A few months ago I wrote a review of Konami’s Nagano Winter Olympics 98. Still, I am haunted by the mundane graphics and just plain God-awful gameplay. Fortunately though, I tested out Sega’s answer, Winter Heat. For me, it did a good job at cleaning out the rotten aftertaste that Nagano put in my mouth. Winter Heat is the sequel to one of the Saturn’s better, and most underrated, sports games ever released: Decathlete. Decathlete was itself was Sega’s answer to Konami’s Track and Field way back in 1986. Winter Heat follows up to Decathlete’s character selection, offering eight different … Continue reading Winter Heat can help Saturn platform go out with a bang→
Force feedback was something I had always wanted in my computer game environment. I first thought I would get it with a Nintendo 64 Rumble Pak, but basically all that is, is a little vibrator which doesn’t accentuate each force independently. Lately, I was able to get my hands on Microsoft’s new Sidewinder Force Feedback Pro joystick, and let’s just say that from the pack-ins alone, I am hooked. It’s strange that a company that just got in the gaming business when they released Windows 95 has created a controller of such extraordinary abilities. A 16-bit 386SX microprocessor works in … Continue reading Microsoft Force Feedback Control is one cool shootin’ iron→
Now that the Winter Olympic games in Nagano, Japan are finally over, the NHL can resume again. That means that we will be hearing more and more about how great Dominic Hasek is, just because he led his Czech Republic team to Olympic gold. So far this season, we have seen the king of hockey simulators, EA Sports’ NHL 98, shine on the PC and on the PlayStation. Up until now, the Nintendo 64 had to make due with the sub-par Gretzky trilogy (Gretzky 3D, Gretzky 3D ’98, and Nagano Hockey 98), which basically is just the same game in … Continue reading NHL Breakaway ’98 scores for Nintendo 64 gamers→
I would like to know just what is wrong with Konami these days. I remember how it used to be about ten years ago, when their name was synonymous with quality. After all, who can forget their innovative NES series such as Contra, Castlevania, and Gradius. This tradition of greatness went on during the era of SNES and Genesis, with 16-bit releases of their classic series. That, like many other legacies, are destined to change. When Konami started creating games for the PlayStation, they suddenly obtained this new desire to make nothing but sports games. Sure there were some good … Continue reading Konami’s NBA In The Zone ’98 fouls out→
While the Nintendo 64 might be a good system for racing games and remakes of classic NES and Super NES games, fighting games seem to have been left behind. Those that are made, however, went from relatively average to just plain awful. While the Saturn had quality fighters like Virtua Fighter 2 and Dead or Alive, and the PlayStation had is superior Tekken lineup, the Nintendo 64 was left with worthless junk such as Mortal Kombat Trilogy and War Gods. It’s been a year and a half since the N64 was released, and there hasn’t been one great fighting game … Continue reading Fighters Destiny helps catch up N64 as a fight game platform→
Imagine guiding a newborn baby through a deadly maze of lava pits, toxic clouds and spinning laser turrets. You can’t actually touch the child, but he has the capacity to learn from his mistakes. Such is the fun and often highly frustrating world of Anark Software’s Galapagos. Players are charged with guiding a newly born metal bug named Mendel in his attempts to escape the evil workshop that created him. (The plot is a little thin but that’s not where this game’s strength is at.) When Mendel is born his mind is as blank as a political candidate on the … Continue reading Galapagos makes a new(born) splash in industry→
Westwood Studio’s Blade Runner is a real-time adventure that is to the game world today what the movie was for that industry 10 years ago: a sci-fi thrill ride that pushes industry standards to a new level. Westwood has done an excellent job recreating the dark urban world of Los Angeles in 2019 on four CDs. Players will feel like they are inside the movie. There are over 100 interactive areas of the city you can find and explore. And, the game looks perfect – even better than in the movie – without any hardware acceleration required. Realistic fog, fire, … Continue reading Blade Runner is a cut above normal adventure games→
Several months after the somewhat disappointing Mario Kart 64 was released, Rareware learns from Miyamoto’s mistakes and comes out with a Mario-esque racer that goes above and beyond any racer released on the Nintendo 64. Diddy Kong Racing, to the casual gamer, might look identical to Mario Kart 64, but in essence, it’s a whole new game. Sure, there is your typical racing, but it doesn’t end there. The game is one all-out adventure. The basic setting for the course is reminiscent of Mario 64, as vehicles travel over one main island which connects to several different sections, or "lobbies." … Continue reading Diddy Kong Racing Make Up for Mario Kart’s Shortcomings→
