This week’s Nintendo Power, issue #29 for October of 1991, finally has some better cover art – for Star Trek! Oh, and this is a good one too – they’re finally getting back up to speed. It’s original art too, not stock art from Paramount either. I can tell they’re using a model, but it still looks good anyway. It helps that they’re using the Constitution Class refit.

Letters: Our themed letters this issue are based around parents who hyjack their kids console, in that they’re gaming enough that the kids have to try (and fail) to chase them off the NES.

F-Zero Guide: We have notes on the games controls, and which tracks you’ll have to race on which circuits. We also have notes on the various vehicles and their pilots, including Captain Falcon.

Nester’s Adventures: This issue Nester is playing Star Wars, and the advice this issue is to jump over the bloody nusance bounty hunters in Mos Eisley.

Star Trek 25th Anniversary Guide: So, Star Trek is 25 years old, Star Trek VI is on it’s way to theaters, Next Gen is coming to an end, and the Dominion War Arc is going to start. Meanwhile, on consoles, we’re getting a new Star Trek Game, in the Adventure genre. It’s also guilty of having nesting fetch quests. Oh, and by having nesting fetch quests I mean there aren’t any non-fetch quests. I don’t even think you fight any enemy ships.

Roger Clemens MVP Baseball Guide: It’s a NES Baseball game. I’ve already told you in my EGM and GamePro recaps how unimpressed I am with those.

Metroid Guide: This isn’t Metroid II for the Game Boy, it isn’t Super Metroid, this is a new guide for the original. It even has notes on the power-ups, and most importantly, it has maps for Brimstar, Norfair, and the lairs for the bosses of Kraid and Ridley, along with Tourian, and the boss fight with Mother Brain – plus the escape.

Shatterhand Guide:We get power-up notes, some level maps, and some boss notes for about 3 levels. We don’t get coverage for the last boss fight though.

Game Boy Coverage: We start off with coverage of Castlevania II for the Game Boy, which while it apparently has some improvements over the first game, keeps the damn ropes. We also have a preview of Bart Simpson in Escape from Camp Deadly. Interplay also has Track Meet, and we’ve got a port of the NES version of Monopoply.

SNES Q & A: We get some answers to basic consumer questions about the SNES. Stuff like “Will the NES still be supported?” (reasonable) and “Can I hook both consoles up to one TV?” (not so reasonable), and “Will we get 16-bit remakes?” (pretty unreasonable).

SNES Coverage: We get a preview of Super Ghouls & Ghosts, which I think I may make my pick, just to see how later versions of Ghouls & Ghosts compare to the original (which I have played). There’s also Hal’s Hole in One Golf, and Super R-Type also known as R-Type 2 (which I’ve reviewed in the form of R-Types at Bureau42.com).

Now Playing: The Highlights of the also-rans include Captain America & The Avengers, which is actually making itself a canidate, along with a Wolverine game.

Top 30: I’m going to try something different and see if I can splice both pages of the scan togeather. To be absolutely honest, I like being able to post the pictures of the pages – not just because it’s easy (thought it kind of is), it’s also really fun to look at the top 30 as a whole, particularly since they have some of their own commentary, and – to be honest, there are some stylistic things from the early 90s and late 80s that I liked – we’re not yet in the mid-90s in the midst of Rob Liefeld attitude, so I’m reveling in this while I can – in case things change for the worse a few volumes down the road.

Celebrity Profile: This issue’s profile is of a real person this time, Joe Regalbuto, currently co-starring on Murphy Brown as Frank Fontana (a role he reprised on an episode of Family Guy, which is one hell of an obscure reference to drop). Is it just me, or with the exception of Wil Wheaton, has the careers of the most of the celebrities profiled here not lasted long afterwards?

Pak Watch: The upcoming titles of note here are Ultima V, G.I. Joe II which is from Capcom this time, and it’s borrowing from Bionic Commando, and there’s also UN Squadron.

Letter from the Staff: This issue it’s from Leslie Swan, one of the writers for Nintendo Power, writing about getting to meet Bill Elliot at Nintendo HQ.

Now, for my Quality Control pick. This issue my game of choice is going to be Super Ghouls & Ghosts. Yeah, I’m not good with hard games, but this time save states are on my side. At the very least, I want to get to a boss fight.

This week’s issue of EGM, #64 for November of 1994, is a doozy – 398 pages (including the cover), just short of 400 pages. We’ve also got one heck of a cover story, the 32X version of Doom. Now, due to the length of this issue, I may end up skipping a few games if they’re games that just don’t interest me. In particular, I’m going to skip the sports section entirely, and for the system specific coverage I’m going to skip games that were reviewed earlier in the issue (and possibly games that don’t interest me).

Editorial: Since this is, basically, the second-to-last issue of 1994, it’s time once again to speculate at where the video game industry is going, particularly considering that the game industry going to enter the 32 bit era soon.

Letters: We get a letter asking if we’ll get the Street Fighter II anime (yes, we will, thanks to Manga Video – which is still fortunately in business, though I don’t know if they have the rights). We also get a call to start a letter writing campaign to get Bandai to bring some of the DBZ games to the United states (particularly since DBZ is gaining popularity in the US now). We also have complaints about the “64-bit” era bringing the 16-bit era to an end too soon. We also get a giant letter applauding the Crew for speaking the truth about the (thus far) eternal string of SF2 games and telling Capcom to, in the writer’s words, “eat excrement and expire.” We also a letter bemoaning the lack of support for the Atari Jaguar.

Review Crew: The crew still is Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, Al Manual, and Sushi-X.

• Donkey Kong Country (Nintendo, SNES): This game impresses the hell out of Ed, who gives the game a 10. The rest of the crew gives the game 9s, and they find it spectacular, due to both excellent graphics and (in their opinion) control. Overall: The game gets 37/40 recieves the Editor’s Choice Platinum award and is Game of the Month.
• The Lion King (Virgin, SNES): Ed, Danyon, and Sushi give the game 8s, and Al gives it a 7, finding that the game ties in well with the plot of the movie, along with looking good and controlling well. However, Ed and Al had complaints about cheap hits in the game (with Ed specifically mentioning that some areas of the game require you to get hit to progress). Overall: 31/40.
• Shaq-Fu (EA, SNES): This is a fighting game/brawler featuring a certain successful basketball player. In general, the scores are middle of the road, with Ed giving the game a 6, Danyon and Al giving the game 5s, and Sushi giving the game a 4. However, the actual opinions on the game are a little more mixed. Ed, Al, and Sushi are wondering why this was made as a fighting game in the first place, while Danyon is a little more forgiving of the bizarre premise, though he still finds it very mediochre. Overall: 20/40.
• Pac-Man (Namco, SNES): It’s an adventure game featuring Pac-Man, instead of another maze game. That said, the crew finds it a solid transition, though some of the members of the crew feel it may be difficult for people to adjust to the new setup. Ed gives it an 8, Al, Sushi, and Danyon give the game 7s. Overall: 29/40.
• Boogerman (Interplay, Genesis): A gross-out platformer attempting to capitalize on the success of Earthworm Jim. The game gets 8s from Ed and Danyon as they find it a good solid platformer. Al and Sushi on the other hand gave the game 5s, finding it generic with the sole exception of the gross-out humor, which they weren’t too fond of. Overall: 26/40.
• Virtual Bart (Acclaim, Genesis): Another year, another Simpsons licenced game, and while Ed likes it and gives the game an 8, everyone else finds it very generic and mediochre (and with bad control), with Danyon giving it a 5, and Al and Sushi giving the game 4s. Overall: 21/40.
• Animaniacs (Konami, Genesis): An action/puzzle/platformer featuring the Warner Brothers and the Warner Sister. Danyon gives the game an 8 and the rest of the crew gives it 7s, finding it a solid licenced puzzle-action-platformer, much like Rabbit Rampage. Overall: 29/40.
• Mickey Mania (Sony Imagesoft, Sega CD): An new Mickey Mouse Action Platformer. The crew is very impressed with this one, with Ed giving it an 9 and Danyon and Sushi giving it 8s, as they find it superior to the cartridge version, and finding it an excellent reflection of the history of Mickey Mouse. Al gives it a 7, finding it only superior to the cartridge version only in terms of sound. Overall: 32/40, and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• King of Fighters ‘94 (SNK, Neo-Geo): Ed and Danyon give the game 9s, and Al and Sushi give the game 8s, with the main complaints being that you can’t fight outside of team mode, and some of the teams are unbalanced (I agree – though Team USA is considerably more unbalanced than the Ikari Warriors Team). Overall: 34/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• Burning Soldier (Panesonic, 3DO): Another FMV Action game, which kind of gets a mixed reaction. Ed isn’t too fond of FMV action games, but he likes this one enough to give it a 7 and to reccomend it as a “buy”. Al also gives it a 7. Danyon and Al give it 6s, finding it not too intense, but still fun. Overall: 26/40.
• Alien Vs. Predator (Atari, Jaguar): The Jaguar gets the first Alien Vs. Predator licenced shooter. Unfortunately the only member of the crew who likes it is Danyon, who gives it a 7. The rest of the crew gives it mediochre scores, due to cheap hits, a lack of a jump button, and rather odd complaints like the Alien leaving bodies lying around. Ed gives it a 6, and Al and Sushi give the game 5s. Overall: 23/40.
• Burn Cycle (Phillips, CD-I): A cyberpunk RPG. Ed and Danyon love it and give it 9s, with Danyon considering it a system-seller. Sushi gives it an 8, lauding the game’s story. Al isn’t so impressed, giving it a 6, finding the pacing too slow. Overall: 33/40 and it recieves the Editor’s Choice Gold Award.
• Sonic Triple Trouble (Sega, Game Gear): A collection of (sort of), the highlights of the Sonic series. Ed, Danyon, and Sushi give the game 7s, and Al gives it a 6, with the only complaints being that the game is essentially same-old-same-old. Overall: 27/40.

Gaming Gossip: Among the Q-Mann’s rumors this issue are a possible release for Mortal Kombat III for the Playstation when it comes out. There are rumors that Dracula X will come out for the Playstation, 32X, and SNES (not so much – though the Playstation does get Castlevania: Symphony of the Night). Oh, and Nintendo has bought Hasbro’s VR tech and is planning on using it as a new console this upcoming year. I presume that this will become the Virtual Boy, and will be the failure that destroys the once-prosperous career of Gunpei Yokoi.

Press Start: We’re starting off with a look at the Sonic & Knuckles add-on cart. EA also has a bat peripheral for home console systems, and apparently the saga of Data East vs. Capcom isn’t quite over yet. Capcom’s also working on an a Mega Man animated series which I watched as a kid and loved. I really should give it another watch to see how it holds up in hind-sight.

Arcade Action: Banpresto has a new Gundam fighting game with Gundam EX Revue. Sega has the tank simulator Desert Tank. Capcom has Super Saturday Night Slam Masters which is more of a traditional fighting game (unfortunately). Virtua Fighter 2 is also appearing in arcades.

International Outlook: Bandai has a G Gundam fighting game (no surprise). There’s also a Mobile Suit Gundam puzzle action game. Enix has Dragon Quest VI, which is finally due to get a US release for the Nintendo DS. Technos has a pair of fighting games set to come out for the Neo-Geo, one adapated from the Double Dragon series, and one off a new IP titled Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer. Banpresto has the mega-crossover shump The Great Battle IV. Myst is set to make its console debut on the Sega Saturn. There’s a Lupin III puzzle action game for the SNES, as well as a 3rd version of Super Tetris. We also get our first look at Ridge Racer and Battle Arena Toshinden.

One of the first US ads for "Snatcher"

We also get a little ad for the US release for Snatcher for the Sega CD. I’m still hoping that we’ll get a much belated release of Policenauts, and maybe even a re-release of Snatcher for those who don’t currently have a Sega CD.

Next Wave: We get a look at the Sega CD version of Samurai Shodown, and Rayman for the Jaguar.

Features: First up is a look at some of the new levels we’ll get in Sonic & Knuckles, as well as a look at Knuckles in Sonic 2 with the add on module. There’s also a preview of the anthropormorphic fighting game Brutal for the Genesis, Sega CD, and SNES. We also get part 2 of their multi-part feature they started in EGM^2 about the making of Mickey Mania. We also get looks at some of the titles from The European Consumer Technology Show, JAMMA (Japanese Amusement Machinery Manufacturers Association) and AMOA (Arcade Machine Operators of America) shows. We also get a big look at the 32X, including our look at the 32X version of Doom, along with Star Wars Arcade (which most of the readers of this know by a later version – Star Wars Trilogy Arcade). There’s also Virtua Racing, Cosmic Carnage, and the mecha action game Metalhead.

SNES Coverage: The first of the new titles we get a good look at this issue is Clayfighter 2: Judgement Clay. That title is groanworthy enough that I’d pass on the game even before seeing review scores. Anyway, there’s a Yogi Bear licenced platformer, which doesn’t have any continues or passwords (ugh), and a Looney Toons themed Mario-Paint style software package. There’s also the SNES version of Interplay’s Starfleet Academy, which also includes missions that weren’t in the PC version, such as missions based on various Star Trek films (like Star Trek II) and episodes (like Balance of Terror). Ocean has an Addams Family Values RPG, which gives me unpleasent reminders of Fester’s Quest. US Gold has an Incredible Hulk brawler that doesn’t look so hot. Viacom’s also got an Nick Guts licenced game, which looks interesting, particularly considering that I loved that show when I was a kid too. We also get a look at Clay Fighter Tournament Edition and Final Fight Guy which are remakes of their particular games which recieve rental only releases, with the former getting a tournament mode and the latter having Cody removed and replaced with Guy.

Genesis/Sega CD Coverage: We get more of a look at Ecco The Dolphin: The Tides of Time. There’s also Zero the Kamakaze Squirrel which looks rather bad. Fox Interactive has a game base of its Pagemaster animated movie. Time Warner has an very interesting Sci-Fi platformer in Generations Lost. Sega also has the FMV action game Masked Rider, which features a certain Tokusatsu hero (hint, “Kamen” is Japanese for mask… figured it out yet – fine, it’s Kamen Rider). Sega also has the shump Android Assault. There’s also a look at Lethal Enforcers II, and an in-depth preview of Stalker. There’s also a preview of the Sega CD version of Starblade by Namco.

Neo-Geo Coverage: Nothing here outside of stuff covered in the reviews.

3DO Coverage: We get a preview of Mad Dog McCree II. Other than that, not much of note.

CD-I Coverage: Nothing of note for the CD-I.

Game Boy Coverage: We get a look at the portable version of Contra: The Alien Wars.

Game Gear Coverage: We get a look at the portable port (ahem) of The Lion King, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Lifestyles: We have a series of artbooks for the Star Wars trilogy, including some of Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art. Unfortnately, these artbooks are out of print. We also have rumors of an second Jurassic Park movie coming out, as well as the impending start of the Age of Apocalypse Arc, which I remember reading some of when I was a kid, but I didn’t read all of the series. Meanwhile, in the DC Universe, Knightsfall and Knightsquest have come to an end, and Knightsend is starting, with Bruce Wayne finally returning as the Bat – where he’d stay (with a small hiatus) until Final Crisis. Also, Disney is starting off their darkest animated series, Gargoyles – which was one of their best animated series until they brought it to an end.

That wraps my EGM Recap. Tommorow I’ll continue my Nintendo Power Recaps. However, I’m stopping my GamePro Recaps as I’m starting a new job.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Premise:

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

The Bad & The Ugly:

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

The Verdict:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

Well, our Nintendo Power recaps have reached our first issue without Howard Phillips – issue #26, for July of 1991. our cover story is another movie licensed game, Robin Hood: Prince Of Theves. It’s basically an intigration of a still from the movie with some artwork they did, and while it’s not great, it’s better then the last couple issues art. I’ll cut ‘em some slack.

Letters: We get a couple letters of parents who got NESes and Game Boys from their kids, but more or toddlers playing (or trying to play) their parents NESs. We also get another letter about the invulnerability of the Game Boy. A soldier serving in Iraq had his Game Boy badly damaged in a fire, and he’d sent it in to see if he could get a replacement. They’d planned to send a new one out anyway but they tried the damaged Game Boy (which they show pictures of) to see if it worked. In short, it worked! I’m impressed!

The Game Boy still lives!

Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves Guide: Robin Hood: Prince Of Theves is out in theaters and, like Willow, it’s been adapted to an action-RPG. I’m going to stop giving the ratings, as at the moment they mean s little. We get maps and notes for the first few quests, as well as some of the power ups. I’m not seeing any information on side quests either, but this was kind of before the major prevalance of side quests.

Nester: That’s right, Nester is flying solo now, and this time he’s giving advice for “Hunt For Red October”.

Rockin’ Kats Strategy Guide: Atlus has a mascot-themed platformer (not based around Jack Frost, unfortunately) with a Saturday Morning Cartoon show theme. We don’t get detailed maps for all the levels, but we do get notes for some of the missions in the game, and strategies for the boss fights. That said, we do get maps for the levels on Stages 3 and 4.

The Little Mermaid Guide: Another Disney Movie, another Capcom game based on it. Being that this is The Little Mermaid, there’s probably going to be a lot of swimming involved (a mechanic that, frankly, most games don’t get very well). We get maps of the first 5 stages and strategies for the boss fights.

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure Guide: Well, we had an interview with one of the stars of the film in a previous issue, and now we have guide for the game based on the movie. We get some general notes 4 of the historical areas in the game, but not much more than that.

A glimpse of things to come

SNES Preview: We have some more information on the SNES and more upcoming games for the system, including Actraiser, Super Mario World and F-Zero. For good measure, we have a poster of screen shots for 29 upcoming games, just to whet one’s appetite.

Game Boy Coverage: We also have coverage of the Game Boy version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which looks to be a pretty straightforward port. There also is some coverage of various productivity applications for the Game Boy, including a now very out-of-date travel guide. There’s also Sneaky Snakes and a Navy SEALs licensed game. This one gets the most coverage. There’s also Altered Space, a puzzle platformer which also gets some extensive coverage. Konami also has Blades of Steel.

Now Playing: Of note in the also-rans this issue is High Speed Pinball from Williams, as well as Legends of the Diamond – a baseball game from Bandai. Hot-B has the shump Over Horizon, and there’s an art application called Videomation.

Counselor’s Corner: We get some questions about what items to dump in Deja Vu, and how to rig the money making game in Legend of Zelda (or, rather, saving your game when immediately after winning, and restarting if you lose). We also have information on how to find the princess in Faria.

Top 30: Another issue, another ranking to go through.

1. Super Mario Bros 3 (9,739 pts.) – Up 1 (13 issues)
2. TMNT 2 (9,036 pts.) – Down 1 (7 issues)
3. Final Fantasy (6,251 pts.) – Up 1 (8 issues)
4. Mega Man III (5,637 pts.) – Down 1 (7 issues)
5. Bart vs. The Space Mutants (5,563 pts.) – Up 1 (3 issues)
6. Startropics (4,545 pts.) – Down 1 (4 issues)
7. Dragon Warrior II (4,003 pts.) – Up 2 (7 issues)
8. Tetris (3,818 pts.) – Up 2 (12 issues)
9. Crystalis (3,229 pts.) – Down 2 (6 issues)
10. Dr. Mario (3,117 pts.) – Down 2 (6 issues)
11. Double Dragon III (2,572 pts.) – No Change (2 issues)
12. Legend of Zelda (2,520 pts.) – No Change (22 issues)
13. Super Mario Bros 2 (2,519 pts.) – Up 3 (20 issues)
14. Dragon Warrior (2,011 pts.) – Returning
15. Destiny of an Emperor (1,833 pts.) – Up 6 (7 issues)
16. Zelda II (1,801 pts.) – Up 6 (22 issues)
17. Ultima IV (1,785 pts.) – Down 3 (4 issues)
18. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1,562 pts.) – Up 3 (17 issues)
19. G. I. Joe (1,446 pts.) – Down 4 (2 issues)
20. NES Play Action Football (1,287 pts.) – Down 9 (12 issues)
21. Caveman Games (1,169 pts.) – New!
22. Wizardry (1,138 pts.) – Up 5 (3 issues)
23. Little Nemo (1,089 pts.) – Down 1 (2 issues)
24. WWF Wrestlemania (1,047 pts.) – Returning!
25. Maniac Mansion (1,027 pts.) – Down 6 (6 issues)
26. Super C (955 pts.) – Returning!
27. Battle of Olympus (932 pts.) – Returning!
28. Duck Tales (927 pts.) – Returning!

Celebrity Profile: This issue we have Marsha Warfield, who is currently on Night Court (which was a pretty funny sitcom, if I don’t say so myself). As for what she’s done since Night Court – she’s done a variety of guest starring appearances, but no major recurring roles, which is kind of unfortunate.

NES Achievers: Normally, I skip this column, but this issue we have someone on here who claims that they finished Dragonlance: Heroes of the Lance. You, sir, are a damn liar and a cheat! Or at least you used cheats, because that’s the only explanation for being able to beat that thrice damned game.

Pak Watch: This issue, the games of note include Lucasarts’ superhero game Defenders of Dynatron City, plus a variety of games from Konami, including a port of King’s Quest V, and a Star Trek game. There’s also Ninja Gaiden III from Tecmo.

Letter from Gail: This issue Gail Tilden, our other editor is taking up the pen to talk to us about running a magazine. This issue we’re talking about using the likenesses of celebs. Apparently for their Batman poster, Michael Keaton’s agent objected because it made him look fat, and Sony Imagesoft is having simialr problems over Hudson Hawk in their game looking too much like Bruce Willis? The frak? Anyway – that’s why Kevin Costner does not appear in the cover of this magazine, or in Arcadia Software’s game (which is just a re-skinning of their planned Robin Hood game to reflect the movie after they found out about it).

So, for my quality control pick – Just for a change, I’m going with one of the Also-Rans – Over Horizon from Hot-B. I’ve been previously judging to see if the featured games were actually good – now I’m going to turn things around a bit, to see if a game that wasn’t featured deserved notice.