Excusez-moi, what is zis? I 'ave just bin 'anded un fax urgente. It iz from zee master 'imself, and it sez I bear glad tidings from my water-fogged seabase. From this month I will award a brand spanking new cart for the best tip of the month. So get tipping Tip Stars! I must now hand you back to my cousin while I get down to some serious mop- ping up. Catch you next month. Send your own offerings to: I wept tears of shame an reading an anonymous feep for Sensible Soccer. When it's time to play, grab con- troller two and score a load of own goals I It's that simpJel".
I'm afraid it's the Bastille for you traitor! Ah yes, my cross-Channel friends, don't you ever say zat me and men cousin Paul, 'ow should I say it, fail to produce zee goodies 'Ere iz zee most extensive collection of teeps for lis rather excellent gome. To get zere do the fol- lowing: Select The World Tour. Choose any player, 3. And zere you 'ave it, two new options appear an zee main screen.
So shall we 'ave a look al zem, oui? Listed below are reams of questions all about assorted aspects of our mag. All we ask is for you to tick the relevant boxes, and send the completed form into us. It's a chance to say what you really like or dislike about the mag, so we can go about putting it right. So, get answering, and send your completed form to: Mole Female 2 How old are you? If you do, who is it with? Which Radio Station do you listen to? Which computer based TV programme do you watch or used to watch ond how do you rate it 10 excellent- 1 poor? Do you participate in Teletext computer games competitions?
Which of the following is you favourite type of music tick one only]? Which machine do you want to buy next? Which of the following fast food stores have you been to in the last 3 months, and which one do you think is the best? How many gomes do you Own? On average how many games do you buy? How many games do you get given as presents etc? Access to Over two per month H I How many videos do you rent per week on average? On average, how much money do you spend each month on games and games equipment?
None Over 20 How long hove you been playing computer and video games? In order of preference, which of the following ore the most impor- tant things that help you decide which gome to buy? Good Don't Never know heard 26, Where do you normally buy your games and games equipment? Saved for you by the newsagent? Or r delivered to you by the newsagent? How many other people apart from yourself will see your copy of Mean Machines Sega? How did you first find out about Mean Machines Sega? From a friend in a newsagent From a magazine advertisement H At an exhibition From a TV show From o radio ad From a leaflet in a hardware or software purchase Somewhere else, namely Would you ever buy a game without seeing a review in Mean Machines Sega?
How do you rote Mean Machines Sega as a games mag? What do you think of the different sections of Mean Machines Sega? Your address 37 What other magazines do you normally buy or see, or used to buy but don't any more - and how would you rate each of them out of 1 where 10 is brilliant and 1 is rubbish? Zen gel your teeth a round the Huge Tour zat a I tows you to embark on o full sea- son's world tour with up to eight individual plov- ers, each with their own password. To play the season, select zee num- ber of players and enter zer passwords. If no pass- word is entered, zen a new season starts.
You can cycle through the options at zee bottom of the screen to control your progress: If have to fulfil zee conditions of qll tournaments,, that means no Jeremy Botes playing in the Women's Final at the French Open! If you can't compete zen take a petit breather. I very much like your Rage music. All zose flashing lights and lumping speakers. Et voila, you will 'ear a chime.
For an added bonus, I ave zee instructions to play zee boss Shiva, brrrrr! All you do is defeat him and then hold B until you gel to zee next stage. Now die orribly and when you come to zee character selection, vous can choose 'im. Void, un level seled for this hairy mon- ster At the second title screen, press. Well here lz another level select, but zis time for Belle's Quest. Just think about it, we invented zee French Kiss- France: To gat to zee stage, go through zee first stage and collect every single diamond. A grand Merci to Robert Goodwin of Exeter for zat tres jolis tee p.
Yes zat's right, Draeula! If you want a level select for zee one with fongs, zen roll up as young Timothy Verrlnder from Brodford-on-Avon doe zee business. Was it all just a dream? I don remember much except I was some Frenc bloke, and something about an under sea summertime retreat. But not to worry Tip Stars, I'm back to good of me and looking forward to your top tips to win a cart. Yes we too in France r ave ad zee pleasure of meeting zee crazy Chihuahua and 'ii stupid fat cat. If you're having a few problemes with lis, Chris Biggar and Leo Kenny 'ave some codes: But make sure zat you keep A pressed at oil times to make it work.
Grmird Tarn Tim Hi tn H '. Lv, ply i ,. But fear not if you're having problems completing all of the levels of this thinking man's platform game, because the Tipsmeister of the universe, Paul Bufton, is here to guide you to eternal glory. There are a few tricky teasers just to get you in the swing for the: Ooohl Time for big springy mushies.
Bounce up on this, but beware. As soon as you reach the jo me level jump away, which results in him dropping the boulder that can veniently rebounds to flatten him. These two little critters are unaware that they can help out our heroes- All you have to do is lob Stix to bonce the blue one on the head, and so in true comedy style he gets a bump with Stix resting an top.
Take a leap and you're up to the top h that a Stix on your head or an yov just fcfj ta m me? Now you don't want to try walking over those spikes, so how are you going get across? The boulder knocks the zzz-ing alien on the nut. The only means of escape is to find and switch five levers dotted around the platforms. Teleporting is the only way to travel, so choose your level by standing; on the switch and throw Stix at the lever.
Kicking off from here, the first task is to get out of the cell. The aim is to hit the levers with the bulbs so thot you. Not to worry, by hitting this rock, the earth will tremble releasing essential debris to aid progress. Now this is blimmin' tough. Bubbo must guide him across the dreaded balloon machine and hit the button to release him Place Stix an the hole to the left, jump and Bubbo s sealed in a balloon. Walk to the far left of the platform and turn on the vacuum. Now head over to this tube and remove the cover using Stix. Find the steamroller, smack it on the bock, and stand cleor.
Return to the tube and wait until the roller has finished flattening the blue monster. Stand on the monster and when he pops bock into shape, he will project you up and into the vacu- um. Oh yes, I'm ofroid so. Hit a lever to the right, and pop-bang, a lit- tle red creature appears. Take a pap at the bar- rel with Stix to remove the lid. Then watch the little creature dive in and eat until he almost explodes.
Once stuffed, jump off his belly. Lead the bottle over to the monster, ond he will drink it dry. The milk makes him inflate, allowing Bubbo to use him as a trampo- line to the door on the above level. Shovttt Bubbo Itt thii estaped alien fitytho have hit prut or milk? A dozy red ball can be found by flicking this lever. To get to the next door switch thump him on the head and use him as a handy bunk-up in tricky places. He doesn't mind, honest Bvbba poStmfem hr tare in the community, After the bowling ball has tumbled from the wall, use Stix, in true Steve Davis style, as a handy snooker cue.
Take aim at the ledge, and pocket it on the lower platform. On the ower platform, poke the red ball towards the blue thing, and he'll eat him for you. Now, Drain the water, throw Stix at the pillar to busl it open, raise the water and swim lor your life. It's time to get wet. Luckily Stix doubles up as a snorkel.
No oat o crap furry school coot, something that assists sub-aq. Stix goes in the left- hand hole to drain the water, move Bubbo to the right and coll Stix. Make sure you quickly Stuff Stix into the wall to get up the other side. Hop into the pool and push the button 1o drain the water Finish off the washed up fish and the last one should be in range of Stix' 5 boomerang throw. Raise the water again and open the door fully. The key to this puzzle is the piece of log that fa Ms when you walk on the left side of the platform. Place Stix in the hole on the right, and jump down to use the button for the woter level.
Get onto the section of log that fell down and use it as a raft to that fabulous re -start point. Use this platform to jump to the left and crawl under tb hole on the left to ie spikes to plug the K3 , make the watertop up. Now over to the lop right-hand cor- ner where the burton will make the water completely drain. Bubbo can now descend without being spiked in the by the blow pipes rise drowning Bubbo, not to worry because when it hits high tide, coll Stix and take a leap off the bobbing ball to the high platform.
An encore for the log bit as you loosen the raft here. Insert Stix into the hole on the bottom right and travel left. Hit the button on the right to lower the water. Stand on the sphere and put Stix in the wall. It will be swallowed by the hole and end up on the opposite side of the level Another handy bunk up. It's do or die time. Keep your head together and beware of the lasers zapping around. At the end of the level it's time to do battle with the monster Robo-Slrx. While stunned they make a very helpful bunk up. When on the top left plat- form, push the button.
Skip to the right ledge and get the laser to blast the parcel onto the burton below. Now it's o mad dosh for that re-start point Of Bash this rusty old tin con to kick start htm and whisk you to the final conflict. Using the goad and wholesome Stix, Bubbo must thwack the baddie remote-controlled Robo-Siix. But this is up to you. Bnd it's fun- nier than usual as well. Entitled Streetlights r II, it wps o sequel to a mildly successful combat game of 1 , which featured an array of strange characters fighting one-on-one, whose repertoire of fighting tech- niques went beyond physical and into mystical attacks.
Only this basic principle survived into the sequel with a couple of the more intriguing characters. Every other aspect of the game wets expanded, improved and redesigned. Music, graphics, animation all received the treatment that had earned Capcom respect as an arcade manufacturer, But Streetfighter II had more. Games players around the globe appreciated its finer qualities.
Each of the original eight characters was a synergy of cool imoge and action. Their moves matched their personal- ities; even as personalities they complemented each other. It was possible, with sufficient effort, to become a master of the game, obliterating all comers, learning the intricacies of each combatant. In the light of its success, Capcom hove since worked on countless money-spinning updates without creating any- thing essentially new. The first was Streetfighter Champion Edition, which included the option of controlling the four bosses. Next was Turbo, o souped -up version of the Champion Edition thai Capcom released with the intention of curtailing the market in pirate Streetfighter machines.
Finally, Super Streetfighter, the most comprehensive update of all, with four all- new characters and locations, digital Q -sound, re-vamped graphics and ani- mations. This is the work that comes before you now. However, once the competi- tion begins, her erased memories begin to return, revealing a hor- rible secret! The height she achieves in jumps makes her particularly effective in mid -air. Cammy is suited to fast, light attacks One weakness is her spe- cials, which generally leave her quite vulnerable.
He firmly believes he's destined for fame in some shape or form. Dee Jay's bouts take place against a magnificent indigo sun- set, as musicians entertain tourists, locals and dancers. His kick moves are very powerful and are easy to string into combinations. His main obvious drawback is lack of speed. Dee Jay powers up his trembling fist while standing still. It's mostly a defensive tactic, but has the advantage of lasting for some time.
Very stylish combination kick attack that requires a mastery of balance It's mid-range and needs timing, but takes a major energy premium. Both leg-based, and ground launched The shoulder toss and backflip toss are equally effective, if not overiy exciting to witness. Mo makes rash assumptions and is easily brought fa tears. Like every other young oriental, Fei Long dreamed of stardom in martial arts movies, following the careers of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, and as such it led him to devote every waking moment to the pursuit of Kung Fu.
But Fei Long's innate seriousness taught him to place honour, discipline and perfection in his art before cheap glamour and acclaim. Still, he couldn't resist the prospect of proving himself against the best in the World Warrior Tournament. The figures of mystical beasts encircle the simple arena.
By repeating the action, three can be linked together seamlessly. Fei Long surprises many oppo- nents with the speed and strength of his throwing. Also, the savagery of his hair throw transcends the conventions of even streerfighting. For the most port, this is to extend their range and prowess, but it was felt that same characters were too powerful in the original game.
Indian spirit abides in T. Hawk, who has entered the World Warrior Tournament in an eff arl to reclaim his tribal homeland. The area was snatched by M. Despite hfs frightening size, his gentle spirit arises out of a communion with nature, a deep sense of morality and a warm heart. Hawk has moved to a Mexican village, and fights his bouts in the midst of the village market.
Entertainers, market sellers and supporters look on. A cumbersome wrestler, he's suited to close-range ground combat, where his throws and holds work best. Good all round powers; strength, liming and agility. Hawk turns a nor- mal jump into a swooping dive Enough to knock any opponent of their feet and one of his quickest moves. His powerful calves are used l to launch him at his oppo- nents.
Hawk would rather hold onto his foes and smash their faces or choke them, but he has one high-tossing throw, Trained with Ryu in Japan in the same disci- plines but left for the USA to fight more challenging opposi- tion. The previous SCE edition proved thai a competent and faithful Megadrive conversion was possible, and this update is every bit as good, ond in my opinion even better. However, the improve- ment, beyond the new characters and spruced-up graphics, isn't so great as to recommend buying Super SFII in addition to the SCE edition.
As combat products go, though, it's almost flawless. Evan though the other comhotanis hove risen to bis level. Guile still has an enviable arsenal of moves. Perhaps the most athletic figure in the game. Bison is the character to pick. His Itidt boxing styie is as ugly os he is, bul very effective. Sadly, nothing has been done to enhance his skills in 'Super'. Using a six- button joy-pad allows all of those to be accessed, but a conventional A, B ond C pod switches between upper and lower via the Start button, mak- ing the newer pads a worthwhile invent men I.
Highly delined ond smoothly animated sprites. Iheweakeil area of Hie whole pat li age. Surely not the lamp durability with ail the tlltti- lar games on the market. The Streetfighter II story has pro- pressed to its linal chapter. Now lor something new Since the fall of the Republic, a bond of dissenters has defied the advance of the Empire across the galaxy.
With this weapon of ter- ror, it would seem that the days of rebel resis- tance are numbered. The Death Star already threatens one of its outposts, Alderaan. Whilst the Empire concentrates on con- structing the Death Star, the Republican strongholds across the galaxy are training eager young pilots for a variety of combat tasks. Secret bases on Tatooine, Hath, Kolaador and Yavin are the training grounds for squadrons who will harass Imperial con- voys and Star Destroyers, repel landing parties and support the rebel fleet. But with the Death Star near completion, the parties are moving into a decisive end-game.
However, all is not lost. By good fortune, and the martyrdom of countless rebel agents, the blueprints for the Death Star have fallen into the lap of Princess leia, Republican Commander. Analysts Have quickly noticed a minor vulnerability in the main reactor, linked to the battle station's exhaust ducting. If just one of those rookie pilots was good enough to exploit this tiny weakness, the Death Star could be destroyed and the course of the war turned about.
It fol- lows the course of a career from the training stage, to designated missions, and even those dramatic moments when things don't go according to plan. Most, but not all of the stages are viewed from the cockpit of one of the Republic's fabulous space-craft, the X- wing, A-wing or Snow speeder.
Some of the locations of the stages will be very familiar to Star Wors devotees. They will explain the purpose ond instructions for each mission, designed to develop your positioning skills, reflexes and shooting accuracy. BOMBING Your shoot- ing accuracy is assessed by your per- formance on this over- head shoot- ing section, Line up the moving and static ground targets with your sights, while avoid- ing high ground- fcetfmnhffte A.
This section plays much like the FMV section Canyon, with much narrower gaps and faster speeds, Complete Kola a dor ond you are a fully- commissioned pilot. Ifffflfffffj Your first duty is to lead on X- wing attack on an Imperial Star Destroyer, a massive fleet ves- sel positioned above Talooine. This daunting task means pick- ing off the ship's defences before attacking the heovily- ormoured globe turrets of the bridge of the PC game, ond was also f expected to bridge the gap between presentation and payabili- ty.
But what a debut! Sure, there are downsides: It should also be said that the game is on the most pan point and shoot. But this is all ence. You will find yourself pumped full of adrenalin as you go for another attempt on an Imperial Walker. If you are a fan of the original trilogy of films I strongly suggest you don't miss out on an absolute treat. Your role is to assist the evacuation by halting the advance of the monstrous Imperial walkers, elephantine metal beasts. Only by shooting every armoured panel of the vehicle is the wolker stopped fffffffffffffffffi Familiar ground to those who completed train- ing, a thicker more demand- ing asteroid belt with the added pressure of audacious TIE fighter pilots chasing you.
Flying around the FMV landscape, take out as much kit — AT-ATs and ground artillery — as you can before the order to pull out is given. The base section follows the rookie through a series of cham- bers, taking out storm troopers and selecting pathways. Some beautifully rendered graphics show you pounding through the base.
Much like the Other canyons, but with some torturous bends and racks of targets, tfTnk. MM SEGA 69 Vj The expe- rience of PC game- players and Sega owners is totally dif- ferent, so it's inter- esting to see how a game that performs so well on computer format does on a console. In terms of quality, Lucas Arts have made an excellent conver- sion.
The rendered images are rather grainy, and the canyon sequences are slightly jerky, but still look remarkable on the aver- age-sized TV. Having TIEs screaming out ihe screen at you makes it all Ihe more impressive, Where graphics score highly, sound excels. The atmosphere created by the original music and authentic FX lift Rebel Assault into the realms of an experience rather than merely a game. But although the 15 levels cover a lot of game materi- al, the first difficulty level is dismayingly easy to sail through. An average game- splayer will be tackling the Death Star on his first evening of play.
That really brings down the longevity of a game with an incredi- ble atmosphere and some great play variety. Once again, it's a case of show- case over hard case. As it looms neorer, moments of drama threaten to abort the mission. It is vital you pro- tect your wingmen at this time.
SpeOorulor flfcw- pginti and ton Ant- ing rendered imoges. Alter your elevation with up and down on the joy pad CANNON A massive cannon is positioned at the end of the trench you need to fly down. It must be taken out in two stages. The first stage involves removing the shield panels that Hank its circular base This gives you access for stage two, where the relays that power the weapon ore vulner- able to attack below the surface, THE TRENCH The trench is heav- ily defended by fixed emplace- ments and Darth Vader's personal guard.
The second section of the trench features shield walls which con annihilate an X-wing on contact. At the end of all this is the tiny port, vulnerable to just one manually aimed proton tor- pedo,. Some sections are too short. It'i just o pity that the fun doesn't go on ond on. IL ensures compliance with the nriM in the strict Code of Advertising Practice, So when you question an advertiser, they have tu answer to us. Department X, Hmnk Mouse. B the console in question. The Games EkcherKje muil reserve me nght lo refuse certain axohangH, when ai eta opinion the exchange to unfair We also rssBrvs Ihe right Id cancel menttefsmp.
P0agng belOre mehlng leleohane enquiries about gamea m in Ptaeae anctosa SA. Take me bock, lo a place where I once belonged. A kingdom colled Grans, a happy place where we could laugh and sing our songs. For as long as anyone could remember, a tower stood ot the heart of Granseal, the city. This Ancient Tower was sealed, but no one knew why or what lay behind. It was to this tower thai a precocious young thieving rat, called Jippo, stole one night with two light-fingered associates. His opal eyes were filled with a vision of jewels he might find in the ancient place.
Cast mlo the masonry was a Jewel of tight. He set to pris ing it from ihe structure.
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As he did, o terri- ble rumbling shook the edifice, and dark foreboding crossed the three scav- engers' minds. Meanwhile, in ihe nearby Royal Palace, the King was receiving bad omens of his own. An awesome storm raged, and through the gloom, he could perceive o mes- senger serving a darker purpose, a spirit sent to strike him down. The spirit's manipulator hod a more nefarious project then attack- ing a monarch. Even the entire destruction of Grans was not the full extent of his plans. Learn more of the second Shining Force and realise why ihe people of Grans were exiled to another land, far from Granseal.
As sequels go, this is in the Friday the 13th category — you wonder if you haven't stepped into the first movie by mistake. State is every- thing lo the programmers: Otherwise the game mechanics, look and atmosphere are identical. This should please, not disappoint, those who already have Shining Force.
It was a very special game, and those who bought it should be ready for another fix. It is slightly depressing to see no great innovation on a game that's nearly three years old, but the Shining Force saga is one of the best ever uses of the Megadrive. When characters near enemy units they come within range the exact proximity is determined by the weapon type.
In your role as 'General' you determine whether to attack. Battles are won when all units are defeated. Attacks come in several forms. As a rule, the further into the game, the more powerful the attacks you will receive. Hopefully, your HP level will advance enough to handle this. Unit uses a hand- held, close -range weapon [sword, club, axe, etc. Lots of high-powered weapons later in the game make this the most damaging attack form. Longer range than me fee, but compensated for by less attack power and greater chance of J fumble' ie.
These have o long range, and at higher levels take in more than one target. Magical attacks are less effective against magical creatures, and have a limited number of uses in each battle, POISON Certain gruesome creatures may attack with poisoned means. Creatures like Peter Phoenix use mystical energy sources.
This also cavers animals like bats. These physieol attacks cannot be damaged' in the way weapons can, but they don't increase so much in offen- sive value. It is so chock full of mon- sters, puzzles, and charac- ter interaction, that it would keep even the most ode pi RPG fan glued to their Megadrive for ages. The plot, central 1o any RPG, is so engrossing that makes you want to gel just a little bit further before saving.
Full text of "ACE Issues Oct April "
The characters are beauti- fully varied in ability, mak- ing the battles heart- thumpingly strategic. However, on a slight down- side, the control during the Overhead view tends to overcompensate, and this can lead to a lot of disem- barking and re-embarking when navigating the rivers. Whether you're an RPG novice or pro, this is one to make you shine. When the required XP for a level is reached, the character's stars are readjusted up. Shopping There's a strong fiscal element to the game, with every small settlement having places to spend money. You can be rea- sonably sure of finding a Weapon and Supply shop wherever you stop.
Weapons shops sell the following item types - o , When a charac- ter joins, his powers and prowess are yours 1o control in the battle sequences. Also, tables of information on his statistics, items and weopons become avail able. There are some characters you can't help but meet, Peter Phoenix for example, but many more who are only found by luck and exploration. They normally have fantastic abilities. A Wcappoj shops seit implements to boost your offensive capability. This is Ihe semivd JUlem game for the Woiler lytleiii.
II est Franco is, il est merdc ot il n'est pas omusant , in other words, he's French, he's crap and he's not funny. However, last year's Master System offer- ing af our behorned hero was obviously successful enough to warrant another bash. This all-new, totally original adventure Has the quirky Viking trekking around the weird and wonderful landscape of Gaul and an assortment of Roman -infested land- scapes on a quest to rescue his chum Getofix who hos been captured by those nasty nasty Romans.
Irs familiar stuff, bul let the platform ing begin, mes petit qhiens Master System — unusually quite chal- lenging with lets to do and see and many more levels than the usual fare within the genre. C aversely, though, Obelix is often loo tubby to fit into some of the narrow entrances which Asterix can crawl info. Here's a run down of what's cook in': Provides the guys with magical powers including the ability to float, bomb, create platforms ond don o shield. There's nothing like a bit of Gallic fun to brighten up your day, and this is cer- tainly the case with Asterix and his mate Obelix.
This game is plain good fun. The sprites ore colourful and detailed and skip along joyfully to the cheery musk. That said, though, the game is Incredibly pre- dictable and is too easy at times. Quite simply there aren't enough baddies to bash and the linearity of finding all the right items in order can be infuriating. The control system also takes ages to get used to, resulting in some untimely and frustrating deaths. Although lacking in plat- form originality, the end-of- level bosses ore nicely designed and offer chal- lenge in what is a pretty sound, Nothing spicy, just solid gaming nutrition.
Hoi ant you're going 10 whip through too ealilf M you'll eel a lor bil of play for rCMir doth. An exlremely playable and fun pi a former which should pre- sent a reasonable challenge i not any surprises. He had been standing at Ihe place where the X-men had suggested they rendezvous over an hour. Those paranoia feelings began to creep in — maybe the X-men don't vjo me in their gang after Maybe they're em bam walking down ihe street wi man in a red and blue Spondex jumpsuit with ing balaclava.
Quick as a flash, Spidey realises that he hosirl stood up. His arachnid powers encom- pass web projectiles, web swinging, wall climb- ing and that sixth sense which is handy for locat- ing nearby objects and people. I remem- ber play- ing this on the Super NE5 ages ago and coming away feel- ing a little non- plussed. For a mare powerful machine. Arcade's Revenge is just another glossy platf or mer easily lost in Ihe pile of similar games. For the Game gear, howev- er. Arcade's Revenge suc- ceeds perfectly. The five characters and their differ- ing abilities allow for more variety within the game- play, and the levels are dif- ferent enough to warront further inspection.
In terms of graphics, things often get a little muddled at times but, on the whole, this is one of the better Game Gear releases I have seen. His first stage is mandatory before you reach the others, and it's a straightforward hunt for the beacons in order. He gets his name from the supply of playing cards he carries Tis ammunition. Reach the sec- ond pari, and it's a five- r finger shuffle to scale the level of the Black Queen — a formida- ble adversary. The key is to raise the water level by break- ing the valve seals. As she pro grosses, Arcade's defensive measures come into play follow the yellow ibridt trail, fallow the yellow Wolverine has amazing powers of rejuvenation.
Wolverine's claws can pene- trate same of the flimsier walls. Each has to pass through two stages of the lair, before the climax with their nemesis. It's more plot- form fod- der, but classy at the same time. The graphics are sim- pler than the Megadrive's but manage to convey the atmosphere well enough, and the characters repre- sent their comic counter- parts adequately. What makes this a good game is the variety within the stages, the stiff challenge and the wide range of con- trols. Success also requires some strategic planning.
The only annoyance comes with the mandatory first stage with every new game. Cyclops has the amazing ability to project a 'concus- sive beam' from his eyes let's just call it a ruby laser , which is focused by his fetch- ing rose-tinted visor. Trains come regularly, helping clopsy collect the crystal power-ups, but so do the enemies.
You share four Ih between the characters, ar, you can allocate these as you see fit. The stages may be ployed in any order. The Game four doein'l has the righl rtmei 01 II. A loughie ond a good 1 1? Jurtlp HI fop cl Mm and tramp hard You know how it is. Sitting on a tropical isle. You' re soaking up the rays. Taking in some of the otmasphere. Al last Ihe chance to catch up on some of that flower arranging you've been promising to do lor Ihe post few months.
When out of Ihe blue a bunch of cartoon animals decide to hove a big fight, make lots of noise, and hurt each other, a lot. The Dali Llama - bearing more than a passing resemblance 1o his name sake, apart from the spitting-has spent the last four years drawing out the invitations for the greatest cartoon martial arts caper this side of Papua New Guinea.
One by one the invited guests make an entrance, enticed by either the prize money or the chance to settle an. Final glory rests not only in the competitor's fighting skills, but in a willing- ness to learn new powers from the Dali himself, Bui Ihe question on everybody's ftps is does Brutal have the bottle lo take on the beat em up prizefighters this autumn?
Thumping intra, toads of animation sequences, and cool in-game music. This really had potential to be a great beat 'em up on ihe Mega- CD- But in the heart of every good game must be gameplay. Brutal is com- pletely devoid of this con- cept. Too few characters and special moves alt paint to the distinct lack of varia- tion. The character sprites k average and lack fluid nimation, tending to remain static unless forced to walk. What's more the game is a way too easy, and with no difficulty set- ting, this proves to be another downfall- This is a beat 'em up lor the younger gamer with not too many expectations.
Each character has to earn a move by defeating two opponents. Then it's off to the Dali's classroom where you are shown how to perform the move. But it's not quite that easy. Noses stretch, tummies wob- ble, all manner of animated frolics. Brutal tries to cloak its abysmal gameplay with a voluminous presen- tation of options and ani- mation screens. All these will be looked at once then ignored.
It's the atrocity masquerading as a game that will linger longest. The character animation is sup- posedly 'wonderful' — I beg to differ. The backgrounds lookups if I hey were drawn by a two-year old with learning difficulties, the response to controls is snail-like and the moves themselves are more banal than 'Morning with Anne and Nick'. Here you will find in game music performed by the cast of characters, a demo of ths prototype version, and even some of the new characters for the planned Brutal II sequel.
Good rhontpi accompanied by up beai muf ic. The lighting FX don' olwvyf coin- cide: Plus the action Is 1 delayed by nt least JL a second between pad and screen. VFM hoi loo badly priced with oil the eclrn bits in the Fun Ream, compared lo other tombat games. As such, FIFA was never likely to be left our in the cold, and here we have it the long-owoited silvery disc version of what some consider to be the greatest footballing console game.
The camera sweeps into Wembley Stodium on a collision course with the motn scoreboard. Just before the imminent explo- sion, the screen bursts into life with the greatest footbolling moments in o high octane cocktail of fast edits and thumping music, all in glori- ous FMV There's no disguising I'm one of FIFA's greatest fans, and as such I was quite impressed with this CD version.
The superb gameplay of the original is still there and tweaked to moke it even more playable and the opposition are harder to beat now, but I was a tad disappointed that the extra ploy modes are hidden away — presumably r so FIFA themselves didn't get annoyed. Still, CD fans baying for a decent soccer game should snap this up, enjoy the stunning FMV bits and get ready for the footy game of a lifetime.
Ma details of the hidden stuff in Tips in the near future. What did it for -, though, was the sound. The crowd icled instantaneously to an incident on rne field. But these are severely minor niggles and this is a blimmin' excellent game. If you have a Mega CD and didn't buy the original go out and buy it now! Modern Chess developed out pf ancient board games from In do -Europe, some of which hod been played before Christ was bom. Probobly as a result of the Crusades, Chess became a fashionable pastime of the Mediaeval nobility. Since then, the game played on the 64 square chequerboord with 32 military characters has been unfloggmgly popular, helped along by personalities like Kasparov, Fischer, Barbro Dickson and Elaine Paige from the popular hi musical.
Chess is chess, and whatev- er you may think, everyone prefers to play it on the simple board without ani- mations for the sake of speed and clarity. The 3D perspective is really badly thought out ond impossible to decipher, the battle scenes corny enough to be served as Shredded Wheat. At heart the computer plays a workable, if uninspiring game of chess, if you really care to know. It was quite o laugh — until you had seen every combi- nation of moves, that is.
This very same problem afflicts Star Wars Chess. The use of Star Wars heroes as pieces is novel enough, and the assorted animations are both funny and well animated. At the end of the day, though, the humour is very short- lived, leaving nothing but a fancy-looking but no frills chess game. Granted, it's the ployability that counts at the end of the day, but chess is chess and that makes the licence rather pointless really,.. Andre Virtua wannabe, that it mak. Once again, it's a terminal case of all options and no game-play.
Three different racing styles, more like three equally drab and ugly excuses for steering a sadly drawn main sprite around a course. Steer well clear of Ihis oil slick on the track of race Brrrm, brrrm! Oops, you caught me mid race of the Office Chair Watch out for that hairpin bend past Oi's a Claire's desk. Hey, my formula 12, turbo- charged, height-odju stable chair is losing power We'd bet' ter be pit-stop bound to take a look at the latest from Electronic Arts, Mono Andrerli Racing. Billed as o racing game built on realism, with three dif- ferent types of car, Andretti Racing is looking for pole posi- tion on the starting grid as the race begins.
You too can follow in his footsteps by racing in his three favourite styles, Indy, Stock, and Sprint Each style has five tracks, and varied driving skills are essential. From me million dollar hi -tec of the Indv to the dirt si id nig of the Sprint, the fuel efficiency is high octane. Oh, except, don't buy it. It was just like a voice 'Why? Su Pollard — why? All these ques- tions that you, readers never bother to ask.
We do we put up with some of the dregs that pass themselves off as games reviewers, when their reviews read like Janet and John books alon with that funny spelling: Jungal book 12 2 eesy but i grate fun; ninetay 2 per sent. And then the answer came to me, like a calming soothin back rub: R 3ALL Send money as well. Nonetheless, I sholl pro- ceed. Why has Sonic 3 only got 6 levels? This would be fine if there were three acts in each, like Sonic 1 , but, no, only two acts — when Sonic 2 hod eleven levels!
Why Deor Yob, I have o few complaints to make about Sonic 3 shock, horror Trouble is, I can't help but think es in the fvel select ore not in the game itself Are ese more lev- Or ore they just " tunes thot you record onto a f tape? Mind you it's hell having a surname like mine, damn now you will make fun of my surname! Sfuorf Jee, WooJhaniptoa Berks. Yes, Sonic 3 has lets lev- els, but they are considerably bigger than those of his past adventures. As for the extra tunes, that's because not everything the coders plan goes into the final game. See, not an insult to be see, you sinus-sucking pet-worrier.
Dear Yob This is your Mother here. Will you be home for dinner? I've cooked your favourite, sousoges and Alphabites, ond for offers i've mode some Angel Delight. I hope you ore feeling well I've mode your bed and Teddy can't wait for you to come home. Today I bought you a Captain Scoriet lumper to keep the chill from your chest when winter comes around. Why don't you work for something nice like the Beano or Dandy?
Oh, and while I remember, why did you wet the bed last night and not tell me? Ah Mother, thanks for the letter, I'm pleased to say that your pills have arrived, and I've managed to get you into that nice old peoples' home at Cromwell Road. I've put wheels en your zimmer to help you cross the busy motorway more easily, and I enclose a firework to stick into your cracksy for a little extra boost. Now sod off and pop your clogs you old crone, so I can spend the inheritance I found on top of the wardrobe.
Dear King Yob I gm engrossed in Yobland. I love your vain and egotistical replies which gracefully take the rip out of perfectly cuts ond innocent 1st. Thanks to Steveit leete w for rfrj's offering. And I love those very appro- priate titles you give to the letters like 'Chocolate Factory' and Almond Slice'. They make me really laugh. I was wondering if there is o Yob Club that I could join, I wish people wouldn't keep writing against you when they fully know you're the best thing since cabinets with wheels.
I gather thai you don't get much fan-mail, so I'm hoping to start a trend here. I love your spiky blonde hair and your shiny Esther Rantzen teeth. In fact I'm getting mine done like yours. Oh, I could go on forever, but I won't. I hope you insult me so that I con feed my masochistic tendencies.
Yes, you can join the Yoblartd Club. Just send all your money and possessions to the editorial address and within twenty-eight years you be a lu I ly -fledged member of C. As for gel- ting your teeth done like mine: I hear that the rest of the Yasin family wen I out to get a newspaper Don't you think two years has been a long time just for a copy of the Mirror? This sad, neurotic woman fails 1o see that she doesn't have to buy or even read the maga- zine, therefore avoiding your 'foul-mouthed insults'. I would like to say that people like myself do find the yohbed one funny and my house is full of laughter, chuckling, and guffawing when I perceive these excellent pages.
So perhaps Mrs Neurosis should have thought before she wrote such o load of rubbish. Pleose don't take any notice of people whose numbers of brain cells don't even reoch double figures. After all, there's SO much for them to worry about: With all those little worries, I'm surprised they have time to read the mag. Oops, I've accidentally engaged sexist mode Dear Yob Would you please tell me if my Mega drive gome are crap because my friend who is a prof, says they ore rub- bish, These are my games: Stifl under development, it already looks as if Kellyn pro- nounced Kellen and EA are on to a winner, Centurion is a multi-level strategy scenario with some very attractive battle sequences.
Your role is as an officer in the Roman army and your objective is to spread the i imperial influence as far across Europe as possrble. Qb ecrives include recruiting Cleopatra yup, There's a richer seclusion scene scrnewhere in ncre , keeping the natives happy, and, of course, waging suc- cessful military campaigns. Central to the game is the Defender of me Crown- style map display, showing the various territories avail- able for conquest.
Unlike DOC, however, there's far more lo do when you enter into a campaign. According to the m a nufa c - turns: Observing how patients were put on this Pill plan rapidly tost huge amounts of weight, doctors studied what they called a fat evaporalion' effect on users. Jbre Going into battle In Ctnhirion, The semi-circle of dots indicates your General's sphere of i njluent: Outside that, units- are not undrr your direct cotttrpl.
The lines indicate troop movements under present orders. Conflict takes place on land and sea and is also far more complex in execution than DOC. One nice touch is that com- mands issued by your general are not effective out- side his sphere of influence - no radio contact in those days - and lines of attack are shown on screen for battle analysis and tactical planning.
Both naval and land battles are shown in overhead view. In addition, there are several sub-games within Centurion. One of the most attractive is the chariot race, held as part of the games which, in an effort to keep the natives occupied and therefore happy , you have the option to organise. There's also a gladiator event for beat-em-up fans.
Centurion should be available in the UK, on PC first, within the next two months price to be announced. Watch out for the full ACE review as soon as its finished. With seven period scenarios, as well as a full construction set. Why does the mere mention of ils name send shudders dimn your spine? Surviving it is an achievement, solving it is the most challenging part uf all. Once you've stepped through the gates, there's no going bach. It all started with spellcheckers. Right now, FTL are scratching their heads wondering where to go after Chaos, which in itself went one step beyond Dungeon Master.
We've toyed with the idea of doing a beginners' ver- sion of the game - a sort of Dungeon Master Junior. We've also considered producing a Super Expert con- struction kit. As Wayne points out, 'Even though we used some of the original Dungeon Master code for Chaos, we were really pushing the limits. In putting together new pro- jects, its not the coding that causes the problems, it's getting everything to work together.
We're work- ing towards a point where the story is scripted entirely by the player," says Wayne. We take you to the start- ing point, and from then on it's up to you. If s confused a lot of players because when they confer with each other they discover that they've reached entirely differ- ent situations, 'One of the problems with the Dungeon Master system ancf its later development e. But we keep trying The Towns version of Dungeon Master is pretty similar to all the others, with one big exception, the music. Once that CD starts spinning, the atmosphere of the game is hugely enhanced by CD-quality stereo sound.
I would like to think that ultimately all the entertainment technologies will merge into one. And when they do, FTL will be ready. Until all brt users have been given the chance to share the DM experience, we'll have to wait for DMtil. We're going to stick to the first person adventure. Like Dun- geon Master, it'll mean you're there, you're in control. Right now, Dan's working on a Mac version of Oids thai looks set to be the bast conversion yet. He's attempted to use as many of the Mac's familiar user interface toots as possible - espe- cially in the Okls.
Jpr's development is done in. Waster Cre- ation utility fscc Tht: WT etc are obviously more powerful - but they cost FtOU upwards. Huss Baelhauf - Wayne Holder. Up on the Mtra Mesa, we took a time capsule right back to the beginning of the Dungeon Master devel- opment Here's how one of today's most popular games evolved - from the very beginning to its recent conversion to the PC and FM Towns.
It ail started with Wayne Holder's desire to pro- duce a game in which players could experience, as nearly as possible, an individual journey. Later on development was transferred to Macs. We had to set up a system that would serve as a foundation for later games. Using this utility, a game designer can almost instantly create a DM dungeon complete with all wall, floor, and ceiling features, monsters, and traps.
The actuat scenario was developed through group discussions within the company and Wayne's wife who is a professional writer Jater put together the prologue to the game. But in many ways, FTL concentrated on keeping the story as loose as possible. In America you can dial up a local The Dungeon Master creation utility. Using this, you can knock together a spat of tunnel torture In a Jew minutes.
The program is mennfmouse driven and wry fast, providing the programmer with comprehensive features and abject.? But the random nature of the Dun- geon Master system has caused a few hiccups, 'People leave a message saying they're stuck m such and such a place, and are haying a certain experience, and others dial in and say there's no such thing!. Your perception of things on the floor, for example, was seriously degraded using a mono screen. Thieves will be prosecuted. After the dry r parched streets of LA and 'Cisco, Marin is a paradise of rolling hills and green grass, with narrow country lanes twisting past small ranches that house some of the best horse- breeding facilities on the West Coast - and some of trie richest, most genteel Americans you're likely to meet.
Life here is- laid-back and luxurious. During, the day, businessmen roar off down the driveway to spend the working hours in San Francisco; come the evening, they slip into their 'hot tubs' heated jacuzzis and let the pressurised jets bubble the water around them, easing away the tensions of the office, while they make a mental note to call their stockbrokers first thing in the morning. Skywalker Into this refined locality plunged George Lucas.
Skywalker Ranch is fantasy come true. In the begin rung was a script, detailing the life history of a fictitious Marm family. According to the story, this fami- ly settled upon the land purchased by Lucas and built a beautiful colonial mansion. When the system finally emerges, they'll have some very strong advantages over diner companies. One ot the big prob- lems with CD development is generating all the data to leed those giga-byle hungry disks.
No probtem there for Lucasfilm. They'll have access to all the property rights and creativity oi the lucasfilm empire, not to mention the thousands of feet of film from the cutting room floors and extensive sound libraries. To do justice to ihe budgets concerned, the user base is going lo have to be very, very big, The money involved in any sort of film footage is enormous. It's unlikely that any of these games will be significantly different an CD- ROM than in their floppy disk originals, but Loom is bound to do something special on the music side.
Once upon a time, George Lucas, the man behind Starwars and a string of other movie blockbusters, checked his bank account and noted that it was struggling under the burden of an enormous credit balance. He there- fore decided to lighten its load - and at the same time create a paradise on earth, a paradise in which numerous creative people would be protected from the rigours of the outside world. There they would be encour- aged by high er-t ha n-a ve rage salaries to pursue excellence in the arts of computer game design, film produc- tion, and other worthy pastimes.
Product description
ACE entered this Maniac Mansion of cre- ativity: Rednw known lo everyone as l A-J' reckons well happen wilhin the next two years. Our ultimate objective is to allow the player to script Ihe movie himself, by finding his own natural alternatives within Ihe plot. Into this incredible historical environment every window is composed of hand-finished panes and mosaics, every painting a contemporary original the 20th century subtly pokes its technological head. In the recesses of the mansion there is a small seat cinema, with wide leather seats and a ceiling con- structed entirely out of polished oak casks.
There are offices housing besurted marketing executives, fax machines, computers. Our destination was the stable building, home of the Lucasfilms programming team If they'd come out four years ago, they'd have been hot, hut now they're behind the times. Brian joined Lucaslilm because, he says, 'I saw they had a lot of potential. They don't rely entirely on games and they've got lots of multi-media resources.
He works In C and assembler, using the latter far graphics routines. The secret is never Hie maths, of course, it's to make it last. I must have waded through at least 30 books on the subject, of which my favourite was probably First and Last by Adolf Galland, the German ace. The biggest difficulty is always the artificial intelligence side. I don't just want the player to have good opponents, want him to have a variety ol opponents also. In fact, I think sound is generally very underrated in games and is destined to become much more important. Thafs one of the things about CD development - the main thing about it is that it gives you great sound.
The central concept is a graphic adventure creation language that is particularly notable for its control over a central animated character. Once the game design has been storyboarded end scripted, the programmer can code the game using a simple text processor. This source code file is then com- piled into a compact, tokenised form that is interpreted during run time.
It's also extremely compact: To do all this, the SCUMM module as a whole actually comprises of an interpreter, a compil- er, an animaton package, and various utilities. In all, there are ten programs in the suite, but it's very easy to use. It's by far the hardest game I've ever done. I believe it raises the stakes for everyone. The problem is that those stereotypes are useful if you want to avoid having to provide lots of background detail. One thing's for certain: KorctiiS Rjnfif h which brwolvtd driving across a fractal land- scape and EfdoiofK Which allowed 1 you lo go inside one.
Fi-actsluis seems a likely sce- nario end although the company fflhim'l giving much away [he Nile of Return to Fraclaius isn'l out of the queslkMi. You'd be surprised how many people out there think they're descended from Darth Vader and should destroy all Lucasfilm employees on sight. Check out these exclusive ACE security-conscious pics Jruiae Che stables home of the.
I nf-nftfUm pro- grurnn-iiny team. And this is just one of the out- buildings. One of the stained ottutx uiiiitlomx: Their latest game, it Came From tne Desert even fea- tures live actors on the CD version see elsewhere in this article and the company have also done pioneering work with interactive video tape technology see Video- master box.
But in fact ifs the audio that's the key. Take someone talk- ing, for example, the into- nation in their voice is what really gives the words meaning. Reading text is nothing - but you can say 1 hate you" in so many differ- ent ways and even make it sound like 'I love you'- Or, to take another example, imagine watching a scary movie without music.
The music tells you so much about what's going on; without it r it's just not scary at all - and when it comes to our games I want people to really back off from the screerif Dave has had a long involvement with the enter- tainment industry. He started with a laser disk project at MIT and co-designed Ballblazer. But it was such a programmer's medium in those days that as a director I got totally frustrated, I went to Atari and worked on com ops for a while, but then I saw Defender of the Crown. It had all the movie attributes and approaches that I had been trying to get George Lucas interested in back in Mexican Eduardo Valdez is reported to have shot his best friend - for fart- ing.
Valdez claimed year old Hector 8a rr era had eaten two quarts ot spicy beans. He stank up the whole apartment, 1 Valdez said, and still kept cutting loose. One of the advantages is that when you're on your own you don't design beyond your own technical abilities, but in a team you're always being pushed: Even at this stage the design, although in a form ultimate! The position, the timing, the animation remain essentially the same.
We do Cinemaware's Defender of the Crown was one of the first programs to convincingly demonstrate the powers of bit technology. At their offices in Los Ange- les, they're now pushing the bound- aries of entertain- mem technology even further.. At their offices, we were able! The biggest challenge was to put together a whole interac- tive movie based on existing footage. All this had to be cut together to produce the final ver- sion, which consists of a single video track and two audio tracks.
And the audio was even more tricky There's a whole sec- ond generation ot voice-over actors doing the work. We had to over-dub every single sequence - just doing Ludwig's voice took us over five days. The com- puter graphic puzzles are over- laid against the cartoon back- ground and the user has cursor control to manipulate the graph- ic objects r shoot at ghosts, or whatever. The trouble with the Video- master system,' explains Dave Riordan, 'was that it was sold as a toy. It got lost on the shelves amongst the racing cars and the dells.
The AT system gives the player a cursor to manipulate the computer graphics and interact with, the game. Here ymi're trying to rearrange puzzle blocks in the window an the Hjjht to put Donald hack on the road again , Daoe Todd: This not only speeds up development, leaving more time to refme the game designs, but the programs them- selves have become more compact and faster in exe- cution as a result.
BOLT, for example, ties all the data for a game together into a single file structure, compressing the data. As a result, loading times are enormously reduced - one section of code in Lords of The Rising Sun took seven minutes to load into the Amiga in the original version. After being BGLT'ed it took six sec- onds.
This development is even more important when you remember how much data there is in a typical Cin- ernaware product that 'dies so heavily on lu res colour graphics and sampled sound. Finally, like many other American companies, Cine- maware now target much of their development at the new cobur VGA PC systems rather than the Amiga. They use several different animation tools, and when the project is com- pleted the graphics are ported over from the PC onto the Amiga, rather than the other way round h as used to happen.
Combine this striving for the best result on the best systems with the startling experimental work you can see elsewhere on these pages, and you can see why Cinemaware are - despite occasional criti- cisms about the payability factor - still very much at the forefront of games technology. If we ever get a real computer movie, this is where it's going to come from. Nate the Philips CD-I tin. Scenes involving live action are shot against a green background that. The production involves 22 actors, recruited in the traditional way using casting agencies - not difficult when your office is close to Hollywood!
These people don't want to shoot bugs - that's boys' stuff, F says Dave. Not only that, but in future we have the possibility of using big name actors. Now they're watching out closely to see what happens with computer games. We may gel big names very soon for games; there are some particularly interesting possibili- ties for sports games which we're looking into.
The games designer lays out the Jlam of the game using a flowchart approach. Finally, the Masterplan slack is simply exported to on Amiga, To make design changes, you simply alter the Masterplan file and re-export ft. A new storyboard utility under development, which will enable designers to 'cut and paste 1 scenario elements.
Youllfind so much to learn and do with this onc. To help you we've included a snippet from each one's ACE review, 5 All we want from you are he names of the five games. S Stick a first or second class stamp on the postcard. And now it's entered the 9Q's. Tha curve is divided ulto Six sections. Thai means its probaWy a good game to show off to 1He neighbours - after all. Tie minute hour, and toy r. Alternatively, the graphics may pu1 you ofl for a while until the gameplay starts lo qr.
But can anything be as good as the orig- inal K. Find out on page This gives us more space to tell you exactly what it's like to unwrap your game, lead It up, and play it - giving you those essential snippets of inform alirtii and reaction that determine whether or net this is a game you have to buy.
The curve is accompanied by a com- ment to explain why it's the shape it is. Find out more m the Pic Curve Power panet on this page,,, Each review also carries special Version Boxes' that ffie you details of the game's implementation on a specific machine. This rating evaluates the risk of mental effort - which some people actually enjoy. Note that ACE readers are generally reckoned to be more intelli- gent than other human beings, so the ratings may be lower than you expect To get a really high rating a game will not only have to be very addictive but stand the test of time as well.
BOO ft superb game, but perhaps lacking the long-term depth to last into the month and year cat- egories. Under Nothing has ever achieved this appalling level of rating. If anything ever does, it wouldn't even be worth hav- ing it for free. Steve Cooke, one ol the original editors of this award-winning magazine, is known to thousands through nis many other previous identities, including Zzapsl's White Wizard, The Pilgrim and Old BaWy.
When he's not borrowing money and 'popping off to the States' Steve is often found playing Lrrfana V and other narrative computer games. Rik s reviews are renowned for being hard-hit- ting and often outspoken. Eugene Lacey is one of Britain s most experienced games journalists. We've checked them out thoroughly - now you can too. A rotating 3D display of your ship shows areas p of damage useful after heavy battle. Mankind has a problem - there are too many people. There is, however, a slight complication - before you can create a planet to colonise you require a star for it to orbit.
This requirement might not seem too diffi- cult to arrange - after all, the universe has a countless number of stars, doesn't it? Here in deep space they a re fiat-, hat near massive bod- ies theu distort greatly. Incidentally, the star- field will only be seen on 1 meg machines! You end up with a lot of singularities, a lot of happy extra- terrestrials, but no suns, and no more Homo Sapiens. Not, I'm sure you will agree, a particu- larly joyful state of affairs. Unfortunately, this is exactly what has hap- pened m Gravjjy. The Duties as they have become known are slowly but surely turning the galaxy's suns into black holes.
The only way to deal with these horrible ETs is to wipe out their fleet and turn the singularity in their home sys- tem into a sun, while at the same time creating and colonising newty explored systems. Of course, while you are attempting to do this, the Outies are trying to turn the sun in your home system into a huge great black hole, so you haven't got time to hang about.
Ironically, mankind also has a use for black holes, They are means of quick transport between distant parts of the galaxy. By setting a destination and plunging into a singularity, craft can be made to emerge at another singularity in the target system. So while it is imperative to prevent too many singularities from being formed by the Outies, one or two of them dot- ted strategically about. To perform your task you have sixteen UN Scoutcraft.
The menus and v-arous screens are aH quite nicety presented, i 9 knta slow. Defi- nitely a value fur morty tuy. The nice thing about this game is that your interest is not likely to drop significantly because their are to many skills [e. OK, here goes As you probably know, Newton purportedly discov- ered gravity when an apple conveniently fell an his head, As ml as being struck by Ihe apple, old Isaac was also struck by an idea - that being, that bodies in space attiact each other. The si;e of that force ol attraction, he concluded, was proportional to the mass, density, and velocity of each of the bodies involved.
As simplistic as they seem, New- ton's theorems provided the basis for Einstein's inow slightly wobbly] General and Special theories ol Relativity. We are all very well aware of the three spatial dimensions after all we exrst in them. Now imag- ne time as being a fourth dimension which, for simplicity's sake can be tacked onto the other three to form, as it were, a fourth plane lYou'N real- ly have to use your imagination here.
Suppose that we can form a spongy sopercube that is, a four dimensional cube. This supercube represents space and time. Now suppose we lake a weighty ball bearing which represents any body existing in time and space and drop It onto the supercube. At the oomt in Munich the ball bear- ing comes to land, the cube, because it is flexible, will become distorted. Now suppose that we drop a smaller baU bear ing onto the supercube.
Providing that it lands far enough away from the larger ball bearing, it will form it's own indentation and come to rest there. This is edacity what happens with time and space. The normally linear lines of force which we ol course know as the force of gravity become distorted by the presence of a body.
The more massive, denser, and faster that body is, the more the lines of force are distorted, forming a sort of four-dimensional well around the body. When two bodies pass within each others wells, they become attracted to each other. Now imagine a body so dense that it stretches the space-time fabric infinitely i. This creates a distortion of such a degree that even photons cannot escape it's pull. This theoretical manifestation is what is popularly known as a Black Hole. Programming the drones is done by a series of. Gravity is that you can set the ratio of orders grven directly by HQ to the orders given manual- ly by yourself.
This effectively means being able to swing the game from requiring almost total arcade type skills to total strategic skills or whatever combination of the two you require. The game is controlled from an attractive looking front panel, from which you access the various functions of the game with the mouse.
Since most aspects are controlled via menus it doesi't take tco org to get jsed to the way the game works, although learning about everything A GOOOLEY FELLOW Perhaps it was inevitable that programmer, Ross Goodley would end up tinkering with micros, since his passion for both machines and games inspired him to 'borrow' an access code to one of the computer terminals at University even though he was actually reading German and Lin- guistics , and spent many hours at the keyboard.
After graduating, Ross was introduced to the relatively new personal micros when a friend bought a ZX Even on such a limited machine the flair Ross had for programming soon became apparent. He managed to achieve a version of Space Invaders in lK r amongst other things. After applying to a newspaper advert he joined Alligata as a programmer. Here his fruitful career began in earnest. His past successes have included more Biagger conversions than he cares to remember, Challenge of the Gobots on the CPC, and Meltdown which was something of a pre-cursor to Gravity.
When Ross is not juggling with op codes he is doing much the same with balls and similar ttiingies, or alternatively playing some mean guitar Gravity, so Ross tells us, came about from a layman's interest in physics. The 'rubber sheet' idea of the universe has. Mow mat Gravity has appeared Ross plans to further exploit the fascinating universe that the game is set in. The next game, which is called Drop Soldier at the moment will be a planet based game dealing with small unit combat. If Gravity is anything to go by it should certainly be a game to look forward too. Entering a block hole.
The most unusual thing about Gravity is the central display which shows your craft in space, Here space. These become distorted abound planets -r d. Obviously if your ship falls into one of these distorted areas you will have to fight against the gravihe pull to escape.
This means that you are constantly hav- ing to adjust the attitude of your craft to coun- teract the effects of gravity, but it is possible, with a bit of careful manoeuvring, to maintain a reasonably stable orbit around a planet or sun. As you succeed ir missions you accumulate more credit which can be used to upgrade the weaponry and drives on your craft, and pur- chase more tools to allow you to terraform dead planets for instance, Your opening strate- gy should then be to complete as many mis- sions as possible to build up equipment to allow for more long term planning.
Gravity is one of the most unusual games I've seen over the past year. In scope it is abso- lutely vast with the ability to program drones, for instance, adding to the possibilities. Undoubtedly the game will not appeal to difr hard shoot-anyth ing-that-move s addicts, but for anybody who likes an involved game which exer- cises the old grey matter, it's a must! Once you start to play you may find ttis game a little limiting until you become accustomed to some of the more difficult aspects like spell- casting.
Because of this variable aspect you are likely to keep coming back to- this one lor some time. There's only so much you can do On the graph- ics Front for a strategy game and Palace seem to have done. There are several animated sequences vrfiich spice it up a bit, awl the stat- ic screens are equafy attractive. The timer In the corner is not to urraftQC hard or soft bailed, but counts down ttji? The answer is to devise a system which, rather PALACE than presenting the player with a set menu of choices at each stage of the game f allows him to continually alter the parameters that effect play in some way - in other words, experiment.
Palace have managed to do just that in Dragon's Breath. The basic idea behind the game is to find the three parts of a Talisman that allows entry to the throne room of the Great Castle on Dwarf Mountain at the centre of the land of Anrea phew! The reason that this talis- man is so important to you is that within the throne room lies the secret of immortality. Not a bad prize, eh?
There are three characters competing for eternal life: Each can be controlled by the computer or a human player. This means that you can view a demo game by making the computer control all three. Initially there are all the sort of options you expect in strategy type games: Each player begins with one dragon but may breed more. You require at least three to win the game, since you must use one dragon to guard each piece of talisman as it is found, The dragon's have three run tasks; conquering local towns and villages for taxes, attacking enemy dragons and strongholds, and searching for and guarding the pieces of the talisman.
Obviously in the later stages of the game you will want to do all three of these tasks concur- rently, so it helps to have as many dragons as possible. Breeding dragons is achieved by heating eggs from your stock. The hotter an egg is kept, the quicker it will hatch, but slow cooked eggs tend to produce stronger dragons.
So if you are desper- ate for more of the creatures you can produce them swiftly, but at the cost of having a less effective force. The major part of the game, and the most interest- ing, is spellcasting. Unlike a lot of other games involving Spells, you are -nil simply: Instead you have to produce them yourself. This is done by mixing a number of elements in different ways to pro- duce the final potion.
This means, of course, that you will have to do a lot of experimenting to gradually build up your own recipe book of spells. The spells can be directed at almost any- thing m the game from towns to dragons, and obviously they can have either harmful or good effects. The nice thing about Dragon's Breath is that it is not essential to master spellcasting in order to enjoy the game.
You can begin playing without spells and then start to use them as soon as you feel confident enough with the basic game. Dragon's Breath is probably the most accomplished strategy game I've seen for some time, and combined as it is with attractive graphics and an atmospheric soundtrack, should please most people who enjoy a more cerebral type of game than the standard fare. The ability to concoct your own magic brews provides endless possibilities and should keep you playing, even after you've managed to achieve the game's objective. The Job - this Is where alt your spelts are con- cocted, far better, or foe worse!
We didn't take his word for it, but several hours of intensive play proved that he cer- tainly wasn't joking. The game is set in the medieval land of Ashtalarea, a very wild place in which adventure is to be found anywhere and everywhere. There are no less than twenty-four quests to be undertaken in the game although if yoj wish you may ignore any or all of them, and simply enjoy exploring the land.
Before you can begin playing you must generate some charac- ters, choosing from the thirty-nine possible classes. Up to six can be in play at any one time, selected from those you have stored on your character disk. It is also possible to save your characters during play by staying the night at an appropriate inn. This way you won't loose any gained possessions and experience points when you next play. Movement is achieved by steering a cursor either around the town or city you are in, or alternatively through the wilderness.
When it is necessary to interact with a character you are presented with a dialogue screen and a strip Of icons which allow you to engage in conversa- tion, buy and sell supplies and equipment, and so on. Each of the NPC characters has a dis- tinctive personality, and encounters can some- times be quite humorous the medieval joke shop assistant being a fine exam- ple. Where the detail in Knights of Legend is really apparent is in the combat and spe Hosting systems. Because combat is not handled in real time as in Dungeon Master , b Jt ir rre'cc rounds, H ere is t rne to consider all the strategic ele- ments of each battle, rather than just madly hacking away at things.
At the beginning of each round every surviving member of the part is allocated their offensive and defensive tactics for that round. Once this is done, the whole round is played through and any damage assessed. The beauty of this system is that you only need to reset tac- tics when you require them to change. They will, intelli- gently, repeatedly attack limbs that have already been damaged, and there are no less than forty different algorithms to decirJe when and how an enemy retreats. Similar attention to detail can be seen in the magic system which is superficially similar to the element construction used in Dungeon Master.
It is possible to create your own spells by com- bining various elements of the Elven language - so, as in real life, experimentation can pay off. When you add details like an art package for redesigning character icons and shields, the ability to name your own weapons and spells,, individual damage status for limbs, and accu- rately modelled fatigue, then it is not easy to see that Knights of Legend offers game players a whole lot more than any similar game.
The first module for the game will be, believe it or not, a science fiction scenario! Knights ol I egend has impressed us. You can view your party fin this case just a sin- gle character , and check their kit. Evan when you have done that you wHI want soma time to become accustomed to the way the same works and things like combat and magic. Then you can begin to explore and take on quests in earnest, and I suspect it nil be at this, point that people will begin to burn the midnight oil Because there Is so much to do In Knights of Legend it is certainly not a game you are going to complete in a hurry, and even when you do, there's the planned modules to look, forward to.
The graphics, are ck. Fnrlunalely the controls are a little less sensrtw than those on the ST mak- ing mis version a lot more playable. Graphics are much the same as those on the Amiga, but the sound is. If you are prepared to persevere then there might be same more fun to be had from this game, but I suspect that most people will simply be put off hy the unforgiving level of difficulty at the beginning of the game.
I have more than a sneaky impression that Fifth Gcd 1 I all', r: The game has you taking part in an illegal race in which the only rule is that there are no rules. You must get from the start line to the turning point and back to the line again within a set amount of time.
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But the route is far from easy. Initially your car is equipped with a simple slow-firing machine gun, but you can stop off at service points to buy extra weaponry and add- ons. The weaponry, should your imagination not be up to it, is for blowing away other vehi- cles that happen to get in your way, as well as removing tricky static obstacles. The money you need to pay for such luxu- ries is awarded for every kill you make and for the time you survive.
You already have 10, dollars when you start the game which is enough to buy you a couple of goodies, but it is generally best to save some cash to pay for refuelling and repairs. This is especially neces- sary since the other cars have a nasty habit of firing back, occasionally with pretty good accu- racy.
The game utilises a birds eye view of the course with a status panel beneath this. The graphics are pretty enough and the vertical scrolling is quite smooth.. The real problem comes when you begin to attempt manoeuvring the car. It is so sensitive that even players with the lightest touch will find themselves running into walls and obstacles a little too frequently for comfort. I am all in favour of a challenging game but the difficulty of Fifth Gear is set at such a level as to make learning the game more of a chore than a pleasure, Naturally it becomes much eas- ier when you know what is round each corner, but crashes are still too frequent an occurrence nevertheless.
The problem is compounded by the requirement for some very tight and careful steering at certain parts of the game. Having said all that, if you are prepared to persevere with the controls you will no doubt in time man- aged to overcome this difficulty. But be pre- pared to run the first part of the course several times if you want to achieve this. It is a shame that this aspect of Fifth Gear is so tricky because it mars two otherwise good bit conversions.
Still, if you enjoy driving games and are looking for a particularly hairy challenge then Fifth Gear might be worth a look. Normandy, Ardennes, and North Africa. Each of the campaigns is split into several missions, all of which must be undertaken suc- cessfully by your squadron which comprises four Shermans and two jeeps.
You are given the option of playing each of the campaign mis- sion separately, which is obviously easier, and therefore a good choice for beginning players. One thing that becomes immediately appar- ent with this simulation is the possibility for determining yourself the ratio of strategy to arcade type play. It is not only very easy to switch your control between any of the four tanks, but also a simple matter to flip between manual control and 'automatic pilot. Admittedly this facility is also available in Conqueror, but here it has been particularly well implemented.
Orders are given via the radio and in con- junction with the map, which shows the loca- tions of enemy and allied vehicles, bunkers and emplacements, and all the other normal carto- graphic features. Tanks under automatic control will do their best to follow your orders but may be side- tracked, if they come under attack for instance.
At all times the individual vehicles and your HQ report back to you via a scrolling message window at the bottom of the screen. This as very useful when you are in the map mode for warn- ing you of ambush as well as new directives. As well as all the essential bits and pieces, the game also boasts a few gimicky features, Yoj can select between interior view which is best for shelling because its the only mode in which you get sights and an exterior view.
While the exterior view is called up yoj can switch between four different viewing angles. There is also a telescope mode, in which you can only see a small section of the forward view, but each object that comes into sight is identified. Sherman M4 is certainly a very attractive game, and all the bits are in the right places which will please hardened sim fans. The mis- sions are a little too easy to begin with, but you can alter the parameters for both allied and enemy forces to even up the stakes a bit. My only criticism of the game is that it is almost totally lacking in atmosphere. The game does not manage to conjour up any sense of really being there.
It is this factor alone that stops me from unreservedly recommending this game. The backgrounds are distinctive n each campaign, and supertty e-MOcatwe uf each location. The ortfy problem is ihe complete lack of atmosphere, flcrt helped art ad by the usual dty- py PC sound. As with the PC version, twwrtr'. This means that you can ger f. The frozen wastes - as you can see this game outcates a lot of similar product aren't those pengies sweet? You Know the sort ol thing - sprites that look like they've just walked out of the sickliest Hanna Barbara cartoon you car think of, and sound effects to match.
Now Logotron have upped the stakes with the release of Kid Gtvves, which is so cute it ormgs tears to your eyes, The idea behind this one is that, being tired of listening to his uncle Indiana Stallone sounds familiar rattling on about his adventures, young Kid that's you matey wanders off into uncle Indys study where he finds a pair of old red leather boxing gloves. Trying them on tie finds himself magically transported to a primeval for- est. And then the fun begins. Kid Gloves is a fairly trad 'ion al platform game.
Your aim is to get from the left to the right side of each screen by jumping from one platform to another. Unlike some recent similar releases. Kid Gloves does not scroll, but flips from one screen to another. This system actual- ly does not really detract from the game, but adds to the challenge because sometimes you will have to double back to an earlier screen to solve a later one. There are five levels to complete including Somewhere in the Frozen Wastes with extra- cute penguins.
Each level consists of ten screens. Once you reach the right hand side of the tenth screen the gloves will transport you to the next level. Like all good platform games there are a number of alternative weapons to use against the bad guys, You begin with the death coins LOGOTRON double the stakes in the super-cute jump-V -collect platform market Technophobia strikes In the industrial Revolution stage - how do they make glum so colourful.
Kki Gloves imroedvately makes an impact on ttie audio-tfsuaf front. A very weh presented ar-t! What can 1 say? Other weapons to be had are Flames, Deathstar, and Megalaser. These can be obtained in the occasional shops again some- thing to be found in most good platform cuties. What is a little more unusual are the spells that are available to you.
Unfortu- nately you can never predict which spell will be used or how effective it will be, so they are obvi- ously intended as something of a last resort. Unlike many similar games, Kid Gloves involves a lot more than timing your jumps cor- rectly and doing away with various nasties. There are particular ways to solve each screen and maximise your gains which in this case are fruit for points, and cash for shopping. Some events, like disappearing walls and extra mon- sters are controlled by time-outs so if you hang around for long enough on a screen this can have either beneficial or detrimental effects, depending on the stage.
You will also have to collect keys en route to get you past certain obstacles. Even if you have the keys, a lot of careful thinking is required. A very useful feature if you do foul up a screen is 'back in time'. This allows you to go back three screens and re-run them a far better option than having to replay the whole game.
Player Manager offers a wealth ol manage- ment options m an easy to implement, icon-driv- en play system. You start by picking your team. A squad of thirteen players have to be chosen to take part in a full league and cup programme. There are many weighty managerial deci- sions to be made. You can study the form of all the players in the list, check out their transfer fee ashing price, and even improve on their per- formance by selecting appropriate training.
To limit the length of championship cam- paigns the divisions have been restricted to five u r six o1 the mos: Right liberties have beer taken here. Take Divi- sion Three, for example.. One of the teams pre- sent is called "Bristol". Surely it would have been better to opt for Bristol City if there was not room for both - not only to add realism, but also because City are the biggest and historically most successful team from the west country. Your impres- sive international career fills the fans and club officials with hope that you will provide the spark that will end their residence in the lowly Third.
But its a funny old game football and a manager's existence is a precarious one, as you will soon discover if the goals don't start going in. When you have set up your team, checked the transfer list, club finances , carried out all pre-match training and practised tactics its time for the Kick Off. Fans of the original will recog- nise the hit soccer game immediately. On Match Day you have a decision to make. Are you going to select your self and join in the Irantic end to end action of Kick Off, or are you going to stay on the bench where you have a number of match monitoring devices at you fin- ger tips.
The best of these is the camera which you can instruct to follow the ball or train it on a player who you want to keep a closer eye on. Matches can be played at normal Kick Off speed or fast mode r viewed from above in a rectangle which shows the whole pitch in minia- ture -your team scrambling around like bugs. If you decide to play then you have to choose to play in position the best option or as a team, where you control all of the players in your team.
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Once the the match is in progress it plays just like Kick Off, with the same unique pace and variety ol set piece moves thai made the game such a hit. From the very start Prayer Manager avoids the most common mistake of management games - lists of boring tables of statistics. You ana never more than a couple of mouse clicks away frqm he action, and that action is a modified version of Kick Off - the stats of the art In computer arcade soccer.
Coded by Dino Dini the author of Kick Off], the boy done well. It would have oecn easy far thsem to pul it on two - strategy on one, Kkk Off 01 trie other. The ST also boasts an advantage over other versions with a whrte dot inducer to aid shooting and passmg. Une Df 1he Si's finest. After each match you get a results service of all the other league games or cup ties.
Depending on the performance of your side you may wish to go back to the mam menu to select Training, Transfers, or have a look at the League Placing s. Ore option that may not wish to select is the Club Information - where you are given the Board verdict on your performance. Even if you avoid the views of your board there is no way of missing the news updates that appear after the game on Match Day, These reports provide useful snippets of infor- mation about rival clubs. Things like players on the move, manager sackings, and sending offs.
The Coach Report is another vital informa- tion source for the manager that wants to keep in touch. The coach provides updates on individ- ual and team morale, both of which directly effect team performances. Of the management scenes, the Tactical Training window is the best- This enables you to set up a number moves that you can execute en p natch day, as well as selecting and experi- menting with different formations. The player statistics are sufficiently compre- hensive to satisfy the most pernickity of arm chair managers, with ratings m all of the vital skill categories.
The save option also enables you to play a full league championship if you have a whole season to spare. The beauty of Player Manager is that it suc- cessfully blends a challenging soccer manage- ment game with all of the frantic end to end arcade action of Kick Off. PJayer Manager brings it oil m style. You con look onjrom the henrh or put ifour bunt. His success depends on four distinct aspects of the game. The first option combined with a tailor made tactics can play havoc in the opposition goaf mouth.
When to hang his boots up is the toughest decision he has to make. See the tactics in action using the Ray Trace -facility. Each player with a unique combination of the following attributes: There are several other factors such as injury, disciplinary points, unsuitable playing position which influence a player's performance.
Hosts of other factors like referees, injuries, disciplinary problems, team morale etc. Mail Order by Cheque, telephone No.: Your interest will peak once you've got the hang of things. No-one understands the intricacies of arrows and quiv- ers better than Will and he's a dif- ficult man to beat in sword piay as well.
Unsupervised, his son has managed to get himself into a scrape with the evil duke Gessler who's throwing him into prison for refusing to bow down to the ducal hat. For a man like Will this isn't a matter of choice; he's deter- mined to find his son and give Gessler a lesson he'll never forget.
The search for Tell junior turns out to be an icon-driven arcade adventure with plenty of fighting sequences thrown in. TelTs exploits, which take place in the top half of the screen, are directed using a selection of icons. Basically, ifs a question of exploring the countryside, collecting objects and dealing with the people and animals that you meet. Equip- ment is your first priority. Back at your hut you'll find a staff and an axe but the forest itself hides a whole armoury of extra swords, different types of arrows f crossbows and arrow winders. Any jewellry and travel documents lying about are bound to come in useful: It's best to deal with most characters by talking to them.
Some will give you an object without any prodding at all; others need to be persuaded with a morsel of food or a little kind- ness. Icons let you offer provisions, jewels or show papers though when you start out you'll have limited supplies of these. Gessler's black knights are under instructions to arrest anyone who bears a passing resemblance to William TelL However much you try to avoid them, you'll have to go into com- bat eventually.
The appropriate icon lets you choose your weapon and execute a few basic fighting moves. If you choose the crossbow, a target position- ing window appears at the base of the screen; ifs up to you to set the sights yourself. There's obviously plenty of substance to the story; certainly enough to sup- port hours of playing time - if you can spare it. Not only that, some of the initial fighting sequences are extremely tough and may put you off if you're not very patient. Definitely one to consider only if you've got lots of time on your hands and are addicted to arcade adventures.
A tad faster but no ffial tf- rerfinrss in the gameplay. Tell tries to shoot his way onto the drawbridge wi thnut any umowt. The idea was to ensure that the train contin- ued to move for as long as possible before meeting an obstruction, or the end of the track. This was achieved by sliding the sections ol track around the screen in a similar way to the classic sliding letter puzzles. Considering the simplicity ol the idea, the resultant game was surprisingly compulsive.
Now Entertainment International have pro- duced a game for micros which is superficially similar, and just as addictive. In Pipemania, rather than a steam train you must control the flow of a rather yucky substance called Flooz, and instead of sections of track you must place sections of pipe in order that the gooey stuff can continue flowing without leaking, O. So far, so good. You simply tack sec- tions of pipe onto the source pipe to form a length of tubing which the stuff can flow through.
The other little complication is that sections of pipe are presented to you in a set order, and you must use them as they come, so you will often have to look at the stack of pieces to see what is m the pipeline, as it were. It is permissi- ble to place a new section ol pipe over an old one as long as it is not in use J to replace the original piece. This process, known as 'bomb- ing', takes more time than placing a section of pipe in an empty space, It is no good simply dumping unwanted pieces anywhere either - at the end of each round, any pieces of pipe that are gooless are removed, along with a sizeable chunk of your score.
Then there are obstacles to be avoided, and these become more haz- ardous with each passing level. At the end of each level you get to play a bonus screen. This is even more difficult than the standard game because, of course, pipe sections must be stacked, which entails using a lot of otherwise unneces- sary pieces.