Category Archives: Game Review

Jack Attack 2 is for Kids and You

In the family titles realm, playing a game with your children often involves letting the child click around the screen while the adult supervises, offers advice, helps at sticky situations and generally acts as advisor. Jack Attack 2 takes a different approach. It offers a platform where the child and parent can actually play together. This achievement can not be understated. The child and parent, or any caring adult for that matter, are working together to achieve a goal in Jack Attack 2. Both are sitting at the keyboard – or both have game controllers in the case of a … Continue reading Jack Attack 2 is for Kids and You

The Bouncer Bounces Forward

Squaresoft and I have not had a peaceful relationship. The reason is two words: Final Fantasy. I’m always asked why I hate this series so much, and I explain every reason. Maybe it was because I find that being hit by random encounters every step is a complete pain. Or then again, maybe I hate having to sit through countless scenes of poorly animated FMV with mute, dorky-looking characters with hands bigger than their faces (we all know what THAT means, right Zidane?) Or more importantly, having to deal with a cumbersome command interface fast enough to avoid seeing 20 … Continue reading The Bouncer Bounces Forward

Insane Races Toward Classic Status

Every racing game has to have its own "niche" in order to declare its individual uniqueness and to let it take a run at the Gamer’s Hall of Fame. I mean let’s take a look back at some of the great ones. Ridge Racer for PlayStation brought us out of the era of two dimensional racing when it introduced its 3D escapade of race cars and cool environments. The Sega Saturn’s first "VRally" title set the pace for most "offroad" racers to come. Then came games like "Gran Turismo" claimed fame with its impressive "reflection images" and awesome replay. Other … Continue reading Insane Races Toward Classic Status

JA2:UB Zeroes In On a Kill

I have been waiting a long time to get back into the action of the Jagged Alliance world. I’ve been following this series since the beginning, having been attracted to the arsenal of real-world weapons and interesting character personalities. And some of these mercs have been on my team a long time, like when we liberated Metavira back in 1995. After solving the first Jagged Alliance, I was delighted to play the first sequel called Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games. This was basically a series of single player missions connected in only the loosest sense of the word. However, it added … Continue reading JA2:UB Zeroes In On a Kill

Kohan Holds its Own

The Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns beta preview disk, a real-time strategy game from Strategy First, was rather limited in its scope, but gave a good account of itself. In a nutshell, the game plays like a combination of Civ2 and Age of Kings. It is good enough to hold its own in a crowded RTS field. The full version of the game should be hitting the store shelves today, so lets look and see what we can expect based on our experience with the preview. This fantasy game is set in the fictitious land of Kohan, during a civil war of … Continue reading Kohan Holds its Own

MSR: Majestically Superb Racing

Metropolis Street Racer follows two trends in gaming. The first is that this is the latest in a dominant series of Dreamcast racers (Sega Rally 2, Sega GT, the Tokyo Xtreme Racer series, Ferrari F355 Challenge, Test Drive Le Mans, etc.) The second is that like many other great titles (Starcraft, Half Life DC, etc.) it is constantly delayed. What was supposed to be launched in the spring of 2000 just came out late January 2001. I had a taste of MSR at last year’s E3, and once again on a demo disc last November. Both were quite uneventful, as … Continue reading MSR: Majestically Superb Racing

Starship Troopers is Jackbooted Fun

Light-years from Earth, an enemy force is preparing to remove the human race from existence. They are amassing their troops and preparing for full-scale war. At the same time you and your platoon are joining thousands of other platoons onboard tremendous battleships, speeding towards the enemy’s home planet. Your weapons are state of the art. Your training has made you strong. Your numbers are overwhelming. But will you really be ready when your dropships touch down on the planet’s surface? Will you be ready to face the greatest enemy mankind has ever known? The bugs. Starship Troopers is a great … Continue reading Starship Troopers is Jackbooted Fun

Wizards & Warriors is Not Quite Wonderful

Is Wizards & Warriors the next Wizardry Game? Unfortunately not! An attempt was made here to upgrade the award winning Wizardry system, even using some of the same folk that were responsible for that series, but falls a bit short. Visually appealing, heck they almost all look good these days, the gameplay bogs down due to the interface choices made. Other reviews I have read state that the game overall is well worth playing and that the further you delve into it, the more it rewards you. Us hardcore D&D computer gamers put up with a lot to get our … Continue reading Wizards & Warriors is Not Quite Wonderful

Rewrite history with Waterloo: Napoleon's Last Bat

Do you enjoy rewriting history? I know I do! Are you familiar with a little Battle in Belgium called Waterloo? Have you been waiting for a decent computer portrayal of this pivotal campaign of Napoleon’s? Then perhaps your wait is over – Strategy First is going to be bringing us BreakAway Games’ rendition of this famous Napoleonic conflict for use on your PC! A couple of things to start off this preview: I was playing the Beta 4 version of the game (which means that it will only get better!) I am not impressed with lineage, designer’s names or use … Continue reading Rewrite history with Waterloo: Napoleon's Last Bat

Blue is an Artistic Dog

Blue’s Art Time Activities is the latest offering from Humongous Entertainment in conjunction with Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr. It features the popular characters from Blue’s Clues. The game is for children 3 to six-years-old and teaches the basic tenants of art while providing several areas for different types of creative play. The overall theme of the CD-ROM is that Blue is having a really big art show and the child needs to help various characters finish their pieces in time for the show. The child can, of course, create his/her own works for the show as well. Steve, Blue’s live human … Continue reading Blue is an Artistic Dog