Received: from uucp-gw-1.pa.dec.com by s.ms.uky.edu id aa05252; 15 Jan 92 22:44 GMT Received: by uucp-gw-1.pa.dec.com; id AA23218; Wed, 15 Jan 92 14:34:40 -0800 Received: by limbo; Wed, 15 Jan 92 14:28:39 pst Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 14:28:39 pst Message-Id: <9201152228.AA06325@limbo.intuitive.com> From: Info-Source To: abbott@ms.uky.edu Subject: Re: Your Request For Information X-Mailer: The Info-Source System (send Digital.Games/Digests/Digest.25) Digital Games Review Digest, Number 25 Tuesday, May 14th 1991 Today's Topics: Game Gear: Castle of Illusion starting Mickey Mouse Lynx: Klax PC: Full Metal Planet PC: Battlehawks 1942 Mac: Bane of the Cosmic Forge Amiga: Speedball II Genesis: Granada Genesis: Gain Ground Genesis: Dangerous Seed Genesis: Gynoug TG16: Dungeon Explorer The Best and Worst Video/Computer Titles ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 14 Apr 91 17:24:28 PDT From: hlee@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Han Lee) Subject: Game Gear: Castle of Illusion starting Mickey Mouse One of the first batches of SEGA Game Gear games released in the US is Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse. Castle of Illusion for the Game Gear is based on the existing game of the same title available for the SEGA Genesis. But don't let the same title fool you in thinking that they're the same games. The two games are, except for the music, completely different, and the Game Gear version, while in graphics and sound not as good as the Genesis version, has better playability than its cousin's! So you're not getting a "same-old-but-lamer" version. Basically, the story and stage layout in Game Gear Castle of Illusion is similar to the Genesis'. However inside the stages are completely different. Some new features are also added; for example, Mickey can pick up different objects ranging from rocks to cup cakes to throw at enemies or place them on the ground to jump to higher places. This greatly adds a lot of challenge to the game as you have to figure out how to reach certain places or accomplish certain tasks in a puzzle-game manner. This game is not just a puzzle game, however; the speed and action mechanics of the game is implemented very well, and pretty soon, you'll be addicted to it. Combine these with lots of surprising interactions with the background, hidden rooms and items (there're a lot!) and huge, well drawn bosses, you've got a game that's well worth the price of $34! Graphics is also this game's strong point. The characters are drawn in extreme details and a variety of colors are used in the background; you can even see Mickey wiggling his tails. Also the background in the final stage (inside Mizrabel, the witch's castle) is near-Genesis quality! I wasn't, however, quite impressed with the sound, but this is probably because I'm spoiled by Genesis version's. Still, it has pretty much all the musics from the Genesis version, and they're fun to listen to. I usually don't give point-ratings about games, but since this game is so good that I am giving them: Graphics 9 Sound 7 Character 9 Game Play 9 (very fun and addicting) Ending 8 (cute ending) Overall 9 (This should be the first Game Gear game you should buy) Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (by SEGA) - 2 Megabits cartridge for the SEGA's portable game system GAME GEAR. ------------------------------ Subject: Lynx: Klax Date: Thu, 2 May 91 15:05:17 PDT From: DENIS54@SNYPOTVA.BITNET (Timothy Denis) Klax for the Atari Lynx is a puzzler type game. In the tradition of Tetris, players must drop "tiles" into a pit in an appropriate pattern. The object is to drop the tiles so that their colors line up vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. When this is accomplished those tiles disappear. The game gets very challenging very quickly. Tiles begin coming faster and in greater number, suddenly you find yourself out of control. Once in a great while, a wild tile will come rolling toward you. This Can be used to make large multiple (more than three tiles) klaxes. These tiles are necessary in order to utilize the two secret warps on levels 6 and 11. To get the secret warp, make a big "X" pattern with your tiles. If successful, you will be transported to either level 51 (when warping from level 6) or level 56 (when warping from level 11). You'll receive 700,000 bonus points for this. Beginning in level 70 the game starts giving you more colors, this makes the game very hard. But after level 85 or so, the game gets relatively easier. After the player has completed 100 levels, the game is won. A spectacular ending sequence is your reward. The game has many strong points. Klax has the sounds digitized right out of the arcade version, clear and crisp as if it WAS the arcade version. Each tile is given a distinct sound, at the beginning of each level a very nicely sampled female voice announces the type of level about to be encountered. When a particularly spectacular klax is scored, the female voice exclaims, "Yeah!", or "Ohhhhh!" depending upon the klax's size. The graphics are not very spectacular, with some nice backgrounds, but for a puzzle game like klax, the graphics are much more than adequate. After playing Klax my first time I had one thing to say, "How come the arcade version is so big?" Definitely Klax is a must get for Lynx owners. It is undoubtedly the Best game presently out for the Lynx (And I have played all 17). It makes a great show piece and is well worth the money. Sound 10 Playability 9 Graphics 8 Documentation 8 Fun-Factor 10 Overall rating 9 1/2 Klax is available from Atari at a retail price of $34.99 (but I bought mine for $29.99) and is available for EVERY SYSTEM! (NES, Lynx, Genesis, Turbo, coming to Gameboy, all major PCs) With one exception, Klax cannot be played on Sega's Gamegear...yet. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Apr 91 07:33:49 PDT From: Doug Bieber Subject: PC: Full Metal Planet Full Metal Planet (FMP) is a multiplayer, strategy game developed by Data East USA. The objective of this game is to land your corporate freighter on a volatile planet surface (Full Metal Planet) and load all the ore that your ship can carry. In the process, you can attack or capture your rivals' equipment if possible. Each player is provided with attack boats, barges, tanks, transporters (crabs), and a "Weather Hen". This last item can transform ore into new equipment and has the ability to predict changing tides. This is important since the topography of the ocean can change from turn to turn affecting game play. Various strategies may be developed. A player may choose to gather ore, and hence gain points. Or, a player may decide to attack an opponent and gain victory through destruction. Without going into great detail, there are numerous strategic possibilities within this game. As well, the rules are not so extensive that it becomes impossible to remember how to play. Once some of the basics have been committed to memory, the game will flow. FMP is very addictive. It's probably best played against human opponents since the computer player provided can KICK SOME SERIOUS BUTT (I hate to lose). Another great aspect about this game is that it can be very cut-throat. Be sure that you play with friends who will speak with you when game play is completed. There are several bugs in the game. None of them were serious enough to interrupt play or to cause me to regret having made this purchase. The playing field (as stated before) is a multi-terrain area. Unfortunately, only one map exists. It would be appropriate if the player had a choice of multiple maps, or could develop their own gameboard. Over time, the map which was provided becomes too familiar, lessening the enjoyment value of the game. The graphics are 256 color VGA, but lower resolutions are supported also. The playing board consists of a terrain layout which includes water, mountains, swamp, and flat-lands. The view provided is a top-view; both a detail and high-level map are available. The sound that is provided is OK, but is not necessary for enjoying this genre of game. As of this writing, I am uncertain if sound boards are supported. The diskettes are not copy protected. However, in order to play the game the user is prompted to provide information from a specified page in the manual. This method does not distract from the game. The equipment that I have played this game on: o 386-33 Clone w/hard drive o MSDOS 3.3 o VGA Color Monitor (Trident driver) o Logitech Bus Mouse o (No sound board) I particularly enjoy multiplayer computer games, especially those which offer a strategic challenge. I'll invite some friends to drop by, buy some beer and pizza, and stay up until 3:00am cussing at the computer. Unfortunately, there does not appear to be a great number of multi-player strategy games on the market (compared to single player games) that offer decent graphics and originality. I believe that this game is one of those exceptions. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being best), I would give this game a rating of 8. If map making ability was provided in addition to a bit more diversity, this game would have received a much higher rating. A "diverse" game, in my opinion, extends the life of the game over time (ie. it will keep your interest no matter how many times it is played). Graphics: 8.5 | Data Ease USA, Inc. Sound: n/a | 1850 Little Orchard Dr. Human Interface: 8.5 | San Jose, CA 95125 Difficulty: medium | (408) 286-7074 Diversity: low Overall: 8.0 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Apr 91 19:18:51 -0600 From: kguinn@diana.cair.du.edu (Kip J. Guinn) Subject: PC: Battlehawks 1942 Battlehawks 1942: A WWII Naval Air Combat Simulation. Battlehawks 1942 presents realistic naval air combat in a simple, easy format. The play is designed for air combat action, with the emphasis solely on the airplanes and their missions. Few frills are present--ship detail is decent, while background routines (flack, sea surface, etc.) are kept to a minimum. The game installed smoothly on two different hard disks, and runs well from floppies. The two game disks copied (for backups) easily onto a high-density disk, so that you do not have to swap floppies during play. Game play is smooth at 8, 12, 16 and 25 Mgh; however the mission loading is slow at best--and at the slower speeds wait time can be quite long. The play itself was smooth, and no bugs affecting play were detected. Joystick support is excellent. Sound is excellent from the internal speaker--I do not know if sound boards are supported for this game. You can fly three type of aircraft (both Japanese and American versions): fighters, torpedo bombers and dive bombers, in two types of missions: training and active duty. Training missions range from gunnery practice, fighter intercept and escort, to bombing practice, and come in various levels of difficulty (as do the active duty missions). In every mission you get the chance to modify certain parameters: plane model, ammo, fuel, plane damage level, starting altitude and enemy skill level. This is especially useful in the Training missions, where you can modify the skill level of the enemy to give you a greater challenge, and to practice against them before taking on the active duty missions. In active duty missions, changing any of the options means the mission will not be recorded on the pilot's service record. These active duty missions cover four important battle of the war in the Pacific: Coral Sea, Midway, Eastern Solomons, and the battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, with four missions available for each theater. The duty missions are varied--each theater has various missions; dive and torpedo bomber missions and fighter intercept missions for each side, and fighter escort flights are available in two of the theaters. The missions range in difficulty from easy, moderate, to hard, with an "impossible" mission for each side. Flight briefing is simple and to the point. The security for the game comes in here--you are presented with a picture of a Zero, and have to find the corresponding picture, and code word, in the manual. This happens for every mission, and it slows down play. You always start the mission at altitude (there are no carrier take-offs or landings here--dang!). There is no in-flight map; you have to rely on the scan view to figure things out visually. As in other Lucasfilm games, you have various views from your plane, plus the scan view, etc. Cockpit scenes for each plane are detailed and realistic, and include both airframe and engine damage indicators. You can parachute to safety if need be, and when the mission is over (you get a message when it is) you can just hit 'q' to quit. If you quit before receiving the message, your score will be affected. In short, sometimes you have to endure the flack on your way out (and you _can_ get flak hits). The play itself is exciting, fast, and fun. It can get quite hairy pulling in behind diving Vals, trying to take them down before they drop their bombs, or screaming down on some hapless Kate torpedo planes which are skimming the surface, trying to knock them out before their torpedos get underway. Hanging your Wildcat fighter on a wing, bringing it around at 50 feet to take another pass at the Kates is great fun. The game realistically portrays some of the problems faced by both sides during the war. You can easily outfly Japanese torpedo planes, but they can slip through at very low altitudes--while you dodge their rear gunners, they are continuing on to the carrier. You have to act fast. The Japanese didn't have self-sealing gas tanks on their aircraft, making them vulnerable as hell--something the game takes into account very well. The Zero is a joy to fly, snapping it around the sky, rolling in and out of fire while you pull up behind the lumbering Wildcats or Avengers, your 20 mm. cannons hammering away at them. Sure the American planes are far better armored, more sophisticated (we had self-sealing tanks, for one), but that just makes it all the more satisfying when your Zero flames one. It is very difficult (and realistic) for the Japanese to stop a dive bomb attack--your plane cannot sustain the hits from the rear gunners, and the American planes can take much punishment before going down--but if you manage to put enough fire on them, you might cause them to pull up or release prematurely. A good, and realistic, feature of the game. There is nothing worse than seeing your carrier go up in black cloud (the game allows the carrier-shaped cloud to hang in the air for a good length of time--just to make sure you know you screwed up :-). You can create pilots and review their service records, showing their medals, promotions, number of kills, and the missions they have flown. The game also keeps track of how many planes you have lost (lose ten and you're grounded) and how many missions you have successfully completed (after sixteen you're retired). You can delete and rename pilots from the game, review best scores for each mission and see the best careers of your pilots. You can also review the planes in the game, seeing the specifications, and rotate the planes around, etc. The game manual, (always a Lucasfilm strength), is excellent, with great pictures, battle history, historical overview, plane reviews, etc. A great touch. The comprehensive manual provided by Lucasfilm for games like this and Battle of Britain are a wonderful addition to the package, and certainly make you feel like you got your money's worth. Graphics: 8 Sound: 7 Complexity: 5 Playability: 8 Fun Factor: 9 Manual: 9 Overall Score: 7.6 Recommendation: High Battlehawks 1942, from Lucasfilm Games. IBM Version. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Apr 91 00:45:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Jonathan Pace Subject: Mac: Bane of the Cosmic Forge Initial Impressions Bane of the Cosmic Forge has finally been released for the Mac. Bane, a Fantasy Role Playing game, is described as the new generation of Wizardry crafter in the tradition of its predecessors." Bane does play like the first five scenarios in the Wizardry series, but the game has been completely rewritten. I've had it for two weeks now, so my experience is limited to playing with basic characters and toying in the dungeon. Wizardry I was the first game I played on my Apple IIe and I fell in love with it. Bane has some improvements, and some lapses, over its ancestors. The first thing you notice is that Bane is a blatant port from the IBM to the Mac. Everything has been bitmapped - graphics, text - everything. There are no pull down menus. Everything is point and click or scroll using the arrow and return keys. The graphics are good. They aren't smooth and polished, but they communicate the information you need. A lot of information is displayed graphically. For instance, they lets you know how tired your characters are and how close to death, all without going into the review screens. If you're running on a B/W system, the graphics are of less help. The player icons become a joke, but most critical info is still available. During combat you can see swords swinging, spells being cast through the air, monsters moving in front of you, etc. With all the graphic motion I understand why the IBM was bitmapped, but with QuickDraw available there was no need to subject Mac users to the loss of quality and speed. Sound quality is another matter. All sounds in Bane are digitized but require no special hardware to be used. There are two types of sounds: monster sounds and dungeon noises. They can individually be set to full, half or no volume. This is a nice feature since dungeon noises play all the time and would become quickly annoying at full volume. The game itself is a work of art. There are now 11 races and 14 professions to choose from. You start by rolling characters of the race, sex and profession you choose. You must assign skill points between weapons skills, physical skills and academic skills. Each race can only learn certain aspects within each skill realm, so a well balanced party is a must. Unlike the previous Wizardry series, there is no home area. You no longer have to return to the castle after an expedition to gain levels and identify items. Once you enter the dungeon you're there for the duration. You must rest, heal yourself and keep very good maps if you are to survive. Items do not need identification, and you go up in levels as soon as you earn the experience points. Spells casters are as important as warriors. They can choose from 77 spells in 4 realms of knowledge, only one or two of which are available to any one character. Each spell can be cast at one of six power levels, each drainingyour magical ability. You can also have several expeditions at once by saving to different disks, but they cannot interact and do not help each other. If your characters die you can restart from your last saved position, but loose everything after that. Non-Player Characters form an integral part of the game. You must converse with them to obtain information to help you solve the game. Unfortunately, the game has copy protection. One of the small black-on-dark red books is included. When you enter the dungeon you must enter the word corresponding to the icons presented to you. The process is very annoying, and the book can be hard to read except under bright light. To run Bane in color you must have 16 colors, 1800k of free memory and a monitor with 640 x 480 resolution. (I don't know if that's a minimum size or a required size). To run in B/W you only need 800k of free memory, and no monitorsize restrictions. I've run it under Sys 6 and Sys 7 (f3c2) and I don't see any compatibility problems occurring. How good is it? If you demand Mac quality graphics and pull down menus, stayaway from Bane, otherwise it has great content. My ratings: Graphics: 7 (4 in B/W) Sound: 8 Playability: 6 (for the poor interface) Fun Level: 10 Overall: 8 Bane is available from Sir-Tech software in IBM (and compatible), Amiga and Macintosh format. They sell it for a retail price of $60, or you can get it from MacWarehouse for only $35. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Apr 91 14:11:03 -0700 From: kuan@iris.eecs.ucdavis.edu (Frank [Who me?] Kuan) Subject: Amiga: Speedball II Speedball 2 is the most excellent video game that I have ever played. Ever. And believe me, I've played lots. Speedball 2 isn't just my favorite game of the year. It's the best game that I've played in the last TEN years. I have to admit, I wasn't stunned by the game at first. I played the knockout for a couple of hours, put it down, and didn't play it for another day. On my third hour of play, when I began to learn some new strategies and explore the new features of the game, I was hooked. I have been addicted to video games in the past, but never like this. In fact, I played it so much that I put the game back in the box, put that box back in the shipping container, stuffed it in the top shelf in my closet (where I can't reach it without a chair) so that I can get some studying done for my midterms. I was literally glued to the game for an entire 3 day stretch. For those of you who are speedball fans, you might as well stop reading this article and go order it. Creative Computing (they advertise in Amigaworld all the time) was where I bought it. $32 + 3-4$ for shipping. I don't know if anyone else carries it. In the past, I've gotten all my new Euro stuff and Bitmap Bros. masterpieces from Creative Computing. In the original speedball, I became quite good at it. However, I could never quite beat the top two teams. At best, I would tie them 0 to 0. Or if I was lucky, I would pick up a booster pellet (or whatever you call those letters) that would enable me to score. Speedball 2 adds some pretty major features that make it more flexible and fun than the classic. The field is significantly bigger, and there are more ways to score. In addition to the 10 points for a field goal, each side of the stadium has 5 stars that light up when you hit 'em with the ball. In addition, there's a gizmo that multiplies your score when you hit it. Hit it once, and your score (for field goal and lighting a star) gets mulltiplied by 1.5 X, hit the multiplier twice and your score gets multiplied by 2X. When I first starting playing the game, I thought the game was only marginally great. The new features for scoring points seemed too complicated, but later I really came to appreciate it. Like Speedball I, the sequel lets you improve your stats by picking up coins during the matches and then buying more attributes. The main difference, is you have more control. Instead of improving the attribute average for the whole team, you have the option of upping individual player stats. The Speedball II league has two divisions: Division I and Division two. In league play, you control the team "Brutal Deluxe", and you start with very average players in the basement of division two. If you win in Division two (each division has 8 teams), you get promoted to division one, where you literally get pounded by teams like "Fatal Justice", "Turbo Hammers", and "Super Nashwan". One of the coolest features of the game is the free agent market. After every two league games or so, star calibre players become available. If you have the cash, you can purchase them and add them to your lineup. By the time I was promoted to division one, I had 6 star players (out of 12) on my team. When I first saw the graphics for the players that I started with, I thought "gee, this art sure looks pathetic for a Bitmap Bros. game." Later, I found out that the average players are intentionally drawn to look bland. The all-star players look really slick. My center forward "Stavia", looks like one of those all star hockey players. My right wing looks like Lawrence Taylor, and my star Goalie is a killer looking Apache chief. Having all-star players makes all the difference in the world if you want to have any chance of surviving in Division I. The play of your team really lives up to their name, "Brutal Deluxe." Each player on the field has a certain number of hitpoints. If a player gets injured down to zero hitpoints, the "robodocs" come on to the field to cart them away. Speedball I was very physical, but Speedball II is ten times as brutal. You can tackle and punch anyone on the field, including the goalie. When I was playing the team "Fatal Justice" in division I, I put 3 of their players in the ambulance and they knocked out 5 of mine! For every player that gets hauled off by the ambulance, the offending team gets 10 points as a reward! One of my favorite strategies is to lob the ball to the opponent goalie. As he jumps up to catch the ball, I slide, tackle him, and power the ball through the goal! This strategy doesn't work too well when you're playing the better teams though. But there's lots of ways to score! Another cool feature is that your teammates can have varying degrees of aggressiveness and intelligence. With my all-star teammates, they would actually tackle and punch out opponents who were in my way! There were also a few occasions when I was setting up a shot, and my left teammate would tackle the goalie, giving me a clear shot! The only flaw in the whole package is the documentation. It tends to state obvious things very concisely, and not elaborate on some of the more subtle points. Otherwise, Speedball II is flawless. Graphics: 9 Animation: 9 Music: 8 Sound FX: 9 Playability: 10+ Speedball II: Brutal Deluxe, designed by the Bitmap Bros, published by Imageworks, for the Amiga and Atari ST (DOS within a year?) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 17:30:42 -0500 From: Rav Tonsiengsom Subject: Genesis: Granada Granada represents something new as far as shooters for the Genesis go. Instead of piloting some version of a fighter plane/spaceship you control a tank. The game reminds me of the GREAT Atari coin-op Assault (can't wait for Assault on CD-ROM!) The tank is armed with machine guns, a powerful cannon (HTC -HyperTek Cannon) and defensive shields. Each time you get hit you lose a a shield. When you lose all your shields, the next hit will destroy your tank. The number of tanks start out at three but this is adjustable in the options screen. In Granada your mission on each level is to eliminate all the red dots shown on your radar screen. A red dot may represent many things such as powerful weapon installations, other HTCs (HyperTek Cannon Tanks), mini-bosses, or other such 'primary' targets. Each level is also a maze, and finding the path to the things that you have to destroy is part of the fun of Granada. When all the red dots are eliminated you go up against the boss of that level. The graphics in Granada are fairly good. Not great, but the scrolling is smoothand there is only a trace of flicker at times. However, in level 9 (a real killer), the enemy is firing so much ordinance at you the play slows down a bit. There's also some very neat scaling/rotation effects in the game. I will not debate whether or not they are done by hardware or software but let it suffice to say that they are very well done whatever the method used. The bosses are also extremely well done: Big, nasty, and with good detail. The music and sounds to Granada aren't bad either. The sound effects aren't very impressive but still good. The soundtrack is better than most Genesis games out. It is fairly upbeat and fits in nicely with each progressive level. The gameplay in this cart is outstanding. This is definitely one of the hardestGenesis games around. Not as difficult as Gaiares, but the 9th and last level is where you can have all of your tanks slaughtered very easily. The boss of this level will blow you away (literally) as he has some very NASTY surprises in store for you. Knowing your way around is important since the game is timed. This is not really a problem on normal or easy mode, but on the hard level you should definitely know the shortest paths to any place in the level. Options can also be picked up to help you. The reflector follows your tank and fires machine guns in all directions. Epaulet adds homing missiles to your tank. Paul-Vanian gives you a circle like shield which attaches to the front of your tank and can be launched out a certain distance where it then commences to fire machine guns in all directions before returning to you. Another option rotates around your tank and deflects enemy fire and can be sent out to seek and destroy the enemy through a ramming attack.Finally, hidden follow your tank around. When you blast it with your cannon it detonates in a tremendous explosion, obliterating every enemy with its blast radius. Part of what makes this game hard are the controls. The three buttons all do different things (you can assign settings to them). One button is used for firing the machine gun, another for firing the cannon, and the last for locking your turret in a certain direction. This takes some getting used to, but it doesn't take long to master. Once mastered, the controls are extremely smooth and precise. Granada is not as graphically or musically as intense as MUSHA, Gaiares, or Thunderforce III, but its excellent game play, combined with new controls to master, a wide variety of enemies, and some very difficult bosses make it an excellent buy. Go out and get one today! Graphics: 7 Sound/Music: 8 Playability: 9 Funness: 8 Overall: 8 Granada, for the Sega Genesis ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Apr 91 19:28:44 -0500 From: Rav Tonsiengsom Subject: Genesis: Gain Ground There are times when shooters on the Genesis just start to wear on your nerves, even for a big fan like myself. This is when I turn to a game like Gain Ground.This cart cannot really be termed a "shooter", even though you do a lot of shooting and killing, because there is a good amount of strategy involved in playing this game. The object of Gain Ground is to take your band of characters into the "Gain Ground" system, a super computer runned combat simulator gone berserk, and stop it. To do this you must survive 5 rounds of battle fields generated by the super computer. Each game you start out with a party of three characters of which you can choose one to use in battle. Each character has his/her own unique weapon(s). In each round there are a total of ten stages: 9 regular stages and one boss stage. To clear a stage you must either move all of your characters through the "EXIT" or blow away everyone/everything on the screen. Along the way, you can pick up additional party members with different and usually more powerful capabilities. If your character is hit, you must use another from your pool. When all characters are used up, the game is over. The graphics in Gain Ground aren't really spectacular. Very mediocre, in fact, for a 16-bit system. The on screen character and enemies are too small and are sorely lacking in detail. Even the boss characters are very sad looking. The backgrounds aren't great either and there are no "special effects" that I can recall at this time. Frankly, I think this aspect of the game could have been better. Sound effects aren't anything to get excited about either. The soundtrack is limited but has one or two decent tunes, but when you hear the same song for ten rounds in a row, it gets a little tiring. They should have given this game a little more music, but hey, this is an arcade game translation so not much the programmers could do about that. Playability, thank goodness, makes up for Gain Ground's difficiences. When I first got this game I was appalled at the average graphics and sound. But, when I started playing with a friend, all that went out the window. There is a lot of strategy involved in this game. You must learn which of the 20 characters is best for each stage, and also learn how to work cooperatively with your partner. A good deal of the fun in Gain Ground is getting fried and then saying "If only I used that guy instead", then afterwardscoming back findind yourself wrong, swearing, and trying again until you and your partner get it right. Exploring the abilities of the 20 different characters is also a lot of fun. Overall this is a very good game for the Genesis. Well worth buying now if you are looking for something different, or if you want a good two player game. Frankly, I can think of stuff coming up soon that will probably be better buys, but eventually you'll just have to try Gain Ground. Graphics: 6 Sound/Music: 7 Playability: 9 Funness: 8 Overall: 8 Gain Ground, for the Sega Genesis ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Apr 91 14:06:25 -0500 From: milton@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Milton W. Kuo) Subject: Genesis: Dangerous Seed Dangerous Seed, by Namco, is a shooting game where an alien force threatens to take over the world using genetically engineered monsters which are located throughout the solar system. The only hope against these invaders is the fighter ship "Moondiver" which is made up of three component ships : Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. When all three ships are merged, "Moondiver" can transform into three different forms each with a different method of attack. Moondiver represents the latest in fighter techonology and is the only hope of stopping the aliens and their secret weapon -- code-named "Dangerous Seed." Dangerous Seed starts out well with sharp graphics and a really nice background music score. The well rendered graphics are consist- ent throughout the game's twelve levels. Upon reaching the end of the level, combat with the boss begins. The boss stages in Dangerous Seed are among the neatest in any game. The backgrounds used on the boss stages make excellent use of the Mega Drive's multiple backgrounds. The whole idea of the boss monsters in Dangerous Seed seems to make more sense than in many other shooting games. Rather than having a boss at the end of each level just because it is the end of the level, the bosses in Dangerous Seed each represent a laboratory experiment that the aliens' are working on. Fighting the bosses occurs in a tube (test tube?) and the backgrounds do look organic which completes the picture. Many of the latter levels feature graphical tricks such as clever use of line scrolling and color changing. The soundtrack for the most part is very good and really makes a significant contribution to the feeling of the game. However, the soundtrack is a bit inconsistent - while some of the songs are really good, others are really slow songs which seem to make the game play slower. Granted, this supposed slowing down of the pace is only imagined but it nonetheless demonstrates the relevance of having good, matching background music. That minor fault aside, the music played when fighting the bosses really makes the intensity of the game go one rank higher. One of the more interesting features of Dangerous Seed is the ability of Moondiver to transform into three different forms which alter its attack formation. Furthermore, transforming also influences the kind of bomb dropped. Knowing what formation to be in is the difference between finishing the game and being frustrated. The three different bombs which can be dropped are Ring Laser, Melt Missile, and Hyper Bomb. Each bomb has a situation where it is most useful but for the greater part of the game, the Melt Missiles are the best. In addition to the bombs, Moondiver's regular shot can be powered up three times. The regular shot can be replaced with either laser or wide shot. Laser offers greater attack power at the expense of width and ease of use (it's really easy to get killed using laser) while wide shot forsakes power for range. Overall, Dangerous Seed is a fairly standard vertical shooting game with a few original elements thrown in for good measure. There are better shooting games out there but Dangerous Seed is worth looking at. The game is also a little uneven in difficulty -- the first six or so levels are too easy and the later levels get extremely difficult rather quickly. The final boss is just hell to get past without a great many bombs. Needless to say, if you die after the eighth level, it will seem impossible to finish the game since all power-ups and bombs are lost when you die. Graphics : 8 (neat use of translucent backgrounds) Sound : 8 (a little bit inconsistent in places) Gameplay : 7 "Funness" : 7 (standard shooting fare) Overall : 7 (overall, a pretty interesting shooting game) Dangerous Seed, for the Sega Genesis, from Namco. 4 Mbit title ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Apr 91 16:09:33 -0500 From: milton@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Milton W. Kuo) Subject: Genesis: Gynoug Gynoug is Nippon Computer System's newest shooting game for the Mega Drive and will be released for the Genesis under the name Wings Of Wor. Gynoug is a typical shooting game (where you just shoot anything and everything that moves) with a slight twist -- rather than shooting spaceships, you shoot monsters in Gynoug. Being that Gynoug is a game from NCS, the same company that programmed Hellfire, it is not surprising to know that Gynoug is one of the most difficult games available for the Mega Drive. What makes Gynoug so hard? For starters, the bosses shoot an inordinate number of bullets -- more than any game I have ever seen on any machine be it a home system or coin-op. On some of the boss monsters, it is very possible that there are as many as 50 or more bullets on the screen. Gynoug also employs graphical tricks to make the game more challenging. On the first level, the whole screen is "rotated" clockwise and counter clockwise about fifteen degrees each direction to give the effect of an earthquake. The constantly shifting screen makes it very difficult to concentrate on dodging the enemy fire. The hardest level by far, however, is the fifth level where the entire background shifts color. The background changes color from red to orange to white and continuously cycles through colors in the red spectrum. After dazzling the eyes, Gynoug sends out dark colored monsters which are very hard to detect after staring at the screen for awhile. While these tricks are not very nice (they make the game very hard), they do represent an excellent use of the Mega Drive's graphics capabilities. Gynoug's graphics are well rendered with a great variety of scary looking enemy monsters and bosses. However, the music on Gynoug needs work. Going through six levels of incredible difficulty, I found myself saying, "This music is corny!" The background music in Gynoug reminded me of the music they played in really old "B" movies -- it tries to sound majestic but it is over done. Nonetheless, the music does have neat stereo effects and the music is better than the music in Target Earth, another game by NCS. Gynoug's sound effects, while interesting, are nothing special either. What separates Gynoug from other typical run-of-the-mill shooting games, besides its eye tricks, is its special weapons system. In addition to a regular shot that can be powered up, the hero, a winged man, can pick up scrolls to cast spells. Spells can be made stronger by picking up multiple scrolls of the same type. Furthermore, spell longevity can be increased by picking up power ups which enhance spell casting ability. Among the spells that can be cast are magic arrows which are like homing missiles, thunder which shoots lightning downward from the top of the screen, lightning which shoots electricity forward, and wildfire which greatly enhances the normal weapon's shot size and power. Gynoug, in my opinion, is the best game NCS has released so far. The Japanese gaming magazines advertised Gynoug as a fantasy shooting game. When I first heard this, I thought that the monsters would bleed and have limbs fall off when shot. Unfortunately :-), this is not the case and monsters explode like spaceships do in other shooting games. Having bosses that can bleed and be dismembered would have made this game even more interesting. As it stands, Gynoug is still one of the most unique shooting games for the Mega Drive. Graphics : 8 (lots of neat "eye tricks" to better end your game) Sound : 7 (like I said, the music is corny) Gameplay : 9 (the use of magic as an extra weapon is neat) "Funness" : 8 (definitely one of NCS's best efforts to date) Overall : 8 (definitely worth looking at) Gynoug, for the Sega Mega Drive (Japan Only), from NCS. 4 MBit title. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Apr 91 07:58:48 EDT From: Steve Subject: TG16: Dungeon Explorer An action/adventure/RPG game, this was voted 1989 Video Game of the Year by Computer Entertainer. A well-deserved award. Dungeon Explorer can be played by up to 5 players. A Turbo Tap and additional Turbo Pads are required if more than one plays. The goal is to locate and retrieve the ORA Stone. There are 14 levels each consisting of various creatures and mazes. A final boss must be defeated before getting to the next level. A password feature is given for each player upon completing a level. The player can choose any one of eight characters, each character having various strengths, attack ability, magic, and weapons. There are villages where you get helpful information and the King who directs which way you should proceed. The action is intense once you enter the many labyrinths. Some creatures fire at you while others just chase you around. The graphics are outstanding, from the detailed monsters to the multi-colored dungeons. Along the way there are magic potions to be picked up, along with other useful treasures to make you character stronger. You get 5 lives, using the Hit Point technique. Your hit points increase after defeating the level Bosses. Each boss is unique and a true challenge. If you do not defeat the Boss, using all lives, the game is over. You must restart the game using the password ( a bit tedious), starting at the beginning of the level. After defeating some bosses, shortcuts can be found so that you do not have to transverse the same dangerous landscapes and underground mazes. Each level increases with difficulty, with more and stranger creatures and more complicated mazes to figure to reach the boss. Enter all the houses. Some will aid you on the journey and inform you on the dangers. Going the right way is not always easy. Some routes are dead ends. Almost all the creatures are spawned by "spawners". Destroy the spawners and no more creatures emerge. Use your magic when the hit points are low. Once you die and get another life, all your magic disappears. Each character has different magic (white and black). So know your character's magical abilities. The magic appears randomly after killing the creatures. If the magic gets shot, it is lost. If it moves, shoot it. Each creature has a different effect on your hit points. A moving blue/white ball is instant death. Blast it. The more players, the more fun. Each must be a different character and strategy is a key. Learn to work as a team (eg. put the character with most hit points in front and the others stay a little behind on the sides and blast away). Keep switching positions and share the magic. Good Luck.... Playability: 10 Graphics: 10 Sound: 9 Fun Factor: 10 Challenge: 10 Documentation: 7 Overall: Dungeon Explorer is a perfect example of the truly great games available for the TG-16. This game is a winner! ------------------------------ From: video-request@irss.njit.edu (OnGoing Video Poll Address) Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1991 08:40:23 -0700 Subject: The Best and Worst Video/Computer Titles TOP AND BOTTOM TEN GAMES (5 VOTE MINIMUM) Votes Rank Title 15 9.9 Ys Books I And II (C) [TG] 25 9.7 Military Madness [TG] 26 9.5 Castle Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse [SG] 6 9.5 Chaos Strikes Back [AM] 19 9.4 Dungeon Master [ST] 7 9.4 Secret Of Monkey Island, The [PC] 27 9.3 Blazing Lazers [TG] 19 9.3 Devil's Crush [TG] 14 9.3 Lemmings [AM] 13 9.2 Rastan [GS] ... 6 3.3 Rampage [PC] 5 3.2 Hard Drivin' [SG] 9 3.2 Ultima V [AM] 5 3.0 Art Of Go, The [AM] 7 3.0 Last Battle [SG] 5 2.8 Faces (...Tris III) [MA] 9 2.8 Goldrunner [AM] 8 2.5 Ogre [MA] 5 2.0 Orbiter [MA] 11 1.1 Gauntlet [GS] ------------------------------------- To join this group or have your reviews appear in the next issue, please send electronic mail to Dave Taylor at the following address; digital-games@digital-games.Intuitive.Com We welcome reviews of games for any computer system, including the IBM PC, Apple Macintosh, Atari, Nintendo Entertainment System, Atari Lynx, Sega Genesis, Nintendo GameBoy, NEC TurboGrafix, Amiga and so on. Back issues are archived as digests, as well as broken into individual reviews. To receive them via electronic mail, send a note to the address "info@limbo.intuitive.com" (or decwrl!limbo!info) with the body containing the lines "help" and "listall Digital.Games". The views expressed in Digital Games Review Digest are those of the individual authors only, and do not represent the views or opinions of Intuitive Systems or any of our affiliates worldwide. The copyright of each article is that of the original author, and the copyright of the digest itself, as well as the name "Digital Games Review Digest" are noted here. ********************* End of Digital Games Review Digest *********************