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!

We continue with the GamePro recaps with issue #49. The cover story for this issue is, not unsurprisingly, considering the era – Street Fighter II Turbo.

Editorial: It’s actually about something this issue! To be specific, Sega’s debuted their rating system for games, which will end up (with a few revisions) becoming the industry standard. Nintendo, seeking to get the upper hand in the Console War, actually attacked Sega for this, saying that it was an illegitimate justification for selling violent games.

Letters: We get questions about whether they ever had to give out a 1.5. They did, once, to Andre Agassi Tennis, which goet a 1.5 for Control, but they otherwise try to avoid putting games that rate that low in the magazine. I suspect they put that one in there because they interviewed Agassi when he was promoting the game. We also have props coming in for their poster artist, Francis Mao. There are also questions about why there is so much empty space in game cartridges (the explanation GamePro gives is for cooling, though I’m a little iffy on that), and a question which gamers will spend much contemplation on in the console generations to come – how do I easily switch between two consoles that use the same connector? They also messed up the code to enable Champion Edition on Street Fighter II Turbo.

The Cutting Edge: We a look at the 3DO, and some of the FMV games being made for the system.

Hot at the Arcades: I have a look at the The Punisher and Caddilacs & Dinosaurs arcade games from Capcom, Jaleco has F1 Grand Prix Star II, and Irem has the submarine shump In The Hunt. In the gimmicky FMV and VR front, we have a VR version of Wolfenstein 3D, and American Laser Games has Crime Patrol.

Exclusive Review – Street Fighter II Turbo: To be absolutely honest, do you expect this to get less then all 5s from GamePro? I didn’t. Their only complaint is with the AI, but really – fighting game AI has almost always been cheap.

Feature – Summer CES Coverage: Well, another season, another CES, and more screen shots of upcoming games. We have shots of (of note), Mega Man X, Mortal Kombat (which was their Best Of Show), the Nintendo and Genesis Jurassic Park games, Super Empire Strike Back (which also got Best Of Show). The Sega CD is getting Stellar Fire and Lethal Enforcers. There’s also Star Trek: The Next Generation, Top Gear 2, World Heroes, TMNT: Tournament Fighters, Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions, Rabbit Rampage, Aladdin, Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition, Super Mario All-Stars, Sonic Spinball and Sonic Chaos. Other than this, we have Dune II, Silpheed, Mega Man 6 for the NES from Capcom (which also gets Best in Show), along Link’s Awakening for the Game Boy (again, also getting Best In Show). We also had some new hardware, including the redesigned Genesis and the Sega CD, as well as the re-designed NES. AT&T also has the Edge, a unit designed for online multi-player over dial-up, and TTI has some wireless control pads for the Duo).

Genesis Coverage: First up is Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, which I’ve played, beaten, and enjoyed. The game gets 5s for Graphics & Control, and 4.5s for Sound & Control. They don’t have any particular objections though, even though Yuzo Koshiro is no longer doing the score for the game. Next is the review of Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind, which they covered pretty heavily in the magazine. They give the game 5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, a 4.5 for Control, and a 4 for Sound, though they don’t say anything particularly critical about the game, aside from the one-hit-deaths. EA has TechnoClash, a top-down fantasy shooter which has some issues with sluggish controls and movement, which gets a 5 for Fun Factor and 4s for everything else.

There’s also a port of Fatal Fury, which has some problems with excessive difficulty (this is the game that coined the SNK Boss), muddled sound (particularly the voice samples), and sluggish control but looks great, so it gets a 4 for Graphics, a 3 for Sound and 3.5s for Control & Fun Factor. There’s also the shump Lightening Force, from Techno Soft, the developer of the Thunder Force series of shumps, and which this game apparently has certain similarities. Aside from the engrish in the title they like it. The game gets 5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, a 4 for Sound, and 4.5 for Control. Now, while they give it 5s for graphics, the game does have problems with slow-down with too-much lag on screen.

Strategy Guides: We get guides for Flashback and for Starfox.

Sega CD Coverage: We get a review of Ecco The Dolphin CD. They don’t have anything particularly bad to say, except that it “takes some patience” (their words), and they give it 5s for Graphics & Sound, and 4.5s for Control & Fun Factor. There’s also the fighter flight sim After Burner III. The game gets a 5 for Sound and 4 for Control (which is surprising, considering that flight sims were always a little tricky on a D-Pad), and 3.5s for Graphics & Sound. Just going to take an aside here but I’d say that the After Burner series is probably the one of Sega’s old franchises that hasn’t been revived for modern consoles that I’d like to see revived – especially considering the success of the Ace Combat series and Tom Clancy’s HAWX.

SNES Coverage: We have a review of Zombies Ate My Neighbors which is appropriate considering that it’s Halloween the week I’me reviewing this. The game gets 5s for Control Fun Factor, a 4.5 for Graphics and a 4 for Sound. There’s also a review of Goof Troop, which gets a 4.5 for Fun Factor an 4s for everything else. There’s also Operation Logic Bomb from Jaleco, which gets a 4.5 for Sound and 4s for everything else, though they don’t level any particular complaints. Enix has the very interesting RPG EVO: The Search For Eden, where you don’t play as a fantasy warrior, but as a creature trying to evolve into a higher form. Unfortunately, while the concept is very novel – novel enough to interest me in playing it, the staff of GamePro aren’t so keen – it gets 3.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, and 3s for Sound & Control. Koei also has a World War 2 strategy game, PTO: Pacific Theater of Operatiosn. Ahh, the halcyon games where Koei would make games that weren’t in some way related to Romance of the Three Kingdoms or the Sengoku period of Japanese history. No, seriously – while this game was the brainchild of Koei USA, this was, in my opinion, a bold move on their part. That said, GamePro doesn’t necessarily think it was executed well, at least from a presentation standpoint, and gives it a 2 for Sound, a 3 for Graphics, a 4 for Control and a 4.5 for Fun Factor.

NES Coverage: Yoshi’s Cookie has gotten a port to the NES, gets a 2.5 for Sound, a 3 for Graphics, a 4 for Control and a 4.5 for Fun Factor.

Neo-Geo Coverage: SNK has put out it’s counter to Saturday Night Slam Masters in Three Count Bout. As with most Neo-Geo games, the presentation is great, with a 4.5 for Graphics and a 5 for Sound, but the button-mash heavy control and cheap AI (remember, it’s called a SNK Boss for a reason) gets it a 3 for Control and 3.5 for Fun Factor.

Duo Coverage: The Duo gets another turn-based strategy game in Vasteel, which does… okay – 3 for Sound and 3.5s for everything else.

Overseas ProSpects: Of note is Flashback 2, which ultimately was titled Fade To Black and actually didn’t come out until the Saturn/PS1 era.

The Sports Page: The Genesis has Jack Nicklaus’ Power Challenge Golf from Accolade, which gets a 5 for Control and a 4 for Fun Factor, but 3s for Graphics & Sound. After an interview with Jack (who talks about how the game improved his swing), we go to the SNES and Nigen Mansell’s World Championship, an F1 racing game that gets 5s across the board. The SNES has Super Black Bass for the SNES, which gets 4s for Graphics & Sound, but 3.5s for Control & Fun Factor. Vic Tokai’s King Salmon for the Genesis fares much better, with 4.5s for Sound & Fun Factor, and 4s for Graphics & Control. There’s also a mini-guide for NBA Jam and a list of the upcoming football games, of which there are very many.

Lynx Coverage: The Lynx has a new combat racing game in Battle Wheels. The game gets 3.5s for Sound & Fun Factor, and 4s for Graphics & Control.

Game Boy Coverage: There’s a new Spider-Man game for the Game Boy Spider-Man 3: Invasion of the Spider-Slayers. Why couldn’t Alistair or Spenser Smythe be the villain of Spider-Man 3 – he’s much better than a one-trick pony like Sandman? Anyway, this game gets a 3.5 for Sound and 4s for everything else. There’s also the fighting game Raging Fighter from Konami, which scores well despite some problems with ambitious controls for the Game Boy – the game gets a 3.5 for Sound, a 4 for Control, and 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. There’s also New Chessmaster, which gets 3.5s for Graphics & Sound (but you’re not expecting much for a Chess game), and 4s for Control & Fun Factor. Sunsoft’s Speedy Gonzalez also does pretty well, getting a 5 for Fun Factor, 3.5 for Sound, and 4.5s for Graphics & Control.

Game Gear Coverage: The Game Gear has gotten a port of Streets of Rage 2, which GamePro thought did well for itself, getting a 3.5 for Sound (not surprising on a portable, and probably expected), a 4 for Fun Factor, and 4.5s for everything else. There’s also Surf Ninjas, which is probably the crassest tie-in I’ve ever seen in my entire life, with regards to how the game and the movie relate to each other. The game gets a 4 for Graphics and 3s for everything else. We’ve also got Jeopardy, which brings us our first 2s in a while – a 2.5 for Graphics, a 2 for Fun Factor, a 3 for Control and 3.5 for Sound – particularly due to anal retentiveness with the spelling.

GameBreakers: We get strategies for the final boss fight of Batman Returns, as well as all 5 of the game’s possible endings (there aren’t a lot of differences).

ProNews: We’ve already got into Nintendo of America (particularly Howard Lincoln) attacking Sega for instituting a ratings system. Well, they’re also hiking prices for games which use new technologies, like the Super FX Chip – so I hope you already got your copy of Starfox. I also hope that you’re looking on getting more games that use the technology, as this slow the tech’s adoption by US game developers. There’s no such price spike in Japan, so Japanese Game devs may still include it – such as with Konami’s planned Castlevania V (aka Rondo of Blood).

Well, that wraps up this issue of GamePro. Tomorrow I’ll have another movie review. Unfortunately, it won’t be a horror movie review – at least not here. Look to Bureau42.com on Halloween for my review of At The Mouth of Madness by John Carpenter!

The GamePro recaps continue with issue 48, for July of 1993. This issue’s pretty short, only 156 pages long, and our cover story is Jurassic Park. Oh, and the cover art is still bad, though this issue’s had some of the better covers in a while.

Editorial: We’re not totally re-iterating the table of contents this time. This issue we get a discussion of licenced games and how wonderful they are. Just wait a few years, you’ll (hopefully) change your tune.

Letters: We get demands for the mail section getting an expansion. We also get complaints about cheap AI, and we get questions about the use of “Final” in the titles of game series with lots of sequels (referring to Final Fight, not Final Fantasy, as people like to be snarky about now).

The Cutting Edge: We get a preview of the Sega Channel, as well as rumors about the Stellaview in Japan. We also get a preview of the 3DO, and some of the upcoming launch titles.

Hot at the Arcades: We’ve got a couple of car simulators from Namco – Driver’s Eyes Formula 1 Simulator and Lucky & Wild (a combination driving & light gun game).

Featured Review – Battletoads: We have a review of Battletoads in Battlemaniacs. The game gets a 5 for Graphics, a 4.5 for Fun Factor, and 4s for Sound & Control. From the sounds of things, most of the refinements are to the graphics, not to the control. It doesn’t say if both players can hurt each other though.

Ecco The Dolphin Strategy Guide – Part 3: We get coverage to the end of the game.

Jurassic Park Feature: We get some notes on the making of the Sega CD and Genesis games, as well as some brief screen shots of the NES and Game Boy versions, and some stills from the movie. Oh, and we get a preview of the Tiger Interactive LCD. Really? Why do we need a preview of a Tiger Interactive LCD game?

Mortal Kombat Feature: We get previews of all the upcoming home console versions of Mortal Kombat. Why isn’t this story on the cover, considering that we’ve got not only screen shots but also move lists?

Genesis Coverage: We have a review of Splatterhouse 3 for the Genesis – which is surprisingly appropriate for this week’s recap considering that it’s Halloween next week. It looks like the game brings in a bit of non-linearity, in that there are multiple paths you can take to the boss on each level. It’s also adding some Street Fighter-style The game gets a 4.5 for Fun Factor and 5s for Graphics, Sound, & Control. Next is Jungle Strike. The game gets a 4.5 for Sound and 5s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. There’s also Toys, which is licenced from the movie. It also gets gets 3.5s for Sound & Control and 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor. It’s also apparently pretty challenging – and by Challenging I mean “Nintendo Hard” but on the Genesis. There’s also a preview of Strider Returns from U.S. Gold. Notice that it’s not from Capcom. There’s also a preview of Rocket Knight Adventures (a series that is getting a revival on WiiWare).

Sega CD Coverage: We have a review of the adventure game Rise of the Dragon, which gets a 5 for Sound, a 4.5 for Fun Factor, and 4s for Graphics & Control. There’s also Final Fight CD, which ads Guy and similtanious multi-player, which gets a 4 for Sound, and 4.5s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. There’s also the Dragon’s Lair style adventure game Time Gal, which gets a 5 for Fun Factor, a 4 for Sound, and 4.5s for Graphics & Control.

Super Star Wars Guide (Part 2): We get a guide for the game from the Cantina through the end of the game.

SNES Coverage: Speaking of Final Fight we get a review of Final Fight 2, which gets a a 3.5 for Sound, 4 for Fun Factor, and 4.5s for Graphics & Control. There’s also a review of Alien 3. The game gets a 4.5 for Sound, and 5s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. There’s also a review of Dungeon Master, a Wizardry-style dungeon crawler. The game gets a 2 for Sound, a 3 for Graphics and 3.5s for Control & Fun Factor. They do complain about the control on screen lagging from input on the controller, but from what I recall it’s not real-time, it’s turn based, so that’s not as big a deal. Though they do reccomend playing Final Fantasy II instead of this. Jaleco has the fighting game Tuff Enuff, which gets 3.5s for Sound & Control and 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor, but they don’t go clearly into why. Jaleco also has a regular brawler titled, appropriately enough, Brawl Brothers. The game gets 4s for Fun Factor and Sound, and 4.5s for Graphics & Control. There’s also a preview of Clay Fighter.

NES Coverage: We have a review of Mighty Final Fight, the Super Deformed sibling of Final Fight. That’s not ment to be insulting – thats the technical term for that sort of character design. Okay, fine, if you like you can call them “Chibi”. Unfortunatly, they don’t like it as much as the games with the normal versions of the characters – it gets 3s for Graphics & Sound and 4s for Fun Factor & Control, though they don’t rag too much on the character design.

Neo-Geo Coverage: We have a preview of World Heroes 2 and no reviews.

TurboDuo Coverage: Bonk is back in Bonk 3. The game gets a 4 for Sound and 4.5s for everything else. There’s also Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective 2. The game gets a 5 for Sound, 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor and a 3.5 for Control. They do complain about replay value, though.

Upcoming Street Fighter II Versions Feature: We get a look at Street Fighter II Turbo for the SNES, and Street Fighter II Champion Edition for the Genesis (which has gotten delayed), as well as the PC Engine version, which doesn’t get ported to the US.

The Sports Page: We start off with Tennis, specifically Jimmy Connors Tennis for the NES. The game gets a 3 for it’s repetitive soundtrack, but 4s for everything else. The Genesis (mis-labeled as the SNES) has Davis Cup World Tour Tennis, which gets 3.5s for Graphics & Sound, a 4 for Control and a 4.5 for Fun Factor. Accolade also has Summer Challenge for the Genesis, which is a track & field game. The game gets 4s for Graphics & Sound and a 3.5 for Fun Factor, but a 2.5 for Control. There’s also a review of the arcade version of NBA Jam, which gets 5s across the board (and I believe this is their first review of the arcade version of a game which they gave a score to). There’s also an interview with Shaq!

Game Boy Coverage: We have a review of Avenging Spirit from Jaleco – an action game where you play as a ghost. The game gets a 3.5 for Sound, a 4 for Control, and 4.5s for Fun Factor & Graphics.

Game Gear Coverage: There’s a review of the Game Gear version of Streets of Rage, which – unlike the NES version of Final Fight, isn’t Chibi-fied. The game gets a 4 for sound and 4.5s for everything else.

Short ProShots: Of note this issue is Spider-Man/X-Men in Arcade’s Revenge and Zombies Ate my Neighbors for the Genesis, Ecco the Dolphin CD for the Sega CD. There’s also Super Empire Strikes Back and Art of Fighting for the SNES, as well as Rescue Rangers II for the NES, which I’d never heard of before.

ProNews: We get a small still of the Mario live action movie – but the still has just about everything that’s wrong with the movie. Oh, and Activison is back from the dead, and is doing a CD adventure game based on Zork. Toys ‘r Us has stopped carrying the Lynx, and Atari is scaling down support for the system. Finally, Accolade and Sega have settled, with Accolade becoming a licenced Sega publisher.

That wraps up this week’s GamePro. Tomorrow I’m going to have another review – this time of a miniseries from the BBC.

Another week, another GamePro. This issue is issue number 47 for June of 1993. Our cover story is a puzzle game – Yoshi’s Cookie! The issue isn’t too long, only 163 pages long, which is nice. Oh, and just to remind you that this is the 90s, and we’re starting what will become a long series of bad video game films, we have an ad for Super Mario Bros. the movie. “This ain’t no game” indeed.

Editorial: This issue has a whole a new look, and with it they’re discussing the future of gaming again, and apparently the future of gaming is Virtual Reality! Goggles, headsets, gloves, the works! Hah! It’s 15 years later and they still haven’t worked that out!

The Mail: We get some questions about some of the previously pictured Sonic The Hedgehog zones that didn’t make it into the game. There are also questions about support being phased out for the NES and about the growing Video Game Violence debate (with more mention being given to Mortal Kombat than Night Trap).

Cutting Edge: This issue’s got Hornet’s VR flight simulator, and Galaxan 3 from Namco, which is a semi-VR rail shooter.

Hot at the Arcades: We have a look at Saturday Night Slam Masters.

Special Feature – Battletoads Coverage: First up is Battletoads vs. Double Dragon for the NES. They think it’s okay, though they’re kind of middle-of-the-road on Graphics & Sound, giving it 3.5s for Graphics & Sound, and 4s for Control & Fun Factor. We also have a review of Battletoads in Ragnarock’s World for the Game Boy. They do have some problems with small objects blending into the background. They also really like the controls. The game gets a 5 for Controls, 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, and a 4 for Sound. We also get a preview of the Double Draogn comic book and cartoon show.

Special Feature – Ecco the Dolphin Strategy Guide Cont.: They’re continuing their Ecco The Dolphin guide from last issue.

Yoshi’s Cookie Review: We’re getting our special feature review of Yoshi’s Cookie, with work being contributed to it by Alexi Pajitnov, the creator of Tetris. They give the SNES version a 5 for Fun Factor, 4s for Graphics & Sound, and a 4.5 for Control. We also get a preview of the NES and Game Boy version.

Genesis Coverage: We have a preview of Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition. There’s also a review of Rolling Thunder III, which they generally like. The game gets a 3.5 for Sound, and 4s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. There’s also a review of Sorcerer’s Kingdom from American Sammy, an RPG, which looks, actually, on par with the Phantasy Star games, which is surprising, since I’d never heard of it. The game gets a 3 for Sound, 4s for Graphics & Control, and a 5 for Fun Factor. We also have a review of Jeopardy, and I’m kind of surprised at how Alex Trebek hasn’t aged very much since this came out, at least not visibly. The game gets 4s across the board. Tradewest has Championship Pro-Am, which is meant to be a 16-bit RC Pro-Am, though from the ratings, they might not give you full 16-bit performance. The game gets 3.5s for Graphics & Sound, and a 4 for Control & a 4.5 for Fun Factor. We also have a review of Chase HQ II. The game gets 3.5s for Graphics & Sound, and it also gets a 4 for Control and a 4.5 for Fun Factor. There’s also a preview of Splatterhouse 3.

Sega CD Coverage: We have a review of the Sega CD version of The Terminator, which still is pretty unforgiving, though it looks better than the SNES and Genesis versions. It gets a 4.5 for Fun Factor and 4s for Graphics, Sound & Control. There’s also Batman Returns, which they don’t like very much – it gets a 3 for Control and 3.5s for Graphics, Sound, & Fun Factor, though I’ve heard that this was the best version of all the Batman Returns games.

SNES Coverage: We have a review of WWF Royal Rumble, which looks good, though there’s not a lot of technique to it – once you get your opponent down, you can generally win by spamming the stomp attack. They like it though, it gets 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, and 4s for Sound & Control. Activision (also known as Teh Evul!) has an Alien vs. Predator brawler. The game gets a 3.5 for Sound, 4s for Graphics & Control, and a 4.5 for Fun Factor. There’s also a licenced game based on the Widget cartoon show. The game gets a 5 for Control, a 4 for Sound, and 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor.

Special Feature – Super Star Wars Strategy Guide: We get a strategy guide for Super Star Wars, before continuing on with the SNES Coverage.

SNES Coverage (cont.): We get a review of Run Saber, a Strider clone from Atlus. The game gets a 3 for Sound, 4s for Control & Graphics, and a 5 for Fun Factor. Ocean has Pugsley’s Scavanger Hunt, which gets a 4 for Sound, 4.5s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor, though apparently it’s really hard. There’s also Cool World, a game based on the live-action/animation mix film from Ralph Bakshi, which gets a 5 for Control, 4.5s for Fun Factor & Graphics, and a 4 for Sound. There’s Sonic Blast Man from Taito, which gets 4s for Sound and Fun Factor, a 5 for Control, and a 4.5 for Graphics. I’m going to take short moment here to take them to task – the game uses sound effect balloons for the sound effects instead of, you know, sound effects. To “compensate” for this in the review, or to explain it for the score, the explanation is “Sound effects? You don’t need any!” I know the expression is meant in jest… but that doesn’t mean it’s actually funny. In fact, it’s a stupid joke.

Anyway, we’ve got a review of James Pond II, a port of Codename: Robocod for the Genesis. Apparently the sound is poor, and while they like some of the graphics (like the “humorous” expressions on some of the teddy bears in the background, for example) I am not so amused. They do give side-by-side comparisons of the Graphics, and the SNES version does look better, though. The game gets a 2 for Sound, a 3 for Control, a 4 for Fun Factor and a 4.5 for Graphics. There’s also a review of Mario is Missing, an edutainment game. It gets 3.5s for Graphics, Sound & Fun Factor, and a 4 for Control. GameTek has Kawasaki Caribean Challenge, which apparently gets it’s challenge from bad control – it gets a 3 for Sound, and 2s for Graphics, Control, and Fun Factor. Ocean also has a Lethal Weapon game – which has nothing to do with the plots of any of the movies (though, to be fair, the plots of any of the movies wouldn’t make it past Nintendo’s censors). The game gets 3s for Sound & Control and 3.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor.

NES Coverage: We have a review of Big Nose Freaks Out, about a Big-nosed cave-man. However, this is by Camerica, so it’s not licenced, and it’s probably not good either, though GamePro has generally been pretty forgiving to Camerica games. The game gets a 5 for Control, a 2 for Sound, and 3s for Graphics & Fun Factor.

TurboDuo Coverage: We have a review of the Duo version of SimEarth. The game doesn’t get a good response, but I’ve noticed games that are less more twitch-heavy and more about knowing when to wait and when to act (and what to do when to act) don’t do well during this era. The game gets a 2 for Graphics, 3s for Control & Fun Factor, and 4 for Sound. There’s also a review of the cutsy shump Magical Chase, which gets 4s across the board.

Overseas ProSpects: We have a preview of Populous II, and the PC Engine Duo-R, a lower cost version that drops SuperGrafx support, the battery pack, headphone jack, volume control, and disk tray lock, and only one controller jack – which means that if you want to play two-player games you have to buy a multi-tap. It’s stupid decisions like this that lead to the death of TurboGraphics.

The Sports Page: First up is Hardball III for the Genesis, which looks pretty good, though from prior experience I’d probably stick with modern baseball games. The game gets a 4.5 for Sound, and 4s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. Tengen also has RBI Baseball ‘93 for the Genesis, which gets a 4 for Sound and 4.5s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. Jaleco’s got Bases Loaded 4, keeping the series on the NES. It looks like it’s actually got less teams than before, while keeping the constantly repeating (and montonous, and grating) soundtrack. Anyway, it gets a 2 for Sound, a 4.5 for Control, and 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor. There’s also an interview with Tony LaRussa about his game.

Game Boy Coverage: We have a review of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which gets a 4.5 for Graphics and 4s for Sound, Control & Fun Factor. There’s also a review of Darkwing Duck, which is a port of the NES version of the game. The game gts a 4 for Sound, 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, and a 5 for Control. There’s also Ninja Boy 2, an action puzzle game, which gets a 4.5 for Control, 4s for Graphics, Sound & Fun Factor. Q*Bert is getting a port as well, which gets a 3 for Control, a 3.5 for Graphics, a 4 for Sound and 4.5 for Fun Factor. There’s also Word Zap, a semi-spelling game thingie (you form words with provided letters, like in scrabble), which getsa 3 for Sound and 3.5s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor.

Game Gear Coverage: We have a port of Land of Illusion, which is a Disney licenced platformer, not a Genesis licenced platformer (that would be Land of Confusion – ya see what I did there?). They like it, giving it 4s across the board.

Short ProShots: The games of note covered this issue are Shining Force from Sega & Rocket Knight Adventures from Konami for the Genesis, Pacific Theater of Operations from Koei and Super Empire Strikes Back from LucasArts for the SNES.

GameBusters: We have tips for the final mission of Wing Commander, plus the ending cutscene (or a single screen shot of it).

ProNews: Mutant League is going to be EA’s next big franchise, and Street Fighter II Turbo is coming out for the SNES.

Despite my going back to school, and all that effecting my time I have for writing, the GamePro recaps continue with issue #46 for May of 1993. We have another Sports issue. Our Editorial this issue also discusses the violence in video games debate, with the general advice being that the onus for protecting kids from violent content lies in the hands of parents. However, as game ratings only exist on the Genesis, and they’re not necessarily consistent, I have to say that this advice isn’t as reasonable, but that’s just me.

Letters: Not much this issue. We get letters about playing as the bosses in the SNES version of Street Fighter II, people applauding the Sega CD, and people complaining about the grainy video on the Sega CD.

Hot at the Arcades: We have a Looney Tunes arcade game that didn’t get a home release, and Creature From The Black Lagoon licenced pinball table.

The Cutting Edge: This issue we have coverage of the VVS. It’s a TV, in a pair of glasses! Yeah… they’re still working on this and it’s still clunky as hell.

Out Of This World Guide: We get a short excerpt of a strategy guide for Out Of This World from the book “Awesome Super Nintendo Secrets”. I’m skipping this for, basically, the same reason that I don’t recap the cheats section. If you want to know the cheats, that’s what GameFAQs is for.

Ecco The Dolphin Guide: Same sort of thing as the last article in the magazine.

Nintendo Coverage: We have a review of Joe & Mac from Data East, which is generally average, and gets a 3.5 for Fun Factor, and 3s for Graphics, Sound, & Control. LJN also has The Incredible Crash Dummies, which gets an identical score. We also get a preview of Battletoads vs. Double Dragon.

Genesis Coverage: We have a review of Sega’s X-Men game, which unfortunately has no continues, and no passwords, which is a big minus for me. They really like it though – though the sound is kind of subdued. The game gets a 4 for Sound, and 5s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. There’s also a review of James Bond: The Duel from Domark (a publisher I’ve never heard of before). They’re not too found of the sound and they comment that the sprites appear too small, and they give the game a 3.5 for Sound and 4s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. There’s also a review of the 16-bit version of Batman: Revenge of the Joker, from Sunsoft, which is a slightly up-rezed version of the NES game, and gets docked for that (getting 3s across the board). We also have a review of Blaster Master 2 from Sunsoft, which still doesn’t have a password option or a save system. The game gets 4.5s for Graphics & Sound, and 5s for Control & Fun Factor.

We also have a review of Taito’s Flintstones game, which has some slowdown problems and control problems, and gets a 4 for Fun Factor, and 3.5s for everything else. Renovation has a new fantasy shump in Element Master, which gets 4s for Graphics, Control, & Fun Factor, and a 4.5 for Sound. There’s also The Humans, which is a semi-Lemmings clone, with a few elements of Larry Gonick’s work as well. The game scores decently – it gets a 4.5 for Fun Factor, a 3 for Control, and 3.5s for Graphics & Sound. There’s also EA’s clone of Ghouls & Ghosts, titled Risky Woods, which gets a 3.5 for Control, and 4s for Graphics, Sound & Fun Factor. Mindscape has the Road Warrior-esque action game Outlander, which has some graphics and control problems, but not enough to hurt it worse than a mediochre score, giving it a 3 for Control, and 3.5s for everything else. There’s also a preview of Jungle Strike.

Sega CD Coverage: We have a review of C&C Music Factory: Make My Video. Ahh, the early 90s, when people thought old, disused foundaries were good places to shoot music videos – though to be fair, there were a lot of them available. The “game” gets 5s for Graphcis & Sound, and 4.5s for Control & Fun Factor. We also have a preview of Final Fight CD.

Sports Guide: No strategy guide stuff here to start, just previous review scores for various games. We do get a few new reviews though. We have a review for John Madden Football: Championship Edition, which gets a 4 for Sound and 5s for everything else. We also have an interview with JD Williams of the Buffalo Bills, which mainly focuses on the Madden games. On the basketball front, we have a review of Bulls vs. Blazers, which gets a 5 for Fun Factor and 4s for everything else, and which doesn’t have a lot of name-dropping of the Blazers. We had more players than Clyde Drexler back then! On the Diamond we have an interview with Roger Clemens about Roger Clemens MVP Baseball – apparently the idea of lending his name to the game was his kids idea.

SNES Coverage: We have a review of Batman Returns, which is a brawler, but a nice looking one – which gets 5s across the board. We also have a review of Bubsy, which gets faulted because of the use of inertia in the game, so it gets a 4.5 for Control and 5s for Graphics, Sound & Fun Factor. We also have a review of the action RPG Equinox. They really like it and give it 5s across the board. We also have a review of Wayne’s World, featuring the digitized likeness of Michael Meyers, and which comes out rather mediochre, getting 3s for Sound & Control, and 3.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. There’s a review of the rather bland fighting game Doomsday Warrior, which gets 3s for Sound & Fun Factor, and 3.5s for Graphics & Control.

There’s a Taz-Mania semi-racing game, which gets a 3 for Sound, a 4 for Control, a 4.5 for Graphics, and a 5 for Fun Factor. Kemco has the slasher/platformer First Samurai, which gets a 4.5 for Fun Factor, and 4s for everything else, though they mention specifically that the music tends to grate. There’s a review of Pushover, another Lemmings clone, which gets a 4 for Fun Factor, and 3.5s for everything else. There’s also a review of the action game Dream Probe, which looks pretty interesting. The game gets a 5 for Control, a 4 for Sound, and 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. There’s also a review of Family Dog, a platformer based on the cartoon show. They find the game fun, but the scores they give it are very middle-of-the road, giving it a 3 for Control and 3.5s for everything else. There’s also a review of Koei’s business simulator Aerobiz. The game gets a 3 for Sound, a 4.5 for Control, and 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor.

TurboDuo Coverage: We have a review of Terraforming, featuring mechanical designes by Syd Mead. That’s pretty cool. I’m surprised I’d never heard of this, particularly the last time I was looking up Syd Mead’s stuff. The game looks pretty cool too, though apparently some of the music is pretty iffy. The game gets 4s for Sound & Control, and 5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. We also have a preview of Bonk 3, which is coming out as both a CD-Rom game and as a chip, depending on your preference.

Neo-Geo Coverage: We get a preview of Sengoku II.

Overseas Prospects: We get a preview of the steampunk mecha shump Cyber Aleste: Nobunaga And His Ninja Force. Ooohhh-kay. There’s also a preview of SimAnt.

The Sports Page: We have a review of Mutant League Football for the Genesis. The game gets a 5 for Graphics, and 4s for everything else. There’s also a review of Best Of The Best Kickboxing from Electro Brain, which doesn’t do so hot – it gets 3s for Sound & Control, and 3.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. The NES is getting George Foreman’s KO Boxing from Acclaim, which doesn’t do so well – it gets a 2.5 for Sound, a 3 for Control, a 3.5 for Fun Factor, and a 4 for Graphics. There’s also Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour for the Game Boy, which does get a pretty good score. It gets a 3.5 for Sound, and 4.5s for everything else. We also get a feature on EA Sports.

Game Boy Coverage: We have a review of Spot: The Cool Adventures, which gets generally decent scores, in keeping with the other Spot platformers. The game gets a 3 for Sound and 4s for everything else. There’s also Battleship, based on the board game, which gets a 4.5 for Control and 4s for everything else. Takara’s got Cool Ball, which I’m not sure how you play, but it gets a 2 for Sound, a 3 for Graphics, and 4s for Control & Fun Factor. Capcom has Tale Spin, which adapts the show into a shump, but one that’s decent, getting 4s across the board.

Game Gear Coverage: We have a review of Spider Man: The Revenge of the Sinister Six, which they find to be a pretty good port, and which gets a 3.5 for Control, and 4s for Graphics, Control, and Fun Factor.

Lynx Coverage: The Lynx is getting Pit Fighter, which looks horrible to me, but they apparently like – it gets a 5 for Graphics, 4.5s for Sound & Fun Factor, and a 4 for Control.

Short Shots: Of note this issue is Arcus Odyssey for the SNES, Stellar 7 for the Sega CD, and Kirby’s Adventure for the NES.

Game Busters: We get the ending cutscene for Prince Of Persia this issue.

ProNews: Hasbro is putting out Street Fighter action figures, with, for example, Ryu using a rocket launcher. Bwhuh?! Anyway, SSI’s Eye of the Beholder series is also getting ported to home consoles.

That wraps up this issue, tomorrow I’m gong to have a review of the period gangster film Hoodlum, starring Lawrence Fishburn.

My GamePro Recaps continue with Issue #45 for April of 1993. This issue is about 177 pages long and our cover story is StarFox. Though, the length of the issue will probably be padded a little by the second half of their strategy guide for Sonic 2. The editorial this issue is, basically, saying that the NES is managaging to hang on by it’s fingernails. Well… we already knew that, from the fact that NES games are still coming out. So, let’s just move along.

Letters: We get a letter about the SFX Chip, and what it does (it lets the system create crude 3D polygonal shapes), what the expansion port on the bottom of the SNES if for (nothing), whether we’ll get a NES converter for the SNES (Innovation’s working on one, but Nintendo cracks down on them like a ton of bricks).

LamePro: We have the debut of GamePro’s god-freaking aweful April Fool’s section. EGM comes up with with a made-up cheat in the magazine, complete with screen shots as evidence, and asks you, the reader to find it (thus requiring some thought). GamePro, on the other hand, does a lame, fake magazine, with pathetic made-up parodies of existing games.

Hot at the Arcades: Two new fighting games, Holosseum from Sega, Time Killers from Strata.

Cutting Edge: This issue we’ve got a preview of the Pioneer Laseractive Game System, which not only has a Laserdisk System, but also a Genesis & Sega CD, and a Turbo Duo! Also, Sega’s working on a new VR unit.

NES Coverage: First is a review of Duck Tales II. They do have some complaints about the game being short – in that it’s the exact same length as the first game, though they like the new ability to buy powerups with cash you earned while going through levels and it plays well. The game gets 4.5s for Graphics & Control, and 4.0s for Sound & Fun Factor. Next is a review of Dizzy The Adventurer from Camerica (which is unlicenced), which is a mascot platformer where you play as an egg. They like the controls, but they think the sound isn’t spectacular. Oh, and they make a carton of egg puns. The game gets 3.5s for Graphics & Sound, and 4s for Control & Fun Factor. TradeWest has RC Pro-Am II. They find the controls are solid, and they like the multi-tap support. It gets a 3.5 for Graphics, a 3 for Sound, and 5s for Control & Fun Factor. Bomberman II has been ported to the NES, which gets a 3.5 for Sound, 4s for Graphics & Control, and a 4.5 for Fun Factor.

Genesis Coverage: We have a review of the cyborg brawler Cyborg Justice, which they find difficult to get the hang of (control-wise) gets 4s across the board. Battletoads has gotten ported, though you can only play as Zitz or Rash (no Pimple). The graphics aren’t so hot (compreable to the NES version, but with more colorful backgrounds and no flicker). The game gets a 3.5 for Sound, 4s for Graphics & Control and a 5 for Fun Factor. We’ve also got a review of Cool Spot as well, and they give it 4s for Sound, Control & Fun factor, as well as a 5 for Graphics. There’s also a review of Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure. We do get a useful note about the game in particular – that halfway through the game you can’t continue anymore. The controls are apparently solid, and the graphics and sound are good as well – the game gets 4s across the board.

We also have a review of Chakan: The Forever Man. They really like the look and feel of the game, as well as the game’s control. It gets 4s for Graphics, Sound & Control, and a 3.5 for Fun Factor. We’ve also got G-Loc, a flight sim. The controls aren’t so hot (which is to be expected on Console Flight Sims during this era), which gets a 2.5 for Control, and 3s for Graphics, Sound, and Fun Factor. There’s also a home port of Outrun 2019, which has iffy graphics, iffy sound, and halfway decent control. The game gets 2.5s for Graphics, Sound, and Fun Factor, and a 3 for Control.

Sega CD Control: We have a review of the Dragon’s Lair style adventure game Road Avenger from Renovation, and it looks really good, though I don’t know how much replay value there is. The game gets 5s for Graphics, Sound, Fun Factor, and a 4.5 for Control. We also have a port of the Hook action platformer. The game gets a 5 for Sound, and 4.5s for Graphics, Control and Fun Factor. There’s also the more traditional adventure game The Adventures of Willy Beamish, which gets a 5 for Sound, 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, and a 3.5 for Control.

SNES Coverage: We have a feature review of Starfox. Not surprisingly, it gets 5s across the board. We also get stills of the first 6 stages and a brief preview of the SFX chip. We also get a review of Super Turrican. They also like it and give it 5s across the board. There’s a review of Shadowrun, which I’ve played, beaten, and loved. The game gets 4.5s for Graphics & Control, and 5s for Sound and Fun Factor. Koei has another historical RPG in Inindo, which puts you as the last survivor of the Iga Ninja clan, out to kill Oda Nobunaga. (Nobunaga don’t get no respect). It’s apparently very grindy, though they kind of like it. The game gets 3.5s for Graphics & Sound, a 4 for Control, and a 4.5 for Fun Factor.

We have another game based off a FASA property in Mechwarrior, which keeps the Mech Customization (which the PS1 Mechwarrior games lack), though they’re not too fond of the lack of ability to take out distant tergets). The game gets 3.5s for Graphics & Control, and 4s for Sound & Fun Factor. There’s also a review of Pocky & Rocky. They really like the game, and give it 5s for Graphics, Control, and Fun Factor, and a 4.5 for Sound. We have a Tom & Jerry licenced game, with you playing as Jerry, trying to evade and thwart Tom. the game gets a 5 for Graphics, 4.5s for Sound & Control, and a 4 for Fun Factor. We then get the continuation of the Sonic 2 Strategy Guide. Again, there isn’t much here that you can’t get online if you look in the right places (GameFAQs). This is followed by a preview of Interplay’s Lord of the Rings RPG and Final Fight II from Capcom. Also, Bubsy is getting delayed.

TurboGrafx Coverge: We have a review of the new Action game (on a chip), Legend of Hero Tonma, which is deliciously engrishy. They find it pretty straightforward, and feeling that the game works better with younger players. They give it a 4 for Graphics, and 3s for Graphics, Sound & Fun Factor.

Things What They Saw At CES: Of note is the Bram Stoker’s Dracula game, Aerobiz, Jungle Strike, James Bond 007 (featuring the likeness of Timothy Dalton), Mortal Kombat, Final Fantasy VI/III, 7th Saga. The NES also has Battletoads/Double Dragon and Bases Loaded 4. There’s also Mighty Final Fight (which you could also call Final Fight SD). The TurboDuo has Dangerous Journeys based on the the Pen & Paper RPG that Gary Gygax designed after he quit/was fired from TSR, and Snatcher. The Sega CD has After Burner III, Rise of the Dragon, Kings Quest V, and Dune. Oh, and Legends of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.

Overseas Prospects: We have another Dragon’s Lair style adventure game in Time Gal, and a second Ranma 1/2 fighting game game in Ranma 1/2 II. There’s also Final Fantasy V, which introduced the job system and didn’t come out in the US until Final Fantasy Anthology was released for the PS1.

The Sports Page: First up is Tony LaRussa Baseball for the Genesis, EA’s new baseball game, which is the first baseball game with a Manager mode. They like the game, though they feel that the sound is a little sparse. The game gets a 4.5 for Graphics, 4s for Sound & Control, and a 5 for Fun Factor. Tecmo’s got Super NBA Basketball for the SNES, which they find pretty meh. The game gets a 3 for Sound, and 3.5s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. There’s also Jerry Glenville’s Pigskin Footbrawl for the Genesis, which is kind of like Mutant League Football, but in the middle ages. They think that it looks good but is otherwise just “okay”, getting a 4 for Graphics, 3 for Control, and 3.5s for Sound & Fun Factor. Tradewest has Pro Quarterback for the Genesis, which is missing a few useful features, such as the ability to mask your plays when you call them in multi-player, and no penalties. The game gets 4s for Graphics & Control, and 3.5s for Sound & Fun Factor. The Duo is getting World Sports Competition which is a track & field game and is mediochre at best, getting a 2.5 for Sound, 3.5s for Control & Fun Factor and a 3 for Graphics. We also get notes on a few upcoming sports games, but nothing particularly in-depth.

Neo-Geo Coverage: We have a review of Super Sidekicker, a soccer game, which get 5s across the board.

Game Boy Coverage: We get a review of Kid Dracula, a kind of cutsy platformer. They like it though – it gets a 4 for Sound, and 4.5s as Graphics, Control, and Fun Factor. There’s also a port of Milon’s Secret Castle, which gets 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor, and 3s for Sound & Control. I hope the game doesn’t have the same problems with obscure “puzzles” as the NES version.

Game Gear Review: We have a review of Shinobi II, which they also really like, which gets a 5 for Graphics, a 4.5 for Control, and 4s for Sound & Fun Factor. There’s also a new McDonald’s advergame in Global Gladiators, which gets 4s for Sound & Control, and 5s for Fun Factor and Graphics.

Lynx Coverage: We have the shooter

Power Factor

, which gets a 5 for Graphics, a 4.5 for Fun Factor, and 4s for Sound & Control.

Hardware Helpers: I normally don’t cover this, but we have our first look at the Activator.

GameBusters: We get advice for beating the final boss in Alien3 and the ending cutscene – which is nothing like the ending from the movie – either one.

ProNews: Malibu Comics has a Street Fighter II comic coming out, EA is renaming the EA Sports Network (or EASN) to EA Sports. There is also going to be a “Championship Edition” of Madden Football.

Well, this wraps up this week’s GamePro Recap. Tomorrow I’ve got another wrestling event review.

Our GamePro recaps continue with our coverage of issue #44 for March 1993. Our cover story is the best games of 1992. Well, normally this would come out in the first issue of 1993 but it works. Our cover art is, I presume, of Shinobi, featuring a ninja of ambiguous gender. The isue’s 193 pages long, but they’ve also got a Sonic The Hedgehog 2 strategy guide in there, so that will probably pad it out some. Oh, and like usual, the Editorial column re-states the table of contents. *Sigh*

Mail: We get questions on Pro Action Replay in Street Fighter II Turbo, and why Turbo Technologies is being so slow in releasing titles for the Duo. They get into this on the Retronauts episode on the TurboGrafx, but basically, the problem is that TTI US has to go through a lengthly negotiation process with NEC and Hudson in Japan before localizing it, making it difficult to port games over. This kind of explains why the TurboGrafx and later the Turbo Duo basically were the Shump and WorkingDesigns RPG system, with the addition of LaserActive games like Mad Dog McCree once they got a CD-ROM drive in the system. Yeah, there’s Bonk too – but it bears mentioning that the TurboGrafx systems just didn’t have the same degree of 3rd party support (at least in the US than the Genesis and SNES had. We also get complaints about games costing $50 to $60 bucks in the US, and more in the UK. Get used to it. It’s going to cost that much until at least the present. Cartridge games are, frankly, expensive to manufacture, and the cost of making disk games hasn’t gone down much either (plus the hardware itself is expensive to make). Plus, in the UK, you’ve also got the VAT.

The Cutting Edge: This month we’re covering the 3DO. Basically, it’s a disk system. It’s also going to die on the vine, but they can’t see that coming – and we don’t necessarily get the tough question of, “The Market’s got 5 Home Console Systems, how can it support 6?” However, EGM’s for questions like that – this is an entertainment magazine (or that’s their story and they’re sticking to it). I, for one, feel more video game magazines should ask the tough questions, even if it costs them exclusives or gets them blacklisted (because if a publisher blacklists everyone, the performance of their games will suffer).

Hot at the Arcades: Mad Dog McCree is getting a sequel, and we’re getting an arm wrestling arcade game. No, really.

Reader’s Choice Award Winner: Well, we didn’t get a list of nominees for this, so I really couldn’t do picks before hand. So, instead, I’ll just do analysis on the winners.

• Action/Adventure Game Of The Year: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 gets the win, beating Contra III and Turtles in Time. I can’t really argue with this one. Sonic is a good game, and I’d definitely say it’s better than the other two games.
• Role-Playing Game of the Year: Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past gets the win, beating Dragon Warrior IV and Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun. I can’t think of any other significant RPGs from the year that might of been overlooked, so this one’s fine for me.
• Sports Game Of The Year: Madden ‘92 gets the win, over NCAA Football from Nintendo and NHLPA Hocky from EA. Not too surprised from this, Madden’s been one of the top football series for quite some time.
• Puzzle Game Of The Year: Lemmings for the SNES gets the win over Krusty’s Fun House and Faceball 2000. Considering that one of those games got legs and the other 2 didn’t, I don’t have much to complain about.
• Shoot-Em-Up Game Of The Year: Super Smash TV wins over Axelay and Air Zonk. I’m rather disappointed here, because Gates of Thunder came out for the Turbo Duo around this time, and it got really good reviews. The game at least deserved a nomination. Frankly, I’d rather Gates of Thunder got the nomination instead of Air Zonk.
• Head To Head Fighting Game Of The Year: Raise your hand if you’re surprised that Street Fighter II is taking the win. Nobody? Didn’t think so. The runners up are World Heroes and Art of Fighting.
• Excellence in Graphics: Street Fighter II takes this one as well, over Death Valley Rally, and Sonic 2. Not too surprising here, though I like Sonic 2 more, graphically. Super Street Fighter II Turbo was the best, graphically, in my opinion, with the HD Remix being even better.
• Excellence in Sound: Super Star Wars – gets the win, again unsurpring considering Lucasfilm’s role in making the game (and it’s two sequels). MLBPA Sports Talk Baseball and Taz-Mania are the competition, but I have to side with the Star Wars game here. I’m surprised that none of these games are disk games though.
• Handheld Game Of the Year: Sonic The Hedgehog for the Game Gear takes the gold, over Super Mario Land 2, and Batman Returns for the Lynx. Again, not surprised.
• 8-Bit Game Of The Year: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project gets the win here, over Mega Man V, and Batman: Return of the Joker. I’m afraid I don’t have enough experience with these 3 games to decide how valid this ruling is.
• 16-Big Game Of The Year: I imagine this was a close one. The nominees were Legend of Zelda: Link To the Past, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and Street Fighter II, and Street Fighter II gets the win.

NES Coverage: First is the semi-enviromentally themed game Zen: Intergalactic Ninja. The game’s apparently got some cheap hits to it, the graphics are decent (though they think the animations need some work). They like the control though, and like how some of the animations in game are (particularly, it’s got the ledge hanging mechanic from Kabuki). It gets a 3.5 for Sound, a 4.5 for Control, and 4s for Graphics and Fun Factor. Next is Tiny Toon Adventures II, which is based around, basically, a theme park, where you play as various members of the cast trying to survive a series of death traps around the park, and defeat the mysterious, sinister force behind it (*cough*MontanaMax*cough*). The game gets a 3.5 for Sound, a 4.5 for Graphics, and 4s for Control & Fun Factor. We’ve got yet another game based on a cartoon series in The Jetsons: Cogswell’s Caper, which has the Jetsons family trying to stop the exploitation of planet M38 by Spacely Sprocket’s competitor, Cogswell Cogs (a lot of enviromentally conscious games, though none addressing particular issues or suggesting particular solutions). They have some significant problems with the game’s animation and the sound (there’s only one music track). The game gets a 2.5 for Sound and 3s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor.

Genesis Coverage: We have a Disney platformer on the Genesis in World of Illusion, which gets very solid scores, with a 4 for Sound and 5s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. Batman Returns has come out as well. They like the game and give it decent scores, though they think it’s missing that certain something, though they do have a minor factual error, saying that Batman was from Dark Horse Comics. The game got a 3.5 for Sound, and 4s for Graphics, Sound & Fun Factor. Terminator 2: The Arcade Game has come to the Genesis, and they’re keeping the “Arcade Game” portion because to distinguish it from the NARC clone, and because (since it’s a light gun game) it supports the Menacer. The game gets 4.5s for Graphics & Sound, and 5s for Control & Fun Factor. The Genesis is also getting a Superman themed action game, which requires him to learn his powers to prevent it from over-powering the game. The game gets a 3.5 for Sound, a 4 for Graphics, and 4.5s for Control & Fun Factor.

Shadow of the Beast has also gotten a sequel (meaning more art from Roger Dean). The game gets a 5 for Fun Facotr and 4s for everything else. Super Battletank has gotten ported to the Genesis without Mode 7, and apparently it’s suffered for it, as it’s also sufered for being on a 3 button controller instead of a 6-button controller (with shoulder buttons) like on the SNES (thus allowing for the traversing of the turret). Thus, the game gets a 2.5 for Control, a 3 for Sound, 3.5 for Graphics and a 4 for Fun Factor. EA’s also got the strategy game PowerMonger, that gets 4s across the board. We also get a preview of Shinobi: Return of the Ninja Master, and the Battletoads port.

Feature – Behind The Scenes of Flashback: So, we get a look at the very large mixing board, and a lot of shots of people clustered around computers, and shots of the Gold Records from Delphine Entertainment’s music division. We also get information about a sequel to Flashback coming out in the future. We wrap this up from some of the upcoming “Flashback” comic book from Marvel comics, with Jim Moore (who I’ve never heard of) as the artist, and Mike Harris, who worked on the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and some issues of Punisher and Wolverine and other more gritty books.

Sega CD Coverage: We get a review of Make My Video: Kriss Kross. The game gets a 4.5 for Graphics and 5s for Sound, Control, and Fun Factor…. I disagree strongly with this. There are also promos of the games with Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch and INXS. Sega CD also has the action platformer Wolfchild, which gets 5s for Sound & Control, and 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. There’s also Chuck Rock, which I’ve described at length fairly often, and which is a port of the Genesis version, but with some graphical tweaks, and an opening cutscene, and some sound tweaks. The game gets a 3.5 for Control, and 4s for Graphics, Sound, and Fun Factor.

SNES Coverage: Tiny Toons Adventures: Buster Busts Loose is out, and it gets a 4.5 for Control, and 5s for Graphics, Sound, and Fun Factor. There’s B.O.B. (and I think my GamePros are getting really close to catching up to my EGMs, yeah, they are). Anyway, it gets a 3.5 for Control, a 4 for Control, and 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. The game gets a 4 for Sound, 5s for Graphics, Control, and Fun Factor. There’s also the turn-based city-building strategy game Utopia, which is pretty sandboxy, with no defined end, as opposed to Civ. The game gets a 5 for Fun Factor, and 4.5s for Graphics, Sound, and Control. Mindscape also has the Mad Max style action game Outlander, with driving and run-and-gun stages, the game gets a 5 for Fun Factor, a 4 for Graphics, 4.5 for Sound, and a 3.5 for Control (due to “clunkyness” and “sluggishness”).

We also have the action-platformer Congo’s Caper, which gets 5s for Control & Fun Factor, and 4.5s for Graphics & Sound, though they don’t get into the specifics. We also get a review of Street Combat, which is the re-skinned version of the first Ranma 1/2 fighting game. They’re not a fan of the loss of the comedy, and the general character from the original version, finding this version slightly more generic, though the gameplay is left intactc. It gets 3.5s for Sound & Fun Factor, and 4s for Graphics & Control. We also have a preview of Addams Family: Pugsley’s Scavanger Hunt, and the upcoming Lethal Weapon game.

Turbo Duo Coverage: Well, last year the Duo got Gates of Thunder, this year we’re getting Lords of Thunder. The game gets 5s across the board (which, from what I remember from EGM’s scores, fits in okay, as they gave it perfect 10s as well). There’s also Bomberman ‘93, which gets 5s for Control & Fun Factor and 3s for Graphics & Sound (though it looked pretty good to me).

Feature – Pinball Games: First up is CrueBall, which has you playing pinball while listening to Motley Crue music in a very metal enviroment, with enemies on the tables that you kill with the ball, which gets 5s across the board. The Duo has Time Cruise, with a science fiction theme, with 5s for Graphics, Control, and Fun Factor… and a 1.5 for Sound. We also have a look at a couple Real world pinball tables, including Al’s Garage Band Goes On A World Tour and the one that really has me interested, Doctor Who, featuring the first 7 Doctors!

OverSeas Prospects We have Fatal Fury coming out for the SNES in Japan and Street Fighter II is coming to the Genesis. Meanwhile, in the UK, re-mixes of Video Games are catching on. I wonder if they’ll start a musical sub-genre.

The Sports Pages: We’re starting with a racing game in Jaguar XJ220 for the Sega CD. The game gets 5s for Graphics and Control, and 4.5s for Sound & Fun Factor. EA’s also got Lotus Turbo Challenge for the Genesis, where you’re running along one of 2 licenced cars on one of 8 tracks. There aren’t many sound effects to speak of, but otherwise they like it. It gets a 5 for Control, a 4.5 for Fun Factor, a 4 for Graphics and a 3 for Sound. The SNES has Cyber Spin racing, which is a top-down racing game. They’re not a fan of the control or the sound, particularly finding the control frustrating, and they give it a 2 for Control and a 2.5 for Sound. It gets a 3 for Fun Factor and a 4 for Graphics.

There’s also a review of PGA Tour Golf II for the Genesis, which they like, and they give it a 5 for Control, and gets a 4 for and 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. There’s also Roger Clemens Baseball for the Genesis. The game gets a 3 for Sound, 4s for Graphics & Control, and a 4.5 for Fun Factor. The review gets followed up with an interview with Roger Clemens (which would have been slightly awkward if they didn’t like the game). There’s also previews of Majors Pro Baseball for the Game Gear, Tony La Russa Baseball for the Genesis from EA, Accolade has Al Michaels Announces HardBall III for the Genesis. Moving on from baseball to football, EA’s got Mutant League Football, and a port of Arch Rivals for the Game Gear.

Neo-Geo Coverage: We have a review of Fatal Fury 2 for the Neo-Geo, which they really liked – they gave it 5s across the boards (and as a KoF/Fatal Fury Fan, I agree with this).

Feature – The Super Vision: We have a new hand-held contender, the Super Vision… only it’s not a contender, considering that it doesn’t do much to distinguish it from the Lynx, TurboExpress, Game Gear, and the Game Boy. We get reviews of Olympic Trials, which gets a 3.5 for Fun Factor and 3s for everything else. Next is the puzzle game Chimara, which gets 3.5s for Graphics & Sound, 4s for Control & Fun Factor. We’ve also got P52 Sea Battle, which gets a 2.5 for Sound, 3.5 for Graphics, and 4s for Control & Fun Factor.

Game Boy Coverage: The Game Boy has now gotten Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, they generally like it, though the Sound isn’t so hot (which is to be expected for the Game Boy), and it gets a 3.5 for Sound, 4s for Graphics & Control, and a 5 for Fun Factor. There’s also a port of T2: The Arcade Game, which I can’t see working very well. They like it though, giving it 4.5s for Graphics & Sound, and 5s for Control & Fun Factor.

Game Gear Coverage: The Game Gear has gotten Sonic 2, and they find it a faithful port, giving it 5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, a 4.5 for Control, and a 4 for Sound. There’s also Double Dragon, port, which gets 4s for Sound & Control, and 5s for Graphics & Fun Factor.

Lynx Coverage: The Lynx has Dinolympics. No, it’s not in any way related with Animalympics. The game is, basically, like a cross of a Track & Field game, Lemmings, and a Caveman Game, which gets 4s across the board.

Short ProShots: We have a Terminator game from Mindscape for the NES, Elemental Master and Speedway Pro Challenge from Renovation for the Genesis, Mechwarrior from Activison and Inindo: Way of the Ninja from Koei from the SNES.

GameBusters: We get tips for the ending and the final cut-scene of Out Of This World.

ProNews: Renovation has a Dragon’s Lair style adventure game in Road Avenger, Nintendo’s working on cracking down on Game Counterfeiters, and The Edge is playing Super Battletank on the Zoo TV tour.

Well, that wraps up this week of Game Pro. I’ll be having another review tomorrow on the site.

It’s time for our next recap of Game Pro. We continue ever foreward with our coverage of issue 43. This issue is about 201 pages long and our cover story is Star Trek: The Next Generation, and various games based on that. However, our cover art, while it’s not an original art asset, it’s not well chosen either. I’m not going to cover the editorial this issue, because (again), it’s just covering the stuff that was in the table of contents.

Letters: We have questions about getting the Sci-Fi channel on your local cable provider, and a bunch of other Street Fighter II questions, some of them involving illegal bootlegs of the game.

Cutting Edge: This issue they’re taking a step into the realm of PC Gaming, with talking about using a CD-ROM Drive on your PC. Now there’s a nostalga hit for you – I remember when games took boatloads of floppy disks to install. Yeah, I hated that and I love how CDs and now DVDs help limit the amount of disk swapping. Oh, and if someone says they liked swapping 10+ floppy disks during installation, punch him (and he will be male) in the crotch. Anyway, to be more specific, this is a hack that allows you to hook up your TurboDuo to your PC. This is probably not legit, at least as far as Turbo Technologies is concerned, but it is kind of cool. Speaking of TTI, they’re working on a 32-bit system, which isn’t much of a surprise, and Sega’s working on one too. Oh, and Camerica is putting it’s “Aladdin System” aka the Game Genie.

Hot at the Arcades: Lethal Enforcers is now in the arcades, and we have a pirate themed pinball machine in Black Rose.

NES Coverage: Well, every other console is getting an Alien 3 game, so why not the NES? Well, the game isn’t quite as exploration heavy as the 16-bit versions, as it does have defined levels, there are some exploration elements there. The game gets 4s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor, and a 4.5 for Sound. There’s also the shooting game/platformer combo Kid Klown in Night Mayor Land. It gets a 3.5 for Sound, and 4s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. There’s also Rollerblade Racer, which is a racing game on (wait for it) rollerblades, that uses the Paperboy camera angle. The game gets a 2.5 for Sound, 3s for Graphics & Fun Factor, and a 4 for Control. We also have a preview of the enviromentally themed action game Zen: Intergalactic Ninja.

Genesis Coverage: We have a review of Flashback. The game’s apparently pretty difficult, though it’s also pretty pretty. They really like it though – it gets 5s across the board. There’s also a review of Ecco the Dolphin, which also gets 5s across the board. Captain America & The Avengers have their own brawler now, and they generally like it, and it gets a 4.5 for Graphics and 4s for Sound, Control & Fun Factor. Just for good measure, we’ve got a review of Streets of Rage II, which also does really well and gets a 4.5 for Control, and 5s for Graphics, Sound & Fun Factor. JVC has the action platformer Wolfchild, which gets good scores and they don’t say anything bad about, thus it gets 4.5s across the board. Flying Edge has a port of Double Dragon 3, which they consider to be inferior, at least in terms of graphics & sound and difficulty (they complain that it gives you too many continues, which I consider to be bulldrek). The game gets a 3 for Sound and 3.5s for Graphics, Control and Fun Factor. Konami has ported Sunset Riders to the Genesis, and it gets 4s across the board. Out Of This World is coming out for the Genesis too, giving you a double dose of cinematic action. The game gets a 4 for Sound but 5s for everything else, though they find the manual rather vague.

Sega CD Coverage: Secret of Monkey Island has been ported to the Sega CD. They’re not a fan of the graphics, but they like everything else, with the game getting a 3.5 for Graphics, a 4 for Control, a 4.5 for Sound and a 5 for Fun Factor. There’s also Sewer Shark, which I’ve heard not so good things about, though they really like it and give it 5s across the board. There’s also Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, with the game getting a 4.5 for Graphics, and 4s for Sound, Control and Fun Factor. There’s also a port of the Wolfteam shump Sol-Feace, which gets a 5 for sound, 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, and a 4 for Control. We also get a preview of the adventure game The Adventures of Willy Beamish.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Game Coverage: We get some coverage of the SNES version of the game, as well as a look behind the scenes of the game. We also get a preview of Star Trek: DS9 as well.

SNES Coverage: We’re starting out with Super Strike Eagle, another fighter flight sim. They definitely find it an improvement over the older console flight sims of the SNES era, giving it 5s across the board. There’s also the brawler The Combatribes, which gets 3.5s for Sound & Fun Factor due to the game’s length, and 4s for Graphics & Control. Ultima VI has been ported to the SNES as well, and they’re finding it kind of tedious, giving it 3s for Control, Graphics & Fun Factor, and a 3.5 for Sound. There’s also the action-puzzle game Gods, which they like though the game apparently has some control difficulties, getting a 3.5 for Control, 4.5s for Graphics & Sound, and a 5 for Fun Factor. Super Valis IV has also come out for the SNES as well, the game gets a 4 for Sound, a 4.5 for Graphics, and 5s for Control & Fun Factor. We also have the helicopter shump Firepower 2000, which gets a 4.5 for Sound and 5s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. We then get a bonus strategy guide for World Heroes and Art of Fighting for the SNES. There’s also a preview of The Adventures of BOB from EA and Cool World.

Turbo Duo Coverage: Super Buster Brothers has come out CD, which is a bit of a shooter game, and gives it 4s with Graphics & Sound, a 4.5 for Control, and a 5 for Fun Factor. There’s also the action platformer shump Shockman, which is apparently way too hard, with the game getting a 2.5 for Fun Factor, a 3 for Sound, and 3.5s for Graphics & Control. There’s also a preview of the CD shump Lords of Thunder.

Overseas Prospects: The Genesis in Japan is getting the RPG Landstalker, which is something of an Action RPG. We also have our first mention of what will become the 32X peripheral.

The Sports Page: We start off with George Foreman’s KO Boxing for the Genesis, which gets a 3.5 for control (though I’m not sure why), and 4s for Graphics, Sound & Fun Factor. The SNES is also getting Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour, which gets a 4 for Graphics, a 4.5 for Control, and 5s for Sound & Fun Factor. Virgin has Super Slapshot for the SNES, which does pretty well, despite some control problems, getting 3.5s for Sound & Control, and 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor. EA has NHLPA Hockey ‘93 for the SNES, which gets a 5 for Fun Factor, a 4.5 for Control, a 4 for Graphics, and a 3.5 for Sound. The Duo is getting Hit The Ice, which gets a 4.5 for Fun Factor, and 3.5s for Graphics, Sound & Control.

Neo-Geo Coverage: We have a review of the isometric shump Viewpoint which gets 5s across the board.

Game Boy Coverage: Super Mario Land 2 is out, and it’s introducing Mario’s other arch nemesis of Wario, which they like – giving it a 5 for Fun Factor, a 4 for Control, and 4.5s for Graphics & Control. There’s also a review of the Game Boy version of Alien 3, which has no password, continue, or save option, and it’s on a portable system – not a good idea. It gets a 4 for Sound, and 4.5s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor. There’s also the Little Mermaid game, which they like, giving it 5s for Sound & Control, and 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. There’s also a port of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves for the Game Boy, getting a 3.5 for Fun Factor, and 4s for Graphics, Sound & Control.

Game Gear Coverage: We’ve got a portable version of Taz-Mania, which they aren’t too enthused in, particularly because of the music. The game gets a 2 for Sound, a 3 for Sound, and 3.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. There’s also an Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade action platformer. The controls are over sensative, but otherwise it’s solid – it gets a 2.5 for Control, a 3 for Fun Factor, a 4 for Sound, and a 4.5 for Graphics.

Lynx Coverage: We have a Dracula adventure game. They like it, giving it 4s for Graphics & CVontrol, and 5s for Sound and Fun Factor.

Short ProShots: The notable titles in this segment are T2 Arcade for the SNES, Shinobi 3 for the Genesis.

ProReport News: Lucasarts is putting out Super Empire Strikes Back, Capcom is putting out a bunch of Disney games, Acclaim is putting out CD-ROM games, software piracy for financial gain (as in a profit) is now a felony, the confusion between the EA Sports Network and ESPN has been cleared up.

Well, that wraps up this issue. I’ll have another movie review up tomorrow.

We’re on to issue 42 of GamePro, the first issue of the magazines 5th volume, but not it’s 5th year (it’s been publishing for 3 and 1/2 years), which means that they’ve been doing some creative accounting in the counting. Not that any publisher would do such a thing, right DC, Marvel? Anyway, our cover story is Battletoads, and since the art assets are not provided by Tradewest or Rare, much as the art of Chester Cheetah was provided by Frito-Lay last issue. Anyway, this issue comes in a 224 (approximate) pages, though we’ve got another Street Fighter II insert so that will pad that somewhat. They had another insert last issue, but I skipped it, because if you really want the Street Fighter moves, that’s what GameFAQs is for (and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix has a move-list option on the pause menu).

Editorial: We have content! The TurboDuo’s coming out, as is the SegaCD, and they’re going head-to-head. The Duo’s got a somewhat more substancial library of games, but the Sega CD has Sega’s slick marketing machine (can you say “Sega does what Nintendon’t”?) behind it.

Lettters: We get a letter asking them to combine their Street Fighter II Strategy inserts into a book. I’m glad you asked, because that’s what they’re doing! Now we can get paid twice for the same content! Admittedly, they’re adding some additional content so if you subscribed so you totally didn’t get screwed. We also get questions about the Action Game System, a portable system that will play NES, Super NES, and… Genesis games? You’re kidding. Maybe now such a thing might exist, but then? No way. Nintendo would come down on it with a lead baloon, as would Sega. I call bullshit at best, con scam at worst.

Cutting Edge: The featured hardware is the 3DO which, if you remember from your contemporary Gaming Gossip columns in EGM, is still in development. From the sounds of things, basically, this article is taking a lot of the rumors (with some fact checking) and compiling it into an article. We also get coverage of QSound, which is basically sound recording technology for use in compact disks, particuarly a bunch of arcade games, and albums (including Pink Floyd’s P*U*L*S*E, which is my favorite Pink Floyd live album). Oh, and Baton Technologies in Arizona is still working on technology for online multi-player for home consoles, particularly the NES and the Genesis.

Hot at the Arcades: We’ve got pictures of Sega’s new racing game, Virtua Racing, the first installment of their Virtua series which would become most well known for the Virtua Fighter series.

NES Coverage: Mega Man V is out! I’m not saying they’re churning out a Mega Man game very year… but it’s pretty close. That said, they’re getting some consistant quality there, with this installment getting a 5 for Control, 4.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, and a 4 for Sound. Camerica has another four pack compliation game thingie called Quattro Arcade. This is an unlicenced game, and, to be honest, it’s a compilation of 4 mediochre games, so I’m going to skip it. I’m not going to do this often (if it all) – only for Camerica multi-game packs. Anyway, next is the strategy game Overlord, which is a base building game where you have to build, basically, a moon base, one that will support its population but also protect it from enemy attack, and then conquer enemy planets (which you must then develop) as well. It almost (but not quite) sounds like a 4X game! The game gets a 3 for Sound, and a 3.5 for Control, plus a 4 for Fun Factor and a 4.5 for Graphics.

Also, the NES has gotten a Simpsons game. Since we’re getting a bunch of super hero games, we’re going to take advantage of Radioactive Man and Bart’s alter ego Bartman, thus Bart Meets Radioactive Man, the popular super hero character. The game’s an action platformer, and apparently they like it? The game gets a 4 for Fun Factor, a 3 for Sound, and 3.5s for Graphics & Control. We’ve got an “not-a-game” for the NES too in Tiny Toons Adventures: Cartoon Workshop, which is basically a kind of comic book creator program. They like it though – it gets 4s from Sound and Control, and 5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. Micropose also has another flight sim in F-117A Stealth Fighter. The Game gets a 2.5 for the very poor sound, and they’re not too fond of the graphics in the review either, giving it a 3 for Graphics (which I would consider to be more average). However, it does gets 4s for Control & Fun Factor. We’ve also got a Young Indiana Jones licenced game from Jaleco which gets a 2.5 for Graphics, a 3 for Sound, a 3.5 for Control, a 4 for Fun Factor.

Genesis Coverage: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is out, and they’ve got a review! Why is this not on the cover. Sonic 2 should sell magazines, particularly next to the word “Review”. They think the sound could have used a little worse, giving it a 4.5 for Sound, and 5s for everything else. Speaking of sequels, Road Rash 2 has come out as well, and it’s now got similtanious multi-player. It gets a 4.5 for Graphics, a 4 for Sound, and 5s for Control & Fun Factor. We’ve also got Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (a redress of Turtles in Time with a few new assets) coming out for the Genesis. The game got 4.5s for Sound & Fun Factor, and 5s for Graphics & Control. Mindscape has the sword and sandal action game Gods, which similarly gets 4.5s for Graphics & Control, and 5s for Sound and Fun Factor. EA’s got another fantasy action game in Galahad, in the vein of Wizards & Warriors, but with more knights in shining armor to it. It gets a 3 for Sound, and 4s for Graphics, Control & Fun Factor.

We also have a review of the previously heavily hyped (as in it got a cover story) Universal Soldier from Accolade, which gets a 2.5 for Control (eek!), a 3 for Graphics, a 4 for Sound, and a 3.5 for Fun Factor. I’m sorry, but for me, if the graphics were bad enough to merit a 2.5 from GamePro, I’d probably give it a lower score for Fun Factor (because, well, I wouldn’t have found it very fun). Super Battletank has been ported to the Genesis now as well, however, as the Genesis has a three button controller instead of the SNES’s 6 (particularly considering the lack of shoulder buttons), the game doesn’t play as well. Consequently, the game gets a 2.5 for Control, 3 for Sound and a 3.5 for Graphics, and a 4 for Fun Factor. How is the Fun Factor score higher then the highest other score, particularly considering that Control did so poorly? We also get a preview of Flashback.

Sega CD Coverage: First up is Wonder Dog from JVC. In short, they loved it. How much did they love it? They gave it 5s across the board. That’s right, it scored higher than Sonic The Hedgehog 2. It escapes me too. Sega’s also put out Namco’s on rails shooter Cobra Command. It got a 5 for Sound, a 4 for Control & Fun Factor, and a 3 for Control. Sega has also started that which will become a trend with them – compiling their own games onto a medium with more storage and selling them that way. In this case they’ve now got the Sega Classics Arcade Collection which complies Columns Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Revenge of Shenobi. These have all been reviewed before, and don’t have their scores listed here. We also get a list of upcoming Sega CD games, with notable games including Out Of This World (a port), as well as ports of Secret of Monkey Island, and Wing Commander.

Battletoads Feature: We have featured our Battletoads feature, with includes screen shots of the Arcade version of the game (which is significantly more violent than the home console version), along with screen shots of the SNES version of the game.

SNES Coverage: We have the dark future mecha action game (aren’t they all?) Cybernator. Well, they love it, and give it 5s across the board. Wing Commander for the SNES has also come out as well, and it doesn’t score as highly but it does have a good score, with a 5 for Fun Factor, a 4.5 for Graphics, and 4s for Sound & Control. We also have another Application Cart getting reviewed this month with Mario Paint which introduces the NES mouse. The game gets 5s for Graphics & Control and 4.5s for Sound & Fun Factor. There’s also the the very Japanese action game Musya gets a 3 for Sound 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor, and a 4.5 for Control. Robocop 3 has also gotten an adaptation in, well, Robocop 3. The game gets a 5 for Graphics, 4.5s for Sound & Control, and a 4 for Fun Factor. Just so long as it doesn’t have the problem the first Robocop game had where it was impossible to avoid getting hit – you either took 2 marks off your health meter or 1 depending on whether you were blocking or not.

We also have King Arthur’s World a sort of fantasy strategy game that features support for the Mouse to control the game. The game gets a 3.5 for Control, a 4 for Graphics, and 4.5s for Control & Fun Factor. There’s also King of the Monsters a Kaiju fighting game, which gets decent scores, although they say that there are some control problems – it gets a 3 for Graphics, 3.5 for Control, a 4 for Sound and a 4.5 for Fun Factor. Oh, and the SNES is getting Dragon’s Lair. However, as the SNES CD is vaporware, and the cartridge can’t handle the full motion video, we’re getting an action platformer. The game gets 3.5s for Control & Sound, and 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor. We then get a graphical preview of Bubsy, so we can finally see what the game actually looks like!

Super Scope Software Feature: So, we get a collection of reviews of games that use the Super Scope. Kemco has X-Zone, which has you trying to save the world from an evil computer system. It gets 4s for Graphics & Sound, and a 4 for Fun Factor, and a 4.5 for Control. There’s also the mecha action game Battle Clash, which is kind of similar to Death Duel but without the dismemberment. They like it though, with the game agetting a 5 for Control, and 4s for Graphics, Sound, and Fun Factor. There’s also, of all things, a light-gun game based on The Hunt For Red October. I have no idea how that works. They’re not sure either, as they give it a 3 for Control, 2.5s for Graphics & Sound, and a 2 for Fun Factor. We also have a preview of the SNES port of Terminator 2: The Arcade Game, which will be unfortunately missing the arcade version’s awesome light gun. It will have mouse support though, and Bandai has the mecha game Bazooka Blitzkrieg.

TurboGrafx Coverage: Dragon Slayer has gotten a Turbo CD release, though this game has been out for quite some time – this is the first game in the bizarrely ordered Dragon Slayer series, and was originally released for PCs in 1984. They kind of like it though, and give it a 3 for Graphics, a 3.5 for Fun Factor, and 4.5s for Sound & Control. The Turbo Super-CD is also getting (as is everyone else) a port of Prince of Persia. The game gets 3.5s for Graphics & Control a 4 for Fun Factor, and a 4.5 for Sound. There’s also the jetpack shump Forgotten Worlds which was orignally put out by Capcom but was ported by Turbo Technologies Inc. (which is a sort of partnership company thing between Hudson and NEC). The game gets 4.5s for Control & Fun Factor, and 5s for Graphics & Sound. There’s also the adventure game Somer Assault, which could basically be described as an adventure game in which you play as a slinky. The gmae gets 4s for Graphics & Sound, and 3.5s for Fun Factor & Control. Chase HQ has also been ported to the Turbo Duo as a chip, and since it is a chip game, the sound isn’t as good – it gets a 2.5 for Sound, 3s for Graphics & Control, and a 4 for Fun Factor.

Overseas Prospects: The games getting covered here include the brawlers Sonic Blastman, The Great Fighter II: Last Fighter Twin (featuring Gundam F91, Kamen Rider RX, and Fighter Roa). They also bring up the first Ranma 1/2 fighting game, and they get the premise of the series totally, totally, wrong (and completely omits the comedy aspects of the show – which is significant, because this probably was one of the first comedy fighting games).

The Sports Page: Our cover story is EA’s latest basketball game, Bulls vs. Blazers. Finally, the Blazers get the respect they merit, especially as this was one of the Blazers best lineups ever. They’re not the biggest fan of the control, with it geting a 3.5 for Control, but 4s for everything else. LJN has their own basketball game in NBA All Star Challenge, which doesn’t do quite as well as Bulls Vs. Blazers overall, but it does better in certain respects. The game gets a 3 for Sound and a 3.5 for Control, as well as a 4 for Fun Factor. However, it differs by getting a 4.5 for Graphics. Speaking of basketball games, Tecmo’s stepped onto the court as well with Tecmo NBA Basketball for the NES. The game gets a 3.5 for Graphics, a 3 for Sound, and a 4.5 for Control and a 5 for Fun Factor. There’s also working on a SNES version as well, which we get a preview of, along with Konami’s NFL Football for the SNES. On the rink we have a preview of NHLPA Hockey ‘93 from EA – though I haven’t gotten to far into hockey games.

We also get a couple baseball game reviews as well. Roger Clemens MLB Baseball for the SNES, it gets a good reception, though they like the fielding more than the pitching. The game gets a 3.5 for Sound, a 4 for Control and 5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. Mindscape has Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball, which has some problems with graphics, particularly with the graphics making fielding difficult, and generally doesn’t do well. It gets a 4 for Sound, a 3 for Control, and 3.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. On the links we’ve got Irem Skins Game, whcih gets a 5 for Control, 4s for Sound and Fun Factor, and a 4.5 for Graphics. US Gold has another golf game at World Class Leaderboard, which does significantly better, getting a 4.5 for Graphics, and 5s for everything else. Not bad, not bad at all. We also get a glimpse behind the scenes of Madden ‘93. While the Madden games aren’t as in depth at this point in their lineage as they are now (with mapping stadiums to the length of the end zone lines), the game’s are trying to be very accurate – and because of John Madden’s own input they’d been doing that. But even more, NFL players have started playing Madden games, and been passing feedback on to John.

Game Boy Coverage: First up is Mega Man III (as Capcom has been putting out Mega Man games on the Game Boy with the same regularity that they’ve been putting them out on home consoles ever since the GB came out). They give the game a 5 for Control (one of the series strong points), and 4.5s for everything else. Hudson has brought Bonk’s Adventure to the Game Boy as well. It’s apparently a faithful port, though one with a few faults, with the game getting a 3.5 for Fun Factor, a 4 for Control, and 4.5s for Graphics & Sound. I can’t help but feel that porting the Bonk games, particularly when Bonk is the TurboGrafx mascot, to 3rd party consoles, is undermining the TurboGrafx consoles somewhat. Accolade has the Gradius style shump StarHawk, which doesn’t do very well, getting a 2.5 for Sound, 3s for Graphics & Fun Factor, and a 3.5 for Control. There’s also the falling blocks matching puzzle game Yoshi, which gets a 3.5 for Sound, a 4.5 for Control, and 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor.

Game Gear Coverage: We have a review of the game adaptation of Predator 2 (which was not my favorite Predator movie – I actually like Alien Vs. Predator more). They run into some problems with small sprites, slow player animations, and bad music, leading to 3s for Graphics, Sound, and Control, plus a 2.5 for Fun Factor.

Lynx Coverage: The Lynx is getting a port of the ultra classic game Joust. Anyway, the review is generally favorable, with the game getting a 3.5 for Graphics, 4s for Graphics & Control, and a 5 for Fun Factor.

Short ProShots: The games of note include Best of the Best (a kickboxing game), Valis IV for the SNES.

Hardware Helpers: The Game Genie is now available for the SNES, and there’s a new arcade stick for the SNES as well, along a bunch of other controllers.

GameBusters: This issue the game they’re covering is Super Star Wars, with advice for the Death Star run, as well as the ending cutscenes. Though if you don’t know how this game ends, then I’d reccomend you go re-watch the movie – you have seen the movie, haven’t you? Anyway, we also get a continuation of the Death Duel strategy guide.

ProNews: Sony and Nintendo are working togeather again on their new CD-ROM system. They’ll break it off again in 3… 2… 1… there it went. Meanwhile, Accoloade won it’s suit against Sega, preserving the right of 3rd party publishers to reverse engineer software that’s compatible for a particular piece of hardware. This opens things up, ultimately for unofficial 3rd party drivers for various hardware applications, particularly open-source drivers to make certain pieces of hardware (graphics cards, printers, etc.) compatible with Linux. Sega has teamed up with Archie Comics to start publication of a Sonic The Hedgehog Comic Book, a comic that is still in publication to this day, and a comic that I read a lot of when I was in Middle School, and I own every single issue of the Princess Sally miniseries. What? Anyway, a Super Mario Brothers movie is being made… from the director of The Killing Fields? I didn’t know who the director was before now, and now that I do know, I’m poleaxed. I’d heard amazing things about The Killing Fields, and I also haven’t heard about anything else from that director. Hopefully the movie didn’t kill his career.

Anyway, that wraps up the issue, and I should have another movie review up tomorrow, unless I put something else up instead.

Our series of GamePro recaps continues to issue 41, for December of 1992. This issue is once again pretty long, at 240 pages, and our cover story this issue is the new Chester Cheetah game. That’s correct, our cover game is an advergame, one designed to get young people to buy more junk food. You want to know the roots of the modern obesity epidemic – right here. Okay, maybe not totally, but there’s stuff there. The art, for once, doesn’t stink though.

Editorial: It’s the end of another year, which means it’s time for another year in review column. Everything’s generally favorable, which is to be expected, because this isn’t exactly a golden age for gaming, but is a pretty awesome time to be a gamer.

Mail: The first question is “Are the Turbo Duo and Turbo CD compatible?” The answer is yes, but in the most round-about way I’ve seen. So, I’m going to clarify this for you. All prior Turbo Grafx games, both CD Rom and Chip games will play on the Duo. Games made for the Duo/Super CD-Rom will require an special upgrade chip called the super system card to play on the older TG-16. There. I did in two sentences what it took the GamePro editors two paragraphs to do. Who ‘da man? We also have requests for them to switch to perfect binding instead of staple binding. Well, while Perfect Binding makes it more difficult to scan, it makes it much easier to find the issue you want on your shelf. Yes, it doesn’t lie flat on your desk, so it’s not a good gameplay reference, but that only really matters if you’re putting maps in the magazine like EGM or Nintendo Power. GamePro doesn’t do that – you have no excuse.

Hot At The Arcades: Golden Axe 2 is coming out, and there’s a motorcycle racing game in Suzuka 8 Hours, which is like the 24 Hours of LeMans, but with motorcycles and only 1/3rd as long.

NES Coverage: Another Batman movie (Batman Returns) means another Batman game, and so shall this trend continue until The Dark Knight. Instead of being a Ninja Gaiden style platformer like the first game, it’s your boilerplate brawler, which is unfortunate. They find it decent though, giving a 4.5 for Control and 3.5s for everything else. Speaking of movie licenced games, we’ve got Robocop 3. Has there ever been a good Robocop licenced game? Didn’t think so. This game gets a decent score nonetheless, with a 4 for sound, 3 for Control (as you have to actually fire two shots to shoot downwards, one shot in any direction, then hold down the fire button while pressing down), and 3.5s for Graphics & Fun Factor. There’s also a Rocky & Bullwinkle game, with the player controlling Rocky or Bullwinkle as they travel cross country to collect an inheritance (and, for some strange reason, Boris & Natasha trying to stop them). Apparently the graphics aren’t so hot and neither are the controls, so the game gets a 2 for Graphics, a 2.5 for Control, a 3 for Fun Factor and a 3.5 for Sound.

Christmas Wish List: Well, it’s Christmas time. That’s unlees you celebrate Kwanzaa or Hanukkah in which case Bill O’Reilly thinks you Hate Freedom and Hate America. I think you’re cool though. Anyway, the notable reccomended titles, peripherals, and accessories include Smash TV (the SNES version), Out Of This World (also the SNES version), ASCII’s arcade sticks, Alien 3 for the Genesis, Gate of Thunder for the Turbo CD, Street Fighter II for the SNES, the TurboDuo itself, Capcom’s Arcade Stick, Super Castlevania IV, Sonic II, the Neo Geo, Loom for the TurboDuo.

Genesis Coverage: First up is the Genesis’ bazooka-ish light gun, The Menacer. We get reviews of each of the games in the 6-in-1 cart that come with it. Ready, Aim, Tomatoes gets 4.5 for Sound & Control and a 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor, Rockman’s Zone (a Hogan’s Alley clone) gets a 4.5 for Control, and 2s for everything else. Sort of paddle game Whackball gets a 4 for Control, and 3s for everything else. Frontline (a game you’re shooting tanks), which gets a 2.5 for Sound, 3.5 for Graphics & Fun Factor and a 4.5 for Control. Pest Control has you shooting bugs gets a 2 for Sound, a 3 for Graphics, a 3.5 for Fun Factor and a 4.5 for Control. Space Station Defender has you shooting aliens coming out of pods, giving an 2 for Sound (noticing a trend?), 3 for Fun Factor, a 3.5 for Graphics, and a 4.5 for Control (another trend). So, in general, the controls are solid, but the sound is generally poor, with the exception of Ready, Aim, Tomatoes, which is good all around.

We’ve got what I think is one of the first WWF licenced game for the Genesis in WWF Wrestlemania Challenge. Being that this is the early 90s the roster reflects that (You’ve got Hogan, Savage and DiBiase on the roster, but you’ve also got Davey Boy Smith, Shawn Michaels, and Papa Shango – would later become The Godfather). The wrestlers are hard to tell apart once they’re in the ring, and the sound isn’t so hot, though they like the game’s controls. The Game gets a 4 for Control, a 3.5 for Fun Factor, and 3s for Graphics & Sound. Sega has the shump Bio-Hazard Battle, which looks like it takes the organic theme a few more steps further than most other games. The game gets a 4 for Sound, and a 4.5 for Fun Factor, and 5s for Graphics & Sound.

Disturbing Much

We then get the most disturbing first page of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ad (or any video game ad) I’ve ever seen in my life. Seriously – it’s Raph in the electric chair, getting zapped. How can that not be disturbing to young kids.

Moving back to actual content, we’ve got a review of LHX Attack Chopper, a helicopter flight sim from EA. Apparently they actually like this one, 3.5 for Sound, and 4s for everything else. Me… I prefer my flight sims, at the moment, arcadey and current gen. After struggling through a major bombing mission and scraping through by the skin of my teeth, I don’t want to risk getting a game over and having to start it all over by not being able to land my bullet-riddled airplane (or helicopter). We also have a preview of Streets of Rage II and Road Rash II

Sega CD Coverage: We’re starting off with a featured review (sort of) of Night Trap, which has not aged well at all, though the Game Pro reviewers like it and gave it a 4 for Fun Factor and 5s for everything else. There’s also the sequel to the mecha fighting game Heavy Nova titled Black Hole Assault. The review is pretty favorable, with a 4.5 for Graphics and 4s for everything else. We also get an article on the release of the Sega CD from Sega of America’s perspective (GamePro doesn’t have the same level of Japanese contacts as EGM). Specifically, we basically get a tour of Sega Multimedia Entertainment’s offices. We also get a preview of the Genesis and SNES version of Tiny Toon Adventures. This leads into…

SNES Coverage: We now get our feature preview of the Chester Cheetah game, titled Chester Cheetah: Too Cool To Fool. We move on to the reviews proper with Mickey Mouse’s Magical Quest, which is a fantasy action platforming game featuring Mickey & Company. They really like it, and give it a 5 for Graphics, a 3 for Sound, and 4s for Control & Fun Factor. Next up is The Simpsons: Bart’s Nightmare, which I’ve played and did not enjoy. Basically, it’s a collection of artificially hard mini-games. Again, they like this one too, giving it a 3.5 for Fun Factor, 4s for Sound & Control, and a 4.5 for Graphics. Also, Super Mario Kart is coming out so we have a review for the game. They do have an error where they say that Lakitu was a new character for this game. He’s not – he first appeared in Super Mario Bros. He was the guy who threw the spikey critters at you. Anyway, the game gets good scores (which are to be expected here), with the game getting a 4 for Sound, and 5s for everything else.

Desert Strike: Return To The Gulf is getting it’s SNES release, and it’s getting a solid score. It gets a 4 for Sound (not surprising, the SNES’s sound chip isn’t great, though Square, Konami and Nintendo got a lot out of it), a 4.5 for Fun Factor, and 5s for Graphics and Control. There’s also the caveman platformer Chuck Rock, which gets a 5 for Graphics, a 4.5 for Sound & Fun Factor, and a 4 for Control. There’s also the puzzle game Spindizzy Worlds, which uses a similar perspective to Marble Madness and a similar control setup as well, plus the option to rotate the screen as needed. The game gets 5s for Graphics & Fun Factor, a 3.5 for Sound, and a 4.5 for Control. There’s also another puzzle game in On The Ball which is sort of like the bonus stages from Sonic The Hedgehog (the first one), though it gets a good review score (which makes sense, because while those bonus stages were hard, they were also fun), it gets a 5 for Sound, and 4s for everything else.

Q-Bert 3 is also coming out for the SNES. I remember Q-Bert, it was a simple yet fun game, and I’m surprised we haven’t gotten Q-Bert Evolved sort of like Pac-Man Tournament Edition and Space Invaders Extreme. Anyway, this game good solid scores, with a 5 for Graphics, a 4.5 for Fun Factor, and 4s for Sound & Control. Oh, and Rampart is getting ported to the SNES as well, but not from Tengen (EA’s doing the port instead), the game gets a 5 for Control & Fun Factor, and 4s for Graphics & Sound.

TurboGrafx Coverage: The TurboGrafx-CD is getting a first-party port of Loom, Lucasarts interesting and (from what I’ve heard) enthralling adventure game. Fortunately, since this is a CD game we get really good sound quality. The game gets 5s for Graphics, Sound & Fun Factor and a 4 for Control. TTI’s also got yet another shump in Dead Moon, which it looks like, slightly changes things up (very slightly) by having stages scrolling from from right to left instead of left to right. It’s not a big deal (probably), but it probably makes a difference when you’re actually playing it. The game gets a 3.5 for Fun Factor a 4.5 for Graphcis and 4s for Graphics & Control. There’s also New Adventure Island, the latest adventure of the Adventure Island series. The game gets 4s across the board (it’s Adventure Island after all). We also get a run-down of the TurboDuo’s specifications (basically, it’s the TG-CD with an major memory upgrade).

The Sports Page:The first game we have a review of is NFL Sports Talk Football ‘93 which features a little known quarterback named “Joe Monrana” (I kid, I can forgive the typo being that the “r” key is next to the “t” key, as opposed to some typos I’ve seen where the key you’re pressing would be with and entirely different hand). Anyway, the graphics have been upgraded, and it sounds like the sound and control has been improved as well, which is good. The game gets a 4 for Sound, and 5s for everything else. Madden ‘93 is coming out as well, and includes Instant Replay appeal which (in the reviewer’s view, justifiably), the NFL had ruled against around this time. For the record, I’m in favor of challenges. Anyway, Madden doesn’t quite score as well as Sports Talk, getting 4s for Graphics & Sound, and 5s for Control & Fun Factor for the Genesis version, and the SNES version getting a 4 for Sound and 4.5s for everything else. Nintendo has their own football game on the SNES in Super Play Action Football, which plays similarly to Pro Action Replay on the NES, except with bigger sprites. It gets a 4 for Graphics and a 3 for everything else.

Next up more arcady football game of Pro Quarterback from Tradewest, which looks interesting though I don’t know how well it controls, and it gets a 4.5 for Control, and 3.5s for everything else. Flying Impact has another football game in Super High Impact for the Genesis, which doesn’t have the NFL licence (as does Pro Quarteback and is pretty arcady, as is Pro Quarterback). The game got a 3.5 for Control, a 4 for Fun Factor, a 4.5 for Graphics, and a 5 for Sound.

Just for good measure the Lynx is getting a football game as well in Lynx NFL Football, which doesn’t turn out very well at all – it gets a 1.5 for Control, 2.5 for Fun Factor, and 3s for Graphics & Sound. To change things up (finally), we have Tennis games! First up is Andre Agassi Tennis for the Genesis, which unfortunately doesn’t do well in the control department, getting a 1.5 (which is unfortunate, because Tennis games live and die by their control, and, well, their physics). It also gets a 3 for Fun Factor, and a 3.5 for Sound, finally a 4.5 for Graphics. We also get an interview with Agassi himself – though they’re good and don’t ask him “Why did you attach your name to a game that plays like ass?”

Hardware Helpers: We have a feature article on various accessories for the SNES and Genesis, including cheat devices like the Pro Action Replay and Genesis. Not much to say about these, a lot of these devices have been covered previously in one form or another. It’s the end of the year after all so this is our “gift buying” issue, sort of.

Neo-Geo Coverage: SNK’s got their first serious attempt to answer the success of Street Fighter II with Art of Fighting, complete with it’s new ability to zoom the graphics in and out. However, we don’t have a review, just a preview, being that the game isn’t out yet.

Game Boy Coverage: Kirby has gotten his first game in Kirby’s Dreamland. It’s short at only 5 levels long, but it lays the groundwork of things to come, with a 5 for Graphics, 4.5 for Control & Fun Factor, and a 4 for Sound. There’s also a Flintstones game, which is basically a Mario/Adventure Island style platformer but with Fred Flinstone, and instead of riding Yoshi he rides Dino. The game gets a 2 for Sound, but otherwise is solid with 4s for Graphics & Control and a 4.5 for Fun Factor. There’s also Lazlo’s Leap, which is based on the Checkers variant of Tetris, and which gets a 2.5 for Sound (which is not surprising), a 3.5 for Graphics, a 4 for Control and a 3.5 for Fun Factor. There’s also a Ren & Stimpy licenced game which has mediochre Sound (though they give it a 3.5 for Sound Anyway.), a 3 for Control, a 4 for Graphics and another 3.5 for Fun Factor.

Game Gear Coverage: First up is Alien 3, which looks pretty dark, and looks really blurry. The game gets a 3.5 for Sound & Control and 4s for Graphics & Fun Factor though, so apparently they didn’t share my problems with the visuals.

Lynx Coverage: The Lynx has gotten Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop, which is a shooter where you play as a cop which is totally not based on a character from a popular series of Clint Eastwood movies. Oh, and if you believe that, I’m proud to tell you that you’ve won the lottery in Nigeria. Anyway, it gets a 5 for Graphics, a 4.5 for Sound, a 4 for Control, and a 3 for Fun Factor.

Short ProShots: Alright, the notable games being covered here include Flashback & Sunset Riders for the Genesis. The Duo has Samurai Ghost, and the Game Boy has Mega Man 3, and that’s pretty much it.

Game Busters: This issue we get the ending fight and cutscene for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time. We also get a strategy guide for Death Duel by Razorsoft, which apparently allows for dismemberments of your anthropomorphic cybernetic opponents, which is apparently bloodless enough to get past the NES censors, while still being controvercial enough to not pass muster in (according to their ad copy) portions of Eastern Europe. No word on Germany and Australia.

We then get an index of every game that was covered in the past year, both in terms of reviews, preview coverage, and when it appeared in the SWAT Pro column. So, I’m going to skip this, as it’s really long.

ProNews: The Street Fighter II: Champion Edition arcade machines are getting an upgrade to Turbo. Paramount & Spectrum Holobyte are working on Star Trek: The Next Generation VR machines for mall arcades. EA has bought out Origin Systems (and ultimately the internal political disagreements between EA brass and Richard Garriott will lead to Lord British’s departure from the company he helped found). Accolade is trying to get a focus group of kids in San Jose, CA to help provide feedback on Bubsy. The logic, I guess, is that the kids will be less cynical when plyed with Pizza than adults plied with sandwitches would be. Also, Nintendo’s approval team lead to some of the more extreme content being removed (such as catnip leaves that looked a lot like marajuana leaves).

That wraps up this recap of GamePro. Tomorrow I’ll finally have another in-depth wrestling DVD review, with a review of The Best of IWA Wrestling Vol. 2. I’ve also got a few relevant retro gaming links to point you towards. The 1up Network’s Retronauts podcast did a very good episode about the history of the TurboGrafx game console. I whole heartedly recommend giving that a listen. We also got a feature article on game franchises that in need of sequels which I also liked.