are a lot of cheap deaths. Overall: 29/40.
6. Earthworm Jim (Playmates, Genesis): It seems appropriate that I’m recapping this issue after seeing video games live, which feature Tommy Tallarico, the composer of the music for this game. The game gets an 8 from Sushi and 9s from everyone else, with no complaints leveled against the game at all. Overall: 35/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
7. Switch (Data East, Sega CD): The odd Japanese puzzle game has gotten a US release. Ed gives the game a 7, finding it very funny and enjoying the variety of jokes in the game. Danyon found the game to be not so much of a game, though they did find it rather amusing and gave it an 6. Al and Sushi give the game 5s, found that the game got pretty boring after playing it for a while. Overall: 23/40.
8. Agressors of Dark Kombat (ADK, Neo-Geo): When I first looked at the title, the first thing that kame in my head is Mortal Kombat ripoff. The game gets 7s across the board, due to the game’s sense of humor and devestating combo moves. Overall: 28/40.
9. Star Control 2 (Crystal Dynamics, 3DO): The PC strategy game gets a port to home consoles. Ed and Danyon give the game 9s, finding it a solid strategy game and superior to the PC version, as does Sushi, who gives it an 8. Al isn’t much of a strategy game fan, but he still found it enjoyable enough to give it a 7. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
10. Wolfenstein 3D (Atari, Jaguar): The first FPS is on the Jaguar, with blood, attack dogs, and Nazis intact. Sushi gives it an 8, and everyone else gives it 7s, with the main complaitns being about the scrolling being a little too fast. Overall: 29/40.
11. Little Devil (Phillips, CD-I): Ed gives the game an 8, and everyone else gives the game 6s. While the animation is good, there are soem significant complaints about the control. Overall: 24/40.
12. Mortal Kombat II (Acclaim, Game Boy): Ed finds that this port plays better than the port of Mortal Kombat I, and gives the game an 8. Everyone else isn’t so impressed, and they still think that the game doesn’t work well on a 2-button controller, with Danyon giving the game a 6, and Al & Sushi giving the game 5s. Overall: 24/40.
13. Bubble Bobble (Taito, Game Gear): Bub and Bob are back! Al gives the game a 7 and everyone else gives it 8s. The consensus is that the game is still solid even on a system like the Genesis. Overall: 31/40.

Gaming Gossip: According to Q-Mann, several publishers are working on a 6-button controller for the 3DO so wew can get some fighting game ports for that system, which would be pretty impressive. Acclaim’s working on a Batman Forever licenced game, and Sega’s working on a Congo licenced game – both of which turn out to be rubbish.

Press Start: Aura Systems is working on a vest for use in virtual reality games, called the Interactor. We also get previews of other upcoming controllers.

Arcade Action: Kaneko has The Great 1,000 Mile Rally, which looks iffy to me, mainly because of the camera angle. Taito has the fighting game Global Champion, SNK has Samurai Shodown II, which I haven’t played, but I’ve been meaning to play – once I get Samurai Shodown Anthology or something. Operation Wolf is getting a 3rd installment, and an arcade version of Mad Dog McCree II is on it’s way out.

International Outlook: Of note this issue is Goemon 3 for the SNES, a Sailor Moon S fighting game, Battle Robot Legend from Banpresto for the SNES, which sounds like a Super Robot Wars game to me. We also get a feature preview of Shining Force CD which unfortunately didnt’ get a US release, and as yet CD games haven’t shown up on the Virtual Console, whether they were released in the US or not.

Next Wave: Of note for the upcoming titles the US is getting are 3DO ports of Samurai Shodown and Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

Special Features: We have a behind the scenes look of the 3DO FMV game Corpse Killer. We also get a look at Donkey Kong Country particularly screen shots of several levels and the game’s power ups. There’s also a look at some of the upcoming titles for the Jaguar, including Rayman and Wolfensten 3D.

Team EGM: To be honest, sports games haven’t aged very well, so I’m going to scale back my recaps of this section to games that interest me. This means that annual sports franchises won’t be getting listed. The 3DO is getting a port of Road Rash and Need for Speed (and it doesn’t look half bad).

SNES Coverage: We have more screen shots of Demon’s Crest, along with Final Fantasy III (with particular focus on the new Active Time Battle or ATB system). We also get an interview with Square’s then publicity director, Yusuke Hirata, and a few screen shots of Chrono Trigger. There’s also a preview of Virtual Bart, Animaniacs from Konami, Indiana Jones Greatest Adventures JVC which has some problems with cheap hits. Activision has the platformer Radical Rex, and Capcom has a Bonkers licenced platformer. There’s also a preview of Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure. EA also has the semi-fighting game Shaq Fu (ugh). FCI has a the combination action-platformer/shooter Metal Morph, and a port of Ultima: The Black Gate. Spectrum Holobyte has the puzzle game Wildsnake, and JVC has a sequel to Zombies Ate My Neighbors titled Ghoul Patrol.

Genesis & Sega CD Coverage: We have a look at Lethal Enforcers II, which takes the series to the old west. The Genesis is also getting another first person shooter in Battle Frenzy – the FPS boom is on. We also have a look at the isometric shump Viewpoint, Accolade has the fighting game Ballz which is a fighting game with characters made out of a collection of Balls (and which I suspect lead to Vectorman). The Sega CD also has Star Wars Chess.

Neo-Geo Coverage: We have our first look at King Of Fighters ‘94, with profiles of all the teams. Though, unfortunately, at this time the game has some slowdown problems. It’s also really hard. We also get screen shots of Agressors of Dark Kombat.

3DO Coverage: We get a look at the semi-RPG Guardian War, and the D&D licenced game Slayer, and the space sim, Burning Soldier.

CD-I Coverage: We get a look at the cyberpunk game Burn Cycle, and the fighting game Mutant Rage Body Slam.

Game Boy Coverage: We get a look at the Game Boy version of Samurai Shodown, which compensates for the system’s graphical limitations with Super Deformed characters.

Game Gear Coverage: We get some more screen shots of Bubble Bobble, and a Star Trek: The Next Generation simulator game.

Lifestyles: We’re getting a bunch of new audio books on the US market – or rather, audio dramatizations of novels and comics. Of particular note is the BBC’s adapatation of Knightfall. I hadn’t heard about the Dark Empire and Neuromancer ones though. We also get a look at new (and now defunct) comic publisher Tekno-Comics, and at the upcoming (and horrible) live-action Street Fighter movie. (By the way, it’s a crime that the live action Street Fighter movie got a Blu-Ray release, and not any of the anime films).

Video Games Live 2008-2009 Tour Poster (courtesy of videogameslive.com)

So, I’m doing a break in my usual reaps with a review of a concert I went to today. To be specific, Tommy Tallerico and Jeff Wall’s tribute to video game music – Video Games Live has finally come to Portland, and I’ve finally seen it. So, what did I think?

The Premise

Tommy Tallerico & Jeff Wall lead (in this concert) the Portland Philharmonic and the Pacific Youth Choir in a performance of music from various video games, including the Kingdom Hearts series, the Final Fantasy series, Mario, Legend of Zelda, and other games.

The Good

The selection of music we got at this concert did a very good job of covering the range of video game music, from first generation video games, to very recent stuff like the Halo series. However, the outstanding highlight of the concert was Martin Leung’s piano meledies, for Super Mario Bros, Tetris, and the Final Fantasy series. Leung is, frankly, one of the best piano players I’ve ever listened to, both in terms of video game music and classical music in general, and it’s a crime that I’ve never heard of him until now.

The Bad

I understand that they’re trying to liven things up by having cosplay on stage during various suites, like the guard during the Metal Gear Solid section, and Master Chief during the Halo section. However, it didn’t feel like it meshed well.

The Ugly

Now, this isn’t totally their fault, but the stage setup they were using ultimately lead to those in the cheap seats (like myself) at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall were consistently getting some of the stage lights directly into their eyes. Next time they come to Portland (which will be next year) they might want to adjust the light setup some to account for that.

The Verdict

I recommend seeing this concert. For that matter, I’d recommend that school districts interested in getting kids interested in classical music, or even simply the symphony might consider setting up field trips to see Video Games Live, as this is a concert series that will succeed at one of the primary aims that Walt Disney had for Fantasia – getting kids interested in going to see the symphony, and possibly into classical music – as well as building respect and esteem for video game music to mainstream audiences.

Buy Season 1 of Burn Notice at Amazon.com

Yes, I am aware that I didn’t finish my recap of Season 1 of Burn Notice. To make up for it, I’m going to review the entire season (and season 2 besides, on a later week). However, we need to begin at the beginning. There will be spoilers, but they’ll be below the cut. I’ll try doing some spoiler-guarding stuff this time.

The Premise:

I’ll let the star of the show take this one (courtesy of IMDB):

Michael Westen: [voice-over] My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy. Until…
voice on phone: [phone rings] We got a burn notice on you. You’re blacklisted.
Michael Westen: [voice-over] When you’re burned, you’ve got nothing: no cash, no credit, no job history. You’re stuck in whatever city they decide to dump you in.
Michael Westen: Where am I?
Fiona Glenanne: Miami.
Michael Westen: [voice-over] You do whatever work comes your way. You rely on anyone who’s still talking to you. A trigger-happy ex-girlfriend…
Fiona Glenanne: Shall we shoot them?
Michael Westen: [voice-over] An old friend who used to inform on you to the FBI…
Sam Axe: You know spies… bunch of bitchy little girls.
Michael Westen: [voice-over] Family too…
Sam Axe: [phone rings] Hey, is that your Mom again?
Michael Westen: [voice-over] … if you’re desperate.
Madeline Westen: Someone needs your help, Michael!
Michael Westen: [voice-over] Bottom line? Until you figure out who burned you… you’re not going anywhere.

The Good:

This show is, in a word, awesome. This is, quite possibly, my favorite TV show currently on the air. Now, I haven’t seen Chuck, I haven’t watched Dollhouse, and I haven’t watched The Unit. However, Burn Notice is currently my favorite show. Unfortunately, I don’t have cable, so I have to rely on Hulu or USA’s web page to watch it – or Netflix. The dialog is great, the direction is great, the acting is excellent. The stories are wonderful. I just, in general, love it.

The Bad:

I know that there are probably so many locations in Miami they can shoot at without running into serious crowd control problems, and admittedly I haven’t been to Miami, so I can’t say for certain how true this is, but they make Miami look really small. The only episode I encountered where they really make Miami look big is the scene in Little Havana. Otherwise, a lot of the neighborhoods look the same.

The Ugly:

The second guy who tries to kill Michael, and then the assassination of the guy who (we thought) burned Michael. Those two things don’t add up with what we learn in Season 2. I’m used to TV shows making things up as they go along, and writers having to compensate for reveals we’d gotten earlier. I read comic books after all. Still, these are loose ends that are left hanging, more or less. At this point it’s not clear about whether we have two organizations competing over Michael, or if we we have two factions within the same organization, or what.

Use for Gamers:

This is, basically, a contemporary Shadowrun TV show. This isn’t just because of the team aspect of the show, but because Michael Westin is a SINless person, in the Shadowrun sense. He’s scraping by on the fringes of society. However, instead of working for organized crime syndicates, or corrupt corporations, he’s working for the little guy. I’d recommend any Shadowrun players or GMs to add this show to their to-watch list.

The Verdict:

In case you hadn’t already figured it out – I’m wholeheartedly recommending this show. This is one of the greatest dramas on television today.

The GamePro Recaps have hit issue 50 for September of 1993. Our cover story is Mortal Kombat, the latest fighting game (as of this issue) to rock the arcades. The cover art though, isn’t so hot, but that’s to be expected.

Letters: We get a letter discussing improvements to game endings. Or, at least getting it something better than “Congratulations, You Won.” We also have a small string of letters discussing violence in games, and they generally agree is that some games are too violent for parents and they’re disappointed with Sega instituting a rating system because it would promote censorship. We also get questions about what systems might be getting what cheat devices.

Cutting Edge: We have a new wave of modems for consoles so we give them a run-down. Ultimately though, I wouldn’t want to do multi-player over dial-up after having been spoiled by high-speed internet connections.

Hot at the Arcades: We have a move-list for Saturday Night Slam Masters.

Genesis Coverage: Jurassic Park gets a review, and the reviewer mentions that the game reminds them favorably of Flashback in every respect, and gets 5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, a 4.5 for Sound and a 4 for Control. There’s also Rocket Knight Adventures from Konami, which gets a 4.5 for Graphics and 4s for everything else. There’s also a review of Spider-Man & X-Men in Arcade’s Revenge, which gets 4.5s for Graphics & Sound, and 5s for Control & Fun Factor. Oddly, from the information they give, the boss priorities are odd. The final boss is, naturally, deathtrap master Arcade in a giant robot, but the other bosses are characters from dramatically higher tiers. By higher tiers I mean guys like Apocalypse and Carnage – enemies who can (and have) supported their own games. Juggernaught works a little better, as he tends to be on, well, the muscle level like Rhino. Still, it’s like making a Batman game, have the lower-level bosses be The Joker, Two-Face, Bane and Killer Croc, with the final boss and mastermind being The Cluemaster. If the first words out of your mouth after reading that is “Who is the Cluemaster?” then you’ve got the general idea why Arcade being the final boss is a bad idea.

We also have a review of The Simpsons: Bart’s Nightmare which doesn’t score well. The game gets a 2.5 for Control, gets a 3 for Fun Factor, a 3.5 for Sound but a 4.5 for Graphics. There’s also a review of the semi-RTS General Chaos, which gets 4s across the board. We’ve also got Sid Meiers awesome game Pirates Gold!, which gets 4.5s for Control & Fun Factor, and 4s for Graphics & Sound. There’s also Chuck Rock 2: Son of Chuck which gets 3.5s for Sound & Fun Factor, and 4s for Graphics & Control. We’ve got Ranger X, a mecha shump from Sega, which gets a 3.5 for Control, 4s for Sound & Fun Factor, and a 4.5 for Graphics. There’s also the flight-sim F-15 Strike Eagle II

which gets a 5 for Fun Factor and 4s for everything else. Also, as you’d expect from the cover of this issue, we get a review of the Genesis version of Mortal Kombat. The game gets 4s for Sound & Control, a 4.5 for Graphics & a 5 for Fun Factor. The game also has limited continues, as opposed to unlimited continues on the SNES version, so if you care when you’re hunting down copies of Mortal Kombat 1, now you know.

Sega CD Coverage: There’s a review of Robo Aleste from Tengen, a top-down Mecha shump. The game gets a 4 for Graphics, 4.5s for Fun Factor & Control, and a 5 for Sound (which isn’t surprising as this is a CD-ROM game, after all). There’s also a preview of JVC’s helicopter sim AH-3 Firehawk.

SNES Coverage: Activision has the shump Biometal (remember when companies in the US made shumps). The game gets 5s for Fun Factor and Sound, a 4 for Control, and a 4.5 for Graphics. We also have our featured review of Mortal Kombat which does not get perfect 5s, like I thought. Specifically, the controls aren’t as responsive as they would prefer. Specifically it gets a 3.5 for Control, a 4.5 for Sound, and 5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. Moving on, we have a review of Wing Commander: The Secret Missions, which gets 4s across the board, and also toned down the difficulty a bit from the original. There’s also Sunsoft’s port of SNK’s fighting game World Heroes, which gets a 3.5 for Sound, 4 for Control, 4.5 for Graphics, and a 5 for Fun Factor. Super Bomberman has come from the Turbographix to the SNES, and it gets a 3.5 for Sound, 4s for Graphics & Control, and a 5 for Fun Factor.

There’s also a port of Super Baseball 2020 from the Neo-Geo, which gets 3.5s for Sound & Control, and 4s for Fun Factor & Graphics. Cool Spot has come out on the SNES, and gets a 4.5 for Sound, 4s for Control & Graphics, and a 5 for Fun Factor. Blizzard’s Rock & Roll Racing gets a 5 for Sound (and with it it’s heavy metal soundtrack), a 3.5 for Control, and 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor. There’s also a preview of Mega Man X

NES Coverage: The NES manages to hold on with Kirby’s Adventure, which gets 5s across the board. There’s also a Jurassic Park top-down action game, which gets a 3.5 for Sound, and 4s in everything else.

Neo-Geo Coverage: There’s a review of World Heroes 2 (appropriate since the SNES port of the previous installment in the series is getting a review this issue). The game gets 5s across the board.

Overseas ProSpects: We have a review of the PC Engine version of Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, which unfortunately doesn’t get a US release. They do review it though, and give it 5s across the board.

Game Boy Coverage: Not to be left out, the Game Boy is also getting a port of Mortal Kombat. Considering it’s taking a 6 button game and moving it to a 2 button controller, it’s not surprising that it gets a 2.5 for Sound, a 2 for Control, and 3s for Graphics & Fun Factor. We have a review of the Game Boy version of Jurassic Park, which also doesn’t do very well – it gets a 2.5 for Sound, and 3.5s for everything else. Ocean’s Lethal Weapon game fares better, getting a 4.5 for Sound and 4s for everything else. Ocean’s Addams Family game doesn’t do as well, getting a 2 for Sound, a 3 for Control, and 3.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor.

Game Gear Coverage: Anything the Game Boy can do, the Game Gear thinks it can do better. Thus is the case with the Game Gear version of Mortal Kombat, which gets a 3 for Sound, a 3.5 for Control, and 5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. There’s a review of the licenced game for Tom & Jerry: The Movie, the abomination which gave Tom dialog. The game gets 4.5s for Graphics & Sound, a 5 for Control, and a 2.5 for Fun Factor due to the easy difficulty.

The Sporst Page: EA has Bill Walsh College Football for the Genesis, which unfortuantely doesn’t have a NCAA licence, so they had to change the names of some of the names of the teams. The game gets a 4.5 for Graphics, 4 for Sound and 5s for Fun Factor & Control. There’s also an intervie with Bill Walsh. There’s also a review of Konami’s NFL Football for the SNES. The game has some problems with trying to be too flashy, and thus making it too difficult to keep track of things. GamePro gives it a 4.5 for Graphics, a 5 for Sound, and 3s for Control & Fun Factor. Acclaim has the more arcadey Super High Impact Football, which also gets 3s for Control & Fun Factor, a 4.5 for Grpahics and a 5 for Sound. We also get a brief run-down of the upcoming hockey titles.

Short Pro-Shots: Of note this issue is Gauntlet 4 and Blades of Vengence for the Genesis. The SNES has Super Mario All Stars, and the NES has Rescue Rangers 2 and Mega Man 6.

GameBuster: This issue it’s Street Fighter II Turbo. Now, we don’t get all the endings, but we get information on what bonuses you get to what endings at what difficulties, including the game giving you the full credits at higher difficulty settings. Oh, and by full credits, I mean they give the real names of the staff. Now, supposedly, in Turbo (not Super Street Fighter II Turbo) if you beat the game at the highest difficulty, without losing a round, you see something special. Now, it’s not Akuma/Gouki – he appears in Super Street Fighter II Turbo. So, I don’t know what it is.

ProNews: So, I’m going to change this up a bit – covering the stories that I didn’t see in EGM instead of the articles that I already saw. Apple is working on an Interactive TV system, called EZTV. The National Association of Electronic Gaming Enthusiasts has dissolved, and from the ashes has risen (thanks to some fanzine editors), The Gaming Enthusiasts of America. That group is also apparently no more. Camerica has also closed its doors (you’d think it’d be making enough money from the US release of the Game Genie).

Tomorrow I’ll have another movie review for you (or maybe it will be a TV series review) – stay tuned!

Darkman is, by far, my favorite Sam Raimi film. I like it more than his Spider-Man films. I like it more than Army of Darkness. In my mind it is one of the best masked avenger films, and one of the best superhero films. Everything about it is excellent, from the direction, to Liam Neeson’s performance. It’s just excellent. So, when I found out about this game in Nintendo Power, I wanted to give it a try. Yes, it’s a movie licenced game from Ocean, but it can’t be all bad, can it?

The Premise:

Peyton Westlake is a scientist working on a synthetic skin formula for burn victims. When Robert Durant, crime boss, burns down his lab and leaves him for dead, horrifically burned and scarred, Westlake swears vengeance, and takes his imperfect formula (which only lasts for 99 minutes when exposed to direct sunlight), and uses it to take apart Durant’s gang, piece by piece.

The Bad & The Ugly:

I usually try to find something for every category here, but I just can’t find anything good about this game. With the exception of the last stage, there’s very little this game has in common with the movie. The order for taking down the bad guys is wrong. The environments make no sense (Darkman chases down Ted Raimi’s character in a funhouse? When did that happen?) Darkman slides around the environment with little to no friction or resistance. You can’t attack while jumping. Not that it helps much – your attacks barely register, and combat consists of pushing forward and mashing the attack button as quickly as possible.

The Verdict:

I wanted to like this game, because I love this movie, and I want a good game based on this movie. However, this game isn’t good by any sense of the imagination. Don’t play this game, for any reason.

Our Nintendo Power Recaps continue with Issue #27 for August of 1991. Our cover story this issue is a Game Boy game – Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge.

Letters: This issue our focus is on a Little League baseball team from the US that got to play in Japan, with a little help from Nintendo of America.

Ninja Gaiden III Guide: The Ninja Gaiden series comes to not its final installment – but the last one for quite some time. Irene Lew has been murdered, and Ryu has been framed, and now Ryu must avenge his her murder and clear his name. We get the powers, including all the new ninja arts and power-ups. We also get maps for Acts 1 through 7, with some storyline notes, and notes on beating the bosses up to level 4.

Nester’s Adventures: This issue Nester is playing Robin Hood.

It's good to see some great art in Nintendo Power again.

Dragon Warrior III Guide: The 3rd installment in the Dragon Quest series is coming out in the states, and we’re getting another strategy guide, with this installment including a class system, and the ability to change classes. We also get some notes for finishing Dragon Warrior II if you hadn’t beaten that one yet. We get a map of the world in Dragon Quest III, as well as infromation on all of the classes and their strengths, as well as some quest notes. The guide also spoils that the hero becomes Erdrick, who the main character of the first game is the decendant of.

Councelor’s Corner: We have more questions about Dragon Quest II, as well as Bart vs. the Space Mutants, Ultima: Quest of the Avatar, and The Lone Ranger.

Darkman Guide: Sam Raimi’s homage to Batman and The Shadow is out, and it’s got a game adapation. This is probably going to be my pick, just because I love the movie it’s based on so much. We get notes on some of the special moves for Darkman and some of the characters he poses as. We get maps of all of the levels in the game, as well as a poster for the Star Wars game that’s coming from JVC.

Game Boy Coverage: We get a guide for our cover game, Mega Man in Dr. Wily’s Revenge, with maps of the stages for Elec Man, Fire Man, Ice Man, Cut Man, and Dr. Wily’s Lab. There’s also a guide for Final Fantasy Legend II, which is the second game in the SaGa series, and which has gotten re-made for the DS in Japan (with no word as yet on a US release). Anyway, the Memo feature looks pretty useful, though I don’t know how well it works in the final execution. We don’t get maps of all the levels of the game, but we get maps of a lot of them, and notes on the ones we don’t get maps for. Finally, there’s the NASCAR racing game Days of Thunder, based on the movie. We get maps of all the courses in the game.

More SNES Coverage: We get more notes on the starting lineup for the SNES, particularly Super Mario World, Gradius III, along with the notes on the first 3 bosses in the game. We also have some notes on Actraiser.

Now Playing: Among the also-rans for this issue are Super Jeopardy, the fantasy chess game Triumph, and a Where’s Waldo game.

Top 30: I’m not cheating this issue by not hand-typing out the list. I’m fortunatee in that this time, I’m able to give you an image of the entire list. This way, if you’ve never seen a Nintendo Power Top 30 list from this era before, you can take a look at it and see what it looked like. Or at least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Celebrity Profile: This issue’s celeb is one with considerably more name recognition than some of the prior ones, (aside from Wil Wheaton and Michael Dorn) – Macaulay Culkin, star of Home Alone and many other films to come, though he faded out of the limelite for a bit, until he had a recurring role on Kings until that was unfortunately canceled.

Pak Watch: Well, CES has come and gon, and all the interesting titles were all for the SNES – particularly Zelda III, Super Castlevania IV.

Letter to The Readers: Well, now that Howard is gone, it looks like they’re going to rotate the writers of the letters for now, with one of the Nintendo Councelor’s taking up the pen this issue to talk about his visit to Nintendo HQ in Japan.

My Quality Control pick for this issue is Darkman. Yeah, it’s a game licensed from a movie, but it’s licensed from one of my favorite movies.

The EGM recaps continue with issue #62, for September of 1994. Our cover story is, of all things, Primal Rage. I mean the game looked good, but it wasn’t that good.

Editorial: The internet… it’s spreading. Okay, that isn’t specifically the topic of the column this issue, which is from Steve Harris, returning to the editorial pages one more time. The topic this time is the response on internet message boards to the the editorial column from last issue, about the constant reiterations to Street Fighter being too excessive. To be specific, the internet fans defended Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and felt that the Game Boy game that recieved honors as the Game Of The Month last issue was unworthy. It goes to show that you can’t please everyone on the internet. That said, we don’t have the specific content of the posts, and since this is 1994, when internet use wasn’t as wide spread (and generally required dial-up), it’s likely that the posters used proper grammar, and didn’t resort to some of the more childish comments that you see on the internet these days (in part because you wouldn’t have had as many immature kids online in the US). Oh, and apparently Capcom did something in response to the reviews as well, which they’ll get into next month. Capcom USA didn’t blacklist them for failing to be appropriately deferential at the altar of Street Fighter, did they?

Letters: Our Letter Of The Months asks if Nintendo’s running out of creativity with their accessories, as opposed to the stuff Sega’s breaking out. It’s not that they’re running out of creativity, it’s that Nintendo’s playing more conservatively with the expensive accessories that they’re putting out for the system. They no longer can enforce the same draconian rules over what can come out for their system that they could in the 8-bit era. This is, in part, because they got sued over it, because the rules were monopolistic. They meant the Seal of Quality meant something, but the cost of that was, all things considered, too high. Anyway, because of those rules they imposed on publishers, particularly related to licencing and publishing fees, Nintendo could afford to take risks in peripherals. This is why we got ROB, and why we got the Zapper. The Zapper succeeded, and why the only thing that stemmed the tide of light gun games in the US, until the Wii came out, was Columbine and other tragic school shootings. That said, ROB and the Power Pad failed. Both couldn’t get the degree of 3rd party support needed for success. Ultimately, with the exception of the Zapper, most of the peripherals that succeeded were put out by 3rd parties. So, Nintendo let the 3rd parties do the peripheral innovation here – though ultimately this lead to a series of 3rd party variations on the standard NES controller. Sega, on the other hand, has put out multiple first party accessories, like the Activator. While the Activator, like the Power Glove, can in theory work with any game. Like the Power Glove it’s also very expensive, and like the Power Glove it doesn’t work very well. To take an aside, whatever Microsoft does with Natal, it needs to work better than the Activator.

Moving on to the other letters, we have a call for more RPGs for the Genesis, and thanks to the demise of the Turbo Duo (and TTI in general), Working Designs has moved from porting JRPGs for that system to the Genesis and Sega CD. That said, Nintendo’s still got the lead. However, this will be the last console generation where it will maintain that lead. There are also complaints about various console ports. We also get questions about the specificatiosn for other video game systems. There’s also a letter expressing disappointment about the lack of good ending in video games – with EGM editorial suggesting that maybe the era of the ending is coming to an end. This ultimately isn’t the case, it’s just a situation that some genres lead to better endings than others. We also get questions about when we’ll get the Saturn, and if we’ll still have 32X support when the Saturn comes out.

Review Crew: Once again, our crew is Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, Al Manual, and Sushi-X.

• Blackthorne (Interplay, SNES): This is Blizzard’s action platformer. The game gets 8s across the board, with particular praise given to the puzzle gameplay and being able to blow away prisoners after they give you information. Ohhhkay. Overall: 32/40 and the game receives the Editor’s Choice Gold Award and Game Of The Month.
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Bandai, SNES): This is a semi-brawler based on the show. You have beat-em up stages where you play as the rangers, and then the boss fights against bad guys in Kaiju form in the Megazord are in a more Street Fighter style perspective. The Crew isn’t too impressed, with Ed and Sushi giving the game 7s, with Ed finding it too easy and feeling rushed. Danyon and Al give the game 6s, with Al in particular lamenting the lack of multi-player (which I find surprising as well – the Rangers fight as a team after all). Overall: 26/40.
• Death & Return of Superman (Sunsoft, SNES): The Death & Return of Superman arc from DC is over, and has been that way for a bit. Well, Sunsoft has their cash in game, in the form of a generic brawler. Ed gives it a 6 and everyone else gives it 5s, finding it again – ultimately generic (and, having played it, I also found it rather hard too). Overall: 21/40.
• Zero Tolerance (Accolade, Genesis): The genre they use to describe this is an RPG, but it looks like a First Person Shooter, and they compare it to Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. So, I checked Wikipedia, and indeed it is a FPS – one which allows you to link two Genesis units together for multi-player, which the Console ports of Doom couldn’t do. Take that! Anyway, Ed and Sushi love it, with Ed giving it a 9, and Sushi giving it an 8 for it’s appropriately bloody gameplay (in the traditions of Doom and Wolfenstein), along with the weapon selection. Danyon and Al give the game a 7 and 6 (respectively) for similar reasons, though Al doesn’t like the multi-player as much. Overall: 30/40.
• Super Street Fighter II (Capcom, Genesis): Well, the major releases are starting to get multi-platform now, and will probably stay that way for quite some time to come. Sushi gives it an 8, considering it a good Street Fighter game, though recommending waiting a bit until Turbo comes out. Al gives it a 7, finding still good, with the exception of the sound quality. Ed and Danyon give it 6s, due to Street Fighter burnout. Overall: 27/40.
• Taz in Escape from Mars (Sega, Genesis): Another Warner Brothers game. Sushi gives the game an 8 because the game captures the character of Taz and the other Looney Toons which appear. Danyon and Ed also like it and give it 7s, though they’re not too fond of the game’s audio. Al gives it an 6 though, finding it a generic platfomer. Overall: 28/40.
• Battlecorps (Core, Sega CD): Minor misprint here, as they list this game as being for the 3DO except for the Sega CD. Fortunately, they mention the system it was released for in the notes, so it’s not as big a deal. Anyway, this is a first-person mech action game. Ed loves the game and gives it an 8 for good (though pixelated) graphics, and audio. Everyone else isn’t as fond, and disagree with just about every point Ed said about the game – except the pixelated graphics, with Danyon and Sushi giving the game 6s, and Al giving the game a 5. Overall: 25/40.
• Way of the Warrior (Universal Interactive, 3DO): This fighting game is universally panned for horrible, crippling controls – though it looks good. The game gets a 5 from Ed, 3s from Al and Sushi, and a 4 from Danyon. Overall: 15/40.
• Dynamite Heady (Sega, Game Gear): Treasure’s platformer gets ported to handhelds, and depending on which member of the crew you ask, it’s a good port. Ed and Sushi give the game a 9 and an 8, respectively. Danyon gives it a 7, as while it looks and plays great, the Game Gear isn’t known for its sound quality. Al gives it a 6, feeling that the game lost a lot in the translation. Overall: 30/40.
• Yogi Bear (Gametek, Game Boy): I guess it’s reasonable to expect Hanna Barbera to try to cash in on the success Warner Bros. has done with the games licensed off of their animated characters. That said, this game doesn’t do as well – unless you ask Ed. He gives it an 8 and he loves it. As with Battlecorps, the rest of the crew is left wondering what game Ed was playing, with Al giving the game a 3, Danyon giving it a 5, for monotonous gameplay and a lack of originality, and Sushi giving the game a 6, for having flair, but not good gameplay. Overall: 22/40.

Gaming Gossip: I’m going to somewhat skip the list format this week. Sega’s doing really well in the Japanese arcades, particularly with Daytona USA, Virtua Cop, and Virtua Fighter. I’m a little surprised about Daytona USA myself, because I wouldn’t think NASCAR games of any stripe would do well outside the US. Speaking of Sega, while the 32X and the Saturn both have Hitachi chips, the differences in the hardware are enough that the 32X carts won’t work on the Saturn. Now, Sega’s promised that they would be cross compatible, so Q-Mann speculates that Sega’s going to either have to push back the Saturn to figure out a solution, or put out another add-on module for the Saturn. Ultimately, they do neither and just kick the 32X to the curb.

Press Start: 3DO is getting a 64-bit version. Also, SNK is working on a Neo-Geo CD unit, and 3DO is getting a version of Star Control with polygonal graphics (this actually never comes out).

The world's first look at the King of Fighters series.

Arcade Action: We have a look at Sega’s arcade flight sim, Wing War. We also get an ad for King of Fighters ‘94. Oh, and Capcom has Darkstalkers, and SNK as the shump Aero Fighters.

International Outlook: Of note this issue is Breath of Fire 2 from Capcom. Nihon Falcom has a new Dragon Slayer game, There’s also the fire-fighting Ikari Warriors style shump The Firemen. There’s also Osu! Karate Club, based on a Shonen Jump manga which wasn’t brought to the US.

Next Wave: Hudson has a new ninja action game in Hagane. Ocean has Jurassic Park II, which pre-dates The Lost World novel and film – but the plot of the game is similar to that of the second movie. I’m not going to claim that Crichton borrowed from the game, particularly since there isn’t anyway for me to ask him now that he’s dead. Tengen finally has a game for the SNES in Super RBI Baseball. Contra: The Alien Wars is coming out for the Game Boy as well. There are also Game Gear and Game Boy Power Ranger games. We’ve also got a new X-Men game for the Game Gear with The Gamemaster’s Legacy, based on the Legacy Virus arc. Colossus is not appearing in the game, so I don’t know if he’ll still get killed off. Anyway, Saturday Night Slam Masters is getting a Genesis port.

Feature Preview – Super Return of the Jedi: We get notes on several of the games levels, including the levels on the Death Star 2.

Feature Preview – Primal Rage: We have a preview of this pretty lame (in my opinion) fighting game, featuring stop-motion characters. We get descriptions of most of the characters and their fighting styles.

Team EGM: More coverage of sports games, but not much stands out. The stuff that caught my attention was ESPN Sunday Night NFL and ESPN National Hockey Night from Sony Imagesoft, and the bike racing game Cannondale Cup from ASC. Atlus also has GP-1RS, a motorcycle racing game. All of those are for the Super NES.

SNES Coverage: Capcom has another Disney platformer in The Great Circus Mystery, featuring Mickey & Minnie. There’s also a Beavis & Butthead game. There’s also Pac-Man 2, which misses the point about what makes Pac-Man good. Accolade has also put out Bubsy II (rather quickly in my opinion). Jaleco is putting out R-Type III and Electrobrain has a shooter that uses the Super FX chip in Vortex. Accolade has the platformer Fire Team Rogue, and Kemco has the brawler Stone Protectors, based on an animated series I’d never heard of. More importantly, Civilization is getting ported to the SNES as well. Taito has the first person action game Operation Thunderbolt.

Genesis Coverage: We have a preview of the Sonic & Knuckles add-on cartridge. There’s also Sparkster, the sequel to Rocket Knight. We’ve also got Earthworm Jim from Shiny. Sony’s got a licensed Disney game of their own with Mickey Mania, which bases itself on several old Mickey Mouse cartoons, including Steamboat Willy. Time Warner has a combination helicopter shump and Ikari Warriors style top-down shump with Red Zone. Atlus has home port of the arcade fighting game Power Instinct. American Sammy is also (finally) porting their isometric shump Viewpoint as well (it had previously been released for the Neo-Geo).

Sega CD Coverage: SSI’s first person AD&D RPG, Eye of the Beholder, has been ported to home systems. I have to admit that I never really was able to get past level 3 of the dungeon, because I couldn’t find the exit down. It sounds like the game also supports a mouse, though I don’t have any recollection of a mouse peripheral being brought out for the Genesis. The SNES, yes, but not the Genesis.

3DO Coverage: Star Control II has also gotten a port to the 3DO – though I wonder how well it will control with a D-Pad instead of a mouse and keyboard (or just a keyboard). Even more significantly, the first survival horror game, Alone in the Dark has come to the consoles for the first time. Good Old Games should totally get this, and if they did, I’d totally try to beat it by next Halloween so I could have a review ready. Anyway, the EGM staff isn’t too impressed with the lag in the controls during combat in the game. There are also screen shots of Gex and the Demolition Man licenced game (which is a on-rails shooter, but without light-gun or mouse support.

CD-I Coverage: We get a look at the puzzle game Dimo’s Quest, and a Jeopardy game, with actual video footage of Alec Trebeck.

GameBoy Coverage: We’ve got another Hanna Barbera licensed game in Yogi Bear’s Gold Rush. There’s also Blues Brothers Jukebox Adventures which has precisely nothing to do with the movie aside from the two main characters.

Game Gear Coverage: We have a look at Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble, which features not only Sonic and Tails but also Knuckles (hense the “Triple Trouble” subtitle). Oh, and there’s also a Beavis & Butthead game. It’s also got a flight sim in F-15 Strike Eagle II.

Lifestyles: Spectrum Holobyte is working on a new Star Trek: The Next Generation game, the Phone Card has been introduced. We also get a last minute update code with the instructions to play as Akuma in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

That wraps up this issue of EGM. Tomorrow I’ll have an issue of Nintendo Power. Before this raps up, I’ve got just one more thing for you. At present, I’m unemployed. I’ve been collecting unemployment while looking for work and working on this blog (and hoping I get sales from Amazon.com referrals). That said, if I do get a full time job, I won’t have time to continue working on this at the same rate I have before. That said I will keep blogging, but the pace will not be the same. However, I will try to continue my movie reviews, my EGM recaps, my Nintendo Power recaps, and (hopefully), my Quality Control columns. GamePro may be kicked to the curb, but to be honest, I wasn’t too fond of the GamePro recaps anyway.